His
principal
discovery was that of ture.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
) Lucian's words imply
3. Of Ascalon, was the chief tragic poet in the that be had seen this picture, but he may have
time of Caligula, with whom he lived on the most been mistaken in ascribing it to A pelles. He
intimate terms. (Philo, Legat. ad Caium, p. 790; seems also to speak of A pelles as if he had been
Dion Cass. lix. 5 ; Suet. Cal. 33. )
living at Ptolemy's court before this event oc-
APELLES ('Arenñs), the most celebrated of curred. If, therefore, Pliny and Lucian are both
Grecian painters, was born, most probably, at to be believed, we may conclude, from comparing
Colophon in Ionia (Suidas, s. v. ), though Pliny their tales, that Apelles, having been accidentally
(xxxv. 36. § 10) and Ovid (Art
. Am. iii. 401 ; driven to Alexandria, overcame the dislike which
Pont. iv, 1. 29) call him a Coan. The account Ptolemy bore to him, and remained in Egypt dur-
of Strabo (xiv. p. 642) and Lucian (De Calumn. ing the latter part of his life, enjoying the favour
lix. 8$ 2, 6), that he was an Ephesian, may be ex- of that king, in spite of the schemes of his rivals to
plained from the statements of Suidas, that he was disgrace him. The account of his life cannot be
made a citizen at Ephesus, and that he studied carried further; we are not told when or where he
painting there under Ephorus. He afterwards died; but from the above facts his date can be
studied under Pamphilus of Amphipolis, to whom fixed, since he practised his art before the death of
he paid the fee of a talent for a ten-years' course of Philip (B. C. 336), and after the assumption of the
instruction. (Suidas, s. v. ; Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 8. ) regal title by Ptolemy. (B. c. 306. ) As the result
At a later period, when he had already gained a of a minute examination of all the facts, Tölken
high reputation, he went to Sicyon, and again paid (Amalth. iii. pp. 117–119) places him between
a talent for admission into the school of Melan- | 352 and 308 B. C. According to Pliny, he fou-
thius, whom he assisted in his portrait of the rished about the 112th Olympiad, B. c. 332.
tyrant Aristratus. (Plut. Arat. 13. ) By this Many anecdotes are preserved of Apelles and
course of study he acquired the scientific accuracy his contemporaries, which throw an interesting
of the Sicyonian school, as well as the elegance of light both on his personal and his professional cha-
the lonic.
racter. He was ready to acknowledge that in some
The best part of the life of A pelles was probably points he was excelled by other artists, as by Am-
spent at the court of Philip and Alexander the phion in grouping and by Asclepiodorus in per-
Great ; for Pliny speaks of the great number of his spective. (Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 10. ) He first caused
portraits of both those princes (xxxv. 36. § 16), the merits of Protogenes to be understood. Coming
and states that he was the only person whom to Rhodes, and finding that the works of Proto-
Alexander would permit to take his portrait. (vii. genes were scarcely valued at all by his country-
38; see also Cic. ad Fam. v. 12. & 13; Hor. men, he offered him fifty talents for a single
Ep. ii. 1. 239; Valer. Max. viii. 11. § 2, ext; picture, and spread the report that he meant to sell
Arrian, Anab. i. 16. $ 7. ) A pelles enjoyed the the picture again as his own. (Plin. ib. & 13. ) In
friendship of Alexander, who used to visit him in speaking of the great artists who were his con-
his studio. In one of these visits, when the king's temporaries, he ascribed to them every possible
conversation was exposing his ignorance of art, excellence except one, namely, grace, which he
A pelles politely advised him to be silent, as the claimed for himself alone. (10. $ 10. )
boys who were grinding the colours were laughing Throughout his whole life, A pelles laboured to
at him. (Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 12. ) Plutarch relates improve himself, especially in drawing, which he
this speech as having been made to Megabyzus. never spent a day without practising. (Plin. ib.
(De Trang. Anim. 12, p. 471, f. ) Aelian tells the § 12; hence the proverb Nulla dies sine linea. )
anecdote of Zeuxis and Megabyzus. (lar. Hist. ii. The tale of his contest with Protogenes afiords an
2. ) Pliny (l. c. ) also tells us that Apelles, having example both of the skill to which A pelles attained
been commissioned by Alexander to paint his fa- in this portion of his art, and of the importance
vourite concubine, Campaspe (Ilaykdotn, Aelian, attached to it in all the great schools of Greece.
