BOOK XXXV.

AN ACCOUNT OF PAINTINGS AND COLOURS. CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE HONOUR ATTACHED TO PAINTING. I have now given at considerable length an account of the nature of metals, which constitute our wealth, and of the substances that are derived from them; so connecting my various subjects, as, at the same time, to describe an immense number of medicinal compositions which they furnish, the mysteries[1787] thrown upon them by the druggists, and the tedious minutiæ of the arts of chasing,[1788] and statuary,[1789] and of dyeing.[1790] It remains for me to describe the various kinds of earths and stones; a still more extensive series of subjects, each of which has been treated of, by the Greeks more particularly, in a great number of volumes. For my own part, I propose to employ a due degree of brevity, at the same time omitting nothing that is necessary or that is a product of Nature. I shall begin then with what still remains to be said with reference to painting, an art which was formerly illustrious, when it was held in esteem both by kings and peoples, and ennobling those whom it deigned to transmit to posterity. But at the present day, it is completely banished in favour of marble, and even gold. For not only are whole walls now covered with marble, but the marble itself is carved out or else marqueted so as to represent objects and animals of various kinds. No longer now are we satisfied with formal compartitions of marble, or with slabs extended like so many mountains in our chambers, but we must begin to paint the very stone itself! This art was invented in the reign of Claudius, but it was in the time of Nero that we discovered the method of inserting in marble spots that do not belong to it, and so varying its uniformity; and this, for the purpose of representing the marble of Numidia[1791] variegated with ovals, and that of Synnada[1792] veined with purple; just, in fact, as luxury might have willed that Nature should produce them. Such are our resources when the quarries fail us, and luxury ceases not to busy itself, in order that as much as possible may be lost whenever a conflagration happens. CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE HONOUR ATTACHED TO PORTRAITS. Correct portraits of individuals were formerly transmitted to future ages by painting; but this has now completely fallen into desuetude. Brazen shields are now set up, and silver faces, with only some obscure traces of the countenance;[1793] the very heads, too, of statues are changed,[1794] a thing that has given rise before now to many a current sarcastic line; so true it is that people prefer showing off the valuable material, to having a faithful likeness. And yet, at the same time, we tapestry the walls of our galleries with old pictures, and we prize the portraits of strangers; while as to those made in honour of ourselves, we esteem them only for the value of the material, for some heir to break up and melt, and so forestall the noose and slip-knot of the thief.[1795] Thus it is that we possess the portraits of no living individuals, and leave behind us the pictures of our wealth, not of our persons. And yet the very same persons adorn the palæstra and the anointing-room[1796] with portraits of athletes, and both hang up in their chamber and carry about them a likeness of Epicurus.[1797] On the twentieth day of each moon they celebrate his birthday[1798] by a sacrifice, and keep his festival, known as the “Icas,”[1799] every month: and these too, people who wish to live without being known![1800] So it is, most assuredly, our indolence has lost sight of the arts, and since our minds are destitute of any characteristic features, those of our bodies are neglected also. But on the contrary, in the days of our ancestors, it was these that were to be seen in their halls, and not statues made by foreign artists, or works in bronze or marble: portraits modelled in wax[1801] were arranged, each in its separate niche, to be always in readiness to accompany the funeral processions of the family;[1802] occasions on which every member of the family that had ever existed was always present. The pedigree, too, of the individual was traced in lines upon each of these coloured portraits. Their muniment-rooms,[1803] too, were filled with archives and memoirs, stating what each had done when holding the magistracy. On the outside, again, of their houses, and around the thresholds of their doors, were placed other statues of those mighty spirits, in the spoils of the enemy there affixed, memorials which a purchaser even was not allowed to displace; so that the very house continued to triumph even after it had changed its master. A powerful stimulus to emulation this, when the walls each day reproached an unwarlike owner for having thus intruded upon the triumphs of another! There is still extant an address by the orator Messala, full of indignation, in which he forbids that there should be inserted among the images of his family any of those of the stranger race of the Lævini.[1804] It was the same feeling, too, that extorted from old Messala those compilations of his “On the Families of Rome;” when, upon passing through the hall of Scipio Pomponianus,[1805] he observed that, in consequence of a testamentary adoption, the Salvittos[1806]—for that had been their surname—to the disgrace of the Africani, had surreptitiously contrived to assume the name of the Scipios. But the Messalas must pardon me if I remark, that to lay a claim, though an untruthful one, to the statues of illustrious men, shows some love for their virtues, and is much more honourable than to have such a character as to merit that no one should wish to claim them. There is a new invention too, which we must not omit to notice. Not only do we consecrate in our libraries, in gold or silver, or at all events, in bronze, those whose immortal spirits hold converse with us in those places, but we even go so far as to reproduce the ideal of features, all remembrance of which has ceased to exist; and our regrets give existence to likenesses that have not been transmitted to us, as in the case of Homer, for example.[1807] And indeed, it is my opinion, that nothing can be a greater proof of having achieved success in life, than a lasting desire on the part of one’s fellow-men, to know what one’s features were. This practice of grouping portraits was first introduced at Rome by Asinius Pollio, who was also the first to establish a public library, and so make the works of genius the property of the public. Whether the kings of Alexandria and of Pergamus, who had so energetically rivalled each other in forming libraries, had previously introduced this practice, I cannot so easily say. That a strong passion for portraits formerly existed, is attested both by Atticus, the friend of Cicero, who wrote a work on this subject,[1808] and by M. Varro, who conceived the very liberal idea of inserting, by some means[1809] or other, in his numerous volumes, the portraits of seven hundred individuals; as he could not bear the idea that all traces of their features should be lost, or that the lapse of centuries should get the better of mankind. Thus was he the inventor of a benefit to his fellow-men, that might have been envied by the gods themselves; for not only did he confer upon them immortality, but he transmitted them, too, to all parts of the earth; so that everywhere it might be possible for them to be present, and for each to occupy his niche. This service, too, Varro conferred upon persons who were no members of his own family. CHAP. 3. (3.)—WHEN SHIELDS WERE FIRST INVENTED WITH PORTRAITS UPON THEM; AND WHEN THEY WERE FIRST ERECTED IN PUBLIC. So far as I can learn, Appius Claudius, who was consul with P. Servilius, in the year of the City, 259, was the first to dedicate shields[1810] in honour of his own family in a sacred or public place.[1811] For he placed representations of his ancestors in the Temple of Bellona, and desired that they might be erected in an elevated spot, so as to be seen, and the inscriptions reciting their honours read. A truly graceful device; more particularly when a multitude of children, represented by so many tiny figures, displays those germs, as it were, which are destined to continue the line: shields such as these, no one can look at without a feeling of pleasure and lively interest. CHAP. 4.—WHEN THESE SHIELDS WERE FIRST PLACED IN PRIVATE HOUSES. More recently, M. Æmilius, who was consul[1812] with Quintus Lutatius, not only erected these shields in the Æmilian Basilica,[1813] but in his own house as well; in doing which he followed a truly warlike example. For, in fact, these portraits were represented on bucklers, similar to those used in the Trojan War;[1814] and hence it is that these shields received their present name of “clypei,” and not, as the perverse subtleties of the grammarians will have it, from the word “cluo.”[1815] It was an abundant motive for valour, when upon each shield was represented the features of him who had borne it. The Carthaginians used to make both their bucklers and their portraits of gold, and to carry them with them in the camp: at all events, Marcius, the avenger of the Scipios[1816] in Spain, found one of this kind on capturing the camp of Hasdrubal, and it was this same buckler that remained suspended over the gate of the Capitoline Temple until the time when it was first burnt.[1817] Indeed, in the days of our ancestors, so assured was the safety of these shields, that it has been a subject of remark, that in the consulship of L. Manlius and Q. Fulvius, in the year of the City, 575, M. Aufidius, who had given security for the safety of the Capitol, informed the senate that the bucklers there which for some lustra[1818] had been assessed as copper, were in reality made of silver. CHAP. 5.—THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ART OF PAINTING. MONOCHROME PAINTINGS. THE EARLIEST PAINTERS. We have no certain knowledge as to the commencement of the art of painting, nor does this enquiry fall under our consideration. The Egyptians assert that it was invented among themselves, six thousand years before it passed into Greece; a vain boast, it is very evident.[1819] As to the Greeks, some say that it was invented at Sicyon, others at Corinth; but they all agree that it originated in tracing lines round the human shadow.[1820] The first stage of the art, they say, was this, the second stage being the employment of single colours; a process known as “monochromaton,”[1821] after it had become more complicated, and which is still in use at the present day. The invention of line-drawing has been assigned to Philocles, the Egyptian, or to Cleanthes[1822] of Corinth. The first who practised this line-drawing were Aridices, the Corinthian, and Telephanes, the Sicyonian, artists who, without making use of any colours, shaded the interior of the outline by drawing lines;[1823] hence, it was the custom with them to add to the picture the name of the person represented. Ecphantus, the Corinthian, was the first to employ colours upon these pictures, made, it is said, of broken earthenware, reduced to powder. We shall show on a future[1824] occasion, that it was a different artist of the same name, who, according to Cornelius Nepos, came to Italy with Demaratus, the father of the Roman king, Tarquinius Priscus, on his flight from Corinth to escape the violence of the tyrant Cypselus. CHAP. 6.—THE ANTIQUITY OF PAINTING IN ITALY. But already, in fact, had the art of painting been perfectly developed in Italy.[1825] At all events, there are extant in the temples at Ardea, at this day, paintings of greater antiquity than Rome itself; in which, in my opinion, nothing is more marvellous, than that they should have remained so long unprotected by a roof, and yet preserving their freshness.[1826] At Lanuvium, too, it is the same, where we see an Atalanta and a Helena, without drapery, close together, and painted by the same artist. They are both of the greatest beauty, the former being evidently the figure of a virgin, and they still remain uninjured, though the temple is in ruins. The Emperor Caius,[1827] inflamed with lustfulness, attempted to have them removed, but the nature of the plaster would not admit of it. There are in existence at Cære,[1828] some paintings of a still higher antiquity. Whoever carefully examines them, will be forced to admit that no art has arrived more speedily at perfection, seeing that it evidently was not in existence at the time of the Trojan War.[1829] CHAP. 7. (4.)—ROMAN PAINTERS. Among the Romans, too, this art very soon rose into esteem, for it was from it that the Fabii, a most illustrious family, derived their surname of “Pictor;” indeed the first of the family who bore it, himself painted the Temple of Salus,[1830] in the year of the City, 450; a work which lasted to our own times, but was destroyed when the temple was burnt, in the reign of Claudius. Next in celebrity were the paintings of the poet Pacuvius, in the Temple of Hercules, situate in the Cattle Market:[1831] he was a son of the sister of Ennius, and the fame of the art was enhanced at Rome by the success of the artist on the stage. After this period, the art was no longer practised by men of rank; unless, indeed, we would make reference to Turpilius, in our own times, a native of Venetia, and of equestrian rank, several of whose beautiful works are still in existence at Verona. He painted, too, with his left hand, a thing never known to have been done by any one before.[1832] Titidius Labeo, a person of prætorian rank, who had been formerly proconsul of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and who lately died at a very advanced age, used to pride himself upon the little pictures which he executed, but it only caused him to be ridiculed and sneered at. I must not omit, too, to mention a celebrated consultation upon the subject of painting, which was held by some persons of the highest rank. Q. Pedius,[1833] who had been honoured with the consulship and a triumph, and who had been named by the Dictator Cæsar as co-heir with Augustus, had a grandson, who being dumb from his birth, the orator Messala, to whose family his grandmother belonged, recommended that he should be brought up as a painter, a proposal which was also approved of by the late Emperor Augustus. He died, however, in his youth, after having made great progress in the art. But the high estimation in which painting came to be held at Rome, was principally due, in my opinion, to M. Valerius Maximus Messala, who, in the year of the City, 490, was the first to exhibit a painting to the public; a picture, namely, of the battle in which he had defeated the Carthaginians and Hiero in Sicily, upon one side of the Curia Hostilia.[1834] The same thing was done, too, by L. Scipio,[1835] who placed in the Capitol a painting of the victory which he had gained in Asia; but his brother Africanus, it is said, was offended at it, and not without reason, for his son had been taken prisoner in the battle.[1836] Lucius Hostilius Mancinus,[1837] too, who had been the first to enter Carthage at the final attack, gave a very similar offence to Æmilianus,[1838] by exposing in the Forum a painting of that city and the attack upon it, he himself standing near the picture, and describing to the spectators the various details of the siege; a piece of complaisance which secured him the consulship at the ensuing Comitia. The stage, too, which was erected for the games celebrated by Claudius Pulcher,[1839] brought the art of painting into great admiration, it being observed that the ravens were so deceived by the resemblance, as to light upon the decorations which were painted in imitation of tiles. CHAP. 8.—AT WHAT PERIOD FOREIGN PAINTINGS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED AT ROME. The high estimation in which the paintings of foreigners were held at Rome commenced with Lucius Mummius, who, from his victories, acquired the surname of “Achaicus.” For upon the sale of the spoil on that occasion, King Attalus having purchased, at the price of six thousand denarii, a painting of Father Liber by Aristides,[1840] Mummius, feeling surprised at the price, and suspecting that there might be some merit in it of which he himself was unaware,[1841] in spite of the complaints of Attalus, broke off the bargain, and had the picture placed in the Temple of Ceres;[1842] the first instance, I conceive, of a foreign painting being publicly exhibited at Rome. After this, I find, it became a common practice to exhibit foreign pictures in the Forum; for it was to this circumstance that we are indebted for a joke of the orator Crassus. While pleading below the Old Shops,[1843] he was interrupted by a witness who had been summoned, with the question, “Tell me then, Crassus, what do you take me to be?” “Very much like him,” answered he, pointing to the figure of a Gaul in a picture, thrusting out his tongue in a very unbecoming manner.[1844] It was in the Forum, too, that was placed the picture of the Old Shepherd leaning on his staff; respecting which, when the envoy of the Teutones was asked what he thought was the value of it, he made answer that he would rather not have the original even, at a gift. CHAP. 9.—AT WHAT PERIOD PAINTING WAS FIRST HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM AT ROME, AND FROM WHAT CAUSES. But it was the Dictator Cæsar that first brought the public exhibition of pictures into such high estimation, by consecrating an Ajax and a Medea[1845] before the Temple of Venus Genetrix.[1846] After him there was M. Agrippa, a man who was naturally more attached to rustic simplicity than to refinement. Still, however, we have a magnificent oration of his, and one well worthy of the greatest of our citizens, on the advantage of exhibiting in public all pictures and statues; a practice which would have been far preferable to sending them into banishment at our country-houses. Severe as he was in his tastes, he paid the people of Cyzicus twelve hundred thousand sesterces for two paintings, an Ajax and a Venus. He also ordered small paintings to be set in marble in the very hottest part of his Warm Baths;[1847] where they remained until they were removed a short time since, when the building was repaired. CHAP. 10.