Virtual 3D Reconstruction of the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia - AMid-term Report - Patay-Horváth

Aug 25, 2026

The mid-term report documents an ongoing virtual 3D reconstruction study of the east pediment’s central figures at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. It addresses longstanding scholarly disputes about how surviving fragments should be arranged, noting that textual descriptions and find contexts remain inconclusive. Digital models are produced via scanning of original fragments and virtual reconstruction, enabling technical feasibility checks and comparison of visual effects across competing variants. The paper provides an overview of methods, current progress, and evaluative direction.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

1.1. The subject

1.2. The problem

1.3. The project

Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, CAA2010 F. Contreras, M. Farjas and F.J. Melero (eds.) Virtual 3D Reconstruction of the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. AMid-term Report Patay-Horváth, A. Institute for Ancient History, University Eötvös Loránd, Budapest, Hungary [pathorv@gmail.com](pathorv@gmail.com) 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. A recent project tries to approach this controversy in a new way, by producing a virtual 3D reconstruction of the group. Digital models of the statues are produced by scanning the original fragments and by reconstructing them virtually in order to test the technical feasibility and aesthetic effects of the different reconstructions. The present paper gives an overview of the work in progress. Keywords: 3D scanning, classical sculpture, virtual modelling. 1. Introduction 1.1. The subject The temple of Zeus at Olympia was built in the first half of the 5th century B.C. (ca. 475–455) . Its sculptural decoration consists of two pediments and twelve metopes. Given the large size of the building itself, the sculptures were all well over lifesize and were made of white parian marble. A large number of fragments survive and are conserved in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia and in the Musée du Louvre at Paris. Most of them are quite well preserved and are depicted in practically every handbook on Greek art or on ancient art in general, because nowadays they are generally considered to be one of the most important and most magnificent works of ancient Greek art. The sculptures of the temple in general and the fragments of the east pediment in particular have been thoroughly studied since their discovery in the 1880’s, but they still pose some important questions, as indicated by the growing number of monographs and scholarly articles related to them (e.g., TREU, 1897; ASHMOLE-YALOURIS, 1967; SIMON, 1968; SÄFLUND, 1970; HERRMANN, 1987; KYRIELEIS, 1997; BARRINGER, 2005; WESTERVELT, 2009; REHAK–YOUNGER, 2009) . The most recent debate has started with a series of publications by the author (PATAY, 2004; PATAY, 2005; PATAY, 2006; PATAY, 2008) and concerns the interpretation of the east pediment, which involves the problematic issue of the correct reconstruction of this group as well. Figure 1: Reconstructed model (approx. scale 1:10) of the east front of the temple of Zeus at Olympia. Staatliche Kunst sammlungen Dresden (Albertinum). Photo: author. 1.2. The problem The arrangement of the five central figures of the east pediment has been the subject of scholarly debates since the discovery of the fragments more than a century ago (HERRMANN, 1987; PATAY, 2008) . The basic problem is that the fragments themselves can be arranged in four substantially different ways (Figure 1 and 2) and there are no obvious clues for choosing the most probable one. There is a fairly detailed description of the group by Pausanias, who saw it in the 2nd cent. AD, but his text (V 10, 6-7) is not conclusive regarding 3D Scanning Case Studies A. Patay-Horváth / Virtual 3D Reconstruction of the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. A Mid-term Report Figure 2: The central part of the pediment (marked with red in Figure 1) enlarged. Schematic reconstruction drawings showing every conceivable arrangement of the five central figures (usually referred to as F, G, H, I and K). Different colours highlight the differences between the four variants. After Herrmann 1987. the precise arrangement of the figures (he does not specify how to understand his indications “to the left”and “to the right” of the central figure) . The findplaces are not unequivocal either, since the pieces were scattered around the temple by an earthquake in the 6th cent. AD

FAQs

What problem does the report address?

It tackles debates over the correct arrangement of the five central figures of the east pediment, where surviving fragments can be assembled into four substantially different variants without decisive evidence.

How are the digital 3D models created?

The workflow uses 3D scanning of original fragments combined with virtual reconstruction, producing models intended to test technical feasibility and aesthetic outcomes.

Why are earlier reconstruction experiments considered important in the project?

Early life-size plaster model experiments reportedly excluded at least one arrangement due to space constraints, but later publications largely neglected these results after the experiments became inaccessible.

Aug 25, 2026

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