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THE

GREEK PAINTERS' ART

BY

IRENE WEIR

Formerly Student of the School of Fine Arts, Yale University
Formerly Director of the Norwich Art School, Connecticut
Director of Art Instruction, Brookline, Massachusetts

GINN & COMPANY
BOSTON ¦ NEW YORK ¦ CHICAGO ¦ LONDON

Entered at' Stationers' Hall

Copyright, 1905
By IRENE WEIR

all rights reserved

95.3

©be Athenaeum jjrroe
GINN & COMPANY-CAM
BRIDGE • MASSACHUSETTS

TO THE
MEMORY OF MY FATHER
WALTER WEIR, M.A.
THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED

PREFACE
Every student of art, history, and literature knows
something about Greek architecture and Greek sculpture.
Such knowledge is as essential to an intelligent understand
ing of modern art, modern history, and modern literature
as are foundation stones to a building. Architecture and
sculpture are, however, but two of the three divisions of
the visual arts. Without painting the triple unit is not
complete. And it is a lamentable fact that of Greek paint
ing so little remains that to the average student there is
not and never was in Greece a field of painting compa
rable to the sister arts. Modern discoveries on Greek soil,
however, are continually throwing new light upon the
painters' art. They reveal glimpses of that world of color
to which ancient Greek writers refer in terms of high
praise. Traces of color have been found, on the inside
walls of the palaces at Tiryns, Mykena?, Phylakopi, and
Knossos, on metopes, triglyphs, pediments, and other archi
tectural members of various temples. These remains prove
that color was called to the aid of architecture from Homeric
times down to the perfect period of its development
that culminated in the Parthenon. The exceeding pure-
ness of atmosphere in Greece, the light tone of soil on
roadway and upturned field, together with the warm, creamy
color of marble which glistens dazzlingly in the brilliant

vi PREFACE
sunshine, — these combine to produce an effect of intense
brightness which, without some modifying agency, would
have been singularly trying. Color undoubtedly brought
these varied elements into harmony.
As for its use in enhancing the beauty of sculpture,
we know — from what Pliny tells us in quoting Praxite
les' words, who when asked which of his marble statues
pleased him most said, " Those which the hand of Nikias
has touched" — that the painting of marble statues was,
in all probability, the usual accompaniment of the sculp
tors' work. Recent excavations on the Akropolis at Athens,
which have resulted in the finding of daintily colored archaic
statues, prove without question that the use of color was
a common practice before the Persian wars, and was doubt
less the custom later. To those who are familiar only with
the cold, coarse white of the plaster cast, the thought of
color on the statue seems at first incomprehensible. It
is only when we stand before the warmly tinted marbles
of Greece, and see for ourselves the additional charm
resulting from the use of color, that we are quite recon
ciled to the idea.
Of the large wall paintings by Polygnotos at Delphi and
of those in the Painted Gallery on the Akropolis at Athens,
which Pausanias describes so fully, no trace now remains.
Greek painting — the painting of pictures in color on
walls or flat surfaces of stone or wood — is practically a
lost art. Only the Greek portrait paintings recently found
at Fayum in Egypt, the wall paintings in Etruscan tombs,
and Greek and Roman mural decorations in southern
Italy remain to give us even the semblance of an idea
as to the character of the achievements of Polygnotos,

preface vii
Apollodoros, Apelles, and their contemporaries, to which
Greek writers — poets, historians, and scholars — make fre
quent reference.
But there is one most interesting department of the
painters' art that has come down undimmed to the present
time. Greek vases show us not only the potters' and
painters' unique and original craftsmanship, but inciden
tally they tell us many important facts relating to the tra
ditions, customs, daily occupations, and life of the people
of Greece. If all else were lost, these alone would be a
rich inheritance.
To the student of the classics we can scarcely imagine
a greater help or pleasure than to see pictures of events
and scenes in which famous heroes of Homeric days are
concerned. Thus the race of gods is no longer a myth ;
it becomes a living reality, as it was to Homer himself.
Athena presides over a doubtful contest, not merely be
cause Homer tells us so, but because we see her standing
divinely unmoved, with helmet and shield and spear, beside
her heroes. Achilles, Odysseus, Patroklos are no longer
vague, shadowy forms ; they are living, human beings,
fighting against odds and sharing the pleasure or displeas
ure of the gods. Do we read of dancing, feasting, musical
contests ? Here we see the slender-limbed maidens sway
ing to the rhythmic music of flute and lyre. Is our hero
slain in battle ? We see him tenderly borne from the field
by the winged angels of Death. Of the powerful impres
sion made by the visible picture painted in those golden
days of idyllic feeling, there is no question, nor of the fact
that such impressions leave an indelible and lasting influ
ence upon the mind.

viii PREFACE
The purpose of this book, therefore, is to bring the
reader in touch with the Greek painter of old in a simple
and direct manner, — the Introduction serving to lead him
to the enchanted land. Once there, he may explore at will
the brief history of painting, the subject of vase painting,
the testimony of recent writers on color as applied to archi
tecture and sculpture, and the remains of portrait painting,
mosaic, and mural painting. The aim is not in any measure
to exhaust the subject, but to group together the most reli
able matter obtainable from ancient and modern writings
and from recent reports by archaeologists, and to record the
results of personal study from books, from collections in
foreign and native museums, and from actual finds in Greece
itself, in all that relates to color as used by the Greek
painter of old. This has been done not only with the idea
of compiling a useful summary of important facts, but to
awaken the interest and kindle the imagination toward a
keener appreciation of the painters' art wherever- found.
The Greek spelling of Greek words has been followed
by preference except in such cases as Mykense, Piraeus,
Corinth, ^Egeus, and the like, where it has been thought
best to retain the more familiar form.
The author wishes to extend thanks to the curators and
librarians of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for their
many acts of kindness ; to the officers of the Fogg Museum,
Cambridge, the Institute of Technology, the Athenaeum
and the Boston Public Library, and to Mr. Wilfred G. G.
Cole of Cambridge, for the use of books, photographs, and
plates; and to the members of the Editorial Department
of Ginn & Company for their unfailing courtesy.
Cambridge, March, 1905

CONTENTS
PAGES
Introduction — A Recent Visit to Greece . . . .1-102
Leaving Rome — Brindisi — Santa Quaranta — Corf 11 — • Patras
— Pyrgos — Myth of Arethusa — Olympia — Patras to Corinth
— Delphi — Old Corinth — Akro-Corinth — Nauplia — Tiryns —
Argos — Mykena; — Epidauros — Athens — The Akropolis —
Akropolis Museum — Archaeological Museum — Athens — ./Egina
— Lykabettos — Areopagos — Uissos — Kolonos — Kephisos
— Pentelikon — Hymettos — Marathon — Dipylon Gate — Ke
phisos — Myth of Demeter and Persephone — Pass of Daphne —
Mysteries of Eleusis — Eleusis.
Chapter I — A Brief History of Greek Painting 103-137
Two sources of knowledge : literature and extant works — Origin
of painting — Kimon of Kleoni — Polygnotos, his works in the
Portico on the Akropolis at Athens and at Delphi — Agatharchos
— Apollodoros — Zeuxis — Parrhasios — Timanthes — Eupompos
— Pausias — Aristeides — Nikomachos — Euphranor — Nikias — ¦
Apelles — Protogenes — Antiphilos — Theon of Samos — .i*Etion
— Helena — Timarete, daughter of Mikon — Eirene — Kalypso
— Aristarte — Iaia — Olympias — Nikophanes — Peiraikos —
Studios — Fabius Pictor — Ludius.
Chapter II — Vase Painting in Greece and Southern
Italy  138-181
The making and painting of the vase the work of craftsmen
— Common use of the vase — Styles and subjects of decoration
— The gods : Zeus, Hera, Athena, Herakles, Apollo — Life of
the people, their occupations, training in athletic sports — The
deeds of heroes : Achilles, Odysseus — Prehistoric ware from
Hissarlik (Troy), Rhodes, and southern Italy — Pre-Homeric ware
from Mykenas, later known as the Geometric, and that found at
Athens known as the Dipylon — Style and subjects of decoration
ix

X CONTENTS
PAGES
of Dipylon — Oriental influences shown at Rhodes, Melos, and
Cyprus — Corinthian ware — -Naukratis — Athenian ware — Early
Attic ware — Black-figured ware, early and later styles — Treat
ment of human figure — Severe type of red-figured ware — Epic-
tetos and Euphronos — Fine style — Orpheus vase — Ware from
Nola and Campania — Variety of style and workmanship in
Athenian ware — Athenian lekythoi — Apulian ware — Campa-
nian ware — Importance of Greek vases to the archaeologist.
Chapter III — Color as applied to Architecture and
Sculpture  182-245
Use of color upon Greek temples — ^Egina, Athens, Sicily,
southern Italy, Psestum — Color upon Doric and Ionic orders —
Olympic . temples and sculpture — Temple of Zeus, Olympia —
Temple of Theseus, Athens — Athenian love of color in dress
— Its natural application to architecture — Color upon the Par
thenon — The Propylaia — Color applied to sarcophagi — Alex
ander sarcophagus from Sidon — Colors employed — Realism —
Expression — Lion hunt — Archer, nude runner, Alexander —
Brilliant effect — Color as applied to sculpture of early images
and reliefs — Colors used — Archaic votive statues found on
Akropolis in excavations of 1885 — ¦ Color on these statues —
Their significance — Style of costume — Relation to vase paint
ing — Herakles and the Monster Typhon — Pediment groups with
lion and bull — Hermes — Statue of Zeus, Olympia — Statue of
female figure from Delos — Figurines, number and style, from
Tanagra and elsewhere — Process of making and decorating.
Chapter IV — Greco-Egyptian Portraits and Greco-
Roman Mosaics  246-265
Greco-Egyptian portraits found at Fayum — Fayum largely in
habited by Greeks — Custom of embalming — Painted image or
plastic head — Painted panel inserted — Variety in excellence —
Earlier probably the better — Difference in material — Wax colors
or distemper — Preparation of panel — Appealing expression —
Modern character — "Asklepiades, eight years old" — Descrip
tion of portrait in the Graf collection — Portrait of a man — Style
of technique — Two in Museum of Fine Arts — Mr. Petrie's

CONTENTS xi
PAGES
excavations — Mr. Ebers' summary — -Nationality, use, period of
execution — Realistic treatment — Portraits of heathen — Rela
tion to Pompeian portraits. Mosaics — Antiquity — Greek mosaic
— Pliny's reference to it — Replicas in Rome — Doves — Wall
mosaic in fountain decoration — Floor mosaic — Dog from House
of Tragic Poet — Mosaic of cat with bird — Ducks and fish —
House of the Faun — Battle of Issos — Importance — Nile mosaic
from Palestrina — Best mosaics from Pompeii in National Museum,
Naples.
Chapter V — Mural Painting  266-346
Mural Painting in Greece : Its importance — Scarcity of actual
remains in Greece — Hope for important discoveries — Mural
remains in Greece — Discoveries at Tiryns, Mykenae — Bull fresco
at Tiryns — Long parallel bands at Mykenae — Blue glass-paste
at Tiryns — Excavations at Knossos, Crete — Cupbearer —
Frieze, a. ceremonial procession — Miniature work — Mykenaean
shrine — Fresco of fish and dolphins — Figure in yellow jacket
— Figure on galloping bull — ¦ Three figures in circus show —
Seated figure by shrine — Fish fresco — Excavations at Phyla-
kopi, Melos — Mykenaean palace — Wall paintings — Flying fish
frieze — Colors used — Reference to Knossos — Seated male
figure — Stooping male figure — Frieze of lilies — Bird — Paint
ings on terra cotta metopes, Temple of Apollo, Thermon.
Mural Painting in Italy : Etruscan wall paintings — Greco-
Roman painting — Etruria — Oldest 500 B.C. — Plaques at Caere
— Chiusi — Corneto — Tarquinian necropolis — Grotta del Barone
— Grotta delle Bighe — Band of dancing figures — Band of figures
in chariot race — Funeral banquet — Gymnastic sports — Beauty
and color — Grotta del Tifone — Grotta della Querciola — Grotta
del Triclinio — Best work probably contemporary with Apelles —
Banquet scene — Sarcophagus effigy — Greek mythology — Tomba
dell' Oreo — Banquet scene — Mythological scene — Summary.
Rome : Number and importance — Period and style — Baths
of Trajan — Lateran — Villa Albani — Aldobrandini Marriage
— Odyssey landscapes in Vatican Library — Color and style —
Via Latina — Columbarium of Villa Pamphili — Villa of Livia —
House of Livia — Mythological subjects — -Landscape and street
scenes — Farnesina Palace — Summary.

xii CONTENTS
Southern Italy : Greek influences — Paestum, Herculaneum,
and Pompeii — Color and method of work — Frescoes in Naples
Museum — Five pictures signed Alexander of Athens — Roman
scenes — From Paestum — Pompeii — Brief account of its destruc
tion — Wall decorations — Four periods — Pre-Roman period
— House of Sallust — Incrustation style — Similar examples in
Greek cities — Importance of the picture in scheme of decoration
— Ornate style — House of Spurius Mesor — Intricate style —
Complicated architectural decorations — House of the Tragic
Poet — Scenes from the Trojan War — Nuptials of Zeus and
Hera — Departure of Briseis — Sacrifice of Iphigeneia — House
of the Vettii — Mythological subjects — Cupid scenes in industrial
occupations — Other mythological groups — Herakles strangling
the serpents — Dirke and the Bull — Painters as craftsmen —
Color — Landscape symbolism — Composition — Summary,
Bibliography  347-352
Index  353-361

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece.
Title-page

Wall painting, Knossos, Crete : Mykenaean shrine
Iris  . 
Corfu ....... ...
Ithaka 
Olympia : the palestra and museum
Central portion of the west pediment group, Temple of Zeus, Olympia
Hermes, by Praxiteles . 
Plowing scene, from a Greek vase painting
Olympia : Temple of Hera and Kronos Hill
Delphi 
Temple of Corinth . . . .
Corinth and Akro-Corinth . . . .
Nauplia, with Palamidi in the distance
Tiryns : the citadel wall ....
Tiryns : gallery in the south wall
Mykenae : lion gate . .
Mykenae : the citadel . .
Gold cups from Vaphio . . . . .
Epidauros : theater, with sacred inclosure at
Asklepios . .  t .
Athens : Akropolis .... . .
Propylaia, with Temple of Nike Apteros .
Erechtheion . . . 
Parthenon ....
Votive statue, Akropolis Museum, Athens . ...
Temple of Nike Apteros . . . . . .
Details from balustrade of Nike Apteros . . . .
Stele of Aristokles, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Grave relief, National Archaeological Museum, Athens . . .
Modern Athens . ... 
.lEgina  ... .-.?-.
Sunion ..."  . ....

the right

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xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Temple of Sunion   81
Lykabettos  85
Areopagos  85
Pass of Daphni  '  90
Dipylon Gate  90
Eleusinian relief : Demeter, Persephone, Triptolemos  95
Eleusis : lesser Propylaia  ... 100
Eleusis : architrave of Propylaia   101
Athens : Temple of Theseus . . .  108
Propylaia ....  .... 108
Odysseus appearing to Nausikaa, from a Greek vase painting . . no
Odysseus consulting the shades of Tiresias, from a Greek vase painting 1-12
Wall painting, Rome (Odysseus Series) . . . . . . . 115
Sacrifice of Iphigeneia„wall painting, Pompeii .... . 121
lo guarded by Argos, wall painting, Rome ... . . .128
Detail from Calumny, by Botticelli, Florence .... ... 131
Detail from Battle of Issos, mosaic from Pompeii, Naples Museum . 134
Detail from Battle of Issos, mosaic from Pompeii, Naples Museum ¦ . 135
Greek vase painter at work, from Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen
Archaologischen Instituts, Vol. XIV  139
Archaic vase : warriors  v  140
Herakles and the Nemean lion, kylix, British Museum  142
Herakles and Atlas, from The Journal of Hellenic Studies; Vol. XIII . 143
Herakles and Helios, from The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIX 144
The Birth of Athena, catalogue of vases in British Museum, Vol. II . 145
Attic School, by Duris, Archaologische Zeitung, XXXII  146
Shoemaker at work, Baumeister, III  147
Odysseus' escape from cave of Polyphemos  148
Athletes, kylix in British Museum  148
Youth playing flute, style of Brygos, kylix in British Museum . . . 149
Odysseus and the Sirens, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIII . 150
Odysseus announcing to Achilles that he is come to take away Briseis,
kylix, British Museum  151
A naval fight, Etruscan hydria from Vulci  152
Decorations from a Dipylon vase, from Jour, of Hellenic Studies, 1899 155
./Eneas carrying Anchises, Etrus. und kamp. Vasenbilder, by "Gerhard . 158
Achilles and Neoptolemos, Etrus. und kamp. Vasenbilder, by Gerhard 159
Eos, the Dawn, pursuing Tithonos, style of Brygos, kylix, Brit. Mus. . 160
The Ghost of Patroklos hovering over the Greek fleet, amphora in
British Museum  161

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv

PAGE

Francois vase, Etruscan, Archaeological Museum, Florence .... 162
The Marriage of Zeus and Hera, from a vase in the British Museum . 165
Sacrifice to Dionysos, amphora, severe style, Naples Museum . . . 166
Scene from a pottery: painting the vase, from a hydria in Ruvo, Italy 167
Detail from Orpheus vase, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  169
The slaying of Aigisthos, Etrus. und kamp. Vasenbilder, by Gerhard . 170
Lekythos, Naples Museum ...   171
Three women mourning beside a dead youth, from an Athenian
lekythos in the British Museum .  172
Three figures at a tomb, from an Athenian lekythos in the British
Museum  . 173
Young warrior being laid in tomb by Death and Sleep, from an
Athenian lekythos in the British Museum  ¦ . . 175
Death of Memnon, by Duris, kylix in the Louvre  179
Aphrodite riding on a flying swan, from a vase in the British Museum 181
Temple of Neptune, Paestum  .184
Temple of Athena, jEgina .  . . . . 185
Ionic capital, showing color . . . .... .... 187
Metope from the Temple of Zeus, Olympia .... ... . 191
Metope from the Temple of Zeus, Olympia ... .192
Architectural details from Olympia, showing color  193
Temple of Theseus, Athens .  195
The Parthenon . ... ....  . 199
Parthenon : Fragment of fret and honeysuckle, showing color 201
Parthenon : metope  ... .... ... 204
Parthenon : metope   206
Alexander sarcophagus : frieze of the Lion Hunt . . . . . 209
Details from frieze of the Lion Hunt  .211
Details from frieze of the Lion Hunt . .... ...213
Alexander sarcophagus, end view  214
Gravestone of Philis, Louvre .... ...  219
Archaic votive statue, Akropolis Museum, Athens ... . . 223
Archaic votive statues, Akropolis Museum, Athens ... ... 227
Archaic groups, Akropolis Museum, Athens . .  233
Coin of Elis : head of Zeus ; Zeus on throne  236
Demeter, terra cotta from Palermo .... .  242
Figurine : woman and maiden .  244
Portrait of a man, Fayum, Egypt  . • 251
Two portraits, Fayum, Egypt ... ... . . ¦ 253
Portraits of P. Paquius Proculus and his wife, wall painting, Pompeii . 254

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Sappho, Pompeii  . .
Doves, mosaic, Capitoline Museum, Rome
Fountain, Pompeii 
Cave Canem, mosaic, Pompeii . . *
Fish, mosaic, Pompeii . . 
Detaii'of Nile mosaic from Palestrina .
Frieze and spiral band, Mykenae ....
Bull fresco, Tiryns . ...
Fragment of a wall painting, Tiryns . .
Knossos 
Cat stalking a bird, fresco, Phaistos, Crete .
Ruins of the palace, Knossos, Crete .
Flying fish, wall painting from Phylakopi .
View of Phylakopi, Melos 
Fisherman from vase, Phaistos, Crete . .
Figure from Phylakopi ....
The hunter : painted terra cotta metope, Thermon, ^Etolia
Perseus : painted terra cotta metope, Thermon, iEtolia
Fresco in Etruscan tomb, Tarquinia 
Etruscan fresco : horsemen  . .
Biga from chariot race ....
The farewell of Admetos and Alkestis, from an Etruscan vase, Vulci .
Biga bearing a soul to Elysium, Tomba Golini, Orvieto
Feasting scene, Grotta del Triclinio, Tarquinia . . . ,
Dancing figures, Grotta del Triclinio, Tarquinia . . .
Alabaster polychrome sarcophagus, Royal Arch. Museum, Florence
Hades and Persephone, Grotta dell' Oreo, Cometo .... . .
Aruth Velchas and his wife, Grotta dell' Oreo, Cometo
The Aldobrandini Marriage, Vatican, Rome .... . .
Odyssey landscape scenes, Rome  . .
Wall painting : villa of Livia, Rome ... . .
Wall painting : villa of Livia, Rome  . .
Io set free by Hermes, house of Livia, Rome 
Room showing division of wall spaces, Pompeii 
Theseus and the Minotaur, National Museum, Naples .
Daughters of Niobe : painting on marble by Alexander, National Mu
seum, Naples  
Warriors returning home : wall painting from Paestum, National Mu
seum, Naples  
Interior of a Pompeian house  . . .

PAGE 7-55 258 259
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320

322
325

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvil PAGE
Second or architectural style, Pompeii .... . . . . 327
Wall painting: young woman painting a. herm: House of Surgeon,
Pompeii. . . . . ...  329
Third or ornate style, Pompeii . . . ... . . . . 331
/Eneas wounded, National Museum, Naples ... ... 332
The Judgment of Paris . . .... 334
Achilles sending away Briseis, wall painting from the House of the
Tragic Poet  335
Pasiphae and Daidalos, House of Vettii, Pompeii  336
Cupids pouring wine, House of Vettii, Pompeii . . . . 339
Cupid riding on crab, House of Vettii, Pompeii . . . 340
Dancing figure, House of Vettii, Pompeii ... . 341
Decorative figure : Ceres, Pompeii . . . . . . 343
lo conducted into Egypt, Pompeii . ... 345

Map of Greece

THE
GREEK PAINTERS' ART
INTRODUCTION
A "RECENT VISIT TO GREECE
Leaving Rome — Brindisi — Santa Quaranta — Corfu — Patras —
Pyrgos — Myth of Arethusa — Olympia — Patras to Corinth — Delphi
— Old Corinth — Akro-Corinth — Nauplia — Tiryns — Argos — My
kenae — Epidauros — Athens — The Akropolis — Akropolis Museum
— Archasological Museum — Athens — ^igina — Lykabettos — Are-
opagos — Ilissos — Kolonos — Kephisos — Pentelikon — Hymettos
— Marathon — Dipylon Gate — Kephisos — Myth of Demeter and
Persephone — Pass of Daphni — Mysteries of Eleusis — Eleusis.
A journey to Greece is not at all a difficult mat
ter in these days. The traveler may choose one of
two ways for his approach : he may go by steamer
from Naples, and, passing through the Strait of
Messina, cross the Ionian Sea, round the southern
point of the Peloponnesus, and by way of the Saronic
Gulf proceed to Athens ; or he may leave Rome or
Naples, proceed by rail to Brindisi, — a fifteen-hour
journey from Rome but achieved in one day, —
and thence he may embark by steamer for Patras,
spending two nights and one day on the sea. The

2 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
latter is the course followed by our party of seven,
and may be accomplished without difficulty pro
vided plans are carefully made in advance.
Traveling in Greece now is quite without the
exciting element of danger that made such a
journey perilous not many years ago. It is cer
tainly wise to procure the services of a dragoman
if one intends to leave the main lin^s of travel.
Such service is not difficult to find in Athens, and,
when procured, relieves one of all responsibility for
food, carriages, and railway planning, which are im
portant items if the interior of Greece attracts the
traveler. French may be used at most of the hotels ;
in Athens hotel accommodations do not differ from
those found in most large European cities.
Our septet left Rome at an early hour on the
second day of April. As we traveled south the
country became more and more tropical. Peasants,
both men and women, clad in blue or white, with
gay kerchiefs on their heads, plowed, planted, and
dressed the fields. Apricot, peach, plum, and cherry
trees were in the full glory of pink and white blooms,
their fresh color showing like huge bouquets against
the greens of outspread palms and dusky aloes.
Far to the left distant mountains gave a rim of

INTRODUCTION 3
violet to the fertile plains, and turbid, fretful streams
wound a pale ribbon of greenish white in and out,
uniting the varied parts into an harmonious whole.
Here and there stucco houses of pale lavender,
yellow, or pink, edged by a frill of red tiling on roof
or pavement, with brightly colored latticed porches,
and doorways of green or blue, threw bewitchingly
picturesque details at our fleeting glance. Such
tempting bits of color ! Such interesting glimpses
of human life ! Fruit venders, husbandmen, idlers,
water carriers, flower girls, — a medley of varied
notes, — whose ruddy flesh tones and gay costumes
made a picture which is impossible to describe.
Approaching Naples, we could see Vesuvius, a
dim, cone-shaped peak, smoking sullenly in the dis
tance, the while keeping watch over the enchanted
islands of Ischia and Capri adrift in the blue sea
beyond. " Far vague and dim
The mountains swim;
While on Vesuvius' misty brim,
With outstretched hands,
The gray smoke stands,
O'erlooking the volcanic lands.
" Here Ischia smiles
O'er liquid miles;

4 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
And, yonder, bluest of the isles,
Calm Capri waits,
Her sapphire gates
Beguiling her to bright estates.
"In lofty lines,
'Mid palms and pines,
And olives, aloes, elms, and vines,
Sorrento swings
On sunset wings,
Where Tasso's spirit soars and sings."
The air grew hot. Lemon and orange trees gave
forth fragrant odors and glowing colors ; the round
balls, peeping out between glistening leaves, shone
gayly like little bronzed suns. Cacti, palms, and
spicy pines lent their green and blue-gray notes, and
over all, out of a cloudless blue sky, looked down the
shining sun, casting jagged splotches of shadow here
and there on the warm yellow ocher of upturned soil.
Soon we left the coast, turning to the east, and,
climbing higher and higher, wound in and out
among the rough mountains or crawled through nar
row passes in our effort to cross the rugged back
bone of the Apennines, whose snowy crests loomed
up sharply against the blue. These crests followed
us for a long distance, presenting marvelous effects
of brilliance and delicacy in the pure atmosphere.

INTRODUCTION 5
After crossing their heights the character of the
country gradually changed,, broadening out into
smooth, level plains which were covered with the
bright yellow-green of grass and early grain. Once
we changed cars and delightedly poured out into
the fresh air, giving vent to an ecstasy of spirits
that quite alarmed the sober train officials. And
then we saw the sea, — a pale strip of blue in
the distance, — the same Adriatic that had borne
merchantmen and crusaders from Venice to the
far East. Brindisi
Skirting the coast to the south, we passed enchant
ing bits of scenery, — houses of white stucco which,
in the fast-gathering twilight, assumed reticent hues
of blue, pale lavender, pink, and warm orange, show
ing like flower clusters against the neutral violet
background of sea or sky. Tropical foliage grew
dark as the night came down, and by the time we
reached Brindisi all color had .been absorbed in one
cool note of misty gray. We were quite tired out
by that time, and were only too glad to go to our
rooms at the hotel for an hour or two, awaiting the
arrival of the boat from Trieste. At one o'clock
we boarded the Carniola, a fine new vessel of the

6 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Austrian line. Soon we found our staterooms, and
before half an hour had passed, were lulled to sleep
by the even movement of the ship as she glided out
of the harbor into the open sea.
The next morning we were early on deck, eager
to watch the splendid coast scenery of western
Turkey. On our left the Albanian Mountains
were boldly outlined, their steep, precipitous sides
presenting varied colors, from gray, blue, and warm
violet to rich orange and red where the veins of
limestone came to the surface. Farther south
small villages appeared, their brown and red roofs
mingling harmoniously with the prevailing tones.
As the sun shone down hotly toward noon, the sea
became a brilliant blue and the clear atmosphere
brought out wonderful colors on the mountain
sides. Santa Quaranta, Turkey
At Santa Quaranta, — the place of the forty
chapels, — a Turkish port, we stopped for coal.
Many boats put out from shore filled with a mot
ley crowd of Turks in scarlet fezzes and costumes
of indescribably daring and brilliant hues. The sea
seemed to become alive with trembling reflections.
Its color of topaz, azure, and turquoise was dashed

INTRODUCTION 7
with wriggling spottings of yellow, scarlet, green,
orange, and white, in a medley of notes whose
confusion suggested the wild harmonies of barbaric
music. The. mountains still kept their quiet back
ground of warm neutrals, against which in solemn
desolation stood the ruins of the forty chapels
from which the town is named.
The whole scene was one of varied contrasts ;
but the life, movement, and color of the two hun
dred Turks who came on board claimed our keen
est interest. They climbed from the small boats
up the ship's ladder and disappeared on the deck
below. Of course we snapped our cameras at them
and sketched as fast as color and pencil could fly.
Then we steamed out of the harbor, and in an
hour or so reached Corfu, the Greek Kerkyra, a
large fertile island lying west of Epirus.
Corfu
Corfu was at one time owned by the British, but
lately has been restored to Greece. It was origi
nally settled by people from Corinth, and now, owing
to its long possession by the Venetians and British,
its population is quite above the average Greek
town in intelligence. The roads are fine; it has a

8 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
small garrison, but its forts, Fortezza Nuova and For-
tezza Vecchia, are no longer used. Corfu, its capital
town, is a prosperous city of twenty-five thousand in
habitants. The harbor is spacious, surrounded by
fine mountains, and reminds one of Naples.
Embarking in small boats, we left our steamer,
and after a short row landed amid a gesticulating,
chattering crowd of strange-looking peoples with
bronzed faces and curious costumes. Here for the
first time we saw the peasant-Greek's dress, — the
long lamb's-wool coat, white cotton or linen blouse,
and many-fluted petticoat ending just above the
knees. Some wore pale yellow, others white or
black gaiters fitting close to the leg and tied about
the knee with a garter of black ending in a large
pompon. Most of the men wore short kilted skirts,
but others had the fullness gathered in at the knee,
— the Albanian costume.
We drove for an hour or more through a perfect
fairyland of verdure. The olive trees here attain an
unusual height, — from thirty to sixty feet. Their
knotted and gnarled trunks take on fantastic shapes
which give a Druidlike suggestion of the myste
rious. Between them we catch glimpses of stucco
houses, delicate pink, creamy white, pale yellow, and

INTRODUCTION

lavender, — charming bits of color against their
silvery gray-green leaves. The lemon and orange
trees are unusually verdant, their polished leaves
reflecting the colors of sky and glowing fruit.

Corftj
And where besides at Corfu can one find such lus
cious oranges? Little fleet-footed Greek children,
strong and lithe of limb, followed our carriages
and begged in the prettiest way for our attention,
holding out bunches of flowers as well as the golden
fruit. Ah ! and one little girl, a very Atalanta in
the race, ran breathlessly an eighth of a mile with

IO THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
her golden offering. But we had feasted well, and
it is a lasting regret that I did not buy, just to have
prevented the shadow from falling on her bright face.
From one point of the island we saw the place
where Odysseus, cast up from the sea, met the
Princess Nausikaa ; and here, too, is his ship which
Poseidon turned into stone.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of sea and sky,
— indeed, the entire setting of this beautiful island.
We ate oranges, reveled in the fine bracing air and
in the corresponding tone of our spirits, and dreamed
that it might last indefinitely. But all too soon we
reached the town, saw the motley crowd with its con
fused medley of many-toned voices, which blended
into one dull monotone as we left the shore and
again drifted out into the azure-blue depths.
On board the steamer we found the same pictur
esque confusion which we had left, and all became
still more animated as we steamed out of the har
bor. A British man-of-war sounded the bugles,
Scotch bagpipes played, and pipers piped their live
liest, — our own Turkish shepherds leading. These
shepherds were strikingly garbed, wearing a white
fez or turban upon the head, white lamb's-wool coats
bordered with black, and white or black gaiters, with

INTRODUCTION 1 1
large, pointed slippers. They gathered in groups
and chanted in low, monotonous tones a weird,
rhythmic melody in excellent time. To the right
a piper played his flute to an admiring audience
of young men and boys, who sometimes chanted in
unison ; near him stood a goat with her little black
kid, — his mountain playmate.
Just under the stairs from the upper deck sat
a young Turkish woman, her face carefully con
cealed from view by the long white veil which fell
from below the eyes, down over the shoulders,
completely concealing her figure. A little child
played near, and still farther to the left, on rugs
or mattresses, lay stretched a dozen or more men
with slippers off, their scarlet or white full trousers
and white, big-sleeved shirts making brilliant spots
of contrasting color.
On the top of a raised deck, on a gorgeous
striped rug, sat, crosslegged, a Turk with his three
wives, their faces shrouded in veils, which hid
all but their eyes. One was dressed in brown,
a sort of hood covering her head and falling over
her shoulders in ample folds. Another wore a
bright blue garment which seemed to be made of
one piece. Her veil of thin black gauze hung

12 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
over her face, quite concealing the lower part.
Her - feet were crossed and in her lap nestled a
tiny baby, the miniature image of the father, his
little thin bare legs and feet turned inward in true
Turkish fashion. The third wore some dark stuff.
She had wrapped about her forehead a black scarf
which covered all the lower part of her face as well.
Their tyrant occasionally spoke to one of them and
later he brought some food to another. He was a
keen-featured, dark-skinned, low-browed man, whose
forbidding expression was all the more sharply ac
centuated by his red fez.
From the upper deck we had a~fine view of this
curious medley, which in the fast-gathering twilight
soon lost its separate individuality and blended into
one harmonious tone of color. After the darkness
fell we went down to the lower deck, threaded our
way among the people, studied their attitudes and
costumes more closely, and made drawings sur
reptitiously ; for if there is anything that a Moham
medan fears and hates it is a likeness of himself,
and we had no desire to receive a dagger thrust.
It was now night and the ship moved smoothly
on her course under the guiding influence of the
stars which shone down brightly out of the deep

INTRODUCTION 13
blue sky. At intervals a Turk came up from below,
and, kneeling upon his prayer rug, facing the east,
prostrated himself with forehead touching the floor,
as he prayed to the same God who "watching over
Israel slumbers not nor sleeps." Then all was quiet.
We went to our staterooms and were soon charmed
to sleep by the low rhythmic notes of an occasional
chant from some group below, or the soothing
swish of the water as the ship plowed her way
along toward the coast of Greece.
We were awakened early the next morning " by
word from the stewardess that we were approaching
Patras. The sun in a warm golden haze sleepily
smiled at us over the mountain tops of the coast of
Epirus ; on our right was Ithaka, and farther south
the shore of the Peloponnesus. The harbor of
Patras presented an animated scene. Tall-masted
vessels bordered the quay ; boats of every size and
description scurried here and there, making bright
spots of color which were reflected in the clear water
in varying notes of blue, orange, green, red, and
violet. The Union Jack waved gayly from an Eng
lish boat and British middies swung round in gal
lant style in dark blue suits and flat round caps.
Greeks, Turks, French, English, and Americans

H

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

hurried ashore, jumping into the rowboats regard
less of dignity or order, — only eager to touch the
sacred soil of Greece.
Soon after seven we boarded the train for Olym-
pia, exchanging the white town with its brightly

Ithaka

colored fruit stands, its many noisy, gesticulating,
curiously dressed people, its dust and confusion,
for one of the most charming coast-line journeys
one could wish to enjoy. To our right was the
sea, a pale azure in the morning light, bordered by
mountain islands of rose, amethyst, and pale violet:
Ithaka, where the hero Odysseus was born, and

INTRODUCTION 1 5
Kephallenia, the modern Cephalonia. Orchards
with pink-tinted apricot blooms made bright spots
of color against the white stucco houses or the
dusky green of olive trees. The sun grew hotter
and the color more intense as we proceeded.
On our left white-topped mountains caught their
shadows from the blue sky above, from which the
eye traveled restf ully downward to the richly wooded
slopes of mingled blues and greens, and still lower
to the crisp bright yellow-greens of fertile meadow
lands and the yellow strips of freshly broken, up
turned soil of the vineyards. Pyrgos
Nearing Pyrgos we saw in the distance, rising
ethereal as a flower, the island of Zante, from which
the peak of Mount Skopos raises its splendid head.
Here we left the coast and, changing cars, pro
ceeded inland through the fertile valley of the
Alpheios, whose olive groves and vineyards still
make it one of the richest spots of Greece, as it
was in the days of Homer.
We fancied that we saw the nymph Arethusa,
whose joy was in the chase, fleetly following her
hounds down those wooded hillsides. The story

1 6 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
says that " One day, returning from the wood heated
with exercise, she descended to a stream silently
flowing, so clear that you might count the pebbles
on the bottom. And while she sported in the water
she heard an indistinct murmur rising out of the
depths of the stream. As she made haste to reach
the nearest bank a voice called: 'Why flyest thou,
Arethusa? Alpheios am I, the god of this stream.'"
The nymph hastily ran but the god followed, until
at last Arethusa, exhausted, called to Artemis, who
wrapped her in a thick cloud. Thus she became a
fountain whose waters, still seeking to elude the river
god, plunged into the depths of the sea and came
out in Sicily. Shelley's musical lines repeat the tale :
Arethusa arose
From her couch of snows
In the Akrokeraunian mountains,
From cloud and from crag,
With many a jag,
Shepherding her bright fountains,
She leapt down the rocks,
With her rainbow locks
Streaming among the streams;
Her steps paved with green
The downward ravine
Which slopes to the westward gleams;

INTRODUCTION 17
Then Alpheios bold,
On his glacier cold,
With his trident the mountain strook
And opened a chasm
In the rocks ; — with the spasm
All Erymanthos shook.

