Chapter XVII: Book XXXV: An Account of Paintings and Colours (2)

As to Timanthes,[1986] he was an artist highly gifted with genius, and loud have some of the orators[1987] been in their commendations of his Iphigenia, represented as she stands at the altar awaiting her doom. Upon the countenance of all present, that of her uncle[1988] in particular, grief was depicted; but having already exhausted all the characteristic features of sorrow, the artist adopted the device of veiling the features of the victim’s father,[1989] finding himself unable adequately to give expression to his feelings. There are also some other proofs of his genius, a Sleeping Cyclops, for instance, which he has painted upon a small panel; but, being desirous to convey an idea of his gigantic stature, he has painted some Satyrs near him measuring his thumb with a thyrsus. Indeed, Timanthes is the only one among the artists in whose works there is always something more implied by the pencil than is expressed, and whose execution, though of the very highest quality, is always surpassed by the inventiveness of his genius. He has also painted the figure of a Hero, a master-piece of skill, in which he has carried the art to the very highest pitch of perfection, in the delineation of the warrior: this last-mentioned work is now at Rome, in the Temple of Pence.[1990]

It was at this period, too, that Euxinidas had for his pupil Aristides,[1991] who became a most illustrious artist; and that Eupompus instructed Pamphilus, who afterwards became the instructor of Apelles. There is by Eupompus, a Victor in a gymnastic contest, holding a palm. So high was the reputation of this artist, that he established a school of painting, and so divided the art into three styles; whereas till then there had been but two, known respectively as the Helladic[1992] and the Asiatic. In honour of him, a native of Sicyon by birth, the Helladic school was divided into two, and from this period there were three distinct styles recognized, the Ionic, the Sicyonian, and the Attic.

We have, by Pamphilus,[1993] a picture representing the Alliance and the Battle that was fought at Phlius;[1994] the Victory[1995] also that was gained by the Athenians, and a representation of Ulysses in his ship. He was a Macedonian by birth, but was the first painter who was also skilled in all the other sciences, arithmetic and geometry more particularly, without the aid of which he maintained that the pictorial art could not attain perfection. He gave instruction to no one for a smaller sum than one talent, at the rate of five hundred denarii per annum,[1996] and this fee both Apelles and Melanthius paid. It was through his influence that, first at Sicyon, and then throughout the whole of Greece, all children of free birth were taught the graphic[1997] art, or in other words, the art of depicting upon boxwood, before all others; in consequence of which this came to be looked upon as the first step in the liberal arts. It is the fact, however, that this art has always been held in high estimation, and cultivated by persons of free birth, and that, at a more recent period, men of rank even began to pursue it; it having always been forbidden that slaves should receive instruction in it. Hence it is, that neither in painting nor in the toreutic[1998] art has there been any celebrated work executed by a slave.

In the hundred and seventh Olympiad, flourished Aëtion and Therimachus.[1999] By the former we have some fine pictures; a Father Liber,[2000] Tragedy and Comedy, Semiramis from the rank of a slave elevated to the throne, an Old Woman bearing torches, and a New-made Bride, remarkable for the air of modesty with which she is pourtrayed.

But it was Apelles[2001] of Cos, in the hundred and twelfth Olympiad, who surpassed all the other painters who either preceded or succeeded him. Single-handed, he contributed more to painting than all the others together, and even went so far as to publish some treatises on the principles of the art. The great point of artistic merit with him was his singular charm of gracefulness,[2002] and this too, though the greatest of painters were his contemporaries. In admiring their works and bestowing high eulogiums upon them, he used to say that there was still wanting in them that ideal of beauty[2003] so peculiar to himself, and known to the Greeks as “Charis;”[2004] others, he said, had acquired all the other requisites of perfection, but in this one point he himself had no equal. He also asserted his claim to another great point of merit: admiring a picture by Protogenes, which bore evident marks of unbounded laboriousness and the most minute finish, he remarked that in every respect Protogenes was fully his equal, or perhaps his superior, except in this, that he himself knew when to take his hand off a picture—a memorable lesson, which teaches us that overcarefulness may be productive of bad results. His candour too, was equal to his talent; he acknowledged the superiority of Melanthius in his grouping, and of Asclepiodorus in the niceness of his measurements, or, in other words, the distances that ought to be left between the objects represented.

A circumstance that happened to him in connection with Protogenes is worthy of notice. The latter was living at Rhodes, when Apelles disembarked there, desirous of seeing the works of a man whom he had hitherto only known by reputation. Accordingly, he repaired at once to the studio; Protogenes was not at home, but there happened to be a large panel upon the easel ready for painting, with an old woman who was left in charge. To his enquiries she made answer, that Protogenes was not at home, and then asked whom she should name as the visitor. “Here he is,” was the reply of Apelles, and seizing a brush, he traced with colour upon the panel an outline of a singularly minute fineness. Upon his return, the old woman mentioned to Protogenes what had happened. The artist, it is said, upon remarking the delicacy of the touch, instantly exclaimed that Apelles must have been the visitor, for that no other person was capable of executing anything so exquisitely perfect. So saying, he traced within the same outline a still finer outline, but with another colour, and then took his departure, with instructions to the woman to show it to the stranger, if he returned, and to let him know that this was the person whom he had come to see. It happened as he anticipated; Apelles returned, and vexed at finding himself thus surpassed, he took up another colour and split[2005] both of the outlines, leaving no possibility of anything finer being executed. Upon seeing this, Protogenes admitted that he was defeated, and at once flew to the harbour to look for his guest. He thought proper, too, to transmit the panel to posterity, just as it was, and it always continued to be held in the highest admiration by all, artists in particular. I am told that it was burnt in the first fire which took place at Cæsar’s palace on the Palatine Hill; but in former times I have often stopped to admire it. Upon its vast surface it contained nothing whatever except the three outlines, so remarkably fine as to escape the sight: among the most elaborate works of numerous other artists it had all the appearance of a blank space; and yet by that very fact it attracted the notice of every one, and was held in higher estimation than any other painting there.

