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Little is known about the life of Iktinos, most contemporary information being based on the writings of Plutarch.

The most complete surviving example of Iktinos's work is the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, which has been preserved almost intact as a result of having been a Christian Church. It is a Doric temple.

Iktinos is also believed to have designed the temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae , the first known use of a Corinthian column, and also the Telesterion shrine of Eleusis, a gigantic hall used in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted a scene showing Iktinos together with the lyric poet PindarPindar (or Pindarus ( 522 BC 443 BC), the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. He was the son of Daiphantus and Cleodice. The traditions of his family have left their impression on his poetry, and are not - the painting is known as Pindar and Ictinus and is exhibited at the National Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art gallery in London, located on the north side of Trafalgar Square, in a building designed by William Wilkins. It holds part of the National Collection, particularly Western European art from 1250 to 1900. Some British art is.

References

• F. E. Winter (1980) "Tradition and innovation in Doric design: the work of Iktinos" in American Journal of Archaeology, Issue 4, pp 399 - 416.

See also: Kallikrates