Par. Hist. xii. 34), naked, fell in love with her, A pelles had sailed to Rhodes, eager to meet
upon which Alexander gave her to him as a pre Protogenes. Upon landing, he went straight to
sent; and according to some she was the model of that artist's studio. Protogenes was absent, but a
the painter's best picture, the Venus Anadyomene. large panel ready to be painted on hung in the
From all the information we have of the connexion studio. A pelles seized the pencil, and drew an
## p. 222 (#242) ############################################
222
APELLES.
APELLES.
excessively thin coloured line on the panel, by A list of the works of Apelles is given by Pliny,
which Protogenes, on his return, at once guessed (xxxv. 36. ) They are for the most part single
who had been his visitor, and in his turn drew a figures, or groups of a very few figures. Of his
still thinner line of a different colour upon or within portraits the most celebrated was thai of Alexander
the former (according to the reading of the recent wielding a thunderbolt, which was known as o
editions of Pliny, in illa ipsa). When Apelles re-kepauvooópos, and which gave occasion to the say-
turned and saw the lines, ashamed to be defeated, ing, that of two Alexanders, the one, the son of
says Pliny," tertio colore lineas secuit, nullum re Philip, was invincible, the other, he of Apelles, in-
linquens amplius subtilitati locum. " (16. $11. ) The imitable. (Plul Fort. Aler. 2, 3. ) In this picture,
most natural explanation of this difficult passage the thunderbolt and the hand which held it ap-
seems to be, that down the middle of the first line of peared to stand out of the panel; and, to aid this
A pelles, Protogenes drew another so as to divide it effect, the artist did not scruple to represent Alex-
into two parallel halves, and that A pelles again ander's complexion as dark, though it was really
divided the line of Protogenes in the same manner. light. (Plut. Alex. 4. ) The price of this picture
Pliny speaks of the three lines as visum effugientes. * | was twenty talents. Another of his portraits, that
The panel was preserved, and carried to Rome, of Antigonus, has been celebrated for its conceal-
where it remained, exciting more wonder than allment of the loss of the king's eye, by representing
the other works of art in the palace of the Caesars, his face in profile. He also painted a portrait of
till it was destroyed by fire with that building. himself. Among his allegorical pictures was one
Of the means which Apelles took to ensure ac- representing Castor and Pollux, with Victory and
curacy, the following example is given. He used Alexander the Great, how grouped we are not
to expose his finished pictures to view in a public told ; and another in which the figure of War,
place, while he hid himself behind the picture to with his hands tied behind his back, followed the
hear the criticisms of the passers-by. A cobbler triumphal car of Alexander. “ He also painted,"
detected a fault in the shoes of a figure : the next says Pliny, “things which cannot be painted,
day he found that the fault was corrected, and thunders and lightnings, which they call Bronte,
was proceeding to criticise the leg, when A pelles Astrape, and Ceramobolia" These were clearly
rushed from behind the picture, and commanded allegorical figures. Several of his subjects were
the cobbler to keep to the shoes. (Plin. Ib. & 12 : taken from the heroic mythology. But of all his
hence the proverb, Ne supra crepidam sutor : pictures the most admired was the “Venus Ana-
see also Val. Max. viii. 12, ext. $ 3; Lucian tells dyomene," ( avadvopevn 'Appositn), or Venus
the tale of Phidias, pro Imag. 14, vol. ii. p. 492. ) rising out of the sea The goddess was wringing
Marvellous tales are told of the extreme accuracy her hair, and the falling drops of water formed a
of his likenesses of men and horses. (Plin. xxxv. transparent silver reil around her form. This pic-
36. SS 14, 17. ; Lucian, de Calumn. I. c. ; Aelian, ture, which is said to have cost 100 talents, was
V. H. ii. 3. ) With all his diligence, however, painted for the temple of Aesculapius at Cos, and
Apelles knew when to cease correcting. He said afterwards placed by Augustus in the temple which
that he excelled Protogenes in this one point, that he dedicated to Julius Caesar. The lower part
the latter did not know when to leave a picture being injured, no one could be found to repair it.
alone, and he laid down the maxim, Nocere saepe As it continued to decay, Nero had a copy of it
nimiam diligentiam. (Plin. l. c. $ 10; Cic. Orat. 22; made by Dorotheus. (Plin. l. c. ; Strab. xiv. p. 657. )
Quintil. x. 4. )
Apelles commenced another picture of Venus for
Apelles is stated to have made great improve the Coans, which he intended should surpass the
ments in the mechanical part of his art. The as- Venus Anadyomene. At his death, he had finish-
sertion of Pliny, that he used only four colours, is ed only the head, the upper part of the breast,
incorrect. (Dic. of Ant. s. v. Colores. ) He painted and the outline of the figure ; but Pliny says that
with the pencil, but we are not told whether he used it was more admired than his former finished pic-
the cestrum.