It was a custom with Apelles, to which he most tenaciously adhered, never to let any day pass, however busy he might be, without exercising himself by tracing some outline or other; a practice which has now passed into a proverb.[2006] It was also a practice with him, when he had completed a work, to exhibit it to the view of the passers-by in some exposed place;[2007] while he himself, concealed behind the picture, would listen to the criticisms that were passed upon it; it being his opinion that the judgment of the public was preferable to his own, as being the more discerning of the two. It was under these circumstances, they say, that he was censured by a shoemaker for having represented the shoes with one shoe-string too little. The next day, the shoemaker, quite proud at seeing the former error corrected, thanks to his advice, began to criticize the leg; upon which Apelles, full of indignation, popped his head out, and reminded him that a shoemaker should give no opinion beyond the shoes, a piece of advice which has equally passed into a proverbial saying.[2008] In fact, Apelles was a person of great amenity of manners, a circumstance which rendered him particularly agreeable to Alexander the Great, who would often come to his studio. He had forbidden himself, by public edict, as already stated,[2009] to be represented by any other artist. On one occasion, however, when the prince was in his studio, talking a great deal about painting without knowing anything about it, Apelles quietly begged that he would quit the subject, telling him that he would get laughed at by the boys who were there grinding the colours: so great was the influence which he rightfully possessed over a monarch, who was otherwise of an irascible temperament. And yet, irascible as he was, Alexander conferred upon him a very signal mark of the high estimation in which he held him; for having, in his admiration of her extraordinary beauty, engaged Apelles to paint Pancaste undraped,[2010] the most beloved of all his concubines, the artist while so engaged, fell in love with her; upon which, Alexander, perceiving this to be the case, made him a present of her, thus showing himself, though a great king in courage, a still greater one in self-command, this action redounding no less to his honour than any of his victories. For in thus conquering himself, not only did he sacrifice his passions in favour of the artist, but even his affections as well; uninfluenced, too, by the feelings which must have possessed his favourite in thus passing at once from the arms of a monarch to those of a painter. Some persons are of opinion that Pancaste was the model of Apelles in his painting of Venus Anadyomene.[2011]

It was Apelles too, who, courteous even to his rivals, first established the reputation of Protogenes at Rhodes. Held as he was in little estimation by his own fellow-countrymen, a thing that generally[2012] is the case, Apelles enquired of him what price he set upon certain finished works of his, which he had on hand. Upon Protogenes mentioning some very trifling sum or other, Apelles made him an offer of fifty talents, and then circulated a report that he was buying these works in order to sell them as his own. By this contrivance, he aroused the Rhodians to a better appreciation of the merits of their artist, and only consented to leave the pictures with them upon their offering a still larger price.

He painted portraits, too, so exactly to the life, that a fact with which we are made acquainted by the writings of Apion the grammarian seems altogether incredible. One of those persons, he says, who divine events by the traits of the features, and are known as “metoposcopi,”[2013] was enabled, by an examination of his portraits, to tell the year of their death, whether past or future, of each person represented. Apelles had been on bad terms with Ptolemæus in former times, when they formed part of the suite of Alexander. After Ptolemæus had become king of Egypt, it so happened that Apelles was driven by the violence of a tempest to Alexandria. Upon this, some of his rivals fraudulently suborned a jester, who was attached to the court, to carry him an invitation to dine with the king. Accordingly, Apelles attended; upon which Ptolemæus was highly indignant, and, summoning before him his stewards[2014] of the household, requested that the artist would point out the one that had given him the invitation. Thus challenged, Apelles seized a piece of quenched charcoal that lay in the fire-place, and traced a likeness upon the wall, with such exactness, that the king, the moment he began it, recognized the features as those of the jester. He also painted a portrait of King Antigonus;[2015] and as that monarch was blind of one eye, he invented a method of concealing the defect. With this object, he painted him in profile, in order that what in reality was wanting to the person might have the semblance of being wanting to the picture rather, he making it his care to show that side of the face only which he could show without any defect. Among his works, too, there are some figures representing persons at the point of death; but it is not easy to say which of his productions are of the highest order of excellence.

His Venus Rising from the Sea, known as the Venus Anadyomene,[2016] was consecrated by the late Emperor Augustus in the Temple[2017] of his father[2018] Cæsar; a work which has been celebrated in certain Greek lines,[2019] which, though they have outlived it, have perpetuated its fame.[2020] The lower part of the picture having become damaged, no one could be found to repair it; and thus did the very injury which the picture had sustained, redound to the glory of the artist. Time, however, and damp at last effaced the painting, and Nero, in his reign, had it replaced by a copy, painted by the hand of Dorotheus.[2021] Apelles also commenced another Venus for the people of Cos,[2022] which would have outshone even the former one; but death invidiously prevented its completion, nor could any one be found to complete the work in conformity with the sketches of the outline. He painted also, in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, Alexander the Great wielding the Thunderbolts, a picture for which he received twenty talents of gold. The fingers have all the appearance of projecting from the surface, and the lightning seems to be darting from the picture. And then, too, let the reader bear in mind that all these works were executed by the aid of four[2023] colours only. The price paid in golden coin for this picture was ascertained by weight,[2024] there being no specific sum agreed upon.

