The chryselephantine statue of Olympian Zeus is a work of the Athenian sculptor Phidias, made around 436 BC. J.-C. Now extinct, it was considered in antiquity as the third of the seven wonders of the world.
Description
According to Pausanias[1], the statue shows Zeus seated on his throne, a representation which dates back to The Iliad and which spread in Greek art from the 6th century BC. AD[2] - it seems that the sculptor was deliberately inspired by Homer[3]. The god is crowned with an olive branch. In his right hand he holds a statuette of Nike, the personification of victory, herself represented crowned with a headband and a garland. We do not know its proportions. In his left hand, Zeus holds a richly decorated scepter, on which an eagle is perched. The god is draped in a himation (cloak) embroidered with animal figures and flowers, and wears sandals. His throne has a carved, inlaid (precious stones, ebony) and painted decoration. Four small dancing Victories crown the legs of the throne, and two other Victories appear at its base.
The whole is made using the chryselephantine technique:plates of gold (χρυσός / khrusós) and ivory (ελεφάντινος / elephántinos) cover a wooden core and represent respectively, on the one hand the hair, the beard, the sandals and the drapery, on the other hand the bare parts (notably the skin). It is about 12 meters high, including 1 meter for the base and 2 meters for the pedestal. A kalos inscription on one of the fingers, "Pantarkes is beautiful", makes it possible to date the statue approximately:the so-called Pantarkes wins in 436 BC. the boys' wrestling event at the Olympic Games.
The statue enjoys great fame throughout the Greek world. It is included in the list of seven wonders of the world. Out of veneration for the sculptor, the workshop where he sculpted the colossus with his students was preserved until the 5th century AD. AD; it will be found and excavated from 1954 to 1958[4]. At the same time, the statue was removed from the temple and went to join, in Constantinople, the prodigious collection of Lausos, chamberlain of Theodosius II, which includes among others the Aphrodite of Cnidus[5]. It disappeared in a fire in 475, at the same time as the other statues[6]. Unfortunately, no marble or bronze copy has come down to us. On the other hand, the work of Phidias has been identified with more or less certainty on a series of Roman coins minted from AD 98 to 198. AD
Abbé Barthélémy in Voyage du jeune Anacharsis en Grece, circa the middle of the fourth century before the vulgar era (1843), writes that “the Jupiter of Olympia will always serve as a model for artists who wish to represent the Supreme Being with dignity. »