OLDER ATTIC SCHOOL: The first painter of rank was Polygnotus
(fl. 475-455 B.C.), sometimes called the founder of
Greek painting, because perhaps he was one of the first important painters in
Greece proper. He seems to have been a good outline draughtsman, producing
figures in profile, with little attempt at relief, perspective, or
light-and-shade. His colors were local tones, but probably more like nature and
more varied than anything in Egyptian painting. Landscapes, buildings, and the
like,oil paintings for sale, were given in a symbolic manner. Portraiture was a generalization, and in
figure com positions the names of the principal characters were
written near them for purposes of identification. The most important works of
Polygnotus were the wall paintings for the Assembly Room of the Knidians at
Delphi. The subjects related to the Trojan War and the adventures of
Ulysses.
Opposed to this flat, unrelieved style was the work of a follower,
Agatharchos of Samos (fl. end of fifth century B.C.). He was a scene-painter, and by the necessities of his
craft was led toward nature. Stage effect required a study of perspective,
variation of light,oil painting online, and a knowledge of the laws of optics. The slight outline
drawing of his predecessor was probably superseded by effective masses to create
illusion. This was a distinct advance toward nature.Apollodorus (fl. end
of fifth century B.C.) applied the principles of
Agatharchos to figures. According to Plutarch, he was the first to discover
variation in the shade of colors, and, according to Pliny, the first master to
paint objects as they appeared in nature. He had the title of skiagraphos
(shadow-painter), and possibly gave a semi-natural background with perspective.
This was an improvement, but not a perfection. It is not likely that the
backgrounds were other than conventional settings for the figure. Even these
were not at once accepted by the painters of the period, but were turned to
profit in the hands of the followers. art oil paintings for sale
After the Peloponnesian Wars the art of painting seems to have flourished
elsewhere than in Athens, owing to the Athenian loss of supremacy. Other schools
sprang up in various districts, and one to call for considerable mention by the
ancient writers was the
IONIAN SCHOOL, which in reality had existed from the sixth century.
The painters of this school advanced upon the work of Apollodorus as regards
realistic effect. Zeuxis, whose fame was at its height during the
Peloponnesian Wars, seems to have regarded art as a matter of illusion,oil painting on canvas, if one
may judge by the stories told of his work.The tale of his painting a bunch of grapes so like
reality that the birds came to peck at them proves either that the painter's
motive was deception, or that the narrator of the tale picked out the deceptive
part of his picture for admiration. He painted many subjects, like Helen,
Penelope, and many genre pieces on panel. Quintilian says he originated
light-and-shade, an achievement credited by Plutarch to Apollodorus. It is
probable that he advanced light-and-shade. modern abstract art oil painting
In illusion he seems to have been outdone by a rival, Parrhasios of
Ephesus. Zeuxis deceived the birds with painted grapes, but Parrhasios deceived
Zeuxis with a painted curtain. There must have been knowledge of color,
modelling, and relief to have produced such an illusion, but the aim was petty
and unworthy of the skill. There was evidently an advance technically, but some
decline in the true spirit of art. Parrhasios finally suffered defeat at the
hands of Timanthes of Kythnos, by a Contest between Ajax and Ulysses for
the Arms of Achilles. Timanthes's famous work was the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, of
which there is a supposed Pompeian copy. abstract oil painting
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