His principal discovery was that of ture. No one could be found to complete the
covering the picture with a very thin black var- work. (Plin. xxxv. l. c. , and 40. $ 41; Cic. ad Fam.
nish (atramentum), which, besides preserving the i. 9. § 4, de Off. ii. 2. )
picture, made the tints clearer and subdued the By the general consent of ancient authors,
more brilliant colours. (Plin. l. c. $ 18. ) The process A pelles stands first among Greek painters. To
was, in all probability, the same as that now called the undiscriminating admiration of Pliny, who
glazing or toning, the object of which is to attain seems to have regarded a portrait of a horse, so
the excellence of colouring “which does not pro true that other horses neighed at it, as an achieve-
ceed from fine colours, but true colours; from ment of art as admirable as the Venus Anadyomene
breaking down these fine colours, which would ap itself, we may add the unmeasured praise which
pear too raw, to a deep-toned brightness. ” (Sir. J. Cicero, Varro, Columella, Ovid, and other writers
Reynolds, Notes on Du Fresnoy, note 37. ) From give to the works of Apelles, and especially to the
the fact mentioned by Pliny, that this varnishing Venus Anadyomene. (Cic. Brut. 18, de Orat. iii. 7;
could be discovered only on close inspection, Sir J. Varro, L. L. ix. 12, ed. Müller; Colum. R. R.
Reynolds thought that it was like that of reggio. Praef. $ 31, Schn. ; Ovid. Ari. Am. iii. 401; Pont.
That he painted on moveable panels is evident iv. 1. 29; Propert. iii. 7. 11; Auson. Ep. 106 ;
from the frequent mention of tabulae with reference Anthol. Planud. iv. 178-182. ) Statius (Sülr. i. 1.
to bis pictures. Pliny expressly says, that he did 100) and Martial (xi. 9) call painting by the name
not paint on walls. (xxxv. 37. )
of “ Ars A pellea. " Sir Joshua Reynolds says of
the Greek painters, and evidently with an especial
* Does this refer only to the excessive thinness reference to A pelles, “if we had the good fortune
of the lines, or may it mean that the three lines to possess what the ancients themselves esteemed
were actually tapered away towards a common their masterpieces, I have no doubt but we should
vanishing point ?
find their figures as correctly drawn as the Lao.
## p. 223 (#243) ############################################
APELLES.
223
APELLICON.
;
coon, and probably coloured like Titian” (Notes on | ledge of the degrees of things, or taste, presupposes
Du Fresnoy, note 37); and, though the point has a perfect knowledge of the things themselves : that
been disputed, such is the general judgment of the colour, grace, and taste, are ornaments, not substi-
best modern authorities. It need scarcely be said, tutes, of form, expression, and character ; and,
that not one of the pictures of Apelles remains to when they usurp that title, degenerate into splen-
decide the question by.
did faults. Such were the principles on which
In order to understand what was the excellence A pelles formed his Venus, or rather the personifi-
which was peculiar to Apelles, we must reſer to cation of Female Grace, -the wonder of art, the
the state of the art of painting in his time. (Dict. despair of artists. ” That this view of the Venus
of Ant. s. v. Painting. ) After the essential forns is right, is proved, if proof were needed, by the
of Polygnotus had been elevated to dramatic effect words of Pliny (xxxv. 36. $ 10), “ Deesse iis
and ideal expression by Apollodorus and Zeuxis, unam Venerem dicebat, quam Graeci Charita vo-
and enlivened with the varied character and feeling cant,” except that there is no reason for calling
which the school of Eupompus drew forth from the Venus the personification of Female Grace ;"
direct observation of nature, A pelles perceived that it was rather Grace personified in a female form.
something still was wanting, something which the Apelles wrote on painting, but his works are
refinements attained by his contemporaries in group- entirely lost.
