Pheidias :: Essays Papers

PheidiasOften credited as being the greatest of solely Ancient Greek statue makers, Pheidias, was a man gifted with both talents and turmoil. No one specific piece can definitely be attrisolelyed to the artist, but historical record suggests that he was the supervisor and main graveor for works such as the genus Athene Parthenos and the Zeus for the temple at Olympia. Because many sculptures often attributed to him were designed with large quantities of gold and ivory, he is believed to kick in been extremely proficient with fine materials. He was Athenian this scholars do not debate. His master is said to have been Agelades of Argos, though there is no induction to substantiate the claim. Many believe that the majority of his pieces were commissioned by the city of Athens and, in turn, attribute many large humankind monumental sculptures to Pheidias, even though the dates do not constantly maintenance this. Through my research, I agree with R.G. Haggar, that his career was launched when he was commissioned to sculpt an Athenian monument to Marathon. Scholars argue whether or not the funds for this mould came from the spoils of the war, or the Athenian government. In several ancient texts the name Pheidias appears and seems to always be followed by a positive statement about his sculpture.Plotinus (third light speed AD) writes of the giant statue of Zeus at Olympia and praises Pheidias for his skill, but the only consequence that scholars and art historians have that the statue even existed is a coin that depicts an image correspondent to the way the statue is described. R.G. Haggar contends that the Parthenon statues remain the greatest monument to his genius (Haggar 22), but does not believe he sculpted the majority of the images himself. Haggar believes that his role as supervisor over the massive commission was crucial to the presentation of the known Athenian battles. Less than a year after the completion of the Athena Parthenos, Ph eidias was brought to trial the go against, embezzlement. A.W. Lawrence, who does not give specific sources, believes that he was exonerated from the embezzlement charges because all of the precious metal from the statue could be weighed. After the charge failed, he was again charged, publicly, this time with both misappropriating public funds and sacrilege. The latter charge existed because he had depicted himself and Perikles on the shield held by Athena.