Phidias - Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, UK
N 51° 30.533 W 000° 08.381
30U E 698485 N 5710296
This 1874 statue of Phidias is at the southern end of the Royal Academy in the Burlington House courtyard. It is one of several statues on the second floor facade and is the one at the extreme left at 90°to the other statues.
Waymark Code: WMKKD4
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/26/2014
Views: 2
From the ground, the stone statue of Phidias by Joseph Durham, appears to be life-size and possibly a bit bigger. The statue shows Phidias in his Roman robes and he is bare headed with a beard. In his right hand he is holding a scroll across his chest. His left hand is resting on a painting or tablet that is resting on the ground.
Wikipedia tells us about Phidias:
Phidias or Pheidias (c. 480 – 430 BC) was a Greek sculptor, painter and architect, who lived in the 5th century BC, and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest of all sculptors of Classical Greece: Phidias' Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias designed the statues of the goddess Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, namely the Athena Parthenos inside the Parthenon and the Athena Promachos, a colossal bronze statue of Athena which stood between it and the Propylaea, a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. Phidias was the son of Charmides of Athens. The ancients believed that his masters were Hegias and Hageladas.
Plutarch records that enemies of Pericles, who was a close friend of Phidias, tried to attack Pericles through Phidias who was accused of stealing gold intended for the statue of Athena in the Parthenon and of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of Athena's statue. The first charge was disproved but Phidias was jailed for the second, where he died. Pericles' companion, Aspasia, also accused of impiety and for keeping a disorderly house, was acquitted of the charges against her.