Search

[German version] Greek painter from Samos, worked in Athens in the 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC. Ancient sources link A. with chronologically divergent historical events. Vitr. De arch. 7 praef. 11 describes A. in connection with  stage painting as the ‘inventor’ of  perspective in painting and mentions a theoretical work about this. The negative judgement of his contemporary  Zeuxis regarding his hasty painting methods (Plut. Pericles 13), the information that  Alcibiades [2] locked A. in his hou…

[German version] (from Lat. pictura compendiaria, an advantageously short way of painting; ‘abbreviated’ painting). Ancient technical term, often translated as ‘quick painting’. The manner, the application and the influence of this Greek painting technique of the late 4th cent. BC is still debated due to the lack of detailed explanations in the sources (esp. in Plin. HN 35, 110; Petron. Sat. 2). The debate includes a number of methods: impressionist ‘paint spot painting’; the use of a kind of sketchi…

(Ἡρακλείδης; Hērakleídēs). Famous persons: the politician and writer H. [19] Lembus, the philosopher H. [16] Ponticus the Younger, the doctor H. [27] of Tarentum. I. Political figures [German version] [1] Spokesman on behalf of Athens at the Persian court, end of 5th cent. BC H. of Clazomenae (cf. Pl. Ion 541d) was in the service of the Persians and probably called basileús for that reason. Thus, he was able to perform valuable services for Athens at the Persian court in 423 BC for which he received Attic citizenship soon after moving there (after 400, Syll.3 118). To move the Athenians …

[German version] In Greek and Roman painting, stone, and especially marble, was a popular surface for paintings, as it lent itself to representations with varied functions. Images for the funerary cult, which are mostly badly preserved, existed on marble tombstones in many regions of the Mediterranean area from archaic times into the Hellenistic period. Like the relief stelae which were also painted with colours ( Polychromy), they were erected in necropoleis. Reliefs and painting were also combin…

(Νικόμαχος/ Nikómachos). [German version] [1] Healing hero See Gorgasus and Nicomachus Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Athenian official, 410-404 BC Allegedly the son of a slave and only later accepted as an Athenian citizen. In 410-404 BC, N. led the commission for recording the laws ( anagrapheîs tôn nómōn). Exiled under the Thirty ( triákonta ), he returned in 403 and again became anagrapheús. In 399/8 BC, N. was accused of manipulating the laws, thus e.g. contributing to the sentencing of the demagogue Cleophon [1] in 404, evading his …

(Ἀντίφιλος; Antíphilos). [German version] [1] Athenian strategos of hoplites (323/22 BC) The Athenian A. was elected Athenian strategos of hoplites ( Hoplites) after the death of Leosthenes 323/322 BC, whose successor he became. He took over the command of the land forces of the Hellenic League in the Lamian or Hellenic War and distinguished himself through military skills and courage (Plut. Phoc. 24,1-2; Diod. Sic. 18,13,6). He lifted the siege of  Antipater at  Lamia, in 322 defeated a Macedonian army under Le…

[German version] In Egyptian art, the illustration of historical events constitutes a rare exception; stylized motifs, such as the king slaying enemies, must be understood as timeless and are used as unchanging topoi over the centuries in various pictorial media. The insufficient material remains, art-theoretical texts and literature from ancient Greece relating to the painting of historical subjects do not permit a precise definition of ancient historical painting, in analogy to the modern term f…

[German version] A. Greece The lack of material records for ancient Greek painting also creates difficulties when attempting a definition and evaluation of this genre. However, based on today's knowledge of the monuments, it is fairly safe to assume that it cannot be equated with independent landscape painting (LP), as practised by the Dutch painters or during Romanticism, which forms the basis of the modern concept [4. 176]. Antiquity did not know a specific term for LP as we understand it [1. 190;…

[German version] (Παρράσιος/ Parrhásios). One of the most important Greek painters, from Ephesus, son of the sculptor (?) Evenor [1], active c. 440-380 BC. This versatile and productive (Plin. HN 35,69-72 alone records 16 paintings) contemporary of the equally famous Zeuxis lived in Athens; his spectacular and expensive works reached many areas of the Greek world and later, as booty, the Roman world. P. belonged to the second generation of artists from the 5th cent. BC, whose technical advances all…

[German version] (Νεάλκης; Neálkēs). Hellenistic representative of the Sicyonian school of painting, which has been famous since the Classical period. In the late 3rd cent. BC he was a respected and influential court painter for his friend Aratus [2]. Plin. HN 35, 141f. refers to pictures of an Aphrodite, of a snorting and foaming horse along with its tamer, as well as one of a naval battle between Persians and Egyptians on the Nile. We have no details of N.'s style, but his craftsmanship is emphasized in an anecdote which is also often told about other artists (Plin. HN 35, 103f.). Hoesch, Nic…