—WHAT PICTURES THE EMPERORS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC. The late Emperor Augustus did more than all the others; for he placed in the most conspicuous part of his Forum, two pictures, representing War and Triumph.[1848] He also placed in the Temple of his father,[1849] Cæsar, a picture of the Castors,[1850] and one of Victory, in addition to those which we shall mention in our account of the works of the different artists.[1851] He also inserted two pictures in the wall of the Curia[1852] which he consecrated in the Comitium;[1853] one of which was a Nemea[1854] seated upon a lion, and bearing a palm in her hand. Close to her is an Old Man, standing with a staff, and above his head hangs the picture of a chariot with two horses. Nicias[1855] has written upon this picture that he “inburned”[1856] it, such being the word he has employed. In the second picture the thing to be chiefly admired, is the resemblance that the youth bears to the old man his father, allowing, of course, for the difference in age; above them soars an eagle, which grasps a dragon in its talons. Philochares[1857] attests that he is the author of this work, an instance, if we only consider it, of the mighty power wielded by the pictorial art; for here, thanks to Philochares, the senate of the Roman people, age after age, has before its eyes Glaucion and his son Aristippus, persons who would otherwise have been altogether unknown. The Emperor Tiberius, too, a prince who was by no means very gracious, has exhibited in the temple dedicated by him, in his turn, to Augustus, several pictures which we shall describe hereafter.[1858] CHAP. 11. (5.)—THE ART OF PAINTING. Thus much then with reference to the dignity of this now expiring art. We have already[1859] stated with what single colours the earlier artists painted, when speaking of these pigments under the head of metals. The new modes of painting which were afterwards discovered, and are known as “neogrammatea,”[1860] the names of the artists, their different inventions, and the periods at which these inventions were adopted, will all be described when we come to enumerate the painters: for the present, however, the proposed plan of this work requires, that I should enlarge upon the nature of the several colours that are employed. The art of painting at last became developed, in the invention of light and shade, the alternating contrast of the colours serving to heighten the effect of each. At a later period, again, lustre[1861] was added, a thing altogether different from light. The gradation between lustre and light on the one hand and shade on the other, was called “tonos;” while the blending of the various tints, and their passing into one another, was known as “harmoge.”[1862] CHAP. 12. (6.)—PIGMENTS OTHER THAN THOSE OF A METALLIC ORIGIN. ARTIFICIAL COLOURS. Colours are either[1863] sombre or florid, these qualities arising either from the nature, of the substances or their mode of combination. The florid colours are those which the employer supplies[1864] to the painter at his own expense; minium,[1865] namely, armenium, cinnabaris,[1866] chrysocolla,[1867] indicum, and purpurissum. The others are the sombre colours. Taking both kinds together, some are native colours, and others are artificial. Sinopis, rubrica, parætonium, melinum, eretria and orpiment, are native colours. The others are artificial, more particularly those described by us when speaking of metals; in addition to which there are, among the more common colours, ochra, usta or burnt ceruse, sandarach, sandyx, syricum, and atramentum. CHAP. 13.—SINOPIS: ELEVEN REMEDIES. Sinopis[1868] was discovered in Pontus; and hence its name, from the city of Sinope there. It is produced also in Egypt, the Balearic islands, and Africa; but the best is found in Lemnos and Cappadocia, being extracted from quarries there. That part is considered the best which has been found adhering to the rock. In the native mass, it has its own proper colour within, but is spotted on the exterior; the ancients made use of it for tone.[1869] There are three kinds of sinopis, the red, the pale red, and the intermediate. The price of the best is twelve denarii per pound; it is used both for painting with the brush, and for colouring wood. The kind which comes from Africa sells at eight asses per pound; the name given to it is “cicerculum.”[1870] That[1871] which is of the deepest red is the most in use for colouring compartitions. The sinopis known as the dull[1872] kind, being of a very tawny complexion, sells also at the price of eight asses per pound; it is used principally for the lower[1873] parts of compartitions. Used medicinally, sinopis is of a soothing nature, and is employed as an ingredient in plasters and emollient poultices. It admits of being easily used, whether in the form of a dry or of a liquid composition, for the cure of ulcers situate in the humid parts of the body, the mouth and the rectum, for instance. Used as an injection, it arrests looseness of the bowels, and, taken in doses of one denarius, it acts as a check upon female discharges. Applied in a burnt state, with wine in particular, it has a desiccative effect upon granulations of the eyelids. CHAP. 14.—RUBRICA; LEMNIAN EARTH: FOUR REMEDIES. Some persons have wished to make out that sinopis is nothing else but a kind of rubrica[1874] of second-rate quality, looking upon earth of Lemnos as a rubrics of the highest quality. This last approaches very nearly to minium,[1875] and was as highly esteemed among the ancients as the island that produces it: it was never sold except in sealed packages, a circumstance to which it was indebted for its additional name of “sphragis.” It is with this material that they give the under-coating to minium, in the adulteration of which it is also extensively employed. In medicine it is very highly esteemed. Applied to the eyes in the form of a liniment, it allays defluxions and pains in those organs, and arrests the discharges from lachrymal fistulas. To persons vomiting blood, it is administered with vinegar to drink. It is taken also internally for affections of the spleen and kidneys; and by females for the purpose of arresting flooding. It is employed too, to counteract the effects of poisons, and of stings inflicted by sea or land serpents; hence it is that it is so commonly used as an ingredient in antidotes. CHAP. 15.—EGYPTIAN EARTH. Of the other kinds of rubrica, those of Egypt and Africa are of the greatest utility to workers in wood, from the fact of their being absorbed with the greatest rapidity. They are used also for painting, and are found in a native state in iron-mines.[1876] CHAP. 16.—OCHRA: REMEDIES DERIVED FROM RUBRICA. It is from rubrica also, that ochra[1877] is prepared, the rubrica being burnt[1878] in new earthen pots well luted with clay. The more highly it is calcined in the furnace, the better the colour is. All kinds of rubrica are of a desiccative nature, and hence it is that they are so useful for plasters, and as an application even for erysipelas. CHAP. 17.—LEUCOPHORON. Half a pound of Pontic sinopis, ten pounds of bright sil,[1879] and two pounds of Greek melinum,[1880] well mixed and triturated together for twelve successive days, produce “leucophoron,”[1881] a cement used for applying gold-leaf to wood. CHAP. 18.—PARÆTONIUM. Parætonium[1882] is so called from the place[1883] of that name in Egypt. It is sea-foam,[1884] they say, solidified with slime, and hence it is that minute shells are often found in it. It is prepared also in the Isle of Crete, and at Cyrenæ. At Rome, it is adulterated with Cimolian[1885] earth, boiled and thickened. The price of that of the highest quality is fifty denarii per six pounds. This is the most unctuous of all the white colours, and the most tenacious as a coating for plaster, the result of its smoothness. CHAP. 19.—MELINUM: SIX REMEDIES. CERUSE. Melinum, too, is a white colour, the best being the produce of the Isle of Melos.[1886] It is found also in Samos; but this last kind is never used by painters, in consequence of its being too unctuous. The persons employed in extracting it, lie at full length upon the ground, and search for the veins among the rocks. In medicine it is employed for much the same purposes as eretria;[1887] in addition to which, it dries the tongue, acts as a depilatory, and has a soothing effect. The price of it is one sestertius per pound. The third of the white pigments is ceruse, the nature of which we have already[1888] explained when speaking of the ores of lead; there was also a native ceruse, formerly found on the lands of Theodotus at Smyrna, which the ancients made use of for painting ships. At the present day, all ceruse is prepared artificially, from lead and vinegar,[1889] as already stated. CHAP. 20.—USTA. Usta[1890] was accidentally discovered at a fire in the Piræus, some ceruse having been burnt in the jars there. Nicias, the artist above-mentioned,[1891] was the first to use it. At the present day, that of Asia, known also as “purpurea,” is considered the best. The price of it is six denarii per pound. It is prepared also at Rome by calcining marbled sil,[1892] and quenching it with vinegar. Without the use of usta shadows cannot be made.[1893] CHAP. 21.—ERETRIA. Eretria takes its name from the territory[1894] which produces it. Nicomachus[1895] and Parrhasius made use of it. In a medicinal point of view, it is cooling and emollient. In a calcined state, it promotes the cicatrization of wounds, is very useful as a desiccative, and is particularly good for pains in the head, and for the detection of internal suppurations. If the earth, when applied[1896] with water, does not dry with rapidity, the presence of purulent matter is apprehended. CHAP. 22.—SANDARACH. According to Juba, sandarach and ochra are both of them productions of the island of Topazus,[1897] in the Red Sea; but neither of them are imported to us from that place. The mode of preparing sandarach we have described[1898] already: there is a spurious kind also, prepared by calcining ceruse in the furnace. This substance, to be good, ought to be of a flame colour; the price of it is five asses per pound. CHAP. 23.—SANDYX. Calcined with an equal proportion of rubrica, sandarach forms sandyx;[1899] although I perceive that Virgil, in the following line,[1900] has taken sandyx to be a plant— “Sandyx itself shall clothe the feeding lambs.” The price of sandyx[1901] is one half that of sandarach; these two colours being the heaviest of all in weight. CHAP. 24.—SYRICUM. Among the artificial colours, too, is syricum, which is used as an under-coating for minium, as already[1902] stated. It is prepared from a combination of sinopis with sandyx. CHAP. 25.—ATRAMENTUM. Atramentum,[1903] too, must be reckoned among the artificial colours, although it is also derived in two ways from the earth. For sometimes it is found exuding from the earth like the brine of salt-pits, while at other times an earth itself of a sulphurous colour is sought for the purpose. Painters, too, have been known to go so far as to dig up half-charred bones[1904] from the sepulchres for this purpose. All these plans, however, are new-fangled and troublesome; for this substance may be prepared, in numerous ways, from the soot that is yielded by the combustion of resin or pitch; so much so, indeed, that manufactories have been built on the principle of not allowing an escape for the smoke evolved by the process. The most esteemed black,[1905] however, that is made in this way, is prepared from the wood of the torch-pine. It is adulterated by mixing it with the ordinary soot from furnaces and baths, a substance which is also employed for the purpose of writing. Others, again, calcine dried wine-lees, and assure us that if the wine was originally of good quality from which the colour is made, it will bear comparison with that of indicum.[1906] Polygnotus and Micon, the most celebrated painters of Athens, made their black from grape-husks, and called it “tryginon.”[1907] Apelles invented a method of preparing it from burnt ivory, the name given to it being “elephantinon.” We have indicum also, a substance imported from India, the composition of which is at present unknown to me.[1908] Dyers, too, prepare an atramentum from the black inflorescence which adheres to the brazen dye-pans. It is made also from logs of torch-pine, burnt to charcoal and pounded in a mortar. The sæpia, too, has a wonderful property of secreting a black liquid;[1909] but from this liquid no colour is prepared. The preparation of every kind of atramentum is completed by exposure to the sun; the black, for writing, having an admixture of gum, and that for coating walls, an admixture of glue. Black pigment that has been dissolved in vinegar is not easily effaced by washing. CHAP. 26.—PURPURISSUM. Among the remaining colours which, as already stated,[1910] owing to their dearness are furnished by the employer, purpurissum holds the highest rank. For the purpose of preparing it, argentaria or silver chalk[1911] is dyed along with purple[1912] cloth, it imbibing the colour more speedily than the wool. The best of all is that which, being thrown the very first into the boiling cauldron, becomes saturated with the dye in its primitive state. The next best in quality is that which has been put into the same liquor, after the first has been removed. Each time that this is done, the quality becomes proportionally deteriorated, owing, of course, to the comparative thinness of the liquid. The reason that the purpurissum of Puteoli is more highly esteemed than that of Tyre, Gætulia, or Laconia, places which produce the most precious kinds of purple, is the fact that it combines more readily with hysginum,[1913] and that it is made to absorb the colouring liquid of madder. The worst purpurissum is that of Lanuvium.[1914] The price of purpurissum is from one to thirty denarii per pound. Persons who use it in painting, place a coat of sandyx beneath; a layer on which of purpurissum with glair of egg, produces all the brilliant tints of minium. If, on the other hand, it is their object to make a purple, they lay a coat of cæruleum[1915] beneath, and purpurissum, with egg,[1916] upon it. CHAP. 27.—INDICUM. Next in esteem to this is indicum,[1917] a production of India, being a slime[1918] which adheres to the scum upon the reeds there. When powdered, it is black in appearance, but when diluted in water it yields a marvellous combination of purple and cæruleum. There is another[1919] kind, also, which floats upon the surface of the pans in the purple dye-houses, being the scum which rises upon the purple dye. Persons who adulterate it, stain pigeons’ dung with genuine indicum, or else colour Selinusian[1920] earth, or anularian[1921] chalk with woad. The proper way of testing indicum is by laying it on hot coals, that which is genuine producing a fine purple flame, and emitting a smell like that of sea-water while it smokes: hence it is that some are of opinion that it is gathered from the rocks on the sea-shore. The price of indicum is twenty denarii per pound. Used medicinally, it alleviates cold shiverings and defluxions, and acts as a desiccative upon sores. CHAP. 28.—ARMENIUM; ONE REMEDY. Armenia sends us the colouring substance which is known to us by its name.[1922] This also is a mineral, which admits of being dyed, like chrysocolla,[1923] and is best when it most closely resembles that substance, the colour being pretty much that of cæruleum. In former times it was sold at thirty sesterces per pound; but there has been found of late in the Spanish provinces a sand which admits of a similar preparation, and consequently armenium has come to be sold so low as at six denarii per pound. It differs from cæruleum in a certain degree of whiteness, which causes the colour it yields to be thinner in comparison. The only use made of it in medicine is for the purpose of giving nourishment to the hair, that of the eyelids in particular. CHAP. 29.—APPIANUM. There are also two colours of very inferior quality, which have been recently discovered. One of these is the green known as “appianum,”[1924] a fair imitation of chrysocolla; just as though, we had not had to mention sufficient of these counterfeits already. This colour, too, is prepared from a green chalk, the usual price of it being one sesterce per pound. CHAP. 30.—ANULARIAN WHITE. The other colour is that known as “anularian[1925] white;” being used for giving a brilliant whiteness to the figures of females.[1926] This, too, is prepared from a kind of chalk, combined with the glassy paste which the lower classes wear in their rings:[1927] hence it is, that it has the name “anulare.” CHAP. 31. (7.)—WHICH COLOURS DO NOT ADMIT OF BEING LAID ON A WET COATING. Those among the colours which require a dry, cretaceous, coating,[1928] and refuse to adhere to a wet surface, are purpurissum, indicum, cæruleum,[1929] melinum, orpiment, appianum, and ceruse. Wax, too, is stained with all these colouring substances for encaustic painting;[1930] a process which does not admit of being applied to walls, but is in common use[1931] by way of ornament for ships of war, and, indeed, merchant-ships at the present day. As we go so far as to paint these vehicles of danger, no one can be surprised if we paint our funeral piles as well, or if we have our gladiators conveyed in handsome carriages to the scene of death, or, at all events, of carnage. When we only contemplate this extensive variety of colours, we cannot but admire the ingenuity displayed by the men of former days. CHAP. 32.