Reconstructions of the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia – A Comparison of Drawings, Plaster Casts and Digital Models

Abstract

The arrangement of the five central figures of the East pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia has been the subject of scholarly debates since the discovery of the fragments more than a century ago. In theory, there are four substantially different arrangements, all of which have already been selected by certain scholars for various aesthetic, technical and other considerations. The reconstructions were visualized most frequently in drawings or in plaster models (on a reduced scale or in the original size), which have partly survived in Dresden, but did not receive appropriate attention during the last decades. Most recently the team of a three-years research project lead by the author tried to approach the controversy in a new way, by producing a virtual 3D reonstruction of the group. Digital models of the statues were produced by scanning the original fragments and by reconstructing them virtually. The virtual model of the pediment surrounding the sculptures was prepared on the basis of the latest architectural studies and afterwards the reconstructed models were inserted into this frame, in order to test the technical feasibility and aesthetic effects the four possible arrangements. Finally, the plaster models of the same pieces of ancient sculpture made at the end of the 19th century were also digitized and in this way they could be compared with the digital reconstruction produced during the present project. This paper presents a brief history of research, the final results of the digital reconstruction project and offers a comparison with the earlier attempts achieved by other methods. The advantages of the digital models can be thus fully appreciated.