He also painted a Procession of the Megabyzus,[2025] the priest of Diana at Ephesus; and a Clitus[2026] on Horseback, hastening to the combat, his Armour-bearer handing him his helmet at his command. How many times he painted Alexander and Philip, it would be quite superfluous to attempt to enumerate. At Samos, there is a Habron[2027] by him, that is greatly admired; at Rhodes a Menander,[2028] king of Caria, and an Ancæus;[2029] at Alexandria, a Gorgosthenes, the Tragedian; and at Rome, a Castor and Pollux, with figures of Victory and Alexander the Great, and an emblematical figure of War with her hands tied behind her, and Alexander seated in a triumphal car; both of which pictures the late Emperor Augustus, with a great degree of moderation[2030] and good taste, consecrated in the most frequented parts of his Forum: the Emperor Claudius, however, thought it advisable to efface the head of Alexander in both pictures, and substitute likenesses of his predecessor Augustus. It is by his hand too, it is generally supposed, that the Hercules, with the face averted, now in the Temple of Anna,[2031] was painted; a picture in which, one of the greatest difficulties in the art, the face, though hidden, may be said to be seen rather than left to the imagination. He also painted a figure of a naked[2032] Hero,[2033] a picture in which he has challenged Nature herself.

There exists too, or did exist, a Horse that was painted by him for a pictorial contest; as to the merits of which, Apelles appealed from the judgment of his fellow-men to that of the dumb quadrupeds. For, finding that by their intrigues his rivals were likely to get the better of him, he had some horses brought, and the picture of each artist successively shown to them. Accordingly, it was only at the sight of the horse painted by Apelles that they began to neigh; a thing that has always been the case since, whenever this test of his artistic skill has been employed. He also painted a Neoptolemus[2034] on horse-back, fighting with the Persians; an Archeläus,[2035] with his Wife and Daughter; and an Antigonus on foot, with a cuirass on, and his horse led by his side. Connoisseurs in the art give the preference, before all other works of his, to his paintings of King Archeläus on horseback, and of Diana in the midst of a throng of Virgins performing a sacrifice; a work in which he would appear to have surpassed the lines[2036] of Homer descriptive of the same subject. He also portrayed some things, which in reality do not admit of being portrayed—thunder, lightning, and thunderbolts, in pictures which are known by the respective names of Bronte, Astrape, and Ceraunobolia.

His inventions, too, in the art of painting, have been highly serviceable to others; but one thing there was in which no one could imitate him. When his works were finished, he used to cover them with a black varnish, of such remarkable thinness, that while by the reflection it gave more vivacity to the colours, and preserved them from the contact of dust and dirt, its existence could only be detected by a person when close enough to touch it.[2037] In addition to this, there was also this other great advantage attending it: the brightness of the colours was softened thereby, and harmonized to the sight, looking as though they had been viewed from a distance, and through a medium of specular-stone;[2038] the contrivance, by some indescribable means, giving a sombreness to colours which would otherwise have been too florid.

One of the contemporaries of Apelles was Aristides[2039] of Thebes; the first of all the painters to give full expression to the mind[2040] and passions of man, known to the Greeks as ἤθη, as well as to the mental perturbations which we experience: he was somewhat harsh, however, in his colours. There is a picture by him of a Captured City, in which is represented an infant crawling toward the breast of its wounded mother, who, though at the point of death, has all the appearance of being aware of it, and of being in dread lest the child should suck blood in place of milk from her exhausted breast: this picture Alexander the Great ordered to be transferred to Pella, his native place. Aristides also painted a Battle with the Persians, a picture which contained one hundred figures, for each of which he was paid at the rate of ten minæ by Mnason, the tyrant of Elatea.[2041] He also painted Chariots with four horses in full career; a Suppliant, which almost speaks, Huntsmen with game; Leontion, the mistress of Epicurus; the Anapauomene,[2042] a damsel pining to death from love for her brother; a Father Liber[2043] also, and an Artamene, two fine pictures now to be seen in the Temple of Ceres[2044] at Rome; a Tragedian and a Child, in the Temple of Apollo,[2045] a picture which has lost its beauty, owing to the unskilfulness of the painter to whom M. Junius, the prætor, entrusted the cleaning of it, about the period of the Apollinarian Games.[2046] There was also to be seen, in the Temple of Faith, in the Capitol, a picture of his, representing an Aged Man giving instructions to a Child on the lyre. He executed also a painting of an Invalid, upon which endless encomiums have been lavished. Indeed, so great was the excellence of this artist, that King Attalus, it is said, purchased one picture of his at the price of one hundred talents.

At the same period[2047] flourished Protogenes, as already stated. He was a native of Caunus,[2048] a place held in subjection by the Rhodians. Great poverty in his early days, and extreme application to his art, were the causes of his comparative unproductiveness. It is not known with certainty from whom he received his instruction in the art: indeed some say that he was only a ship-decorator down to his fiftieth year; a proof of which, it is asserted, is the fact, that in decorating the Propylæum[2049] of the Temple of Minerva, situate in one of the most celebrated spots in Athens, where he has painted the fine picture[2050] of Paralus and Hammonias, known by some as the Nausicaa, he has added in the side pieces of the picture, by painters called “parerga,” several small ships of war;[2051] wishing thereby to show in what department that skill had first manifested itself which had thus reached the citadel of Athens, the scene of his glory. Of all his compositions, however, the palm has been awarded to his Ialysus,[2052] now at Rome, consecrated in the Temple of Peace there. So long as he was at work upon it, he lived, it is said, upon nothing but soaked lupines; by which means he at once appeased both hunger and thirst, and avoided all risk of blunting his perception by too delicate a diet. In order to protect this picture against the effects of ill-usage and old age, he painted it over four times,[2053] so that when an upper coat might fail, there would be an under one to succeed it. There is in this picture the figure of a dog, which was completed in a very remarkable manner, inasmuch as accident had an equal share with design in the execution of it. The painter was of opinion that he had not given the proper expression to the foam at the mouth of the animal, panting for breath, as it was represented; while, with all other parts of the picture, a thing extremely difficult with him, he was perfectly satisfied. The thing that displeased him was, the evident traces of art in the execution of it, touches which did not admit of any diminution, and yet had all the appearance of being too laboured, the effect produced being far removed from his conception of the reality: the foam, in fact, bore the marks of being painted, and not of being the natural secretion of the animal’s mouth. Vexed and tormented by this dilemma, it being his wish to depict truth itself, and not something that only bore a semblance of truth, he effaced it again and again, changed his pencil for another, and yet by no possibility could satisfy himself. At last, quite out of temper with an art, which, in spite of him, would still obtrude itself, he dashed his sponge against the vexatious spot; when behold! the sponge replaced the colours that it had just removed, exactly in accordance with his utmost wishes, and thus did chance represent Nature in a painting.

