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The role of portraiture in art has developed over time, no longer is it only a means of recording daily occurrences, it has become an indicator of the changing world. Many mediums such as sculpture, photography and paint and styles for example surrealism, realism, and impressionism have been used to create portraits, from the beginning of prehistoric times when portraiture was used to record happenings in day to day life. Through out ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome it was used to show people of importance as well as cultural and religious icons. During the middle ages when it was used mainly to show religious icons an scenes of battle and through the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries it developed into something not just created for the gods and societies elite, but a medium used to both capture images and express feelings brought about by poverty, war, and the lives and appearances of people in all classes and cultures anywhere in the world. The Athenian sculptor Phidias, born in Athens in 490b.c, who directed the building of the Parthenon is perhaps best know for his statues of Zeus the king of the gods and Athena goddess of wisdom, which not only represent highly important figures in Greek mythology but also represent art and architecture in Greece during Phidias’ life as well as his role in society. Which was to provide the people of Greece with religious icons to dedicate and worship. The statue of the Athena goddess of wisdom, protector of Athens and daughter of Zeus, which Phidias made for the Parthenon, was completed in approximately 438 BC.
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