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| [[Image:1868 Lawrence Alma-Tadema - Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends.jpg|thumb|300px|''Phidias Showing the [[Frieze]] of the [[Parthenon]] to his Friends'' (1868) by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema|Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema]]]]
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| '''Phidias''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɪ|d|i|ə|s}}; {{lang-grc-gre|Φειδίας}}, ''Pheidias''; c. 480 – 430 BC) was a [[Hellenic civilization|Greek]] sculptor, painter and architect, who lived in the 5th century BC, and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest of all sculptors of [[Classical Greece]]:<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ph/Phidias.html Phidias]</ref> Phidias' [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia]] was one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]. Phidias designed the statues of the goddess [[Athena]] on the [[Acropolis, Athens|Athenian Acropolis]], namely the ''[[Athena Parthenos]]'' inside the [[Parthenon]] and the ''[[Athena Promachos]]'', a colossal bronze statue of [[Athena]] which stood between it and the [[Propylaea]],<ref>Birte Lundgreen, "A Methodological Enquiry: The Great Bronze Athena by Phidias" ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies''</ref> a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. Phidias was the son of Charmides of Athens.<ref>Not the [[Charmides]] who participated in the tyranny at Athens.</ref> The ancients believed that his masters were Hegias<ref>Not to be confused with [[Hegias]] the neoplatonic philosopher.</ref> and Hageladas.
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| Plutarch<ref>[[Plutarch]]. ''Life of Pericles'', 31.</ref> records that enemies of [[Pericles]], who was a close friend of Phidias, tried to attack Pericles through Phidias who was accused of stealing gold intended for the statue of Athena in the Parthenon and of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of Athena's statue. The first charge was disproved but Phidias was jailed for the second, where he died.<ref name=Wood>Woodford, Susan. (1982) ''The Art of Greece and Rome''. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], p. 52. ISBN 0521298733</ref> Pericles' companion, [[Aspasia]], also accused of impiety, was acquitted of the charges against her.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}
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| [[Image:Charles Béranger - Replica of The Hémicycle - Walters 3783.jpg|thumb|In this replica painting by artist Charles Béranger, Phidias is depicted in the center of the auditorium.<ref>{{cite web |publisher= [[The Walters Art Museum]]
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| |url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/8491
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| |title= Replica of The Hémicycle}}</ref> The Walters Art Museum.]]
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| == Works ==
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| {{Main|Battle of Marathon }}
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| [[Image:Attica 06-13 Athens 50 View from Philopappos - Acropolis Hill.jpg|thumb|The [[Acropolis of Athens]]]]
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| [[Image:NAMA Athéna Varvakeion.jpg|thumb|A Roman period, 2nd century CE sculpture found near the [[Ioannis Varvakis|Varvakeion school]] reflects the type of the restored ''Athena Parthenos'' presently in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]], Athens]]
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| [[Image:Statue of Zeus.jpg|thumb|A reconstruction of Phidias' [[statue]] of [[Zeus]], in an [[engraving]] made by [[Philippe Galle]] in 1572, from a drawing by [[Maarten van Heemskerck]]]]
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| Although no original works in existence can be attributed to him with certainty, numerous Roman copies in varying degrees of supposed fidelity are known to exist. This is not uncommon. Almost jall classical Greek paintings and sculptures have been destroyed, and only Roman copies or notes of them exist, like the passages of [[Plato]] that ascribe Phidias' works to him. The ancient Romans frequently copied and further developed Greek art.
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| Ancient critics take a very high view of the merits of Phidias. What they especially praise is the [[ethos]] or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later so called "pathetic" school. [[Demetrius]] calls his statues sublime, and at the same time precise.
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| Of his life we know little apart from his works. His first commission created a group of national heroes with [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]] as a central figure.
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| The famous statesman [[Pericles]] also commissioned several sculptures for Athens from him in 447 BC, to celebrate Greek victory against the Persians at the [[Battle of Marathon]] during the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] (490 BC). Pericles used some of the money from the maritime [[League of Delos]],<ref>The Delian team was an association of approximately 150 Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire.</ref> to rebuild and decorate Athens to celebrate this victory.