The beard and the hair
Of the River-god were
Seen through the torrent's sweep,
As he followed the light
Of the fleet nymph's flight,
To the brink of the Dorian deep.
Olympia
We reached Olympia at noon, when the very
insects lay sleeping and the hot sun shone down
on the white road that once the foot of many a
famous athlete had trod. After a simple lunch in
the primitive hotel near the station, where, by the
way, we first tasted butter made from goats' milk
— to like it is an acquired taste — and ate of the
delicious amber-colored honey from Hymettos, we
walked to the museum, a building designed by
a German architect, with the aid of Dr. Dbrpfeld,
after the model of the ancient sacred Temple of

1 8 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Zeus. Here may be seen, arranged with great care
in order to preserve their archaeological significance,
the priceless remains of architecture and sculpture
found at Olympia during the excavations made' for
the German government by Ernst Curtius in 18^4.
The work occupied six years and cost two hundred
thousand dollars. Now the great rectangle of the
Altis, six hundred and fifty feet long by five hun
dred broad, is uncovered, with the exception of the
stadion and a small bit of the northwest corner.
Olympia was never a town ; it was merely a sacred
precinct with temples, public buildings, and a few
dwelling houses. Its importance lay wholly in the
reverence of the entire Greek world for its " shrines,
and above all for its famous games in honor of Zeus,
which, during a period of more than a thousand
years, were periodically celebrated by the Greeks of
all states and of all families." This famous spot,
situated at the union of the Alpheios and Kladeos,
remained almost undisturbed down to Christian
times. Since then it has lain buried under a de
posit of loose alluvial soil from sixteen to twenty-
three feet deep, which, when removed thirty years
ago, disclosed not only the foundations of the vari
ous sacred buildings and pedestals of statues but

INTRODUCTION 1 9
also " one hundred and thirty marble statues, thirty
thousand articles in bronze, and four hundred in
scriptions." To the museum already mentioned have been
taken these precious relics, which one may see
to-day just as they were found in the loose soil,

Olympia : the Palestra and Museum
with traces of color still upon them and the touch
of the chisel still clearly visible in the warmly
toned marble. Here may be seen the pediment
groups from the Temple of Zeus, — the Prepara
tion of Pelops for the Chariot Race and the Contest
between the Lapiths and Kentaurs. In the lat
ter composition the figure of Apollo is especially

20 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
fine. His dignified attitude as he stands with out
stretched arm to quell the tumult inspires one with
admiration, so large, so noble, are its proportions,
so quiet, so compelling, is its influence. His face
is calm, perhaps too calm for so decisive an action,
but in contrast to the brutal faces of kentaurs and

Central Portion of the West Pediment Group from
the Temple of Zeus, Olympia
the diagonal lines of kneeling figures in attitudes of
active resistance, it holds the attention.
The marble is of a warm yellowish tone broken
by cooler grays. The surface is pebbly, worn, giv
ing an ancient look to the marble as if " the tooth
of time" had indeed done its work, even hungrily.
Yet when one remembers that at least twenty-three

INTRODUCTION

21

hundred years have passed since the marble left its
rude bed in the mountain sides to be fashioned into
the semblance of a
god, one is surprised
at the freshness of
youth which the
figure carries. One
kneeling figure with
bent head appears
less archaic than her
fellows, and by her
flowing draperies and
long sinuous curves
seems to belong to a
period far removed
from the stiff folds
and regular lines of
early sculpture.
In a small room
at the rear of the
museum is Praxiteles'
Hermes, by critics
called the finest
statue of antiquity, as it certainly is one of the
best preserved. No cast gives any adequate idea

Hermes
By Praxiteles

2 2 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of the beauty of this figure. His pose is one of
complete ease. He rests lightly on one foot, his
face turned with a very human sweetness toward
the small baby, who in turn looks up in serious,
expectant attitude towards some object which
Hermes was in all probability holding out to him
in his right hand.
The quality of the marble is exceptionally fine,
giving to the figure a lightness and grace which
are still more emphasized by the transparent texture
and highly reflective character of the stone. The
details are finished with exquisite care. The face
is so round and smooth that it seems soft to the
touch. The lips are full, curved, and half-parted, as
if ready to speak or smile. The legs are partly
restored, — from knee to ankle, — but the original
foot, which is bound with a sandal, is chiseled with
a nicety that marks the highest art.
Faint traces of color, red and gold still mark the
lines of the hair and sandal and add an interest to the
figure apart from its workmanship, proving that color
was used at the best period of Greek sculpture upon
figures not intended for architectural decoration.
The statue is a noble piece of work, dignified,
simple, chaste, so alive that it breathes forth a

INTRODUCTION

23

beauty belonging to no time nor age. Praxiteles'
hand still seems to linger caressingly over those flow
ing lines, those subtle curves, and we in turn almost
feel his personal touch through the glistening stone.
Leaving the silent figure, we pass through the
two side corridors of the museum, which are filled
with broken fragments of interesting reliefs, rich in
color as well as de
sign, belonging to
early Greek and
later Roman peri
ods. As we follow
the winding road
which conducts the
traveler from the museum to the sacred precinct
of the Altis, we note the newly upturned soil of the
plowed field, and one of our party, taking the plow
from the surprised peasant, attempted to cut a fur
row with the crude implement which is merely
a crooked stick sharpened at the point where two
branches divide from the main stock. It is the
same rude plow that was used in Homer's day.
Crossing the little river Kladeos, we come to the
famous spot which, centuries ago, was the meeting

Plowing Scene
From a Greek vase painting

24

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

place for all Greece. Impressive in their solitude,
imposing in their prostrate helplessness, lie the
hoary columns of the old Temple of Hera, drums
and capitals from the Temple of Zeus, great stones
of wall, stylobate, and altar, carved monoliths of
massive proportions, portions of architrave and

Temple of Hera and Kronos Hill
pediment, — a solemn mass of gray, low-toned stone
among which we wander at will, noting a rare bit
of sculptured fragment or an exquisite flower whose
bloom softens the rugged outlines and crumbling
surface of stone. All is solitary, deserted, silent,
save for the hushed voices of our own party or
the occasional song of a bird hidden among the
pines of old Kronos.
INTRODUCTION 25
The river Alpheios bounds the plain on the
north with its silver ribbon; at our feet flows the
little Kladeos, now but a gentle stream, but which
at times becomes an angry torrent, as one can see
from its deeply carved banks.
It is not at all difficult to identify the various
buildings, each of which has more or less of its
foundation stones still in place. But it is difficult
to imaginatively reconstruct the whole, no matter
how familiar one may be with the vivid descrip
tions of Pausanias, with the frequent references
by Greek authors, or with the modern writings of
German archaeologists; for, after all, it is the life,
the eager, restless, brilliant throng which filled
temple and grove, gymnasia and stadium, that
made Olympia what it was. Of all that brilliant,
active multitude we saw nothing, no one, save one
solitary Greek, the guardian of the place, in whom
was summed up all that history and tradition have
to give of past glory and renown.
At length, reluctantly, we left the charmed spot
as the fast-closing twilight shut in the little val
ley, and, turning for a last lingering glimpse, we
saw the solitary figure of the Greek standing mo
tionless as a statue on one of the great blocks of

26 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
stone by the Temple of Zeus, his figure sharply sil
houetted against the clear evening sky, a pathetic
symbol of Greece, whose glorious past shines only
in the golden halo which literature and art throw
about her.
Going up the road to our hotel, we passed a
group of peasants returning from their day's labor
in the fields. One played the pipes, another danced
to his music in a clumsy, jovial manner, suggesting
Silenos, and the little procession passed on, for all
the world like a bit of Theokritan poetry.
We were sung to sleep that night by the
mournful minor music of a band of peasants in a
small tavern opposite, who chanted through the
long evening hours strange bits of song which
seemed to come from a far-away world of poetry
and romance, — the accent marked occasionally by
the hoarse croaking of one of Aristophanes' frogs,
who lived in the marsh near by, and punctured the
night with Brekeke-kesh, koash,
Brekeke-kesh, koash,
Brekeke-kesh, koash,
Brekeke-kesh, koash,
in true Aristophanean style.

INTRODUCTION 27
Patras to Corinth
The journey from Olympia to Athens by way
of Patras and Corinth can be accomplished in one
day, provided one leaves Olympia at an early hour
in the morning. The road from Patras onward
skirts the Gulf of Corinth. This is the real gate
way of Greece. It forms " a majestic portal to the
whole land. . . . The bay of Patras spreads out
like a magnificent vestibule between the frowning
headlands of Akarnania on the north and Mount
Erymanthos on the south. Two mountains of
pyramidal shape, Vavassova and Taphiassos, rise
directly from the sea and stand like vast sentinels
on the ^Etolian coast, giving a somber impression
and shadowing the sea as if Greece were not to be
approached trivially and was ' no land of lightsome
mirth.' "
So writes a recent traveler to Greece, and as
one is hurried along this wonderful coast journey
the impression is deepened. On the right rise
vine-clad hills and heavily wooded slopes, sepa
rated at times by white rushing torrents, pale in
their frantic haste to reach the sea. Or, again,
this wild scenery changes: the land recedes in

28 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
fertile, level plains on which are dotted here and
there houses of pale lavender or white amid vine
yards, olive groves, or clustering fruit trees in the
full perfection of bloom.
Beyond them spread broadly the sparkling waters
of the Corinthian Gulf, a wide sea of varied blues,
— turquoise, ultramarine, cerulean, often streaked in
the shallower portions near the shore with bands
of vivid greens and in the distance with violets
and purples, deep wine colors, most harmonious to
the eye.
And all this is but like a many-colored prayer
rug spread at the feet of the loveliest mountains
to be found this side of the Elysian fields. These
mountains are bold masses of bare rock which,
in the light, are veiled in delicate pearly tones
of pink, amethyst, and warm lavender. In shadow
they assume blue, pale violet, and deep purple hues.
Back from their base rise the lofty twin peaks of
Parnassos, smiling in the region of eternal snow
and shot with the golden arrows of the sun god
Apollo, who dwelt on this "mount of song," and
who symbolized not only heaven-given light but
all that was brilliant, joyous, " terrible in its bright
ness " in the Greek mind.

INTRODUCTION

29

Delphi

Delphi lies high among these rocky passes. It
was here that the Delphic oracle, dedicated to
Apollo, gave voice to mysterious prophetic utter
ances. " The grandeur of the scenery, the ice-cold

Delphi
springs, and the currents of air streaming from the
gorges of the mountains filled men with a mys
terious awe from the earliest times, and seemed to
invite the foundations of a temple." This oracle
was consulted in all affairs of importance, national
as well as local.

30 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Delphi was supposed to be the home of the fierce
dragon Pytho, whom Apollo " the far-darting " slew.
In. honor of this deed were celebrated every four
years the Pythian Games. Here, too, the Amphik-
tyonic Council met twice a year. On the walls of
the Assembly Room, Pausanias tells us, Polygnotos1
had painted scenes from the Trojan War. These
paintings he describes most elaborately, giving them
praise with such emphasis that we infer the high
place they must have held in the estimation of the
Greeks. In Roman times the treasuries of Delphi were
rifled and their valuable collections despoiled for
payment to the Roman soldiers. Nero is said to
have carried off five hundred statues from the
temple. Pliny says that in his time there were
still "three thousand statues at Delphi, and even
in the time of Pausanias the precinct resembled
a vast museum."
The French government is now conducting ex
cavations which have led to many valuable dis
coveries, especially in the line of inscriptions. Here
was found that fine Hymn to Apollo, including the
ancient musical notation which in ancient days was
1 See Chapter I, Polygnotos.

INTRODUCTION 3 1
chanted to the accompaniment of the lyre by the
chorus of musicians sent from Athens. It is a
thanksgiving hymn dedicated to the god of har
mony, music and art, and ends with the invocation :
" Come to the twin heights of beetling Parnassos
that looks afar, and inspire my songs, ye Muses who
dwell in the snow-beaten crags of Helikon. Sing
of the Python, God of golden hair, Phoebus, with
tuneful lyre, whom blessed Leto bore beside the
famous water. . . . And the vault of heaven was
glad and radiant with unclouded light; the aether
stilled the swift course of the wind to calm, while
the deep sound of the furious billows sank to rest,
and mighty Oceanos, who with his moist arms
clasps the earth around. . . . Advance, then,
warder of the oracular tripod, to the summit of
Parnassos, trod by the gods, dear to the Mcenads
in their ecstasies. . . . Now, O Phcebus, save and
guard the city founded by Pallas, and her famous
people, and thou, too, goddess of the bow and
mistress of the Cretan hounds, and thou Leto,
most revered ! Guard ye the dwellers of Delphi,
their children, their wives, and their homes free
from woe. Be favorable to the servants of Diony-
sos, crowned with the honors of the games ! "

32 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Corinth
At Corinth the road divides, one branch running
down through the interior to Nauplia, the main
line going on to Athens. Corinth itself is a small
modern town of no special interest. The ancient
city lay a few miles back at the foot of Akro-
Corinth, a high mountain of massive rock rising
eighteen hundred and fifty feet, which was fortified
by the Venetians and used by them as a citadel
during their occupation of Greece. All that is
left of the old town is a small group of houses
clustered around a little open square, which, when
we approached, was filled with a mixed gathering
of Greeks and Albanians dressed in varied cos
tumes, leading horses whose trappings were equally
varied, with ropes for bridle and stirrups, and blan
kets for saddles. Here we left our carriages and
through our dragoman bargained for horses amid
much confusion of tongues.
Our leader, whom we had surnamed Apollo,
being somewhat godlike in appearance, rode a
small white horse which was led by a Greek
woman in picturesque costume of white; and the
rest of our party, following his example, mounted

INTRODUCTION

33

whatever offered itself. Leaving the village, with
its houses of sun-dried brick and the generous
plane tree whose broad branches shaded the village

Temple of Corinth

square, we soon reached the Temple of Corinth.
From this old temple, whose massive columns give
one an excellent idea of the earliest style of Doric

34 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
architecture, one can reach far back into the dim
regions of the past, back to the middle of the
seventh century before Christ. Seven monolithic
columns of exceedingly heavy proportions support
that portion of the entablature which still remains.
The whole effect is that of hoary antiquity, its
solemn impressiveness only enhanced by the coat
ing of warm reddish-yellow stucco which covers
the foundation limestone. A brilliant sun shining
down out of a clear sky of intensest blue cast deep
violet shadows upon the whitish-yellow clayey soil.
Into these shadows we would like to creep and
ponder the meaning of the lapse of time.
It is at old Corinth that the American School of
Archaeology is doing some of its most success
ful work. Recent excavations have revealed the
ancient market place, and gradually the ancient
city itself is coming to light. Perhaps the very
dust which we touch as we descend into those
underground tunnelings may once have been trod
by the apostle Paul, and these very walls may
have echoed to the stirring words of his epic
against the " pleasure-loving " Corinthians ; for
Corinth, as he knew it, was the center of " frivolous
and luxurious materialism."

INTRODUCTION

35

Akro-Corinth
The climb up the mountain is somewhat peril
ous but rewards any amount of exertion. As we
ascend, the country below spreads out like a bril
liant mosaic. Crimson poppies spot the fields in

Corinth, showing Akro-Corinth
flaming patches of color, and grayish-green olive
orchards balance them in subdued neutrals. Far
to the horizon the blue sea melts by subtle grada
tions of pearly and opalescent tints into the trans
lucent blue of the sky which carries the eye upward
to still deeper notes.

36 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
About a quarter of a mile from the top we dis
mount and, passing through the massive gateway
of the citadel's fortifications, climb over rough rocks
and steep inclines, which are strewn here and there
with remains of massive walls and buildings that
tell of former Venetian occupancy.
From the summit the view is a magnificent
panorama extending on all sides in uninterrupted
sweep. On the south stand the mountains of
Argolis ; to the west is the lofty Arcadian- chain
with snow-capped Kyllene and its fertile plain
extending to Sikyon. To the north spread the
blue waters of the Corinthian Gulf, forming but a
prelude to the rugged ranges of Bceotia, Phokis,
Lokris, and ^Etolia, with snow-capped Parnassos
topping their summits in shining glory. On the
east is the Saronic Gulf, with Salamis, ^Egina, and
the smaller islands spotting the blue like sleeping
sea monsters. In clear weather Athens can be
seen, — even the Akropolis with the Parthenon,
and the white walls of the royal palace outlined
against the rugged slopes of Lykabettos, the quar
ried marble beds of Pentelikon, and the long
sloping honey-famed Hymettos. I must frankly
confess that it took a true Greek imagination to

INTRODUCTION 37
see these last details, but where should one have
imagination if not in the sunny land of Greece?
On our descent we passed the famous spring of
Pirene which is said to have gushed forth at the
stroke of the hoof of Pegasos. Here the water is
pure, delicious, and so clear that at first glance it
is difficult to judge of its depths in the mysterious
dimness. It is not strange that, heated with his
heavenly flights, Pegasos often came thither to
drink. We, too, drank, and poured out a libation
to the gods, perhaps inwardly praying Plato's
prayer : " Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who
haunt this place, give me beauty in the inward
soul, and may the outward and inward man be at
one. May I reckon the wise to be wealthy, and
may I have such a quantity of gold as a temper
ate man and he only can bear and carry." We
searched the heavens for an omen, but the white
wings of Pegasos failed to appear ; only an eagle
flew out from the rocky cliff, wheeling higher and
ever higher out over the sea and, melting at last
into the blue heavens above, vanished out of the
pale of human sight. Perhaps, perhaps, a greater
than Pan, a greater than Zeus, received our
prayer.

38

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Nauplia

From Corinth we went by rail to the beautiful
trading town of Nauplia at the head of the Argolic
Gulf. This place would charm one into a stay
of many days, — being somewhat modern as to

Nauplia, with Palamidi in the Distance
buildings and cleanliness, although I remember it
mainly for its fine harbor dotted with little boats,
its majestic frowning fortress, Palamidi, rising
superbly behind the town, and for a certain gar
den of deep crimson roses gayly climbing a yellow
stucco wall in sheer abandonment of joy, — were
it not that the traveler is impatient to proceed to
the more classic ground of ancient Tiryns, Argos,

INTRODUCTION

39

Mykenae, and Epidauros. These places can easily
be reached from Nauplia by carriage drive.

Tiryns

Tiryns is near, lying not far from the high road,
a rock hill which rises about fifty feet above the

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At— «

11.

m - WB*B9MKtm, dffiBMk

WSSK^^Sk- -•'-'¦ ^i

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-. 4*

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: «ii< k a
^^^^^feC*^
Tiryns : the Citadel Wall
plain of Argolis, surrounded by Cyclopean walls
of gigantic unhewn blocks of stone piled one upon
another as only Titans could have piled them.
This confirms, even in our own day, Homer's
appellation of " wall-girt Tiryns." Originally this
wall may have been between sixty and seventy
feet high, with an average thickness of twenty-six
feet. It was built to protect the rocky citadel,
4Q THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
on the flat top of which may still be seen the out
lines of the ancient palace which dates back to
Homeric day's.
We are indebted to Dr. Schliemann and Dr.
Dorpfeld for the excavations which, in 1884-1885,
revealed the construction and arrangement of the
rooms of the palace.1 It is certainly impressive to
walk over those pavements which mark the various
rooms and to see the square between the four pil
lars where was the open fireplace around which
gathered the chieftain and his band. Here, too,
is a room devoted to the bath, which with its pol
ished limestone floor, certainly tells of a civilization
far removed from barbarism. Near the floor, on a
part of the ancient wall which still remains, are bits
of an alabaster lining such as Homer describes.
It brings one- close to the actual past when one
can . see and touch the remains of a civilization
which, three thousand or more years ago, flour
ished in all its splendid vigor on this same spot.
One recalls the picture which Homer gives in
the Odyssey : " But Odysseus went to the illus
trious dwelling of Alkinobs; and his heart medi
tated many things as he stood before he arrived
1 For detailed account see Schliemann's Mykenae and Tiryns.

Tiryns ; Gallery in the South Wall
4«

42 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
at the brazen threshold; for it was as the shin
ing of the sun or moon through the lofty-roofed
house of strong-hearted Alkinobs. For brazen walls
were firmly built each way, to the recess from the
threshold, and around it a cornice of blue color;
and golden doors inclosed the firm house within;
and silver pillars stood on the brazen threshold ; and
there was a silver lintel over it, and a glorious
ring. And on each side there were golden and
silver dogs, which Hephaistos made with his skill
ful mind, to guard the house of magnanimous
Alkinobs, being immortal and free from old age
all their days.
" But within thrones were firmly set, here and
there, around the wall throughout ; from the thresh
old to the recess there were thrown over them
slender, well-woven mantles, the works of women.
Here the leaders of the Phaeakians sat drinking
and eating; for they held it all the year. But
golden youths stood upon the well-built pedestals,
holding in their hands burning torches, which
shone during the night to the banqueters through
the house. ... As much as the Phaeakians are
skilled above all men to guide a swift ship in the
sea, so are the women in weaving the web; for

INTRODUCTION 43
Athena granted them exceedingly to be acquainted
with beautiful works and endowed them with a
good understanding." 1 Or again, "And they, behold
ing, marveled at the house of the Zeus-nurtured
king. For there was a splendor like as of the
sun and the moon through the lofty-roofed house
of glorious Menelaos. But when beholding with
their eyes they were satisfied; going to the well-
polished baths they washed themselves. When,
therefore, the servants had washed them and
anointed them with oil, and had also thrown
woolen cloaks and garments around them, they
set them on thrones near Menelaos, the son of
Atreus. And a handmaid, bringing water in a
beautiful golden ewer, poured it over a silver
caldron to wash in; and she spread a polished
table near at hand, . . . and the waiter, lifting up
dishes of all kinds of flesh, placed them near, and
set near them golden cups."2
Mykenae
Homer's mention of the golden cups brings
us at once to the wonderful discoveries made
at Mykenae by Dr. Schliemann, and later by the
1 Odyssey, VII, 80-108. 2 Odyssey, IV, 45-61.

44 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Greek Archaeological Society of Athens. Mykenae
was said to have been founded by Perseus, who,
with the help of the Cyclops from Lykia in Asia
Minor, built its massive walls. Here ruled the
great lord Agamemnon, son of Atreus, whose pal
ace was on this citadel. He was not only prince
of the district, but "chief and leader of all the
Greeks of the mainland and islands, at whose head
he sailed against Troy."
The road to Mykenae lies across the level plains
of Argolis which, when we saw them, were covered
with fields of waving grain. These plains were the
scene of the second labor of Herakles, the slaying
of the Hydra, or nine-headed monster, who ravaged
the " horse-pasturing " country of Argos.
Argos
Argos was the birthplace of the great sculptor
Polykleitos, whose chryselephantine statue of Hera
was, by ancient critics, thought to mark an advance
on the " technical skill with which Pheidias had
previously employed gold and ivory on the famous
Athena Parthenos." Near the ancient town was
the Heraion, the national sanctuary of Argolis.
It is here that the American School has, during

INTRODUCTION

45

recent excavations, laid bare the foundations of
the temple.
It was at this Temple of Hera, if we may believe
tradition, that the various chief men of the country
met to swear allegiance to Agamemnon before set
ting out for Troy. And here, we may therefore say,
lies the first scene of the Trojan War.
MYKENiE
After leaving Argos the country became hilly,
and finally, on our right, rose sharply the steep,
rocky akropolis of Mykenae. It is an impressive
spot, desolate in its rugged isolation. The little
stream Perseia still flows at its base, its course
marked by small shrubs -and strangely beautiful
flowers. Near the road are several tombs, shaped
like beehives and formerly called treasuries, which
are cut into the green hillside. The masonry of
the curving dome in the one called the Treasury
of Atreus is in an almost perfect state of pres
ervation. A small chamber leads from the main
circular room wherein probably the body was de
posited, and in one of the tombs, possibly, the body
of Klytaimnestra may have lain, doomed to burial
outside the city walls.

46

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

But their emptiness now is somewhat oppressive
and we prefer to return to the bright sunshine out
side. We climb the hill and turn into the long

Lion Gate

narrow passage leading to the citadel. On either
side rise walls made of huge blocks of stone, which
only Cyclopean hands could have handled, and be
fore us stands still firm and strong the Lion Gate,

INTRODUCTION

47

the earliest known sculpture in Greece. Pausanias
says : " Some remains of the circuit wall are still to
be seen, and the gate with lions over it. These
were built, they say, by the Cyclops, who made the
wall of Tiryns for Proitps."
Within the citadel one can see the five empty
graves in which Dr. Schliemann discovered such

Mykenae: The Citadel

rich treasures of gold. In the third grave were
found, besides a number of ornaments of gold, a
large golden diadem which was bound about the
head of the skeleton. Was this, could this have

48 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
been the body and burial place of Agamemnon?
And were the other graves those of his compan
ions? Here archaeologists differ. I can only refer
you to them for an answer. At any rate the
"pendants, brooches, necklaces, buttons, whorls,
rings, ivories, and crystals " found in these graves
prove the phrase used by Homer in the Odyssey,
" Mykenae, rich in gold."
These precious relics, and many more, have been
taken to the National Museum in Athens, where
one may see and study at leisure, in a room spe
cially reserved for them, the many exquisite exam
ples of the goldsmith's skill of this far-away, highly
developed Homeric civilization. Of these objects,
the gold cups from Vaphio, near Sparta, and from
Mykenae show a marvelous degree of knowledge of
the human and animal forms. Of them Dr. Dbrp-
feld writes : " The cups are of pure gold, of riveted
work, but with designs in repousse, which for origi
nality of design and delicacy of execution are un
rivaled except perhaps by the finest goldsmith's
work of the Italian Renaissance." Was it from-
such cups as these that Odysseus drank with his
friends in the palace of Alkinobs which Homer
describes so graphically?

Gold Cups from Vaphio
49

50 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Epidauros
Still another center of interest may be reached
without difficulty from Nauplia — that of Epi
dauros, the seat of the ancient cult of Asklepios
the gentle god of healing. After leaving Nauplia
the road winds among rugged hills and barren
valleys, — a deserted, wild, inhospitable spot ; but
later it climbs higher, journeying eastward toward
the sea, the wastes are exchanged for a more
fertile country, and at last Epidauros, nestling in
a lovely hill-encircled valley, smiles at us almost
as she once smiled to those weary pilgrims who
long ago journeyed with eager hope to her sacred
walls. For it was to this healthful spot that from
all parts of Greece came the sick and miserable to
be healed of their bodily and- mental ills.1
Asklepios was the son of the god Apollo and a
mortal mother, Arsinoe, a princess from Thessaly.
In his youth he was given to the care of Charon,
the famous kentaur, by whom he was instructed
in the arts of hunting, medicine, music, and proph
ecy. When he reached maturity he became a
physician so skilled in his art that he was said
1 For an interesting account of Epidauros see New Chapters in Greek
History, by Percy Gardner.

INTRODUCTION

51

to restore even the dead to life. For this he was
put to death by Zeus at the request of Hades
(Pluto), after which he was numbered among the
gods, — a late but sure consolation.
It was here, therefore, in this sunny valley, apart
from the bustle and stir of city life, that there grew
up this cult of Asklepios, which, as was natural,
soon made Epidauros blossom in lovely temple,
sacred shrine, in splendid hall, rare portico, and
chaste sanctuary. Of this group of buildings in
the Hieron or Sacred Inclosure enough is still
left for us to construct in imagination the whole,
since the extensive excavations in modern times
have revealed the sites of these shrines as well as
many beautiful details of sculptured column, capital,
and votive offering which are now in the National
Museum in Athens.
The Hieron of Epidauros was a group of build
ings dedicated to the worship of the god and built
for the housing of priests and physicians, with
hospitals for the multitudes who came thither.
First in importance was the temple, the sanctuary of
Asklepios, beyond which can still be seen the ruins
of two colonnades. Near the temple are the tholos
of Polykleitos, the stadion, and the gymnasium.

52

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Many springs in the neighborhood gave an abun
dance of cold pure water, its use evidently forming
an important part of the treatment prescribed by
the priest for the sick.
Upon his arrival, and after having offered sacri
fices to Asklepios upon the sacred altar with the

Theater, with Sacred Inclosure at the Right
customary rites, the patient " lay down in one of
the splendid porticoes of the temple and was
hushed to sleep by the temple attendants through
all the ' holy night,' in whose still hours, under the
golden stars raining their happy influences, it was

INTRODUCTION 53
hoped and believed he would be visited in his
dreams by the kindly god himself, who would tell
him what to do for his recovery."

Asklepios
From a recently discovered inscription which
gives a cure for dyspepsia, we may infer some
thing of the good, solid common sense of the" pre
scriptions given by these priest physicians. I quote
from an English translation : " Never to give way

54 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
to anger; to submit to a special diet of bread and
cheese, of parsley and lettuce, of lemon boiled in
water, and milk with honey in it; to run in the
gymnasium, to swing on the upper walk of the
sanctuary, to rub the body with sand, to walk
barefoot before bathing, to take a warm bath with
wine in it, to rub one's self with salt and mustard,
to gargle the throat and tonsils with cold water,
and, finally, — and this is all important, — to sacri
fice to Asklepios and not to forget to pay the
prescribed fees." This treatment was to be tried
for nine days. If no cure resulted, the patient was
not required to pay nor was he permitted to die
on the sacred ground.
The buildings of this sacred enclosure were rich
in sculpture. The statue of the god, now in the
National Museum, shows a mild, humane counte
nance, not unlike the head of Zeus himself, only
more benign, more approachable. The pediments
of the temple were richly ornamented with sculpture,
representing on the east a Battle between Kentaurs,
on the west a fight between the Greeks and Ama
zons.' There were also figures of Nereids and
Victories. A figure of an Amazon astride a horse,
now in the National Museum in Athens, can

INTRODUCTION

55

scarcely be surpassed for vigorous movement and
masterly style.
The tholos by Polykleitos near the temple was
a circular structure one hundred and seven feet in
diameter. Upon the substructure rested two con
centric rings of columns of Doric and Corin
thian orders. Of these one capital now in Athens
is a "masterpiece of architectural carving."
The Epidaurian theater, which served as the
center of dramatic life, is farther up on the spur
of Mount Kynostion. Even Pausanias was so
moved by its perfection that he writes : " Roman
theaters may be finer, and those of latter days in
Greece may be larger, but the Epidaurian theater
is peerless for harmony of proportion and charm
of aspect." This theater, constructed by Polykleitos,
is in an almost perfect state of preservation at the
present time. It is one of the finest in Greece.
Journey to Athens
From Epidauros one may go to Athens by water,
crossing the Saronic Gulf, passing south of Salamis,
and landing at the Piraeus. By such a route one
may perhaps be saved the strain of railroad travel,
but he then misses the glory of that fine coast-line

56 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
journey from Corinth, which, crossing the new
canal, — which cuts off the Peloponnesus from the
mainland of Europe at this point, — skirts the coast
for miles. Sometimes from rocky headlands he
may look down into turquoise depths below, or
far out over the azure blue he may see, dotted
here and there, islands of tenderest hue, veiled in
the mellow atmosphere of late afternoon, or, nearer,
bold rocky spurs which jut out from rugged island
monsters like scales from a sleeping dragon.
And above all sail serene billowy clouds which
gather only to enhance the light and brilliant
purity of the sky, air, and sea, and which later
unite to form the portal of a glorious sunset. We
approach Athens as the coming twilight enfolds
in its gentle care that city of the past where
heroes fought and died, where great and wise
men lived, where Plato taught and Paul preached,
where poet, philosopher, and artist thought, dreamed,
and worked, and where art blossomed in its most
perfect forms of expression in warmly toned marble
under the protecting care of the patron goddess
Athena. Silence fell, voices were hushed, as we
— seven eager expectant guests of that hospitable
land — neared the goal of our long journey. Surely

INTRODUCTION 57
we need the veil of twilight for entrance there, —
blessed twilight that covers up the glaring incon
gruities of railroad station and dusty street. Before
we try to see, let us dream, and, calling upon the
spirits of the past, bring our minds into harmony
with the genius of Athens.
Athens : the Akropolis
There are many things which the traveler sees
in his journeying in foreign lands wherein lies deep
disappointment, — form, color, size, appearance, often
fail to reach his expectation; not so, however, the
Akropolis of Athens, which, from first to last,
from distance or nearer view, splendidly, truth
fully, squarely, confirms all that 'poet and his
torian have written. And more — never can any
description, verbal or written, learned or impres
sionistic, give one more than a faint idea of the
fair and lovely color of that splendid rock with its
noble crest of buildings, the perfect embodiment
in stone of an ideal beauty made real, — a vision
complete, lovely, satisfying to the eye.
And never for a moment did this impression
fail: in the early morning, when the sun god's
quivering shafts sent a tremulous light, delicately

58 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
touching the orange notes of rock and the paler
gold of marble into evanescent tones of amber, saf
fron, and pearly grays vibrating with shy violets;
or when, ruggedly splendid in the full glare of a
brilliant sun, each hand-wrought beam, architrave,
shaft and capital was cut out in shining distinct
ness against the deep blue of the sky, — a golden-
white silhouette of which it is impossible to give any
adequate idea through the dull medium of words ;
or later, when under the quiet purple of twilight, or
under the silver shimmer of the waning moon, its
form stood serene, self-poised, all-sufficing, — under
every aspect one felt a sense of perfect satisfaction
which left no room for questioning or desire.
Nature at times casts about the senses a spell
born of restful completeness, as if she had always
been thus and thus, giving no hint of processes or
methods. In the Akropolis of Athens the work of
man supplements that of nature, but in such a man
ner that all seems as if the product of one mind,
one creative hand. We simply cannot conceive
that rock without its crown of temples. They
belong to each other as if by right of original
creation. Nor do even the shattered columns and
broken walls detract from that effect.

INTRODUCTION

59

As one nears the summit, the Propylaia, a mag
nificent gateway of white marble, rises majestically
out of the rugged hillside as if, perchance, at the
utterance of some magic word it had sprung — as
did Athena of old, full-armed, from the head of

Akropolis
Zeus — in full perfection of beauty, from the rug
ged skull of the giant rock.
In imagination one walks 'beside the white-robed
maidens, the spirited youths, the dignified elders,
the serious magistrates who, more than two thou
sand years ago, slowly ascended the same marble
steps in the Panathenaic procession which yearly

60 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
gave homage to the goddess Athena. Flowers,
music, and song were the natural accompaniment
of such a scene. These fleeting sounds have long
since ceased to echo through the perfumed air,
but we see the same sky arching over all, we
press the" same marble, worn smooth with the
tread of many feet, and we feel the solid rock
firm, stanch as of old, bidding fair to endure as
long as time endures.
Such thoughts as these fill the mind as one
passes through the gateway and looks out upon
the level surface of the rock. To the right and
back about midway stands the Parthenon, which,
even in its ruins, gives abundant evidence of its
once strong and noble proportions. It is turned
at such an angle that both north and west sides
meet the eye in splendid balance of proportion.
At the left is the Erechtheion, a slender-columned,
finely proportioned temple, whose beauty of form
and richness of detail are more fully appreciated
upon nearer approach. We see in the mind's eye,
directly in front of the gateway, the colossal statue
of Athena which dominated the Akropolis, standing
tall and godlike, so high that even the sailors far out
at sea could .catch the gleam of her golden helmet.

Propylaia ; Temple of Nik£ Apteros at the Right

Erechtheion 61

62

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Of her we read in the Odyssey: "She bound
beneath her feet her lovely golden sandals that
wax not old and bear her alike over the wet sea

Parthenon : View between the Outer and Inner
Row of Columns
and over the limitless land, swift as the breath of
the wind. And she seized her powerful spear
shod with sharp bronze, weighty, huge, and strong,
wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes with

INTRODUCTION 63
whomsoever she is wroth, the daughter of the
mighty sire."1 Where once her feet rested, now
the pale and delicate asphodel waves its slender
stalk of amber-colored bells, yielding a faint per
fume to the afterno'on breeze.
Behind all glows the sky in evanescent hues of
blue and dusky violet, which lend to the creamy
white marble a setting delicate, lovely. Between
the columns of the temples one catches a glimpse
of the encircling hills, — Areopagos, Pentelikon,
Hymettos, Lykabettos, — with smiling fields stretch
ing out to the waters of the Saronic Gulf, a fair
land indeed, worthy to be the home of poetry and
the arts.
The memory of that first afternoon is tinged
with a flavor of amusement. Immediately after
our arrival at the hotel in Athens, we had met
an acquaintance, a somewhat learned person, who
very kindly offered to accompany us on our first
visit to the Akropolis. My friends were pleased
and agreed to go; but I unsociably declined, mur
muring an excuse. They planned to go early,
so I chose a later hour, intending to meet them
on the summit. But from first to last I had the
1 Odyssey, I, 97-102.

64 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
afternoon to myself, save for a moment when I
met Ares and Hebe who smilingly nodded; for,
in amusing literalness to my whim, preferring to
get the first impression without guidance or com
panionship, upon my approach each glided myste
riously behind a column or step, thus leaving me
to the full enjoyment of unlonely solitude. It
was a dream world that day with poet, philoso
pher, and the wise of old, a day that can never
be forgotten.
Pentelic marble, of which these temples and the
Propylaia are made, is fine in grain and brilliantly
white when newly cut. Owing to the presence of
iron this marble, after exposure to the air, becomes
toned to a rich golden hue that deepens to a
mellow amber tone, even to a tawny orange in the
more exposed parts. The Propylaia has retained
its creamy whiteness, save in a few less protected
parts ; but the Parthenon, particularly the east
end, has assumed a depth of color that changes its
strong columns and heavy architrave into bands
of low-toned orange, varying from neutral to a rich
rust color, which, against the dusky violet-blue of
the sky as I saw it late one afternoon, produced
an effect wondrously rich.

INTRODUCTION

65

Beyond the Parthenon, half hidden on the east
end of the rock, is the Akropolis Museum in which
can be seen the treasures that recent excavations
on the Akropolis have
brought to light. Here, in
all their dainty primness,
are the smiling maidens |
whose tresses, robes, and!
ornaments are so charm
ingly adorned with color.
Whom they were intended
to represent is a question \
upon which archaeologists
differ. Some say they were
pre-Persian statues of
Athena ; others that they i
were priestesses of the
ancient goddess whose
shrine was the old temple;
again, others think they
were votive offerings. Be
that as it may, we know that they are extremely
interesting, showing sufficient variety of style to
prove their claim to original work of archaic sculp
tors, and well rewarding careful study.

Votive Statue

66

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

From the old Temple of Herakles, which formerly
stood on the Akropolis, is a group in relief — Herakles
fighting the Lernsean Hydra, and another, Herakles
conquering the Triton. Both show distinct traces
of color, — green, yellow, and red. These were un
earthed in 1882 to the south of the Parthenon.

Temple of Nike1 Apteros
In another room is the many-hued three-headed
snaky monster, now cast down from the lofty pedi
ment from which he once smilingly looked forth.
Fragments of sculpture from metope, pediment,
and column show traces of color which once gayly
covered their surface and which accentuated the

INTRODUCTION 67
marks of the sculptor's chisel so skillfully handled
twenty-five hundred years ago.
Here, in a room at the right, are two reliefs
from the balustrade of the little temple of Nike
Apteros, which stood originally, and still stands,
restored in the present century, to the right of the
Propylaia. I examined closely the relief of Nike
Untying her Sandal, which has been to me always
one of the loveliest things in Greek sculpture.
The modeling of the foot, revealing as it does a
perfect understanding of anatomical laws, is one
of the finest bits of workmanship in existence.
The hand which chiseled that marble had been
. trained to a perfect mastery of itself ; it had knowl
edge behind it, and feeling of the most exquisite
sensitiveness. Every stroke is the touch of genius ;
the result is beauty. One may well spend many
hours in this museum, which, although small,
contains great things.
National Archaeological Museum
It is, however, in the National Archaeological
Museum that the visitor finds most complete
resources for study. This museum was built in
1836 by a public-spirited Greek. It is well arranged

Details from Temple of Nike Apteros Niki^ untying her Sandal
From balustrade of Temple of Nike" Apteros

INTRODUCTION

as to structure, and is a model
in the disposition of its collec
tions. One large room is de
voted to the various objects
discovered at Mykenae, Tiryns,
Sparta, Menidi, Nauplia, Argos,
and Vaphio, which include
weapons, ornaments, vessels of
gold and silver, pottery and
implements found in tombs and
palaces, many of which date as
far back as the fifteenth century
before Christ, or even earlier.
One may pass through room
after room of sculpture, carefully
arranged in order to show the
development of plastic art from
the earliest forms of archaic type
— many of which show traces of
color, as for instance, the stele
of Aristokles, with its red back
ground and traces of blue on the
costume — down through its
perfect flowering, and its less
noble forms, in later periods.

Stele of Aristokles

70 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
The collection covers rare examples of sculpture
in high and low relief, architectural fragments and
details, also figures in the round, statues of marble,
bronze, and other materials gathered from all parts
of Greece, the adjoining islands, and Asia Minor, —
as rich a treasure house as can be seen anywhere
in the world. It is to be hoped that the day will
soon come when the British Museum will restore
to Greece those priceless sculptures from the Par
thenon which rightfully belong to the land that
gave them birth. In this museum they now would
be carefully guarded and would form the crowning
glory of Greek sculpture.
The museum is specially rich in vases of all
epochs, from the earliest Mykenaean, including
the Dipylon ware, to the red-figured vases of the
finest period. Of votive or funereal reliefs there
are many exceptionally fine examples through
which we are brought face to face with a personal
expression of Greek feeling. As one walks slowly
through the corridors, one seems to come into
direct and intimate touch with the life of a people
who, ordinarily joyous, yet had to meet the sorrow
and mystery of death, as we all have to meet it at
one time or another. We should judge by these

Grave Relief
7i

72 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
reliefs, if they afford any indication of the true
spirit of Greek feeling, that they met it in a way
quite consistent with their ideal of life, — that mod
eration should control every act and feeling, even
grief itself.
Among them "there are shrines of domestic
affection, family groups where the ordinary life
proceeds, the different members of the family
grasping hands to bid adieu, as if they were to
meet again happily on the morrow. . . . They are
pleasant as in life, probably portraits, and it is
hard to determine which figure in them represents
the departed, there being a controversy among
critics on this point, but the weight of proof is in
favor of the seated figure as that of the deceased
person, thus occupying the place of honor and
devotion." One of the most beautiful monuments in the
collection was found at Athens, and represents a
family group. The life expressed in these figures
is wonderful. It is here the Athenian mother who
has died, and the noble seated form apparently is
swayed by a profound emotion of love that makes
her more alive and even more joyful than those
about her, whose faces denote grief. The lingering

INTRODUCTION 73
hand-clasp is specially significant. " Indeed, a few
of the monuments, though these are exceptional in
Greek art, express poignant grief ; but art seems to
have acted as a viaticum of love and consolation, —
a mild angel to smooth the roughness of separation,
touching the features of death with a rare beauty.
And how strange it is that a faith, with so faint a
light shining on the unknown, could have evolved
so calm a sentiment regarding the utter extinction
of this life which to the Greeks was so joyful, show
ing that there was depth of sweetness in the Greek
nature that death could not touch ! We should
remember that a nation which produced a Plato
could not have been a nation of atheists." 1
Athens
Our arrival in Athens chanced to be upon the
eve of Independence Day, a day which corresponds
to our Fourth of July. Early the next morning we
were awakened by the sound of music, and, looking
out from the sunny balcony, flags, bunting, stream
ers, and brightly colored decorations waved gayly
in the street and public square below. Groups of
1 From Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin, Professor of
the History of Art, Yale University.

