Ancient Greek Architecture

"But the most notable of all was an ivory statue of Jupiter, the work of Phidias, son of the Athenian Charmides, of such greatness that although the temple is very high, nevertheless it seems to exceed the right proportion: for the artist he sat down; and yet it almost touches the roof with its head: so we then see that if it were to stand up it would uncover the temple. And some described the size of that statue, among others Callimachus in iambic verses. The painter Panenos, his nephew, cooperated greatly with Phidias in that work, to whom he was assigned together with Phidias, and embellished the statue with the ornamentation of colours, and mainly in the part of the drapery. (Strabo)"

"Pediments of the temple of Zeus in Olympia"

"Apollo depicted in the western pediment The artist of the temple of Zeus at Olympia depicted his simultaneously powerful and spiritual superiority in the way grander and more realistic. In the midst of the wildest tumult, the god suddenly appears, and his outstretched arm imposes calm. It is impossible to bring to expression in a more compelling way the entrance of the divine with all its illuminating clarity and his omniscient gaze. (Walter Friedrich Otto)"

"Statue of Zeus in Olympia"