—WHAT COLOURS WERE USED BY THE ANCIENTS IN PAINTING. It was with four colours only,[1932] that Apelles,[1933] Echion, Melanthius, and Nicomachus, those most illustrous painters, executed their immortal works; melinum[1934] for the white, Attic sil[1935] for the yellow, Pontic sinopis for the red, and atramentum for the black;[1936] and yet a single picture of theirs has sold before now for the treasures of whole cities. But at the present day, when purple is employed for colouring walls even, and when India sends to us the slime[1937] of her rivers, and the corrupt blood of her dragons[1938] and her elephants, there is no such thing as a picture of high quality produced. Everything, in fact, was superior at a time when the resources of art were so much fewer than they now are. Yes, so it is; and the reason is, as we have already stated,[1939] that it is the material, and not the efforts of genius, that is now the object of research. CHAP. 33.—AT WHAT TIME COMBATS OF GLADIATORS WERE FIRST PAINTED AND PUBLICLY EXHIBITED. One folly, too, of this age of ours, in reference to painting, I must not omit. The Emperor Nero ordered a painting of himself to be executed upon canvass, of colossal proportions, one hundred and twenty feet in height; a thing till then unknown.[1940] This picture was just completed when it was burnt by lightning, with the greater part of the gardens of Maius, in which it was exhibited. A freedman of the same prince, on the occasion of his exhibiting a show of gladiators at Antium, had the public porticos hung, as everybody knows, with paintings, in which were represented genuine portraits of the gladiators and all the other assistants. Indeed, at this place, there has been a very prevailing taste for paintings for many ages past. C. Terentius Lucanus was the first who had combats of gladiators painted for public exhibition: in honour of his grandfather, who had adopted him, he provided thirty pairs of gladiators in the Forum, for three consecutive days, and exhibited a painting of their combats in the Grove of Diana.[1941] CHAP. 34. (8.)—THE AGE OF PAINTING; WITH THE NAMES OF THE MORE CELEBRATED WORKS AND ARTISTS, FOUR HUNDRED AND FIVE IN NUMBER. I shall now proceed to enumerate, as briefly as possible, the more eminent among the painters; it not being consistent with the plan of this work to go into any great lengths of detail. It must suffice therefore, in some cases, to name the artist in a cursory manner only, and with reference to the account given of others; with the exception, of course, of the more famous productions of the pictorial art, whether still in existence or now lost, all of which it will be only right to take some notice of. In this department, the ordinary exactness of the Greeks has been somewhat inconsistent, in placing the painters so many Olympiads after the statuaries and toreutic[1942] artists, and the very first of them so late as the ninetieth Olympiad; seeing that Phidias himself is said to have been originally a painter, and that there was a shield at Athens which had been painted by him; in addition to which, it is universally agreed that in the eighty-third Olympiad, his brother Panænus[1943] painted, at Elis,[1944] the interior of the shield of Minerva, which had been executed by Colotes,[1945] a disciple of Phidias and his assistant in the statue of the Olympian Jupiter.[1946] And then besides, is it not equally admitted that Candaules, the last Lydian king of the race of the Heraclidæ, very generally known also by the name of Myrsilus, paid its weight in gold for a picture by the painter Bularchus,[1947] which represented the battle fought by him with the Magnetes? so great was the estimation in which the art was already held. This circumstance must of necessity have happened about the period of our Romulus; for it was in the eighteenth Olympiad that Candaules perished, or, as some writers say, in the same year as the death of Romulus: a thing which clearly demonstrates that even at that early period the art had already become famous, and had arrived at a state of great perfection. If, then, we are bound to admit this conclusion, it must be equally evident that the commencement of the art is of much earlier date, and that those artists who painted in monochrome,[1948] and whose dates have not been handed down to us, must have flourished at even an anterior period; Hygiænon, namely, Dinias, Charmadas,[1949] Eumarus, of Athens, the first who distinguished the sexes[1950] in painting, and attempted to imitate every kind of figure; and Cimon[1951] of Cleonæ, who improved upon the inventions of Eumarus. It was this Cimon, too, who first invented foreshortenings,[1952] or in other words, oblique views of the figure, and who first learned to vary the features by representing them in the various attitudes of looking backwards, upwards, or downwards. It was he, too, who first marked the articulations of the limbs, indicated the veins, and gave the natural folds and sinuosities to drapery. Panænus, too, the brother of Phidias, even executed a painting[1953] of the battle fought by the Athenians with the Persians at Marathon: so common, indeed, had the employment of colours become, and to such a state of perfection had the art arrived, that he was able to represent, it is said, the portraits of the various generals who commanded at that battle, Miltiades, Callimachus, and Cynægirus, on the side of the Athenians, and, on that of the barbarians, Datis and Artaphernes. CHAP. 35. (9.)—THE FIRST CONTEST FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE PICTORIAL ART. And not only this, but, during the time that Panænus flourished, there were contests in the pictorial art instituted at Corinth and Delphi. On the first occasion, Panænus himself entered the lists, at the Pythian Games, with Timagoras of Chalcis, by whom he was defeated; a circumstance which is recorded in some ancient lines by Timagoras himself, and an undoubted proof that the chroniclers are in error as to the date of the origin of painting. After these, and yet before the ninetieth Olympiad, there were other celebrated painters, Polygnotus of Thasos,[1954] for instance, who was the first to paint females in transparent drapery, and to represent the head covered with a parti-coloured head-dress. He, too, was the first to contribute many other improvements to the art of painting, opening the mouth, for example, showing the teeth, and throwing expression into the countenance, in place of the ancient rigidity of the features. There is a picture by this artist in the Portico[1955] of Pompeius, before the Curia that was built by him; with reference to which, there is some doubt whether the man represented with a shield is in the act of ascending or descending. He also embellished the Temple[1956] at Delphi, and at Athens the Portico known as the Pœcile;[1957] at which last he worked gratuitously, in conjunction with Micon,[1958] who received pay for his labours. Indeed Polygnotus was held in the higher esteem of the two; for the Amphictyons,[1959] who form the general Council of Greece, decreed that he should have his lodging furnished him at the public expense. There was also another Micon, distinguished from the first Micon by the surname of “the younger,” and whose daughter Timarete[1960] also practised the art of painting. CHAP. 36.—ARTISTS WHO PAINTED WITH THE PENCIL. In the ninetieth Olympiad lived Aglaophon,[1961] Cephisodorus, Erillus, and Evenor, the father of Parrhasius, one of the greatest of painters, and of whom we shall have to speak when we come to the period at which he flourished. All these were artists of note, but not sufficiently so to detain us by any further details, in our haste to arrive at the luminaries of the art; first among whom shone Apollodorus of Athens, in the ninety-third Olympiad. He was the first to paint objects as they really appeared; the first too, we may justly say, to confer glory[1962] by the aid of the pencil.[1963] Of this artist there is a Priest in Adoration, and an Ajax struck by Lightning, a work to be seen at Pergamus at the present day: before him, there is no painting of any artist now to be seen which has the power of rivetting the eye. The gates of art being now thrown open by Apollodorus, Zeuxis of Heraclea[1964] entered upon the scene, in the fourth year of the ninety-fifth Olympiad, destined to lead the pencil—for it is of the pencil that we are still speaking—a pencil for which there was nothing too arduous, to a very high pitch of glory. By some writers he is erroneously placed in the eighty-ninth Olympiad, a date that must of necessity be reserved for Demophilus of Himera and Neseus of Thasos, of one of whom, it is uncertain which, Zeuxis was the pupil. It was in reference to him that Apollodorus, above-mentioned, wrote a verse to the effect, that Zeuxis had stolen the art from others and had taken it all to himself.[1965] Zeuxis also acquired such a vast amount of wealth, that, in a spirit of ostentation, he went so far as to parade himself at Olympia with his name embroidered on the checked pattern of his garments in letters of gold. At a later period, he came to the determination to give away his works, there being no price high enough to pay for them, he said. Thus, for instance, he gave an Alcmena to the people of Agrigentum, and a Pan to Archelaüs.[1966] He also painted a Penelope, in which the peculiar character of that matron appears to be delineated to the very life; and a figure of an athlete, with which he was so highly pleased, that he wrote beneath it the line which has since become so famous, to the effect that it would be easier to find fault with him than to imitate him.[1967] His Jupiter seated on the throne, with the other Deities standing around him, is a magnificent production: the same, too, with his Infant Hercules strangling the Dragons, in presence of Amphitryon and his mother Alcmena, who is struck with horror. Still, however, Zeuxis is generally censured for making the heads and articulations of his figures out of proportion. And yet, so scrupulously careful was he, that on one occasion, when he was about to execute a painting for the people of Agrigentum,[1968] to be consecrated in the Temple of the Lacinian Juno there, he had the young maidens of the place stripped for examination, and selected five of them, in order to adopt in his picture the most commendable points in the form of each. He also painted some monochromes in white.[1969] The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Androcydes, Eupompus, and Parrhasius. (10.) This last, it is said, entered into a pictorial contest with Zeuxis, who represented some grapes, painted so naturally that the birds flew towards the spot where the picture was exhibited. Parrhasius, on the other hand, exhibited a curtain, drawn with such singular truthfulness, that Zeuxis, elated with the judgment which had been passed upon his work by the birds, haughtily demanded that the curtain should be drawn aside to let the picture be seen. Upon finding his mistake, with a great degree of ingenuous candour he admitted that he had been surpassed, for that whereas he himself had only deceived the birds, Parrhasius had deceived him, an artist. There is a story, too, that at a later period, Zeuxis having painted a child carrying grapes, the birds came to peck at them; upon which, with a similar degree of candour, he expressed himself vexed with his work, and exclaimed—“I have surely painted the grapes better than the child, for if I had fully succeeded in the last, the birds would have been in fear of it.” Zeuxis executed some figures also in clay,[1970] the only works of art that were left behind at Ambracia, when Fulvius Nobilior[1971] transported the Muses from that city to Rome. There is at Rome a Helena by Zeuxis, in the Porticos of Philippus,[1972] and a Marsyas Bound, in the Temple of Concord[1973] there. Parrhasius of Ephesus also contributed greatly to the progress of painting, being the first to give symmetry to his figures, the first to give play and expression to the features, elegance to the hair, and gracefulness to the mouth: indeed, for contour, it is universally admitted by artists that he bore away the palm. This, in painting, is the very highest point of skill. To paint substantial bodies and the interior of objects is a great thing, no doubt, but at the same time it is a point in which many have excelled: but to make the extreme outline of the figure, to give the finishing touches to the painting in rounding off the contour, this is a point of success in the art which is but rarely attained. For the extreme outline, to be properly executed, requires to be nicely rounded, and so to terminate as to prove the existence of something more behind it, and thereby disclose that which it also serves to hide. Such is the merit conceded to Parrhasius by Antigonus[1974] and Xenocrates,[1975] who have written on the art of painting; and in this as well as in other points, not only do they admit his excellence, but enlarge upon it in terms of the highest commendation. There are many pen sketches by him still in existence, both upon panel and on parchment, from the study of which, even artists, it is said, may greatly profit. Notwithstanding these points of excellence, however, Parrhasius seems comparatively inferior to himself in giving the proper expression to the middle of the body. In his allegorical picture of the People of Athens, he has displayed singular ingenuity in the treatment of his subject; for in representing it, he had to depict it as at once fickle, choleric, unjust, and versatile; while, again, he had equally to show its attributes of implacability[1976] and clemency, compassionateness and pride, loftiness and humility, fierceness and timidity—and all these at once. He painted a Theseus also, which was formerly in the Capitol at Rome, a Naval Commander[1977] wearing a cuirass, and, in one picture, now at Rhodes, figures of Meleager, Hercules, and Perseus. This last painting, though it has been thrice struck by lightning, has escaped being effaced, a circumstance which tends to augment the admiration which it naturally excites. He painted an Archigallus[1978] also, a picture which the Emperor Tiberius greatly admired. According to Deculo,[1979] that prince had it shut up in his chamber, the price at which it was valued being six hundred thousand sesterces. Parrhasius also painted a Thracian Nurse, with an Infant in her arms, a Philiscus,[1980] a Father Liber[1981] attended by Virtue, Two Children, in which we see pourtrayed the careless simplicity of childhood, and a Priest attended by a Boy, with a censer and chaplet. There are also two most noble pictures by him; one of which represents a Runner[1982] contending for the prize, completely armed, so naturally depicted that he has all the appearance of sweating. In the other we see the Runner taking off his armour, and can fancy that we hear him panting aloud for breath. His Æneas, Castor, and Pollux, all represented in the same picture, are highly praised; his Telephus also, and his Achilles, Agamemnon, and Ulysses. Parrhasius was a most prolific artist, but at the same time there was no one who enjoyed the glory conferred upon him by his talent with greater insolence and arrogance. It was in this spirit, that he went so far as to assume certain surnames, and to call himself “Habrodiætus;”[1983] while in some other verses he declared himself to be the “prince of painters,” and asserted that in him the art had arrived at perfection. But above all things, it was a boast with him that he had sprung from the lineage of Apollo, and that he had painted his Hercules, a picture now at Lindos, just as he had often seen him in his sleep. It was in this spirit, too, that upon being defeated by Timanthes, at Samos, by a great majority of votes, the subject of the picture being Ajax and the Award of the Arms,[1984] he declared, in the name of his hero, that he felt himself quite disgraced on thus seeing himself a second time defeated by an unworthy opponent. He painted also some smaller pictures of an immodest nature, indulging his leisure in such prurient fancies as these.[1985] As to Timanthes,[1986] he was an artist highly gifted with genius, and loud have some of the orators[1987] been in their commendations of his Iphigenia, represented as she stands at the altar awaiting her doom. Upon the countenance of all present, that of her uncle[1988] in particular, grief was depicted; but having already exhausted all the characteristic features of sorrow, the artist adopted the device of veiling the features of the victim’s father,[1989] finding himself unable adequately to give expression to his feelings. There are also some other proofs of his genius, a Sleeping Cyclops, for instance, which he has painted upon a small panel; but, being desirous to convey an idea of his gigantic stature, he has painted some Satyrs near him measuring his thumb with a thyrsus. Indeed, Timanthes is the only one among the artists in whose works there is always something more implied by the pencil than is expressed, and whose execution, though of the very highest quality, is always surpassed by the inventiveness of his genius. He has also painted the figure of a Hero, a master-piece of skill, in which he has carried the art to the very highest pitch of perfection, in the delineation of the warrior: this last-mentioned work is now at Rome, in the Temple of Pence.