(Κυδίας; Kydías). [German version] [1] Erotic poet Erotic poet, quotes from Pl. Chrm. 155d, mentioned by Plut. Mor. 931e. He was obviously popular in Athens as he is depicted as a komast on a red-figured dish (Munich 2614) and on a psykter (London, BM E767) from c. 500 BC [1. 12-13]. He may perhaps be identical with Cydidas of Hermione referred to by Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 967 [2. 215]. Possibly (rather improbable) he is the dithyramb poet Cedeides/Ceceides mentioned by Aristoph. Nub. 985 (with schol.) [3]. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography 1 K. Friis Johansen, Eine Dithyrambos-A…

[German version] Interior or exterior painting of funerary architecture built from stone or carved into rock existed in antiquity and throughout the entire Mediterranean region, also images on wood and stone steles; sarcophagi rarely bore paintings. Each region and period had its own particular programmes of pictures, which are interpreted as realistic or symbolic, and referring to this or the next world depending on the state of research. Due to the perishable nature of the genre, much has been lost. However, significant new finds have also been made in recent years. Grave paintings …

[German version] (Πλεισταίνετος; Pleistaínetos). A Greek painter mentioned solely in Plut. De gloria Atheniensium 2,346; his life span can be dated to the middle of the 5th cent. BC only through chronological inference. He is said to have been a brother of the sculptor Phidias and to have created paintings of battle scenes with victorious commanders, as well as images of heroes. Several scholars believe that Pliny (Plin. HN 35, 54) had mistakenly written Panaenus instead of P., however the assumpti…

(Φιλόξενος; Philóxenos). [German version] [1] Name of several officers under Alexander the Great Several officers with the name P. are mentioned in the sources about Alexander  [4] the Great. They cannot always be distinguished with certainty. One P. was appointed by Alexander in 331 BC (incorrect [1]) ' to collect tribute on this side of the Taurus'(i.e. in Asia Minor) (Arr. An. 3,6,4). This cannot be correct. Arrian must, as often, have expressed himself imprecisely, as this duty had already been entrusted to somebody else. It can also hardly be th…

[German version] (‘monochrome paintings’, from the Greek μονόχρως/ monóchrōs or μονοχρώματος/ monochrṓmatos, ‘monochrome’). Pliny (HN 35,15; 35,56) characterises with this expression the use of colour during an early stage in the development of Greek painting which was also still practiced in his day [3]. He mentions a number of artists in this regard -- one can be dated to the mid-7th cent., based on the evidence of contemporary vase painting, another, Cimon [4], to the end of the 6th cent. Scholarly opinion of the nature and appearance of monochromata used to assume that one sin…

[German version] (Παυσίας; Pausías). Greek painter from Sicyon, belonging to the local school, student of Pamphilus [2], worked between 380 and 330 BC. Representative of light, decorative genre painting that was popular at the time and moved away from the historical-mythical themes of the classical period. With the change in subjects came a preference for predominantly small scenes in splendid Encaustic (painting). Sources (Plin. HN. 35,123ff.) emphasize graceful still lifes of flowers, whose effec…

(Δημήτριος; Dēmḗtrios). Well-known personalities: the Macedonian King D. [2] Poliorketes; the politician and writer D. [4] of Phalerum; the Jewish-Hellenistic chronographer D. [29]. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] Officer under Alexander the Great Officer under Alexander [4], fought at Gaugamela as commander of a troop ( ile) of  Hetairoi and in India he commanded a hipparchy. Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography Berve 2, no. 256. [German version] [2] D. Poliorketes Son of  Antigonus [1], born 337/6 BC (Diod. Sic. 19,96,1). In 320 he m…

(Τιμαγόρας/ Timagóras). [German version] [1] Greek painter and poet from Chalcis, c. 450 BC Greek Classical period painter and poet (?) from Chalcis; known only from Plin. HN 35,58, who gives an account of a painting competition during the Pythian Games in Delphi ( c. 450-440 BC), which T. won against Panaenus. The scale and appearance of his works are unknown. Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) Bibliography N. J. Koch, Techné und Erfindung in der klassischen Malerei, 2000, 229 G. Lippold, s. v. T. (7), RE 6 A, 1074 P. Moreno, s. v. T., EAA 7, 1966, 855. [German version] [2] From Athens, envoy t…

[German version] (Νικοφάνης; Nikophánēs). Painter of the second half of the 4th cent. BC, student of Pausias and therefore belonging to the Sicyonian school of painters (Plin. HN 35,111; 137). He was counted among the decorative genre painters, whose importance increased during this period; assessments of the effect of his art varied and apparently it was especially appreciated by connoisseurs. His manner was pleasing and fine despite a harsh effect of his colours due to the use of much ochre. We k…

(Σωκράτης; Sōkrátēs). [German version] [1] Sculptor from Thebes, c. 470 BC Sculptor from Thebes. He created a cult statue of Meter Dindymene for Pindar [2] in Thebes (Paus. 9,25,3) and therefore must have worked in the 'Severe Style' around 470 BC. Paus. 1,22,8 attributed a relief of the Charites and a Hermes Propylaios on the Acropolis in Athens to the philosopher S. [2] as the alleged sculptor. The relief of the Charites is identified as the model of a much-copied type. Because it is dated to around 470,…