Callicrates

Architect

Flourished: Fifth century b. c.e.; Athens, Greece Also known as: Kallikrates Category: Art and architecture

Life Callicrates (kuh-LIHK-ruh-teez) and Ictinus (also known as Ik-tinos) were the architects of the Parthenon (temple of Athena Polias) on the Acropolis in Athens, built between 447 and 432 b. c.e. The Parthenon was the first building erected on the Acropolis in Pericles’ grand rebuilding plan. Work on the Parthenon was described in a lost book by Ictinus and Carpion. Callicrates is also credited with the plan of the temple of Athena Nike (“Victory”) or Athena Asteros (“Without Wings”), authorized by the Athenian senate in 449 b. c.e. and constructed between 427 and 424 b. c.e. This Ionic temple was the fourth and last building constructed in Pericles’ rebuilding plan.

The Athenian temple on the Illissus River also appears to have been designed by Callicrates, on the plan of the temple of Athena Nike. A Doric temple built on the island of Delos has also been attributed to Callicrates on the basis ofits style and affinities with the Parthenon. This temple was dedicated by the Athenians in 425 b. c.e.

Influence The classical style of architecture created by Callicrates influenced temple design of the Greeks and Romans and architecture of the Renaissance and beyond.

Further Reading

Beard, Mary. The Parthenon. London: Profile, 2002.

Biers, William R. The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction. 2d ed.

Ithaca, NY.: Cornell University Press, 1996.

Dinsmoor, William Bell. The Architecture of Ancient Greece. New York: W. W. Norton, 1975.

Neils, Jenifer, ed. The Parthenon: From Antiquity to the Present. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Sally A. Struthers

See also: Art and Architecture; Athens; Ictinus; Parthenon.