Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The statue was a religious focus of the Panhellenic sanctuary where the Olympic Games took place. It became a benchmark for monumental representations of gods in classical art.
Photo: Quatremère de Quincy · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Facts
- Place
- Olympia, Greece
- Civilisation / patron
- Classical Greece
- Built
- c. 435 BCE
- Destroyed
- c. 425 – 475 · A fire at Olympia or Constantinople; the location, date and account are uncertain.
- Status
- Lost
- UNESCO World Heritage since
- 1989
- Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- UNESCO World Heritage
History
The sculptor Phidias made a colossal seated image of the chief god for the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Gold and ivory covered a wooden core, and the throne was richly decorated with mythological scenes. Its later history is uncertain: the statue may have disappeared in late antiquity or been taken to Constantinople, where it was lost. Only descriptions and images preserve an impression of the vanished statue; the temple site is part of the archaeological heritage of Olympia.
More from: Antiquity
- Great Pyramid of Giza
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- Colossus of Rhodes
- Lighthouse of Alexandria
- Stonehenge
- Göbekli Tepe
- Parthenon
- Persepolis
- Terracotta Army
- Petra
- Colosseum
- Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
- Teotihuacan
- Abu Simbel Temples
- Great Wall of China
- Nazca Lines
- Stelae of Aksum
- Sigiriya
Sources: Wikipedia — Zeusbeeld van Olympia · UNESCO — Archeologisch gebied van Olympia