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| In 1958 archaeologists found the workshop at Olympia where Phidias assembled the gold and ivory Zeus. There were still some shards of ivory at the site, moulds and other casting equipment, and a black glaze drinking cup<ref>[http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/image_archive/vases/v5.html Image of the cup]</ref> engraved "I belong to Phidias".<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/oxford-art-encyclopedia/phidias ''The Oxford Art Dictionary'', ''s.v.'' "Phidias"]</ref>
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| The [[Golden Ratio]] has been represented by the Greek letter <math>\varphi</math> ([[phi]]), after Phidias, who is said to have employed it. The Golden Ratio is an [[irrational number]] approximating 1.6180<ref>The golden ratio can be derived by the quadratic formula, by starting with the first number as 1, then solving for 2nd number x, where the ratios {{nowrap|(x + 1)/x}} = x/1 or (multiplying by x) yields: {{nowrap|x + 1}} = x<sup>2</sup>, or thus a [[quadratic equation]]: x<sup>2</sup> − x − 1 = 0. Then, by the quadratic formula, for positive x = {{nowrap|(−b +}} √(b2 − 4ac))/(2a) with a = 1, b = −1, c = −1, the solution for x is: {{nowrap|(−(−1) +}} √((−1)2 − 4·1·(−1)))/(2·1) or {{nowrap|(1 +}} √(5))/2.</ref> which has special mathematical properties. The [[golden spiral]] is also said to hold [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] values.
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| ==Early works==
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| {{Main|Athena Promachos}}
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| The earliest of the works of Phidias were dedications in memory of [[Battle of Marathon|Marathon]], celebrating the Greek victory. At [[Delphi]] he erected a great group in bronze including the figures of [[Greek mythology|Greek]] [[gods]] [[Apollo]] and Athena, several [[Attica|Attic]] heroes, and General [[Miltiades the Younger]]. On the Acropolis of Athens Phidias set up a colossal bronze statue of Athena, the [[Athena Promachos]], which was visible far out at sea. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and warriors and the protectress of Athens.
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| At [[Pellene]] in [[Achaea]], and at [[Plataea]] Phidias made two other statues of Athena, as well as a statue of the goddess [[Aphrodite]] in ivory and gold for the people of Elis.
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| ==Zeus at Olympia and the Athena Parthenos==
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| {{Main|Statue of Zeus at Olympia}}
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| {{Main|Athena Parthenos}}
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| Among the ancient Greeks themselves two works of Phidias far outshone all others, the colossal chryselephantine figures of [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|Zeus]] c. 432 BC on the site where it was erected in the [[temple of Zeus]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078346/Statue-of-Zeus Statue of Zeus] from [http://www.britannica.com/ encyclopædiabritannica.com]. Retrieved 22 November 2006.</ref> at [[Olympia, Greece]], and of [[Athena Parthenos]] (literally, "Athena the Virgin") a sculpture of the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] virgin [[goddess]] [[Athena]] named after an epithet for the goddess herself, and was housed in the Parthenon in Athens. Both sculpture belong to about the middle of the 5th century BC. A number of replicas and works inspired by it, both ancient and modern, have been made. From the 5th century BC, the copies of the statue of Zeus found were small copies on coins of Elis, which give us but a general notion of the pose, and the character of the head. The god was seated on a throne, every part of which was used as a ground for sculptural decoration. His body was of ivory, his robe of gold. His head was of somewhat archaic type: the bust of Zeus found at [[Otricoli]], which used to be regarded as a copy of the head of the Olympian statue, is certainly more than a century later in style.
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| ==Materials and theories ==
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| {{Main| Lemnian Athena}}
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| In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]] Phidias was celebrated for his statues in bronze, and his [[chryselephantine]] works (statues made of gold and ivory). In the [[Hippias Major]], [[Plato]] claims that Phidias seldom, if ever, executed works in [[marble]] though many of the sculptures of his times were executed in marble. Plutarch tells us that he superintended the great works of Pericles on the [[Acropolis]].
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| Inscriptions{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} prove that the marble blocks intended for the pedimental statues of the Parthenon were not brought to Athens until 434 BC, which was probably after the death of Phidias. It is therefore possible that most sculptural decoration of the [[Parthenon]] was the work of Phidias' [[atelier]] but supposedly made by pupils of Phidias, such as [[Alcamenes]] and [[Agoracritus]].
