Wonders of the Ancient World: The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The Statue of Zeus was produced by the master sculptor Phidias, who had already produced the Eulgin Marbles and the giant statue of Athena in the Parthenon. The temple in which it stood was built between 470-456 BC but the statue itself was not started until around 430BC and was not finished until at least 7 years later. Since the temple had already been built, Phidias had to have a large workshop built where he could fully assemble the statue before placing it in the temple.
The Statue of Zeus was to be made of ivory for his skin and gold for his robes and hair. He would sit upon his throne, 40ft tall, with a staff in one hand and a life size statue of Nike(the Winged Victory goddess) in the other. While not nearly as large as the other classic wonders, it was regarded as one of the most impressive due to the complexity and perfection of the statue itself. Phidias, who was already known as perhaps the best sculpter in ancient Greece, invented a whole new way of sculpting ivory due to unprecidented area he had to cover. He found that by soaking the ivory in vinegar it became plyable and he was able to mold it onto a wooden frame using terracotta moulds, after which the ivory would return to its normal state and become hard and fixed in place. The statue stood for over 800 years before the Roman Emperor Theodosius 1 ordered pagan sites to be permenantly closed. Accounts after this are uncertain, either the statue stayed in the old temple or it was carried off to a palace in Constantinople. Either way, both stories end with the great Zeus being destroyed by fire, either at the palace of Laucus in 475AD or in its home in the temple in 425AD.

Statue of Zeus with the sacred pool of olive oil, used as offerings to the god as well as to maintain the ivory

Moulds found in Phidias' workshop