[P. S. )
ing, perspective, accuracy, and finish, did not sup APELLES ('Anellñs), a disciple of Marcion,
ply-something which he boasted, and succeeding departed in some points from the teaching of his
ages confirmed the boast, that he alone achieved – master. Instead of wholly rejecting the Old
namely, the quality called rápis, venustas, grace Testament, he looked upon its contents as coming
(Plin. xxxv. 36. & 10; Quintil. xii. 10; Plut. De partly from the good principle, partly from the
met. 22; Aelian, V. H. xii. 41); that is, not only evil principle. Instead of denying entirely the
beauty, sublimity, and pathos, but beauty, subli- reality of Christ's human body, he held that in his
mity, and pathos, each in its proper measure; the descent from heaven he assumed to himself an
expending of power enough to produce the desired aërial body, which he gave back to the air as he
effect, and no more; the absence of all exaggeration, ascended. He denied the resurrection of the body,
as well as of any sensible deficiency; the most na- and considered differences of religious belief as
tural and pleasing mode of impressing the subject on unimportant, since, said he,“ all who put their
the spectator's mind, without displaying the means trust in the Crucified One will be saved, if they
by which the impression is produced. In fact, the only prove their faith by good works. ”
meaning which Fuseli attaches to the word seems Apelles flourished about A. D. 188, and lived to
to be that in which it was used by A pelles : “ By a very grcat age. Tertullian (Praescript. Haeret.
grace I mean that artless balance of motion and 30) says that he was expelled from the school of
repose sprung from character, founded on propriety, Marcion for fornication with one Philumene, who
which neither falls short of the demands nor over- fancied herself a prophetess, and whose fantasies
leaps the modesty of nature. Applied to execution, were recorded by Apelles in his book entitled
it means that dexterous power which hides the pavepuo eis. But since Rhodon, who was the
means by which it was attained, the difficulties personal opponent of Apelles, speaks of him as
it has conquered. ” (Lect. 1. ) In the same Lecture universally honoured for his course of life (Euseb.
Fuseli gires the following estimate of the character H. E. v. 13), we may conclude that the former
of A pelles as an artist : « The name of Apelles in part of Tertullian's story is one of those inventions
Pliny is the synonyme of unrivalled and unattain which were so commonly made in order to damage
able excellence, but the enumeration of his works the character of heretics. Besides the pavepuoers,
points out the modification which we ought to ap- A pelles wrote a work entitled “ Syllogisms,” the
ply to that superiority ; it neither comprises exclu- object of which Eusebius states (l. c. ) to have been,
sive sublimity of invention, the most acute discri- to prove that the writings of Moses were false.
mination of character, the widest sphere of compre- It must have been a very large work, since Am-
bension, the most judicious and best balanced brose (De Paradis. 5) quotes from the thirty-eighth
composition, por the deepest pathos of expression : volume of it. (See also Tertull. adv. Marcion,
his great prerogative consisted more in the unison iv. 17; Augustin. de Huer. 23; Epiphanius, Haer.
than in the extent of his powers; he knew better 44. )
(P. S. )
what he could do, what ought to be done, at what ÁPE'LLICON ('ATEMW), a native of Teos,
point he could arrive, and what lay beyond his was a Peripatetic philosopher and a great collector
reach, than any other artist. Grace of conception of books. In addition to the number which his
and refinement of taste were his elements, and immense wealth enabled him to purchase, he stole
went hand in hand with grace of execution and several out of the archives of different Greek cities.
taste in finish; powerful and seldom possessed His practices having been discovered at Athens, he
singly, irresistible when united : that be built both was obliged to fly from the city to save his life.
on the firm basis of the former system, not on its He afterwards returned during the tyranny of
subversion, his well-known contest of lines with Aristion, who patronized him, as a member of the
Protogenes, not a legendary tale, but a well at- siime philosophic sect with himself, and gave him
tested fact, irrefragably proves :. . the corollaries the command of the expedition against Delos,
we may adduce from the contest are obviously which, though at first successful, was ruined by
these, that the schools of Greece recognized all one the carelessness of Apellicon, who was surprised by
elemental principle : that acuteness and fidelity of the Romans under Orobius, and with difficulty
eye and obedience of hand form precision ; preci- escaped, having lost his whole army. (Athen. v.
sion, proportion; proportion, beauty: that it is the pp. 214, 215. ) His library was carried to Rome
'little more or less,' imperceptible to rulgar eyes, i by Sulla. (B. C. 84. ) A pellicon had died just be
which constitutes grace, and establishes the supe fore. (Strab. xiii. p. 609. )
riority of one artist above another : that the know- Apellicon's library contained the autograpbs of
p
## p. 224 (#244) ############################################
224
APHAREUS.
