<P> In antiquity Phidias was celebrated for his statues in bronze and his chryselephantine works ( statues made of gold and ivory ) . In the Hippias Major , Plato claims that Phidias seldom , if ever , executed works in marble , though many of the sculptures of his time were executed in marble . Plutarch writes that he superintended the great works ordered by Pericles on the Acropolis . Ancient critics take a very high view of the merits of Phidias . What they especially praise is the ethos or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later so called `` pathetic '' school . Both Pausanias and Plutarch mention works of his depicting the warlike Athena Areia . Demetrius calls his statues sublime , and at the same time precise . </P>
who are the architects the athenian acropolis and who was in charge of the sculptural program
Phidias Pericles