Phidias

Phidias (flourished c. 490–430 bce) was an Athenian sculptor, the artistic director of the construction of the Parthenon, who created its most important religious images and supervised and probably designed its overall sculptural decoration. It is said of Phidias that he alone had seen the exact image of the gods and that he revealed it to man. He established forever general conceptions of Zeus and Athena.

Little is known about Phidias’s life. When Pericles rose to power in 449, he initiated a great building program in Athens and placed Phidias in charge of all artistic undertakings. Among works for which Phidias is famous are three monuments to Athena on the Athenian Acropolis (the Athena Promachos, the Lemnian Athena, and the colossal Athena Parthenos for the Parthenon) and the colossal seated Zeus for the Temple of Zeus at Olympia; none of these survives in the original.

The first of Phidias’s monuments to Athena, the bronze Athena Promachos, was one of his earliest works. It was placed on the Athenian Acropolis about 456. According to the preserved inscription, it measured about 30 feet (9 metres) high. At the time, it was the largest statue yet erected in Athens.

The so-called Lemnian Athena was dedicated as an offering by Athenian colonists who were sent to Lemnos between 451 and 448. A head of Athena in Bologna and two statues of Athena in Dresden are thought to be copies, in marble, of Phidias’s original work in bronze.

The colossal statue of the Athena Parthenos, which Phidias made for the Parthenon, was completed and dedicated in 438. The original work was made of gold and ivory and stood some 38 feet (12 metres) high. The goddess stood erect, wearing a tunic, aegis, and helmet and holding a Nike (goddess of victory) in her extended right hand and a spear in her left. A decorated shield and a serpent were by her side. Several copies have been identified from this description; among them are the Varakion, a Roman copy of about 130 ce (now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens), and a Hellenistic copy, from about 160 bce, made for the main hall of the royal library at Pergamum (now in the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin).

The ancient writers considered Phidias’s Zeus, completed about 430, for the Temple of Zeus at Olympia to be his masterpiece; this colossal statue is now considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Zeus was seated on a throne, holding a Nike in his right hand and a sceptre in his left. His flesh was of ivory, his drapery of gold. The throneback rose above his head. Everything surrounding the figure, including the statues and paintings (by Panaenos), was richly decorated. The Olympian Zeus was about seven times life-size (or 42 feet [13 metres]) and occupied the full height of the temple.

Phidias’s last years remain a mystery. Pericles’ enemies accused Phidias of stealing gold from the statue of the Athena Parthenos in 432, but he was able to disprove the charge. They then accused him of impiety (for including portraits of Pericles and himself on the shield of Athena on the Athena Parthenos), and he was thrown into prison. Until recently, it was thought that Phidias died in prison shortly thereafter, but now it is believed that he was exiled to Elis, where he worked on the Olympian Zeus. A “workroom,” thought to be Phidias’s, has been found in Olympia. It contains a number of terra-cotta molds believed to have been used for the drapery of the Olympian Zeus.

Phidias and his assistants were also responsible for the marble sculptures that adorned the Parthenon. Most of these remains (the Elgin Marbles) are now in the British Museum. Several of these sculptures have been attributed to Phidias, but none with certainty.

From these works one can gain some idea of Phidias’s style. Even when movement is represented in some of his reliefs, a monumental quality is imparted. Though the construction of the human body is perfectly understood, its rendering is restrained and harmonized. In other words, Phidias may be called the initiator of the idealistic, Classical style that distinguishes Greek art in the later 5th and the 4th centuries.