Monday, July 13, 2009

The face of Zeus

I've been working on an online 3-D reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. I'm trying to be very rigorous in my accuracy.

The Temple of Zeus in Olympia was one of the three most important religious sites in the Hellenistic world.

The statue of Zeus was by the greatest Athenian sculptor, Phidias, and was considered one of the seven wonders of the world.


Strangely, there are few representations of the statue. It may have appreared on a few coins, etc. The statue was eventually in the 700's brought to Constantinople, where it was ruined in a fire. No one is clear on what it looked like, (although there are also some written descriptions).
At about the same time, new Christian inconography was developing for the late Roman Empire. It was being developed in Constantinople. One of the most potent images, and still universally used in Greek churches, is that of Christ Pantokrator. Christ the ruler of all, or Christ Almighty. Christ always appears seated on a throne, staring directly and serenely at the viewer, bearded, the hair on his head tied back. His hands usually hold the Gospels and make a sign of blessing.
The few images of Zeus, he was seated on a throne, staring directly at the viewer, bearded, the hair on his head tied back. His hands held a victory and a staff.


So, I made the realization this morning, the Christ Pantokrator is the old image of Zeus.


I did a little research, and it seems a Frenchman named Latourette came to the same conclusion in 1975.

Which is nice.