APHTHONIUS.
Aristotle's works, which had been given by thet in ancient story under the name of 'Adapnolda. or
philosopher, on his death-bed, to Theophrastus, 'Apapntıddan, for their fight with the Dioscuri,
and by him to Neleus, who carried them to Scepsis, which is described by Pindar. (Nem. x. Ill, &c. )
in Troas, where they remained, baving been hidden Two other mythical personages of this name occur
and much injured in a cave, till they were pur- in Hom. Il. xiii. 541; 0v. Met
. xii. 341. (L. S. )
chased by Apellicon, who published a very faulty APHA'REUS ('A papeús), an Athenian orator
edition of them. Upon the arrival of the MSS. at and tragic poet, was a son of the rhetorician Hip-
Rome, they were examined by the grammarian pias and Plathane. After the death of his father,
Tyrannion, who furnished copies of them to An- i his mother married the orator Isocrates, who
dronicus of Rhodes, upon which the latter adopted Aphareus as his son. He was trained in
founded his edition of Aristotle. (ANDKONICUS the school of Isocrates, and is said to have written
of Rhodes. )
(P. S. ) judicial and deliberative speeches (λόγοι δικανικοί
APEMIUS ('Anhunos), a surname of Zeus, kal ovubovdeutikol). An oration of the former
under which he had an altar on mount Pares in kind, of which we know only the name, was writ-
Attica, on which sacrifices were offered to him. ten and spoken by Aphareus on behalf of Isocrates
(Paus. i. 32. & 2. )
(L. S. ) against Megacleides. (Plut. lit. X. Orat. p. 839;
APER, a Greek grammarian, who lived in Rome Dionys. Isocr. 18, Dmarch, 13; Eudoc. p. 67 ;
in the time of Tiberius. He belonged to the Suid. s. r. ; Phot. Cod. 260. ) According to Plu-
school of Aristarchus, and was the instructor of Larch, Aphareus wrote thirty-seven tragedies, but
Heracleides Ponticus.
3. Of Ascalon, was the chief tragic poet in the that be had seen this picture, but he may have
time of Caligula, with whom he lived on the most been mistaken in ascribing it to A pelles. He
intimate terms. (Philo, Legat. ad Caium, p. 790; seems also to speak of A pelles as if he had been
Dion Cass. lix. 5 ; Suet. Cal. 33. )
living at Ptolemy's court before this event oc-
APELLES ('Arenñs), the most celebrated of curred. If, therefore, Pliny and Lucian are both
Grecian painters, was born, most probably, at to be believed, we may conclude, from comparing
Colophon in Ionia (Suidas, s. v. ), though Pliny their tales, that Apelles, having been accidentally
(xxxv. 36. § 10) and Ovid (Art
. Am. iii. 401 ; driven to Alexandria, overcame the dislike which
Pont. iv, 1. 29) call him a Coan. The account Ptolemy bore to him, and remained in Egypt dur-
of Strabo (xiv. p. 642) and Lucian (De Calumn. ing the latter part of his life, enjoying the favour
lix. 8$ 2, 6), that he was an Ephesian, may be ex- of that king, in spite of the schemes of his rivals to
plained from the statements of Suidas, that he was disgrace him. The account of his life cannot be
made a citizen at Ephesus, and that he studied carried further; we are not told when or where he
painting there under Ephorus. He afterwards died; but from the above facts his date can be
studied under Pamphilus of Amphipolis, to whom fixed, since he practised his art before the death of
he paid the fee of a talent for a ten-years' course of Philip (B. C. 336), and after the assumption of the
instruction. (Suidas, s. v. ; Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 8. ) regal title by Ptolemy. (B. c. 306. ) As the result
At a later period, when he had already gained a of a minute examination of all the facts, Tölken
high reputation, he went to Sicyon, and again paid (Amalth. iii. pp. 117–119) places him between
a talent for admission into the school of Melan- | 352 and 308 B. C. According to Pliny, he fou-
thius, whom he assisted in his portrait of the rished about the 112th Olympiad, B. c. 332.