Following his example, Nealces,[2054] it is said, succeeded in representing the foam at a horse’s mouth; for on one occasion, when engaged in painting a man holding in a pair of horses and soothing them with his voice,[2055] he also dashed his sponge against the picture, with the view of producing a like effect.

It was on account of this Ialysus, which he was apprehensive of destroying, that King Demetrius[2056] forbore to set fire to the only side of the city of Rhodes by which it was capable of being taken; and thus, in his anxiety to spare a picture, did he lose his only opportunity of gaining a victory. The dwelling of Protogenes at this period was situate in a little garden in the suburbs, or in other words, in the midst of the camp of Demetrius. The combats that were taking place made no difference whatever to the artist, and in no way interrupted his proceeding with the works which he had commenced; until at last he was summoned before the king, who enquired how he could have the assurance thus to remain without the walls. “Because I know,” was his answer, “that you are waging war with the Rhodians, and not with the arts.” Upon this, the king, delighted at having the opportunity of protecting the hand which he had thus spared, ordered a guard to be placed at his disposal for the especial purpose of his protection. In order, too, that he might not distract the artist’s attention by sending for him too often, he would often go, an enemy albeit, to pay him a visit, and, abandoning his aspirations for victory, in the midst of arms and the battering down of walls, would attentively examine the compositions of the painter. Even to this day, the story is still attached to the picture which he was then engaged upon, to the effect, that Protogenes painted it beneath the sword. It is his Satyr, known as the “Anapauomenos;”[2057] in whose hand, to mark the sense of security that he felt, the painter has placed a pair of pipes.

Protogenes executed also, a Cydippe; a Tlepolemus; a portrait of Philiscus, the tragic poet, in an attitude of meditation; an Athlete; a portrait of King Antigonus, and one of the mother of Aristotle.[2058] It was this philosopher too, who advised him to paint the exploits of Alexander the Great, as being certain to be held in everlasting remembrance. The impulse, however, of his natural disposition, combined with a certain artistic caprice, led him in preference to adopt the various subjects which have just been mentioned. His last works were representations of Alexander and the god Pan. He also executed some figures in bronze, as already[2059] stated.

At the same period also, lived Asclepiodorus,[2060] who was greatly admired by Apelles for his proportions. The tyrant Mnason[2061] paid him, for his picture of the Twelve Gods, at the rate of thirty minæ for each divinity. This same Mnason also paid Theomnestus twenty minæ for each of his Heroes.

In addition to these, it is only proper to mention Nicomachus,[2062] the son and disciple of Aristiæus. He painted a Rape of Proserpina, a picture that was formerly in the Temple of Minerva in the Capitol, above the shrine of Juventas.[2063] Another picture of his was to be seen also in the Capitol, placed there by the Roman general Plancus,[2064] a Victory soaring aloft in a chariot: he was the first painter who represented Ulysses wearing the pileus.[2065] He painted also an Apollo and Diana; the Mother[2066] of the Gods seated on a Lion; the fine picture of the Bacchantes, with Satyrs moving stealthily towards them; and a Scylla, now at Rome in the Temple of Peace. No painter ever worked with greater rapidity than Nicomachus; indeed it is said, that on one occasion having entered into an engagement with Aristratus,[2067] the tyrant of Sicyon, to paint within a given time the monument which he was raising to the memory of the poet Telestis,[2068] the artist only arrived a few days before the expiration of the term; upon which, the tyrant was so angry that he threatened to punish him: however, in the few days that were left, Nicomachus, to the admiration of all, completed the work, with equal promptitude and success. Among his pupils, were his brother Ariston, his son Aristides, and Philoxenus of Eretria, who painted for King Cassander a picture representing one of the battles between Alexander and Darius, a work which may bear comparison with any. He also painted a picture in grotesque, representing Three Sileni at their revels. Imitating the celerity of execution displayed by his master, he introduced a more sketchy style of painting, executed in a comparatively off-hand manner.[2069]

To these artists Nicophanes[2070] has also been added, an elegant and finished painter, to whom for gracefulness few can be compared, but for a severe and tragic style far inferior to Zeuxis or Apelles. Perseus also belongs to this period, a pupil of Apelles, who dedicated to him his work on painting. Aristides of Thebes had for pupils his sons Niceros and Ariston. By the latter of these artists, there is a Satyr crowned with a chaplet and holding a goblet: two of his pupils were Antorides and Euphranor, of the latter of whom we shall have to make mention again.[2071]

CHAP. 37.—VARIOUS OTHER KINDS OF PAINTING.

