Phidias was the Greek sculptor in charge of the Parthenon sculptures.
Working under the leadership of Pericles, Phidias supervised the artistic program for Athens’s new temple to Athena. He is especially associated with the colossal chryselephantine Athena Parthenos, the gold-and-ivory cult image that stood inside the Parthenon. Ancient writers also credit him with the celebrated Statue of Zeus at Olympia.
“Responsible for the sculptures” does not mean Phidias personally carved every surviving figure. The Parthenon’s metopes, frieze, and pedimental groups were produced by a large workshop, probably including pupils and other specialists. Phidias’s role was more like artistic director, designer, and supervisor than sole craftsman.
Construction of the Parthenon began around 447 BC and continued into the 430s. The building’s sculptural decoration combined Pentelic marble with vivid original paint, now mostly lost. Another common mix-up is calling every Parthenon marble a work by Phidias himself: only the Athena statue was traditionally identified as directly his, while the architectural sculpture is generally linked to his direction and workshop.