74 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
people hurried by. Soldiers, sailors,' officers, civil
ians, stylishly dressed women and gayly bedecked
men gathered until the Place de la Constitution,
with its background of tropical foliage, orange, ole
ander, fig, and palm trees, and the streets bounding
its four sides, were one sea of faces in which one
could discern a variety of national types, — the clear-
cut features of English and American, the sharply
pointed French, the squarely chiseled German, the
low-browed native peasant, Greek or Albanian, and
the clear classic profile of the better-class Greek.
All were awaiting the great event which later
took place, — the coming of king and queen with
their suite, accompanied by the royal guards with
battalions of soldiers, each headed by its officer in
full regalia, on their way from the royal palace to
the ancient Byzantine church where, on such a
solemn occasion, it was meet to give thanks for
the independence of Greece, — little Greece now
at last freed from the hated foreign yoke.
Athens is distinctly a modern city, dating its
present form from 1834, when it became the mod
ern capital. Its wide streets, its fine royal palace
of white marble, its spacious squares, compare
favorably with any other European city. Modern

INTRODUCTION

75

Athens is again the center of Greek intellectual
and political life, as it was in the far past. Its
modern museums and the British, German, and
American Archaeological Schools, each under a

Modern Athens : the King's Palace on the Right ;
Lykabettos on the Left
distinguished authority in such matters, and its
incomparable remains of architecture and sculp
ture, attract many foreigners. ^Egina
From Athens there are many excursions that
one may take to various parts of Greece and the

76 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
adjoining islands in the JEgean. One of the most
delightful is a sea trip to ^Egina, across the bay,
past the island of Salamis, where
"A king sat on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis ;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations — all were his !
He counted them at break of day —
And when the sun set, where were they ?"
For here is the scene of the famous sea fight in
which the Persian Xerxes met his giant defeat
and Greece won the day. High above one's head
rises the great rock that formed his throne and
casts deep shadows into the " wine-purple " sea.
From Athens to yEgina the eye is feasted with
colors of rare beauty. Sea and sky echo in pearly
tones of opal, amethyst, turquoise, emerald, sap
phire, — only the names of jewels can adequately
describe colors of such exquisite purity, — every
fleeting effect of passing sail and cloud. Near the
shore one looks down into clear limpid depths to
the jeweled rocks below, where, if anywhere on
this fair earth, sportive mermaids would choose to
live. Sponge fishing is carried on by the youth
and men of yEgina in the spring and summer as

INTRODUCTION

77

a profitable trade. One can scarcely believe that
anything less than pearls and sapphires could come
up from such heaven-reflected depths.
^Egina itself is a rather barren island save where
olive, fig, and almond are cultivated for home con-

^Egina
sumption and trade with the mainland. From
earliest times — as early as the sixth century before
Christ — the yEginetans showed an independence
of spirit that soon brought them prosperity and
renown. Their trade extended to Italy, the Black
Sea, even to Egypt. Their shipowners were famed

78 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
for their wealth, disposing of and exchanging their
bronze goods, — for which they were specially noted,
— their pottery, ointments, and other wares at fair
prices.1 This and their naval renown — for it was
" one of the thirty ships from ^Egina that obtained
the prize for the greatest bravery in the battle of
Salamis" — were the cause of their ruin, for the
Athenians became jealous and, in 456 B.C., com
pelled the submission of the island.
It was a motley group of youths and maidens
that we saw assembled on the rocky slope as we
landed from our " well-benched " ship. Black-eyed,
sunburnt, ragged, active, each young Greek pushed
and pulled his or her own particular little donkey
forward, soliciting our attention with eager looks
and cries. Such donkeys ! Such little beasts! One
could scarcely believe them equal to carrying an
hundred-pound burden up that steep incline to the
fair temple which gleamed like a golden beacon far
above on the hill.
Never can we forget the rare deliciousness of
that day, when sea, sky, and earth yielded their
full measure of beauty. A hot sun poured down,
1 A Mykenaean Treasure from yEgina, by A. J. Evans, in The Journal
of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIII, 1892-1893.

INTRODUCTION 79
bringing out fragrant incense from pungent pine,
sweet-smelling thyme and odorous herb, that grew
at our feet and crackled crisply as the tiny hoofs of
the small donkey crushed them into still sweeter
sweetness. As we climbed higher and higher, a wider horizon
spread before us, until finally a full circle of vary
ing blues made a complete panorama stretching out
inimitably in perfect harmony of line and color.
Twenty columns still remain of that ancient
temple, one of the earliest now standing in Greece,
and the first which shows a pedimental composi
tion designed on good laws of arrangement. The
temple was built after the Persian wars, — about
470 B.C., when the strife between Athens and
^Egina was at its fiercest. The figures of the ped
iment groups were discovered among heaps of
rubbish by English and German travelers in 181 1,
and were later purchased by Germany and re
moved to Munich, where they can now be seen
and studied in the Glyptothek, as restored by
Thorwaldsen. The subject is the Trojan War. Athena pre
sides in the center, an archaic figure stiffly imper
turbable, while to the right and left of her are

80 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Greeks and Trojans in various attitudes of offense
and defense. The figures of the western pediment
are best preserved, and show surprising life and
movement. The stone is of Parian marble, once
colored, and still retaining traces of color in eyes,
beards, and drapery.
The old temple has a look of hoary antiquity
almost equal to that of the old Temple of Corinth.
Its columns are a warmly toned yellow dulled by
grays, with here and there a deeper orange in the
more exposed parts. Against the deep blue of
the sky and lighted by streaks of brilliant sun
shine the effect is startlingly beautiful, column and
architrave holding their strong, dignified, massive
forms as if time and decay had nothing to do with
such handiwork, made to outlast the little life of
man. Some of the columns are monoliths, others
consist of several drums ; all are heavy, showing
well the characteristics of early Doric.
From the temple front the view is exception
ally fine. To the east, across the blue waters of
the Saronic Gulf, which sparkle and gleam in the
sunshine like dancing' jewels, shine the walls and
marble temples of Athens against the cooler tones
of purple-dimpled hills. The Akropolis, rose-tinted

SUNION

Temple of Sunion
81

82 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
and violet-shadowed, glows like the petals of some
lovely flower in the afternoon light.
To the north lies Salamis, half hiding from view
the rocky mainland beyond, on which lie Megara
and Eleusis. Westward, islands dot the sea here
and there in pale pinkish and deeper rose- violet
spots, broken by dark green masses of foliage. To
the south is the open sea, bounded on the east
by Sunion's lonely point with its marble-crowned
temple of which Byron wrote
Place me on Sunion's marbled steep,
Where nothing, save • the waves and I,
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;
There, swan-like, let me sing and die.
But ours was a merry party that day, full of
the elixir of life, eager to explore every nook and
cranny of that old shrine, and deeply engrave it
upon the memory. That was a great lunch, too,
fit for hungry appetites, spread out under the no
ble old pine tree around which we seven gathered
in perfect abandon of spirits. Can we ever forget
it, — the happiness that comes with health, good
spirits, and the sense of perfect enjoyment? The
old woman who stood by as we ate, cheerfully

INTRODUCTION 83
conversing to our delighted ears in the musical
unknown tongue, deftly weaving all the while from
her homemade distaff twined with white flax;
or the lean and hungry dog which leaped eagerly
for every chicken bone and crusty scrap, — a veri
table Kerberos ; or the group of ruddy-hued donkey
boys and girls lounging in the hot sun and cutting
deep splotches of shadow against the creamy white
marble of stylobate and step ; these, these are some
of the memories of a day wonderful beyond com
pare, for rich and complete enjoyment, chiseled
deep in the mind and heart. Do you not agree
with Iris, O Apollo and Artemis ?
Excursions in and about Athens
From Athens as a starting point there are many
excursions to the north and east that one may take
in a day's outing, and there are numerous walks
to sacred shrines which occupy only a few hours.
The Lykabettos, a near conspicuous hill about
which no special classic associations cluster, is,
however, well worth a climb, for, from its top one
obtains a fine view of Athens, the Akropolis, the
surrounding Attic plain, and the widespread Saronic
Gulf dotted with islands.

84 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Areopagos
The Areopagos, or Mars' Hill, may be included
in a walk to the Akropolis. A flight of fifteen
steps brings one to the rounding rocky top where
once the sacred altars stood. It was here that
the ancient court of justice sat, exercising the
power of life and death over offenders brought to
it for trial. It is said that here Orestes obtained
pardon for the murder of his mother, Klytaimnestra.
At the base of the hill is a deep gloomy fis
sure in which lies a pool of black water. This
was the haunt of the Eumenides, or Furies1 who
so tormented Orestes, and here was the scene of
the tragedy of yEschylos. It is assumed, although
not proven, that it was from this hill the apostle
Paul in the spring of 54 a.d. preached his stirring
address beginning, " Ye men of Athens, in all
things I perceive that ye are somewhat superstitious.
For as I passed along, and observed the objects
of your worship, I found also an altar with this
inscription, 'To an Unknown God.' What there
fore ye worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto
you."2
1 See Delphika, The Erinyes, The Omphalos, by Jane E. Harrison, in
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIX, 1899. 2 Acts xvii. 22.

Lykabettos

86 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Leaving the main street at the Temple of Jupiter
Olympus and passing the public gardens of the
Zappeion, we come to the banks of the Ilissos,
which once were laid out with walks and shade
trees by Kimon and became the favorite resort
of Plato and his followers. Here were altars to
Zeus, Athena, and Herakles. It is quite probable
that it is to this spot Plato alludes when he
writes in his Phaidros : " By Hebe, a fair resting
place, full of summer sounds and scents. Here is
the lofty and spreading plane tree and the fire
bush high and clustering in the fullest blossom
and the greatest fragrance ; and the stream which
flows beneath the plane tree is deliciously cold to
the feet. Judging from the ornaments and images,
this must be a spot sacred to Achelobs and the
nymphs. How delightful is the breeze — so sweet,
and there is a sound in the air shrill and summer
like, which makes answer to the chorus of the
cicadae. But the greatest charm of all is the grass,
like a pillow gently sloping to the head. Listen to
me then in silence, for surely the place is holy;
so that you must not wonder if, as I proceed, I
appear to be in a divine fury, for I am already
getting into dithyrambics."

INTRODUCTION 87
Kolonos
About two miles west of Athens, in the region
about the Temple of Thesus, is Kolonos, surrounded
by the famous olive woods and the groves of
Akademe. Sophokles had his home here, and
lays the scene of his tragedy, ^Edipos Kolonos,
in this place:
Friend, in our land of victor-steeds thou art come
To this Heaven-fostered haunt, Earth's fairest home,
Gleaming Kolonos, where the nightingale
In cool green covert warbleth ever clear,
True to the deep-flushed ivy and the dear
Divine impenetrable shade,
From 'wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made
Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale.
Valley of Kephisos
This broad band of refreshing green is the plain
of the Kephisos, a stream which waters the lovely
valley for ten miles or more. Even now one may
listen to the nightingale of which Sophokles writes,
and hear " the plane tree whispering to the elm," as
Aristophanes heard of old. These groves, too, were
a favorite resort of Plato, who loved to walk under
their spreading branches discoursing the while on

88 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
those problems of immortality which filled his mind.
"For the soul goes to Hades possessing nothing
else than its discipline and education, which are
said to be of the greatest advantage or detriment
to the dead on the very beginning of his journey
thither. . . . The soul which has passed through
life with purity and moderation, having obtained
the gods for its fellow-travelers and guides, settles
each in the place suited to it. Since, then, that
which is immortal is also incorruptible, can the
soul, since it is immortal, be anything else than
imperishable ? "
Pentelikon, Hymettos, and Marathon
An excursion to Mount Pentelikon is practically
a day's outing, but is well worth the effort. The
ancient quarries, which produced the fine Pentelic
marble, still yield a supply. Kephisia, a charm
ingly situated little village, a favorite modern sum
mer resort, as it was of old, lies on a spur of the
mountain. About it is a luxurious growth of
trees, while occasional waterfalls charm both ear
and eye. Here is the principal source of the
Kephisos from which water is conducted to
Athens. Tatoi, the summer residence of the king,

INTRODUCTION 89
lies a short distance beyond. A well laid out park
and grove of oaks make this place especially
attractive. From the summit of Pentelikon is a
glorious view of the hills of Attika.
The ascent of Mount Hymettos is less easy. Its
bare, rugged slopes now seem scarcely able to yield
flowers for the honey so famed by the poets. Yet,
upon examination, one sees even on this barren,
treeless spot masses of little wild flowers growing
close to the earth.
Between Pentelikon and Hymettos, nearly due
north, is the pass which leads to Marathon:
"The mountains look on Marathon
And Marathon looks on the sea."
On the left of Pentelikon is the chain of Parnes
with its three passes; one by Dekeleia, the site
of the present king's country palace, the one by
which you reach Tanagra, that city which has
given its name to the dainty little statuettes so
well known to modern collectors ; below is the
pass of Phyle, that famous pass by which, one
may almost say, the liberty of Athens was secured;
and the third, the pass of Daphni, marked by the
site of the convent with its old Byzantine church
rich in mosaics.

Pass of Daphni

Dipylon Gate
90

INTRODUCTION 9 1
This pass was the highroad to Eleusis, over
which the sacred processions passed on their way
to celebrate the " holy mysteries." The present
road, leaving the Dipylon Gate at Athens and
winding in and out through a pleasant country of
scattered woodland and open pastures, is almost
identical with the old one. For nearly its entire
distance it was bordered with gravestones; many
are still in place, but some of them have been
removed, for their better preservation, to the
National Archaeological Museum. A few, temple-
shaped monuments, were adorned with paintings.
The grave of Plato was once shown near his
favorite haunt in the groves of Akademe, which
once connected with the Dipylon Gate. Monu
ments of statesmen, poets, warriors, and noble
citizens lined this ancient way. Plato gives us
an epitaph which is singularly touching:
I am a maiden of bronze, and lie on
the tomb of Midas;
So long as water flows and tall trees grow,
So long, here on this spot, by his sacred tomb
abiding,
I shall declare to passers-by, that Midas
sleeps below.

92 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Dipylon Gate
This "street of tombs" is the only one extant
in Greece. Here still may be seen the grave of
Hipparete, the wife of Alkibiades the younger.
One of the finest monuments is that of Dexileos,
a young Athenian who was a valiant soldier in
the Corinthian War. Occasionally traces of color
are observed on the reliefs.1
Such a setting seems particularly appropriate to
the main uses of this road which conducted the
religious devotee to the object of his worship. One
of the strangest phases of the ceremonial took place
at the first halting place, by the bridge over the
Kephisos. Here a spirit of wildest revelry seemed
to possess the band, which gave rein to extraordinary
acts of license in honor of Dionysos, who " had been
adopted, into the circle of Eleusinian underworld
gods." We do not know its meaning, but undoubt
edly there was some symbolic significance involved.
It was on the banks of this stream that Deme-
ter planted the " holy fig tree " which she gave to
Phytalos in gratitude for his courteous hospitality
when she came, sorrowful and lonely, in search for
1 See Die Attischen Grabreliefs, von Alexander Conze, Berlin, Taf.
II, XIII.

INTRODUCTION

93

her daughter. This myth of Demeter is one of the
most touching of all Greek myths, and like, or more
than, all others, was full of pregnant meaning.
A beautiful maiden Persephone (Kore), with her
companions, once gathered many-hued flowers in
a vale where spring perpetually reigns. Hades,
god of the underworld, saw her and his heart was
smitten with her beauty. He succeeded, much
against her will, in carrying her off on his mighty
steeds. On the banks of the river Kyane he
struck the earth with his trident and forced a
passage to the regions of the dead.
Meanwhile her mother, Demeter, mourned her
as one dead, yet sought her from dawn to eve
over all the earth. At length, weary and heavy-
hearted, she sat down upon a rock, and for nine
days and nights sorrowed, unheeding the dews of
morning and evening, the scorching rays of the
sun, the showers, or the moonlight which shed
pale rays of light over her drooping figure. This
rock was where the city of Eleusis now stands.
At length an old man, Keleos by name, begged
her to come to his cottage near by, telling her as
they walked that his only son, Triptolemos, was
very ill. Demeter took pity upon the poor father

94 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
and restored the boy to life by a kiss, promising
that he should become a great and useful man. " He
shall teach men the use of the plow, and the rewards
which labor can win from the soil," she said.
But Demeter still continued the search for her
daughter Persephone, and at length came to the
banks of the river Kyane. Here the river nymph
floated to her feet the girdle which Persephone
had dropped in her flight. Demeter, then per
ceiving whither she had been carried, laid a curse
upon the earth, which caused famine and drought
and plague, until the fountain, Arethusa, besought
her pity, telling her that, in her flight from
Alpheios, through the regions of the underworld,
she had passed through the kingdom of Hades,
where she had seen Persephone who, although sad,
had showed no alarm, but only a wonderful dignity
such as became a queen of the lower regions.
Demeter then implored Zeus to restore her
daughter, to which he consented on condition that
she had taken nothing to eat during her stay in
the underworld. But, alas, Persephone had tasted
a pomegranate. The Fates finally agreed, however,
that she should pass two thirds of her time with
her mother in the sunny land of earth among her

Eleusinian Relief: Demeter, Persephone,
and Triptolemos

95

96 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
flowers and fruits, and one third in the region of
the dead with the lord of the underworld.
Her mind now at rest, Demeter remembered her
promise to Triptolemos. She taught him the arts
of agriculture — plowing, sowing, reaping — and
took him in her winged chariot through the known
countries of the earth where, under her direction,
he distributed valuable grains and imparted to
mankind a knowledge of the "arts of life, changing
men from nomadic, wandering hordes, to well-
ordered civilized communities with a social bond.
When Triptolemos returned to his old home,
in gratitude and thanksgiving he " built a temple
to Demeter in Eleusis, and established the worship
of the goddess under the name of the Eleusinian
Mysteries, which, in the splendor and solemnity of
their observance, surpassed all other religious cele
brations among the Greeks." Shelley invokes the
blessing of Demeter thus:
Sacred goddess, Mother Earth,
Thou from whose immortal bosom,
Gods, and men, and beasts, have birth,
Leaf, and blade, and bud, and blossom,
Breathe thine influence most divine
On thine own child, Proserpine.

INTRODUCTION 97
Pass of Daphni
From the Kephisos to the pass of Daphni the
road winds through a wooded ravine which inter
sects the range of Mount ^Egaleos. It is a beauti
ful country, lonely, with only here and there a house
or tavern. At one quaint little wayside inn we
were enchanted to see a group of Greek peasants
dancing to the music of pipes and viols amid the
flickering shadows, their white full-sleeved shirts
and short white pleated skirts catching the light
in bright spots of vibrating color.
Beyond the pass of Daphni the road shows here
and there traces of mediaeval fortifications and the
remains of an ancient temple to Aphrodite in the
narrowest part of the way. The loneliness and
peaceful quiet of this spot are most impressive.
In the pines above, the wind softly whispered a
minor melody, sighing perhaps the long-lost glory
that once was there ; occasionally the song of a bird
pierced the stillness with its plaintive cry, calling
perchance to the spirit of a mate who two thou
sand years ago sang to that same quiet sky.
The ancient stones which marked the Sacred
Way still lie in the roadway half covered by mossy

98 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
lichens and straggling grass, now no longer pressed
by the sandaled feet of " mystae," of pilgrims, of
worshipers. Just beyond, a turn of the road brings
us to a fine view of the Bay of Eleusis, its crescent-
shaped shore making a lovely curve of yellow sand
against the pale azure-tinted waters. The rocky
Salamis holds the outer rim of water in its sturdy
grasp, carrying the eye up from the deeper blue of
the sea to the pale violets and purples of its rugged
sides. It is a fair view, and, like many places in
Greece, forms an environment perfect in form and
color, well fitted to be the setting of sacred mys
teries. Two salt lakes, in which the priests alone
were wont to fish, lie like two jewels of turquoise
and emerald against the golden sand on the right,
and beyond, on the slope of a long narrow ridge,
lies Eleusis.
Ah ! woe to the traveler who goes to Greece with
eyes untrained and mind unprepared ! To him
Eleusis will be only a poor fever-stricken village,
unattractive to the eye and unhallowed by associ
ation to the mind. In Greece, if anywhere, one
must walk in the light of a high and glorious
past, else disappointment will surely be his por
tion. Eleusis of to-day bears no visible relation

INTRODUCTION 99
to Eleusis of the past. Yet here was ^Eschylos
born and to this city came the great and wise
of many lands from ancient days down to the end
of the fourth century. Mysteries of Eleusis
It was in honor of Demeter and her gift to
Triptolemos that these mysteries were celebrated
twice a year, — in the spring and fall, at the time
of the revival and decay of nature, — the Greater
and Lesser Eleusinia as they were called. Homer,
Pindar, Sophokles, Aristophanes, Plato, all write
of these mysteries not only in terms of praise
but even of deep feeling. In a brief fragmentary
way they refer to the ceremonials, — dramatic rep
resentations and forms of penance and worship that
were in use and that symbolized the cleansing of
the soul from sin, the initiation of the spirit into
higher and nobler visions of truth after such puri
fication, and gave glimpses of a future life. Pre
cisely what these mysteries were we do not know,
for none but the initiated were allowed to take
part in them, and none of the initiated were
allowed to reveal them upon penalty of death.
The most conspicuous feature was the solemn

IOO

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

torchlight procession that left Athens on the eve
of the fifth day of the Greater Eleusinia and passed
along through the Sacred Way to Eleusis.
Eleusis
The propylaia, or gateway, formed the entrance
to the sacred inclosure. Within was the Great

Eleusis : Lesser Propylaia
Temple of the Mysteries built upon the founda
tions of an older temple destroyed at the time of
the Persian Wars. This great temple was begun
by Iktinos — the architect of the Parthenon — and
completed one hundred years later. It was used

INTRODUCTION

IOI

for the continued celebration of these mysteries
with all their splendid ceremonial from that time
until 396, when it was destroyed by the Goths
under Alaric.
Little now remains of all that ancient splendor.
Excavations by the Archaeological Society in 1882
have laid bare
the foundations
of that temple
and also of the
more ancient
one. Most of
the sculptures,
the statues of
priestesses and
gods, reliefs and
inscriptions, and many frag-
ments of all
periods are now
in the little
museum on the grounds, built under the lee of the
akropolis which rises behind, topped by its Frank-
ish tower. From this point is a fine view of the
quiet bay, rugged Salamis, and the opposite coast

Eleusis : Architrave of Propylaia

102 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
line; and it is only when one looks out upon this
scene — slowly pacing the broad marble founda
tions of the temple, which tells the story of the
past — that the imagination can rise to a just
appreciation of all that once made this spot the
center of a deeply religious life which Cicero,
himself an initiate, said was the great product
of the culture of Athens. " Much that is excel
lent and divine does Athens seem to me to have
produced and added to our life, but nothing better
than those Mysteries by which we are formed and
molded from a rude and savage life to humanity;
and indeed, in the Mysteries we perceive the real
principle of life, and learn not only to live happily
but to die with a fairer hope."1
i De Legg., II, 14, § 36.

CHAPTER I
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING
Two sources of knowledge: literature and extant works — Origin
of painting — Kimon of Kleoni — Polygnotos, his works in the Portico
on the Akropolis at Athens, and at Delphi — Agatharchos — Apollo
doros — Zeuxis — Parrhasios — Timanthes — Eupompos — Pausias
— Aristeides — Nikomachos — Euphranor — Nikias — Apelles —
Protogenes — Antiphilos — Theon of Samos — .-Etion — Helena,
probable painter of Battle of Issos — Timarete, daughter of Mikon
— Eirene — Kalypso — Aristarte — Iaia — Olympias — Nikophanes
— Peiraikos — Studios — Fabius Pictor — Ludius.
A knowledge of the art of painting as it sprang
up and developed among the Greeks is derived
from two sources. On the one hand, Greek litera
ture abounds with references to both famous paint
ings and painters; on the other, although most of
the examples of art to which they refer are lost,
yet enough still remains in Greece and elsewhere
to give us a very fair idea of the painter's methods
in the use of color and the subjects which he
depicted. To become familiar with these refer
ences in Greek literature we must read the Greek
and Roman poets, dramatists, and historians, —
io3

104 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Aristotle, Plutarch, Pliny,1 Quintilian, Lucian, Cicero,
Pausanias ; to see the actual remains, it is necessary
to go to Greece, to lower Italy, even to Egypt, in
order to round out the knowledge we may have
acquired already from a close study of the Greek
and Roman collections in the best museums of
America and Europe.
We are apt to think of Greek art chiefly as an
art of architecture and sculpture; but if we read
literature aright, we cannot fail to be struck with
the most enthusiastic and exalted praise of its
painters and paintings. Most of the descriptions
which have come down to us, chief among which
are those of Pausanias, refer to famous paintings
which adorned the public buildings and the tem
ples of the gods, and which were among the price
less possessions of the state; but wealthy private
1 Pliny died at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a.d. 79.
" In his dedicatory letter addressed with the Historia to the co-emperor
Titus, Pliny has himself announced that ' the twenty thousand matters
worthy of attention,' contained in the thirty-six volumes of his work, were
' gathered from some two thousand books.' We must, therefore, regard
his work as nothing more than a compilation from other records, in which
personal observation plays no part outside the range of contemporary
events. An irreparable accident, however, — the total loss of the art
literature which preceded Pliny, — has given to the books a unique value."
— From The Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art, translated by
K. Jex-Blake, with commentary and historical introduction by E. Sellers,
The Macmillan Company, New York and London, 1896.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 105
citizens, as in our own day, owned not a few. Pliny
says, "All the masters labored for the cities, and the
artist was the possession of the whole world."
Origin of Greek Painting
The origin of Greek painting, like the origin of
all other arts, is obscure. Probably the first crude
attempts were connected with the industrial arts of
weaving and pottery making, and with the deco
ration of funereal emblems and the images of the
gods. There is a legend that a Greek maiden
traced the shadow of her lover upon the wall, and
thus began the art of graphic representation; the
next step naturally was the filling in of such an
outline with a flat tone of color, and later, the use
of two or more colors to distinguish between cos
tume and flesh. One student of Greek archaeol
ogy writes : " Philokles, Kleanthes, and the earliest
painters are scarcely painters at all; they practice
mere outline. Then Ekphantos fills up his out
line with red color. Hygiainon and his fellows
continue to use only one color till it occurs to
Eumaros to distinguish in painting between the
sexes ; this he doubtless does by introducing white
for the flesh of women, and thus marks the first

106 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
stage in the progress from monochrome to poly
chrome painting."
Dionysios, an ancient Greek writer, comments on
the paintings preceding the time of Apollodoros:
" In ancient paintings the scheme of coloring was
simple and presented no variety in the tones; but
the line was rendered with exquisite perfection,
thus lending to these early works a singular grace.
This purity of draughtsmanship was gradually lost ;
its place was taken by a learned technique, by
the differentiation of light and shade, by the full
resources of the rich coloring to which the works
of the later artists owe their strength."
Kimon of Kleonai is supposed to have lived about
the time of the Persian Wars. But little is known
of his work save that he " invents foreshortening."
He further correctly marks the " articulations and
the muscles and ' discovers the wrinkles and wind
ings of drapery.' Panainos in his Battle of Mara
thon introduces portraiture." Polygnotos
Polygnotos of Thasos, the next painter whose
name assumes distinct prominence, was a contem
porary of Pheidias and lived between 475 and 455 b.c.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 107
He first "permits the draperies to reveal the
bodies beneath them, and shows at the same time
how to give not only movement to the body, as
Kimon had done, but also expression to the face."
He was the head of a school or group of painters
who covered the walls of many public buildings
at Athens : the painted gallery of the market place
with large battle scenes commemorating Greek vic
tories; the Temple of Theseus at the base of the
Akropolis with a series giving various events in
the life of that hero, — where were also the paint
ings of Mikon. Pausanias1 says: "and near the
gymnasium is a Temple of Theseus where, are
paintings of the Amazons . . . and in the Temple
of Theseus is also painted the fight between the
Kentaurs and Lapiths. Theseus is represented as
1 Our knowledge of Pausanias is very limited. We know that he lived
during the reign of the Antonines, in the second century, and that he
traveled extensively in Greece. Much that he then saw has wholly
gone, leaving no trace nor evidence of its existence. This applies with
particular force to the work of Greek painters, of which scarcely a vestige
remains. The written word, then, of this traveler — who evidently was
keenly interested in all that he saw and heard, and who so skillfully com
bines- his facts and observations that his book is full of lively interest at
the present day — is of peculiar importance to the modern student of
Greek art. We have quoted freely from it, but we advise our readers to
go to the original if they would catch something of the spirit of that age ;
for when Pausanias was in Greece he found " every city teeming with life
and refinement, every temple a museum of art, and every spot hallowed
by some tradition which contributed to its preservation."

Temple of Theseus

Propylaia i 08

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 109
just having slain a Kentaur. . . . But the painting
on the third wall is not clear to those who do not
know the story, partly as the painting has faded
from age, partly because Mikon has not portrayed
the whole story." Pausanias also says : " Now the
temple of the Dioskuri is ancient ; . . . here, too, is
a painting by Polygnotos of the marriage of the
daughter of Leukippos, and by Mikon of the Argo
nauts who sailed with Jason to Kolchi; in this
painting Akastos and his horses stand out remark
ably well."
But the more important works of Polygnotos
are a series of six pictures representing the chief
events of the Trojan War, which could be seen
"as one goes into the Portico,1 which they call
the Painted Gallery, from the Paintings there."
For these famous paintings, the work undoubtedly
of Polygnotos' own hand, he was rewarded with
the right of citizenship. Pausanias writes : " To the
Akropolis there is only one approach ; it allows
of no other, being everywhere precipitous and
walled off. The Vestibules have a roof of white
marble, and even now are remarkable both for their
beauty and size.
1 The north wing of the Propylaia, on the Akropolis, Athens.

no

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

" On the right of the Vestibules is the Shrine of
the Wingless Victory. From it the sea is visible,
and there yEgeus drowned himself, as they say, and
the Athenians have a hero chapel to his memory.
And on the left of the Vestibules is a building with
paintings ; and among those which time has not

Odysseus appearing to Nausikaa and her Maidens
From a Greek vase painting
destroyed are Diomede and Odysseus . . . which
Polygnotos painted; who also painted Odysseus
suddenly making his appearance as Nausikaa and
her maidens were bathing in the river, just as Homer
described it. And among other paintings is Alki-
biades, and there are traces in the painting of the
victory of his horses at Nemea. There, too, is

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING ill
Perseus, sailing to Seriphos, carrying Polydektes,
the head of Medusa; . . . and among other paint
ings, to pass over the lad carrying the waterpots,
and the wrestlers, painted by Timainetos, is one
of Musaios. And on the southern wall Attalos
has portrayed the legendary battle of the giants
who formerly inhabited Thrace and the Isthmus of
Pallene, and the contest between the Amazons and
the Athenians, and the action of Marathon against
the Persians, and the slaughter of the Galati in
Mysia, each painting ten cubits in size."
Pausanias also tells us that " the Plataians have
a temple . . . and there are paintings in the tem
ple by Polygnotos, — Odysseus having just slain the
suitors, — and by Onatas, — the first expedition of
Adrastos and the Argives against Thebes. These
paintings are on the walls in the Vestibules of the
temple." But it was at Delphi, in the Assembly room, that
Polygnotos painted his most famous masterpieces.
From the full description of them, which Pausanias
has given, we must infer that they occupied a place
of as supreme importance in the development of
Greek painting as do the works of Giotto in the
growth of Italian art. Pausanias writes: "Above

I 12

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

the fountain is a building which contains some
paintings of Polygnotos. . . . On the right as you
enter the building is a painting of the capture of
Ilium and the return of the Greeks." Under this
part, at the right, is the inscription : " ' Polygnotos
of Thasos, the son of Aglaophon, painted these
incidents in the capture of Ilium.' . . . The other
part of the paint
ing, that on the
left, represents
Odysseus de-
scending to Ha
des to consult the
soul of Tiresias
about his return
home. . . . Such
is a full account
of the various de
tails in this fine painting of the Thasian painter." 1
These paintings probably lacked correctness of
form, and perhaps composition also in its truer
sense, for undoubtedly single objects were still
1 The above extract is => mere outline of a full account of these paint
ings by Polygnotos at Delphi, which fills chapters xv, xvi, xvii, xxv, xxvi,
xxvii, xxix, and xxx, of the second volume of Pausanias' Description of
Greece, Bohn's Edition.

Odysseus consulting the Shades of
Tiresias
From a Greek vase painting

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING

"3

used, as in more archaic painting, to symbolize
or suggest, rather than depict, the actual scene;
yet with these limitations there must have been a
grandeur and simple dignity that would explain
the high estimate in which they were then held,
and which would, no doubt, compel our admiration
now as do some of the finer Etruscan paintings
of early date. The principles of symmetry and
rhythm were already discovered, the laws of bal
ance were obviously followed in the distribution
of masses, and with them must have gone grace of
line, expressiveness of action, and vigorous move
ment. Aristotle describes Polygnotos as a character
painter, and says that his works are preeminent for
their ethnic qualities. Of his figure of Polyxena in
one of his Trojan paintings, a Greek epigram ex
pressively states that " the whole Trojan war might
be read in her eyes."
It is interesting in this connection to note that
at this period, when sculpture was at its most per
fect stage of development, painting, although less ad
vanced technically, expressed a grandeur and large
ness of conception which was excelled at no later
time. Pheidias and Polygnotos were not unequal con
temporaries in the fields of sculpture and painting.

114 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Agatharchos
Agatharchos, of Samos, a younger contemporary
of Polygnotos, instituted a new style of painting
which greatly advanced the art, particularly in
the direction of landscape and architectural back
grounds. He was a mural painter, for we know that
he decorated the house of Alkibiades ; but he was a
scene painter J also, and, possibly at the suggestion of
yEschylos and later of Sophokles, he devoted most
of his abilities to that line of art, an important one
at the time, requiring rapid and bold execution with
large ideality of invention.
" The usual background of a Greek tragedy con
sisted of an architectural scene, such as a temple,
a king's palace, or the like ; but at the extremities
of this it is clear that landscape distances must
often have found a place as well, and sometimes
the whole scene consisted of a picture of a camp,
or of a landscape pure and simple. ... It is
impossible to overestimate the importance of the
invention of scene painting as the most decisive
turning point in the entire history of art. ... It is
clear that scenes painted in imitation of nature
1 The Scenery of the Greek Stage, by Percy Gardner, in The Journal
of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIX, 1899.

Wall Painting in Rome (Odysseus Series)
Possibly suggestive of style of landscape by Agatharchos

116 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
for the decoration of a theater could not have
answered their purpose of illusion unless they had
been laid out, to some extent, according to the
rules of perspective. ... It cannot be doubted
that the principles of foreshortening and the use
of lines converging towards a vanishing point
had been discovered, and this progress was quite
enough to mark a new period, and a new depar
ture in comparison with the previous practice alike
of Greece and the East."1 Apollodoros
Towards the end of the fifth century before Christ,
at the beginning of the Peloponnesian Wars, was
born at Athens Apollodoros, whom Pliny calls
the first real master of painting. He combined
both landscape and figures in his easel pictures,
giving to them, it is said, reality, charm, and sub
stance. He it was " who, by discovering the fusion
and management of shade, — we should rather say
of light, — first gave to objects their real sem
blance; thus he contributed to painting its most
important factor, and thereby, as an epigrammatist
pointedly said, he opened the gates of art to the
1 History of Painting, by Woltmann and Woermann.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 117
great masters of Greek painting, — to Zeuxis and
Parrhasios and their illustrious contemporaries."
While his predecessors, who were mural painters,
merely distributed tints within given outlines, he, in
these smaller works, actually laid on paint with the
brush and softened the outlines of his figures with
some attempt at a true relation to the background.
His subjects are mainly from heroic legend, — a
Zeus enthroned, Herakles strangling the snakes,
an Ajax in his ship struck by lightning, — the
latter receiving special praise. Pliny says that he
bestowed minute care upon his work, and that in
addition to his color skill he painted " monochromes
in white."
Up to this time Athens had been the chief seat
of the painters' art, but now, with the decline of
her supremacy, several cities rose into prominence,
developing centers of artistic influence which are
sometimes classed as separate schools of art. We
can scarcely do more than name these main centers,
of which there were three of special importance,
together with their most noted leaders. We
must also keep in mind that as each generation
built upon the preceding one, so it in turn carried
the laws, traditions, and scientific discoveries one

118 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
step farther, until, during the next few hundred
years, a standard was attained which, according to
contemporary and later writers, reached a marvel
of perfection. It is a melancholy trick of fate that
not one single example of this wonderful art of
painting has come down to us.
Zeuxis
Zeuxis is the chief exponent of the Ionian group
of painters. He was born at Herakleia. He wan
dered to various cities, studied under Apollodoros
at Athens, and established for himself by the grace
and brilliant charm of his brush a popular reputation
which has brought his name down familiarly to
our own day. His subjects were pictures of every
day life, — the lesser gods, a Zeus enthroned, which
Pliny highly praises, an ideal Helen for a temple
of Hera at Kroton, a Penelope, the personification
of domestic virtue, and the famous bunch of grapes
which his rival, Parrhasios, succeeded in outrival
ing by his clever painting of a curtain, so true to
nature that even Zeuxis was deceived.
He passed most of his later life at Ephesus, where
he lived in great luxury, spending with lavish hand
the means which he acquired by his painting. He

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 119
became a sort of popular demigod, appearing at the
Olympic festival in a garment on which his name
was embroidered in gold.
Parrhasios
Parrhasios was born at Ephesus. He, too, went
to Athens, where he studied and received recog
nition, acquiring the freedom of the city in honor
of his painting of Theseus, the national hero.
Pliny says, " He first gave painting symmetry, and
added vivacity to the features, daintiness to the
hair, and comeliness to the mouth, while by verdict
of artists he is unrivaled in the rendering of out
line." In addition to his clever realism in scenes
from everyday life, he also chose themes of dra
matic interest, — the strife between Odysseus and
Ajax for the armor of Achilles, Odysseus feigning
madness, and scenes from popular tales. A repre
sentation of Demos, personified probably by a single
figure, and perhaps suggested by Aristophanes' play
of The Knights, claimed great admiration, accord
ing to Pliny, who tells us of the marvelous variety
of expressions which its face revealed, summing up,
^s it were, all the conflicting emotions of which
the human soul is possessed.

