Like the temple, the image has the quality of being fully public. We could characterize this statue by saying that henceforth all its esse consists in a percipi, all its “being” in a “being perceived.” It has no reality other than its appearance, no ritual function other than to be seen.

Vernant J-P. Mortals and Immortals. Collected Essays, ed. by Froma I.Zeitlin.
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1991. P.159