We must now, however, make some mention of those artists who acquired fame by the pencil in an inferior style of painting. Among these was Piræicus, inferior to few of the painters in skill. I am not sure that he did not do injustice to himself by the choice of his subjects,[2072] seeing that, although he adopted an humble walk, he still attained in that walk the highest reputation. His subjects were barbers’ shops, cobblers’ stalls, jackasses, eatables, and the like, and to these he was indebted for his epithet of “Rhyparographos.”[2073] His paintings, however, are exquisitely pleasing, and have sold at higher prices than the very largest works of many masters.

On the other hand again, as Varro tells us, a single picture by Serapio covered the whole space of the balustrades,[2074] beneath the Old Shops,[2075] where it was exhibited. This artist was very successful in painting stage-scenery, but was unable to depict the human form. Dionysius,[2076] on the contrary, painted nothing but men, and hence it was that he had the surname of “Anthropographos.”[2077] Callicles[2078] also painted some small pictures, and Calates executed some small works in the comic style. Both of these styles were adopted by Antiphilus;[2079] who painted a very fine Hesione, and a Philip and Alexander with Minerva, now in the School of the Porticos[2080] of Octavia. In the Portico of Philippus,[2081] also, there is a Father Liber[2082] by him; an Alexander when a child; and an Hippolytus alarmed at the Bull, which is rushing upon him:[2083] and in the Portico of Pompeius[2084] we have his Cadmus and Europa. On the other hand, again, he painted a figure in a ridiculous costume, known jocosely as the Gryllus; and hence it is that pictures of this class[2085] are generally known as “Grylli.” Antiphilus was a native of Egypt, and received instruction in the art from Ctesidemus.[2086]

It would not be right to pass in silence the painter of the Temple at Ardea,[2087] the more particularly as he was honoured with the citizenship at that place, and with the following inscription in verse upon one of the paintings which he executed there:

“These paintings, worthy of this worthy place,
Temple of Juno, queen, and wife of Jove,
Plautius Marcus,[2088] from Alalia, made.
May Ardea now and ever praise him for his skill.”

These lines are written in ancient Latin characters.

Ludius too, who lived in the time of the late Emperor Augustus, must not be allowed to pass without some notice; for he was the first to introduce the fashion of covering the walls of our houses with most pleasing landscapes, representing villas, porticos, ornamental gardening, woods, groves, hills, fishponds, canals,[2089] rivers, sea-shores, and anything else one could desire; varied with figures of persons walking, sailing, or proceeding to their villas, on asses or in carriages. Then, too, there are others to be seen fishing, fowling, or gathering in the vintage. In some of his decorations there are fine villas to be seen, and roads to them across the marshes, with women making[2090] bargains to be carried across on men’s shoulders, who move along slipping at every step and tottering beneath their load; with numberless other subjects of a similar nature, redolent of mirth and of the most amusing ingenuity. It was this artist, too, who first decorated our uncovered[2091] edifices with representations of maritime cities, a subject which produces a most pleasing effect, and at a very trifling expense.

But as for fame, that has been reserved solely for the artists who have painted pictures; a thing that gives us all the more reason to venerate the prudence displayed by the men of ancient times. For with them, it was not the practice to decorate the walls of houses, for the gratification of the owners only; nor did they lavish all their resources upon a dwelling which must of necessity always remain a fixture in one spot, and admits of no removal in case of conflagration. Protogenes was content with a cottage in his little garden; Apelles had no paintings on the plaster of his walls; it not being the fashion in their day to colour the party-walls of houses from top to bottom. With all those artists, art was ever watchful for the benefit of whole cities only, and in those times a painter was regarded as the common property of all.

Shortly before the time of the late Emperor Augustus, Arellius was in high esteem at Rome; and with fair reason, had he not profaned the art by a disgraceful piece of profanity; for, being always in love with some woman or other, it was his practice, in painting goddesses, to give them the features of his mistresses; hence it is, that there were always some figures of prostitutes to be seen in his pictures. More recently, lived Amulius,[2092] a grave and serious personage, but a painter in the florid style. By this artist there was a Minerva, which had the appearance of always looking at the spectators, from whatever point it was viewed. He only painted a few hours each day, and then with the greatest gravity, for he always kept the toga on, even when in the midst of his implements. The Golden Palace[2093] of Nero was the prison-house of this artist’s productions, and hence it is that there are so few of them to be be seen elsewhere.

Next in repute to him were Cornelius Pinus and Attius Priscus, who painted the Temple of Honour and that of Virtue,[2094] on their restoration by the Emperor Vespasianus Augustus. Priscus approaches more closely to the ancient masters.

CHAP. 38. (11.)—AN EFFECTUAL WAY OF PUTTING A STOP TO THE SINGING OF BIRDS.

I must not omit here, in reference to painting, a celebrated story that is told about Lepidus. During the Triumvirate, when he was entertained by the magistrates of a certain place, he had lodgings given him in a house that was wholly surrounded with trees. The next day, he complained to them in a threatening tone, that he had been unable to sleep for the singing of the birds there. Accordingly, they had a dragon painted, on pieces of parchment of the greatest length that could possibly be obtained, and surrounded the grove with it; a thing that so terrified the birds, it is said, that they became silent at once; and hence it was that it first became known how this object could be attained.

CHAP. 39.—ARTISTS WHO HAVE PAINTED IN ENCAUSTICS OR WAX, WITH EITHER THE CESTRUM OR THE PENCIL.