120 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
From the following account, and from the story
of Zeuxis and the grapes, we can see how far we
have strayed from the days of Polygnotos and his
contemporaries, since now realism and skill in
execution take the place of that ethical greatness,
that largeness of conception which distinguished the
painting of an earlier period.
There are many stories told about Greek painters, for the pop
ulace loved then, as now, to associate peculiarities and amusing
foibles with the name of genius. We quote from Athenaros, an
early Greek writer, who in turn quotes from Klearchos, of Soloi,
a few amusing notes about Parrhasios. "Among the ancients
ostentation and extravagance were so great that the painter,
Parrhasios, was clothed in purple and wore a golden wreath upon
his head, as Klearchos says in his ' Lives.' Parrhasios, while arro
gant beyond what his art warranted, yet laid claim to virtue and
would write on his paintings." Again, "As signs of his luxurious
living he wore a purple cloak and had a white fillet upon his
head, and leaned upon a staff with golden coils about it, and
fastened the strings of his shoes with golden latchets. Nor was
the practice of his art toilsome to him, but light, so that he would
sing at his work, as Theophrastos, in his treatise on Happiness,
tells us. And he uttered marvels when he was painting the
Herakles at Lindos, saying that the god appeared to him in a
dream and posed himself as was fitting for a picture. Hence
he wrote upon the painting: 'As many a time in nightly visits
he appeared unto Parrhasios, such is he here to look upon.' "

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 121
Timanthes
The third member of this group was Timanthes,
a contemporary of Parrhasios. Pliny says that in

' Sacrifice of Iphigeneia
Pompeian wall painting
his painting of a hero he "touched perfection," and
" comprehended in it the whole art of painting the
, male figure." His Sacrifice of Iphigeneia was one

122 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of the most celebrated pictures of antiquity. From
a well-known Pompeian wall painting of a similar
subject we can infer something of the composition
and design of the original. The success with which
he portrayed grief with its varying degrees of inten
sity in the countenances of Kalchas, Odysseus, Ajax,
and Menelaos shows a skill in depicting the human
emotions which called forth the highest praise ; and
the care with which he conceals the face of Aga
memnon, her father, indicating thereby a grief too
keen to be expressed, shows an originality of inven
tion quite unexcelled by any previous master.
We are told that in a pictorial competition
between Parrhasios and Timanthes — the. subject
being the contest between Ajax and Odysseus for the
arms of Achilles — Timanthes came out victor.
Ancient writers testify not only to the artistic
skill of Timanthes, but emphasize still more strongly
this ingeniousness of invention, declaring emphat
ically that " in his works, and in his alone, the spec
tator seems to see more than is actually there."
We may infer from this that his work possessed a
quality of the imagination, apart from skillful tech
nique, that places him in a different class from
either Zeuxis or Parrhasios.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 123
Eupompos, Pamphilos, and Pausias
Eupompos is called the founder of the Sikyonian
School. Little is known of him save that he was
held in high repute there. He emphasized the fact
that the artist must go to nature for all the ele
ments of his art. He established a school of draw
ing which Pamphilos, his pupil, perfected.
Pamphilos was the first who recognized the
need for scientific study by the painter, especially
a knowledge of mathematics and geometry. It was
through his influence that drawing was required
in all the boys' schools in Greece. The course of
teaching in his studio was said to have lasted
twelve years. The famous Apelles was one of his
pupils. The fame of Pamphilos rests mainly on
his skill as a teacher, although he claims to have de
veloped encaustic painting on wax. By this process
the "colors were prepared in little rods heated
red hot and laid on with the flat end of a tool. It
was difficult to manage, but gave, for small pic
tures, excellent results." This method enabled the
painter to produce much more brilliant color
effects than was possible in the distemper paint
ing usually employed.

124 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
The most important representative of this school
was Pausias, whom we associate specially with great
technical improvements in the use of color, both in
distemper and encaustic painting. That he possessed
skill in the more difficult problems of draughtsman
ship may be inferred from the account of his famous
picture of a Sacrificial Feast, in which he foreshort
ened the ox so boldly that the " eye seemed able to
measure his length." Pausanias says in his chapter
on Corinth (xxvii): "And in it (the Rotunda) there
is a painting by Pausias, of Eros throwing away
his bow and arrows and taking up a lyre instead.
There is here a painting of Drunkenness, also by
Pausias, drinking out of a glass bowl. You may see
in the painting the glass bowl, and in it a woman's
face reflected." Pausias' pictures were so greatly ad
mired by the Romans that several are known to have
been taken to the imperial capital at a later period.
In contrast to the scientific and technical skill of
the Sikyonian painters there was a group of men,
first at Thebes and later at Athens, — and therefore
sometimes known as the Theban-Attic School, —
who developed a grace of movement, a charm of
manner, and a power of expressing human emotions
that brought their work into the highest repute.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 125
Aristeides and Nikomachos
Aristeides and Nikomachos lived about 360 b.c
Both were masters of skillful and rapid execution.
Pliny says of Aristeides that he was the first painter
to " express the feelings of the human mind, and to
paint the soul " ; and so famous was he in his own
day that of a large picture representing a Battle
with the Persians, containing a hundred figures,
Pliny remarks that for each figure " Mnason, the
tyrant of Elateia, had agreed to pay him ten minae
[#175]. His picture of a dying mother was carried
off by Alexander to his native land." A suppliant,
also, was said to be so touchingly pathetic that even
the tones of his voice seemed audible. His Diony-
sos and Ariadne were taken to Rome. Aristeides
was specially skillful in rendering pathos. It is
said that King Attalos paid one hundred talents
[$100,000] for a single picture by his hand.
Aristeides was the son and pupil of Nikoma
chos, many of whose paintings were carried off to
Rome : a Rape of Persephone, a Victory, Odysseus,
an Apollo and Artemis, and a Scylla. Nikomachos'
rapidity of execution surpassed that of all other artists.
His pupils were a brother, Ariston, Aristeides, and

126 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Philoxenor, whose picture of the battle between
Alexander and Darius was " second to none."
Euphranor and Nikias
Euphranor, the pupil of Aristeides, was one of
the most versatile artists of antiquity. He was
sculptor as well as painter, and worked both at
Corinth and at Athens. The subjects of his art
were historic and political, — a Cavalry Engage
ment, the Twelve Gods, a Theseus, and an Odys
seus feigning Madness. His paintings were bold
and masterly, firm in technique, showing special
skill in portraying human emotion. It is said that
he studied the proportions of the human figure
zealously. Pliny states that he "mastered the the
ory of symmetry." He left treatises on this subject
and on the scientific use of color.
Pausanias writes in his chapter on Attica : " And
the portico built behind has paintings of the so-
called Twelve Gods, and Democracy, Demos, and
Theseus restoring to the Athenians political equality.
Here, too, is painted the action of the Athenians at
Mantineia . . . and in the picture is the cavalry
charge. . . . These paintings were painted for the
Athenians by Euphranor."

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 127
Nikias, the Athenian, pupil of Euphranor, ranks
as one of the most highly esteemed masters of antiq
uity. He was so absorbed in his art that he for
got food and matters of daily comfort. He was
careful as to .the choice of his subjects, saying that
it mattered as; much what one painted as how one
painted: The list' of his works which comes down
to us includes battle pieces and sea combats, many
famous heroes and " white-armed " goddesses, myths
in which gods and heroes figure, and a portrait of
Alexander. He painted large as well as small pictures ; one,
called A Questioner of the Dead, he refused to
sell, preferring to present it, as did Diirer one of
his so many years later, to his own country "as a
token from his hand." Nikias doubtless worked in
encaustic. Several wall paintings at Pompeii and
one at Rome are possibly replicas of his famous
lo.1 Pliny says that he " painted women with minute
care." He took special pains in- the arrangement
of his figures against a background. Many of his
pictures were taken to Rome ; one, a Nemea, was
placed in the Roman Council Chamber, another in
the Temple of Concord.
1 See illustration on next page, from House of Livia, Rome.

Io guarded by Argos
128

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 129
Apelles
Together with these masters in the age of Alex
ander and his successors there are many others of
renown in whom are summed up, if we read these
ancient records aright, the greatness of the past,
with, in addition, a skillful mastery -of technique
which brought the art of painting to an unprece
dented perfection. Among these Apelles is undis
puted leader, the most famous of all painters cele
brated in Greek literature.
Pliny says that he was unsurpassed, that " he of
himself perhaps contributed more to painting than
all the others together." From Ephesus, where he
was born in the twelfth Olympiad, 332-329 B.C.,
he went to Sikyon to complete his studies under
Pamphilos and to acquire the thorough training
in technique for which that school was renowned.
His reputation soon brought him* to the notice of
Philip of Macedon, who invited him to his capital.
Lysippos, the sculptor, was already there. Apelles
thus early became the friend of the young Alexan
der, who, when he became ruler, made him court
painter. His mission therefore was the frequent
painting of the king's portrait and the illustrating

130 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of his warlike deeds. One famous portrait adorned
the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Alexander's
outstretched hand held the thunderbolt of Zeus, and
the illusion was enhanced by the fact that the face
was in shadow. Alexander paid a large sum for
this work and used to say that there were two
Alexanders, — one invincible, the son of Philip, and
one immutable, the work of Apelles.
Apelles also painted the portraits of many of
Alexander's generals, as well as the court ladies
whose beauty is renowned in song. He was origin
nal in his methods for forcing the brilliancy of his
pictures, using, it is said, a kind of thin black glaz
ing which subdued and at the same time height
ened the effect by unifying the whole into a somber
richness, — a method which modern painters some
times employ.
To his later life belong his mythological paint
ings. One of the most famous, Calumny, has been
minutely described by Lucian, and so great was its
fame that later painters of various nationalities have
tried to reproduce it from his description. Diirer
used the subject for a decoration, but Botticelli's
Calumny in the Uffizi, Florence, is the best known.
Apelles' painting, Aphrodite emerging from the Sea,

Detail from Calumny
By Botticelli !3i

132 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
is perhaps equally famous. This picture was carried
to Rome by Augustus and its praise was sung by
many poets. Botticelli painted this subject also in
his well-known picture in the Uffizi.
Apelles' skill lay largely in his wonderful touch
which gave to grace of line and subtle movement of
form the added charm of personal style. For that
reason he is sometimes called the Raphael of antiq
uity, winning popularity largely by this ease of man
ner which always compels popular applause. In por
traiture these qualities made him especially famous.
Personally, too, Apelles was a general favorite.
Generous to his friends, he was eager for their suc
cess, — if we are to believe all that is told us, — as in
the story of his friendship for Protogenes, whose
pictures he bought at a high price in order to show
his appreciation of their superior excellence. If we
regard Pliny's words, Apelles had that rare gift of
knowing when to leave his painting ; in other words,
he was able, unlike many modern painters, to stop
before the charm and freshness of his first touch
had vanished through the introduction of too great
detail. Comparing his work with that of Protogenes,
whose style was elaborate and labored, suggesting

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 133
by its technique the effort which he expended upon
it, he said that "though Protogenes was his equal
or even his superior in everything, he yet sur
passed that painter in one point, namely, in know
ing when to take his hand from his picture." His
candor was equal to his genius. He frankly
acknowledged the superiority of Melanthios in the
distribution of figures, and that of Asklepiodoros
in perspective arrangement, — that is, in giving
the accurate distances between different objects.
It was in that quality, which the Greeks called
Xapis, that he excelled.
Protogenes and Antiphilos
Following Apelles was Protogenes from Rhodes,
who is famed for his extreme devotion to his art,
living simply and working under great difficulties
of poverty, achieving his results through sheer
persistence. He painted a portrait of the mother
of Aristotle, the philosopher. Protogenes was also
a worker in bronze.
Antiphilos, who worked at Alexandria, Theon of
Samos, Aetion whose Marriage of Alexander with
Roxane is carefully described by Lucian, and Helena,
the daughter of an Egyptian, are a few of the

134

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

followers of Protogenes. The Battle of Issos, prob
ably by Helena, is one of the best known of all
ancient pictures, from its mosaic reproduction in
Pompeii, which is now in the Naples Museum.
Women, too, held a place of no mean importance.
A few of their names with some of their best known

Detail from Battle of Issos
Pompeian Mosaic
works, have come down to us through Pliny : " Tima-
rete, the daughter of Mikon, painted an Artemis at
Ephesus, in a picture of very archaic style. Eirene,
the daughter and pupil of the painter Kratinos,
painted a maiden of Eleusis. Kalypso painted

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 135
portraits of an old man, of the juggler Theodoros, and
of the dancer Alkisthenes. Aristarte, the daughter
and pupil of Nearchos, painted an Asklepios. Iaia,
of Kyzikos, who remained single all her life, worked
at Rome in the youth of Marcus Varro, both with
the brush and with the cestrum on ivory. She

¦ m-)

MlM'0P':( ¦¦ ^ \; ^^ \s

Detail from Battle of Issos
Pompeian Mosaic
painted chiefly portraits of women, and also a large
picture of an old woman at Naples and a portrait
of herself, executed with the help of a mirror. No
artist worked more rapidly than she did, and her
pictures had such merit that they sold for higher
136 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
prices than those of Sopolis and Dionysios, well-
known contemporary painters, ' whose works fill our
galleries.' Olympias was also a painter ; of her we
only know that 'Aristoboulos was her pupil.'"
Decline of Greek Painting
With the decline of Greek culture, painting also
lost its distinguishing qualities, and the art assumed
a decorative character in which landscape, as applied
to wall decoration, attained a more important place.
There are still painters, but they are painters of
lesser rank, well skilled in technique but lacking
the larger conception of earlier work. Their sub
jects are chiefly scenes from everyday life or deco
rative landscape motives in which birds and animal
forms are introduced.
Among them are Nikophanes, who possessed a
certain delicate charm ; Peira'fkos, who was a painter
of common events ; Studios, whose art was decora
tive in character, and who covered walls of private
houses with his delightful scenes of harbors, gardens,
groves, villas, and woods, in cheerful confusion and
charming vagaries of style. These and others carry
on the tradition but without adding any new glory or
even upholding the high standard of the past.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEK PAINTING 137
Although these later painters worked in Rome,
some being of Greek, some of Roman birth, it is
not until about A.u.c. 450 that we know of a painter
of Roman birth, — Fabius Pictor by name. Others
there were, no doubt, but only one, Ludius, seems to
receive the special approbation of Pliny, who says
of him that he who " lived in the age of the divine
Augustus must not be cheated of his fame." Ludius
is to us especially interesting because we can judge
of his probable handiwork from remains actually in
existence, — a wall painting1 in Prima Parta, Rome.
From this time on there are no names nor impor
tant paintings in the late Roman Empire. Creative
art had done its work and, although many artisans
and craftsmen carried on the traditions of earlier
and more inventive days, their application found
outlet chiefly in decorative and industrial modes of
expression, which can be linked with no individual
names.
1 See Chapter V, page 312. For color reproduction see Antike Denk
maler, Band I, Erstes Heft, Tafel 2.

CHAPTER II
VASE PAINTING IN GREECE AND SOUTHERN
ITALY
The making and painting of the vase the work of craftsmen —
Common use of the vase — Styles and subjects of decoration — The
gods : Zeus, Hera, Athena, Herakles, Apollo — Life of the people,
their occupations, training in athletic sports — The deeds of heroes :
Achilles, Odysseus — Prehistoric ware from Hissarlik (Troy), Rhodes,
and southern Italy — Pre-Homeric ware from Mykenae, later known
as the Geometric, and that found at Athens known as the Dipylon —
Style and subjects of decoration of Dipylon — Oriental influences
shown at Rhodes, Melos, and Cyprus — Corinthian ware — Naukratis
— Athenian ware — Early Attic ware — Black-figured ware, early
and later styles — Treatment of human figure — Severe type of red-
figured ware — Epictetos and Euphronos — Fine style — Orpheus
vase — Ware from Nola in Campania — Variety of style and work
manship in Athenian ware — Athenian lekythoi — Apulian ware —
Campanian ware — Importance of Greek vases to the archaeologist.
Thus far we have considered only the first of our
two sources of knowledge, — that which literature
contributes. Of the second source, — the actual
remains of the work of the painter, — Greek vases,
mosaics, and wall paintings (the latter found chiefly
in lower Italy) furnish us with the most interesting
visual proof of the Greek painters' art.
138

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

139

Excavations during recent years have brought to
light great numbers of vases both in Greece and
Italy; for, according to burial customs, these were
laid in the tombs of the dead and thus have escaped
destruction
from fire, pil
lage, and the
treasure collec
tor. Although
these vases do
not represent
the highest
type of paint
ing but, with
few exceptions,
rather the ordi
nary decorative
industry executed by craftsmen of average ability,
yet they show in chronological order the develop
ment of an art which held an important place in the
life of the people, and they throw valuable light
on the general subject of painting, as well as upon
the customs, ceremonies, habits, occupations, and
beliefs of the Greeks. For this reason, as well as for
their inherent beauty, they fill an important place.

Greek Vase Painter at Work.

140

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

The Greek Vase
The Greek vase was a common article of daily
use. From earliest times, from the beginning of
history, the art of making pots, jars, cups, and vases
was not an evidence of extraordinary skill but the
simple outcome of effort applied to a necessary end.
By degrees other
elements than mere
utility found their
place and, as skill
increased, beauty of
form and propor
tion became ends in
themselves. With
the perfecting of
the form the deco
ration of the vase
came in turn to receive equal attention, and
both potter and painter worked together in har
mony, until finally the perfect vase reached that
extraordinary standard of perfection that ranks it
as a model for all time. The style of these deco
rations varies from the simplest geometrical pat
terns of the early Dipylon ware to the elaborate

Archaic Vase : Warriors

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 141
and carefully planned compositions of the best
period of the red-figured vase. Almost every sub
ject is represented; and as vases were inexpensive
enough to be found in every home, so popular
subjects were those most commonly represented, —
the myths of the gods, stories of adventure, love
and prowess of heroes, the daily happenings, the
common occupations of a primitive life. By the
aid of these pictures we are enabled to gather a
vast amount of information which brings us in
close touch with the Greeks as a people, and with
the individual experiences of men and women who
lived, acted out their life, and died twenty-five hun
dred or more years ago.
Huddilston writes: "Thousands of vase paint
ings recount the dealings of the gods with men
and the happenings of the epic time, when, as the
poets would have us believe, human affairs were
specially directed by heaven. . . . The religious
teachings conveyed by these paintings is exceed
ingly important. . . . Although the humble pot
ters are not to be compared with the masters in
painting and sculpture, in fixing the ideals of the
gods, they must still be accorded the distinction
of having reenforced the greater artists, and of

142

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

having had a large part in spreading abroad the
truth that the gods do shape human destiny and
mete out punishment to impious mortals."
Subjects of Vase Decoration : the Gods
Some vase paintings show us the gods assembled
in sacred conclave, Zeus presiding ; others, battles
between the gods
and the giants, in
which each con
tended for su
premacy with
superb display
of muscle and
sinew; or again,
Zeus hurls his
thunderbolts
against some
Herakles and the Nemean Lion defiant form, or
Athena and Hera attend while Herakles performs
his marvelous feats of strength. We thus become
easily familiar with the Olympian deities, with Zeus,
Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Herakles, Apollo, Arte
mis, and follow with fascinated interest the story
of their personal and private adventures.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 143
It is extremely interesting also to note how the
type changes as the skill grows, until after the
time of Pheidias an elegance and grace manifest
themselves in the character of the composition and
the management of line that brings the work of the
greater potters — Duris, Brygos, Euphronios, Hieron

Herakles and Atlas
— to a plane quite in keeping with the perfection of
the greater arts of architecture and sculpture.
The story of Herakles, whose various trials of
strength every schoolboy knows, is shown in every
detail by innumerable illustrations. Here we see
him in actual combat with the Nemean lion,1 or
1 Theocritus, Idyl XXV.

&

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 145
slaying the hundred-headed Hydra, or capturing
the Cretan bull and the Erymanthian boar. Apollo,
too, is a favorite hero; there are endless repre
sentations which show him in every familiar act,
— as sun god, whose locks shed abroad a radiance
divine; as musician, holding in his hands the lyre ;

The Birth of Athena
as herdsman, as lover of the' beautiful Daphne, and
as god of the sacred Delphic mysteries.
The adventures of Zeus and his constant inter
ference in human affairs; the birth of Athena, her
frequent presence in times of stress, her character
as presiding goddess and patron saint of Athens, —
these and many other scenes make up a most

146 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
interesting series of events and personages. On a
famous vase at St. Petersburg is depicted the con
test between Athena and Poseidon, — the subject
which formed the decoration of the west pediment
of the Parthenon. Undoubtedly the vase painting

Attic School
By Duris
was inspired by the sculptured work; there is even
a small sketch of a temple at one side which prob
ably is intended to suggest the Parthenon.
Subjects of Greek Life
But it is not the doings of the gods which
most attract our interest. Pictures which give
an insight into Greek life, telling how the people
lived, walked, ate and drank, entertained and amused
themselves ; which reveal their customs of worship,
of burial, of ceremonial feasts, of sacred rites, —
these take us into their confidence in a familiar

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

147

and intimate way that charms us most. We note
the varied shapes of the couches, cushions, and
coverlets ; the tables, chests, altars, sacred and con
vivial vessels, utensils, and baskets. We can almost
reconstruct the color and material of their garments,
so well do we know
their style and pat
tern of decoration.
We certainly can
have no doubt as
to their modes of
headdress, their coif
fures, sandals, and
jewelry, their arms,
weapons, and imple
ments Shoemaker at Work
Valuable, too, is the light thrown by vase paint
ing upon their occupations: weaving, spinning,
grinding the grain, washing, dyeing ; and the lighter
amusements of playing upon musical instruments,
— the lyre, harp, flute, and pipes, — and of dancing.
While for out-of-door occupations, plowing, sowing,
reaping, gathering of fruits, pressing the oil, fish
ing, blacksmithing, and shoemaking, pictures tell us
far more plainly than words the ancient methods

148

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Escape from the Cave of
Polyfhemos by Odysseus
and his Companions

of performance, many of which are still in use in
Greece at the present time, practically unchanged.
Perhaps the
greatest inter
est centers
upon the vari
ous modes of
training that
made up the
education of
all the Greek
youth. "After the sixth year Athenian boys were
intrusted to the care of pedagogues, whose busi
ness it was to attend them to and from school and
the gymnasia. These
staid individuals faith
fully attended their
charges even in the
schoolroom. . . . Greek
education, embracing
language, music, and
gymnastics, was a'
source from which the
artist was always free
to draw."

Athletes

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

149

Many vase paintings show the various athletic
contests, — discus throwing, spear throwing, jump
ing, boxing, wrestling, racing, preparations for the
games, dressing, undressing, rubbing with the oil,
scraping, and bathing. "One of the most interest
ing bits of testimony af
forded by the paintings is
that many of the events
were accompanied by
music ; casting the discus
and spear, and jumping
.were at times doiie to the
music of the flute. Even
here the time element
was never omitted; for
the sense of rhythm and
graceful movement possessed the Greeks as no other
people. . . . Homer delights to introduce us to this
musical feature in the games, and the artists have
often helped us to appreciate such scenes and to
realize more fully the perfect sense of harmony that
filled the lives of the Hellenes." x The study of
music as an art was also a favorite subject of vase
painting.2
1 Lessons from Greek Pottery, by John Homer Huddilston, A.B., Ph.D.
2 See Gerard's L'Education Athenienne, p. 165 ff.

Youth playing Flute
Style of Brygos

i5o

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Homeric Subjects
In the subjects of the Odyssey and the Iliad vase
painters found a field of the utmost attraction. The
adventures of Odysseus, his long wanderings, his
exciting experiences, were their never-ending source
of inspiration. The escape of Odysseus and his

Odysseus and the Sirens
friends from the cave of Polyphemos, and the other
adventures connected with this event, were affairs
of special interest, most amusingly and graphically
illustrated on a large number of vases.
As for Achilles, his wrath, his loss of Briseis, his
grief at the death of Patroklos, and the many inci
dents connected with his career, — these are recorded

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

151

again and again on many vases with a degree of
vigor and lively enthusiasm that shows us how
dear to the Greek heart was this hero of gods
and men. Prehistoric Ware
The earliest prehistoric ware belonging to the
pre-Homeric period can be divided into two groups :
that which has been found
at Hissarlik(Troy),Thera
(Santorin), Rhodes, and
the earliest vases from
Cyprus; and that which
is called Mykenaean or \ ^^MS^A^-tfLH-i ! JPr3*l
JEgean ware, — so called
because first discovered
at Mykense, Tiryns, and
... . Odysseus announcing to
vicinity, but specimens of Achilles that he is come
TO TAKE AWAY BRISEIS

Style of Brygos

which have been found
more recently even in
Egypt, — and the Geometric, also known at Athens
as the Dipylon.
The vases found at Hissarlik are extremely
simple in shape, merely spherical with mouth and
handles added ; they sometimes rudely resemble
the human form. They are handmade, and if

152

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

decorated, are only bordered with linear patterns
scratched in the clay. At Cyprus this type shows
more intricate designs, the incision often being filled
with white to emphasize the pattern. The color
is either red or black. On the island of Thera a
few vases have been found in graves. Special
interest at
taches to these
as we know
that they were
buried by the
A Naval Fight eruption of a
volcano which occurred between two thousand and
eighteen hundred years before Christ ; thus the date
is undoubted. They are varied in shape, made of
common pale clay, and decorated with red, brown, and
black motives derived from animal and plant forms.
At Rhodes forty-three vases were discovered and
with them a scarab bearing the cartouch of Amen-
hotep III, who lived during the sixteenth century
before Christ. They are fine in workmanship, glazed,
and decorated with marine animals and plants.
In southern Italy, on the shores of the Alban
Lake, and on the Esquiline, Rome, specimens have
been found similar in style, form, and general

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 153
characteristics to those just described. These were
no doubt made by the ancestors of the Romans in
prehistoric times. Some were discovered in graves
buried under three eruptions of Monte Albano.
The style is coarse ; they are of red clay, hand
made, and imperfectly glazed. These are probably
the most ancient examples of keramic art found in
Italy. The Mykenaean pottery found by Dr. Schliemann
in his excavations at Mykense and at Tiryns reached
its highest state of development about 1250 b.c
It is therefore pre-Homeric and of earlier date than
the Dorian invasion. There seem to be two kinds
of ware coincident with an earlier and a later date.
The earlier is of a fine reddish clay, highly polished,
with decorations in violet, red, or white, painted,
not incised; the later group is much more refined,
showing a higher standard of civilization. The
clay is fine, carefully purified from all dross, of a
greenish-yellow or rose-pink color, and decorated
with bright red running down to neutral orange
tones and black. The designs are mainly of lines,
wavy, circular, and spiral, with animal and vegetable
motives added. The whole is finished in a rich
lustrous glaze.

154 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Dipylon Ware
A later prehistoric style is known as the geo
metric. That made in Athens is called the Dipy
lon1 ware from the fact that it was found in great
numbers near the Dipylon Gate, beyond which lay
the chief burial place of the city. The color of
the clay is pinkish, and the decorative bands of geo
metric patterns, zigzags, dots, triangles, concentric
circles and spirals are of brown. Sometimes scenes
from everyday life or animals and primitive forms
fill the open spaces of the bands. The decoration
corresponds in character to those early dolls or
images of the gods which have been found in
graves from Cos, Rhodes, and Crete. This ware,
manufactured chiefly at Athens, belongs to about
iooo b.c. and lasted for several centuries.
" The Dipylon vases are not, indeed, in their simpler examples,
essentially different from geometrical vases found elsewhere on
the Greek mainland and the yEgean Islands. . . . The most
characteristic features of the Attic or Dipylon variety of the geo
metrical vases are the following : their form is usually either nar
row and very high, especially in the neck, or else of a squat,
1 Die Dipylonvasen, in Jahrbuch des Archaologischen Instituts, 1886,
pp. 95 ff. ; also A New Vase of the Dipylon Class, by A. S. Murray, in The
Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIX, 1899.

Decorations from a Dipylon Vase

156 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
cylindrical shape, usually with a flat lid and handles modeled
in the form of horses ; they are frequently of enormous size,
especially those intended to be set up as monuments over tombs.
... It is, however, the subjects represented on the Dipylon
vases that give them their chief interest. Men and horses are
frequently figured, both in a conventional geometrical style of
drawing that unduly elongates the limbs and makes the Waist
unnaturally slim; the upper part of the human body is usually
a mere triangle, except when it is covered by a Boeotian shield ;
the head is almost birdlike in form.
"The scenes are for the most part appropriate to the desti
nation of the vases ; funeral processions are a favorite subject,
and are worked out with an amount of detail which seems almost
inconsistent with the primitive nature of the drawing. We some
times see the corpse resting on a hearse which is mounted on
wheels and overshadowed by a gorgeous canopy. Around and
beneath it are mourners, men and women, with their hands to
their heads in the conventional attitude, of grief. The cortege is
accompanied by numerous chariots, and another frieze often con
tains a band of chariots only, which may be an allusion to the
chariot races which usually formed a part of funeral games. . . .
These vases show us some of the most extensive representations
of scenes from actual life that are known to us in Greek art;
mythological Scenes are unusual upon Dipylon vases. Thus, so far
as the choice of subject is concerned; the Dipylon vase is in the
same stage of development that we see in the Homeric descrip
tion of the shield of Achilles." 1
1 Ancient Athens, by Ernest A. Gardner, published by The Macmillan
Company, 1902.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 157
Although the geometric vases were largely associ
ated with Athens they have been, found in many
other places in Greece, and in Cyprus and other
islands of the Mediterranean. In the Greek cities
of southern Italy the same style was developed with
various modifications. Vases of the Homeric Period
Corresponding to this Homeric period and later,
the style of decoration changes and shows, par
ticularly at Rhodes in the eighth and seventh
centuries before Christ, distinct- oriental influences*
by the introduction of sphinxes,, griffins, and other
hybrid creatures similar to those found on Assyrio-
Babylonian ware. The human figure when intro
duced is decorative in its treatment. It is interesting
to note that the later examples show by inscriptions
upon them that the Greek alphabet was already
in use.
Melian ware, found on the island of Melos, em
ployed the human figure as well as the forms of
animals in its decoration. The drawing is merely
in outline upon the natural color of the vase. The
subjects are taken from Greek mythology, but are
treated in an oriental manner.

158

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

It is at Cyprus, however, that the greatest activity
in keramics can be traced. The situation of the
island, in the eastern end of the Mediterranean,
made it peculiarly open to the influences of the
Orient. The island was originally a Phoenician
settlement to which the Greeks came for coloniza-
illlllllillllllillU'MlllillJIHHIillllMIHl ~*on' according
to Perrot, in the
tenth or ninth
century before
Christ. There
are a few early
Cyprian types
of pottery which
even precede the
Greek coloniza
tion. One is
somewhat sim
ilar to the style found at Hissarlik (Troy), — a red
or black ware decorated with zigzags and geometric
patterns ; another is contemporary with Mykenaean
ware, — a pale yellow with lines in neutral orange
and red. The usual type- of vase, however, was
pale yellow decorated with grotesque animal forms
or with concentric circles. Their shapes were as

.<Eneas carrying Anchises

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

159

grotesque as their decorations, — flat, spherical, oval,
or jug-shaped; they belong to about one thousand
to six hundred years before Christ.

Corinthian Ware
With the Corinthian1 ware we come down to the
period of known history, to the seventh and sixth

Achilles and Neoptolemos
centuries. Its peculiarity is the oriental character
of its decoration. It was undoubtedly produced at
1 The clay of Corinth contained only a small portion of oxide of iron
compared with aluminum, and the Corinthian vases are therefore pale in
color and have a powdery surface ; while the clay found in the territory of
Tanagra in Boeotia, the neighboring state to Attica, and in Attica itself,
contained more oxide of iron and was esteemed for its warm color, which
was so greatly admired that the potters frequently added even more of that
ingredient.

i6o

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

or near Corinth, although examples are found in
various parts of Greece, in Sicily, and in Italy, to
which it was exported. The characteristics of this
Corinthian ware are distinctly individual. Its color
is pale greenish yellow, decorated in black silhouette
with bands of figures, usually animals, — griffins,

Eos, the Dawn, pursuing
Tithonos

Youth keeping Time ;
Maiden dancing

Style of Brygos Style of Brygos
sphinxes, birds, — and, in the later vases, human
figures grouped to portray mythological scenes.
Certain colors of red and violet are used with the
black, and the details of the figures are sharply
emphasized by lines cut into the clay. In the
spaces unoccupied by figures, rosettes, stars, flower
forms, and circles are used which give the band a
solid decorative effect.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

1-6 1

Naukratis, a Greek colony. in lower Egypt, pro-.
duced a peculiarly delicate white ware, on which
the decorations are painted in neutral orange and
yellow. The Cyrene pottery is similarly white, .dec
orated in black and red, with bands of geometric
ornament ; and plant motives ; wine bowls — the

The Ghost of Patroklos hovering over
the Greek Fleet
kylix — are frequent forms, decorated with mytho
logical scenes, convivial feasts, or subjects appro
priate to the festival. Attic Ware
Previous to the sixth century before Christ, Athens,
probably on account of her commercial importance,
— situated, as .she was midway between the .East

l62

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

and the West, between the islands of the ^Egean
and the shores of southern Italy, — shows strongly
the influence of other styles of ware upon her
own. From these styles she appropriated the best,
gradually learn
ing to perfect
her form and
to eliminate all
that was less
desirable both
in shape and in
decoration. By
the second half
of the sixth
century before
Christ a digni
fied simplicity
Francois Vase — Etruscan Qf style had
become the standard, while sober black and red
alone were used to give richness of effect to the
decoration, — an effect which depended in a great
measure upon the skill and vigorous handling of
the draughtsman. Fine examples of this ware are
found in widespread localities, — on the shores of
the Black Sea and in Etruscan cemeteries.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 163
Of the earlier Attic vases which show Corin
thian influence some are exceedingly interesting
on account of the mythological subjects which fig
ure largely in their decoration. One of the finest
examples of this early Attic ware is the Francois
vase in the Archaeological Museum of Florence.
It is covered by five horizontal bands of decoration,
— single figures arid boar, centaurs and horses,
horsemen and chariots, horseman and standing
figures, and winged griffins and ornaments. The
main bands represent mythological subjects, the
chief scene being the marriage of Thetis, the sea
goddess, with Peleus. The vase is signed by both
potter Klitias and painter Ergotimos, and belongs
to about 500 b.c Black-Figured Style
Of the later more improved type which lasted
for nearly two hundred years there are two styles,
both called the black-figured ware.1 At first the
body of the vase was left red, the decorations being
added in black, in bands or spots of ornament
or groups of figures. Following closely upon this
1 Some Black-Figured Vases, by H. B. Walters, in The Journal of
Hellenic Studies, Vol. XVIII, 1898; and Notes on Amasis and Ionic Black-
Figured Pottery, by G. F. Hill, in same journal, Vol. XIX, 1899.

1 64 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
method was the opposite style in which the body
of the vase was painted black, the figures or orna
mental designs being painted black against a band
of red, which had been left for the purpose of dec
oration. In point of technical finish most of these black-
figured vases are fine examples of the craftsman's
art. The glaze is very rich, lustrous, producing an
effect splendid in its simplicity and reserved dignity.
Over the natural warm color of the clay a rich
reddish color is added, which, in contrast to the bril
liant black varnish, produces an effect of subdued
richness extremely pleasing. The figures are out
lined, with a sharp tool which cuts a slight groove.
The folds of the garments are similarly though less
deeply cut. The colors of white and dark red are
often added.
A curious method of discrimination in the treat
ment of the human figure is observed. The eyes
of the women are long and almond shaped; those
of the men are round. The flesh of the women is
white, while that of the men is black. These decora
tive compositions are often full of life and movement,
expressive of vigorous action. They are well drawn,
indeed often they are remarkably fine in proportion

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 165
and action, with well-managed groups in which
foreshortened effects are depicted with great skill.
The pictures usually -relate to mythological sub
jects in which the gods and goddesses, particularly
Athena, figure prominently. They represent as well

The Marriage of Zeus and Hera
almost every phase of Greek life, from the celebra
tion of the festivals of the gods to the sports and
games and occupations of everyday life.
Red-Figured Style
Contemporary with this style and following it
we find the reverse treatment, in which the entire
background is black, leaving the figures alone red.
With this red-figured ware the potter's art reached
its highest point of development. Vases of this
character show by their varied workmanship, both

1 66

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

in drawing and composition, that they covered a
long period of time, reaching from the simplest and
crudest archaic designs, called the severe type, to
the most per
fect examples
of potter's and
painter's work.
In the severe
type the sub
jects relate to
every kind of
occupation, to
games, races,
feasts, house
hold activities,
and the sim
ple ordinary
events of the
daily life. The
names of Epik-
tetos and Euphronios sometimes occur on these
vases, but there were many masters of great ex
cellence. About the middle of the fifth century before Christ
a decided change appears in this red-figured ware.

Sacrifice to Dionysos
Amphora, severe style

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 167
The stiff archaic forms of the severe style disap
pear and a fuller, rounder, more dignified character
of decoration takes its place. Some strong influence
evidently affected the potter's craft. Dummler, a
German scholar, attributes this change to the great
painter, Polygnotos, who came to Athens about this

Scene from a Pottery : Painting the Vase
time, and whose large, noble style, idealistic tend
encies, and strong ethical qualities made a deep
impression upon the painters who were there.
From that time this fine style assumes a first
rank, — a place which it holds until the decline
of Greek art.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has a particu
larly fine example of this ware in the Orpheus vase.
Orpheus, still mourning the loss of Eurydike, cares

1 68 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
not for the charms of other Thrakian women, who
therefore put him to death. The tragic story is told
with a reserve and simplicity which indicate a mas
ter's hand. The faces are beautiful, the attitudes
full of movement but not violence, and the whole
is admirably composed. The calmness of those
who are about to commit a violent deed is quite
consistent with the Greek idea of an unemotional
art. It is sculpturesque in treatment and reminds
one of the pediment group from the Temple of
Zeus at Olympia, in which the faces of the resist
ing women express no anguish nor even violent
effort, although their attitudes are full of active
opposition. One variety of this red-figured style has been
found in large numbers in the graves at Nola, in
Campania, Italy. These amphorae were probably
wrought in some pottery in Athens, which made
a specialty of a certain slender type. A single
figure, either a youth or maiden, usually decorates
one side; opposite is often a group of two, whose
forms are wrought in delicate lines expressive of
a master's individual touch. These slender figures
accentuate the long sinuous curves of the vase.
A brilliant black glaze covers the surface.

tekW®#

Detail of Decoration from the Orpheus Vase

170 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
These vases are varied both as to style and
character of workmanship. Some of the subjects
are much more carefully drawn than others. This
care, particularly in details, increased in later times
and became, during the age of Perikles, a means of
changing the character to a large extent from the

The Slaying of Aigisthos
noble, dignified style of Euphronios to a finer, more
complicated manner of expression. When not car
ried to excess this delicacy has often a fascinating
charm. The hair is no longer treated in broad
masses but is broken into smaller waves. The lines
of the drapery, which are drawn with great nicety
of finish, reveal the delicate, tremulous touch of the
hand in an appealing, personal way, full of charm.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE

171

Lekythoi
In the second half of the fifth century before Christ
a special kind of Athenian vase is found in which
several colors were applied to
a white ground. The white
color was added to the vase
after firing and its surface was
smoothly polished. Upon this
surface the pictures were drawn
and various colors — red, yel
low, blue, violet, a neutral
orange, and sometimes green
— were added to complete the
effect. The colors were bright,
but so delicate that, unless the
vase were glazed, they quickly
disappear upon exposure to
the air.
These Athenian lekythoi 1
were used chiefly for burial
purposes. The subjects of
their decoration were usually scenes from the under
world. Both workmanship and color remind one
1 See Some Early Funereal Lekythoi, by R. C Bosanquet, in The Jour
nal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIX, 1899.

Lekythos

172

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

of the figurines 1 from Tanagra, which at this" time
and later were popular throughout Greece.
One writer, who was deeply impressed with the
splendid collection of vases, and of lekythoi in par-

«ps

Three Women mourning beside a Dead Youth
From an Athenian lekythos
ticular, in the National Museum at Athens, says:
" These white lekythoi are. the most beautiful prod
ucts of the keramic art, and belong exclusively to
Attic art, although -some of them have been found
at Eretria. They, date from the middle of the fifth
1 See page 241.

VASE. PAINTING IN GREECE

173

to the middle of the third century before Christ.
The drawing on these vases is delicate yet free,
with a pure, almost severe outline, to the figures;
and these slight tints of pink and blue are laid
on creamy white ground, and are lovely because
moderate in tone and touched so lightly.