[1990] It was at this period, too, that Euxinidas had for his pupil Aristides,[1991] who became a most illustrious artist; and that Eupompus instructed Pamphilus, who afterwards became the instructor of Apelles. There is by Eupompus, a Victor in a gymnastic contest, holding a palm. So high was the reputation of this artist, that he established a school of painting, and so divided the art into three styles; whereas till then there had been but two, known respectively as the Helladic[1992] and the Asiatic. In honour of him, a native of Sicyon by birth, the Helladic school was divided into two, and from this period there were three distinct styles recognized, the Ionic, the Sicyonian, and the Attic. We have, by Pamphilus,[1993] a picture representing the Alliance and the Battle that was fought at Phlius;[1994] the Victory[1995] also that was gained by the Athenians, and a representation of Ulysses in his ship. He was a Macedonian by birth, but was the first painter who was also skilled in all the other sciences, arithmetic and geometry more particularly, without the aid of which he maintained that the pictorial art could not attain perfection. He gave instruction to no one for a smaller sum than one talent, at the rate of five hundred denarii per annum,[1996] and this fee both Apelles and Melanthius paid. It was through his influence that, first at Sicyon, and then throughout the whole of Greece, all children of free birth were taught the graphic[1997] art, or in other words, the art of depicting upon boxwood, before all others; in consequence of which this came to be looked upon as the first step in the liberal arts. It is the fact, however, that this art has always been held in high estimation, and cultivated by persons of free birth, and that, at a more recent period, men of rank even began to pursue it; it having always been forbidden that slaves should receive instruction in it. Hence it is, that neither in painting nor in the toreutic[1998] art has there been any celebrated work executed by a slave. In the hundred and seventh Olympiad, flourished Aëtion and Therimachus.[1999] By the former we have some fine pictures; a Father Liber,[2000] Tragedy and Comedy, Semiramis from the rank of a slave elevated to the throne, an Old Woman bearing torches, and a New-made Bride, remarkable for the air of modesty with which she is pourtrayed. But it was Apelles[2001] of Cos, in the hundred and twelfth Olympiad, who surpassed all the other painters who either preceded or succeeded him. Single-handed, he contributed more to painting than all the others together, and even went so far as to publish some treatises on the principles of the art. The great point of artistic merit with him was his singular charm of gracefulness,[2002] and this too, though the greatest of painters were his contemporaries. In admiring their works and bestowing high eulogiums upon them, he used to say that there was still wanting in them that ideal of beauty[2003] so peculiar to himself, and known to the Greeks as “Charis;”[2004] others, he said, had acquired all the other requisites of perfection, but in this one point he himself had no equal. He also asserted his claim to another great point of merit: admiring a picture by Protogenes, which bore evident marks of unbounded laboriousness and the most minute finish, he remarked that in every respect Protogenes was fully his equal, or perhaps his superior, except in this, that he himself knew when to take his hand off a picture—a memorable lesson, which teaches us that overcarefulness may be productive of bad results. His candour too, was equal to his talent; he acknowledged the superiority of Melanthius in his grouping, and of Asclepiodorus in the niceness of his measurements, or, in other words, the distances that ought to be left between the objects represented. A circumstance that happened to him in connection with Protogenes is worthy of notice. The latter was living at Rhodes, when Apelles disembarked there, desirous of seeing the works of a man whom he had hitherto only known by reputation. Accordingly, he repaired at once to the studio; Protogenes was not at home, but there happened to be a large panel upon the easel ready for painting, with an old woman who was left in charge. To his enquiries she made answer, that Protogenes was not at home, and then asked whom she should name as the visitor. “Here he is,” was the reply of Apelles, and seizing a brush, he traced with colour upon the panel an outline of a singularly minute fineness. Upon his return, the old woman mentioned to Protogenes what had happened. The artist, it is said, upon remarking the delicacy of the touch, instantly exclaimed that Apelles must have been the visitor, for that no other person was capable of executing anything so exquisitely perfect. So saying, he traced within the same outline a still finer outline, but with another colour, and then took his departure, with instructions to the woman to show it to the stranger, if he returned, and to let him know that this was the person whom he had come to see. It happened as he anticipated; Apelles returned, and vexed at finding himself thus surpassed, he took up another colour and split[2005] both of the outlines, leaving no possibility of anything finer being executed. Upon seeing this, Protogenes admitted that he was defeated, and at once flew to the harbour to look for his guest. He thought proper, too, to transmit the panel to posterity, just as it was, and it always continued to be held in the highest admiration by all, artists in particular. I am told that it was burnt in the first fire which took place at Cæsar’s palace on the Palatine Hill; but in former times I have often stopped to admire it. Upon its vast surface it contained nothing whatever except the three outlines, so remarkably fine as to escape the sight: among the most elaborate works of numerous other artists it had all the appearance of a blank space; and yet by that very fact it attracted the notice of every one, and was held in higher estimation than any other painting there. It was a custom with Apelles, to which he most tenaciously adhered, never to let any day pass, however busy he might be, without exercising himself by tracing some outline or other; a practice which has now passed into a proverb.[2006] It was also a practice with him, when he had completed a work, to exhibit it to the view of the passers-by in some exposed place;[2007] while he himself, concealed behind the picture, would listen to the criticisms that were passed upon it; it being his opinion that the judgment of the public was preferable to his own, as being the more discerning of the two. It was under these circumstances, they say, that he was censured by a shoemaker for having represented the shoes with one shoe-string too little. The next day, the shoemaker, quite proud at seeing the former error corrected, thanks to his advice, began to criticize the leg; upon which Apelles, full of indignation, popped his head out, and reminded him that a shoemaker should give no opinion beyond the shoes, a piece of advice which has equally passed into a proverbial saying.[2008] In fact, Apelles was a person of great amenity of manners, a circumstance which rendered him particularly agreeable to Alexander the Great, who would often come to his studio. He had forbidden himself, by public edict, as already stated,[2009] to be represented by any other artist. On one occasion, however, when the prince was in his studio, talking a great deal about painting without knowing anything about it, Apelles quietly begged that he would quit the subject, telling him that he would get laughed at by the boys who were there grinding the colours: so great was the influence which he rightfully possessed over a monarch, who was otherwise of an irascible temperament. And yet, irascible as he was, Alexander conferred upon him a very signal mark of the high estimation in which he held him; for having, in his admiration of her extraordinary beauty, engaged Apelles to paint Pancaste undraped,[2010] the most beloved of all his concubines, the artist while so engaged, fell in love with her; upon which, Alexander, perceiving this to be the case, made him a present of her, thus showing himself, though a great king in courage, a still greater one in self-command, this action redounding no less to his honour than any of his victories. For in thus conquering himself, not only did he sacrifice his passions in favour of the artist, but even his affections as well; uninfluenced, too, by the feelings which must have possessed his favourite in thus passing at once from the arms of a monarch to those of a painter. Some persons are of opinion that Pancaste was the model of Apelles in his painting of Venus Anadyomene.[2011] It was Apelles too, who, courteous even to his rivals, first established the reputation of Protogenes at Rhodes. Held as he was in little estimation by his own fellow-countrymen, a thing that generally[2012] is the case, Apelles enquired of him what price he set upon certain finished works of his, which he had on hand. Upon Protogenes mentioning some very trifling sum or other, Apelles made him an offer of fifty talents, and then circulated a report that he was buying these works in order to sell them as his own. By this contrivance, he aroused the Rhodians to a better appreciation of the merits of their artist, and only consented to leave the pictures with them upon their offering a still larger price. He painted portraits, too, so exactly to the life, that a fact with which we are made acquainted by the writings of Apion the grammarian seems altogether incredible. One of those persons, he says, who divine events by the traits of the features, and are known as “metoposcopi,”[2013] was enabled, by an examination of his portraits, to tell the year of their death, whether past or future, of each person represented. Apelles had been on bad terms with Ptolemæus in former times, when they formed part of the suite of Alexander. After Ptolemæus had become king of Egypt, it so happened that Apelles was driven by the violence of a tempest to Alexandria. Upon this, some of his rivals fraudulently suborned a jester, who was attached to the court, to carry him an invitation to dine with the king. Accordingly, Apelles attended; upon which Ptolemæus was highly indignant, and, summoning before him his stewards[2014] of the household, requested that the artist would point out the one that had given him the invitation. Thus challenged, Apelles seized a piece of quenched charcoal that lay in the fire-place, and traced a likeness upon the wall, with such exactness, that the king, the moment he began it, recognized the features as those of the jester. He also painted a portrait of King Antigonus;[2015] and as that monarch was blind of one eye, he invented a method of concealing the defect. With this object, he painted him in profile, in order that what in reality was wanting to the person might have the semblance of being wanting to the picture rather, he making it his care to show that side of the face only which he could show without any defect. Among his works, too, there are some figures representing persons at the point of death; but it is not easy to say which of his productions are of the highest order of excellence. His Venus Rising from the Sea, known as the Venus Anadyomene,[2016] was consecrated by the late Emperor Augustus in the Temple[2017] of his father[2018] Cæsar; a work which has been celebrated in certain Greek lines,[2019] which, though they have outlived it, have perpetuated its fame.[2020] The lower part of the picture having become damaged, no one could be found to repair it; and thus did the very injury which the picture had sustained, redound to the glory of the artist. Time, however, and damp at last effaced the painting, and Nero, in his reign, had it replaced by a copy, painted by the hand of Dorotheus.[2021] Apelles also commenced another Venus for the people of Cos,[2022] which would have outshone even the former one; but death invidiously prevented its completion, nor could any one be found to complete the work in conformity with the sketches of the outline. He painted also, in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, Alexander the Great wielding the Thunderbolts, a picture for which he received twenty talents of gold. The fingers have all the appearance of projecting from the surface, and the lightning seems to be darting from the picture. And then, too, let the reader bear in mind that all these works were executed by the aid of four[2023] colours only. The price paid in golden coin for this picture was ascertained by weight,[2024] there being no specific sum agreed upon. He also painted a Procession of the Megabyzus,[2025] the priest of Diana at Ephesus; and a Clitus[2026] on Horseback, hastening to the combat, his Armour-bearer handing him his helmet at his command. How many times he painted Alexander and Philip, it would be quite superfluous to attempt to enumerate. At Samos, there is a Habron[2027] by him, that is greatly admired; at Rhodes a Menander,[2028] king of Caria, and an Ancæus;[2029] at Alexandria, a Gorgosthenes, the Tragedian; and at Rome, a Castor and Pollux, with figures of Victory and Alexander the Great, and an emblematical figure of War with her hands tied behind her, and Alexander seated in a triumphal car; both of which pictures the late Emperor Augustus, with a great degree of moderation[2030] and good taste, consecrated in the most frequented parts of his Forum: the Emperor Claudius, however, thought it advisable to efface the head of Alexander in both pictures, and substitute likenesses of his predecessor Augustus. It is by his hand too, it is generally supposed, that the Hercules, with the face averted, now in the Temple of Anna,[2031] was painted; a picture in which, one of the greatest difficulties in the art, the face, though hidden, may be said to be seen rather than left to the imagination. He also painted a figure of a naked[2032] Hero,[2033] a picture in which he has challenged Nature herself. There exists too, or did exist, a Horse that was painted by him for a pictorial contest; as to the merits of which, Apelles appealed from the judgment of his fellow-men to that of the dumb quadrupeds. For, finding that by their intrigues his rivals were likely to get the better of him, he had some horses brought, and the picture of each artist successively shown to them. Accordingly, it was only at the sight of the horse painted by Apelles that they began to neigh; a thing that has always been the case since, whenever this test of his artistic skill has been employed. He also painted a Neoptolemus[2034] on horse-back, fighting with the Persians; an Archeläus,[2035] with his Wife and Daughter; and an Antigonus on foot, with a cuirass on, and his horse led by his side. Connoisseurs in the art give the preference, before all other works of his, to his paintings of King Archeläus on horseback, and of Diana in the midst of a throng of Virgins performing a sacrifice; a work in which he would appear to have surpassed the lines[2036] of Homer descriptive of the same subject. He also portrayed some things, which in reality do not admit of being portrayed—thunder, lightning, and thunderbolts, in pictures which are known by the respective names of Bronte, Astrape, and Ceraunobolia. His inventions, too, in the art of painting, have been highly serviceable to others; but one thing there was in which no one could imitate him. When his works were finished, he used to cover them with a black varnish, of such remarkable thinness, that while by the reflection it gave more vivacity to the colours, and preserved them from the contact of dust and dirt, its existence could only be detected by a person when close enough to touch it.[2037] In addition to this, there was also this other great advantage attending it: the brightness of the colours was softened thereby, and harmonized to the sight, looking as though they had been viewed from a distance, and through a medium of specular-stone;[2038] the contrivance, by some indescribable means, giving a sombreness to colours which would otherwise have been too florid. One of the contemporaries of Apelles was Aristides[2039] of Thebes; the first of all the painters to give full expression to the mind[2040] and passions of man, known to the Greeks as ἤθη, as well as to the mental perturbations which we experience: he was somewhat harsh, however, in his colours. There is a picture by him of a Captured City, in which is represented an infant crawling toward the breast of its wounded mother, who, though at the point of death, has all the appearance of being aware of it, and of being in dread lest the child should suck blood in place of milk from her exhausted breast: this picture Alexander the Great ordered to be transferred to Pella, his native place. Aristides also painted a Battle with the Persians, a picture which contained one hundred figures, for each of which he was paid at the rate of ten minæ by Mnason, the tyrant of Elatea.[2041] He also painted Chariots with four horses in full career; a Suppliant, which almost speaks, Huntsmen with game; Leontion, the mistress of Epicurus; the Anapauomene,[2042] a damsel pining to death from love for her brother; a Father Liber[2043] also, and an Artamene, two fine pictures now to be seen in the Temple of Ceres[2044] at Rome; a Tragedian and a Child, in the Temple of Apollo,[2045] a picture which has lost its beauty, owing to the unskilfulness of the painter to whom M. Junius, the prætor, entrusted the cleaning of it, about the period of the Apollinarian Games.