The Workshop of Phidias

01.11.2002 to 01.11.2009

Pergamonmuseum

From 31 October 2002, the Pergamon Museum shows in its north wing a selection of 27 objects from the so-called "Phidias workshop". The exhibits are long-term loans from the 7th Ephorate of Antiquities in Olympia to the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities). First German excavations in Olympia in 1875 to 1881 revealed an old building from the classical period. Between 1954 and 1968, during further excavations on its site, numerous tools, vessels, ornaments, clay moulds and other objects were found. They confirm the ancient source by the writer Pausanias: this, he claims, is the place where Phidias, the famous ancient sculptor, erected his 12-meter-high statue of Zeus enthroned. The cult statue, made of gold and ivory, was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.