tyrant Aristratus. (Plut. Arat. 13. ) By this Many anecdotes are preserved of Apelles and
course of study he acquired the scientific accuracy his contemporaries, which throw an interesting
of the Sicyonian school, as well as the elegance of light both on his personal and his professional cha-
the lonic.
racter. He was ready to acknowledge that in some
The best part of the life of A pelles was probably points he was excelled by other artists, as by Am-
spent at the court of Philip and Alexander the phion in grouping and by Asclepiodorus in per-
Great ; for Pliny speaks of the great number of his spective. (Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 10. ) He first caused
portraits of both those princes (xxxv. 36. § 16), the merits of Protogenes to be understood. Coming
and states that he was the only person whom to Rhodes, and finding that the works of Proto-
Alexander would permit to take his portrait. (vii. genes were scarcely valued at all by his country-
38; see also Cic. ad Fam. v. 12. & 13; Hor. men, he offered him fifty talents for a single
Ep. ii. 1. 239; Valer. Max. viii. 11. § 2, ext; picture, and spread the report that he meant to sell
Arrian, Anab. i. 16. $ 7. ) A pelles enjoyed the the picture again as his own. (Plin. ib. & 13. ) In
friendship of Alexander, who used to visit him in speaking of the great artists who were his con-
his studio. In one of these visits, when the king's temporaries, he ascribed to them every possible
conversation was exposing his ignorance of art, excellence except one, namely, grace, which he
A pelles politely advised him to be silent, as the claimed for himself alone. (10. $ 10. )
boys who were grinding the colours were laughing Throughout his whole life, A pelles laboured to
at him. (Plin. xxxv. 36. $ 12. ) Plutarch relates improve himself, especially in drawing, which he
this speech as having been made to Megabyzus. never spent a day without practising. (Plin. ib.
(De Trang. Anim. 12, p. 471, f. ) Aelian tells the § 12; hence the proverb Nulla dies sine linea. )
anecdote of Zeuxis and Megabyzus. (lar. Hist. ii. The tale of his contest with Protogenes afiords an
2. ) Pliny (l. c. ) also tells us that Apelles, having example both of the skill to which A pelles attained
been commissioned by Alexander to paint his fa- in this portion of his art, and of the importance
vourite concubine, Campaspe (Ilaykdotn, Aelian, attached to it in all the great schools of Greece.
Par. Hist. xii. 34), naked, fell in love with her, A pelles had sailed to Rhodes, eager to meet
upon which Alexander gave her to him as a pre Protogenes. Upon landing, he went straight to
sent; and according to some she was the model of that artist's studio. Protogenes was absent, but a
the painter's best picture, the Venus Anadyomene. large panel ready to be painted on hung in the
From all the information we have of the connexion studio. A pelles seized the pencil, and drew an
## p. 222 (#242) ############################################
222
APELLES.
APELLES.
excessively thin coloured line on the panel, by A list of the works of Apelles is given by Pliny,
which Protogenes, on his return, at once guessed (xxxv. 36. ) They are for the most part single
who had been his visitor, and in his turn drew a figures, or groups of a very few figures. Of his
still thinner line of a different colour upon or within portraits the most celebrated was thai of Alexander
the former (according to the reading of the recent wielding a thunderbolt, which was known as o
editions of Pliny, in illa ipsa). When Apelles re-kepauvooópos, and which gave occasion to the say-
turned and saw the lines, ashamed to be defeated, ing, that of two Alexanders, the one, the son of
says Pliny," tertio colore lineas secuit, nullum re Philip, was invincible, the other, he of Apelles, in-
linquens amplius subtilitati locum. " (16. $11. ) The imitable. (Plul Fort. Aler. 2, 3. ) In this picture,
most natural explanation of this difficult passage the thunderbolt and the hand which held it ap-
seems to be, that down the middle of the first line of peared to stand out of the panel; and, to aid this
A pelles, Protogenes drew another so as to divide it effect, the artist did not scruple to represent Alex-
into two parallel halves, and that A pelles again ander's complexion as dark, though it was really
divided the line of Protogenes in the same manner. light. (Plut. Alex. 4. ) The price of this picture
Pliny speaks of the three lines as visum effugientes. * | was twenty talents. Another of his portraits, that