[2046] There was also to be seen, in the Temple of Faith, in the Capitol, a picture of his, representing an Aged Man giving instructions to a Child on the lyre. He executed also a painting of an Invalid, upon which endless encomiums have been lavished. Indeed, so great was the excellence of this artist, that King Attalus, it is said, purchased one picture of his at the price of one hundred talents. At the same period[2047] flourished Protogenes, as already stated. He was a native of Caunus,[2048] a place held in subjection by the Rhodians. Great poverty in his early days, and extreme application to his art, were the causes of his comparative unproductiveness. It is not known with certainty from whom he received his instruction in the art: indeed some say that he was only a ship-decorator down to his fiftieth year; a proof of which, it is asserted, is the fact, that in decorating the Propylæum[2049] of the Temple of Minerva, situate in one of the most celebrated spots in Athens, where he has painted the fine picture[2050] of Paralus and Hammonias, known by some as the Nausicaa, he has added in the side pieces of the picture, by painters called “parerga,” several small ships of war;[2051] wishing thereby to show in what department that skill had first manifested itself which had thus reached the citadel of Athens, the scene of his glory. Of all his compositions, however, the palm has been awarded to his Ialysus,[2052] now at Rome, consecrated in the Temple of Peace there. So long as he was at work upon it, he lived, it is said, upon nothing but soaked lupines; by which means he at once appeased both hunger and thirst, and avoided all risk of blunting his perception by too delicate a diet. In order to protect this picture against the effects of ill-usage and old age, he painted it over four times,[2053] so that when an upper coat might fail, there would be an under one to succeed it. There is in this picture the figure of a dog, which was completed in a very remarkable manner, inasmuch as accident had an equal share with design in the execution of it. The painter was of opinion that he had not given the proper expression to the foam at the mouth of the animal, panting for breath, as it was represented; while, with all other parts of the picture, a thing extremely difficult with him, he was perfectly satisfied. The thing that displeased him was, the evident traces of art in the execution of it, touches which did not admit of any diminution, and yet had all the appearance of being too laboured, the effect produced being far removed from his conception of the reality: the foam, in fact, bore the marks of being painted, and not of being the natural secretion of the animal’s mouth. Vexed and tormented by this dilemma, it being his wish to depict truth itself, and not something that only bore a semblance of truth, he effaced it again and again, changed his pencil for another, and yet by no possibility could satisfy himself. At last, quite out of temper with an art, which, in spite of him, would still obtrude itself, he dashed his sponge against the vexatious spot; when behold! the sponge replaced the colours that it had just removed, exactly in accordance with his utmost wishes, and thus did chance represent Nature in a painting. Following his example, Nealces,[2054] it is said, succeeded in representing the foam at a horse’s mouth; for on one occasion, when engaged in painting a man holding in a pair of horses and soothing them with his voice,[2055] he also dashed his sponge against the picture, with the view of producing a like effect. It was on account of this Ialysus, which he was apprehensive of destroying, that King Demetrius[2056] forbore to set fire to the only side of the city of Rhodes by which it was capable of being taken; and thus, in his anxiety to spare a picture, did he lose his only opportunity of gaining a victory. The dwelling of Protogenes at this period was situate in a little garden in the suburbs, or in other words, in the midst of the camp of Demetrius. The combats that were taking place made no difference whatever to the artist, and in no way interrupted his proceeding with the works which he had commenced; until at last he was summoned before the king, who enquired how he could have the assurance thus to remain without the walls. “Because I know,” was his answer, “that you are waging war with the Rhodians, and not with the arts.” Upon this, the king, delighted at having the opportunity of protecting the hand which he had thus spared, ordered a guard to be placed at his disposal for the especial purpose of his protection. In order, too, that he might not distract the artist’s attention by sending for him too often, he would often go, an enemy albeit, to pay him a visit, and, abandoning his aspirations for victory, in the midst of arms and the battering down of walls, would attentively examine the compositions of the painter. Even to this day, the story is still attached to the picture which he was then engaged upon, to the effect, that Protogenes painted it beneath the sword. It is his Satyr, known as the “Anapauomenos;”[2057] in whose hand, to mark the sense of security that he felt, the painter has placed a pair of pipes. Protogenes executed also, a Cydippe; a Tlepolemus; a portrait of Philiscus, the tragic poet, in an attitude of meditation; an Athlete; a portrait of King Antigonus, and one of the mother of Aristotle.[2058] It was this philosopher too, who advised him to paint the exploits of Alexander the Great, as being certain to be held in everlasting remembrance. The impulse, however, of his natural disposition, combined with a certain artistic caprice, led him in preference to adopt the various subjects which have just been mentioned. His last works were representations of Alexander and the god Pan. He also executed some figures in bronze, as already[2059] stated. At the same period also, lived Asclepiodorus,[2060] who was greatly admired by Apelles for his proportions. The tyrant Mnason[2061] paid him, for his picture of the Twelve Gods, at the rate of thirty minæ for each divinity. This same Mnason also paid Theomnestus twenty minæ for each of his Heroes. In addition to these, it is only proper to mention Nicomachus,[2062] the son and disciple of Aristiæus. He painted a Rape of Proserpina, a picture that was formerly in the Temple of Minerva in the Capitol, above the shrine of Juventas.[2063] Another picture of his was to be seen also in the Capitol, placed there by the Roman general Plancus,[2064] a Victory soaring aloft in a chariot: he was the first painter who represented Ulysses wearing the pileus.[2065] He painted also an Apollo and Diana; the Mother[2066] of the Gods seated on a Lion; the fine picture of the Bacchantes, with Satyrs moving stealthily towards them; and a Scylla, now at Rome in the Temple of Peace. No painter ever worked with greater rapidity than Nicomachus; indeed it is said, that on one occasion having entered into an engagement with Aristratus,[2067] the tyrant of Sicyon, to paint within a given time the monument which he was raising to the memory of the poet Telestis,[2068] the artist only arrived a few days before the expiration of the term; upon which, the tyrant was so angry that he threatened to punish him: however, in the few days that were left, Nicomachus, to the admiration of all, completed the work, with equal promptitude and success. Among his pupils, were his brother Ariston, his son Aristides, and Philoxenus of Eretria, who painted for King Cassander a picture representing one of the battles between Alexander and Darius, a work which may bear comparison with any. He also painted a picture in grotesque, representing Three Sileni at their revels. Imitating the celerity of execution displayed by his master, he introduced a more sketchy style of painting, executed in a comparatively off-hand manner.[2069] To these artists Nicophanes[2070] has also been added, an elegant and finished painter, to whom for gracefulness few can be compared, but for a severe and tragic style far inferior to Zeuxis or Apelles. Perseus also belongs to this period, a pupil of Apelles, who dedicated to him his work on painting. Aristides of Thebes had for pupils his sons Niceros and Ariston. By the latter of these artists, there is a Satyr crowned with a chaplet and holding a goblet: two of his pupils were Antorides and Euphranor, of the latter of whom we shall have to make mention again.[2071] CHAP. 37.—VARIOUS OTHER KINDS OF PAINTING. We must now, however, make some mention of those artists who acquired fame by the pencil in an inferior style of painting. Among these was Piræicus, inferior to few of the painters in skill. I am not sure that he did not do injustice to himself by the choice of his subjects,[2072] seeing that, although he adopted an humble walk, he still attained in that walk the highest reputation. His subjects were barbers’ shops, cobblers’ stalls, jackasses, eatables, and the like, and to these he was indebted for his epithet of “Rhyparographos.”[2073] His paintings, however, are exquisitely pleasing, and have sold at higher prices than the very largest works of many masters. On the other hand again, as Varro tells us, a single picture by Serapio covered the whole space of the balustrades,[2074] beneath the Old Shops,[2075] where it was exhibited. This artist was very successful in painting stage-scenery, but was unable to depict the human form. Dionysius,[2076] on the contrary, painted nothing but men, and hence it was that he had the surname of “Anthropographos.”[2077] Callicles[2078] also painted some small pictures, and Calates executed some small works in the comic style. Both of these styles were adopted by Antiphilus;[2079] who painted a very fine Hesione, and a Philip and Alexander with Minerva, now in the School of the Porticos[2080] of Octavia. In the Portico of Philippus,[2081] also, there is a Father Liber[2082] by him; an Alexander when a child; and an Hippolytus alarmed at the Bull, which is rushing upon him:[2083] and in the Portico of Pompeius[2084] we have his Cadmus and Europa. On the other hand, again, he painted a figure in a ridiculous costume, known jocosely as the Gryllus; and hence it is that pictures of this class[2085] are generally known as “Grylli.” Antiphilus was a native of Egypt, and received instruction in the art from Ctesidemus.[2086] It would not be right to pass in silence the painter of the Temple at Ardea,[2087] the more particularly as he was honoured with the citizenship at that place, and with the following inscription in verse upon one of the paintings which he executed there: “These paintings, worthy of this worthy place, Temple of Juno, queen, and wife of Jove, Plautius Marcus,[2088] from Alalia, made. May Ardea now and ever praise him for his skill.” These lines are written in ancient Latin characters. Ludius too, who lived in the time of the late Emperor Augustus, must not be allowed to pass without some notice; for he was the first to introduce the fashion of covering the walls of our houses with most pleasing landscapes, representing villas, porticos, ornamental gardening, woods, groves, hills, fishponds, canals,[2089] rivers, sea-shores, and anything else one could desire; varied with figures of persons walking, sailing, or proceeding to their villas, on asses or in carriages. Then, too, there are others to be seen fishing, fowling, or gathering in the vintage. In some of his decorations there are fine villas to be seen, and roads to them across the marshes, with women making[2090] bargains to be carried across on men’s shoulders, who move along slipping at every step and tottering beneath their load; with numberless other subjects of a similar nature, redolent of mirth and of the most amusing ingenuity. It was this artist, too, who first decorated our uncovered[2091] edifices with representations of maritime cities, a subject which produces a most pleasing effect, and at a very trifling expense. But as for fame, that has been reserved solely for the artists who have painted pictures; a thing that gives us all the more reason to venerate the prudence displayed by the men of ancient times. For with them, it was not the practice to decorate the walls of houses, for the gratification of the owners only; nor did they lavish all their resources upon a dwelling which must of necessity always remain a fixture in one spot, and admits of no removal in case of conflagration. Protogenes was content with a cottage in his little garden; Apelles had no paintings on the plaster of his walls; it not being the fashion in their day to colour the party-walls of houses from top to bottom. With all those artists, art was ever watchful for the benefit of whole cities only, and in those times a painter was regarded as the common property of all. Shortly before the time of the late Emperor Augustus, Arellius was in high esteem at Rome; and with fair reason, had he not profaned the art by a disgraceful piece of profanity; for, being always in love with some woman or other, it was his practice, in painting goddesses, to give them the features of his mistresses; hence it is, that there were always some figures of prostitutes to be seen in his pictures. More recently, lived Amulius,[2092] a grave and serious personage, but a painter in the florid style. By this artist there was a Minerva, which had the appearance of always looking at the spectators, from whatever point it was viewed. He only painted a few hours each day, and then with the greatest gravity, for he always kept the toga on, even when in the midst of his implements. The Golden Palace[2093] of Nero was the prison-house of this artist’s productions, and hence it is that there are so few of them to be be seen elsewhere. Next in repute to him were Cornelius Pinus and Attius Priscus, who painted the Temple of Honour and that of Virtue,[2094] on their restoration by the Emperor Vespasianus Augustus. Priscus approaches more closely to the ancient masters. CHAP. 38. (11.)—AN EFFECTUAL WAY OF PUTTING A STOP TO THE SINGING OF BIRDS. I must not omit here, in reference to painting, a celebrated story that is told about Lepidus. During the Triumvirate, when he was entertained by the magistrates of a certain place, he had lodgings given him in a house that was wholly surrounded with trees. The next day, he complained to them in a threatening tone, that he had been unable to sleep for the singing of the birds there. Accordingly, they had a dragon painted, on pieces of parchment of the greatest length that could possibly be obtained, and surrounded the grove with it; a thing that so terrified the birds, it is said, that they became silent at once; and hence it was that it first became known how this object could be attained. CHAP. 39.—ARTISTS WHO HAVE PAINTED IN ENCAUSTICS OR WAX, WITH EITHER THE CESTRUM OR THE PENCIL. It is not agreed who was the inventor of the art of painting in wax and in encaustic.[2095] Some think that it was a discovery of the painter Aristides,[2096] and that it was afterwards brought to perfection by Praxiteles: but there are encaustic paintings in existence, of a somewhat prior date to them, those by Polygnotus,[2097] for example, and by Nicanor and Arcesilaüs,[2098] natives of Paros. Elasippus too, has inscribed upon a picture of his at Ægina, the word ἐνέκαεν;[2099] a thing that he certainly could not have done, if the art of encaustic painting had not been then invented. CHAP. 40.—THE FIRST INVENTORS OF VARIOUS KINDS OF PAINTING. THE GREATEST DIFFICULTIES IN THE ART OF PAINTING. THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF PAINTING. THE FIRST ARTIST THAT PAINTED CEILINGS. WHEN ARCHED ROOFS WERE FIRST PAINTED. THE MARVELLOUS PRICE OF SOME PICTURES. It is said, too, that Pamphilus,[2100] the instructor of Apelles, not only painted in encaustic, but also instructed Pausias[2101] of Sicyon in the art, the first who rendered himself distinguished in this branch. Pausias was the son of Bryetes, by whom he was originally instructed in the art of painting. He retouched also with the pencil[2102] some walls at Thespiæ, then undergoing repair, which had formerly been painted by Polygnotus. Upon instituting a comparison, however, it was considered that he was greatly inferior, this kind of painting not being in his line. It was he, too, who first thought of painting ceilings: nor had it been the practice before his day to use this kind of decoration for arched roofs. He painted many small pictures also, miniatures of children more particularly; a thing which, according to the interpretation put upon it by his rivals, was owing to the peculiarly slow process of encaustic painting. The consequence was, that being determined to give a memorable proof of his celerity of execution, he completed a picture in the space of a single day, which was thence called the “Hemeresios,”[2103] representing the portrait of a child. In his youth, he was enamoured of Glycera,[2104] his fellow-townswoman, the first inventor of chaplets; and in his rivalry of the skill shown by her, he achieved so much success in the encaustic art, as to reproduce the almost numberless tints displayed by flowers. At a later period, he painted her, seated, with a chaplet on, and thus produced one of the very finest of his pictures; known as the “Stephaneplocos”[2105] by some, and as the “Stephanopolis”[2106] by others; from the circumstance that Glycera had supported herself in her poverty by selling these chaplets. A copy of this picture, usually known as an “apographon,”[2107] was purchased by L. Lucullus at Athens, during the festival of the Dionysia, at the price of two talents. Pausias also painted some large pictures, a Sacrifice of Oxen, for instance, which used to be seen in the Portico of Pompeius. In this painting he invented several improvements, which many artists have since imitated, but none with the same success. Although in the picture it was particularly his desire to give an impression of the length of the ox, he painted it with a front view and not sideways, and still has caused the large dimensions of the animal to be fully understood. And then too, whereas all other painters colour in white such parts as they wish to have the appearance of being prominent, and in black such portions as are intended to remain in the back-ground, he has painted the whole of the ox of a black colour, and has shown the dimensions of the body which throws the shadow by the medium of the shadow itself; thus evincing a wonderful degree of skill in showing relief upon a coat painted with a single colour, and conveying an impression of uniform solidity upon a broken ground.[2108] It was at Sicyon also that Pausias passed his life, a city which for a long time continued to be the native place of painting. Ultimately, all the paintings belonging to that place were sold by public auction for the discharge of the debts owing by the city, and were transferred to Rome in the ædileship of Scaurus.