 ~-r^-~r

Three Figures at a Tomb
From an Athenian lekythos .
" Their form is simple, limited, and precise, but
of exquisite elegance. The neck and foot of the
vase are covered with black varnish, and the con
trast of black and white is _ most pleasing. They
are exclusively sepulchral vessels with a religious
symbolism, the paintings representing : first, a kind

174 ' THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of funerary cult, as in the offering made to a stele
where a maiden holds a basket of flowers before
a monument ; second, the exposition of the dead ;
third, the deposition in the tomb ; fourth, the descent
to Hades, with the boat of Charon and other scenery
of the world of shades.
"There is a scene upon a funeral vase of the
deposition of the dead, where Thanatos, angel of
death, with wings (we get our winged angels from
Greek art), is laying down the body of a young
girl in the grave, reverently and softly, the draw
ing simple and clear, done rapidly with firm hand
and pointed stylus. . . . One noble picture I
remember is that of a young warrior in full armor
offering his shield at the stele of a companion in
arms, his form and face manly, and the action full
of modest and earnest reverence.
" There is variety in these scenes and groups, but
all is kept down by severe taste, and evidently the
best artistic talent is made use of, so that Greek
drawing shows as much skill, grace, and aesthetic
sentiment as Greek sculpture or Greek architecture.
" There is another scene of deposition in which
two angels are engaged in depositing carefully and
tenderly the body of a maiden in a tomb, while

Young Warrior being laid in a Tomb by Death and Sleep

176 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Hermes, the god who conducts spirits to the lower
world, stands silently by as a witness.
"Some of these vases are of larger size, truly
superb objects, and, to my eye, they are the most-
lovely products of Greek genius, pure and deli
cate exhalations of art, blending the highest per
fection of form with the subtlest feeling; and they
show the Greeks to have been a refined people
who, though with a strong tendency to the sensu
ous, had thoughts of elevated purity and purified
affection."1 " Apulian and Campanian Ware
After the time of Alexander vase painting in
Greece ceased to create new products, but in lower
Italy, especially in Apulia, there developed what is
known as the rich style. The size of these vases
is imposing and the ornamentation most elaborate.
The figures are arranged in rows or grouped on
either side of a central pillar, giving an impression
of splendor and gayety. The subjects are usually
connected with temple worship or ceremonials for
the dead, in which many figures play a varied part.
Sometimes inscriptions and names explain the
1 Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin.

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 177
characters and subjects. Bright colors — yellow,
blue, and crimson — are used and great freedom of
fancy is shown.
The Campanian vases from Nola, Capua, and
Cumae are similar, but still brighter in color,
crowded with figures and ornaments. They show
some Greek influence but are an individual type ;
the finest examples are to be found in the Naples
Museum. By the latter half of the third century before Christ,
when Greece came under the power of Rome, even
the manufacture of these had ceased, and the potters'
craft both in Greece and Italy lost its vitality and
became, like the finer arts of painting and sculpture,
a thing of the past.
Outside of Athens, whose National Archaeologi
cal Museum contains the largest collection as well
as the finest examples of Greek vases, the museums
of Naples, Rome, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Paris,
London, Cambridge, and Oxford all have notable
collections. In America there are a number of fine
examples to be found in private galleries and in
the collections of various universities and colleges.
Most of the museums of our larger cities have a
fairly representative number. The Metropolitan

178 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Museum of New York has on exhibition about
one hundred and fifty vases, exclusive of the
splendid Cesnola collection from Cyprus. The
former represent the various styles and periods
from earlier to later dates and include some rare
examples. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is
fortunate in having a collection that compares
favorably with those of foreign cities both in num
ber and quality. Importance of Vase Painting
It is significant to note the high value which a
modern writer upon archaeology places upon Greek
vase painting. He says: "It is interesting to find
among the dedications discovered on the Akropolis
during the excavations in 1884- 1885 several by the
great Athenian potters of the end of the sixth century
before Christ, — Andokides, Euphronios, and others.
It is a fresh proof of the wealth of these potters and
the consideration which they enjoyed. Many beau
tiful fragments of vases bearing the names of Eu
phronios, Hieron, Skythes, and other vase painters
have also been recovered, and these, though in
themselves of no very great importance, have given
us evidence long looked for as to the date and source

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 179
of the beautiful black-figured and the early red-
figured vases which now form so prominent a part
of the treasures of the great museums of Europe.

Death of Memnon
" There is no class of ancient monuments which
has risen so rapidly of late years in the estimation
of archaeologists. The students who take the pains
to understand Greek vases soon discover not only
that their art is, within the limits which it studiously
observes, most admirable, but also that they carry
with them more of the flavor of ancient life than

180 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
even sculpture or coins. They not only give us
abundant information as to the beliefs, the cults,
and the customs of Greece, but they put us at once,
if only they have escaped restoration in modern
Italian workshops, on terms of friendship with the
potter who molded and the painter who decorated
them. " Clay with its marvelous durability preserves for
us not only the ultimate design of the worker but
his first sketch, his second thoughts, his mistakes
and carelessness, his happy inspirations, and the
obstacles which interfered with their realization.
A vase bears the same relation to a sculptured relief
that a diary bears to a formal historical treatise.
It is more local, temporal, personal.
" At the same time vases are among our most
serious documents in matters of mythology and
mythography. Every year they are used more
and more for comparison with the plots of the
tragedies of ^Eschylos and Euripides and the
lyric tales of Pindar. Writers now apply the test
of vases, as they are perfectly justified in doing, in
order to determine the comparative antiquity of
various versions of Attic myths and their popu
larity among the people. ... In contact with the

VASE PAINTING IN GREECE 181
actual works of the Attic potters the conventional
compositions of the Alexandrian mythologists fall
to pieces, and we have in' their place myths living

Aphrodite riding on a Flying Swan
Showing faint traces of the first sketch by the artist
and growing, crossing and recrossing, springing
from the heart of the people and finding expres
sion in their customs."1
1 New Chapters in Greek History, by Percy Gardner.

CHAPTER III
COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE AND
SCULPTURE
Use of color upon Greek temples — ^Egina, Athens, Sicily, south
ern Italy, Pactum — Color upon Doric and Ionic orders — Olympic
temples and sculpture — Temple of Zeus, Olympia — Temple of
Theseus, Athens — Athenian love of color in dress — Its natural
application to architecture — Color upon the Parthenon — The Pro
pylaia — Color applied to sarcophagi — Alexander sarcophagus from
Sidon — Colors employed — Realism — Expression — Lion hunt —
Archer, nude runner, Alexander — Brilliant effect — Color as applied
to sculpture of early images and reliefs — Colors used — Votive
statues found on Akropolis in excavations of 1885 — Color on these
statues — Their significance — Style of costume — Relation to vase
^painting — Herakles and the Monster Typhon — Pediment groups
with lion and bull — Hermes — Statue of Zeus, Olympia — Statue
of female figure from Delos — Figurines, number and style from
Tanagra and elsewhere — • Process of making and decorating.
The study of painting in Greece would not be
complete without some mention of the application
of color to architecture and sculpture. That color
was usually applied to the stone after the marble
had left the sculptor's hands modern archaeologists
agree. The fact is proved both by the testimony of
ancient writers and by undisputed visual evidence,
particularly since recent excavations have so greatly
182

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 183
added to our store of material. This chapter, there
fore, is made up of extracts from modern writers on
archaeology, many of whom have taken part in those
recent excavations which have yielded such splendid
results to the modern world. We have not, how
ever, cared to quote any of the many theories which
abound in archaeological literature, preferring rather
to deal simply with statements of actual facts, about
which there can be no question.
The Use of Color upon Greek Temples
" For a long time the idea that painted decoration
was applied to Greek temples was rejected as insult
ing to Greek art. The polychromy of the temples
has been admitted in our own day, and then only
after long discussion. This is not the place to re
call the several phases of the discussion, nor to
show how modern prejudice has slowly yielded to
the logic of facts.
" To Hittorf belongs the credit of having united
the arguments in favor of polychromy, according
to which every part of the temple was coated with
striking colors, under which the whiteness of the
marble entirely disappeared. A more moderate the
ory, representing a system of partial monochromy,

1 84

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

admits the use of painting in a manner more re
strained and more in keeping with the sober taste
of the Greeks.
" Furthermore, it has been proved that polychromy
varied according to the epoch, in a retrogressive
movement; at first applied liberally to the stucco

Temple of Neptune, PjEstum
which coated archaic temples, it was reduced with
the progress of time and with the better taste of
the schools. . . . The traces of painting observed
in various architectural members of the temples in
/Egina, Athens, Sicily, and Magna Graecia aid in
the reconstruction of the painted decoration of the
Doric temples of the sixth and fifth centuries before
Christ. In the time of Peisistratos the columns appear

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 185
to have been painted a pale yellow ; the color was
applied to the stucco coating of the stone, which
offered a fine and smooth surface to receive it.
" It is not known whether it was customary to
paint the capital; the capitals of the portico at
Paestum, however, should be mentioned where the

Temple of Athena, jEgina
painted palm leaves are still visible, the remainder
of the stone having been corroded by the sea air.
" The architrave in ^Egina was painted in a uni
form red tint, which served as a background for
the gilded shields and for votive inscriptions in
metallic letters. Above the architrave the frieze

1 86 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
presented alternate triglyphs in blue and metopes
in red; on the red background of the metopes
carved bas-reliefs, with their accessories of gilded
bronze, stood out most distinctly. The mutules
of the cornice were blue.
" In the pediment the tympanum had a blue back
ground, throwing into relief the sculptured figures
within it; the moldings surrounding the tympa
num were decorated either with red and green
leaves, or with red and blue leaves. Add to this,
above the entablature, gutters colored in vivid
hues, tiles, acroteria, antefixes of marble or of
terra cotta decorated with palm leaves or with
Gorgons' heads, and one may form some con
ception of archaic polychromy, with its decided
tints, which are in perfect accord with. the austere
lines of the early Doric.
"When the proportions of the temple became
more elegant, and marble was substituted for
stone; and in consequence more finished work
was required, the colors were distributed less lav
ishly than before. The Ionic order, especially,
employed polychromy with refinement and mod
eration. The delicate lines, the exquisite chisel
ing of the marble, which ran like laee around the

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 187
gorgerins of the capitals and under the voluted
abacus, could not be hidden under a bed of
color. "The color merely outlined these features in
order to bring them out from the whiteness of
the marble, flooded as it was with glowing light;
and to the vivid reds and blues were added
the brilliancy of -, _..,„., v.
gilding. This is
proved by an in
scription of the j
ninety-second Olympiad, giving
the account of Ionic Capital, showing Color
some expenses of the Erechtheion. We find there
mentioned ' one hundred and sixty-six leaves of gold
at one drachma each,' which were intended for the
gilding of the eyes of the volutes and for the orna
mental work in the ceiling. But here, as in the
Doric order, there was no rigid system; the use of
polychromy varied with the tastes of architects and
with the traditions of the schools.
" Observations made upon the ruins of Ionic edi
fices at Priene, Didymi, Ephesus, Halicarnassus,
and Athens make it possible to note to what

1 88 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
extent polychromy was associated with the Ionic
order. Two colors, red and blue, were principally
used. The former was reserved for backgrounds
and for parts in the shade, which it brought out
with its deep tints; thus at Halicarnassus the
ruins of the mausoleum show us rows of carved
pearls standing out from a red background ; some
times red was employed to outline the egg and
dart ornament on the darts and on the shell of
the ovules.
" Blue was applied to the higher, more lighted
surfaces, — to the bases of the ovules, for instance,
— while the more salient details remained white.
From this arrangement a harmony of colors resulted,
subdued and yet brilliant, warm and intense shad
ows, blues softened by the sunlight, and finally the
exquisite carvings, preserving on their more salient
surfaces the brilliant whiteness of the marble in all
its purity.
" The laws of polychromy can be rigorously estab
lished only after a minute study of all the data,
which seems not yet to have been made. It can
at least be said at present that in all points it was
in perfect harmony with Greek genius. This sys
tem, so contrary to our modern tastes and to our

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 189
views as to the divisions between the arts, teaches
us once more to what an extent, in the soul of
the Greek, the most diverse arts could be made to
unite for a common object. We can, furthermore,
but imperfectly understand Greek polychromy if we
fail to remember the conditions of climate which
rendered it almost necessary.- In that golden light
the uniform tint of marble would have been mo
notonous ; details would have been lost in the
unbroken white sheen, which the brilliancy of the
summer sun would have rendered almost blinding.
It was necessary to accent the chaste lines of the
edifice, to give distinct effect to the details of
exquisite workmanship, and to brighten them by
brilliant hues, which wonderfully harmonized with
the clear radiance of the sunlit heavens." J
Olympia
" The color used on these walls and on the
walls of other Greek temples must have made
their appearance quite different from our common
notion of them. They shone in strong, positive col
ors. Under the brilliant heavens of Greece these
1 A Manual of Greek Archaeology, by Maxime Collignon, translated by
John Henry Wright.

190 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
structures responded to the warm sky tints and
the lively imaginations .of the people.
" The primitive colors were employed in mural
painting, — red, yellow, blue, black, and sometimes
violet, — but in a variety of hues and decorative
patterns, combined also with gold and bronze
ornamentation. The use of color on statues was,
undoubtedly, more modified, but one may be sure
that the painting which was laid on the most
beautiful marble statues was sparing and without
injury to them, with a chaste and exquisite taste
that did not merge into the coarsely realistic."1
Temple of Zeus, Olympia
" The metopes by an unknown artist, from the
Temple of Zeus, representing the various labors
of Herakles, though showing the same qualities
of art, are certainly more pleasing than the pedi-
mental groups. They are not, indeed, without
rudeness and stiffness, but in their backward style
there is the charm which so usually marks the
works of early Greek art, but which the pediments
have lost, without getting knowledge and mastery
in exchange.
1 Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 191
" One of the most marked characteristics of the
metopes is the want of elaboration in detail. The
hair and beard of the figures are merely blocked

Metope from the Temple of Zeus
Herakles cleaning the Stable of Augeias
out ; the parts of the garments are not clearly dis
tinguished from one another. Critics have long seen
that the artist who made these groups evidently

192

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

trusted chiefly to the use of color for the effect of
his compositions. An actual discovery has entirely
verified this conjecture.
"Among the discoveries is a head of Herakles,
from that metope wherein he is strangling the

Metope from the. Temple of Zeus
Herakles capturing the Cretan Bull
lion. Of this head, the hair and eyes still bear
distinct traces of color. In the group of Herakles
and the bull, the background was blue and the
body of the bull brown. Another metope has a
red background.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE

193

" It is thus quite certain that the sculpture of
the metopes of the temple was painted through
out, and, indeed, the pedimental groups were also
painted, for a part of the chlamys worn by the
middle figure of the western pediment has been
found, still stained
with a deep red
color. And color
was not confined to
the sculptures.
"All the buildings
of Doric order at
Olympia are largely
colored in red and
blue. The pillars
are not colored, but
the triglyphs are of
an intense blue, the
abacus beneath
them red. Of the
cornices the cymatia have blue and red leaves alter
nately, and the viae are blue and red. It is cleat
from these very exact indications that we shall
always greatly misjudge Greek architecture and
sculpture if we think of them as cold and colorless.

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Architectural Details from
Olympia, showing Color

194 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Although the colors of the ancients may seem
crude and their juxtaposition harsh, yet it is certain
that the climate of Greece requires that the bril
liancy of marble should be moderated by color of a
strong degree. The Athens of our day, because
the mansions in it are built of pure white marble,
is most dazzling to the eyes, and all beauty of form
in the buildings is lost amid the glare of the cloud
less Athenian sky."1
The Temple of Theseus at Athens
"The Theseion has preserved to a remarkable
degree the traces of the colors with which it was
originally painted ; there is some conflict of evidence
as to details, especially since much of what once
existed has disappeared within the last half century
or so. It seems fairly clear, however, that here as
elsewhere the broader masses, such as columns and
architraves, were left plain, and that the coloring
was confined either to the smaller moldings or to
such surfaces as were subdivided in detail.
" Thus, the triglyphs were blue, and the mutules
also, while the drops projecting from the latter were
red, and red was also used for other small surfaces.
1 New Chapters in Greek History, by Percy Gardner.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 195
The background of the metopes, too, was red,
while that of the continuous frieze over the inner
columns was blue. And in many cases where the
color is lost, the various weatherings of the surface
show the leaf pattern and other designs that once
ornamented the moldings.

Temple of Theseus, Athens
" A much-disputed question is whether such pat
tern ever existed on the echinus of the capital ; but
the balance of evidence, as well as of probability,
appears to favor the opinion that the echinus was
left plain. . . .
" The metopes are not all sculptured but only
those of the east front, ten in number, and the

196 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
four on each side adjoining the east front. These
metopes have all suffered greatly from the weather,
and many of them are barely distinguishable at
present. . . . The ten metopes of the east front
represent the labors of Herakles, and the other eight
on the sides represent the exploits of Theseus.
Although so little is left, the scenes and the actions
correspond so closely with the treatment of the
same subjects on Attic vases, that it has been
possible to recover almost completely the original
compositions." J
" To those who desire to study the effect of the
Doric order, this temple [of Theseus] appears to me
an admirable specimen. From its small size and
clear position, all its points are very easily taken in.
. . . ' Its beauty defies all ; its solid yet graceful form
is, indeed, admirable ; and the loveliness of its color
ing is such that, from the rich mellow hue which
the marble has now assumed, it looks as if it had
been quarried, not from the bed of a rocky moun
tain, but from the golden light of an Athenian
sunset.' I have only one reservation to make. The
Doric order being essentially massive, it seems to
me that this temple lacks one essential feature of
1 Ancient Athens, by Ernest A. Gardner.

COLOR AS,, APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 197
that order in which it is built, and therefore, after
the first survey, after a single walk about it, it loses
to the traveler who has seen Paestum, and who
presently cannot fail to see the Parthenon, that
peculiar effect of massiveness — of almost Egyptian
solidity — which is ever present, and ever imposing,
in these huger Doric temples.
"It seems as if the Athenians themselves felt this,
— that they felt the plain simplicity of its style was
not effective without size, and that they accordingly
decorated this structure with colors more richly
than their other temples. All the reliefs and raised
ornaments seem to have been painted. Other deco
rations were added in color on the flat surfaces, so
that the whole temple must have been a mass of
rich variegated hues, of which blue, green, and red
are still distinguishable, and in which bronze and
gilding certainly played an important part. . . .
" Say what we will, the Greeks were certainly, as
a nation, the best judges of beauty whom the world
has yet seen. . . . We cannot but feel that, had the
effect of painted temples and statues been tawdry,
there is no people on earth who would have felt it
so keenly, and disliked it so much. There must,
then, have been strong reasons why this bright

198 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
coloring did not strike their eye as it would the eye
of sober moderns. . . . Where all the landscape, the
sea, and the air are exceedingly bright, we find the
inhabitants increasing the brightness of their dress
and houses, as it were, to correspond with nature.
Thus in southern Italy they paint their houses
pink and yellow, and so give to their towns that rich
and warm effect which we miss so keenly among
the gray and sooty streets of northern Europe. So
also in their dress these people wear scarlet, and
white, and rich blue, not so much in patterns as in
large patches, and thus a festival in Sicily or in
Greece fills the street with intense color. . . . We
must, therefore, imagine the old Greek crowd before
their temples, or in their market-places, a very white
crowd, with patches of scarlet and various blue,
perhaps altogether white in processions, if we except
scarlet shoe straps and other such slight relief. One
cannot but feel that a richly colored temple, that
pillars of blue and red, that friezes of gilding, and
other ornament, upon a white marble ground, and
in white marble framing, must have been a splen
did and appropriate background, a genial feature,
in such a sky and with such a costume." J
1 Rambles and Studies in Greece, by J. P. Mahaffy.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 199

The Polychromy of the Parthenon
" In taking the measurements necessary to de
termine the curvatures and other delicate adjust
ments of the Parthenon, it was impossible not to
be attracted by the evident though generally faint

The Parthenon
traces of ancient coloring which occasionally met
the eye. . . . There are several traces of mediaeval
painting on the cella walls, which have led some
persons to imagine that all color found on the
temple belongs to a period subsequent to its erec
tion. But after attentive examination, the bad

200 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
drawing and poverty of material in the mediaeval
portions above mentioned became so evident, and
such fitness of design and excellence of material
and execution in the ornaments which I am about
to describe, that it is impossible to resist the con
clusion, not only that the latter are Greek paintings,
but that they are coeval with the building of the
temple. " On the eastern front inscriptions 1 were placed
between the shields, of which the regular marks,
still visible, are the sole remains. The fret and
honeysuckle ornament were painted on the taenia,
or architrave band, and guttae tablets respectively.
The design of the first could be distinctly traced in
several places ; of the second, only a single instance
under the southwest angle triglyph towards the west
has been preserved.
" Of the color once applied to these ornaments
there are no remains, but the marble under the
ornament has been better preserved than the adjoin
ing parts by the pigment, so that it is at present
distinguished by its more even surface. In many
places the original setting outlines remain, supply
ing sufficient authority for the restoration. . . .
1 Since thought to be later additions.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 201
" How far the plain surfaces of the corona archi
trave and columns were painted in flat color must
probably remain a matter of" conjecture; there
seems, however, some slight ground of evidence

Parthenon : Fragment of Fret and Honeysuckle
Pattern, showing Color
that a peculiar yellow tinge upon some parts of
the columns, especially of the west front, is not
simply the yellow said to result from the oxidiza
tion of iron contained in the Pentelic marble, but
has been applied externally as a tint, though perhaps

202 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
so delicately as merely to reduce the. high light of
the marble when new, without greatly obscuring its
crystalline luster.1
" The architrave, corona, and perhaps the sculp
ture may have been treated in a similar way. The
cymatium was adorned with a row of honeysuckles
surrounded by a figure, oval at the top and divid
ing itself into double scrolls at the bottom ; the
traces of these were sufficiently evident, but those
of the intermediate leaf between the honeysuckles
were so faint that it was impossible to decide the
exact number of its divisions. . . . On the lower
part of the hawk's-beak molding some faint traces
of blue and red were to be seen. , This molding
is adorned with a pattern of very usual occurrence
in Greek Doric and which bears a considerable
1 It would be unreasonable to suppose that the ancients entirely con
cealed or even materially altered in appearance the general surfaces of the
marble which they made a great point of obtaining whenever possible ;
but no one, who has witnessed the painfully dazzling effect of fresh Pen
telic marble under an Athenian sun, will deny the artistic value of toning
down the almost pure white of its polished surface, and the more so when
some portions of the architecture were painted in strong positive colors.
We need not suppose this tone to have produced more than the dif
ference between fresh white marble and ivory. We learn from Pliny
(Hist. Nat., XXXVI, 23) that milk and saffron mixed with the lime were
used to produce a delicate color in frescoes. Plutarch speaks of certain
monumental marbles in Eubcea which presented, when rubbed, the smell
and even the color of saffron. Or we may perhaps suppose that the ocher
of Mount Laurium was used.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 203
resemblance to certain forms of Greek ornament.
There were some faint traces of blue in the lower
part of this molding. . . . On a narrow fillet below
was a distinct trace of verdigris green.
" The mutules afforded the next evidence of color.
Their edges and soffits1 were painted deep blue, of
which color there were undoubted remains about
the middle of the east front. The soffits and ver
tical spaces of the divisions between the mutules
were unmistakably red, which color extended also
in a narrow fillet underneath the mutules. . . .
The soffit of the cornice between the mutules
at the angles of the building was adorned with
painted figures, composed of honeysuckles con
nected by scrolls, which seemed to be different at
the four angles of the temple. . . .
" Inside the channels of the triglyphs of the east
ern front very positive and well preserved portions of
blue were to be found, and other, but fainter, traces
on the face above the triglyphs. The capital of one
of the north antae has preserved considerable traces
of color.2
1 Soffits are the underside of a molding or member.
2 Similar traces of blue were observed on the triglyphs and mutules
of the Theseion. The remains of the Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius in
^Egina give similar evidence but much more distinctly.

204 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
" There are very slight remains of color, if any,
on the sculptures. I am not aware of any except
a slight trace, which, however, appeared to me of

Parthenon : Metope

rather a doubtful character, on the metope which
had been recently disinterred and is now preserved
on the Akropolis. Some authorities have supposed
a blue background behind the sculptures of the

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 205
Panathenaic frieze. But on this point positive
assertions are not justified in the absence of
remains." !

The Propylaia, Athens : Portion of Ceiling of the
Central Portico
" A very large mass of fragments belonging to
this as well as to the other ceilings of the Propylaia
remain, and vestiges of the coloring have been pre
served in many instances. The plinth of the cen
tral hall is composed of black marble, above which
all is white. We may presume that the walls
above the plinth were painted, or at least intended
for painting, in historical subjects; but of these, if
they existed, no vestiges were to be found, nor yet
of those described by Pausanias in the northern
wing, which were already partly obliterated in his
time. " The ovolo moldings of both architrave and
beams were enriched with the egg and dart orna
ment very clearly defined. The soffits of the cof
fers were ornamented with stars and flowers. In
some of these the blue ground was very positive,
1 Principles of Athenian Architecture, by Francis Cranmer Penrose,
M.A., F.R.A.S.

206

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

as also a narrow line of bright green on the mar
gin of the soffits. The ovolo moldings had distinct
traces of the egg and dart ornament on a blue

Parthenon : Metope

ground. The small fillets underneath them appear
to have been red. Traces of blue were found on
the underside of the divisions between the coffers.
The beads of these divisions are uncut, but had a

COLOR AS APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 207
pearl or ornament painted on them. On each side
of the beads fine lines were cut for the purpose of
defining colored margins, one of which is the blue
just mentioned, the other green.
Vestiges of Painting and of the Colored Ornaments
observed on the exterior
" The cymatium was adorned with the egg and
tongue pattern of a large size, indicated very posi
tively by the usual incised line. The hawk's-beak
molding crowning the coronas both of the raking
and horizontal cornice had the pattern of Egyp
tian character, alternately red and blue, as in other
examples. On the vertical face . . . faint traces of
red were visible. The soffit between the mutules
appeared to be red. One fragment retained dis
tinct though incomplete traces of a honeysuckle.
The sides, soffit, and front of the mutules bore
also distinct traces of blue. The guttae showed no
remains of color except on the underside, where a
circular ring was traced, which formerly was distin
guished with color or with gold.
" A comparison of these with other examples
seems to point out that it was the general prac
tice among the Greeks to decorate moldings of a

208 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
curvilinear profile with patterns composed principally
of curves; and flat bands and strings with recti
linear figures. Although the honeysuckle occasion
ally occurs on flat surfaces, no instance seems to
have been found of a curved profile decorated with
a labyrinth fret or other right-line pattern." x
Color as applied to Sculptured Reliefs on
Sarcophagi
Modern excavations have brought to light many
wonderful discoveries. Of these one of the most
remarkable is that of the royal necropolis at Sidon,
where were found several sarcophagi showing dis
tinct traces of color. The account of these dis
coveries, of which a full description is given in
the book referred to below,2 describes quite fully
the scheme of color employed in their decoration.
Alexander Sarcophagus
The largest is called the sarcophagus of Alexan
der, and dates about 300 b.c It is encircled around
the four sides by a frieze or band of decoration;
1 Principles of Athenian Architecture, by Francis Cranmer Penrose,
M.A., F.R.A.S.
2 Une N^cropole Royale a Sidon, par O. Hamdy-Bey et Theodore
Reinach, Paris, 1892.

Alexander Sarcophagus : Frieze of the Lion Hunt

2IO THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
the subjects of the longer sides are Alexander and
Darius Hunting and the Battle between the Greeks
and Persians. In his account of the color, the
author says :
" Thus the colorer of the sarcophagus of Alex
ander proceeds : his palette allows six colors, which
the action of time preserves unequally but whose
persistence denotes an excellent chemical composi
tion: violet, purple, red — value intermediate between
carmine and vermilion — brown-red, yellow, and blue.
They have been applied pure and show themselves
less concerned in obtaining the illusion of reality
than the harmonious choice of tones and the oppo
sition of complementary colors. . . .
" The antithesis between the nude and the dra
peries, between the one-colored chlamys of the
Greeks and the variegated stuffs of the barbarians,
is a fertile source of pleasing contrast. The artist
reproduces with precision but without stiffness
the complicated tints of the oriental stuffs. The
tunics have a uniform background of blue, purple,
red, embroidered in many colored little squares or
ornamented with a surface pattern of brilliant col
ors. He gives to the outer garment the body of one
color, the sleeves of another, the cuffs of a third;

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE

211

often even the outer part and the lining are of dif
ferent tones. He produces with no less skill the
texture of the under-gar-
ment, a kind of striated,
dotted, or spotted web,
or the saddle trappings
with their dazzling laces
and their fine embroid
eries. " In the armor, the
colors are often used as
a substitute for metal;
yellow stands for gold
and copper, blue for iron;
the hollow of the shields
is red or bright blue.
On two helmets we per
ceive doubtful traces of
gilding which are perhaps
only particles of ocher
exceptionally well pre
served. It is the clothing
and arms especially that
furnish the elements of this brilliant color ; but the
principle of the coloring shows itself in the entire

Alexander Sarcophagus :
Details from the Frieze

212 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
relief. Large scarlet spots of blood flow from the
fresh wounds. In the figures, hair, beards, lips are
shaded with great care. The eyebrows, eyelashes,
and the inside of the eye are executed with the
brush, not the chisel. In some rapid touches, with
a brightness and striking exactness, the artist can
animate or hollow a cheek, can illuminate an iris,
cause a look to sparkle or vanish.
" It is especially to this work of painting that the
heads owe the extraordinary intensity of pathetic
expression which the simple plastic methods are
powerless to accomplish. The worn aspect of an
tique marbles had caused scholars of the Renais
sance to believe that the Greek sculptor did not
allow himself to reproduce that which is most
k active in life, most human in humanity ; our sar
cophagus ends by proving the opposite. It shows
that when Aristeides deserved the name of 'char
acter painter,' when Apelles painted his famous
portraits, sculpture could compete with neighbor
ing art by borrowing from it, when necessary, its
processes. . . .
" Another prejudice, not less destitute of founda
tion, consisted in believing that the nude parts of
the body were in the colored relief left without

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE

213

color. This opinion, al
ready made doubtful by
the discoveries of the
frieze of the mausoleum
and the different frag
ments of Alexandrine
sculpture, coincides with
the examination of the
Sarcophagus of Alex
ander. "It is true, however,
that the nude portions
are not painted in the
same manner as the
drapery. Instead' of flat
tints under which ap
peared the 'exquisite
flower of the model,' the
artist has recourse here
to a light and transpar
ent tone, light or dark
yellow, so it appears, .ac
cording to whether the
subject is a Greek or
an Oriental, tinted with

Alexander Sarcophagus :
Details from the Frieze

214

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

rose, but without any attempt to express the diver
sified aspect of the skin, or the azure network of the

Alexander Sarcophagus

veins. The animals — horses, deer, lions, panthers,
greyhounds — are treated the same, save the shad
ing, which varies from one to another.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 215
" This liquid veil, intended rather to lessen the
dazzling whiteness of the marble than to reproduce
realistically the natural coloring, is to-day so well
worn that at first sight one is in danger of con
fusing it with the discoloration of the centuries;
but a careful search has revealed to me in many
places indisputable traces of artificial pigments.
" In this respect the most happily conceived of
the six compositions is the Lion Hunt. Rubens
or Titian would not have imagined a symphony of
color fresher or more pleasing. Notice particularly
the group at the left — first the Persian archer,
strapped in his rainbow-colored tunic, the headdress
of a violet-colored tiara with a red lining, the coat
blue with violet-colored sleeves on his shoulders;
then the nude runner, putting into this confusion
a large, luminous, restful spot, the yellowed white
ness of his flesh brightened by the contrast of the
scarlet chlamys which folds itself back around his
arm; finally Alexander with his variegated tunic,
his yellow chlamys, his purple buskins, on a white
horse, girded with a red breast piece. It is five
years since I have seen this detail, and the brilliant
picture of this bouquet of human flowers is not
effaced from my memory."

216 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Color as applied to Greek Sculpture
" No doubt the painting of statues and the use of
gold and ivory upon them were derived from a rude
age, when no images existed but rude wooden work
— at first a mere block, then roughly altered and
reduced to shape, but probably requiring some col
oring to produce any effect whatever. To a pub
lic accustomed from childhood to such painted
and often richly dressed images, a pure white mar
ble statue must appear utterly cold and lifeless.
So it does to us, when we have become accus
tomed to the mellow tints of old and even weath
er-stained Greek statues; and it should here be
noticed that this mellow skin-surface on antique
statues is not the mere result of age but of an arti
ficial process whereby they burnt into the surface
a composition of wax and oil, which gave a yellow
ish tone to the marble. . . . But if we imagine all
the marble surfaces and reliefs in the temple colored
for architectural richness' sake, we can feel even
more strongly how cold and out of place would
be a perfectly colorless statue in the center of all
this pattern."1
1 Rambles and Studies in Greece, by J. P. Mahaffy.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 217
" That the Greeks did paint their marble sculp
ture is now generally admitted, though the extent
to which colors were applied is still a subject of
dispute. . . . The statues unearthed on the Akrop
olis since 1882, and the marvelous sarcophagi from
Sidon, show how little of what the Greeks put
into their sculpture is left us in the remains which
retain no more than the form, chiseled in white
marble. " Of marble statues or reliefs which retain traces
of the female flesh color I do not remember an ex
ample of the fourth century; but going back to
the early stages of Greek art, we find it among
statues discovered on the Akropolis, and most con
spicuously upon the head crowned with a large
diadem which is reproduced in the collection of
Gillieron's water colors and colored photographs.
The flesh of this head still retains its colors in
all their brilliant crudeness. It is now absolutely
white, with a strong hectic spot on each cheek,
and scarlet lips. The eyes are heavily outlined in
black. "At least a century later, that is, about the
middle of the fifth century before Christ, we find
indications of a similar scheme already advanced

2l8 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
in refinement, on the well-known gravestone of
Philis, in the Louvre. . . . The flesh color, it will
be observed, — and indeed all other colors, are
put on perfectly flat. Comparison of Greek frag
ments shows clearly that there must be no grada
tions of shade, no attempts to model with the
colors. The shadows belong in the province of
the sculptor. If he has done his work well, a
perfectly uniform application of color will result
in all the play of light and shade which could
be desired, nay, the modeling even produces a
variety of shadows and tones in the color itself.
. . . The hair was gilded in conformity with
a practice which, though perhaps not universal,
was certainly very general, as traces of it have
been found upon marble statues, terra cotta figures,
and occasionally even upon figures and vases of
the later styles. The most famous instance in
which it has been found upon a statue is that
of the Venus de' Medici, but this is by no means
the only one.
" Although there are many marble figures retain
ing traces which are sufficient to prove that it was
a common custom to color the garments of statues,
there is none which gives a complete idea of the

Gravestone of Philis
219

220 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
color scheme it originally presented. Perhaps the
most satisfactory known at present is the marble
statuette of Aphrodite found at Pompeii and now
in the Museum of Naples.
" The terra cottas,1 with their delicate shades of
blue, pink, saffron, and other colors, give us a
conception of Greek taste in color of garments
which corresponds perfectly with what we learn
from literary sources. These show that, from the
earliest times, the Greeks were fond of bright and
variegated shades ; and that, in their conception of
beauty, color was always an important element.
" There are many traces of this in the Homeric
poems, one of the most striking being in the
hymn to Aphrodite, where the goddess, to entice
Anchises, has made herself as beautiful as pos
sible, and 'stood before him like in height and
form to an unwedded virgin. . . . But Anchises,
seeing her, pondered^ and was amazed at her figure
and size and splendid garments. For she wore a
peplos more brilliant than the gleam of fire, and she
had well-twisted brooches, and glittering ornaments,
and around her soft neck there were most beautiful
necklaces, beautiful, golden, all variegated ; and like
1 See figurines, page 241.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 221-
the moon she shone about her soft shoulders, a
wonder to behold.'
" These Homeric descriptions show to what a
degree the early Greeks shared in that love of gor
geous color which we associate with the oriental
nations; and their enjoyment of oriental stuffs is
well known to readers of the epic poets. With the
development of their civilization they do not seem
to have ever lost this love of bright colors, although
their instinctive tendency toward refinement led
them away from primary or strong shades.
" For the garments of women, white was perhaps
more popular than any one color, but it was by no
means the only favorite. Yet it has been remarked,
that in classical literature, abstract names for colors,
such as red, blue, and green, are seldom met with,
the hue being usually described by an adjective
derived from some analogy in nature, like frog color,
myrtle, apple, amethyst, violet, hyacinth, saffron,
rose, wave color, etc. What we learn from literature
on this point is confirmed by the terra cottas.
"Although the aggregate number of colors pre
served upon them is small, the variety of shades
is very large; but among those of the better
epochs, hard or positive tones are extremely rare,

222 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
even with the due allowance for the softening in
fluences of time. Red is modified into various
degrees of pink or crimson, yellow is softened into
primrose or saffron, and there are many shades of
blue for which we have no distinctive name."1
Greek Sculpture found on the Akropolis at
Athens showing Traces of Color
" Excavations [on the Akropolis] had been re
sumed in November, 1885, and in the following
February fourteen female statues of Parian marble
were discovered, eight of which, by a piece of good
fortune rarely vouchsafed to ancient marbles, had
kept their heads upon their shoulders. . . . Buried
from ten to fourteen feet beneath the surface, in
the midst of a confused mass of debris in which
ancient inscriptions, rough stones, and fragments
of buildings were heaped together, these statues
had preserved in their hiding place a wonderful
brilliance of coloring. Scarcely had the marks
of fire, in a few cases, dimmed the bright colors
which adorned their faces and set off the white
ness of the marble with brilliant designs.
1 Colored Sculpture, by Edward Robinson, published by the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston, 1892.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE

223

" What is most remarkable about them, however,
is the brilliancy of their coloring, which makes the
outlines of their features and the splendor of their
dress stand out against the
whiteness of the marble.
Their robes are bordered
or enameled with embroi
deries of various colors,
with the key pattern in
green or purple and with
crosses in blue or green;
heavy discs of gold hang
from their ears; bracelets
and diadems enhance the
splendor of their dress ;
while their reddish hair
and eyeballs tinged with
carmine give a strange
expression, a glow of life
as it were, to their faces." x Archaic Votive Statue
" The rich and lively effect produced by these
statues is in a great measure due to the good pres
ervation of their coloring, which has, for the first

1 Diehl's Excursions in Greece, chapter on Excavations on Akropolis
of Athens.

224 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
time, given us a clear notion of the application
of color to sculpture in early Greece. The fine
material, and the traditions it has brought with it,
have "had their effect. The whole surface is no
longer covered with an opaque coat of paint, as
in the case of the rough limestone pediments. . . .
We accordingly find that, in this set- of 'maidens,'
the use of color is restricted within narrow limits.
It is, in the first place, applied to the hair, the eyes,
and the lips, the pigment used for the hair and lips
being red, and the same for the iris of the eye, and
usually for the outlines of iris and pupil ; but a
darker pigment is generally used for the pupil itself,
and sometimes for the outlines of the iris.
"It will be seen that this coloring1 is still partly
conventional, certainly not naturalistic in character ;
but the red coloring on hair and iris is probably
intended to represent an actual and admired type.
The usual color of the hair of the Tanagra statu
ettes is the same, and the red-brown eyes of the
Charioteer from Delphi, itself probably an Attic
work, will not easily be forgotten by those who
have seen them.

