Zeuxis

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For the military general who served under Seleucid emperor Antiochus III the Great, see Zeuxis (general).
Victor Mottez, Zeuxis choosing his models (1858)

Zeuxis (Greek: Ζεῦξις) (of Heraclea) was a painter who flourished during the 5th century BC.

Life and work

Zeuxis was an innovative ancient (5th century BC) Greek painter. Although his paintings have not survived, historical records state they were known for their realism, small scale, novel subject matter, and independent format. His technique created volumetric illusion through manipulating light and shadow, a change from the usual method of filling in shapes with flat color. This new effect eventually led to Italian Renaissance "chiaroscuro." Preferring small scale panels to murals, Zeuxis also introduced genre subjects (such as still life) into painting. He contributed to the composite method of composition, and may have originated an approach to, and thus influenced the concept of, the ideal form of "The Nude," as described by art historian Kenneth Clark. As the story goes, Zeuxis could not find a woman beautiful enough to pose as Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, so he selected the finest features of five different models to create a composite image of ideal beauty.[1]

Ancient Greek painters

 

Zeuxis was born in Heraclea in 464 BC, probably Heraclea Lucania, in the present day region of Basilicata in southeastern Italy.[2] He may have studied with Demophilus of Himera (Sicily), or with Neseus of Thasos (an island in the northern Aegean Sea), and/or with the Greek painter Appollodorus. Records cite his notable works as Helen, Zeus Enthroned, and The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents; he also painted an assembly of gods, Eros crowned with roses, Alcmene, Menelaus, an athlete, Pan, Marsyas chained, and an old woman. Archelaus I of Macedon employed Zeuxis to decorate the palace of his new capital Pella with a picture of Pan.[3] Most of his works went to Rome and to Byzantium, but disappeared during the time of Pausanias.

Zeuxis is said to have died laughing at the humorous way he painted the goddess Aphrodite - after the old woman who commissioned it insisted on modeling for the portrait.[citation needed]

Painting Contest

According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, Zeuxis and his contemporary Parrhasius (of Ephesus and later Athens) staged a contest to determine the greater artist. When Zeuxis unveiled his painting of grapes, they appeared so real birds flew down to peck at them. But when Zeuxis asked Parrhasius to pull aside the curtain from his painting, the curtain itself turned out to be a painted illusion. Parrhasius won, and Zeuxis admitted, 'I have deceived the birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis.'

This story was commonly used in 18th- and 19th-century art theory to promote spatial illusion in painting. In a 1964 seminar, the psychoanalyst and theorist Jacques Lacan observed that the myth reveals an interesting aspect of human cognition: While animals are attracted to superficial appearances, humans are enticed by the idea of that which is hidden.

References

  1. ↑ Elizabeth Mansfield ( 2007) books.google.com Too beautiful to picture: Zeuxis, myth, and mimesis University of Minnesota Press ISBN 0-8166-4749-6 {see also: mimesis}
  2. ↑ Chilvers, Ian (2003). "Zeuxis". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  3. ↑ The Greek world, 479-323 BC By Simon Hornblower Page 95 ISBN 0-415-15344-1

External links

(English) - Documents: Gutenberg Project

See also

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