The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was carved in the mid-5th century
bc by the Greek sculptor
Phidias. The colossal statue was the central feature of the Temple
of Zeus at Olympia, the Greek sanctuary where the Olympic Games
were held. It was considered to be Phidias’s masterpiece. The seated figure of
Zeus, king of the Greek gods, was 12 m (40 ft) in height and made
of ivory and gold. An earthquake probably leveled the temple in the 6th century
ad, and the statue was later taken
to Constantinople, where a fire destroyed it.