[2109] Next to him, in the hundred and fourth Olympiad, Euphranor,[2110] the Isthmian, distinguished himself far beyond all others, an artist who has been already mentioned in our account of the statuaries. He executed some colossal figures also, and some statues in marble, and he chased some drinking-vessels; being studious and laborious in the highest degree, excellent in every branch, and at all times equal to himself. This artist seems to have been the first to represent heroes with becoming dignity, and to have paid particular attention to symmetry. Still, however, in the generality of instances, he has made the body slight in proportion to the head and limbs. He composed some treatises also upon symmetry and colours. His works are, an Equestrian Combat;[2111] the Twelve Gods; and a Theseus; with reference to which he remarked that the Theseus of Parrhasius had been fed upon roses, but his own upon beef.[2112] There are also at Ephesus some famous pictures by him; an Ulysses, in his feigned madness, yoking together an ox and a horse; Men, in an attitude of meditation, wearing the pallium;[2113] and a Warrior, sheathing his sword. At the same time, also, flourished Cydias;[2114] for whose picture of the Argonautæ the orator Hortensius paid one hundred and forty-four thousand sesterces, and had a shrine constructed expressly for its reception on his estate at Tusculum.[2115] There was also Antidotus, a pupil of Euphranor, by whom there is, at Athens, a Combatant armed with a shield; a Wrestler, also; and a Trumpeter, a work which has been considered a most exquisite production. Antidotus, as a painter, was more careful in his works than prolific, and his colouring was of a severe style. His principal glory was his having been the instructor of Nicias[2116] of Athens; who was a most careful painter of female portraits, and a strict observer of light and shade,[2117] making it his especial care that the figures in his pictures should appear in the boldest relief. His works are, a Nemea, which was brought from Asia to Rome by Silanus, and was placed in the Curia, as already stated;[2118] a Father Liber,[2119] in the Temple[2120] of Concord; a Hyacinthus,[2121] which the Emperor Augustus was so delighted with, that he took it away with him after the capture of Alexandria; for which reason also it was consecrated in the Temple[2122] of Augustus by the Emperor Tiberius; and a Danaë. At Ephesus, there is a tomb by him of a megabyzus,[2123] or priest of the Ephesian Diana; and at Athens a representation of the Necyomantea[2124] of Homer; which last he declined to sell to King Attalus for sixty talents, and in preference, so rich was he, made a present of it to his own native place. He also executed some large pictures, among which there are a Calypso, an Io, an Andromeda, a very fine Alexander, in the Porticos[2125] of Pompeius, and a Calypso, seated. To this painter also there are some pictures of cattle attributed, and in his dogs he has been remarkably successful. It was this Nicias, with reference to whom, Praxiteles, when asked with which of all his works in marble he was the best pleased, made answer, “Those to which Nicias has set his hand,” so highly did he esteem the colouring of that artist. It has not been satisfactorily ascertained whether it is this artist or another of the same name that some writers have placed in the hundred and twelfth Olympiad. With Nicias has been compared, and indeed sometimes preferred to him, Athenion of Maronea,[2126] a pupil of Glaucion of Corinth. In his colouring he is more sombre than Nicias, and yet, with all his sombreness, more pleasing; so much so indeed, that in his paintings shines forth the extensive knowledge which he possessed of the art. He painted, in the Temple at Eleusis, a Phylarchus;[2127] and at Athens, a family group, which has been known as the “Syngenicon;”[2128] an Achilles also, concealed in a female dress, and Ulysses detecting him; a group of six whole-length figures, in one picture; and, a work which has contributed to his fame more than any other, a Groom leading a Horse. Indeed, if he had not died young, there would have been no one comparable to Athenion in painting. Heraclides, too, of Macedon, had some repute as an artist. At first he was a painter of ships, but afterwards, on the capture of King Perseus, he removed to Athens; where at the same period was also Metrodorus,[2129] who was both a painter and a philosopher, and of considerable celebrity in both branches. Hence it was, that when L. Paulus Æmilius, after the conquest of Perseus,[2130] requested the Athenians to send him the most esteemed philosopher for the education of his children, and a painter to represent his triumph, they made choice of Metrodorus, declaring that he was eminently suited for either purpose; a thing which Paulus admitted to be the case. Timomachus of Byzantium, in the time of the Dictator Cæsar, painted an Ajax[2131] and a Medea, which were placed by Cæsar in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, having been purchased at the price of eighty talents; the value of the Attic talent being, according to M. Varro, equivalent to six thousand denarii. An Orestes, also by Timomachus, an Iphigenia in Tauris, and a Lecythion, a teacher of gymnastics, are equally praised; a Noble Family also; and Two Men clothed in the pallium,[2132] and about to enter into conversation, the one standing, the other in a sitting posture. It is in his picture, however of the Gorgon,[2133] that the art appears to have favoured him most highly. Aristolaüs, the son and pupil of Pausias, was one of the painters in a more severe style: there are by him an Epaminondas, a Pericles, a Medea, a Theseus, an emblematical picture of the Athenian People, and a Sacrifice of Oxen. Some persons, too, are pleased with the careful style of Nicophanes,[2134] who was also a pupil of Pausias; a carefulness, however, which only artists can appreciate, as in other respects he was harsh in his colours, and too lavish of sil;[2135] as in his picture, for example, of Æsculapius with his daughters, Hygia,[2136] Ægle, and Panacea, his Jason, and his Sluggard, known as the “Ocnos,”[2137] a man twisting a rope at one end as an ass gnaws it at the other. As to Socrates,[2138] his pictures are, with good reason, universally esteemed. Having now mentioned the principal painters in either branch,[2139] I must not pass in silence those who occupy the next rank. Aristoclides decorated the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Antiphilus[2140] is highly praised for his picture of a Boy blowing a Fire, which illumines an apartment handsomely furnished, and throws a light[2141] upon the features of the youth; a Spinning-room, with women plying their respective tasks; and a King Ptolemæus hunting. But his most famous picture is his Satyr, clad in a panther’s skin, and known as the “Aposcopeuon.”[2142] Aristophon[2143] has painted an Ancæus[2144] wounded by the Boar, with Astypale, the sharer of his grief; and a picture with numerous figures, representing Priam, Helena, Credulity, Ulysses, Deiphobus, and Guile.[2145] Androbius has painted a Scyllus[2146] cutting away the anchors of the Persian fleet: and Artemon a Danaë, with Robbers in admiration; a Queen Stratonice;[2147] and a Hercules and Deianira. But the finest of all this artist’s works are those now in the buildings of Octavia; a Hercules ascending to heaven, with the sanction of the gods, from his funeral pile upon Mount Œta in Doris; and the story of Laomedon and his bargain[2148] with Hercules and Neptune. Alcimachus has painted Dioxippus,[2149] who was victorious in the pancratium at Olympia, without raising the dust; a victory known to the Greeks as being gained “aconiti.”[2150] Cœnus painted pedigrees.[2151] Ctesilochus, a pupil[2152] of Apelles, was famous for a burlesque picture of his representing Jupiter in labour with Bacchus,[2153] with a mitra[2154] on his head, and crying like a woman in the midst of the goddesses, who are acting as midwives. Cleon distinguished himself by his Cadmus; and Ctesidemus, by his Capture of Œchalia[2155] and his Laodamia. Ctesicles became notorious for the insult which he offered to Queen Stratonice;[2156] for, upon failing to meet with an honourable reception from her, he painted her, romping with a fisherman, for whom, according to common report, she had conceived an ardent affection. After exhibiting this picture in the harbour at Ephesus, he at once set sail and escaped: the queen, however, would not allow of its removal, the likenesses of the two figures being so admirably expressed. Cratinus,[2157] the comic writer, painted at Athens, in the Pompeion[2158] there. Of Eutychides, there is a Victory guiding a chariot drawn by two horses. Eudorus is famous for his dramatic scenery; he executed some statues in bronze also. By Hippys there is a Neptune and Victory. Habron painted a picture of Friendship and Concord, and several figures of divinities; Leontiscus, an Aratus with the trophies of victory,[2159] and a Singing-girl; Leon, a portrait of Sappho; and Nearchus, a Venus attended by Cupids and Graces, and a Hercules, sorrowing and repentant at the sad results of his madness.[2160] Nealces,[2161] a remarkably ingenious and inventive artist, painted a Venus. On one occasion, when he had to represent a naval engagement between the Persians and Egyptians, wishing it to be understood that it took place on the river Nilus, the waters of which are similar in appearance to those of the sea, he employed an emblem to disclose that which would not admit of expression by art; for he painted an ass drinking on the shore, and a crocodile lying in wait for him.[2162] Œnias has painted a Family Group; Philiscus, a Painter’s Studio, with a boy blowing the fire; Phalerion, a Scylla; Simonides, an Agatharchus and a Mnemosyne; Simus, a youth reposing, a Fuller’s Shop, a person celebrating the Quinquatria,[2163] and a Nemesis of great merit. By Theorus[2164] there is a Man Anointing himself; a picture of the Murder of Ægisthus and Clytæmnestra by Orestes; and a representation of the Trojan War, in a series of paintings, now at Rome, in the Porticos[2165] of Philippus: a Cassandra[2166] also, in the Temple of Concord; a Leontium, the mistress of Epicurus, in an attitude of meditation; and a King Demetrius.[2167] Theon[2168] has painted the Frenzy[2169] of Orestes, and a Thamyras[2170] playing on the lyre; Tauriscus, a Discobolus,[2171] a Clytæmnestra, a Pan in miniature, a Polynices claiming[2172] the sovereignty, and a Capaneus.[2173] In speaking of these artists, I must not omit to mention one memorable circumstance: Erigonus, who was colour-grinder to the painter Nealces, himself made such progress in the art as to leave a very celebrated pupil, Pasias, the brother of Ægineta, the modeller. It is also a very singular fact, and one well deserving of remark, that the last works of these artists, their unfinished paintings, in fact, are held in greater admiration than their completed works; the Iris of Aristides, for instance, the Tyndaridæ[2174] of Nicomachus, the Medea of Timomachus,[2175] and the Venus of Apelles,[2176] already mentioned. For in such works as these, we not only see the outline depicted, and the very thoughts of the artist expressed, but have the composition additionally commended to our notice by the regrets which we must necessarily feel on finding the hand that commenced it arrested by death. There are still some other artists, who, though by no means without reputation, can only be noticed here in a summary manner: Aristocydes; Anaxander; Aristobulus of Syria; Arcesilas,[2177] son of Tisicrates; Corœbos, a pupil of Nicomachus; Charmantides, a pupil of Euphranor; Dionysodorus of Colophon; Dicæogenes, a contemporary of King Demetrius;[2178] Euthymides; Heraclides[2179] of Macedon; Milo of Soli, a pupil of the statuary Pyromachus; Mnasitheus of Sicyon; Mnasitimus, the son and pupil of Aristonidas;[2180] Nessus, son of Habron;[2181] Polemon of Alexandria; Theodorus of Samos, and Stadieus, pupils of Nicosthenes; and Xeno of Sicyon, a pupil of Neocles. There have been some female painters also. Timarete, the daughter of Micon,[2182] painted a Diana at Ephesus, one of the very oldest panel-paintings known. Irene, daughter and pupil of the artist Cratinus,[2183] painted a figure of a girl, now at Eleusis, a Calypso, an Aged Man, the juggler Theodorus, and Alcisthenes the dancer. Aristarete, daughter and pupil of Nearchus, painted an Æsculapius. Iaia of Cyzicus, who always remained single, painted at Rome, in the youth of M. Varro, both with the brush, and with the graver,[2184] upon ivory, her subjects being female portraits mostly. At Naples, there is a large picture by her, the portrait of an Old Woman; as also a portrait of herself, taken by the aid of a mirror. There was no painter superior to her for expedition; while at the same time her artistic skill was such, that her works sold at much higher prices than those of the most celebrated portrait-painters of her day, Sopolis namely, and Dionysius,[2185] with whose pictures our galleries are filled. One Olympias painted also, but nothing is known relative to her, except that she had Autobulus for a pupil. CHAP. 41.—ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. In ancient times there were but two methods of encaustic[2186] painting, in wax and on ivory,[2187] with the cestrum or pointed graver. When, however, this art came to be applied to the painting of ships of war, a third method was adopted, that of melting the wax colours and laying them on with a brush, while hot.[2188] Painting of this nature,[2189] applied to vessels, will never spoil from the action of the sun, winds, or salt water. CHAP. 42.—THE COLOURING OF TISSUES. In Egypt, too, they employ a very remarkable process for the colouring of tissues. After pressing the material, which is white at first, they saturate it, not with colours, but with mordents that are calculated to absorb colour. This done, the tissues, still unchanged in appearance, are plunged into a cauldron of boiling dye, and are removed the next moment fully coloured. It is a singular fact, too, that although the dye in the pan is of one uniform colour, the material when taken out of it is of various colours, according to the nature of the mordents that have been respectively applied to it: these colours, too, will never wash out. Thus the dye-pan, which under ordinary circumstances, no doubt, would have made but one colour of several, if coloured tissues had been put into it, is here made to yield several colours from a single dye. At the same moment that it dyes the tissues, it boils in the colour; and it is the fact, that material which has been thus submitted to the action of fire becomes stouter and more serviceable for wear, than it would have been if it had not been subjected to the process. CHAP. 43. (12.)—THE INVENTORS OF THE ART OF MODELLING. On painting we have now said enough, and more than enough; but it will be only proper to append some accounts of the plastic art. Butades, a potter of Sicyon, was the first who invented, at Corinth, the art of modelling portraits in the earth which he used in his trade. It was through his daughter that he made the discovery; who, being deeply in love with a young man about to depart on a long journey, traced the profile of his face, as thrown upon the wall by the light of the lamp. Upon seeing this, her father filled in the outline, by compressing clay upon the surface, and so made a face in relief, which he then hardened by fire along with other articles of pottery. This model, it is said, was preserved in the Nymphæum[2190] at Corinth, until the destruction of that city by Mummius.[2191] Others, again, assert that the first inventors of the plastic art were Rhœcus[2192] and Theodorus,[2193] at Samos, a considerable period before the expulsion of the Bacchiadæ from Corinth: and that Damaratus,[2194] on taking to flight from that place and settling in Etruria, where he became father of Tarquinius, who was ultimately king of the Roman people, was accompanied thither by the modellers Euchir,[2195] Diopus, and Eugrammus, by whose agency the art was first introduced into Italy. Butades first invented the method of colouring plastic compositions, by adding red earth to the material, or else modelling them in red chalk: he, too, was the first to make masks on the outer edges of gutter-tiles upon the roofs of buildings; in low relief, and known as “prostypa” at first, but afterwards in high relief, or “ectypa.” It was in these designs,[2196] too, that the ornaments on the pediments of temples originated; and from this invention modellers first had their name of “plastæ.” CHAP. 44.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO MOULD FIGURES IN IMITATION OF THE FEATURES OF LIVING PERSONS, OR OF STATUES. The first person who expressed the human features by fitting a mould of plaster upon the face, and then improving it by pouring melted wax into the cast, was Lysistratus[2197] of Sicyon, brother of Lysippus, already mentioned. It was he, in fact, who first made it his study to give a faithful likeness; for before his time, artists only thought how to make their portraits as handsome as possible. The same artist, too, was the first who thought of making models for his statues; a method which afterwards became so universally adopted, that there could be neither figure nor statue made without its model in clay. Hence it would appear, that the art of modelling in clay is more ancient than that of moulding in bronze.[2198] CHAP. 45.—THE MOST FAMOUS MODELLERS. The most celebrated modellers were Damophilus and Gorgasus, who were painters as well. These artists adorned with their works, in both kinds, the Temple of Ceres,[2199] in the Circus Maximus at Rome; with an inscription in Greek, which stated that the decorations on the right-hand were the workmanship of Damophilus, and those on the left, of Gorgasus. Varro says that, before the construction of this temple, everything was Tuscan[2200] in the temples; and that, when the temple was afterwards repaired, the painted coatings of the walls were cut away in tablets and enclosed in frames, but that the figures on the pediments were dispersed. Chalcosthenes,[2201] too,[2202] executed at Athens some works in unbaked earth, on the spot which, from his manufactory, has since obtained the name of “Ceramicus.”