1 For reproductions in color see Antike Denkmaler, published by the
German Archseological Institute, Plate 19.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 225
" On the drapery we find similar principles of
decoration. No garment is covered with a com
plete coat of paint unless only a small portion of it
is visible. The main surfaces are always left white,
showing the natural texture of the marble; but
they have richly colored borders, and are sprigged
with finely drawn decorations, the colors used being
mostly rich and dark ones, — dark green, which was
in some cases originally blue, dark blue, purple,
and red.
" The effect of this coloring, whether on face or
garments, is to set off and enchance by contrast
the beautiful tint and texture of the marble. Those
who have only seen white marble statues, without
any touches of color to give definition to the model
ing and variety to the tone, can have no notion of
the beauty, life, and vigor of which the material is
capable. . . .
" The significance of these statues is much dis
puted. All we know- is that the statues were offi
cially called Kopai, or ' maidens ' ; that they were
dedicated by men as well as women, and that they
could be offered to a god as well as to a goddess.
. . . The reason why an offering took the form of
a maiden is not easy for us to discover; what is

226 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
most to our present purpose is to note that this
form of offering was very common, and of practi
cally universal appropriateness." a
" Unfortunately it is found impossible to take
casts of these statues for fear of destroying the deli
cate remains of color which linger yet on hair, eyes,
and dress.2 In style they vary greatly; and it is a
fascinating task to trace from one to another the
gradual dawn upon the artistic sense of Greece of
greater skill in the rendering of difficult details, of
keener love for nature, of clearer feeling for style.
"Yet even the rudest have something of that inex
plicable charm which belongs to archaic Greek art,
and which takes a stronger and stronger hold of
students of archaeology. This charm was felt in
antiquity by Pausanias, who found something divine
in the primitive sculptures of the school of Daidalos,
and by Lucian, who praises the sweet and subtle
smile of Sosandra and Kalamis.
" Among ourselves one may venture to say it is only
archaic art which can arouse a real enthusiasm. . . .
It is a tendency not unnatural in an age when taste
is directed rather by understanding than the senses,
1 Ancient Athens, by Ernest A. Gardner.
2 A series of photographs, however, may be seen in Kavvadias' work,
Les Musee d'Athenes.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 227
and when the tendency to asceticism is so marked
among more sensitive natures. . . .
" The dress of the maidens shows a grace of elabo
ration that is in accord with the style of their sculp-

Archaic Votive Statues
ture.1 There are several varieties, but the majority
are clothed after a fashion that may be classed as
1 For study of costume of draped figures see Zur Tracht Archaischer
Gewandfiguren, by A. Kalkmann, in Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen
Archaologischen Instituts, Band XVI, 1901,

228 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Ionian. This need not surprise us, when we remem
ber the story told by Herodotus, how after a certain
disastrous expedition to ^Egina, the Athenian women
set upon the sole survivor and stabbed him to death
with their brooches ; and how, in consequence, they
were forbidden thereafter to wear brooches at all, but
to adopt the linen chiton, instead of the Doric."1
Accordingly, "the soft linen chiton from Ionia
took the place of the heavy woolen Doric garment.
No device was needed to hold it upon the shoulders,
and the sleeves and fine folds, into which the thin
ner material readily fell, presented a new problem
for the artists who had been making the Doric pep-
los as regular and plain as though made of wood 
This change must be assigned to the earlier part of
the sixth century; on the Francois and other early
Attic vases, women wear the Doric chiton, with its
large brooches on the shoulders. But the Doric
fpeplos was destined to reappear, and after the Ionic
dress had been in vogue about a century, the old
dress of the Athenians was again introduced."2
" The Attic art which grew up in the latter part of
the sixth century before Christ is more remarkable for
1 New Chapters in Greek History, by Percy Gardner.
5 Huddilston's Lessons from Greek Pottery.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 229
refinement and delicacy than for strength. It de
lights in the rich folds of the complicated Ionic
drapery and in the varied details of an elaborate
coiffure."1 " These statues fill a void in the history of Greek
sculpture, which, before they were discovered, was a
blank, viz., the sixth century before Christ, and though
they are not, all of them, in an artistic point of
view, of uniform merit, two or three exhibit prog
ress in the plastic art. . . . These figures are, for the
most part, clad each in a chiton, and holding the
border of a himation in the left hand. The hair is
divided in the middle of the forehead, and descend
ing in curled locks, is bound in some cases over the
head by a ribbon or ornamental diadem. The right
hand is in advance of the body, and the figure holds
sometimes an apple or pomegranate. The head is
surmounted by a bronze nail, which perhaps served
to support a kind of screen to protect the colors.
The physical type is like that of the figures found
at Delos, . . . but they are more graceful and con
tain germs of a natural style to be developed.
"The polychromatic colors employed are green,
— the best preserved, — red, blue, yellow, and gray;
1 Ancient Athens, by Ernest A. Gardner.

230 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
and on the borders of the chitons and himations,
bands of meander patterns are painted green and
red, with palmettes and rosettes. The hair has
sometimes a red tinge, or yellow, distinctly seen.
The eyes were also painted, and, in some instances,
are made of a crystalline metal. . . .
" These statues are carved of Parian marble, and
are composed of many pieces for convenience of
transportation; they are, moreover, joined together
by a curious method, not of plugs or bolts, but of
fine cement.
" They were found, . . . heaped in pellmell with
broken columns, capitals, inscriptions, heads and
feet of statues, piled one on another, as used by
order of Themistokles to make a new wall. They
recall that extraordinary time when the Persians,
having burned the temple, cast down the statues
from their pedestals, broke off their hands and
heads, and then retreated, like lions surprised in
rending their prey; and the Athenians, returning
after the victory of Salamis, hastily put the citadel
in a state of defense with everything they could lay
their hands on, with statues that may have been
objects of adoration but were rendered valueless
from desecration and mutilation. Names of some

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 231
of the artists of these statues are found in inscrip
tions on them, but only one of them, Antenor, is a
name of after note."1
Archaic Pediment Groups of Sculpture
One of the most curious and interesting groups
found on the Akropolis in .1888 was that called
A Struggle between Herakles and the Monster
Typhon. "The hero, whose head, larger than life,
is painted in the most brilliant hues, kneels with
his right knee on the ground, and presses the body
of the monster firmly against his breast, while its
hinder part stretches away in snaky coils. . . .
" One of the most noteworthy points, indeed, in
these old statues is the strange and almost violent
colors with which they are painted. Every part of
the body is covered with brilliant hues. The beard
and hair are blue, the eyeballs green ; and in a lit
tle hole which represents the pupil a sort of black
enamel lights up the face with a gleam of life.
" The ears, lips, and cheeks are colored red, and
the exposed parts of the body are painted a light
red, almost a rose color, in imitation of the natural
color of the flesh. The serpentine coils in which
1 Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin,

232 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
these monstrous figures end are painted in wide
parallel bands, alternately red and blue; the same
colors are found in the wings of Typhon and make
minutely worked-out details of the feathers stand
out clearly.
"In another group the bodies of the lions are
light red, and contrast strongly with their bright
red manes ; the bull . is blue, with large red spots
here and there, where the blood is escaping through
open wounds. The coloring of the head is espe
cially remarkable, and thanks to its wonderfully
good preservation, the combined effect is as strange
as it is powerful.
" It is probable that these groups, which are from
ten to thirteen feet in length, and not quite two and
one half feet in height, served to decorate the ped
iment of a temple. Dr. Schrader maintains that
they decorated the pediments of an early temple1
of Athena which was destroyed at the time of the
Persian wars." 2
Another writer says of the coloring3 of these
groups: "It was highly conventional, dark blue, for
example, being constantly used, not only for the hair
1 Pre-Persian Temple on the Akropolis, by Percy Gardner, in The
Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIII, 1892-1893.
2 Diehl's Excursions in Greece. s Antike Denkmaler, Band I, Taf el 30.

rfr.'ffl- ^ .

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lU-Tii^- '*-"^^!m«i

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».wi.'uw .'-  TO  ' M^  
¦5J» i.
:y\i/£- //-Train
Akropolis: Archaic Pediment Decorations, — Typhon, Bull and Lion
234 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
and beards of men, but also for horses and for the
body of the bull, while the rest of the distribution
of the color was decorative rather than realistic in
character. " The background was sometimes colored, some
times left plain, so that the colored figures stood out
against it like the black or colored figures on the
clay ground of early vases. The subjects and the
composition of these early pediments offer many
other analogies with vases, and especially with early
Attic vases ; and the same may be said of the artis
tic types. ... It seems probable that we must recog
nize a vigorous local school of art in Athens about the
earlier part of the middle of the sixth century before
Christ, which not only is visible in industrial products,
such as pottery and decorative bronzes, but was also
capable of building temples and decorating them
with sculpture of an individual character."1
Description of the Statue of Zeus by Pheidias,
with Paintings by Panainos, at Olympia
" The image of the god is in gold and ivory,
seated on a throne. And a crown is on his head
imitating the foliage of the olive tree. In his right
1 Ancient Athens, by Ernest A. Gardner.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 235
hand he holds a Victory in ivory and gold, with a
tiara and crown On his head, and in his left hand a
scepter adorned with all manner of precious stones,
and a bird seated on the scepter is an eagle. The
robes and sandals of the god are also of gold, and
on his robes are imitations of flowers, especially of
lilies. And the throne is richly adorned with gold
and precious stones, and with ebony and ivory.
And there are imitations of animals painted on it,
and models worked on it.
" There are four Victories like dancers, one at
each foot of the throne, and two also at the instep
of each foot : . . . and between the feet of the throne
are four divisions formed by straight lines drawn
from each of the four feet. In the division nearest
the entrance there are seven models ; the eighth has
vanished no one knows where or how. And. they
are imitations of ancient contests, for in the days of
Pheidias the contests for boys were not yet estab
lished. And the figure with its head muffled up in
a scarf is, they say, Pantarkes, who was a native of
Elis and the darling of Pheidias. This Pantarkes
won the wrestling prize for boys in the eighty-
sixth Olympiad. And in the remaining divisions
is the band of Herakles fighting against the

236

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Amazons. The number on each side is twenty-
nine, and Theseus is on the side of Herakles.
" And the throne is supported not only by four
feet, but also by four pillars between the feet. But
one cannot get under the throne, as one can at
Amyklai, and pass inside, for at Olympia there are
panels like walls that keep one off. Of these panels

Coin of Elis : Head of Zeus ; Zeus on Throne
the one opposite the doors of the temple is painted
sky blue only, but the others contain paintings by
Panainos.1 Among them is Atlas bearing up Earth
and Heaven, and Herakles standing by willing to
relieve him of his load, and Pirithoos, and Greece,
and Salamis with the figurehead of a ship in her
hand, and the contest of Herakles with the Nemean
1 The Paintings by Panainos on the Throne of the Olympian Zeus, by
E. A. Gardner, in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XIV, 1894.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 237
lion, and Ajax's unknightly violation of Kassandra,
and Hippodameia the daughter of Oinomaos with
her mother, and Prometheus still chained to the
rock and Herakles gazing at him. For the tradi
tion is that Herakles slew the eagle that forever was
tormenting Prometheus on Mount Caucasus, and re
leased Prometheus from his chains.
" The last paintings are Penthesileia dying and
Achilles supporting her, and two Hesperides carry
ing the apples of which they are fabled to have been
the keepers. This Panainos x was the brother of
Pheidias, and at Athens in the Painted Portico he
has painted the action at, Marathon.
" At the top of the throne Pheidias has repre
sented above the head of Zeus the three Graces
and three Seasons. For these too, as we learn
from the poets, were daughters of Zeus. Homer
in the Iliad2 has represented the Seasons as hav
ing the care of Heaven, as a kind of guards of a
royal palace.
" And the base under the feet of Zeus has golden
lions engraved on it, and the battle between The
seus and the Amazons, the first famous exploit of
1 See Pausanias' Description of Greece, Book I, Attica, Chapter XV.
2 Iliad, VIII, 393-395-

238 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
the Athenians beyond their own borders. And
on the platform that supports the throne there are
various ornaments round Zeus and gilt carving, —
the Sun seated in his chariot, and Zeus and Hera,
and near is Grace. Hermes is close to her, and Vesta
close to Hermes. And next to Vesta is Eros receiv
ing Aphrodite just rising from the sea, who is being
crowned by Persuasion. And Apollo and Artemis,
Athena and Herakles are standing by, and at the
end of the platform Amphitrite and Poseidon, and
Selene apparently urging on her horse. . . . They
say when the statue was finished, Pheidias prayed
him ¦ to signify if the work was to his mind, and
immediately Zeus struck with lightning that part
of the pavement where in our day there is a
brazen urn with a lid." J
Statue of Hermes
" One of the most splendid discoveries of mod
ern times, perhaps the most important outside of
Athens, is that of the statue of Hermes2 at Olym
pia. This is undoubtedly the ' Hermes, carrying
the child Dionysos, by Praxiteles,' which Pausanias
1 Pausanias' Description of Greece, Book V, Elis.
2 Illustration of this figure is on page 21.

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 239
mentions as having been dedicated in the Temple
of Hera, and which was found there by the German
explorers, lying on its face within the cella, broken
indeed, yet with its surface almost uninjured, — a
wondrous contribution to our knowledge of art, and
an addition to our pleasure for all time. . . . This
is the veritable work of the great master Praxiteles.
. . . For the first time we possess a work which
may with reasonable certainty be attributed to one
of the very greatest sculptors of antiquity, and for
every line and touch of which we can hold him
responsible. " That this figure of Hermes is of surpassing
beauty is acknowledged by all. ... It is worthy
of notice that on this statue were found traces
of color and of gilding; indeed, a sandal of gilt
bronze had been attached to it."1
Polychrome Statue of a Figure from Delos
" A polychrome statue of a female figure has
lately been found by the French School at Delos.
A brief notice of this appears in the Bulletin de
Correspondance Hellenique. It is in a perfect state
of preservation, a little over life size. The body rests
1 New Chapters in Greek History, by Percy Gardner.

240 • THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
on the left limb, the right foot thrown back just
touching the ground. The left arm hangs down,
while the right is placed across the breast and
raised to the shoulder. The costume is composed
of a tunic and peplos, the tunic falling in large folds
to the feet, which it covers almost completely.
The peplos is thrown about the form, nearly con
cealing the tunic except the lower portion, and one
of its ends is wrapped around the left wrist. The
sandal of the right foot, which is partially seen, has
a triple sole and is ornamented with red and gilded
fillets. In the decoration of the cloak there is
blue color with broidery of rose violet. The rob'e
is adorned with bands on which are figured scrolls
of white and gold upon a ground of clear blue.
Though somewhat in the conventional style of such
statues, the face is lovely. If a portrait, which it
might be, it is idealized in that charming manner
of Hellenic art of the third and second centuries
before Christ, free reproductions of the fourth age
of Praxitelean form. The style of the hair is pecul
iarly elegant and at the same time simpler than
in examples known of the same period, being in
undulating bands like that of the Nymphs of the
Vienna bas-relief. It is what we find in the little

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 24 1
figures of Tanagra and Myrina; and the analogy
with these is more striking inasmuch as the hair
is tinted red. The features are fine and regular,
the eyes are cast down, and the oval face is a
little elongated, delicately narrowing toward the
chin. The neck is straight and long. The expres
sion is sweet, but it would be considered cold,
were it not for a smile hardly indicated yet suffi
cient to animate the countenance. It resembles
a Muse, Mnemosyne, perhaps, from its thoughtful
character." 1 Figurines
In the National Museum at Athens is one of
the finest collections of figurines, — those dainty
human little figures which give us the best idea
of the Greek of the past in his daily ordinary life.
They are "gathered from all parts of Greece, al
though Tanagra in Bceotia was the chief center
where they were found.
" The most antique of these little figures are
divinities, and, as a general rule, divinities of the
lower world, such as Demeter and Persephone,
and were of the nature of ex votos, deposited in
the tombs with vases and funerary objects. These
1 Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin.

242

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

statuettes were made either by hand or by mold;
but molded figures were retouched by hand, and
then baked in an oven, and painted and gilded.
" The most beauti
ful of these were cer
tainly those of Tan
agra, found in a vast
number of graves,
dating from the
fourth and third cen
turies before Christ.
They have the free
dom and nature of
everyday life, as
seen in market place
and home, the city
and country, citizens,
traders, farmers,
vinedressers, sing
ers, fighters, and fine
ladies. In later
stages the design of these seems to have changed,
and they appear to have been buried for the sole
solace of the deceased, to give them glimpses of the
life they had lost.

Demeter

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 243
" The religious idea was merged in the human,
and yet these statues were usually broken before
they were thrown into the tombs; but here they
are, as moving in life, dancers with a spirit of grace
on their flying steps like a zephyr's breath, the
queenly repose of seated forms, and those walking
under the queer pointed hats and parasols with
measured steps, the glint of beauty on them still,
the coloring enough to lend them brightness, the
sweet nobility of some of the faces, evident types
of Greeks found in country and hill towns, with
now and then a coarse figure and a broad cari
cature. These tiny figures have also been found
at Tegea, Cyprus, and Myrina in Asia Minor, in
Lokris, Athens, Eleusis, Chalkis, Megara, and Crete ;
brought to light mostly by peasants who drove a
brisk trade with them, so that they were irretrieva
bly scattered; ... all showing that the art created
by this rapid work, and which gives us true pic
tures of old Greek life, was by no means confined to
one locality, as Tanagra in Bceotia, but was spread
wherever the Greek artist was found, and proves
that he was capable of producing realistic as well as
idealistic art — in fine, impressionism in sculpture."1
1 Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James M. Hoppin.

244

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Diehl, in his Excursions in Greece, describes
the process of making these little clay images, and
tells us something of the colors which were used.
After the modeling
by the potter, he
says, "the clay was
allowed to dry; it
was then fired and
afterward returned
to the workman's
hands in order to
be painted. It was
first dipped into
a bath of lime or
chalk, that formed
a creamy white sur
face, which took
the colors better
than the porous
clay, and then it
was painted from
head to foot. The drapery was generally colored
blue, red, or pink; but besides these tints, black,
yellow, green, and a light violet were often used.
Jewels and ornaments, diadems, bracelets, and ear-

Figurine : Woman and Maiden

COLOR AS APPLIED TO SCULPTURE 245
rings were gilded, and the hair was painted a beau
tiful reddish brown, recalling the auburn tresses
of which the Boeotian women were so proud; the
lips were red, the pupil of the eye pale blue, while
the eyebrows, very much prolonged, recall the
fact that antimony was known in ancient times;
the cheeks, lastly, were given a pale pink hue.
Sometimes the colors were fixed by firing a second
time with a gentle heat, but this is the exception
rather than the rule, and consequently many of the
figurines have lost their original brightness, through
their long burial, though many statuettes have been
found both at Tanagra and at Myrina which have
retained an incomparable freshness of coloring."

CHAPTER IV
GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS AND GRECO-
ROMAN MOSAICS
Greco- Egyptian portraits found at Fayum — Place largely inhabited
by Greeks — Custom of embalming — Painted image or plastic head
— Painted panel inserted — Variety in excellence — Earlier probably
the better — Difference in material — Wax colors or distemper —
Preparation of panel — Appealing expression — Modern character —
" Asklepiades, eight years old" — Description of a portrait in the
Graf collection — Portrait of a man — Style of technique — Two in
Museum of Fine Arts — Mr. Petrie's excavations — Mr. Ebers' sum
mary — Nationality, use, period of execution — Realistic treatment
— Portraits of heathen — Relation to Pompeian portraits. Mosaics
— Antiquity — Greek mosaic — Pliny's reference to it — Replicas in
Rome — Doves — Wall mosaic in fountain decoration — Floor mosaic
— Dog from House of Tragic Poet — Mosaic of cat with bird —
Ducks and fish — House of the Faun — Battle of Issos — Impor
tance — Nile mosaic from Palestrina — Best mosaics from Pompeii
in National Museum, Naples.

Greco-Egyptian Portrait Painting
Until recently almost nothing has been known of
this expression of the Greek painters' art, but by
rare good fortune there were discovered, less than
twenty years ago, in the cave cemeteries of Rubaijat
in the province of Fayum in central Egypt, portraits
246

GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS 247
painted on wood and bearing unmistakable evi
dence of Greco-Egyptian origin. This discovery
has been the means of letting us into the secrets of
the Greek portrait painters' art of two thousand or
more years ago.
The region of Fayum, Egypt, was largely inhab
ited by Greeks, and since the third century before
Christ the native people had largely adopted Greek
culture. Their custom of embalming the bodies of
those who had died goes back to the far and dim
regions of antiquity. Not only was the mummy
carefully preserved, but the likeness of the head
was very carefully copied in order that the image
of the individual might be as closely suggestive of
the living human being as possible. In these tombs,
however, in place of the plastic head, a portrait of
the deceased was inserted between the folds of em
balming linen, and it is to this fortunate circum
stance that we are indebted for the preservation of
these rarely interesting examples of portrait paint
ing. Many of the tombs have long since been rifled
by treasure seekers, but even that has not been
wholly disastrous, because when flung out into the
sand of the desert the dry air and still drier soil
have both been preserving agencies.

248 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
The portrait was painted on a thin panel of wood,
the head the size of life, often a portion of the dra
pery showing, revealing sometimes a badge, a jewel,
or ornament of gold. This panel, laid over the face
of the mummy, might well cause the discoverer to
start back with surprise, so lifelike is it, so suggest
ive of the types of humanity one is familiar with
to-day. As indicative of the portrait painters' skill,
despite the fact that they differ greatly in technical
ability, these portraits fully prove that the high place
which Greek writers have ascribed to the Greek
painters was no exaggeration.
As we study them distinct differences appear,
due partly to the varying degrees of ability in the
artists, — some evidently being the work of highly
skilled painters whom the rich could afford to em
ploy, others being the work of indifferent craftsmen,
whose clumsy technique indicates inferior workman
ship, — or again due quite probably to a difference
in time, the more perfect belonging doubtless to an
earlier age.
There is, too, a difference in material. Some are
painted with wax colors by a burning-ih process;
others in distemper, that is, water colors to which
a certain amount of yolk or white of egg, or milk

GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS

249

of figs was added to insure adhesion of sufficient
firmness. The painting in wax colors was called by Pliny
— who tells us all that we know of the ancient pro
cess — encaustic painting. The colors were mixed
with wax and laid on with a cestrum, or tool
shaped in such a manner that the color could be
taken up on the flat end, smoothed down or run
together, by the edges, picked out with the point,
or blended with the sides. After all was done a
hot iron rod or flat bar was held over the picture;
this softened the wax and fused the varying parts
together.1 When distemper was used the panel had to be
carefully prepared, either covered with a mixture
of chalk and glue or else with a coarse canvas to
which this preparation was applied. Sometimes
several layers of this canvas were fastened together,
forming a sufficiently firm ground without the
wooden panel. In some of the best portraits there
seems to be a mixture of the two processes, which
1 For further details of the process see treatise by Otto Donner von
Richter: Uber Technisches in der Malerei der Alten, ins besondere in
deren Enkaustik. Praktische und chem.-tech. Mittheilungen fur Malerei,
etc., A. Klein, Munich, 1885; also by the same, Die enkaustische Malerei
der Alten., Allgem. Zeitung, Beilage, 1888, No. 180.

250 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
enabled the painter to add a few surface strokes
as finishing touches, accenting the eyebrows and
lashes or the curve of the lips.
Looking out from these panels of wood we see
large appealing eyes that seem to question us with
mute yearning. There is a surprising likeness to
life about them: Not only do the eyes appealingly
search our own, but the lips seem ready to part in
answer to questions which rise to our lips: Who
are you, you spirit from the far, dim past, whose
term of life ended some two thousand or more years
before mine began ? As far as form of feature and
expression of countenance go, these might be our
own kith and kin, beings of to-day, so modern, so
familiar are they.
One portrait, the likeness of a young boy, has
inscribed upon it in Greek letters: "Asklepiades,
eight years old. Be of good cheer." We find in
the catalogue of the Graf collection, which was ex
hibited in this country a few years ago, a number of
interesting inscriptions : " head of a boy with large
eyes and black hair. The lock descends behind the
ear. The face is of a very dark complexion, the
gloss and color of which have been excellently well
preserved by the uncommonly mellow laying-on of

GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS

251

wax colors. The numerous impressions of the oes
trum are very clearly defined in this picture, which is
therefore particularly
instructive for this
kind of encaustic paint
ing ; the white garment
adorned with purple
stripes is .painted with
the brush.
" The portrait of a
man wearing a golden
wreath has a scarf-like
ribbon and a violet
blue upper garment, no
doubt denoting a noble
dignitary. Traces of a
gold clasp are discerni
ble on the mantle. The
left corner has been
substituted. The left
breast shows a large
gold button, which in
duced Professor Maspero to consider the person
represented as one of the initiated in the myster
ies of I sis. By the freshness and brilliancy of the

Portrait of a Man, FayOm,
Egypt

252 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
colors the painting appears almost like a painting
in oil.
" The remarkable head is narrow in form, drawn
out considerably, and terminating in a pointed chin
covered with a slight down. The neck is excessively
long and slender. Technical execution : Head and
garments are executed in encaustic, the former with
the cestrum, very smooth and neat, the latter with
the brush."
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, owns two
fragments which are among the best examples of
Greco- Egyptian work. Both have regular features,
and one, in purple robe and necklace, is specially
fine both in color and drawing. The colors are
laid on in little flat strokes, scarcely blended at all,
and yet by such careful gradation that an effect
of roundness is produced quite modern in result.
The eyes are specially lifelike, one color superim
posed upon another in such a way as to give a
crisp, sparkling, bright look of life.
The panels in the Graf collection, which are
now scattered widely over Europe and America both
in public and private museums, were discovered
by Arab diggers quite by accident. They vary
greatly both in quality and antiquity. Since then

GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS

253

Mr. Petrie,1 in 1887, made careful excavations in
the cemeteries of Fayum, which have resulted in
the finding of many valuable examples in an excel
lent state of preservation.

Two Portraits from Fayum, Egypt
Dr. Georg Ebers,2 who has carefully examined
the portraits in Herr Graf's collection, as well as
1 Hawara, by W. Flinders Petrie, London, 1890; also Ten Years' Dig
ging in Egypt, by same author, published by the Religious Tract Society,
London, 1893.
2 The Hellenistic Portraits from the Fayum, by Georg Ebers, D. Apple-
ton & Co., 1893.

254

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

those in many museums in Germany and elsewhere,
derives the following conclusions from his study:
"The persons interred were for the most part Hel-
lenized Egyptians of Greek origin . . . the portraits
were painted originally for family use in the home.
Some were re
moved to be at
tached to the
mummy, but
most of them
seem to have

been copies on
panels of cypress
or sycamore
wood, from origi
nals painted in
fresco on the
wall of a room.
" The period
of their execution ranges from the second century
before Christ — probably before the middle, but
possibly not before the last years of it under the
Ptolemies — to the time of the Edict of Theodo-
sius, in the last decade of the fourth century after
Christ. . . .

Portraits of P. Paquius Proculus
and his Wife, Pompeii

GRECO-EGYPTIAN PORTRAITS

255

" The evidence that the group of portraits which
include the best must have been painted in the time
of the Ptolemies is to be found in records which
prove to a demonstration that, so early as in the
second century before Christ, Hellenic Egyptians of
Greek extraction were preserved as mummies and
interred in the
Egyptian man
ner; it is also
proved by the
artistic merits of
the portraits;
and in the third
place, the highly
realistic treat
ment of the best,
and therefore
the earliest, can Sappho, Pompeii
hardly have been the work of any other period than
the second century before Christ. It seems impos
sible to ascribe it to any other epoch of Greek art
before or since. The realism we here discern, and
which was then prominent not in art alone but in
learning and in every aspect of life, obliges us to
assign this date for the execution of these pictures.

256 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
" It is also proved without question that these por
traits were pictures of heathen people, since not a
single example, to my knowledge, has Christian sym
bolism upon it, while many have Egyptian gods and
symbols used as motives of decoration on the gilt case
which when found usually inclosed the mummy.
" There is a certain similarity between some of
these portraits and those of P. Paquius Proculus
and his Wife, which were found in the House of the
Baker, Pompeii. . . . Since we know that the most
flourishing period of art in Pompeii was during the
time that Alexandrian influence was most strongly
felt, it is certainly an interesting fact to note this
relationship even should it not be possible to prove
any connection. But even among the finest Pom
peian portraits there are probably none that can
equal the finest of these Fayum portraits.
" It is rather a noteworthy fact that most of these
pictures represent young men and women in the
prime of life or just approaching manhood and
womanhood. There are few of childhood or old
age. Some are strikingly beautiful, others are real
istically individual, and all have that appealing
attraction that belongs to sincere, unaffected por
trait painting of every age."

GRECO-ROMAN MOSAICS 257
Mosaics
The art of mosaic is one of the most ancient, dat
ing back to prehistoric times. It originated in the
East, probably in the simple form of putting together
pebbles, shells, colored stones, or brightly colored
pieces of glass, for the beautifying of floors or the
hearthstone. Such decoration at first was limited
to primitive borders of linear patterns ; afterwards
animal and conventional flower forms were used.
The Greeks in all probability employed mosaic,
although but little is left to show its use.1 In the
entrance to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia the
French discovered a mosaic made of small pebbles
of black, white and brown, yellow and red, which
had been covered over by Roman workers with
pieces of colored marble.2 Pliny writes of a mosaic
worker in Pergamos. He describes the subject of
the mosaic and tells how the effect was produced
1 Dr. Schliemann records the finding of mosaic pavement in the halls
of the king's palace at Tiryns.
2 Of Roman mosaic work on Greek soil one of the finest is that at
Melos. In the Hall of the Mystae, a Roman building dating from the first
half of the third century, the mosaics found are in a fair state of preserva
tion. The central design of one panel is of a vine in which are birds and a
cock. In another panel are fish. Geometric patterns border these panels.
For further account see Excavations by the British School at Melos, by
R. C Bosanquet, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XVIII, 1898.

258

.THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

by the use of small squares of various colors. He
says : " The most famous in this art is Sosos, who
executed in Pergamos an ' unswept house,' so called
because it represented the remains of food and other
sweepings as if
left about on the
floor, by means
of little cubes of
different colors.
Much to be ad
mired herein is
a dove drinking
and darkening
the water by the
shadow of its
head; the other
doves sun and plume themselves on the rim of the
vessel." Of course these famous originals no longer exist,
but. replicas of the same subjects have been found in
Rome and elsewhere. In the former, various real
istic features were introduced, such as shells, bones,
fruit, even a mouse. The finest reproduction of the
doves was found in Hadrian's villa at Tivoli. This
mosaic, which is one of the most charming and best

Doves

Fountain, Pompeii

259

260 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
known of all ancient mosaics, is now in the Capito-
line Museum, Rome. The attitudes, the iridescent
colors of plumage, and the grouping of birds are full
of charm.
Of mosaic work applied to wall surfaces few ex
amples are preserved; but at Pompeii excavations
show that mosaic was employed for the decoration of
wall areas, beside fountains, or to fill certain spaces
in a room or vestibule. We well recollect a foun
tain in which shells, bits of glass, and pebbles are
arranged in rows or bands, forming decorative
repeats of very pleasing pattern.
Occasionally a head with startled eyes looks
forth, or grotesque animals — birds, fish, and ser
pents — form the decorative scheme, or a water god
opens his mouth to let forth the stream of water.
More often, however, sculpture is used with mosaic,
as in the House of the Large Fountain, where the
water, flowing from the sculptured mask of a satyr,
falls down over a flight of steps.
In most Pompeian houses the floor is covered by
means of tiles pressed into soft stucco, and later
polished to an even surface ; but in houses of the
better class mosaic is frequently applied to floors
in simple decorative patterns of black and white.

GRECO-ROMAN MOSAICS

261

Sometimes a figure design forms the central spot
in which rich and pleasing color effects result ; or
again, a threshold or vestibule floor is worked out
quite elaborately
in some original
motive, such as
the striking fig
ure of a dog, from
the House of the
Tragic Poet, in
Pompeii, which
is shown in the
illustration; or
as in the thresh-
old from the
House of the
Faun, wherein
leaves, fruit, and
flowers intertwine and thus form a rich background
against which masks appear at intervals.
One of the most original mosaics of this kind
represents a cat — probably a wild creature, since
the cat was not domesticated until a later period —
holding under her paw a bird struggling, with wing
and tail outspread, to free herself from the clutches

Cave Canem, Pompeii

262 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of her foe. In the panel below are ducks swimming
on the water, in which can plainly be seen fish and
shells of various kinds, most realistically portrayed,
delicate and harmonious in coloring. The House
of the Faun is peculiarly rich in mosaic, and here
was found that most famous of all mosaic pictures,
usually known as the Battle between Alexander
and Darius.1 This can now be seen in the Naples
Museum. It is remarkably modern in spirit, sur
prisingly daring and successful in achievement.
The subject represents a battle between the Greeks
and the Persians, — probably the battle of Issos,
fought under Alexander 233 b.c
Alexander leads the charge against Darius. His
torso and the horse's head and neck are fortunately
uninjured, and well reward a close study. Alexan
der's head realistically suggests light and shade by
the skillful use of mosaic, and the details of his
cuirass are wrought with infinite care.
The composition is extraordinarily spirited. On
the right many combatants press forward, crowded
together in wild confusion. Horsemen, still mounted
or already fallen, show by their attitudes and by their
tense, stern expression the emotional excitement
1 For reproduction of details from this mosaic see pp. 134, 135.

GRECO-ROMAN MOSAICS

263

under which they labor. The trappings of war,
z — helmet, cuirass, spear, shield, and battle-ax, —
as well as the very patterns on their costumes, are

Fish, Pompeii

rendered with painstaking fidelity. The extraor
dinary foreshortening of a horse near the center
of the picture is a courageous bit of work. As a

264 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
composition the whole design is managed with
great skill. It is a splendid example of Greco-
Roman work at its best.
This mosaic is probably a copy of the original
picture by Helena,1 a Greek painter who lived at
the time that the battle of Issos was fought, and
who was known to have painted the subject.
Vespasian removed the picture to Rome, where
it was soon after copied in mosaic. Its colors,
although less bright than when it was discovered
in 183 1, are harmonious, and undoubtedly give
us a fair idea of the original color scheme. It is
one of the most important examples of Greco-
Roman mosaic in existence.
At Palestrina was found what is probably the
largest of all antique mosaic pictures, called the
Nile Mosaic. This shows a view of Egyptian land
scape, — the land inundated by water at the over
flowing of the river. Boats, birds, islands covered
with buildings, temples, arbors, and dwellings, and
the distant desert filled with curious monsters, make
up an indescribably varied composition.
The main point of interest is a festal ceremony
taking place before a temple. No one knows exactly
1 See page 133.

GRECO-ROMAN MOSAICS

265

what the scene represents or what is its historical
significance. There is no perspective and but slight
variety in size to indicate the different planes of
distance. We can only estimate it as an exceed-

Detail of Nile Mosaic, Palestrina
ingly interesting relic of an earlier age. This mosaic
is now in the Naples Museum.
The best examples of mosaic work from Pompeii
have been removed to the National Museum, Naples.
There, and at Rome, can be seen all the finest
examples from central and lower Italy.

CHAPTER V
MURAL PAINTING
Mural Painting in Greece : Its importance — Scarcity of actual
remains in Greece — Hope for important discoveries — Mural remains
in Greece — -Discoveries at Tiryns, Mykenae — Bull fresco at Tiryns
— Long parallel bands at Mykenae — -Blue glass-paste at Tiryns —
Excavations at Knossos, Crete — Cupbearer — Frieze, a ceremonial
procession — Miniature work — Mykenaean shrine — Fresco of fish
and dolphins — - Figure in yellow jacket — Figure on galloping bull —
Three figures in circus show — Seated figure by shrine — Fish fresco
— Excavations at Phylakopi, Melos . — Mykenaean palace — Wall
paintings — Flying fish frieze — Colors used — Reference to Knossos
— Seated male figure — Stooping male figure — Frieze of lilies — Bird
— Paintings on terra cotta metopes, Temple of Apollo, Thermon.
Mural Painting in Italy : Etruscan wall paintings — Greco-
Roman painting — Etruria — -Oldest 500 B.C. — Plaques at Caere —
Chiusi — Corneto — Tarquinian necropolis — Grotta del Barone —
Grotta delle Bighe — Band of dancing figures — Band of figures in
chariot race — Funeral banquet — Gymnastic sports — Beauty and
color — Grotta del Tifone — Grotta della Querciola — Grotta del
Triclinio — Best work probably contemporary with Apelles — Ban
quet scene — Sarcophagus effigy — Greek mythology — Tomba dell'
Oreo — Banquet scene — Mythological scene — Summary.
Rome : Number and importance — Period and style — Baths of
Trajan — Lateran — Villa Albani — Aldobrandini Marriage — Odys
sey landscapes in Vatican Library — Color and style — Via Latina —
Columbarium of Villa Pamphili — Villa of Livia — House of Livia
— Mythological subjects — Landscape and street scenes — Farnesina
Palace — Summary.
Southern Italy: Greek influences — Paestum, Herculaneum, and
Pompeii — Color and method of work — Frescoes in Naples Museum
— Five pictures signed Alexander of Athens — Roman scenes —
266

MURAL PAINTING 267
From Paestum — Pompeii — Brief account of its destruction — Wall
decorations — Four periods — Pre-Roman period — House of Sallust
— Incrustation style — Similar examples in Greek cities — Importance
of the picture in scheme of decoration — Ornate style — House of
Spurius Mesor — Intricate style — Complicated architectural decora
tions—House of the Tragic Poet — Scenes from the Trojan War —
Nuptials of Zeus and Hera — Departure of Briseis — Sacrifice of
Iphigeneia — House of the Vettii — Mythological subjects — Cupid
scenes in industrial occupations — Other mythological groups —
Herakles strangling the serpents — Dirke and the Bull — ¦ Painters as
craftsmen — Color — Landscape symbolism — Composition — Sum
mary. Among all ancient examples of the painter's art,
mural decoration holds by far the most important
place. If it were only possible to go back seventeen
hundred years or more to the time of Pausa
nias and stand with him in that assembly room at
Delphi, or better still to ascend the slope of the
Akropolis at Athens, and, at the Propylaia, turning
to the left, enter the Portico, the Painted Gallery as
he calls it, what should we not be able then to say
of mural painting in Greece ! But, alas ! not a trace
remains of that splendid art ; not a vestige survives
of those scenes from the Trojan War, or those idyls
from the Odyssey, the work of that great early
master, Polygnotos. Where are the Wrestlers by
Timainetos, or the battle scenes of Attalos, each
"ten cubits in size," the Battle of Marathon by

268 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Panainos, or the scene paintings of Agatharchos?
We seek in vain for even a trace of what once filled
the heart and mind of the beholder with enthusiasm
and admiration.
That mural painting held a place of importance,
that architect, sculptor, and painter worked together
in harmony and mutual cooperation, there is no
doubt. But while marble endures, pigments decay,
and color becomes the fleeting companion of time.
Nevertheless, there is much to be grateful for, and
that anything survives this long lapse of time —
twenty-five hundred years or more — should fill us
with gratitude in the place of useless regrets.
The discovery. of mural. paintings in Greece be
longs to the last thirty years, and it is only during
the last ten or fifteen years that some of the most
valuable discoveries in this line of the painter's art
are being made. Why is it not, therefore, possible
— indeed, even probable — that still richer results
await the excavator's zeal in the near future ?
We add accounts written by archaeologists who
themselves have conducted the excavations already
made at Tiryns, Mykenae, Knossos, Phylakopi, and
Thermon, which have resulted in such important
finds, particularly in the region of mural decoration.

MURAL PAINTING 269
Mural Painting in Greece: Tiryns
" The halls were carefully paved with a kind of
mosaic, in some places resembling a carpet, and
decorated with mural paintings and carved orna
ments, of which some very interesting fragments

Frieze and Spiral Band, Mykenae
have been recovered. One of the most remark
able is a charming alabaster frieze, inlaid with blue
glass-paste, which ornamented the vestibule of the
megaron, and reproduced patterns already famil
iar at Mykenae, at Menidi, and at Orchomenos.
The frescoes on the walls are not less interesting,
and throw a curious light on the early history of

270 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
painting in Greece.. Sometimes wide parallel stripes
of different colors are painted upon the coating of
lime; sometimes we find flowers, rosettes, mean
ders, spirals, the arrangements of which offer strik
ing analogies with the sculptured ceiling found in
the beehive tomb at Orchomenos.
"In other places the human figure begins to
appear ; a quantity of fragments have been discov
ered, forming part of those winged monsters so
dear to the imagination of early artists; but the
most remarkable of these paintings is that which
represents a furious bull, upon whose back is a man
half kneeling. It must be admitted that the tech
nique of these frescoes is still very rude. The
painter's palette has only five colors — black and
white, blue, red, and yellow — but their effect was
none the less striking when they shone with all
the brilliancy of their simple coloring. '. . .
" We have already pointed out the striking anal
ogies which exist between the paintings of Tiryns
and the carved ceiling of Orchomenos. There is no
less resemblance between these frescoes and those
which decorate the palace of Mykenae,1 where we
1 See Mykenische Studien, I, by Chr. Belger, in Jahrbuch des Kaiser-
lich Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts, Band X, 1905.

MURAL PAINTING

271

again find the long parallel band of different colors,
and the timid attempts in which the artist endeavors
to represent the shapes of men and animals. The
pottery found at Tiryns is on the whole in the
same style as the vases at Mykenae; the frieze of

HjUUiff^.-

Bull Fresco, Tiryns, — Fragment of a Wall Painting
the palace is exactly similar in design and the pat
terns in use both there and at Menidi — and lastly
oriental influence has left its traces on both."1
" The blue glass-paste with which the alabas
ter frieze of the megaron is inlaid, is an oriental
1 Account of the Discoveries of the King's Palace at Tiryns in 1 884-
1885 by Dr. Schliemann.
For further account of Homeric houses see article On the Plan of the
Homeric House with Special Reference to Mykenaean Analogies, by J.
L. Myers, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XX, 1900.