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| Our actual knowledge of the works of Phidias is very small. There are many stately figures in [[Rome|Roman]] and other museums which clearly belong to the same school as the Parthenos. These are copies of the Roman age.
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| According to geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (1.28.2), the original bronze [[Lemnian Athena]] was created by Phidias c. 450-440 BCE for Athenians living on [[Lemnos]]. [[Adolf Furtwängler]] proposed finding a copy of Phidias's Lemnian Athena in a statue of which the head is at [[Bologna]] and the body is at [[Dresden]]. Some 5th century torsos of Athena have been found at Athens. The torso of Athena in the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] at Paris, which has unfortunately lost its head, may perhaps best serve to help our imagination in reconstructing the original statue.
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| ==Phidias' workshop rediscovered==
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| [[File:Workshop of Phidias.jpg|thumb|Photo (2005) of the workshop of Phidias at Olympia]]
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| A significant advancement in the knowledge of Phidias' working methodology came in 1954–1958 with the excavation of the workshop at Olympia where Phidias created the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia]]. Tools, terracotta molds and a cup inscribed "I belong to Phidias" were found here, just where [[Pausanias (geographer)|the traveler Pausanias]] said the statue was constructed.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/oxford-art-encyclopedia/phidias "Phidias", ''Oxford Dictionary of Art,'' e-Notes.com]</ref><ref>K. Kris Hirst, "[http://archaeology.about.com/od/ancientgreece/ss/olympia_tour_6.htm A Walking Tour of Olympia, Greece]," about.com</ref><ref>"[http://archaeology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=archaeology&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perseus.tufts.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fptext%3Fdoc%3DPerseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0039%26amp%3Bquery%3DOlympia%252C%2520Workshop%2520of%2520Pheidias Olympia, Workshop of Pheidias]," ''Perseus Building Catalog,'' about.com</ref> The discovery has enabled archaeologists to re-create the techniques used to make the statue and confirm its date.
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| ==Gallery==
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| <gallery>
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| File:Aphrodite Sappho Chiaramonti Inv1459.jpg|Head of [[Aphrodite]]. Phidian style
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| File:Zeus.in.Olympia.representation.on.coin.drawing.jpg|[[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|Zeus in Olympia]], representation on coin
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| File:NAMA Athéna du Pnyx.jpg|A copy of a work by Phidias or one of his pupils: head of Athena, found around [[Pnyx]], now in the National Archeological Museum of [[Athens]]
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| File:Lemnia torso04 pushkin.jpg|Reconstruction of [[Athena Lemnia]], Dresden
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| File:Testa di Minerva S.Giulia Brescia.JPG|[[Athena Promachos|Head of Athena]], Roman copy
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| File:Amazzone ferita - Wounded Amazon - Phidias - Musei Capitolini Roma.jpg|Wounded Amazon - [[Capitoline Museums|Musei Capitolini]], Rome
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| </gallery>
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| == See also ==
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| *[[4753 Phidias]], a [[Asteroid belt|main-belt]] [[asteroid]] named after Phidias.
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| *[[Constantinople]] - destruction in 1204 of the great statue of Athena, the work of Phidias
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| ==References and sources==
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| ;References
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| {{reflist|2}}
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| ;Sources
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| *{{1911}}
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| *Andrew Stewart, ''One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works,'' Part III of Stewart's ''Greek Sculpture'', ([[Yale University Press]]) ([http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0008%3Ahead%3D%2329 on-line text at Perseus]).
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| *Pía Figueroa, "[http://www.humanistmovement.org/downloads/Pia_fugera_study_Estudio_sobre_Fidias-PF-eng-final.pdfStudy on Phideas]," (PDF file) English translation with references
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| == External links ==
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| * {{commons category inline|Phidias}}
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| * [http://www.pokemyname.com/firstname_35958_phidias.htm Phidias as a First Name in USA]
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| [[Category:5th-century BC Greek sculptors]]
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| [[Category:Ancient Greek sculptors]]
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| [[Category:Ancient Greek architects]]
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| [[Category:Acropolis of Athens]]
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| [[Category:Ancient Athenian sculptors]]
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| {{Link FA|pt}}
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