Chryselephantine statues at Delphi

The chryselephantine statues of Apollo, Artemis and Leto occupy a hall in the Delphi Archaeological Museum looking rather like a treasury.

The scholars have related these finds to the sumptuous ex-votos of Croesus, king of Lydia, which Herodotus so eloquently describes.

This identification is however uncertain; the only certain fact is that the works are magnificent creations of the mid-6th century B.C., coming from workshops in Ionia, or, to a certain extent, Corinth.

Her garment was decorated with two large rectangular lamellae of gold, positioned vertically and bearing depictions of existing or mythological animals: a gazelle, a lion, a bull, a deer, a pegasus, a griffin, a sphinx.

Additional decorative elements are preserved, made of gold or ivory, among which stand out tiles with depictions of the Gorgon, Pegasus and a griffin, as well as rosettes, anthemia and floral items.