in the rough. We may be sure that Pheidias executed the whole process with loving care and diligence from first to last.
Head of Zeus, on Coin of Elis
Head of Zeus, on Coin of Philip II. of Macedon
Here, alas! it must be confessed that we have not a single work which we can ascribe with certainty to the hand of the master himself. His great masterpieces, the Zeus of Olympia and the Parthenos of the Parthenon, were of ivory and gold. Of course they have perished utterly. We have to content ourselves with descriptions—and the ancient art critic was singularly inept even for an art critic—and casual attempts at copying on coins or statuettes. The coins of Elis do indeed give us a Zeus of considerable dignity which may impart some faint