Six Greek sculptors . onality. But the colossal statues whichthey made have in no case survived, with the exceptionof a few fragments ; and although we may infer some-thing from the reflection of these great works in alllater art, the Elgin marbles still remain the most trust-worthy record of the work of Phidias. The date of Phidias birth can only be inferred fromthe fact that the figure on the shield of the AthenaParthenos, said to be a portrait of himself, was that ofa bald-headed old man, yet of a man still in the fullvigour of his strength, since he was taking an activepart in the battle o
Six Greek sculptors . onality. But the colossal statues whichthey made have in no case survived, with the exceptionof a few fragments ; and although we may infer some-thing from the reflection of these great works in alllater art, the Elgin marbles still remain the most trust-worthy record of the work of Phidias. The date of Phidias birth can only be inferred fromthe fact that the figure on the shield of the AthenaParthenos, said to be a portrait of himself, was that ofa bald-headed old man, yet of a man still in the fullvigour of his strength, since he was taking an activepart in the battle of Greeks and Amazons. The statuewas dedicated in 438 ; and it seems a reasonableinference that Phidias was born about the end of thesixth century, a date that fits in very well with what weknow otherwise as to his artistic career. | As a boy, hewould remember the victory of Marathon, and the gloryit gave to his people of Athens and to their faithfulallies the Plataeans, for whom also, in later years, he Plate XIX. STRAXGFOKD SHIELD, IN BRITISH MUSEUM To face p. 82 PHIDIAS 83 was to make a statue commemorating their share in thebattle. As a young man, he must have fought atSalamis and at Plataea ; it was perhaps a reminiscenceof his valour on these occasions that led him to placehimself as a combatant upon the shield of the AthenaParthenos, for the victories over the Persians were com-memorated partly by trophies erected from the spoil ofthe enemy, partly by the more indirect reference whichmade the battles of the Greeks against Centaurs orAmazons a favourite theme in the art of the fifth personal commemoration reminds us of the epitaphof JEschylus, who counted his valour against the Persiansat Marathon the event of his life most worthy to berecorded on his tomb. The pupilage of Phidias belongsto the time of the Persian wars. He is said to have workedas a painter also in his youth ; the knowledge he gainedwould be most useful to him in designing the orna-mentat
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