Parrhasius
Parrhasius
- Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster
- and Karim Arafat
Extract
Parrhasius, famous painter, son, and pupil of Euenor of Ephesus, later Athenian. *Pliny (1) dates Euenor420 bce and Parrhasius397 (with *Zeuxis (1), his great rival), while Quintilian says Parrhasius worked during the Peloponnesian War; but he made designs for Mys' reliefs on the shield of *Phidias' Athena Promachus (before 450). He was arrogant and wore a purple cloak and a gold wreath. He painted a ‘rose-fed’ *Theseus, an uncomplimentary picture of the *Demos, ‘Healing of *Telephus (1)’, *Philoctetes, ‘Feigned madness of *Odysseus’. Such pictures displayed the character (ethos) and expression which he discusses with *Socrates in the Memorabilia of *Xenophon (1). He wrote on painting. He was famed for subtlety of outline; Zeuxis for light and shade. His gods and heroes became types for later artists; his drawings on parchment and wood were used by craftsmen in Pliny's time.
Subjects
- Greek Material Culture