Phidias summary

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“Heracles,” marble statue produced in the workshop of Phidias, from the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, the Acropolis, Athens, c. 5th century bc; in the British Museum

Phidias , or Pheidias , (flourished c. 490–430 bc, Athens, Greece), Greek sculptor. Placed in charge of the great building program initiated by Pericles in Athens, he supervised and probably designed the overall sculptural decoration of the Parthenon. He also created its most important religious images, including the colossal statue of the Athena Parthenos (438–436 bc). Many of the Parthenon’s sculptures (the Elgin Marbles) are now in the British Museum. Ancient writers considered his masterpiece to be the statue of Zeus (c. 430 bc) for the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. He initiated the idealistic Classical style that distinguishes Greek art in the later 5th and 4th centuries bc.

Parthenon Summary

Parthenon, temple that dominates the hill of the Acropolis at Athens. It was built in the mid-5th century bce and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”). The temple is generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order, the simplest of

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sculpture Summary

Sculpture, an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are worked into three-dimensional art objects. The designs may be embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or in environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the spectator. An enormous variety of media