[2203] M. Varro states that he knew an artist at Rome, Possis by name, who executed fruit, grapes, and fish, with such exactness, that it was quite impossible, by only looking at them, to distinguish them from the reality. He speaks very highly also of Arcesilaüs,[2204] who was on terms of intimacy with Lucius Lucullus,[2205] and whose models in plaster used to sell at a higher rate, among artists themselves, than the works of others. He informs us, also, that it was by this modeller that the Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Cæsar was executed, it having been erected before completion, in the great haste that there was to consecrate it; that the same artist had made an agreement with Lucullus to execute a figure of Felicity, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces, the completion of which was prevented by their death; and that Octavius, a Roman of equestrian rank, being desirous of a model for a mixing-bowl,[2206] Arcesilaüs made him one in plaster, at the price of one talent. Varro praises Pasiteles[2207] also, who used to say, that the plastic art was the mother of chasing, statuary, and sculpture, and who, excellent as he was in each of these branches, never executed any work without first modelling it. In addition to these particulars, he states that the art of modelling was anciently cultivated in Italy, Etruria in particular; and that Volcanius was summoned from Veii, and entrusted by Tarquinius Priscus with making the figure of Jupiter, which he intended to consecrate in the Capitol; that this Jupiter was made of clay, and that hence arose the custom of painting it with minium;[2208] and that the four-horse chariot, so often[2209] mentioned, upon the pediment of the temple, was made of clay as well. We learn also from him, that it was by the same artist that the Hercules was executed, which, even to this day, is named[2210] at Rome from the material of which it is composed. Such, in those times, were the most esteemed statues of the gods; and small reason have we to complain of our forefathers for worshipping such divinities as these; for in their day there was no working of gold and silver—no, not even in the service of the gods. CHAP. 46.—WORKS IN POTTERY. Statues of this nature are still in existence at various places. At Rome, in fact, and in our municipal towns, we still see many such pediments of temples; wonderful too, for their workmanship, and, from their artistic merit and long duration, more deserving of our respect than gold, and certainly far less baneful. At the present day even, in the midst of such wealth as we possess, we make our first libation at the sacrifice, not from murrhine[2211] vases or vessels of crystal, but from ladles[2212] made of earthenware. Bounteous beyond expression is the earth, if we only consider in detail her various gifts. To omit all mention of the cereals, wine, fruits, herbs, shrubs, medicaments, and metals, bounties which she has lavished upon us, and which have already passed under our notice, her productions in the shape of pottery alone, would more than suffice, in their variety, to satisfy our domestic wants; what with gutter-tiles of earthenware, vats for receiving wine, pipes[2213] for conveying water, conduits[2214] for supplying baths, baked tiles for roofs, bricks for foundations, the productions, too, of the potter’s wheel; results, all of them, of an art, which induced King Numa to establish, as a seventh company,[2215] that of the makers of earthenware. Even more than this, many persons have chosen to be buried in coffins[2216] made of earthenware; M. Varro, for instance, who was interred, in true Pythagorean style, in the midst of leaves of myrtle, olive, and black poplar; indeed, the greater part of mankind make use of earthen vases for this purpose. For the service of the table, the Samian pottery is even yet held in high esteem; that, too, of Arretium in Italy, still maintains its high character; while for their cups, and for those only, the manufactories of Surrentum, Asta, Pollentia, Saguntum in Spain, and Pergamus in Asia,[2217] are greatly esteemed. The city of Tralles, too, in Asia, and that of Mutina in Italy, have their respective manufactures of earthenware, and even by this branch of art are localities rendered famous; their productions, by the aid of the potter’s wheel, becoming known to all countries, and conveyed by sea and by land to every quarter of the earth. At Erythræ, there are still shown, in a temple there, two amphoræ, that were consecrated in consequence of the singular thinness of the material: they originated in a contest between a master and his pupil, which of the two could make earthenware of the greatest thinness. The vessels of Cos are the most highly celebrated for their beauty, hut those of Adria[2218] are considered the most substantial. In relation to these productions of art, there are some instances of severity mentioned: Q. Coponius, we find, was condemned for bribery, because he made present of an amphora of wine to a person who had the right of voting. To make luxury, too, conduce in some degree to enhance our estimation of earthenware, “tripatinium,”[2219] as we learn from Fenestella, was the name given to the most exquisite course of dishes that was served up at the Roman banquets. It consisted of one dish of murænæ,[2220] one of lupi,[2221] and a third of a mixture of fish. It is clear that the public manners were then already on the decline; though we still have a right to hold them preferable to those of the philosophers even of Greece, seeing that the representatives of Aristotle, it is said, sold, at the auction of his goods, as many as seventy dishes of earthenware. It has been already[2222] stated by us, when on the subject of birds, that a single dish cost the tragic actor Æsopus one hundred thousand sesterces; much to the reader’s indignation, no doubt; but, by Hercules! Vitellius, when emperor, ordered a dish to be made, which was to cost a million of sesterces, and for the preparation of which a furnace had to be erected out in the fields! luxury having thus arrived at such a pitch of excess as to make earthenware even sell at higher prices than murrhine[2223] vessels. It was in reference to this circumstance, that Mucianus, in his second consulship, when pronouncing one of his perorations, reproached the memory of Vitellius with his dishes as broad as the Pomptine Marsh; not less deserving to be execrated than the poisoned dish of Asprenas, which, according to the accusation brought against him by Cassius Severus, caused the death of one hundred and thirty guests.[2224] These works of artistic merit have conferred celebrity on some cities even, Rhegium for example, and Cumæ. The priests of the Mother of the gods, known as the Galli, deprive themselves of their virility with a piece of Samian[2225] pottery, the only means, if we believe M. Cælius,[2226] of avoiding dangerous results. He it was, too, who recommended, when inveighing against certain abominable practices, that the person guilty of them should have his tongue cut out, in a similar manner; a reproach which would appear to have been levelled by anticipation against this same Vitellius. What is there that human industry will not devise? Even broken pottery has been utilized; it being found that, beaten to powder, and tempered with lime, it becomes more solid and durable than other substances of a similar nature; forming the cement known as the “Signine”[2227] composition, so extensively employed for even making the pavements of houses.[2228] CHAP. 47. (13.)—VARIOUS KINDS OF EARTH, THE PUTEOLAN DUST, AND OTHER EARTHS OF WHICH CEMENTS LIKE STONE ARE MADE. But there are other resources also, which are derived immediately from the earth. Who, indeed, cannot but be surprised at finding the most inferior constituent parts of it, known as “dust”[2229] only, on the hills about Puteoli, forming a barrier against the waves of the sea, becoming changed into stone the moment of its immersion, and increasing in hardness from day to day—more particularly when mixed with the cement of Cumæ? There is an earth too, of a similar nature found in the districts about Cyzicus; but there, it is not a dust, but a solid earth, which is cut away in blocks of all sizes, and which, after being immersed in the sea, is taken out transformed into stone. The same thing may be seen also, it is said, in the vicinity of Cassandrea;[2230] and at Cnidos, there is a spring of fresh water which has the property of causing earth to petrify within the space of eight months. Between Oropus and Aulis, every portion of the land upon which the sea encroaches becomes transformed into solid rock. The finer portion of the sand of the river Nilus is not very different in its properties from the dust of Puteoli; not, indeed, that it is used for breaking the force of the sea and withstanding the waves, but only for the purpose, forsooth, of subduing[2231] the body for the exercises of the palestra! At all events, it was for this purpose that it used to be brought over for Patrobius,[2232] a freedman of the Emperor Nero. I find it stated also, that Craterus, Leonnatus, and Meleager, generals of Alexander the Great, had this sand transported along with their munitions of war. But I forbear to enlarge any further upon this subject; or indeed, by Hercules! upon those preparations of earth and wax of which the ceromata are made, so much employed by our youth in their exercises of the body, at the cost of all vigour of the mind. CHAP. 48. (14.)—FORMACEAN WALLS. And then, besides, have we not in Africa and in Spain walls[2233] of earth, known as “formacean” walls? from the fact that they are moulded, rather than built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even at this day, Spain still beholds watch-towers that were erected by Hannibal, and turrets of earth[2234] placed on the very summits of her mountains. It is from the same source, too, that we derive the substantial materials so well adapted for forming the earth-works of our camps and embankments against the impetuous violence of rivers. What person, too, is unacquainted with the fact, that partitions are made of hurdles coated with clay, and that walls are constructed of unbaked bricks? CHAP. 49.—WALLS OF BRICK. THE METHOD OF MAKING BRICKS. Earth for making bricks should never be extracted from a sandy or gravelly soil, and still less from one that is stony; but from a stratum that is white and cretaceous, or else impregnated with red earth.[2235] If a sandy soil must be employed for the purpose, it should at least be male[2236] sand, and no other. The spring is the best season for making bricks, as at midsummer they are very apt to crack. For building, bricks two years old are the only ones that are approved of; and the wrought material of them should be well macerated before they are made. There are three different kinds of bricks; the Lydian, which is in use with us, a foot-and-a-half in length by a foot in breadth; the tetradoron; and the pentadoron; the word “doron” being used by the ancient Greeks to signify the palm[2237]—hence, too, their word “doron” meaning a gift, because it is the hand that gives.—These last two kinds, therefore, are named respectively from their being four and five palms in length, the breadth being the same. The smaller kind is used in Greece for private buildings, the larger for the construction of public edifices. At Pitane,[2238] in Asia, and in the cities of Muxilua and Calentum in Farther Spain, there are bricks[2239] made, which float in water, when dry; the material being a sort of pumice-earth, extremely good for the purpose when it can be made to unite. The Greeks have always preferred walls of brick, except in those cases where they could find silicious stone for the purposes of building: for walls of this nature will last for ever, if they are only built on the perpendicular. Hence it is, that the Greeks have built their public edifices and the palaces of their kings of brick; the wall at Athens, for example, which faces Mount Hymettus; the Temples of Jupiter and Hercules at Patræ,[2240] although the columns and architraves in the interior are of stone; the palace of King Attalus at Tralles; the palace of Crœsus at Sardes, now converted into an asylum[2241] for aged persons; and that of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus; edifices, all of them, still in existence. Muræna and Varro, in their ædileship, had a fine fresco painting, on the plaster of a wall at Lacedæmon, cut away from the bricks, and transported in wooden frames to Rome, for the purpose of adorning the Comitium. Admirable as the work was of itself, it was still more admired after being thus transferred. In Italy also there are walls of brick, at Arretium and Mevania.[2242] At Rome, there are no buildings of this description, because a wall only a foot-and-a-half in thickness would not support more than a single story; and by public ordinance it has been enacted that no partition should exceed that thickness; nor, indeed, does the peculiar construction of our party-walls admit of it. CHAP. 50. (15.)—SULPHUR, AND THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT: FOURTEEN REMEDIES. Let thus much be deemed sufficient on the subject of bricks. Among the other kinds of earth, the one of the most singular nature, perhaps, is sulphur, an agent of great power upon other substances. Sulphur is found in the Æolian Islands, between Sicily and Italy, which are volcanic, as already[2243] stated. But the finest sulphur of all, is that which comes from the Isle of Melos. It is obtained also in Italy, upon the range of hills in the territories of Neapolis and Campania, known as the Leucogæi:[2244] when extracted from the mines there, it is purified by the agency of fire. There are four kinds of sulphur; the first of which is “live” sulphur, known as “apyron”[2245] by the Greeks, and found in solid masses, or in other words, in blocks. This, too, is the only sulphur that is extracted in its native state, the others being found in a state of liquescence, and requiring to be purified by being boiled in oil. This kind is green and transparent, and is the only sulphur that is used for medicinal purposes. A second kind is known as the “glebaceous”[2246] sulphur, and is solely employed in the workshops of the fullers. The third kind, also, is only used for a single purpose, that of fumigating wool, a process which contributes very greatly to making the wool white and soft; “egula”[2246] is the name given to it. The fourth kind is used in the preparation of matches more particularly. In addition to these several uses, sulphur is of such remarkable virtue, that if it is thrown upon the fire it will at once detect, by the smell, whether or not a person is subject to epilepsy. Anaxilaüs used to employ this substance by way of pastime: putting sulphur in a cup of wine, with some hot coals beneath, he would hand it round to the guests, the light given by it, while burning, throwing a ghastly paleness like that of death upon the face of each. Its properties are calorific and maturative, in addition to which, it disperses abscesses on the body: hence it is that it is used as an ingredient in plasters and emollient poultices. Applied to the loins and kidneys, with grease, when there are pains in those parts, it is marvellously effectual as a remedy. In combination with turpentine, it removes lichens on the face, and leprosy,[2247] the preparation being known as “harpax,”[2248] from the celerity with which it acts upon the skin; for which reason it ought to be removed every now and then. Employed as an electuary, it is good for asthma, purulent expectorations, and stings inflicted by scorpions. Live sulphur, mixed with nitre, and then bruised with vinegar and applied, causes morphew to disappear, and destroys nits in the hair; in combination, too, with sandarach and vinegar, it is good for diseases of the eyelids. Sulphur has its place among our religious ceremonies, being used as a fumigation for purifying houses.[2249] Its virtues are also to be perceived in certain hot mineral waters;[2250] and there is no substance that ignites more readily, a proof that there is in it a great affinity to fire. Lightning and thunder are attended with a strong smell of sulphur, and the light produced by them is of a sulphureous complexion. CHAP. 51.—BITUMEN, AND THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT; TWENTY-SEVEN REMEDIES. Nearly approaching to the nature of sulphur is that of bitumen,[2251] which in some places assumes the form of a slime, and in others that of an earth; a slime, thrown up, as already[2252] stated, by a certain lake in Judæa, and an earth, found in the vicinity of Sidon, a maritime town of Syria. In both these states, it admits of being thickened and condensed. There is also a liquid[2253] bitumen, that of Zacynthus, for example, and the bitumen that is imported from Babylon; which last kind is also white: the bitumen, too, of Apollonia is liquid. All these kinds, in Greek, have the one general name of “pissasphaltos,”[2254] from their strong resemblance to a compound of pitch and bitumen. There is also found an unctuous liquid bitumen, resembling oil, in a spring at Agrigentum, in Sicily, the waters of which are tainted by it. The inhabitants of the spot collect it on the panicles of reeds, to which it very readily adheres, and make use of it for burning in lamps, as a substitute for oil, as also for the cure of itch-scab in beasts of burden. Some authorities include among the bitumens, naphtha, a substance which we have already mentioned in the Second Book;[2255] but the burning properties which it possesses, and its susceptibility of igniting, render it quite unfit for use. Bitumen, to be of good quality, should be extremely brilliant, heavy, and massive; it should also be moderately smooth, it being very much the practice to adulterate it with pitch. Its medicinal properties are similar to those of sulphur, it being naturally astringent, dispersive, contractive, and agglutinating: ignited, it drives away serpents by the smell. Babylonian bitumen is very efficacious, it is said, for the cure of cataract and albugo, as also of leprosy, lichens, and pruriginous affections. Bitumen is employed, too, in the form of a liniment, for gout; and every variety of it is useful for making bandolines for eye-lashes that are refractory and impede the sight. Applied topically with nitre,[2256] it is curative of tooth-ache, and, taken internally, with wine, it alleviates chronic coughs and difficulty of respiration. It is administered in a similar manner for dysentery, and is very good for arresting looseness of the bowels. Taken internally with vinegar, it dissolves and brings away coagulated blood. It modifies pains also in the loins and joints, and, applied with barley-meal, it forms a peculiar kind of plaster, to which it has given its name.