It is not agreed who was the inventor of the art of painting in wax and in encaustic.[2095] Some think that it was a discovery of the painter Aristides,[2096] and that it was afterwards brought to perfection by Praxiteles: but there are encaustic paintings in existence, of a somewhat prior date to them, those by Polygnotus,[2097] for example, and by Nicanor and Arcesilaüs,[2098] natives of Paros. Elasippus too, has inscribed upon a picture of his at Ægina, the word ἐνέκαεν;[2099] a thing that he certainly could not have done, if the art of encaustic painting had not been then invented.

CHAP. 40.—THE FIRST INVENTORS OF VARIOUS KINDS OF PAINTING. THE GREATEST DIFFICULTIES IN THE ART OF PAINTING. THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF PAINTING. THE FIRST ARTIST THAT PAINTED CEILINGS. WHEN ARCHED ROOFS WERE FIRST PAINTED. THE MARVELLOUS PRICE OF SOME PICTURES.

It is said, too, that Pamphilus,[2100] the instructor of Apelles, not only painted in encaustic, but also instructed Pausias[2101] of Sicyon in the art, the first who rendered himself distinguished in this branch. Pausias was the son of Bryetes, by whom he was originally instructed in the art of painting. He retouched also with the pencil[2102] some walls at Thespiæ, then undergoing repair, which had formerly been painted by Polygnotus. Upon instituting a comparison, however, it was considered that he was greatly inferior, this kind of painting not being in his line. It was he, too, who first thought of painting ceilings: nor had it been the practice before his day to use this kind of decoration for arched roofs. He painted many small pictures also, miniatures of children more particularly; a thing which, according to the interpretation put upon it by his rivals, was owing to the peculiarly slow process of encaustic painting. The consequence was, that being determined to give a memorable proof of his celerity of execution, he completed a picture in the space of a single day, which was thence called the “Hemeresios,”[2103] representing the portrait of a child.

In his youth, he was enamoured of Glycera,[2104] his fellow-townswoman, the first inventor of chaplets; and in his rivalry of the skill shown by her, he achieved so much success in the encaustic art, as to reproduce the almost numberless tints displayed by flowers. At a later period, he painted her, seated, with a chaplet on, and thus produced one of the very finest of his pictures; known as the “Stephaneplocos”[2105] by some, and as the “Stephanopolis”[2106] by others; from the circumstance that Glycera had supported herself in her poverty by selling these chaplets. A copy of this picture, usually known as an “apographon,”[2107] was purchased by L. Lucullus at Athens, during the festival of the Dionysia, at the price of two talents.

Pausias also painted some large pictures, a Sacrifice of Oxen, for instance, which used to be seen in the Portico of Pompeius. In this painting he invented several improvements, which many artists have since imitated, but none with the same success. Although in the picture it was particularly his desire to give an impression of the length of the ox, he painted it with a front view and not sideways, and still has caused the large dimensions of the animal to be fully understood. And then too, whereas all other painters colour in white such parts as they wish to have the appearance of being prominent, and in black such portions as are intended to remain in the back-ground, he has painted the whole of the ox of a black colour, and has shown the dimensions of the body which throws the shadow by the medium of the shadow itself; thus evincing a wonderful degree of skill in showing relief upon a coat painted with a single colour, and conveying an impression of uniform solidity upon a broken ground.[2108] It was at Sicyon also that Pausias passed his life, a city which for a long time continued to be the native place of painting. Ultimately, all the paintings belonging to that place were sold by public auction for the discharge of the debts owing by the city, and were transferred to Rome in the ædileship of Scaurus.[2109]

Next to him, in the hundred and fourth Olympiad, Euphranor,[2110] the Isthmian, distinguished himself far beyond all others, an artist who has been already mentioned in our account of the statuaries. He executed some colossal figures also, and some statues in marble, and he chased some drinking-vessels; being studious and laborious in the highest degree, excellent in every branch, and at all times equal to himself. This artist seems to have been the first to represent heroes with becoming dignity, and to have paid particular attention to symmetry. Still, however, in the generality of instances, he has made the body slight in proportion to the head and limbs. He composed some treatises also upon symmetry and colours. His works are, an Equestrian Combat;[2111] the Twelve Gods; and a Theseus; with reference to which he remarked that the Theseus of Parrhasius had been fed upon roses, but his own upon beef.[2112] There are also at Ephesus some famous pictures by him; an Ulysses, in his feigned madness, yoking together an ox and a horse; Men, in an attitude of meditation, wearing the pallium;[2113] and a Warrior, sheathing his sword.

At the same time, also, flourished Cydias;[2114] for whose picture of the Argonautæ the orator Hortensius paid one hundred and forty-four thousand sesterces, and had a shrine constructed expressly for its reception on his estate at Tusculum.[2115] There was also Antidotus, a pupil of Euphranor, by whom there is, at Athens, a Combatant armed with a shield; a Wrestler, also; and a Trumpeter, a work which has been considered a most exquisite production.

Antidotus, as a painter, was more careful in his works than prolific, and his colouring was of a severe style. His principal glory was his having been the instructor of Nicias[2116] of Athens; who was a most careful painter of female portraits, and a strict observer of light and shade,[2117] making it his especial care that the figures in his pictures should appear in the boldest relief. His works are, a Nemea, which was brought from Asia to Rome by Silanus, and was placed in the Curia, as already stated;[2118] a Father Liber,[2119] in the Temple[2120] of Concord; a Hyacinthus,[2121] which the Emperor Augustus was so delighted with, that he took it away with him after the capture of Alexandria; for which reason also it was consecrated in the Temple[2122] of Augustus by the Emperor Tiberius; and a Danaë. At Ephesus, there is a tomb by him of a megabyzus,[2123] or priest of the Ephesian Diana; and at Athens a representation of the Necyomantea[2124] of Homer; which last he declined to sell to King Attalus for sixty talents, and in preference, so rich was he, made a present of it to his own native place. He also executed some large pictures, among which there are a Calypso, an Io, an Andromeda, a very fine Alexander, in the Porticos[2125] of Pompeius, and a Calypso, seated. To this painter also there are some pictures of cattle attributed, and in his dogs he has been remarkably successful. It was this Nicias, with reference to whom, Praxiteles, when asked with which of all his works in marble he was the best pleased, made answer, “Those to which Nicias has set his hand,” so highly did he esteem the colouring of that artist. It has not been satisfactorily ascertained whether it is this artist or another of the same name that some writers have placed in the hundred and twelfth Olympiad.

