Cornell University Library Digital Collections

Figure L (Apollo), West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia

Title:
Figure L (Apollo), West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia
Collection:
Cornell Cast Collection
Creator:
Unknown (Pausanias attributes the West pediment to Alkamenes, possibly erroneously)
Date:
ca. 1890-1900
470-456 BCE
2016 (image)
Site:
probably Berlin, Germany (reproduction)|Olympia, Greece (original)
Accession:
Sage nos. 139-154|796
Original Culture:
Greek
Original Style:
Classical
Work Type:
casts (sculpture)
Materials/Techniques:
plaster cast (sculpture)|marble sculpture in the round (original)
Subject:
Apollo (Greek deity)
Centauromachy (Greek mythology)
Ancient Olympia (Greece)
Image View Description:
from front
Image View Type:
overall
Description:
This is a full-sized cast of figure L from the West pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, identified as Apollo. The god stands with his left (proper) foot slightly advanced, his right arm held straight out at his side, his left arm lowered, and his head turned to his right. He is nude except for the large garment draped over his right shoulder that falls behind his back and twists around his left forearm. The original is generally well preserved but has sustained damage, particularly to the lower legs and hands. A small section of the cloak near Apollo's left knee that was known when the cast was produced in the late 19th c. either was not included in the cast or is missing from it. The cast is in good condition. Cornell's cast collection originally included full-sized figures from both the west and the east pediments of the temple, as recorded in the Sage Catalogue (ca. 1896). The figures from the west pediment gave their name to Cornell's Temple of Zeus Cafe, where they were on display when the cafe was sited in the space that is now Kaufmann Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. The subject of the West pediment of the Temple of Zeus is a scene of battle between Lapiths and Centaurs at the wedding of Perithoos--king of the Lapiths and friend of Theseus--and Deidameia. Apollo watches over the chaotic scene, directing the action. After an earthquake in the sixth c. CE toppled the temple, its broken elements were gradually covered and protected under several meters of alluvial deposits from the Alpheios and Kladeos rivers. Many figures and fragments from the Olympia pediments were uncovered by German excavators in the final quarter of the 19th c. Excavations at the site are ongoing. Pausanias' description of the temple pediments (5.10.2-10) sheds great light on the subjects of the pediments and both clarifies and confuses the placement of the figures in relation to each other. Various arrangements of figures have been proposed and scholarly debate on the topic continues.
Condition:
Good condition
Relation:
ID nos. 793-798 are a set of figures from the west pediment. Also included in the set are nos. 449, 436, and 474.
Bibliography:
Bernard Ashmole and Nicholas Yalouris, Olympia: The Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus (London: Phaidon, 1967).
Hans-Volkmar Herrmann, ed., Die Olympia-Skulpturen. Wege der Forschung, Band 577 (Darmstadt, 1987).
Andrew Stewart, Greek Sculpture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), 142-146, 253-254, figs. 262-276.
John Boardman, Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period (London: Thames and Hudson, 1985), 33-50, figs. 18-23.6.
Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Katalog der Originalabgüsse, Heft 4, Griechenland und Rom: Freiplastik, pls. 76-79.
Georg Treu, Die Bildwerke von Olympia in Stein und Thon. Die Ergebnisse der von dem Deutschen Reich veranstalteten Ausgrabung, Band III (Berlin: Asher & Co., 1894-1897).
Judith Barringer, "The Temple of Zeus at Olympia: Heroes and Athletes," Hesperia 74 (2005), 211-241.
Repository:
Cornell University (current)
Olympia, Archaeological Museum (original)
Repository Location:
Goldwin Smith Hall (Room 174), Cornell University
Collecting Program:
Cornell Collections of Antiquities
Rights:
The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use.  The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.
Disclaimer:
Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.

About the collection

Cornell University once owned a collection of plaster casts of sculptures, gemstones and inscriptions from different cultures and periods such as the ancient Near East, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome (the majority), the European Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the 19th century. In addition, architectural models and details of architectural sculpture from the above-mentioned periods formed part of the collection together with more abstract drawing models for art students. This collection must have comprised about 2000 pieces (ca. 1000 being reproductions of gemstones), only a part of which has survived, often in very bad condition and distributed all over campus. The present database has several goals: curatorial, didactic, documentary and scholarly. First, it will give an idea of what has been preserved and is a step towards reuniting the remaining holdings, at least on a virtual basis. Moreover, the database can serve as the starting point for further possible restoration of the casts, since it allows for assembling the fragments of destroyed sculptures that sometimes are stored in different locations. Once complete, the database will help students and faculty alike to familiarize themselves with major monuments and artworks of the past.