Olympian Gods

Featuring ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, this book explores the artistic history and legacy of ancient god statues. For people in antique Greece, ornately and imposingly fashioned statues depicted the gods and symbolized power or ideal beauty. During the Roman Empire, when sculptors copied Greek models, the sculptures conveyed an aura of education and scholarship. This volume showcases antique sculptures that represent the most important Greek Olympian gods. Culled from the collection of the The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, this book features objects ranging from the 5th to the 4th century, B.C.E., and includes works by Phidias, Myron, Polyclitus, and Praxiteles. The sculptures express the Greek ideal of beauty and the remarkable creative powers of these artists as well as the evolving ways gods were portrayed--from solemn and religiously formal to natural and graceful figures.