272

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

importation. This method of decoration was in
use in Egypt from the most remote antiquity, but
she received the raw material from Phoenicia, and it

Fragment of a Wall Painting, Tiryns
was from Phoenician manufactories that those glass-
pastes colored with copper salts were brought into
Greece, . . . with which Homer, too, was acquainted,
and which he speaks of under the name Kyanos
as decorating the frieze in the palace of Alkinobs."1
1 Excursions in Greece, by C Diehl.

273

274

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Wall Paintings at Knossos
Following is an account x of recent excavations
conducted by Dr. Arthur J. Evans at Knossos,
Crete. Here and at Phaistos important wall paint-

Fresco : Cat stalking a Bird, Phaistos, Crete
ings have been discovered which throw valuable
light on painting of the Mykenaean period.
" The wall paintings constitute almost as pre
cious a discovery as the tablets, for the specimens of
1 Published in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vols. XX, XXI, and
XXII, under the heading Archaeology in Greece.

MURAL PAINTING 275
Mykenaean fresco work obtained at Tiryns, Myke
nae, and Phylakopi, are comparatively few in number
and fragmentary. The best of those from Knossos
is the Cupbearer, found in the corridor near the
southwest angle. It is the life-size figure of a boy.
The head with its strong profile, somewhat full lips,
and high skull, is intact. The flesh is painted a
warm dark red, against which the bright chequered
pattern of the loin cloth is sharply relieved. He
wears a necklace and armlets, and a signet tied by
a string about his wrist. He carries a tall, funnel-
shaped vase, the blue and red coloring of which
apparently betokens silver with gold mounting.
Remains of a painted frieze representing men and
women, walking apparently in some kind of cere
monial procession, were found upon the wall of the
western piazza. In many cases only the feet are
preserved, but enough survives to show that the
central figure was a woman in a richly embroidered
robe. On the same wall, was part of a spirited
galloping bull. . . .
"In many of the eastern rooms were found frag
ments of exquisite miniature work. These designs,
which are narrow friezes painted with great delicacy
upon a prevailing light blue background, represent

276 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
parties of women seated at windows and in courts
and gardens before buildings, conversing with lively
gestures. Sometimes they seem to be looking down'
from the upper rooms of a house whose facade
is represented with all its details. Sometimes the
heads of men are seen, but the separation of the
sexes is strongly marked, and the men are always
shown upon a different plane. Very remarkable is
the elevation of a Mykenaean shrine,1 — like the dove
shrine of the Akropolis tombs, — outside which some
of the female figures are seated. . . . Another in
teresting feature of the new megaron itself was a
small private staircase in its north wall, leading up
to the thalamoi or bedroom above. Of the wall
paintings that had originally adorned the megaron
and its columnar fore-hall, some important remains
were discovered, including quite an aquarium of
fish, with parts of two dolphins. . . . Here, too, was
found the upper part of a figure in a yellow jacket
and a light diaphanous robe, whose flying tresses
suggest violent action. It had possibly belonged to
a scene from the bull ring. Another fragment found
here shows a smaller female figure nearly nude,
springing from above and seizing the horns of a
1 See frontispiece.

MURAL PAINTING

277

galloping bull, like the Tiryns figure. It has, more
over, been possible to put together a large part of
the painted panel found in 1901, giving a highly
sensational scene from a Minoan circus show. A
Mykenaean cowboy is seen turning a somersault

Palace at Knossos

over the back of a charging bull, to whose horns,
in front, clings a girl in boy's costume, while another
female toreador behind, in similar deshabille, stands
with outstretched arms as if to catch her, as she is
tossed over the monster's back. The whole is a tour
de force of the Minoan arena."

278 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Still more detailed is the account of the same
discovery,1 in which the writer says there were un
earthed " some fragments of a fresco, part of a series
in a curious miniature style, found in a room to the
north of the great eastern court of the palace. The
associated fragments show large crowds of people of
both sexes, groups of elaborately dressed Mykenaean
ladies engaged in animated conversation, warriors
armed with spears and javelins, part of the city
walls and other buildings. . . . The open space in
front of this small temple is crowded with men and
women, the sexes being 'distinguished according
to the Egyptian convention by their being colored
respectively reddish brown and white. To facilitate
this effect the artist has availed himself of a kind
of pictorial shorthand, giving the outlines of the
men on a red ground and of the women on a white.
A seated female figure is also depicted with her
back to the right outer wall of the shrine itself, a
useful indication of its comparative dimensions."
In reference to the figure, previously mentioned,
wearing the yellow jacket, he says : " It is not diffi
cult to believe that figures such as this, surviving
on the palace walls even in their ruined state, may
1 By Dr. Arthur J. Evans, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XXI.

MURAL PAINTING 279
lie at the root of the Homeric passage describing
the works of Daidalos at Knossos — the ' Choros '
of Ariadne." ]
Of the fish fresco already spoken of, the, same
author writes 1 : " Still another decoration undoubt
edly covered the rear wall of the megaron. Although
its subject can be reconstructed with great difficulty
by putting together innumerable fragments of painted
stucco, fallen in heaps, yet without doubt it was a
large marine piece containing many varieties of fish,
which were colored blue, against a white ground,
while at the same time the marine element was
gracefully indicated by azure wreaths and coils of
dotted spray. The spray and bubbles fly off at
a tangent from the fins and tails and give the
whole a sense of motion that could not otherwise
be attained." Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos
In 1896 Dr. Duncan Mackenzie began excavating
in what later proved most fruitful soil, for his labors
were rewarded by the discovery of a city of consid
erable size. He found the buildings within the
town belonging to three distinct periods. " With
1 In the Annual of the British School at Athens, No. VIII, 1901-1902.

280 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
the exception of the Great Wall, the most remark
able building yet found is the Mykenaean Palace.
In front of it was a spacious courtyard containing
a well, lined with earthenware cylinders. A portico
of comfortable dimensions and facing due south,
formed the entrance to the megaron, a room twenty-
two by nineteen feet, paved with a sort of rough
plaster and having a square hearth in the middle.
To the right of the megaron was a series of small
rooms, presumably for the women.
The Wall Paintings at Phylakopi : The Frieze of
the Flying Fish
" Even before the beginning of the excavation 1
certain pieces of white and crimson plaster, picked
up on the seaward face of the mound, had sug
gested that Phylakopi might yield remains of wall
paintings comparable with those of Mykenae and
Tiryns. The hope thus aroused at our first visit
in April, 1896, was more than fulfilled two years
later, when the fragments of the Flying Fish frieze,
among the most beautiful of Mykenaean works of
1 Society for Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Excavations at Phylakopi
in Melos ; conducted by the British School at Athens ; published by Mac-
millan and Co., London, 1904.

Wall Painting from Phylakopi: Flying Fish

282 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
art, were discovered in a small room of the second
city. . . .
" The composition at this left-hand end began
with a fish swooping downwards to the right: the
space below and to the left of it is filled by a mass
of the conventional rocks that limit the whole
picture, above and below. . . . The same fish are
repeated again and again, darting upwards or down
wards, with wings now closed, now outspread ;
above and below them, a fantastic rocky wall,
clothed with sponges and striped sea eggs. But it
is not the mechanical repetition of a stencil pattern ;
the draughtsman knew how to vary his design in
details without interrupting the rhythmic move
ment that ran from end to end of it. The general
effect of the delicate coloring and lifelike drawing
is singularly like that of Japanese paintings of birds
and fish.
" Four colors were used : black for the border
and outlines ; light blue, a favorite color of the
Minoan painter, for the heads, backs, and part of
the wings of the fish, and for the spray or bubbles
round about them; yellow for their bellies and
part of their wings, for bands alternating with light
blue on the sea eggs among the rocks, and for

MURAL PAINTING

283

certain masses sprinkled with black points, which
can hardly be other than sponges.
" Nothing remains of a fourth color which once
covered the rocks and part of the wings, except a

View of Phylakopi
difference in the texture of the surface, which be
trays the presence of a faded pigment; it is likely
to have been red, since red is regularly used in
pictures of this period. We have to imagine the
outline of the rocks, now faint and uncertain, filled
in with a deep tint, which would heighten the con
trast between their grotesque forms and the grace
ful lines of the living bodies beside them. . . .

284 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
" The same color scheme, clear tints of blue, yel
low and red with black outlines on a white ground,
appears on many of the wall paintings at Knossos,
and in particular on a small series associated with
the Phylakopi group, by the introduction of human
figures drawn in outline. In point of subject a
parallel is furnished by the great picture previously
described by Mr. Evans, which, though on a larger
scale and portraying not flying fish but dolphins
and a variety of other kinds, is similar in style and
technique, and makes the same use of ' azure wreath
and coils of dotted spray ' to indicate the sea.
" So strong is the resemblance that we may safely
claim the Flying Fish as a product of Cretan art.
I have already referred to the fact that the edges
of the plaster on which it is painted have a smooth
flat surface, as though the picture had been inclosed
in a wooden frame, not painted on an existing wall.
The same holds good of the other marine piece
found with it. It is not impossible that framed
plaster panels, ready painted, were exported from
Knossos to neighboring towns." ...
In the same room were found fragments of other
paintings on a larger scale, — a sea piece, badly
marred, the seated figure of a " man holding up a

MURAL PAINTING

285

piece of drapery, blue with black lines. ... He
wears a bracelet on each wrist and a belt at his
waist, all painted yellow and probably meant for
gold. Below the metal belt is a twisted sash of
light blue, and below that a variegated waist cloth,

Fisherman on Vase,
Phaistos, Crete

blue, red, and yellow, em
broidered with a design —
two birds placed back to
back with wings outspread.
Red is used for the little triangles along the feath
ers, as well as for the spiral lines in the bracelets,
and for the finger nails, which were perhaps stained
in oriental fashion.
" Of still another figure, apparently male, we have
the neck adorned with a necklace tied in a bow

286 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
behind, the shoulders, and the upper arms ; he was
stooping forward with arms close together, as if
holding out some offering." ... In another room
was found a "quantity of dark crimson stucco dec
orated with white lilies. They are of two sizes, but
otherwise alike, formed in conventional fashion with
two white sepals and three yellow stamens." Still
another fragment shows " part of a bird painted in
bright colors — the head red, the back ruddy brown,
the wings white — on plaster that is remarkably thin
and smooth." 1
Paintings on Terra Cotta Metopes, Thermon,
^Etolia
Thermon, once the center of the ^Etolian League,
and probably an assemblage of temples and pub
lic buildings rather than a town, was destroyed in
218 b.c Recent excavations have disclosed the
Temple of Apollo, and here in the sanctuary of
the temple were found several unique examples
of painted terra cotta metopes. As the age of
the temple can scarcely be later than the middle
of the sixth century before Christ, the metopes, if
1 R. C Bosanquet, in Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos, conducted
' by the British School at Athens.

MURAL PAINTING

287

not still older, in all probability are contemporary
with the earlier part of the sixth century.
These met
opes are made
of terra cotta
whose surface
was evidently
but slightly
prepared for
the painter's
brush; only a
thin wash was
used, doubt
less of fine
clay, similar
in quality and
color to that
found in Co
rinthian1 ware.
The painter
employed only
three colors, — black, white, and red, the red being
of three values : terra cotta or light orange, an
1 See Corinthian Tablets in Antike Denkmaler, Band I, Erstes Heft,
Tafeln 7, 8 ; and Band II, Zweites Heft, Tafeln 23, 24 ; Drittes Heft,
Tafeln 29, 30; Viertes Heft, Tafeln 39, 40.

Painted Terra Cotta Metope, Thermon :
The Hunter carrying the Spoils of
the Chase

288

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

orange red, neutral, of middle value, and a violet
red, in value high dark ; the whole was then prob
ably subjected to a firing-in process.

Painted Terra Cotta Metope, Thermon : Perseus with
the Gorgon's Head
The subjects of these metope decorations are full
of interest, particularly the two here reproduced,
both of which express lively action. The hunter
walks forward carrying in his right hand a bow,
while with his left he upholds a pole which rests

MURAL PAINTING 289
upon his shoulder and from which hang the spoils
of the chase, — in front a deer, behind a wild boar.
His little round eye in its unforeshortened socket
is keen with a bright expression of life.
Perseus outrivals the hunter in lively movement,
for he is flying, although his winged sandals touch
the corners of the metope which restrain him in
obedience to the artist's will. Under his arm is the
Gorgon's head, its cold, unflinching eyes facing the
spectator as if in the final effort to compel to a
stony death the accidental observer.
As examples of archaic painting on terra cotta
these metopes are of exceptional interest.1
Mural Painting in Italy
Since so few remains of mural painting have yet
been discovered on Greek soil to tell us directly
of Greek work, it is to Greco- Roman paintings in
Italy that we must turn to discover, with compar
ative certainty, technical processes, the secrets of
color applied to various surfaces, the laws of com
position, and the principles of style, all from paint
ings which are still visible, some of which date as
1 See article by Georgios Soteriades in E*HMEPI2 APXAIOAOriKH,
published in Athens, 1903.

290 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
early as five hundred years before Christ. The most
important of these wall paintings are to be found in
central and lower Italy. To see them one must go
to Etruria and explore the quaint old towns of Veii,
Caere, Corneto, Chiusi, and Orvieto, or he must
haunt Rome and its environs, or proceed still farther
south to Paestum, Pompeii, Herculaneum; and he
must spend many hours in the museums of Rome
and in the National Museum at Naples.
Etruscan Wall Paintings
The oldest frescoes are in the tombs of Veii,
Etruria, and date not later than five hundred years
before Christ and possibly earlier. They are archaic
both in drawing and design, with few colors, — brown,
yellow, and red, — and are the work of Etruscan
hands. On terra cotta plaques found in a tomb at
Caere the style is quite similar to Greek painting
preceding Kimon — probably earlier than 500 b.c
The subjects relate to burial rites, worship of the
dead, sacrifices, or processions of mourners, done in
very crude, archaic manner, — the figures and faces
in profile, the eyes drawn as if seen in front, long
and narrow, — the whole forming a balanced compo
sition in flat tones without any attempt at relief.

MURAL PAINTING 29 1
At Chiusi the Greek spirit is less evident than at
Corneto. About three miles from Corneto is Tar
quinia, which was once the capital of ancient Etruria,
— an important city, furnishing Rome with a power
ful race of kings, from whom came laws and political

Fresco in Etruscan Tomb, showing Position on Walls,
Tarquinia
ideas, many rites of religion, ceremonial customs,
and arts of civilization. The necropolis of Tarquinia
extends over an area of sixteen square miles or more,
and includes many thousand tombs, of which only
a few have been excavated. Of these some have

292

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

been refilled when not revealing archaeological mat
ter worthy of being retained, but others have yielded
valuable findings, — vases, ornaments of gold and
bronze, and fresco decorations of a very high order.
Such tombs belonged, no doubt, to people of high
rank, and these mural paintings tell us almost all
that we know about this Etruscan people,1 — of the
same original stock as the Greeks, — their customs,
character, costume, rites, religion, and life.
The Grotta del Barone, a tomb discovered in 1827,
is about sixteen feet square, decorated with a "broad
tri colored ribbon of yellow, blue, and red"; below
is a band of horsemen in various attitudes, mount
ing, riding, and leading their horses. " The Etrus
cans used colors conventionally, representing things
in certain relations rather than according to nature,
— as, for instance, in the picture of a race, blue might
be the color used to mark the winning horse."
The Grotta delle Bighe, discovered in 1827, con
sists of a square chamber with a vaulted roof, having
a painted beam across it, and diced in red, white,
blue, and black, and ornamented with a wreath of
Bacchic ivy.
1 See Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, by George Dennis, London,
1878. For color reproductions from Tarquinian tombs, see Antike Denk-
m'aler, Band II, Viertes Heft, Tafeln 42, 43.

MURAL PAINTING

293

There are two compartments, an upper and a lower,
in which are represented different scenes. In the
lower part are dancing figures, clothed in short gar
ments, leaving the limbs free. Others are dressed in
long flowing drapery of some light diaphanous mate-

HWt*

Jx

Etruscan Fresco : Horsemen
rial bordered with stars. They have ornamented san
dals on their feet and chaplets falling over the hair.
The men clap their hands, beating time to empha
size the rhythm of movement. Between the figures
stands a tree of olive or myrtle, sacred to the dead.

294

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

In the upper composition there are evident prep
arations for a chariot race. Some are already start
ing, in others the charioteer is in various stages of
preparation. Beyond is the stage for the spectators,
some of whom are clad in tunic and cloak, others in
a long mantle.
Another wall represents a funeral banquet with
couches upon which rest a man and a woman lean
ing on cushions
and dressed in gar
ments with elab
orate ornamenta
tion, which indicate
persons of rank.
All are crowned
with wreaths.
Biga from Chariot Race Som£ ar£ about tQ
drink from goblets, others commence the feast with
eggs according to the Etruscan custom. A flute
player and two attendants are near, and, to add a
touch of realism to the scene, five ducks are waiting
below the table for the crumbs. Still another wall
shows a picture of active life in a representation of
gymnastic sports, boxing, quoit throwing, hurling
the lance. These figures are full of movement, in

MURAL PAINTING

295

various attitudes, and show a surprising knowledge
of form. In the painting of these wall surfaces the
artists worked upon a ground of prepared plaster, or
some such material, which was spread over the soft
rock. On this they scraped the outline. Where the
color has almost or
nearly faded from
the wall the out
line is still visible,
showing the hand-
stroke of the an
cient draughtsman
as he sketched in
his idea.
The various
tombs of Tarquinia
show a great differ
ence in their style
and workmanship, marking an advance from cru
dity to freedom, in which Greek influence is most
apparent. The use of color becomes freer : the lips
are sometimes red and a tint is added to the
cheek. Occasionally a single figure stands out as
an exquisite bit of life in which grace of line and
delicacy of touch reveal the hand of a true master,

The Farewell of Admetos and
Alkestis, Etruscan Vase, Vulci

296

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

as, for instance, in the Grotta del Citaredo, in which
is a singularly beautiful figure of a flute player,
whose dainty movements are shown with a skill that
compares favorably with the work of a fifteenth-
century painter.
In the Grotta del Tifone is an interesting funeral
scene, — a procession of the dead, "conducted by
genii to their
final abode. The
band is preceded
by a good genius,
as may be seen
from the serpents
of eternity which
are twined about
his head. He
bears a lighted torch. He is followed by a number
of souls and among them two distinguished for un
common beauty. Other figures follow, — a hand
some, noble youth followed by a hideous demon, a
maiden of surpassing loveliness, in whose brow and
eye is the most intense anguish. . . . An infernal
genius followed her also. These figures suggested
such strong personality that they must have been
portraits."

Biga bearing a Soul to Elysium,
tomba golini, orvieto

MURAL PAINTING 297
The Grotta della Querciola was excavated in 1832.
" This tomb is more splendid than any yet mentioned.
It is about twenty feet square. Nothing can exceed
the elegance of the forms, the richness of the dress,
and the beauty of the ornaments. The principal
subjects are dancing scenes and a magnificent ban
quet group with festal tables, luxurious couches,
and sumptuously attired guests. Unfortunately it is
much less well preserved than any of the others,
which is extremely to be regretted, as from its size,
the variety of its subjects, and the beauty of its exe
cution, it is even more valuable and curious than
the rest." A copy of this tomb is in the Gregorian
Museum, Rome..
The Grotta del Triclinio is decorated with feast
ing scenes of the most gorgeous character, showing
" Etruscan magnificence in dress, furniture, and all
the accessories of sumptuous living." I quote from
the notes of an Englishwoman,1 who saw the tomb
not long after it was opened, while the colors were
still fresh upon its walls. " The picture of the mid
dle wall represents three couches, each containing a
man and a woman. In front of two of these are
tables covered with vases, and in front of a third is a
J See Journey to the Sepulchres of Etruria, by Lady Hamilton Gray.

298

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

large vessel out of which wine is poured into smaller
vessels to be handed around to the guests by a
young slave. An attendant richly dressed is play
ing on the double flute, while the guests are turning
towards each other in various attitudes and with

Feasting Scene, Grotta del Triclinio, Tarquinia
lively gestures, and seem much more occupied with
the pleasures of society than with those of the
table. The parti-colored coverings of the tables and
couches are very beautiful, as well as the splendid
festal dresses of the guests with their crowns of
ivy and olive, their rich necklaces and bracelets.

MURAL PAINTING 299
Ointments and perfumes also, so essential to the
luxurious habits of the ancients, are not wanting
to this banquet.
" The feast is already begun, for one of the women
is in the act of breaking an egg and one of the men
is receiving a cup of wine. The clatter of the dishes
and the smell of the meats have attracted to the

Dancing Figures, Grotta del Triclinio, Tarquinia
feast a tame leopard, a partridge, and a cock, which
are assiduously picking up the crumbs of good
things. Above the couches hang crowns or chap
lets with which the guests at the end of the enter
tainment used to adorn themselves. . . . The
funeral banquet being concluded, the dance com
mences. It consists of eight persons, and the musi
cians are two, a player on the lyre and a player
on the double flute, who dance as they play. The

300 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
chief dancer moves her hands as if she had casta
nets, while the last holds a wreath of ivy with which
most of them are crowned.
" The dresses of the dancers are of the most
splendid material, embroidered with minute stars
and adorned with many colored garnitures; their
necks are ornamented with costly chains, their ears
with pendants, and their arms with bracelets. The
youths are separated from the dancing girls by
olive and myrtle trees covered with chaplets, in the
branches of which are perched various birds ; hares,
wolves, deer, and other animals are jumping up to
the stems or gamboling below in evident enjoyment
of the feast. The vase placed upon the ground is
filled with wine to be drunk by the dancers in honor
of Bacchus. Paintings like these in all probability
date not later than the fourth century before Christ.
"In this grotto when first opened stood a large
handsome sarcophagus in travertine. The effigy
upon the lid represented as usual a man very richly
dressed, wearing all sorts of ornaments ; he held a
libation cup in his hand toward which a greyhound
leaped." One of the tombs opened in 1857 consists of
seven different chambers decorated in a most

MURAL PAINTING 30 1
graphic style with subjects taken from Greek
mythology. Etruscan inscriptions upon the walls

Alabaster Polychrome Sarcophagus, Royal Archaeo
logical Museum, Florence
place the names of Agamemnon and Achilles
beside one scene, which represents the sacrifice
of Achilles for his friend Patroklos before Troy.

302

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Opposite is a realistic representation of a human
sacrifice such as was often made at a funeral cere
mony by the ancient Etruscans. Both groups are
almost as painfully realistic as pictures by the four
teenth-century painters, who took an apparent de
light in depicting such scenes of horror.
The Tomba dell' Oreo is perhaps of all the most
advanced in style, showing skillful foreshortening
and free brush
handling of a
superior quality.
The banquet
scene in one
chamber repre
sents a scene from
the underworld,
in which Hades
(Pluto) and Per
sephone figure. Another shows Odysseus and the
Cyclop Polyphemos. These are among the best
examples of Etruscan wall painting and date prob
ably as late as the time of Apelles. The freedom
of execution is admirable, the style spirited, the
drawing careful, the whole showing keen technical
knowledge and artistic feeling of a high order.

Hades and Persephone in the Under
world, Grotta dell' Orco, Corneto

MURAL PAINTING

3°3

From these mural paintings of Etruscan work
manship we have an almost continuous history
of wall painting
from its earlier
archaic period to
that really noble
achievement which marked its
highest point of
development; this
makes us the more Aruth Velchas and his Wife in Ely"
sium, Grotta dell' Orco, Corneto
keenly realize
the irreparable loss of that mural work in Greece
which poets and historians praise with such keen
enthusiasm.

Roman Wall Paintings
In Rome and its immediate environs the number
of wall paintings excavated since the beginning of
the sixteenth century is very large. These paintings
have been found in tombs, villas, palaces, and baths,
and were it not for the fact that very many of them
have perished upon exposure to air and light, we
should have all that could be desired in the way
of material of most varied type and character with

304 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
which to illustrate mural painting during the later
period of antiquity.
We may be sure of this, however, — that as mural
painting was considered an important addition to
every architectural scheme, the number of such
decorations was very large ; that the range of sub
ject was unlimited ; that Greek ideas and invention
formed the basis of all such work ; that some of the
decorations, possibly many of them, were done by
Greek artisans or decorators ; that even if they were
done by Roman workmen, many are undoubtedly
copies of well-known Greek paintings; and that
none of them show Greek mural painting in its
purity. Roman wall paintings, unlike those found
in Etruria, belong to one period, — the last days of
the Republic and the early Empire. Their subjects
are varied, sometimes full of charm, with a vivacity
and delicacy of touch that are often surprising.
Vitruvius, who lived in the time of Augustus,
wrote a short sketch of mural decoration from the
time of Alexander down to his own day. He con
trasts the better ancient style with that of later
decorators much to the disadvantage of the latter.
These changes can be easily followed by studying
extant examples, in which one notes the more

MURAL PAINTING 305
sober, serious, largely conceived pictorial work, in
contrast to a fantastic spirit that at first charms the
eye but later wearies one with its involved, gro
tesque, over-elaborated devices.
This fanciful style in its best period formed the
scheme of decoration on the walls of the Golden
House of Nero, beneath the Baths of Titus. Raphael
saw and copied these dainty forms of design and
used them in his decorations for the loggie of the
Vatican. The earlier or severe style is exemplified
in the Odyssey series of which we shall speak later.
Most of these wall paintings now to be seen
were excavated during the last century, a few still
earlier. Some have been left upon the walls where
they were found; others, with the plaster upon which
they were painted, have been removed to museums.
Many unfortunately have been lost either through
exposure to light and air or upon removal.
Among public buildings of Rome, the baths have
furnished the greatest number of mural decorations,
— the Baths of Titus especially. Large and small
paintings have been found there representing scenes
of Greek mythology as well as the many small or
important events of daily life, — scenes of the vint
age, harvesting, sacrifices, and even ordinary daily

306 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
occupations. One of the largest paintings comes
from the Baths of Trajan; this belongs to that
earlier period of which Vitruvius approves, and by
its largeness of style and vigor of treatment sug
gests a " late period of the Italian Renaissance, a
sixteenth century fresco."
In the Lateran, Rome, are a series removed from
Ostia, showing pictures of the underworld, with
Orpheus, Eurydike, Hades, and Persephone grouped
in symmetrical design. Still more interesting are
those in the Rospigliosi Palace, which came from
the Baths of Constantine. In the Villa Albani is
an idyllic landscape found on the Via Appia.
But the most interesting are in the halls of the
Vatican gallery. Here are heroes, gods, and god
desses famed in mythology. The most important of
all is the well-known Aldobrandini Marriage, dis
covered in 1600, and so called from the name of its
first owner, Cardinal Aldobrandini. This is called
" one of the finest pictures of antiquity." It is taste
fully composed, with much beauty of line and color.
It is a long, panel-shaped picture containing ten
figures. These are separated into three groups, of
which the bride, the bride's attendant, and the
bridegroom form the center of interest. These

MURAL PAINTING

307

figures are seated or
recline against a couch
covered with drapery.
On either side are
groups of figures stand
ing, one preparing the
bath, the other perform
ing some sacrificial rite
to the sound of music.
The stately woman
holding the lyre is full
of grace ; her attitude,
half turned from the
spectator, with arm up
raised, is the embodi
ment of rhythmic poise.
She is balanced at the
opposite end by a digni
fied veiled figure with
arm extended to the
basin of water. A nota
ble fact in this compo
sition relates to the size
of the figures and their
grouping. The bride

308 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
and her. attendant suggest by their attitudes two of
the figures from the east pediment of the Parthenon,
and they possess the same characteristic that we
find in them and in the seated figures in the Par
thenon frieze, — that of sitting high and thus bring
ing the level of the heads but a short distance below
that of the standing figures. By this means the line
of horizontal composition is agreeably broken with
out presenting too great irregularity for the Greek
idea of harmony. The picture is a dignified compo
sition, and although the execution is technically
inferior, its design has qualities that suggest the
hand of a master, and quite probably it is the copy
of some famous Greek work.1
In the Vatican Library are the well-known Odys
sey landscapes already referred to, which were discov
ered in 1848-1850, on the Esquiline, Rome. These
are six pictures in fair state of preservation, and parts
of two others which unfortunately are badly marred.
They represent the wanderings of Odysseus.2 Greek
inscriptions explain the various figures.
These paintings once formed a scheme of decora
tion around the lower parts of a room, the various
1 See Bottiger, Die Aldobrandinische Hochzeit, Dresden, 1810.
2 Odyssey, X, 80, to XI, 600.

Odyssey Landscape Scenes
3°9

310 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
scenes separated by bright red pilasters, which in
contrast to the predominating colors of the land
scape — blues, greens, and yellow-browns — make
a well-balanced scheme of color decoration. The
landscapes are not, however, separate compositions.
The main lines form a connecting sequence from
panel to panel, thus giving a pleasing feeling of
unity to the whole.
As examples of landscape they have a peculiar
interest for us, for, although severely conventional
in treatment and broadly decorative in style, they
yet suggest a variety of effects in nature — yellow
rocky crags, the blue sea, dark somber mountains,
the court of Kirke's palace, the gloomy entrance
to the underworld — which stand alone as unique
representations of landscape. They give us an
excellent idea of the style of that early period
which probably was more nearly akin to the true
Greek spirit of the time of Polygnotos1 than any
thing extant. It is of this style of work that
Vitruvius wrote so approvingly.
In addition to the collections which museums
offer, there are many mural paintings in Rome
still in position on the walls of tombs, villas, and
1 For illustration see page 115.

MURAL PAINTING 311
subterranean chambers. On Via Latina is a tomb
with landscape panels, small but delicately beautiful,
dating back to the Antonines.
To a little later period, probably, belong the
small decorations found in the columbarium of Villa
Pamphili, discovered in 1838, whose subjects in
clude mythology, ceremonies, daily occupations, and
landscape, sketched in with great freedom upon a
white ground as if the craftsman were quite sure of
his facile, ready technique.
A short distance beyond Porta del Popolo, Rome,
are the ruins of the Villa of Livia, where was
found the statue of Augustus, now in the Vatican,
— a statue which, by the way, is the best one extant
of the emperor and bears distinct traces of color
upon it.
This villa, excavated in 1863, reveals a most
delightful scheme of mural painting, perhaps the
best example of its kind to be found anywhere.
The scene represents a luxuriant garden, in the
midst of which the spectator stands surrounded by
a wealth of bloom. Grass and tiny herbs spring
from the ground in varying notes of neutral gray-
greens; brightly tinted flowers bloom in summer
luxuriance ; pines, oaks, and groves of palms and

ii3®S»tem«a*

Mural Painting, Villa of Livia, Rome

3i2

MURAL PAINTING

313

fruit trees mark with their slender trunks agreeable
divisions of space, broken by blossoming thickets,
clambering roses, and gayly hued birds which fly

Mural Painting, Villa of Livia, Rome _
hither and thither in every direction, filling the air
with life and movement and adding bright spots of
color to the more somber notes of the background.
The handiwork of this charming scheme of deco
ration is careful, realistic, and at the same time
decorative. Some writers think that this may pos
sibly be the work of the painter Ludius, whom

314 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Pliny speaks of as the originator of ' this style of
mural decoration. At the time that he lived this
charming villa was the property of the imperial
family. Although this is merely conjecture, it is
peculiarly agreeable conjecture, as it thus gives to
a name handed down to us by ancient writers a
visible proof of a decorator's excellent achievement.
In Rome itself the House of Livia is of special
significance. Situated on the Palatine Hill, which
was the center of the imperial city as it had been
formerly the ancient city of kings and pre-Roman
heroes, and was later the home of Catiline and
Cicero during the republican period, this house,
the only one of its kind in the midst of the palaces
of the emperors, was the dwelling of Livia, —
mother of Tiberius Claudius Nero, — to which she
retired during her later life. The mural paintings
which can still be seen here are as fine as any now
extant in Rome.
In the largest room are two mythological sub
jects, of which one is " lo, jealously guarded by the
hundred-eyed Argos, is set free by Hermes," a pic
ture once painted by Nikias, a Greek painter in the
time of Alexander,1 of whose work possibly this may
1 For illustration see page 128.

MURAL PAINTING

315

be a copy. The other is in its treatment as well as in
its subject also Greek, — the story of Polyphemos and
the beautiful sea nymph Galateia. It is most effective
in style. Against the classical landscape of sea and

lo set free by Hermes, House of Livia, Rome
rocky cliff stand out the giant, breast high in water,
and Galateia riding tauntingly away on her sea
horse. Another room is decorated with festive garlands
of flowers and fruit, from which hang masks and
other articles of revelry. On the left is still another

316 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
room, divided into brown panels edged with red
and green. Light arabesques fill the spaces between
floating winged figures on a white ground. The
triclinium, or dining room, is an oblong, rectangu
lar room, whose walls are painted bright red. There
are two large central panels representing landscapes,
and vases with fruits fill the wall above. Other
scenes show a Roman street with its tall houses
and varied population in many attitudes on bal
cony and roof top. In still another room is a land
scape frieze and a lively, realistic street scene from
some ancient town, — just such a picture as one
might expect to see in a modern exhibition.
Recent excavations on the Palatine in the gar
dens of the Farnesina Palace have brought to light
other decorations, — landscapes with figures, gods
and heroes, charming young girls playing on the
lyre or taking part in festival scenes.
These Roman wall paintings do not reach a very
high plane either of subject or of execution. They
are simple in design and often painted with a slight
and sketchy touch, which indicate that they are the
work of clever decorators, — skillful craftsmen rather
than masters of art. But they are often dainty and
full of a subtle charm, and admirably adapted to the

MURAL PAINTING 317
wall spaces upon which they are placed, proving
that the decorative scheme was the first thought of
the painter. In composition they are well balanced,
the figures, carefully distributed in the given spaces,
showing variety of pose and movement and often
most harmonious color schemes. We are fortunate
in having several particularly fine examples, like
those of the Odyssey series, the Aldobrandini Mar
riage and the decorations on the walls of both the
Villa and House of Livia furnishing an all-important
link between the past and the present.
Wall Paintings in Southern Italy
Lower Italy is especially fruitful in mural paint
ings, many without doubt having been painted by
Greek decorators, for here were preserved in almost
native completeness the Greek language, customs,
art, religion, and life. Painting, however, has suffered
more than sculpture or architecture from time's
decay, from volcano, fire, and earthquake, and only
scanty remains, in comparison to the original quan
tity, as yet have been discovered.
Paestum yields scarcely anything in the way
of painting, — its glorious temples atone for all
losses, — but the Campanian cities of Herculaneum

3i<

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

and Pompeii fortunately supply us with valuable
frescoes. Many of these have been taken to the
National Museum of Naples, which is the richest
storehouse in the world for those who are interested
in the study of mural paintings.
The wall surface of a Pompeian house was divided
into panels upon which was painted a ground surface
color. Red was most frequently used, but sometimes
black, yellow, even blue and green, and, more rarely,
a tone just off the white, filled the space. The cen
ter of each panel was the point of interest for the
painter's play of fancy. Frequently only a single
figure was used, — perhaps a young girl in airy,
flowing draperies of gauzy material, who played upon
a musical instrument; or again, a group represent
ing some mythological subject, like the panels of
Medea meditating the murder of her children, or
Herakles in some one of his feats of strength, — all
of which one can see in the Naples Museum.
The legend of Theseus, the various adventures
of Odysseus, Iphigeneia borne off to sacrifice, were
favorite subjects which furnished the painter with
dramatic themes. These and many others in excel
lent state of preservation have been removed from
the walls of Pompeian houses to the museum in

Room showing Division of Wall Spaces, Pompeii

320 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Naples. They were painted upon the wet plaster,
and thus when dry became an integral part of the
surface. This accounts for their extraordinary pres
ervation. Time and burial seem to have affected

Theseus and the Minotaur

them but little, although they fade somewhat upon
exposure to light and air.
A rare and beautiful example of painting on
marble can be seen in one of the corridors of the

MURAL PAINTING

321

museum, representing the daughters of Niobe play
ing the game of knucklebones. This series of five
pictures was painted by Alexander of Athens and
is one of the very few signed paintings of antiquity.
Pliny says that the
art of painting in
outline was a lost
art when he lived.
Of special inter
est are those scenes
which tell of the
private life of the
people, showing us
how the Romans
lived, their customs,
amusements, and
sports. Some of
these paintings are
no doubt portraits
and all give characteristic types of countenance and
style of dress of the time when the city met its final
doom. Such, for instance, is the Roman feast, one of
the later acquisitions from Pompeii, in which a grace
ful yoiing girl dances before the guests, the master
of the feast marking time by the clapping of his hands.

Daughters of Niobe playing
Knucklebones, Naples Museum
Painting on Marble

322

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

In the Naples Museum are also preserved a series
of pictures from Paestum. These record simple sub
jects in bright colors painted on a white ground, —
warriors returning home, greeted by women who
minister to their comfort. Above the frieze are bor
ders of Greek frets, rosettes, and wave-pattern de
signs. " That this is Greek art, although it cannot

Wall Painting, Paestum : Warriors returning Home
be proved, seems probable. Paestum lost its inde
pendence as an Hellenic community when the Luca-
nians conquered it in the fourth century before
Christ. The costumes, therefore, are Lucanian and
not Greek ; the profiles are not pure, or at least not
ideal Greek, but show something of national indi
viduality. Yet the style of these paintings, which

MURAL PAINTING 323
stands on the threshold of complete freedom, may on
the whole be pronounced more strictly Greek than
that of any other existing wall paintings." They
recall somewhat the Etruscan frieze from Grotta del
Barone in Tarquinia.
Of the Campanian cities of Stabiae, Herculaneum,
and Pompeii, the latter place alone yields a wealth of
mural paintings. Twenty-five years ago Dr. Helbig,
a German archaeologist, estimated the number of
frescoes then excavated at two thousand. Since that
time some of the finest have been discovered, mak
ing the total a much larger number.
Pompeii
Pompeii was conquered by the Romans in 290 b.c,
and although the scene of many wars, it remained a
Roman city until the time of its destruction, a.d. 79.
In a.d. 63 the city was partially destroyed by an earth
quake, so that much of it had to be rebuilt, and
therefore we can with certainty date many of its wall
paintings as belonging to that intermediate period.
At the eruption of Mount Vesuvius the volcano
threw out a stream of liquid mud, which ran down its
slopes and covered Herculaneum with a warm soft
paste which later hardened to the consistency of

324

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

stone. On account of the difficulty and expense,
little has been done during the last century in the
way of excavation.
Pompeii, on the other hand, was overwhelmed
with a shower of ashes and fine dust, which buried
the city. Many of the dwellings received but slight
injury, save where intense heat cracked wall sur
faces or consumed indurable material. Excavations
in modern times have revealed houses just as they
were at the moment of disaster, — the loaves in the
baker's oven, the household utensils in place. We
have, therefore, a Roman city preserved to our own
day precisely as it was in the days of Vespasian. To
Pompeii we must go to see mural painting iji situ.
" These wall decorations in Pompeii lend it a pecul
iar charm. Marble is seldom met with in private
dwellings, and even in public buildings it was not
employed before the imperial epoch. The columns
are usually constructed of tufa or bricks, covered,
like the walls, with stucco, painted with bright,
almost gaudy colors, chiefly red and yellow. The
lower halves of the columns are generally red or yel
low, the capitals tastefully painted. Ancient Pom
peii must have been a singularly brightly painted
town and unusually rich in pictorial decorations."

