Group of Zeus and Ganymede

It was created in the first quarter of the fifth century BC and is now displayed near where it was originally found in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

Today, the statue group, which has been reconstructed as far as possible but is not complete, is kept in the local archaeological museum, where it is listed under inventory number T 2.

His damaged head, which is made from a separate piece of clay, is decorated with a hat with orderly locks of hair issuing from underneath it.

Remnants of paint survive in many places, particularly Zeus' red-brown tunic with dark brown lines at the edges and his black beard, hair and hat.

The homoerotic connection between a grown man and a youth was not disapproved of by ancient Greek culture - on the contrary, if kept within certain limits, it formed part of an aristocratic ideal.

The terracotta group appears to be the earliest work of Greek art in which the eyes are depicted in an expressive way and the figures do not simply stare straight ahead as previously the norm.