Plate 6a. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia

The Temple of Zeus, in which was placed one of the most renowned works of art of ancient times, the gold and ivory statue of the god Zeus, executed by Phidias, was probably erected 460 to 450 B C. Plate 6a illustrates different portions; at Fig. 3 the corner [of] one of the long sides of the Temple, and to the left thereof at Fig. 1 the entablature of the pronaos and opisthodome at the same scale. The strong membering and excellent proportions of mass make this temple one of the finest of all of the remaining Doric monuments Although originated in the middle of the fifth century B. C., and only about 10 to 20 years earlier than the Parthenon, the architecture of the Temple of Zeus is nearer the older style of architecture than the more slender relations and finer members of the Athenian monuments. Of particularly fine formation is the capital, with the elastic curve of the echinus; it is about a medium between the capital of the Temple of Ægina with its strikingly high echinus and that of the so-called Temple of Theseus at Athens. The entablature and height of columns give occasion for further comparison. The entablature practically agrees with that of the Temple of Ægina, being almost 2/5 the height of the column, while on the Parthenon it is about 2:61 and at the Temple of Nemea about 2:8[…]. The column height is about 4[…] diameters, while at the Temple of Theseus and the Parthenon it is 5[…] diameters.

The material used was a rough native conglomerate, the rough surface of which meanwhile adapted itself admirably for coating. Marble was used only for the carvings, the gable figures and the metopes. The metopes though are comparatively thin slabs of marble which are held in place in grooves in the sides of the triglyphs. The covering of the Temple roof also consisted of marble in the form of flat tiles.

The cyma has a vertical surface at its lower half, the upper half being moulded. Some of the ornamentation was only painted— white on a blue background— and could be restored almost correctly from the remaining portions.

Remains of decoration which answered for a restoration on our plate were also found on the cymatium. This ornament was the well-known doric leaf-wave. This cymatium is found on the long side and on both slopes of the pediment, but not on the corona forming the base for the pediment. Fig. 2 shows the soffit view with the mutules and the profile of the triglyphs; Fig. 7, the plan of the capitals and outer columns; Figs. 5 and 6, the profile of the antæ and columns of the pronaos at a larger scale.