325

326 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
According to Mau, there are four distinct styles
to be found in Pompeian wall painting. The first
he calls the pre-Roman period, in which the style
is an imitation of marble, paneled in plastic stucco,
without pictures. The second, the period of the
Republic, is still an imitation of marble incrusta
tion, in this case painted, as are also the architec
tural members, as they might reasonably appear,
showing effects of light and shade as if there were
projections or depressions from the ordinary plane.
The third he designates as the period of the Early
Empire, to about fifty years after Christ. This is an
ornamental style, employing chaste and pure forms,
and noted for its finely related colors. The fourth
belongs to the last period of Pompeii and is found
abundantly represented. Its characteristics are elab
orately fanciful architectural representation, with deli
cate, playful richness of ornamentation frequently
carried to excess.
It is to be regretted that so little is known of
the earlier primitive expressions of mural painting,
for, according to existing remains, we can go back
only to the second century before Christ. Without
doubt the impulse to mural painting came originally
from contact with Greece and the Orient, and we

Second, or Architectural Style, Pompeii

327

328 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
perceive all through its development Greek tradition
and feeling.
Of the earlier pre-Roman period an excellent
example may be found in the House of Sallust, in
which the dividing up of wall spaces into larger and
smaller panels agreeably related produces a pleasing
impression. The second, or Incrustation Style, doubt
less was originally worked out in actual marble. Its
origin probably goes back to some important center
of wealth, — Mau suggests Alexandria, — from which
it spread to other places. Thus when marble could
not be procured the next natural step was to supply
the need by imitation in colored fresco.
Similar remains to those found at Pompeii, and
dating about the second century before Christ, have
been found at Pergamon, on the island of Delos, and
more recently in Priene. They may thus represent
the wall decoration of the Hellenistic age. Pompeii
has few important examples of this style ; the richer
and more elaborate are found in Rome. Those in the
House of Livia on the Palatine, already described,
belong to this time.
It is during this second period that wall paint
ings begin to assume a place of prominence in
the decorative scheme. The upper wall frequently

MURAL PAINTING

329

represents an open space, — often painted blue as if
to suggest the sky, — while the middle portion with
its boundaries of architectural framework forms a
background and frame for the picture. Thus the
main wall space was divided vertically into panels

Wall Painting, House of Surgeon, Pom
peii : Young Woman painting a Herm
of equal or unequal size, in which latter case the
narrower panels were ornamented with painted stat
ues of graceful figures holding musical instruments
or flowers and fruit. It is interesting in this con
nection to note a wall painting from the House of
the Surgeon. It represents a young woman in the

330 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
act of painting a herm.1 If the herm were a color
less statue the painter would scarcely be tempted
to use her color box and palette.
The third, or Ornate Style, is marked by distinc
tive characteristics. The architectural design makes
no pretense of obedience to reality and launches out
freely in purely decorative treatment of arrangement,
at the same time profusely ornamenting every archi
tectural member in fanciful and wayward profuse-
ness. The neutral tones of the walls, bordered by
black or white bands, give a severe but often a very
pleasing effect. This is well exemplified in the
beautiful House of Spurius Mesor.
In contrast to this, the fourth, or Intricate Style,
— organically related to the second rather than the
third, — is noted for its involved use of ornament
and its more brilliant coloring. The ground is
frequently left white or light in tone, against which
elaborate and complicated structures rise, dividing
1 This reminds one of a statement made in Von Mach's Greek Sculp
ture : its Spirit and Principles, recently published by Ginn & Company,
that Mr. Edward Robinson tells the author that, " on a recent visit to Pom
peii, he studied the wall paintings with the view of ascertaining whether
statues when painted on walls ever were painted white in imitation of the
natural color of the marble. He did not find one colorless picture of a
statue, but numberless instances of paintings of colored statues. This
observation, of course, goes far to disprove any possible objections tp
the theory of color on statues in Roman times."

MURAL PAINTING

331

the spaces into wide panels or narrow bands, which
are elaborately decorated with borders of vines,
birds, and dainty festoons.
Not infrequently the result is a curious medley of
varied effects, breaking up the wall spaces into dark

Third, or Ornate Style, Pompeii
and light spots, which are filled with figures flying,
dancing, running, or poised in a lively, irrespon
sible fashion. The effect is sometimes pleasing, but
the lack of unity and the complication of motives
and forms often distract and weary the eye. Here
and there are dainty little bits of landscape and

332

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

figure composition in the smaller panels that well
reward study. The quantity of this style of work is
surprising, considering the fact that most of it was
done between the earthquake of a.d. 63 and the
disastrous erup
tion of a.d. 79.
Since now we
are concerned
primarily with
mural decora
tion in its rela
tion to Greek
precedent, it is
to the houses of
the Tragic Poet
and the Vettii
that we must go
to see the finest
examples of the
painter's skill in
this direction.
The House
of the Tragic Poet has a peculiar interest to us, since
Bulwer Lytton chooses it for the home of Glaucus
in the Last Days of Pompeii. It belongs to the

jEneas Wounded, National Museum,
Naples

MURAL PAINTING 333
period immediately preceding the destruction of the
city, and though not large is unusually attractive.
Mosaic forms an important feature of decoration
and is well preserved in the various floors. Directly
behind the outer door is the sturdy figure of a dog x ;
other floors are worked out in simple but effective
patterns of black and white.
The paintings in this house are peculiarly fine.
In the large dining room are decorations on the
side walls, the large panels representing Two Fig
ures looking at a Nest of Cupids, Theseus about to
sail away from the lovely Ariadne, and an Artemis.
The smaller panels are decorated with graceful
figures hovering in the air, symbolizing the seasons,
or youthful warriors with helmet, shield, or spear, all
rendered with charming delicacy.
But it is in the atrium, which in most Pompeian
houses lacked decoration, that we find the richest
wall paintings, which are especially interesting to
us since they depict scenes from the Trojan War.
There is much skill shown in the arrangement, by
which the decorative framework serves to bring
them all into harmonious unity ; historic sequence is
not attempted. The subjects are : The Nuptials of
1 For illustration see page 261.

334

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Zeus and Hera, The Judgment of Paris, The Deliv
ery of Briseis to the Messenger of Agamemnon,
The Departure of Chryseis, and probably, although it

The Judgment of Paris

is sadly marred, Thetis bringing Arms to Achilles ;
another is too much injured for recognition. Of
the former subjects, The Nuptials of Zeus and Hera,
and The Departure of Briseis, which have been

MURAL PAINTING

335

removed to the Naples Museum, are among the best
known of Pompeian frescoes.
The latter is admirably conceived. In the fore
ground Patroklos leads forward Briseis weeping.

. Achilles: sending away Briseis
Achilles, seated, stretches forth his right hand as if
addressing Patroklos. At the left stands the mes
senger of Agamemnon waiting to take her away.

336

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Behind are helmeted warriors and the tent of
Achilles. Without doubt this is the copy of some

;r..,

Pasiphae and Daidalos, House of the
Vettii, Pompeii
famous original by a Greek artist, which may date
back as early as the fourth century before Christ.

MURAL PAINTING 337
In this house was found also The Sacrifice of
Iphigeneia.1 Pliny writes: " Timanthes was a painter
above all curious in invention, for by him is that
Iphigeneia, praised by the orators, whom he depicts
standing by the altar ready for death. Having
represented all the onlookers, and especially her
father's brother, as plunged in grief, and having
thus exhausted every presentment of despair, he
has veiled the face of her father, for which he had
reserved no adequate expression. He is the only
artist whose works always suggest more than is in
the picture, and great as is his dexterity, his power
of invention yet exceeds it."
Our Pompeian picture differs in detail from this
description. -Here Iphigeneia does not stand by the
altar but is carried — very awkwardly, we must admit
— by the two men ; but we have the face of Kalchas
filled with deep gloom and the figure of Agamem
non shrouded in his mantle, as in Pliny's descrip
tion of Timanthes' picture. In the sky are the figure
of Artemis, and the nymph bringing a deer, which
the goddess accepts as a substitute for the maiden.
Of all discoveries the House of the Vettii, exca
vated in 1894-95, is perhaps the best, since the
1 For illustration see page 121.

338 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
paintings, which are the most remarkable yet dis
covered, have been allowed to remain in place as
they were found. It is impossible in the limits of
this chapter to enumerate them all, much less de
scribe them. The subjects of the mural panels,
found remarkably well preserved in the various
rooms, are chiefly mythological: Ariadne aban
doned, Hero and Leander, Cupid and Pan wrestling,
Achilles in Skyros, The Infant Herakles strangling
the Serpents, The Death of Pentheus, Daidalos
arid Pasiphae, Hephaistos binding Ixion to the
Wheel in Hades, Dirke and the Bull, Iris announ
cing to Hera the Punishment, Dionysos finding
Ariadne. " The large room to the right of the peristyle is
the finest of all in point of ornamentation. On the
black band above the dado are groups of cupids:
Cupids throwing stones at a target, weaving and
selling garlands, manufacturing and selling oil, pour
ing wine, in chariot races, as goldsmiths and fullers ;
beneath the narrow wall panels are similar bands, on
some of which appear Psyches gathering flowers.
There are also three mythological scenes : Agamem
non entering the Shrine of Artemis in order to kill
the Sacred Hind ; Apollo after slaying the Python ;

MURAL PAINTING 339
Orestes and Pylades in Tauris, in the presence of
Thoas and Iphigeneia,1 who is now priestess of
Artemis. The red wall panels are occupied by hov
ering groups : Poseidon and Amymone, Apollo and

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Daphne, Dionysos and Ariadne, Perseus and An
dromeda." The painters of these decorations were craftsmen.
Not one painter in Pompeii nor at Rome, with one
exception, has signed his name to his work. They
were skillful decorators, who painted according to
1 It is interesting in this connection to note an article by Mr. Talfourd
Ely in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XVI, p. 145, called Pompeian
Paintings and their Relation to Hellenic Masterpieces, with special refer
ence to recent discoveries.
34°

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Greek precedent and tradition. They may have
been Greeks in the employ of wealthy Romans, or
they may have been Romans who copied famous
Greek paintings. We can probably never know

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Cupid riding on a Crab
these facts ; we do know, however, that there is
great variety in the quality of the work, and that
although some of it is coarse and inferior in con
ception and technique, some of it is wonderfully
pleasing both in color and design.

MURAL PAINTING

341

It was a decadent age and the mural painter
could not touch a plane out of keeping with the
standards of his time. We must remember too

Dancing Figure, Pompeii
that, in the glaring light of brilliant sunshine which
pours down pitilessly upon the excavated unroofed
house, we can get but slight idea of the dim,

342 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
subdued light in which these colors were intended
originally to be seen.
The rich red or black panels threw into charm
ing relief the floating figures in their filmy draperies,
or the more dignified and stately compositions which
tell of the myths of gods and goddesses and their
interest in the affairs of men, or the tales of heroes,
recording their adventures ; but perhaps most inter
esting of all are the glimpses which we get of the
everyday life of the people.
In regard to color, we must certainly give high
praise to these skillful decorators. Their problem
was not an easy one. To produce an harmonious
unity out of quite diverse elements requires skill of
a high order. Yet the results in the finest period
are almost without exception agreeable; many are
more than agreeable, even distinguished, — so distin
guished in fact that modern decorators still go back
to Pompeii for rich and daring color combinations.
If the ground were white or black, strong colors
could be used in the decoration; a colored ground
required more careful use of colors, and it is quite
surprising to note how effective were the tone
and key in such pictures where inharmony could
easily have resulted in less skilled hands. The

MURAL PAINTING

343

backgrounds were kept very simple, and each de
tail was carefully related to the general effect.
That landscape
was never made
an end in itself
and was always
well subordinat
ed to the figure
or architectural
composition may
be easily proved.
One writer says :
" Even in Pom
peian paintings,
which represent
painting in its
most advanced
stages in antiq
uity, sky and sea
are represented
very simply.
Rocks and rivers are depicted without any sense
of their true forms. Aerial effects and such objects
as distant hills, waves of the sea or clouds, are
seldom attempted. In Pompeian paintings, instead

Decorative Figure, Pompeii

344 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
of painting a spring, the artists would paint a river-
god leaning on his pitcher; instead of painting a
mountain, they would depict quite a wooden rock,
with a goat leaping on it or a mountain deity seated
on it in guise of a hunter. They naturally thought
of the features of nature as appearing in human
shape, rather than in their own material forms, and
preferred to interpret them through human embodi
ments rather than directly."
Landscape, the background of the picture, was
managed with conventional breadth and sometimes
is suggestive of Japanese simplicity of style. The
beautiful white or creamy tone of villas, country
houses, and garden arbors, such as one sees now
in and about Naples on the shores of that blue sea,
appear in especial charm, sometimes as backgrounds
of mythological scenes or again as accompaniments
of festal celebrations in which many figures live and
move in the same happy, gay, pleasure-loving way
as in real life. It is a real glimpse into a real world,
as true to-day as it was eighteen centuries ago.1
1 Mention should here be made of the recent purchase by the Metro
politan Museum of Fine Arts, New York, of seven frescoes from the villa
of P. Fannius Sinistor at Boscoreale. They represent both the earlier and
later styles of decoration, and are not inferior in beauty of coloring to any
in the National Museum at Naples. American Journal of Archaeology,
Vol. VIII, 1904.

MURAL PAINTING

345

In regard to composition, these decorations show
a careful regard to principles of balance and sym
metry. With fine discrimination figures and land-

Io conducted into Egypt

scapes were so disposed that they were held in
equilibrium. They thus refreshed- and satisfied the
eye. In color the object was to produce harmonious

346 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
unity, arid therefore the decorator's skill was chiefly
concerned with agreeable disposition of the various
masses of light and dark tones in concordant hues.
This was accomplished frequently during the finest
period with an amazing degree of success, and
although we must frankly recognize the fact that
even the best of these are in no sense great paint
ings, that in the main they are certainly inferior
to the best Roman work, and that from them we
can form but slight idea of what Greek fresco must
have been in its perfection on Greek soil, yet. we
are compelled to admit that these remains are not
only interesting but most valuable as well, forming
a unique and important connection between the art
of the Greek painter of old and that of modern
times.

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Dipylon, Rhodian, Corinthian, Etruscan]. Paris, 1897. 51 plates.
347

348 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Catalogue of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Vases in the Museum of
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Catalogue of Greek Vases in the Ashmolean Museum, by Percy
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Catalogue of Greek Vases in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,
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Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, by George Dennis. 2 vols. Lon
don, 1878.
Constructive und polychrome Details der griechischen Baukunst. In
Zeitschrift fur Bauwesen, Band 29, von Josef Durm. Berlin,
1880.
Das Athener Nationalmuseum : Phototypische Wiedergabe seiner
Schatze, von I. N. Svoronos. 1903.
Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, by Luigi Palma
di Cesnola, LL.D. Boston, 1885-1894.
Designs from Greek Vases in the British Museum, by A. S. Murray,
London, 1894. Designs from 62 red-figured kylikes.
Die Akropolis von Athen, von A. Botticher. Berlin, 1888.
Die antiken Odyssee-landschaften vom esquilinischen hiigel zu Rom,
von Karl Woermann. Munich, 1876.
Die antiken Schriftquellen zur Geschichte der bildenden Kiinste bei
den Griechen, von J. Overbeck. 1868.
Die archaische Poros-Architektur der Akropolis zu Athen, von
Theodor Wiegand and others. Leipzig, 1904. Color plates.
Die attischen Grabreliefs, von Alexander Conze. Berlin, 1 890-1 892.
Die Ausgrabungen zu Olympia, von E. Curtius, F. Adler, G. Hirsch-
feld, G. True, und W. Dorpfeld. Berlin, 1876-1880. Fully
illustrated.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 349
Die griechischen Vasen und- ihr Formen- und Oecorations-system,
von Theodor Lau. Leipzig, 1877. 44 plates.
Die griechischen Vasen: ihr formen- und decorations-system, von
Dr. Heinrich Brunn und Dr. P. F. Krell.
Die neue Ausgrabungen in Pompeji, von Richard Engelmann. 1901.
Die Vasensammlungen des Museo Nazionale zu Neapel, von H.
Heydemann. Berlin, 1872. 22 plates.
Dorische Polychromie: untersuchungen iiber die anwendung der
farbe auf dem dorischen tempel, von L. Fenger. Berlin,
1886.
Etruskische und kampanische Vasenbilder des koniglichen museums
zu Berlin, von Eduard Gerhard. Berlin, 1843.
Euphronios : eine Studie zur Geschichte der griechischen Malerei,
von Wilhelm Klein. Wien, 1886.
Examples of Greek and Pompeian Decorative Work, by James C.
Watt. London, 1897.
Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos, conducted by the British School
at Athens. Macmillan and Company, London, 1904.
Excursions arche'ologiques en Grece : Mycenes — De"los — Athenes
— Olympie — Eleusis — Epidaure — Dodone — Tirynthe — Tana
gra, par Ch. Diebl. Paris, 1890.
Excursions in Greece to recently explored sites of classical inter
est, by Ch. Diehl. Translated by Emma R. Perkins. London,
1893.
Famous Art Cities : Pompeii, by Richard Engelmann. London,
1904.
Fiihrer durch die Antiken in Florenz, von W. Amelung. Munich,
1897. [Vasensammlung, p. 197 ff.]
Fiihrer durch die offentlichen Sammlungen klassischer Alterthiimer in
Rom, von W. Helbig. 2d ed., 1899.
Grecian Architecture and Ornament, including the principal Pom
peian subjects of recent discovery, by eminent French artists.
George Polley, Boston and New York.
Greek Art on Greek Soil, by James Mason Hoppin. Boston, 1897.
Greek Vase Paintings, by Jane E. Harrison and D. S. MacColl.
London, 1894.

350 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Greek Vase Paintings : a selection of examples with preface, intro
duction, and description, by Jane E. Harrison. London, 1894.
Griechische Keramik. Tafeln : ausgewahlt und aufgenommen von
A. Genick mit Einleitung und Beschreibung von A. Furt-
wangler. Berlin, 1883. 40 plates.
Griechische Kunstgeschichte, von Heinrich Brunn. Vols. I and II,
Munich, 1893.
Handbook of Greek Archaeology, by A. S. Murray. London and
New York, 1892.
Hermes mit dem Dionysos-knaben : ein originalwerk des Praxiteles
gefunden im heraion zu Olympia, von Georg True. Berlin,
1878.
History of Ancient Art among the Greeks, by Johann Joachim
Winckelmann. Translated by G. Henry Lodge. London,
1850.
History of Art in Primitive Greece : Mykenaean art, by Georges
Perrot and Charles Chipiez. London, 1894.
History of Painting by Dr. Alfred Woltmann and Dr. Karl Woer-
mann, translated by Clara Bell. Dodd, Mead and Company,
New York, 1888.
Journey to the Sepulchres of Etruria, by Lady Hamilton Gray.
La Collection Sabouroff : Monuments de l'art grec, par A. Furtwang-
ler. Berlin, 1883-1887.
L'Art Etrusque, par Jules Martha. Paris, 1 889.
Les Ce"ramiques de la Grece propre : I'histoire de la peinture des
vases grecs depuis les origines jusqu'au V siecle avant 'Jesus-
Christ, par A. Dumont et J. Chaplain. Paris, 1888-1890.
Les Fresques de Boscoreale. See article in Gazette des Beaux-Arts.-
Paris, 1 90 1.
Lessons from Greek Pottery, to which is added a bibliography of
Greek ceramics, by John Homer Huddilston. The Macmillan
Company, New York, 1902.
Manual of Greek Antiquities: Books 1-5 by Percy Gardner; Books
6-9 by Frank Byron.
Manual of Greek Archaeology, by Max. Collignon. Translated by J.
H. Wright. New York, 1886. 36 illustrations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 35 1
Meisterwerke der griechischen Plastik, p. 149 ff., von A. Furtwangler.
[English translation by E. Sellers, p. io8ff.]
Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens, by Margaret de G.
Verrall, with introductory essay and archaeological commentary
by Jane E. Harrison. Macmillan and Company, London,
1890.
Myths of the Odyssey in art and literature, by Jane E. Harrison.
London, 1881.
New Chapters in Greek History : historical results of recent excava
tions in Greece and Asia Minor, by Percy Gardner. London,
1892.
On the Track of Ulysses, together with an excursion in quest of the
so-called Venus of Melos, by W. J. Stillman. Boston, 1888.
Pausanias' Description of Greece. Translated with commentary by
J. G. Frazer. 6 vols., 1898.
Pompei : la ville, les mceurs, les arts, par Pierre Gusman ; preface
de Max. Collignon. Paris, 1899.
Pompeii : its life and art, by August Mau, translated by Francis W.
Kelsey. New York, 1899.
Principles of Athenian Architecture, by Francis Cranmer Penrose,
M.A., F.R.A.S. London.
Schliemann's Excavations : an archaeological and historical study,
by Carl Schuchhardt. Translated from the German with an
appendix on recent discoveries at Hissarlik. London, 1891.
Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.
Sollen wir unsere Statuen vermalen? von Georg True. Berlin,
1884.
The Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art. Translated by K.
Jex-Blake, with commentary and historical introduction by E.
Sellers. Macmillan and Company, London; The Macmillan
Company, New York, 1896.
The Pompeia — a reproduction of the house of Pansa at Pompeii —
at Saratoga Springs, U.S.A. Franklin Webster, 1890.
The Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at yEgina, and of Apollo Epi
curus at Bassae near Phigaleia in Arcadia. London, i860.
Tiryns, by Dr. Henry Schliemann. London, 1886.

352 THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART
Trinkschalen und Gefasse des koniglichen museums zu Berlin und
anderer sammlungen, von Eduard Gerhard. Berlin, 1848-1850.
2 vols., 40 plates.
Une Ne"cropole Royale k Sidon, par O. Hamdy-Bey et Theodore
Reinach. Paris, 1892.
Vacation Days in Greece, by R. B. Richardson. Charles Scribners'
Sons. New York, 1904.
Vases grecs relatifs aux mysteres, par Eduard Gerhard. Stuttgart,
1839.
White Athenian Vases in the British Museum, by A. S. Murray,
LL.D., F.S.A., and A. H. Smith, M.A., F.S.A. London, 1896.

INDEX

Acheloos, 86.
Achilles, 119, 122, 150, 151, 156,
159. 237, 3°i» 334, 335, 336,
338.
Admetos, 295.
.Egina, 36, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79,
184, 185, 203, 228.
/Eneas, 158.
/Eschylos, 84, 114, 180,
Ae'tion, 133.
yEtolia, 286.
Agamemnon, 44, 122, 301, 334,
33S, 337, 338.
Agatharchos, 114, 115, 268.
Aigisthos, 170.
Ajax, 117, 119, 122, 237.
Akademe, 87, 91.
Akro-Corinth, 32, 35.
Akropolis, 36, 57, 58, 60, 63, 65,
66, 80, 83, 84, 107, 109, 178,
204, 217, 222, 231, 267, 276.
Akropolis Museum, 65.
Albani, villa, 306.
Albanian, 6, 8, 32.
Aldobrandini, 306, 307, 317.
Alexander, 125, 126, 127, 129,
130, 133, 176, 208, 209, 210,
211, 213, 214, 215, 262, 304,
3H-

Alexander of Athens, 321.
Alexandria, 133, 328.
Alkestis, 295.
Alkibiades, no, 114.
Alkinoos, 40, 42, 48, 272.
Alkisthenes, 135.
Alpheios, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 94.
Altis, 18, 23.
Amazon, 54, 107.
Amenhotep III, 152.
American Journal of Archae
ology, 344-
American School at Athens, 75.
Amphitrite, 238.
Amymone, 339.
Anchises, 158, 220.
Andokides, 178.
Andromeda, 339.
Annual of British School at
Athens, 279.
Antenor, 231.
Antike Denkmaler, 232.
Antiphilos, 133.
Antonines, 311.
Apelles, 123, 129, 130, 132, 133,
212, 302.
Aphrodite, 97, 130, 181, 220, 238.
Apollo, 19, 28, 29, 30, 32, 50,
125, 142, 145, 338, 339.

353

354

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Apollo, Temple of, 286.
Apollodoros, 106, 116, 118.
Appia (via) 306.
Apulia, 176.
Archaeological Museum, Flor
ence, 163, 301.
Archaeological Society at Athens,
44, ioi-
Areopagos, 63, 84, 85.
Arethusa, 15, 16, 94.
Argos, 314.
Ariadne, 125, 279, 333, 338.
Aristeides, 125, 126, 212.
Aristoboulos, 136.
Aristokles, 69.
Ariston, 125.
Aristophanes, 26, 87, 99, 119.
Aristotle, 104, 113, 133.
Artemis, 125, 134, 142, 333, 337,
338.
Artemis, Temple of, 130.
Asklepiades, 250.
Asklepiodoros, 133.
Asklepios, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54.
Assyrio-Babylonian, 157.
Athena, 43, 44, 55, 56, 59, 60,
65, 79, 86, 142, 145, 146, 165,
185, 232.
Athenaros, 120.
Athens, 27, 36, 48, 56, 57, 58, 72,
73, 74, 75, 76, 79, 80, 83, 84,
87, 88, 91, 100, 102, 117, 118,
124, 126, 145, 151, 154, 157,
161, 167, 168, 172, 177, 184,
187, 194, 195, 205, 222, 234,
237, 238, 243, 267.

Atlas, 143, 236.
Atreus, 43, 44, 45.
Attalos, in, 250.
Attic, 154, 161, 163, 172, 180,
181, 196, 224, 228.
Augeias, 191.
Augustus, 132, 137, 304, 311.
Barone, Grotta del, 292, 323.
Berlin, 177.
Bey, O. Hamdy, 208.
Bighe, Grotta delle, 292,
Black-Figured ware, 163, 164,
179.
Bceotia, Boeotian, 156, 159, 241,
243, 245.
Bosanquet, R. C, 257, 286.
Boscoreale, 344.
Boston, 167.
Botticelli, 130, 131, 132.
Briseis, 150, 151, 334, 335.
British Archaeological School,
75-
British Museum, 70.
Brygos, 143, 149, 15 1, 160.
Caere, 290.
Calumny, 130, 131.
Cambridge, 177.
Campania, 168.
Campanian, 177, 317, 323.
Capitoline Museum, 260.
Capua, 177.
Catiline, 314.
Cesnola, 178.
Chryseis, 334.

INDEX

355

Chiusi, 290, 291.
Collignon, Maxime, 189.
Constantine, 306.
Conze, Alexander, 92.
Corfu, 7, 9.

Dipylon ware, 70, 140, 151, 154,
155, 156.
Doric, 34, 55, 80, 184, 186, 187,
J93, J96, 197, 202, 228.
Dorpfeld, 17, 40, 48.

Corinth, 27, 32, 34, 38, 56, 80, Diimmler, 167.
124, 126, 159, 160, 287. Diirer, 127, 130.
Corinth, Temple of, 33. Duris, 143, 146.
Corneto, 290, 291, 299, 303.
Crete, Cretan, 145, 154, 192, 243, Ebers, 253.
274, 284, 285.
Cumae, 177.
Cupbearer, 275.
Cyclops, Cyclopean, 39,44, 46; 47. Ekphantos, 10 J.
Cyprus, 151, 152, 157, 158, 178, Eleusinian Mysteries, 96, 99.
243-

Egypt, Egyptian, 151, 161, 246,
247, 251, 253, 272, 278, 345.
Eirene, 134.

Cyrene, 161.
Daidalos, 226, 279, 336, 338.
Daphne, 145, 339.
Daphni, pass of, 89, 90, 97.
Darius, 126, 210, 262.
Delos, 229, 239, 328.
Delphi, Delphic, 29, 30, 31, in, Epidaurian Theater, 55.
145, 224. Epidauros, 50, 51, 55.
Demeter, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 241, Erechtheion, 60, 61, 187.

Eleusinian relief, 95.
Eleusis, 91, 98, 99, 100, 134, 243.
Elis, 235, 236.
Elysian, 28.
Elysium, 296, 303.
Eos, 160.
Ephesus, 118, 119, 130, 134, 187.
Epictetos, 166.

242.
Demos, 1 19, 126.
Dennis, George, 272.
Dexileos, 92.
Didymi, 187.
Diehl, Ch., 223, 232, 244, 272.
Dionysios, 106, 136.

Eretria, 172.
Ergotimos, 163.
Eros, 124, 238.
Esquiline, 152, 308.
Etruria, 290, 291, 304.
Etruscan, 1 13, 162, 290, 292, 294,
295, 297, 3°i> 302, 303, 323.

Dionysos, 31, 92, 125, 166, 238, Eumaros, 105.

338, 339-
Dipylon Gate, 91, 92, 154.

Euphranor, 126, 127.
Euphronios, 143, 166, 170, 178.

356

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Eupompos, 123.
Euripides, 180.
Eurydike, 167, 306.
Evans, A. J., 78, 274, 278, 284.
Fabius, 137.
Farnesina Palace, 316.
Faun, House of, 261, 262.
Fayum, 246, 247, 251, 253, 256.
Figurine, 172, 241, 244.
Flying Fish, 280, 281, 284.
Frangois vase, 162, 163, 228.
Galateia, 315.
Gardner, Ernest A., 196, 234.
Gardner, Percy, 50, 114, 181, 194,
228, 232.
Geometric, Geometrical, 151, 154,
158.
German Archaeological School,
75-
Giotto, in.
Gorgon, 186, 288, 289.
Graf, 250, 252, 253.
Gregorian Museum, 297.
Hades, 174, 302, 306, 338.
Hadrian, 258.
Halicarnassus, 187.
Harrison, Jane E., 84.
Hebe, 86.
Helbig, 323.
Helen, 1 18.
Helena, 133, 134, 264.
Helios, 144.
Hephaistos, 42, 338.

Hera, 165, 238, 334, 338.
Hera, statue of, 44, 142.
Hera, Temple of, 24, 45, 1 18,
239-
Herakles, 44, 66, 86, 117, 120,
142, 143, 144, 190, 191, 192,
196, 231, 235, 236, 237, 238,
318, 338.
Herakles, Temple of, 66.
Herculaneum, 290, 317, 323.
Hermes, 21, 22, 176, 238, 239.
Hero, 338.
Herodotus, 228.
Hesperides, 237.
Hieron, 51, 143, 178.
Hissarlik, 151, 158.
Hittorf, 183.
Homer, 23, 39, 40, 43, 48, 99,
no, 149, 237, 272.
Homeric, 150, 153, 156, 157, 220,
221.
Hoppin, James M., 73, 176, 231,
241.
Huddilston, John H., 142, 228.
Hygiainon, 105.
Hymettos, 17, 36, 63, 89.
Iaia, 135.
Iktinos, 100.
Iliad, 150, 237.
Ilissos, 86.
Io, 127,314, 315, 345.
Ionia, Ionic, 186, 187, 228.
Iphigeneia, 121, 318, 337, 339.
Iris, 338.
Isis, 251.

INDEX

357

Issos, 134, 135, 262, 264.
Ithaka, 13, 14.
Ixion, 338.
Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deut
schen Archaologischen Insti
tuts, 270.
Kalamis, 226.
Kalchas, 122, 337.
Kalypso, 134.
Kephallenia, 15.
Kephisos, 87, 88, 92.
Kerberos, 83.
Kerkyra, 7.
Kimon, 86, 290.
Kimon of Kleonai, 106, 107.
Kirke, 310.
Kladeos, 18, 23, 25.
Klitias, 163.
Kleanthes, 105.
KlearchoS, 120.
Klytaimnestra, 45, 84.
Knossos, 268, 273, 274, 275, 276,
279, 284.
Kolonos, 87.
Kratinos, 134.
Kronos, 24.
Kyzikos, 135.
Lateran, 306.
Latina, via, 311.
Leander, 338.
Lekythoi, thos, 171, 172, 173.
Lion, 233.
Lion Gate, 45, 46.

Lion Hunt, 209, 215.
Livia, House of, 314, 317,
327-
Livia, Villa of, 311, 312, 313,
317-
Lokris, 243.
London, 177.
Louvre, 218.
Lucian, 104, 130, 133, 226.
Ludius, 137, 313.
Lykabettos, 36, 63, 83, 85.
Lysippos, 129.
Mackenzie, 279.
Mantineia, 126.
Marathon, 89, 106, 237, 267.
Mars' Hill, 84.
Maspero, 251.
Mau, 326, 328.
Medea, 318.
Megara, 82, 243.
Melanthios, 133.
Melos, 157, 279.
Memnon, 1 79.
Menelaos, 43, 122.
Menidi, 69, 271, 297.
Metropolitan Museum, New
York, 177.
Mikon, 109, 1 10, 134.
Minoan, 277, 282.
Minotaur, 320.
Mnemosyne, 241.
Munich, 79, 177.
Murray, A. S., 154.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
167, 178, 252.

358

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Mykenae, 43, 44, 45, 48, 69, 151,
1 53, 268, 269, 270, 27 1 ,275, 280.
Mykenaean, 70, 151, 153, 158,
274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280.
Myrina, 241, 243, 245.
Mysteries, Eleusinian, 100, 102.
Naples, 1, 3, 135, 177, 290, 318,
32°, 344-
Naples Museum, 134, 177, 220,
262,265,290,318,321,322,335.
National Archaeological Museum,
Athens, 67, 91, 172.
National Museum, Athens, 48,
54, 241.
Naukratis, 161.
Nauplia, 38, 50, 69.
Nausikaa, 10, no.
Nemea, Nemean, 127, 142, 143,
236.
Neoptolemos, 159.
Neptune, Temple of, 184.
Nero, 305, 314.
Nike", 67, 68.
Nike" Apteros, 66, 67, 68.
Nikias, 126, 127, 314.
Nikomachos, 125.
Nikophanes, 136.
Nile mosaic, 264, 265.
Niobe, 321.
Nola, 168, 177.
Nymphs, 240.
Odysseus, 10, 14, 40, 48, no,
in, 112, 115, 119, 122, 125,
148, 150, 151, 302, 308, 318.

Odyssey, 40, 43, 48, 62, 63, 126,
267, 305, 3°8, 3°9> 317.
Oinomaos, 237.
Olympia, ic, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20,
25, 27, 119, 168, 189, 190, 193,
234, 236, 238, 257.
Olympias, 136.
Onatas, m.
Orchomenos, 269, 270.
Orco, Tomba dell', 302, 303.
Orestes, 84, 339.
Orpheus, 167, 169, 306.
Orvieto, 290, 296.
Ostia, 306.
Oxford, 177
Paestum, 184, 185, 197,290, 317,
322.
Painted Gallery, 109, 267.
Palamidi, 38.
Palatine, 314, 316, 328.
Palestrina, 264, 265.
Pamphili, villa, 311.
Pamphilos, 123, 129.
Pan, 37, 338.
Panainos, 106, 234, 236, 268.
Panathenaic, 59, 205.
Pantarkes, 235.
Paris, 177, 334.
Parnassos, 28, 31.
Parrhasios, 117, 118, 119, 120,
121, 122.
Parthenon, 36, 60, 62, 64, 65,
66, 100, 146, 197, 199, 201,
206, 308.
Pasiphae, 336, 338.

INDEX

359

Patras, i, 13, 27.
Patroklos, 150, 335.
Paul, 34, 56, 84.
Pausanias, 25, 30, 47, 55, 104,
107, 109, m, 124, 126, 205,
226, 237, 238, 267.
Pausias, 123, 124, 125.
Pegasos, 37.
Peiraikos, 136.
Peisistratos, 184.
Peleus, 163.
Penelope, 118.
Penrose, Francis Cranmer, 205,
208.
Pentelic, 64, 88, 201, 202.
Pentelikon, 36, 63, 88, 89.
Penthesileia, 237.
Pergamos, 257, 258.
Perikles, 170.
Perithoos, 236.
Perseia, 45.
Persephone, 93, 95, 125, 241, 302,
306.
Perseus, 44, in, 288, 289, 339.
Phaistos, 274, 285.
Pheidias, 44, 106, 113, 143, 234,
235, 238.
Philip, 129, 130.
Philis, 218, 219.
Philokles, 105.
Philoxenor, 126.
Phoenicia, 272.
Phylakopi, 268, 275, 279, 280,
281, 283, 284, 285.
Phyle, 89.
Pindar, 180.

Piraeus, 55.
Pirene, 37.
Plato, 56, 73, 86, 87, 99.
Pliny, 30, 104, 105, 117, 118,
119, 121, 125, 126, 127, 129,
132, 134, 137, 202, 249, 257,
3H, 321, 337-
Plutarch, 104, 202.
Pluto, 302.
Polygnotos, 30, 106, 109, no,
in, 112, 113, 114, 120, 167,
267, 310.
Polykleitos, 44, 51, 55.
Polyphemos, 148, 150, 301,302,
315-
Polyxena, 113.
Pompeian, 122, 260, 318, 325,
333, 335, 337, 343-
Pompeii, 127, 134, 220, 254, 255,-
256, 259, 260, 261, 263, 290,
318, 319, 321, 323, 324, 326,
327, 328, 329, 331, 332, 336,
339, 342-
Porta del Popolo, 311.
Portico, 109, 237, 267.
Poseidon, 142, 146, 238,339.
Praxiteles, 21, 238, 239.
Priene, 187, 328.
Prima Parta, 137.
Proculus, 254, 256.
Proitos, 47.
Prometheus, 237.
Propylaia, 59, 61, 64, 67, 108,
205, 267.
Propylaia of Eleusis, 100, 10 1.
Protogenes, 132, 133, 134.

360

THE GREEK PAINTERS' ART

Ptolemies, 254, 255.
Pylades, 339.
Pyrgos, 15.
Querciola, Grotta della, 297.
Questioner of the Dead, 127.
Quintilian, 104.
Raphael, 132, 305.
Red-Figured ware, 165, 166, 168,
179.
Rhodes, 133, 151, 152, 154, 157.
Robinson, Edward, 222, 330.
Roman, 103, 104, 127, 137, 153,
303, 304, 3'6, 32i, 323, 324,
326, 328, 340.
Rome, 1, 2, 125, 127, 132, 135,
137, 152, 177, 258, 260, 264,
265, 290, 291, 299, 303, 305,
306, 308, 310, 311, 312, 313,
3H, 315, 339-
Rospigliosi, 306.
Roxane, 133.
Rubaijat, 246.
Rubens, 215.
Sacred Way, 97, 100.
Salamis, 55, 82, 98, 230, 236.
Sallust, House of, 338.
Samos, 133.
Santorin, 151.
Sappho, 255.
Sarcophagus, 208, 209, 211, 213,
301.
Saronic Gulf, 36, 55, 63, 80,
83-

Schliemann, 40, 43, 47, 153, 257,
271.
Schrader, 232.
Scylla, 125.
Selene, 238.
Shelley, 96.
Sicily, 16, 160, 184, 198.
Sidon, 208, 217.
Sikyon, Sikyonian, 123, 124, 129.
Silenos, 26.
Skythes, 178.
Sophokles, 87, 99, 1 14.
Sosandra, 226.
Sosos, 258.
Spurius Mesor, House of, 330.
Studios, 136.
Sunion, 81, 82.
Sunion, Temple of, 81.
Surgeon, House of, 329.
Tanagra, 89, 159, 172, 224, 241,
242, 243, 245.
Tarquinia, 291, 295, 298, 323.
Tatoi, 88.
Tauris, 339.
Tegea, 243.
Thanatos, 174.
The Journal of Hellenic Studies,
78, 84, 114,154, 163, 171,257,
271, 274, 278, 339.
Thebes, 1 1 1 , 1 24.
Themistokles, 230.
Theodoros, 135.
Theodosios, 254.
Theokritos, 26.
Theophrastos, 120.

INDEX 361
Thera, 151, 152. Vaphio, 48, 69.
Thermon, 268, 286, 287, 288. Varro, 135.
Theseus, 107, 119, 126, 196, 237, Vatican, 305, 306, 308, 311.
318, 320, 333. Veii, 290.
Theseus, Temple of, 87, 107, 108, Velchas, 303.
194, 195. Venus de' Medici, 218.
Thetis, 163, 335. Vespasian, 264, 324.
Thoas, 339. Vesta, 238.
Tifone, Grotta del, 296. Vestibules, 109, no, in.
Timainetos, in, 267. Vesuvius, 3, 323.
Timanthes, 121, 122, 237. Vettii, 332, 336, 337.
Timarete, 134. Victory, 125, 235.
Tiryns, 38, 39, 41, 47, 69, 151, Vienna, 177.
153, 268, 269, 270, 271, 280. Vitruvius, 304, 306, 310.
Tithonos, 160. Votive statue, 65, 223, 227.
Titian, 215. Vulci, 295.
Tivoli, 258.
Tragic Poet, House of, 232, 261. Walters, H. B., 163.
Trajan, 306. Woltmann and Woermann, 116.
Triclinio, Grotta del, 297, 298, Wright, John Henry, 189.
299.
Triptolemos, 95, 96, 99. Zante, 15.
Triton, 66. Zappeion, 86.
Trojan, 30,44, 45,79, io9, "3, Zeus, 37, 51, 54, 59, 86, 117,
262, 333. 118, 130, 142, 145, 165, 236,
Troy, 151, 158, 301. 237, 238, 334.
Typhon, 231, 232, 233. Zeus, Temple of, 18, 19, 24, 26,
168, 190, 191, 192, 257.
Uffizi, 130. Zeuxis, 117, 118, 120, 122.

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