Institutio oratoria, 2.3.6

Item

Text Category
Literature: prose
Century Range
Location of Display
Author
Reference
Institutio oratoria, 2.3.6
Quotation
… nisi forte Iovem quidem Phidias optime fecit, illa autem quae in ornamentum operis eius accedunt alius melius elaborasset ...
Part of Speech
Type of Thing Ornamented
Visual Work: Sculpture: Statue
Visual Work: Sculpture: Deity
Object/ Person Ornamented
Statue of Zeus at Olympia, by Phidias (ancient master sculptor)
Type of Medium Ornamenting
Visual Work: Sculpture: Relief
Visual Work: Material: Glass
Visual Work: Material: Precious Metals: Gold
Visual Work: Material: Chryselephantine
Nature
Visual Work: Painting
Visual Work: Material: Ivory
Visual Work: Material: Ebony
Visual Work: Material: Precious Stones
Visual Work: Clothing
Visual Work: Furniture #
Medium/a Ornamenting
"The ornaments of the statue": perhaps most immediately understood by the modern reader as its drapery, but for the ancient reader, surely including all the features that Pausanias describes and for which Phidias could conceivably taken responsibility: sculpted wreath of olive sprays
gilded glass robe, carved with figural relief representations of animals and lilies
small chryselephantine statue of crowned Nike in the right hand
sceptre inlaid with various metals, supporting an eagle, in the statue's left hand
throne adorned with painted figures and wrought images (figural relief sculpture, and perhaps in the round, or almost so, at the feet and potentially on the rods that run under the throne), and with gold, precious stones, ebony, and ivory
golden sandals
footstool adorned with a figural relief sculpture of an Amazonomachy
further sculpted figural relief works in gold on the pedestal
the passage underneath the throne restricted by painted screens. In sum: visual works and media: sculpture, painting, precious materials.
Notes
Pausanias, Graecae descriptio, 5.11.1-10
Item Identifier
A00274
Determination
Derived directly from text