Phidias

Phidias (circa 490-32 B.C.), the greatest of Greek sculptors, was born at Athens. His friend Pericles placed under his direction the enrichment of the city with temples and other new buildings, entrusting him at the same time with the execution of the more important details. The most famous of these buildings was the Parthenon, which contained a colossal statue of Athene carved by Phidias himself. Portions of the metopes, frieze and pediments, known as the Elgin Marbles, are now in the British Museum. The statue of Zeus in the Olympieum at Olympia was held to be his masterpiece. According to Plutarch, Phidias was charged with impiety because he had introduced his own portrait and that of Pericles on the shield of Athene, and thrown into prison, where he died.