With Nicias has been compared, and indeed sometimes preferred to him, Athenion of Maronea,[2126] a pupil of Glaucion of Corinth. In his colouring he is more sombre than Nicias, and yet, with all his sombreness, more pleasing; so much so indeed, that in his paintings shines forth the extensive knowledge which he possessed of the art. He painted, in the Temple at Eleusis, a Phylarchus;[2127] and at Athens, a family group, which has been known as the “Syngenicon;”[2128] an Achilles also, concealed in a female dress, and Ulysses detecting him; a group of six whole-length figures, in one picture; and, a work which has contributed to his fame more than any other, a Groom leading a Horse. Indeed, if he had not died young, there would have been no one comparable to Athenion in painting.

Heraclides, too, of Macedon, had some repute as an artist. At first he was a painter of ships, but afterwards, on the capture of King Perseus, he removed to Athens; where at the same period was also Metrodorus,[2129] who was both a painter and a philosopher, and of considerable celebrity in both branches. Hence it was, that when L. Paulus Æmilius, after the conquest of Perseus,[2130] requested the Athenians to send him the most esteemed philosopher for the education of his children, and a painter to represent his triumph, they made choice of Metrodorus, declaring that he was eminently suited for either purpose; a thing which Paulus admitted to be the case.

Timomachus of Byzantium, in the time of the Dictator Cæsar, painted an Ajax[2131] and a Medea, which were placed by Cæsar in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, having been purchased at the price of eighty talents; the value of the Attic talent being, according to M. Varro, equivalent to six thousand denarii. An Orestes, also by Timomachus, an Iphigenia in Tauris, and a Lecythion, a teacher of gymnastics, are equally praised; a Noble Family also; and Two Men clothed in the pallium,[2132] and about to enter into conversation, the one standing, the other in a sitting posture. It is in his picture, however of the Gorgon,[2133] that the art appears to have favoured him most highly.

Aristolaüs, the son and pupil of Pausias, was one of the painters in a more severe style: there are by him an Epaminondas, a Pericles, a Medea, a Theseus, an emblematical picture of the Athenian People, and a Sacrifice of Oxen. Some persons, too, are pleased with the careful style of Nicophanes,[2134] who was also a pupil of Pausias; a carefulness, however, which only artists can appreciate, as in other respects he was harsh in his colours, and too lavish of sil;[2135] as in his picture, for example, of Æsculapius with his daughters, Hygia,[2136] Ægle, and Panacea, his Jason, and his Sluggard, known as the “Ocnos,”[2137] a man twisting a rope at one end as an ass gnaws it at the other. As to Socrates,[2138] his pictures are, with good reason, universally esteemed.

Having now mentioned the principal painters in either branch,[2139] I must not pass in silence those who occupy the next rank. Aristoclides decorated the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Antiphilus[2140] is highly praised for his picture of a Boy blowing a Fire, which illumines an apartment handsomely furnished, and throws a light[2141] upon the features of the youth; a Spinning-room, with women plying their respective tasks; and a King Ptolemæus hunting. But his most famous picture is his Satyr, clad in a panther’s skin, and known as the “Aposcopeuon.”[2142] Aristophon[2143] has painted an Ancæus[2144] wounded by the Boar, with Astypale, the sharer of his grief; and a picture with numerous figures, representing Priam, Helena, Credulity, Ulysses, Deiphobus, and Guile.[2145] Androbius has painted a Scyllus[2146] cutting away the anchors of the Persian fleet: and Artemon a Danaë, with Robbers in admiration; a Queen Stratonice;[2147] and a Hercules and Deianira. But the finest of all this artist’s works are those now in the buildings of Octavia; a Hercules ascending to heaven, with the sanction of the gods, from his funeral pile upon Mount Œta in Doris; and the story of Laomedon and his bargain[2148] with Hercules and Neptune. Alcimachus has painted Dioxippus,[2149] who was victorious in the pancratium at Olympia, without raising the dust; a victory known to the Greeks as being gained “aconiti.”[2150] Cœnus painted pedigrees.[2151]

Ctesilochus, a pupil[2152] of Apelles, was famous for a burlesque picture of his representing Jupiter in labour with Bacchus,[2153] with a mitra[2154] on his head, and crying like a woman in the midst of the goddesses, who are acting as midwives. Cleon distinguished himself by his Cadmus; and Ctesidemus, by his Capture of Œchalia[2155] and his Laodamia.

Ctesicles became notorious for the insult which he offered to Queen Stratonice;[2156] for, upon failing to meet with an honourable reception from her, he painted her, romping with a fisherman, for whom, according to common report, she had conceived an ardent affection. After exhibiting this picture in the harbour at Ephesus, he at once set sail and escaped: the queen, however, would not allow of its removal, the likenesses of the two figures being so admirably expressed. Cratinus,[2157] the comic writer, painted at Athens, in the Pompeion[2158] there.

