Currently not on view
Phidias, study for the South Court Mosaics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
1864
Sir Edward John Poynter, 1836–1919; born Paris, France; died London, England
x1985-39
Phidias, the renowned ancient Greek sculptor, is shown holding a mallet and chisel in one hand and a statue of the goddess Athena in the other, with the Parthenon in the background. Poynter created this highly finished watercolor study for one of thirty-five monumental paintings representing celebrated painters, sculptors, architects, and decorative artists from antiquity through the eighteenth century; these, in turn, were made into glass and ceramic mosaics. The designs were commissioned from Poynter and other British painters for the South Court of the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum), where the mosaics remained on view from the 1870s until 1949.
Information
Title
Phidias, study for the South Court Mosaics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dates
1864
Maker
Medium
Watercolor
Dimensions
28.7 × 11.3 cm (11 5/16 × 4 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Forbes Magazine Collection: Malcolm S. Forbes, Class of 1941, Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr., Class of 1970, and Christopher Forbes, Class of 1972
Object Number
x1985-39
Inscription
In black watercolor, center: PHIDIAS.
In brown ink, lower right: 18 EJP 64
The Fine Art Society Ltd., (no. 16822, March 1980), printed label on old frame backing.
