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[9]
On the other hand, Phidias is regarded
as more gifted in his representation of gods than of
men, and indeed for chryselephantine statues he is
without a peer, as he would in truth be, even if he
[p. 455]
had produced nothing in this material beyond his
Minerva at Athens and his Jupiter at Olympia in
Elis, whose beauty is such that it is said to have
added something even to the awe with which the
god was already regarded: so perfectly did the
majesty of the work give the impression of godhead.
Lysippus and Praxiteles are asserted to be supreme
as regards faithfulness to nature. For Demetrius is
blamed for carrying realism too far, and is less
concerned about the beauty than the truth of his
work.
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