Of Eutychides, there is a Victory guiding a chariot drawn by two horses. Eudorus is famous for his dramatic scenery; he executed some statues in bronze also. By Hippys there is a Neptune and Victory. Habron painted a picture of Friendship and Concord, and several figures of divinities; Leontiscus, an Aratus with the trophies of victory,[2159] and a Singing-girl; Leon, a portrait of Sappho; and Nearchus, a Venus attended by Cupids and Graces, and a Hercules, sorrowing and repentant at the sad results of his madness.[2160] Nealces,[2161] a remarkably ingenious and inventive artist, painted a Venus. On one occasion, when he had to represent a naval engagement between the Persians and Egyptians, wishing it to be understood that it took place on the river Nilus, the waters of which are similar in appearance to those of the sea, he employed an emblem to disclose that which would not admit of expression by art; for he painted an ass drinking on the shore, and a crocodile lying in wait for him.[2162]

Œnias has painted a Family Group; Philiscus, a Painter’s Studio, with a boy blowing the fire; Phalerion, a Scylla; Simonides, an Agatharchus and a Mnemosyne; Simus, a youth reposing, a Fuller’s Shop, a person celebrating the Quinquatria,[2163] and a Nemesis of great merit. By Theorus[2164] there is a Man Anointing himself; a picture of the Murder of Ægisthus and Clytæmnestra by Orestes; and a representation of the Trojan War, in a series of paintings, now at Rome, in the Porticos[2165] of Philippus: a Cassandra[2166] also, in the Temple of Concord; a Leontium, the mistress of Epicurus, in an attitude of meditation; and a King Demetrius.[2167] Theon[2168] has painted the Frenzy[2169] of Orestes, and a Thamyras[2170] playing on the lyre; Tauriscus, a Discobolus,[2171] a Clytæmnestra, a Pan in miniature, a Polynices claiming[2172] the sovereignty, and a Capaneus.[2173]

In speaking of these artists, I must not omit to mention one memorable circumstance: Erigonus, who was colour-grinder to the painter Nealces, himself made such progress in the art as to leave a very celebrated pupil, Pasias, the brother of Ægineta, the modeller. It is also a very singular fact, and one well deserving of remark, that the last works of these artists, their unfinished paintings, in fact, are held in greater admiration than their completed works; the Iris of Aristides, for instance, the Tyndaridæ[2174] of Nicomachus, the Medea of Timomachus,[2175] and the Venus of Apelles,[2176] already mentioned. For in such works as these, we not only see the outline depicted, and the very thoughts of the artist expressed, but have the composition additionally commended to our notice by the regrets which we must necessarily feel on finding the hand that commenced it arrested by death.

There are still some other artists, who, though by no means without reputation, can only be noticed here in a summary manner: Aristocydes; Anaxander; Aristobulus of Syria; Arcesilas,[2177] son of Tisicrates; Corœbos, a pupil of Nicomachus; Charmantides, a pupil of Euphranor; Dionysodorus of Colophon; Dicæogenes, a contemporary of King Demetrius;[2178] Euthymides; Heraclides[2179] of Macedon; Milo of Soli, a pupil of the statuary Pyromachus; Mnasitheus of Sicyon; Mnasitimus, the son and pupil of Aristonidas;[2180] Nessus, son of Habron;[2181] Polemon of Alexandria; Theodorus of Samos, and Stadieus, pupils of Nicosthenes; and Xeno of Sicyon, a pupil of Neocles.

There have been some female painters also. Timarete, the daughter of Micon,[2182] painted a Diana at Ephesus, one of the very oldest panel-paintings known. Irene, daughter and pupil of the artist Cratinus,[2183] painted a figure of a girl, now at Eleusis, a Calypso, an Aged Man, the juggler Theodorus, and Alcisthenes the dancer. Aristarete, daughter and pupil of Nearchus, painted an Æsculapius. Iaia of Cyzicus, who always remained single, painted at Rome, in the youth of M. Varro, both with the brush, and with the graver,[2184] upon ivory, her subjects being female portraits mostly. At Naples, there is a large picture by her, the portrait of an Old Woman; as also a portrait of herself, taken by the aid of a mirror. There was no painter superior to her for expedition; while at the same time her artistic skill was such, that her works sold at much higher prices than those of the most celebrated portrait-painters of her day, Sopolis namely, and Dionysius,[2185] with whose pictures our galleries are filled. One Olympias painted also, but nothing is known relative to her, except that she had Autobulus for a pupil.

CHAP. 41.—ENCAUSTIC PAINTING.

In ancient times there were but two methods of encaustic[2186] painting, in wax and on ivory,[2187] with the cestrum or pointed graver. When, however, this art came to be applied to the painting of ships of war, a third method was adopted, that of melting the wax colours and laying them on with a brush, while hot.[2188] Painting of this nature,[2189] applied to vessels, will never spoil from the action of the sun, winds, or salt water.

CHAP. 42.—THE COLOURING OF TISSUES.

In Egypt, too, they employ a very remarkable process for the colouring of tissues. After pressing the material, which is white at first, they saturate it, not with colours, but with mordents that are calculated to absorb colour. This done, the tissues, still unchanged in appearance, are plunged into a cauldron of boiling dye, and are removed the next moment fully coloured. It is a singular fact, too, that although the dye in the pan is of one uniform colour, the material when taken out of it is of various colours, according to the nature of the mordents that have been respectively applied to it: these colours, too, will never wash out. Thus the dye-pan, which under ordinary circumstances, no doubt, would have made but one colour of several, if coloured tissues had been put into it, is here made to yield several colours from a single dye. At the same moment that it dyes the tissues, it boils in the colour; and it is the fact, that material which has been thus submitted to the action of fire becomes stouter and more serviceable for wear, than it would have been if it had not been subjected to the process.