Who was the sculptor of the Athena Parthenos?
Answer
Phidias
The sculptor of the Athena Parthenos was Phidias.
Phidias, a leading Greek sculptor of the 5th century BCE, created the monumental image of Athena housed in the Parthenon at Athens. The statue was completed and installed around 438 BCE during the rebuilding programme associated with the statesman Pericles and the architects Ictinos and Kallikrates.
Athena Parthenos was a chryselephantine sculpture: a wooden framework covered with gold plates for the garments and ivory plates for the flesh. It stood roughly 13 metres high and showed Athena armed with a helmet, spear and shield, accompanied by the goddess Nike and a sacred snake. Its precious materials also made it a financial reserve for Athens.
The original disappeared sometime in the first millennium CE, so its appearance is reconstructed from ancient descriptions, copies, coins, gems and vase images. Do not confuse it with Athena Promachos, another major statue associated with Phidias that stood outdoors on the Acropolis. Phidias is also linked with the colossal Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.