Phidias or Pheidias c.500BC-?
Greek sculptor, one of the major ancient Greek artists

He was born in Athens, and received from Pericles a magnificent commission to execute the chief statues with which he proposed to adorn the city, and was superintendent of all public works. He supervised the construction of the Propylaea and the Parthenon, designed the sculpture on the walls, and is thought to have made the gold and ivory Athena there, and the Zeus at Olympia (both lost) himself. Charged with appropriating gold from the statue and carving his own head on an ornament, he was accused of impiety, and disappeared from Athens.

Bibliography: Hans Schrader, Phidias (1924)