GREEK ART.) There are traditions of Corinthian and Sicyonian painters, Nvito drew outlines on walls or whitened tablets of clay by the aid of shadows, and indicated details by a few lines, but used only one color. There are also records of paintings which would carry hack the art into the eighth century. homages of Athens is said to have distinguished the sexes, probably by the use of different colors, in distinction from the early monochrome artists, and Chnon of Cleome to have introduced correct drawing in profile, probably of the eye, and variety in the direction of the glance. These artists, who have some claim to be considered real persons, must have lived about the middle or end of the sixth century.
In the great outburst of Greek genius which followed the Persian wars. and which centred in Athens, painting rose to an equality with sculp ture. This advance is directly connected with I'olvgnotus (q.v.) of Thasos, whom Theophrastus describes as the discoverer of the art. His works were large scenes covering the walls of public buildings, such as the "Painted Portico" at Athens and the "Lesehe" of the Cnidians at Delphi. In general his subjects were mythologi cal, but his contemporaries and fellow-workers Alicon and Pamenus, brother of Phidias, seem to have treated also events in recent history. At this time painting. like sculpture, is found in the service of the State for the decoration of public buildings and temples. As to the style of these artists, it is safe to say that true per spective was wanting. nor were light and shade indicated. The figures were on different levels, and there was some indication of broken ground. Polyg,notus's palette. we are told, contained only black, white. yellow, and red, with which be suc ceeded, however, in producing a variety of shades. In spite of the flat color, Polygnotus was famed for his fine composition, dignity, and perfection of characterization. and severe, yet expressive. drawing.
The most important advance was made shortly after by the scene-painter Agatharchus of Samos, who discovered some of the applications of per spective and shading. His book on his new dis coveries led the philosophers Anaxagoras and Democritus to serious investigation of the laws of perspective. The new methods were trans ferred from the large surfaces to panels by Apollodorus of Athens, and thus within a century the way was fairly cleared for a growth of the art beyond all that the Egyptians had achieved in three thousand years. The school which now arose. about the end of the fifth century, is com monly called the Asiatic or Ionic school, and is best represented by the two great rivals Zcuxis (q.v.) of Ileraclea and Parrhasius (q.v.) of Ephesus. The former was famed for his truth ful and even deceptive reproduction of nature, and the latter for his delicate drawing, but both must have been masters of chiaroscuro, if any reliance can he placed in the comments that have survived. To this school also belonged Timanthes of Cythnos, famous for the variety and depth of facial expression.
In the early fourth century B.C. the centre of painting seems to have been at Sicyon. where Timanthes lived late in life. Its founder was Eupompus, who was sureeeded by (q.v.) and Melanthius, who laid great stress on systematic instruction, especially in drawing, which was introduced into the schools of the city.
A pupil of the school, Pausias, perfected the encaustic painting (q.v.), which, however, did not drive out the old tempera (q.v.) process. How far the school had advanced in handling of light and shade may be judged from the praise given the black ox of Pausias. In the second quarter of the fourth century a school of Theban and Attic artists arose who seem to have given especial attention to pathos, and whose favorite subjects were battle pieces. The tendency away from the severe and lofty, which is found in sculpture, also manifested itself in painting, and many of these artists are also credited with genre scenes, flower pieces, and trifling subjects. In contrast to this tendency Nicias of Athens, who seems to have survived Alexander, insisted on the im portance of great subjects. It seems very prob able that the release of Io by Hermes, in the "House of Livia" on the Palatine Hill in Rome, is a copy of one of his works. The highest technical skill and artistic merit were claimed by the an cients for the two great masters of the younger Ionian school, Apelles of Ephesus and Pro togenes of Caunus; the former famed for his grace, the latter for his painstaking, which in the opinion of some led him to weaken the spontaneity of his pictures. The paintings in the Etruscan tombs, though undoubtedly influenced by Greek models, are far too rude to serve as standards of reconstruction, and most of them are not later than the middle of the fourth cen tury. Of more value is a sarcophagus from Co•neto, now in Florence, on which is painted in tempera a wonderfully vigorous battle of the Greeks and Amazons, probably the work of an Etruscan artist of the early third century B.C., but evidently a close copy of a Greek model, which must have ranked in beauty and power little below the works of the best period.
The Hellenistic age shows in painting, as in sculpture, two tendencies. One was toward the rendering of mythical scenes, which afforded op portunity for pathetic or tragic expression, as in the famous picture of Timomachus of Byzan tium, representing SNIedea meditating the slaugh ter of her children, of which some reminiscences seem preserved in Pompeian paintings. On the other hand, many painters seem to have pre ferred lighter themes, They also rendered the landscape with pleasure, and even experimented with effects of artificial light, as in a painting of a boy blowing a fire. Often the choice is low, and triviality, not to say sensuality, is a promi nent characteristic. The walls of Pompeii fur nish abundant examples of these tendencies. It is only from this late period of Hellenistic art that many works have come down to us. In Rome are the Aldohrandini marriage, a series of landscapes illustrating the Odyssey, and a rather poor series of panels representing victims of unnatural love, while the baths, palaces, and tombs have from time to time yielded others, many of which have now perished. Among these the first place must be given to those from the Farnesina Gardens, some of which recall the best Athenian leeythi of the fourth century. The largest number are. however, from the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and of espe cial value are the portraits of the second century A.D., discovered in the Fayum, Egypt. where they were used to cover the faces of mummies.