Sculptures from the last twenty years of the 5th century are particularly interesting as regards body structure, costume, and elaborate treatment of dress folds. The figures become more ethereal. They start to twist on a central axis. Little by little the female body comes out of hiding, with a gentle, elegant look. These are the features that typify the so-called Rich style: mostly they appear in sculptures by Phidias' pupils.

A craftsman celebrated for the perfection of his work was Callimachus from Corinth. He was not only a sculptor, but a gold- and silversmith. It is to Callimachus that the invention of the Corinthian capital and a number of scenes with female dancers are attributed. To Alcamenes from Athens, the pupil of Phidias, are attributed statues of 'Aphrodite in the Gardens', 'Threefold Hecate', 'Procne and Itys', and (for the Hephaesteum in the Agora) 'Hephaestus and Athena'. A type of Herm that Alcamenes had made for the Propylaea also became particularly fashionable.

There were other sculptors of lesser fame in this period; for instance Cresilas (who created portraits of Pericles and Anacreon); Paionios from Mende (best known for his Nike at Olympia); Colotes; and Strongylion. Cresilas, Phidias, Phradmon and Polyclitus were in competition for a sculpture of a Wounded Amazon for Ephesus. Polyclitus won.