Nealkes or Nealces () was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

from

Sicyon Sicyon (; ; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of th ...

who flourished in the 3rd century BC. He was a friend of

Aratus of Sicyon Aratus of Sicyon (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σικυώνιος; 271–213 BC) was a politician and military commander of Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Ancient Greece, Greece. He was elected strategos of the Achaean League 17 times, lead ...

and after the liberation of their city in 251 BC he interceded to save an artful painting by

Melanthius Melanthius () was an Greece, ancient Greek Painting, painter of the 4th century BC. He belonged to the school of Sicyon, which was noted for fine drawing. References

* Ancient Greek painters 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC pai ...

showing the former tyrant Aristratus of Sicyon with the goddess of victory

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

on a chariot. When Aratus insisted on the destruction of the portrait, Nealkes cried out in tears and finally offered to cancel the face by his own hand in order to save the rest of the artwork. He then painted a palm where the tyrant stood, but forgot his feet which remained visible underneath the chariot. The best known of his own paintings were a portrait of

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

and a Battle on the Nile with a famous detail showing an ass on the bank of the river being attacked by a crocodile. His daughter was the painter Anaxandra, and his color-grinder was Erigonus, who was also a teacher of the modeller Aegineta.

References

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, ''Aratus'' 13. * Pliny, ''Nat.'' 35,142. Ancient Greek painters Ancient Sicyonians 3rd-century BC Greek people 3rd-century BC painters {{Greece-painter-stub