[2257] It stanches blood also, heals wounds, and unites the sinews when severed. Bitumen is administered for quartan fevers, in doses of one drachma to an equal quantity of hedyosmos,[2258] the whole kneaded up with one obolus of myrrh. The smell of burnt bitumen detects a tendency to epilepsy, and, applied to the nostrils with wine and castoreum,[2259] it dispels suffocations of the uterus. Employed as a fumigation, it acts as a check upon procidence of the uterus, and, taken internally with wine, it has the effect of an emmenagogue. Another use that is made of it, is for coating the inside of copper vessels, it rendering them proof against the action of fire. It has been already[2260] stated that bitumen was formerly employed for staining copper and coating statues. It has been used, too, as a substitute for lime; the walls of Babylon, for instance, which are cemented with it. In the smithies they are in the habit of varnishing iron and heads of nails with it, and of using it for many other purposes as well. CHAP. 52.—ALUMEN, AND THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT; THIRTY-EIGHT REMEDIES. Not less important, or indeed very dissimilar, are the uses that are made of alumen;[2261] by which name is understood a sort of brine[2262] which exudes from the earth. Of this, too, there are several kinds. In Cyprus there is a white alumen, and another kind of a darker colour. The difference, however, in their colour is but trifling in reality, though the uses made of them are very dissimilar; the white liquid alumen being employed for dyeing[2263] wool of bright colours, and the black, on the other hand, for giving wool a tawny or a sombre tint. Gold, too, is purified[2264] by the agency of black alumen. Every kind of alumen is a compound of slime and water, or in other words, is a liquid product exuding from the earth; the concretion of it commencing in winter, and being completed by the action of the summer sun. That portion of it which is the first matured, is the whitest in appearance. The countries which produce this substance, are Spain, Ægypt, Armenia, Macedonia, Pontus, Africa,[2265] and the islands of Sardinia, Melos, Lipara, and Strongyle:[2266] the most esteemed, however, is that of Egypt,[2267] the next best being the produce of Melos. Of this last kind there are also two varieties, the liquid alumen, and the solid. Liquid alumen, to be good, should be of a limpid, milky, appearance: when rubbed between the fingers it should be free from grit, and productive of a slight sensation of heat. The name given to it is “phorimon.”[2268] The mode of detecting whether or not it has been adulterated, is by the application of pomegranate-juice; for if genuine, it will turn black on combining with the juice. The other, or solid alumen, is pale and rough in appearance, and turns black on the application of nut-galls; for which reason it is known by the name of “paraphoron.”[2269] Liquid alumen is naturally astringent, indurative, and corrosive: used in combination with honey, it heals ulcerations of the mouth, pimples, and pruriginous eruptions. The remedy, when thus used, is employed in the bath, the proportions being two parts of honey to one of alumen. It has the effect, also, of checking and dispersing perspiration, and of neutralizing offensive odours of the arm-pits. It is taken too, in the form of pills, for affections of the spleen, and for the purpose of carrying off blood by the urine: incorporated with nitre and melanthium,[2270] it is curative of itch-scab. There is one kind of solid alumen, known to the Greeks as “schiston,”[2271] which splits into filaments of a whitish colour; for which reason some have preferred giving it the name of “trichitis.”[2272] It is produced from the mineral ore known to us as “chalcitis,”[2273] from which copper is also produced, it being a sort of exudation from that mineral, coagulated into the form of scum. This kind of alumen is less desiccative than the others, and is not so useful as a check upon bad humours of the body. Used, however, either in the form of a liniment or of an injection, it is highly beneficial to the ears; as also for ulcerations of the mouth, and for tooth-ache, if retained with the saliva in the mouth. It is employed also as a serviceable ingredient in compositions for the eyes, and for the generative organs in either sex. The mode of preparing it is to roast it in crucibles, until it has quite lost its liquid form. There is another variety of alumen also, of a less active nature, and known as “strongyle;”[2274] which is again subdivided into two kinds; the fungous, which easily dissolves in any liquid, and is looked upon as altogether worthless; and the porous, which is full of small holes like a sponge, and in pieces of a globular form, more nearly approaching white alumen in appearance. It has a certain degree, too, of unctuousness, is free from grit, friable, and not apt to blacken the fingers. This last kind is calcined by itself upon hot coals, unmixed with any other substance, until it is entirely reduced to ashes. The best kind of all, however, is that called “molinum,”[2275] as coming from the Isle of Melos, as already mentioned; none being more effectual for acting as an astringent, staining black, and indurating, and none assuming a closer consistency. It removes granulations of the eye-lids, and, in a calcined state, is still more efficacious for checking defluxions of the eyes: in this last form, too, it is employed for the cure of pruriginous eruptions on the body. Whether taken internally, or employed externally, it arrests discharges of blood; and if it is applied with vinegar to a part from which the hair has been first removed, it will change into a soft down the hair which replaces it. The leading property of every kind of alumen is its remarkable astringency, to which, in fact, it is indebted for its name[2276] with the Greeks. It is for this property that the various kinds are, all of them, so remarkably good for the eyes. In combination with grease, they arrest discharges of blood; and they are employed in a similar manner for checking the spread of putrid ulcers, and for removing sores upon the bodies of infants. Alumen has a desiccative effect upon dropsical eruptions; and, in combination with pomegranate juice, it removes diseases of the ears, malformed nails, indurations resulting from cicatrization, hangnails, and chilblains. Calcined, with vinegar or nut-galls, in equal proportions, it is curative of phagedænic ulcers; and, in combination with extracted juice of cabbage, of leprosy. Used in the proportion of one part of alumen to two of salt, it arrests the progress of serpiginous eruptions; and an infusion of it in water destroys lice and other parasitical insects that infest the hair. Employed in a similar manner, it is good for burns; and, in combination with the serous[2277] part of pitch, for furfuraceous eruptions on the body. It is used also as an injection for dysentery, and, employed in the form of a gargle, it braces the uvula and tonsillary glands. For all those maladies which we have mentioned as being treated with the other kinds of alumen, that imported from Melos, be it understood, is still more efficacious. As to the other uses that are made of it for industrial purposes, such as preparing hides and wool, for example, they have been mentioned already.[2278] CHAP. 53. (16.)—SAMIAN EARTH: THREE REMEDIES. In succession to these, we shall now have to speak of various other kinds of earth[2279] which are made use of in medicine. Of Samian earth there are two varieties; one known as “collyrium,”[2280] the other by the name of “aster.”[2281] To be in perfection, the first kind should be fresh, remarkably smooth, and glutinous to the tongue; the second being of a more solid consistency, and white. They are both prepared for use by being calcined and then rinsed in water, some persons giving the preference to the first. They are both of them useful for discharges of blood from the mouth, and are employed as an ingredient in plasters of a desiccative nature. They are used also in the preparation of ophthalmic compositions. CHAP. 54.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF ERETRIA. Of eretria, or Eretrian[2282] earth, there are also the same number of varieties; one white, and the other of an ashy colour, this last being preferred in medicine. To be good, this earth should be of a soft consistency, and when rubbed upon copper it should leave a violet tint. The virtues of eretria in a medicinal point of view, and the methods of using it, have been already mentioned[2283] in our description of the pigments. CHAP. 55.—THE METHOD OF WASHING EARTHS FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES. All these earths—for we will take the present opportunity of mentioning it—are well washed in water, and then dried in the sun; after which, they are again triturated in water, and left to settle: this done, they are divided into tablets. They are usually boiled in earthen vessels, which are well shaken every now and then. CHAP. 56.—CHIAN EARTH; THREE REMEDIES. SELINUSIAN EARTH; THREE REMEDIES. PNIGITIS; NINE REMEDIES. AMPELITIS; FOUR REMEDIES. Among the medicinal substances, there is the white earth of Chios also, the properties of which are the same as those of Samian earth. It is used more particularly as a cosmetic for the skin of females; the Selinusian[2284] earth being also employed for a similar purpose. This last is of a milk-white colour, and melts very rapidly in water: dissolved in milk, it is employed for whitening the plaster coats on walls. Pnigitis[2285] is very similar to Eretrian earth, only that it is found in larger masses, and is of a glutinous consistency. Its effects are similar to those produced by Cimolian[2286] earth, but are not so energetic. Ampelitis[2287] is an earth which bears a strong resemblance to bitumen. The test of its goodness is its dissolving in oil, like wax, and preserving its black colour when submitted to the action of fire. Its properties are emollient and repercussive; for which reason, it is used in medicinal compositions, those known as “calliblephara,”[2288] more particularly, and in preparations for dyeing the hair. CHAP. 57. (17.)—CRETACEOUS EARTHS USER FOR SCOURING CLOTH. CIMOLIAN EARTH; NINE REMEDIES. SARDINIAN EARTH. UMBRIAN EARTH. SAXUM. Of cretaceous[2289] earths there are several varieties; and among them, two kinds of Cimolian earth, employed in medicine, the one white and the other inclining to the tint of purpurissum.[2290] Both kinds, moistened with vinegar, have the effect of dispersing tumours and arresting defluxions. They are curative also of inflammatory swellings and imposthumes of the parotid glands; and, applied topically, they are good for affections of the spleen and pustules on the body. With the addition of aphronitrum,[2291] oil of cypros,[2292] and vinegar, they reduce swellings of the feet, care being taken to apply the lotion in the sun, and at the end of six hours to wash it off with salt and water. In combination with wax and oil of cypros, Cimolian earth is good for swellings of the testes. Cretaceous earths, too, are of a cooling tendency, and, applied to the body in the form of a liniment, they act as a check upon excessive perspiration: taken with wine, in the bath, they remove pimples on the body. The most esteemed of all these earths is that of Thessaly: it is found also in the vicinity of Bubon[2293] in Lycia. Cimolian earth is used also for another purpose, that of scouring cloth. As to the kind which is brought from Sardinia, and is known as “sarda,” it is used for white tissues only, and is never employed for coloured cloths. Indeed, this last is held in the lowest estimation of all the Cimolian earths; whereas, that of Umbria is more highly esteemed, as also the kind generally known as “saxum.”[2294] It is a property of this last to increase in weight[2295] by maceration, and it is by weight that it is usually sold, Sardinian earth being sold by measure. Umbrian earth is only used for giving lustre to cloths. It will not be deemed out of place to give some further account here of this process, there being still in existence the Metilian Law, relative to fullers; an enactment which C. Flaminius and L. Æmilius, in their censorship,[2296] had passed by the people,[2297] so attentive to everything were our ancestors. The following then is the method employed in preparing cloth: it is first washed in an infusion of Sardinian earth, and is then exposed to a fumigation with sulphur. This done, it is scoured[2298] with Cimolian earth, when the cloth has been found to be of a genuine colour; it being very soon detected when it has been coloured with spurious materials, by its turning black and the colours becoming dispersed[2299] by the action of the sulphur. Where the colours are genuine and rich, they are softened by the application of Cimolian earth; which brightens and freshens them also when they have been rendered sombre by the action of the sulphur. Saxum is better for white tissues, after the application of sulphur, but to coloured cloths it is highly injurious.[2300] In Greece they use Tymphæan[2301] gypsum in place of Cimolian earth. CHAP. 58.—ARGENTARIA. NAMES OF FREEDMEN WHO HAVE EITHER RISEN TO POWER THEMSELVES, OR HAVE BELONGED TO MEN OF INFLUENCE. There is another cretaceous earth, known as “argentaria,”[2302] from the brightness[2303] which it imparts to silver. There is also the most inferior kind of chalk; which was used by the ancients for tracing the line of victory[2304] in the Circus, and for marking the feet of slaves on sale, that were brought from beyond sea. Such, for instance, were Publilius[2305] Lochius, the founder of our mimic scenes; his cousin, Manilius Antiochus,[2306] the first cultivator of astronomy; and Staberius Eros, our first grammarian; all three of whom our ancestors saw brought over in the same ship.[2307] (18.) But why mention these names, recommended as they are by the literary honours which they acquired? Other instances too, Rome has beheld of persons rising to high positions from the slave-market;[2308] Chrysogonus, for example, the freedman of Sylla; Amphion, the freedman of Q. Catulus; the man who was the keeper[2309] of Lucullus; Demetrius, the freedman of Pompeius, and Auge, the freedwoman of Demetrius,[2310] or else of Pompeius himself, as some have supposed; Hipparchus, the freedman of M. Antonius; as also, Menas[2311] and Menecrates,[2312] freedmen of Sextus Pompeius, and many others as well, whom it would be superfluous to enumerate, and who have enriched themselves at the cost of Roman blood, and the licence that results from proscription. Such is the mark that is set upon those droves of slaves which we see on sale, such the opprobrium thrown upon them by a capricious fortune! And yet, some of these very men have we beheld in the enjoyment of such power and influence, that the senate itself has decreed them—at the command of Agrippina,[2313] wife of the Emperor Claudius—the decorations even of the prætorship: all but honoured with the fasces and their laurels, in fact, and sent back in state to the very place from which they originally came, with their feet whitened with the slave-dealer’s chalk! CHAP. 59. (19.)—THE EARTH OF GALATA; OF CLYPEA; OF THE BALEARES; AND OF EBUSUS. In addition to these, there are various other kinds of earth, endowed with peculiar properties of their own, and which have been already mentioned on former occasions.[2314] We may, however, take the present opportunity of again remarking the following properties. The earth of the island of Galata and of the vicinity of Clypea, in Africa, is fatal to scorpions; and that of the Balearic Islands and of Ebusus kills serpents. SUMMARY.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and fifty-six. ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Messala[2315] the Orator, the Elder Messala,[2316] Fenestella,[2317] Atticus,[2318] M. Varro,[2319] Verrius,[2320] Cornelius Nepos,[2321] Deculo,[2322] Mucianus,[2323] Melissus,[2324] Vitruvius,[2325] Cassius Severus Longulanus,[2326] Fabius Vestalis,[2327] who wrote on Painting. FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Pasiteles,[2328] Apelles,[2329] Melanthius,[2330] Asclepiodorus,[2331] Euphranor,[2332] Heliodorus,[2333] who wrote on the Votive Offerings of the Athenians, Metrodorus,[2334] who wrote on Architecture, Democritus,[2335] Theophrastus,[2336] Apion[2337] the grammarian, who wrote on the Medicines derived from Metals, Nymphodorus,[2338] Iollas,[2339] Apollodorus,[2340] Andreas,[2341] Heraclides,[2342] Diagoras,[2343] Botrys,[2344] Archidemus,[2345] Dionysius,[2346] Aristogenes,[2347] Democles,[2348] Mnesides,[2349] Xenocrates[2350] the son of Zeno, Theomnestus.[2351]