The original of this work is the Artemesian Zeus – a full length, heroic sized bronze dating from the 5th Century B.C. – which is at the National Museum, Athens. Discovered at sea off Cape Artemesian, it has been preserved almost intact. Shipwrecked saved it from the melting pots, the fate of most ancient Greek bronze statues. It depicts Zeus, the King of the Gods, poised to hurl his dreaded thunderbolt.