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Pheidias

Pheidias Often credited as being the “greatest” of all Ancient Greek sculptors, Pheidias, was a man gifted with both talent and turmoil. No one specific piece can definitely be attributed to the artist, but historical record suggests that he was the supervisor and main sculptor for works such as the Athena 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 have 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 proof 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 public monumental sculptures to Pheidias, even though the dates do not always support 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 project 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 century AD) writes of the giant statue of Zeus at Olympia and praises Pheidias for his skill, but the only proof that scholars and art historians have that the statue even existed is a coin that depicts an image similar 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 famed Athenian battles. Less than a year after the completion of the Athena Parthenos, Pheidias was brought to trial: the charge, 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. According to Lawrence, Plutarch writes that Pheidias died while in prison#. Plutarch and Early Evidence for Scandal, Imprisonment, and Sculpture Attributed to Pheidias Most of what we know about Pheidias is from a late first century biography of the sculptor, written by Plutarch. Scholars do have some difficulty with this source. Plutarch writes of Pheidias almost five hundred years after the sculptor is believed to have died. No one historian can conclude whether this particular biography is a factual account of the artist’s life or whether there has been some myth introduced into the story. Assuming that Plutarch’s words are factual, Pheidias was the “ergolabos” (or contractor) for the Athena Parthenon cult statue and the main designer of the ninety-two metopes of the Parthenon, as well as being the designer of the Pantheonic Procession. Plutarch points to the friendship between Pheidias and Perikles as being the downfall of the artist. As a politician, Perikles had many enemies that may have used Pheidias and his notoriety as an artist as a way of discrediting the leader. He believes that this may have been a possible reason why charges were brought against Pheidias.# Both Aristophanes and Plato make mention of Pheidias. Plato has only named one other artist, Polykleitus (a peer of Pheidias), in any of his writing, which leads Nigel Spivey to believe Pheidias had already become a “recognizable household name”. Plato mentions the artist in Meno 91d, where he paralleled Socrates measuring the wealth of a philosopher, with the weighing of the gold from the Athena Parthenos. Plato describes Pheidias as a man “who made conspicuously fine works of art”#. Although seemingly vague, Spivey points to the words of Plato as evidence of the charges brought against Pheidias. In 421BC, the satirical play, Peace, written by Aristophanes debuted. The play, more propaganda than entertainment, was a direct protest against the Peloponnesian War. In the play, Pheidias, was the man that started the war. Perikles was embarrassed by the non-specific crimes committed by him, and in hopes of diverting the attention of Athenian citizens away from the relationship between the two, he starts a war that some believe would last for decades. It is important to note that this particular play was a satire. Spivey believes that because Peace dates within ten years of the death of Pheidias, and his name is mentioned specifically, at the very least, the play supports the “Pheidias legend”. At most, the play could be considered lightweight evidence of conspiracy and plotting amongst anti-Periklean government officials#. Now lost in time, Philochorus, wrote a detailed historical account of Athens in which he had given specific dates for important events in the life of Pheidias. Many scholars disregard his words as being tainted by both myth and personal bias. Philochorus dates both the dedication of the Athena Parthenos and Pheidias’ legal trouble at 438-437BC. He records that his imprisonment was not immediate and was not in Athens. He is the only known historian to record that Pheidias as escaping Athenian judicial authority and fleeing to Olympia. It was in Olympia, where he supervised the construction of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the massive chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statue of Zeus. According to Philochorus, shortly after the dedication of the Zeus sculpture, he was once again captured and imprisoned; he would be in prison until the time of his death. Dates given by Philochorus sharply contrast with the dates often attributed to Pheidias, and again raise the question; what is the man, and what is the myth? If Philochorus is correct, Pheidias was not in Athens to supervise the sculpting of the pediment on the Parthenon. The pedimental sculpture of the Parthenon now being in question, other questions can be formulated about his involvement, or non-involvement, in pieces often attributed to him and his school. Bibliography: 1. Haggar, R.G. Sculpture Through the Ages. New York: Roy Publishers, 1960. 2. Lawrence, A.W. Greek and Roman Sculpture. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1972. 3. Mattusch, Carol C. Classical Bronzes. London: Cornell University Press, 1996. 4. Onians, John. Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome. London: Yale University Press, 1999. 5. Richter, Gisella M.A. Archaic Greek Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. 6. Spivey, Nigel. Understanding Greek Sculpture. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1996.

Word Count: 1034