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The Olympia Master is the name given to the anonymous sculptor responsible for the external sculpture of the Temple Of Zeus, Olympia Possibly also a porphyry head of Zeus, see J. Dorig, ''Une tête colossale en porphyre de le collection Burrell à Glasgow'', Antike Plastik 15, 1975, p15. From what Pausanias tells us of the dates of the Temple, the Master and his workshop were active between 470 and 457 BCE Pausanias, 5.10.2 and 5.10.4. The two pediments and the series of metopes ascribed to him are the paradigmatic expression of the Early Classical or Severe Style of 5th century Greek sculpture. The site of the sanctuary was first systematically excavated by a French team in 1829Blouet, ''Expedition scientifique de Morée'', vol I, 1831 then the German expedition headed by Georg Treu from 1875-81, and the results published in a 5 volume report by and Alkamene on grounds of chronologyBy R Föster, ''Alkamenes und die Giebelkompositionen de Zeustempels in Olympia'', Rheinisches Museum 38, 1883, p421-449. the temple decoration is now commonly attributed to the putative Olympia MasterThe name was first coined by Ernst Buschor in ''Die Olympiameister'', Athenische Mitteilungen, 51, 1926, p163-170, one amongst a studio of five sculptors. The two gable ends and metopes exhibit a stylistic unity of strong rythms and simple planes. The dress of the figures has not yet reached the naturalism of the mature classical, yet in the temple sculptures there is evidence of an experimentation not pursued by the younger Greek sculptors. The Olympia Master's work achieves a complexity of emotion that exceeds the conventions of the archaic; we find pathos, hubris, tension, exhaustion, disgust - markedly so in his characterization of Herakles, nuances lost to the idealised art of the later 5th century. The east pediment represents Pelops ’s race against Oinomaos for the hand of Hippodamia , seemingly at the moment of the oath of the two contestants before Zeus himselfWe also owe the naming of the subject matter to Pausanias, but this depiction evidently owes something to the ist Olympian ode of Pindar dated 476 BCE.. On the west we find Theseus and Perithoos fighting the Centaur s at the point of greatest violence in contrast to the instant of duplicitous tension on the east. The metopes depict the twelve labours of Herakles , a figure of singular importance to the temple, as it was he, a son of Zeus, who according to legend marked out the sanctuary and instituted the Olympic games. Traces of colour have been found on the sculpture and a case has been made that some of the detailing was painted onPaul Rehak, ''Unfinished hair and the Installation of the Pedimental Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia'', in ''Stephanos, Studies in Honor of Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway'', 1998.. The arrangement of the Pediments remains a matter of dispute, and the subject of no less than 59 conjectured restorationsSee HV Herman ''Die Olympia Skulpturen'', 1987 and M-L Saflund, ''The East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia'', 1970, p12-59, for a summary of the restorations of the East gable.. The pediments are sculpted in the round albeit dowelled on to the pediment background and most backs are unfinishedl; some are hollow, presumably to save weight. They are of Paros marble with a few of the heads in pentelic marble, notably the heroes wear Attic and not Peloponnesian helmets. Several of the heads of the pediment figures have unworked bosses suggesting that a pointing process was used from clay or wood models, it is highly unusual to find traces of technique on work of the era. The architectural decoration of Zeus’s temple is perhaps the only major monument from a significant studio of the Severe period to survive; consequently it is taken to be the summation of the Severe style from which other works in the idiom beg comparison. Several regional styles have been suggested as an origin for the artist including the Ionian, Peloponnesian and LaconianThese attributions are summarized in Dorig, Olympia Master.... pp. 6-7. NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY
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