Paeonius

Paionios of Mende was a Greek sculptor in the second half of the fifth century before Christ.

Life and work

He created according to the report of Pausanias that the chariot race between Pelops and Oenomaus, performing, retrieved in large part sculptural group in the eastern pediment of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. Demonstrated inscriptions, as his work is the marble colossal figure as an imaginary floating down from Olympus Nike, which was donated by the Messenians and Naupaktern around 424 BC and found in 1875 in the German excavations in Olympia. The figure stood on a 8.5 m high column with a triangular footprint, as can be seen at the base fragments. The foundation of the pillar was located in the immediate vicinity, so that it was possible the monument drawing completely reconstruct at least, with the exception of part of the face of Nike, which has not survived.

The monument is a dedication for a win in a unspecified battle. Presumably she was referring to the battle of Sphacteria, reported by the well Pausanias ( 5,26,1 ). The accompanying inscription above provides further that Paionios had also won the art competition to the production of the Mittelakroters for the Temple of Zeus.

The free spirited composition of Nike, superb handling of body shapes and the drapery point to the influence of Phidias, especially the Parthenon Marbles. The statue was created during the time of the rich style. The pediment sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, however, are much more rigid and self-conscious. Because of these contradictions the Paionios was denied participation in the pediment group and its share is limited to the two gold-plated holy-water vessel or three feet to the gable corners and a gilded Nike on the ridge of the gable roof, a work that is also narrated by Pausanias.