Iktinos (also Iktious or Ictinus) was an architect active in the mid 5th century BC, who, together with Kallikrates designed the Parthenon (447–432 B.C.) in Athens, Greece.

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 Pindar - the painting is known as Pindar and Ictinus and is exhibited at the National Gallery, London.

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