Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

jlistory. PAIN
ise Pro- guisfaed place in a work of Raphael. Those vases, when
■ess, and we consider that this kind of work admits of no correc-
Oecline. tion, and that the stroke which forms the outline must
' v remain as it is originally traced, are wonderful proofs
of the perfection of the art among the ancients.”
Winklemann had an opportunity of examining a very
fine Campanian vase, on which was painted a bur¬
lesque representation of the loves of Jupiter and Alc-
mena. But as this must have been derived from
some fragments of a Grecian comedy, the Count de
Caylus is persuaded that the Campanian vases are of
j Greek origin.
mongthe Although the history of Greek painting be more
reeks. fu|}y known than that of the same art among the bar¬
barous nations, it is nevertheless involved in much ob¬
scurity. Pliny is almost the only author who has pre¬
served the materials of its history •, and be complains,
that on this occasion the Greek writers have not disco¬
vered their usual precision. They place, says he, the
first painter, of whom they speak, in the 90th Olympiad,
624 years before the Christian era. It is certain that
painting in dry colours existed at the time of the siege
of Troy, or at least when Homer wrote the account of
it. The buckler of Achilles is a sufficient proof that
the Greeks were then acquainted with the basso relie¬
vo, a kind of sculpture which bears a near affinity to
painting.
In the Iliad, Helen is represented as working at a
tapestry, whereon she figured the numerous combats of
which she was the cause. When Andromache was in¬
formed of her husband’s death, she was occupied in re¬
presenting on tapestry flotvers of various colours. From
these facts, it is certain that painting was not confined
to simple strokes, nor even to the camaieu •, and hence
it is reasonable to conclude, that what is called linear?/
painting was practised long before the time of Homer.
Polygnote of Thasos, who lived about 420 years before
the Christian era, was the first painter of any eminence
in Greece. Pliny informs us that he was the first who
clothed his female figures, who varied the colours of the
different parts of their dress, or who opened their mouths
in such a manner as to show their teeth. Aristotle, who
flourished in a subsequent period, allows this painter to
have excelled in expression. But the art of painting
may be still considered in it§ infancy in Gi’eece, till
about 400 years before the Christian era, when Zeuxis
and Parrhasius flourished. In the contest between these
eminent painters, Zeuxis declared himself to be over¬
come, because in a cluster of grapes which he painted
he had deceived the birds \ whereas Parrhasius in a cur¬
tain which he executed deceived his rival. The princi¬
pal works of Zeuxis are his Penelope, in which, accord¬
ing to Pliny, he appears to have expressed the manners
of that princess; a Jupiter surrounded by the gods; a
Hercules strangling the serpents in the presence of Am-
phitrion and Alcmena; an Helen, and a Marsyas bound.
From this enumeration of these works, and from the
fame which they have acquired, it is evident that the
difficult parts of the art and those which in the execu¬
tion render it estimable, were now begun to be studied.
By Apelles, Protogenes, and Euphranor, it was carried
to the greatest height of perfection. Grace, and
symmetry, and proportion, and illusion, were now ad¬
ded by the greatest masters to the noblest objects of
nature.
TING. 629
We have already seen, that before the foundation of Rise, Pro-
Rome the arts were cultivated in Etruria. They were gress, and
also early introduced into Latium ; but whether that, Decline',,
country employed its own artists or those of Etruria, g
remains altogether uncertain. One need not be asto- Among the
nished, that at a period when the arts were in their infan- Romans,
cy in Greece, they were raising statues to their kings in
Rome: but at that period all their artists were Etruri¬
ans or Latins ; and when they conquered Italy, they
made all the nations ol it as barbarous as they were
themselves.
In the year 259 from the building of the city of
Rome, and 494 years before the Christian era, Appius
Claudius consecrated a number of shields in the temple
of Bellona, which contained in basso relievo the por¬
traits of his family. This example was followed ; and
in process, of time it was common among the Romans
to place those images in private houses. The execution
in basso relievo is a proof that they had an idea of paint¬
ing, at least with one colour. As long as the Romans
employed artists of other nations, they had little desire
to cultivate the arts ; but towards the year of Rome
450, and 303 years before Christ, one of the Fabii
thought it no discredit to a noble family to employ
himself in painting. He painted the temple of Safety ;
and his works remained till that temple was destroyed
by hre, in the reign of Claudius. It is worthy of re¬
mark, that the same man was the first painter and the
first historian in his country.
The example of Fabius, surnamed Victor from his
profession, did not excite his fellow citizens to imitation.
A century and a half elapsed before the tragic poet
Pacu vius, nephew of Ennius, painted the temple of
Hercules in the forum boarium. The glory which he
had acquired by his dramatic works shed some lustre on
the art, which he condescended to exercise ; but did not
confer on it that respect which could recommend it to
general practice. The paintings of Fabius were the
works, or rather the recreations of his youth ; those of
Pacuvius, the amusements of his old age : but paint'-
ing is a difficult art, which requires the whole atten¬
tion, and which can never be prosecuted with, success,
except those who love it are solely devoted to the per¬
formance.
It appears that there were no eminent painters at
Rome till the time of the emperors ; but as the national
spirit was changed, the profession of the fine arts acqui¬
red more respectability. The Romans, during the time
of the republic, were animated with the spirit of liberty
and the desire for conquest. When these two passions
were weakened, the love of the arts obtained among
them. As a proof of this it is sufficient to say, that
Nero himself gloried in being an artist. A colossean
picture of 1 20 feet was painted at Rome by the com¬
mand of this emperor, which was afterward destroyed
by lightning. The name of the painter is not recorded,
and there are various opinions concerning the merit of
the performance ; but the thing chiefly worthy of ob¬
servation is, that this is the only painting on cloth men¬
tioned by ancient authors. ^
The paintings of the ancient artists were either move- Of the
able, or on the ceilings or compartments of buildings, modes of
According to Pliny, the most eminent were those whoPainting^
painted moveable pictures. The latter were either on ancients.G
fir wood, larch, boxwood, or canvas, as in the colossean
picture