 The Acropolis in Athens? Olympia. Here are two famous sights that are associated with one of the most famous sculptors of the ancient world, Phidias. Now on the occasion of an exhibition in the Capitoline Museums, we'll be talking about his life and we'll be talking about his greatest works of art, including one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, the Statue of Zeus of Olympia. Phidias the Athenian, who was alive between 480 and 430 BC, was a famous sculptor, painter, architect forever associated with classical art. And he produced works of art that are lost, but became legendary. In the city of Athens, he made two famous statues, Athena Promacos and Athena Parthenos, on the Athenian Acropolis. In the city of Olympia, he created the colossal statue of Zeus, for the temple of Zeus. But he produced many other works of art. Again, none of them are preserved, but there are many Roman copies of varying degrees of authenticity that reflect his style and his bravura. We're going to examine those and reconstruct his incredible career. Phidias early on in his career was already famous by making works of art dedicating the Battle of Marathon, also at Delphi, also at Lemnos. Let's turn first to the earliest statue of Phidias on the Acropolis. This is the Athena Promacos, Athena who fights on the front line. Celebrating the victory of Marathon, it's dedicated by 456 BC. It was one of the most famous Athenian landmarks. The tip of the spear, the helmet of the statue was visible all the way from the sea. So this was a massive statue and you saw it once you went through the front gate, the propylaea of the Acropolis. And it stood then towering behind that entrance gate on your way to the Parthenon and the Erechtheon. The statue no longer exists, but the base is preserved. This stood almost 30 feet high and was known for being one of the greatest monuments on the Acropolis. Now apparently this statue stood overlooking the city for almost a thousand years until in 465 it was taken over to the eastern capital, the Roman Empire, Constantinople. And it stood apparently until a drunken crowd destroyed it in a riot in 1203. A number of coins give us a sense of what it looked like in addition to a description by Palsanias. But it's really after the Persian Wars were over in 447 that Pericles commissioned him to create a number of sculptures to celebrate the victory over the Persians on the Acropolis and this required vast sums of money. Phidias got to work and what he left behind were life changing sculptures for subsequent generations. The new Parthenon temple was erected between 447 and 438 BC and inside the cult statue was placed, built around a wooden framework, maybe Cyprus, that was then paneled with gold and ivory sheets making it a Chris Elephantine statue. Pliny the Elder says that Phidias' statue of Athena was about 11.5 meters high. Stylistically it was what we call the severe style with some high classical aesthetics. How much gold was involved? Around a ton according to the experts representing the annual salary of 10,000 skilled workers. Now we don't know much about the refinement technique of the molding of the pieces, both sheets of gold and sheets of ivory, but that's what set Phidias apart from all other master sculptors. And what we do have today is copies that reflect the components of the original statue, but not the mastery of the techniques that were used to depict the various services and subjects. So what did the statue look like? Well, there was a base and in front of the base there was a carved scene evoking the birth of Pandora in the presence of 20 gods. Over her peplus garment, Athena wore the breastplate, the aegis with the face of Medusa in the center. Her eyes were inlaid with gemstones. Her left hand held her shield and spear. And in her right hand, she held a statue of Nike. Of victory, up to two meters high, which was sustained by a single column. The shield had a diameter of about five meters and was decorated on the outside with an Amazon micchia. And according to Plutarch, Phidias actually represented himself in the fight, along with Pericles. And because of this, he was heavily criticized in his lifetime. There was also a mass of snake, which represented the cathonic powers that would have been present on the Acropolis and also associated with the king Eurekthias, whose temple was also located on the Acropolis. And let's keep in mind that the ivory of the statue was extremely fragile. And to prevent it from drying out, there was a basin of oil placed at the foot of the statue. Finally, we can turn to the greatest work of Phidias. It was that of Olympian Zeus. Now, the Elians, the custodians of the Olympic games wanted to have a statue that was even greater than that built by Phidias on the Acropolis. So they hired Phidias to make something bigger and better with more precious materials and taller. In fact, this statue was 12.5 meters in height and it became a wonder of the world. It was lost by the sixth century AD, but we can reconstruct it thanks to a description by Palsanias, who actually saw it. And keep in mind that this statue was so huge if he had stood up inside the temple of Zeus, he would have come crashing through the roof. So here's what Palsanias describes. The statue was crowned with a wreath of olive branches. He wore a gilded robe made of glass and carved with representations of animals and flowers. In his right hand, he held a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory. And his left, he held a scepter that was in turn inlaid with precious metals, sustaining the statue of an eagle. The throne had many painted figures and was decorated with gold, precious stones and ivory. His sandals rest upon a footstool, which was decorated with an Amazon of Machia. And beneath the throne, there were several painted scenes as well. This truly was a wonder of the ancient world. And we're so fortunate that we actually have on the side of Olympia, the discovery of the actual workshop of Phidias. He had built a large structure on the exact same scale as the cellar of the Temple of Zeus. And within that, he constructed the pieces of the statue of Zeus. And what they have found in excavations from the 1950s, its remains of his work. Chips of ivory, chips of precious stones, terracotta molds. There are even drinking cups inscribed in Greek with I belong to Phidias found on this site. So it's truly an amazing discovery that we have the workshop of Phidias, who created one of the seven wonders of the world, all location and preserved in the site of Olympia. Phidias' statuary remained very influential on the Romans as well. And in fact, we have many statues of Jupiter that depend upon the type established by Phidias. We also can transfer that same typology to the statues of the deified emperors including the Colossus of Constantine. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe and follow for more adventures in ancient Rome and empire.