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Polygnotus ( el, Πολύγνωτος ''Polygnotos'') was an
During the time of Cimon, Polygnotus painted for the Athenians a picture of the taking of
10.25–31
/ref> The foundations of the building have been recovered in the course of the French excavations at Delphi. From this evidence, some archaeologists have tried to reconstruct the paintings, other than their colours. The figures were detached and seldom overlapping, ranged in two or three rows one above another; and the farther were not smaller nor dimmer than the nearer. Therefore, it seems that the paintings of this time were executed on almost precisely the same plan as contemporary sculptural reliefs. Polygnotus employed only a few simple colours. Technically his art was primitive. His excellence lay in the beauty of his drawing of individual figures, especially in the "ethical" and ideal character of his art. A contemporary and perhaps teacher of Pheidias, Polygnotus had the same grand manner. Simplicity, which was almost childlike, sentiment at once noble and gentle, extreme grace and charm of execution, marked his works, in contrast to the more animated, complicated and technically superior paintings of later ages.
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
painter from the middle of the 5th century BC. Life
He was the son and pupil of Aglaophon. He was a native ofThasos
Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area.
The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...
, but was adopted by the Athenians, and admitted to their citizenship.
During the time of Cimon, Polygnotus painted for the Athenians a picture of the taking of Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
on the walls of the Stoa Poikile
The Stoa Poikile (, ) or Painted Porch, originally called the Porch of Peisianax (, ), was a stoa (a covered walkway or portico) erected during the 5th century BC and was located on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Stoa Poikile ...
, and another of the marriage of the daughters of Leucippus
Leucippus (; el, Λεύκιππος, ''Leúkippos''; fl. 5th century BCE) is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who has been credited as the first philosopher to develop a theory of atomism.
Leucippus' reputation, even in antiquity, was obscured ...
in the Anacaeum. Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
mentions that historians and the poet Melanthius
Melanthius ( grc, Μελάνθιος) was an ancient Greek painter of the 4th century BC. He belonged to the school of Sicyon
Sicyon (; el, Σικυών; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyon was an ancient Greek city state situated in the ...
attest that Polygnotus did not paint for the money but rather out of a charitable feeling towards the Athenian people. In the hall at the entrance to the Acropolis other works of his were preserved. The most important of his paintings were his frescoes in the Lesche of the Knidians, a building erected at Delphi by the people of Cnidus. The subjects of these were the visit to Hades by Odysseus and the taking of Troy.
The traveller Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
recorded a careful description of these paintings, figure by figure.Pausanias10.25–31
/ref> The foundations of the building have been recovered in the course of the French excavations at Delphi. From this evidence, some archaeologists have tried to reconstruct the paintings, other than their colours. The figures were detached and seldom overlapping, ranged in two or three rows one above another; and the farther were not smaller nor dimmer than the nearer. Therefore, it seems that the paintings of this time were executed on almost precisely the same plan as contemporary sculptural reliefs. Polygnotus employed only a few simple colours. Technically his art was primitive. His excellence lay in the beauty of his drawing of individual figures, especially in the "ethical" and ideal character of his art. A contemporary and perhaps teacher of Pheidias, Polygnotus had the same grand manner. Simplicity, which was almost childlike, sentiment at once noble and gentle, extreme grace and charm of execution, marked his works, in contrast to the more animated, complicated and technically superior paintings of later ages.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
, ''Description of Greece''. W. H. S. Jones (translator). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (1918).
*
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek painters
Artists of ancient Thasos
5th-century BC Greek people
Metics in Classical Athens
5th-century BC painters