The panel was preserved, and carried to Rome, of Antigonus, has been celebrated for its conceal-
where it remained, exciting more wonder than allment of the loss of the king's eye, by representing
the other works of art in the palace of the Caesars, his face in profile. He also painted a portrait of
till it was destroyed by fire with that building. himself. Among his allegorical pictures was one
Of the means which Apelles took to ensure ac- representing Castor and Pollux, with Victory and
curacy, the following example is given. He used Alexander the Great, how grouped we are not
to expose his finished pictures to view in a public told ; and another in which the figure of War,
place, while he hid himself behind the picture to with his hands tied behind his back, followed the
hear the criticisms of the passers-by. A cobbler triumphal car of Alexander. “ He also painted,"
detected a fault in the shoes of a figure : the next says Pliny, “things which cannot be painted,
day he found that the fault was corrected, and thunders and lightnings, which they call Bronte,
was proceeding to criticise the leg, when A pelles Astrape, and Ceramobolia" These were clearly
rushed from behind the picture, and commanded allegorical figures. Several of his subjects were
the cobbler to keep to the shoes. (Plin. Ib. & 12 : taken from the heroic mythology. But of all his
hence the proverb, Ne supra crepidam sutor : pictures the most admired was the “Venus Ana-
see also Val. Max. viii. 12, ext. $ 3; Lucian tells dyomene," ( avadvopevn 'Appositn), or Venus
the tale of Phidias, pro Imag. 14, vol. ii. p. 492. ) rising out of the sea The goddess was wringing
Marvellous tales are told of the extreme accuracy her hair, and the falling drops of water formed a
of his likenesses of men and horses. (Plin. xxxv. transparent silver reil around her form. This pic-
36. SS 14, 17. ; Lucian, de Calumn. I. c. ; Aelian, ture, which is said to have cost 100 talents, was
V. H. ii. 3. ) With all his diligence, however, painted for the temple of Aesculapius at Cos, and
Apelles knew when to cease correcting. He said afterwards placed by Augustus in the temple which
that he excelled Protogenes in this one point, that he dedicated to Julius Caesar. The lower part
the latter did not know when to leave a picture being injured, no one could be found to repair it.
alone, and he laid down the maxim, Nocere saepe As it continued to decay, Nero had a copy of it
nimiam diligentiam. (Plin. l. c. $ 10; Cic. Orat. 22; made by Dorotheus. (Plin. l. c. ; Strab. xiv. p. 657. )
Quintil. x. 4. )
Apelles commenced another picture of Venus for
Apelles is stated to have made great improve the Coans, which he intended should surpass the
ments in the mechanical part of his art. The as- Venus Anadyomene. At his death, he had finish-
sertion of Pliny, that he used only four colours, is ed only the head, the upper part of the breast,
incorrect. (Dic. of Ant. s. v. Colores. ) He painted and the outline of the figure ; but Pliny says that
with the pencil, but we are not told whether he used it was more admired than his former finished pic-
the cestrum.
His principal discovery was that of ture. No one could be found to complete the
covering the picture with a very thin black var- work. (Plin. xxxv. l. c. , and 40. $ 41; Cic. ad Fam.
nish (atramentum), which, besides preserving the i. 9. § 4, de Off. ii. 2. )
picture, made the tints clearer and subdued the By the general consent of ancient authors,
more brilliant colours. (Plin. l. c. $ 18. ) The process A pelles stands first among Greek painters. To
was, in all probability, the same as that now called the undiscriminating admiration of Pliny, who
glazing or toning, the object of which is to attain seems to have regarded a portrait of a horse, so
the excellence of colouring “which does not pro true that other horses neighed at it, as an achieve-
ceed from fine colours, but true colours; from ment of art as admirable as the Venus Anadyomene
breaking down these fine colours, which would ap itself, we may add the unmeasured praise which
pear too raw, to a deep-toned brightness. ” (Sir. J. Cicero, Varro, Columella, Ovid, and other writers
Reynolds, Notes on Du Fresnoy, note 37. ) From give to the works of Apelles, and especially to the
the fact mentioned by Pliny, that this varnishing Venus Anadyomene. (Cic. Brut. 18, de Orat. iii. 7;
could be discovered only on close inspection, Sir J. Varro, L. L. ix. 12, ed. Müller; Colum. R. R.
Reynolds thought that it was like that of reggio. Praef. $ 31, Schn. ; Ovid. Ari. Am. iii. 401; Pont.
That he painted on moveable panels is evident iv. 1. 29; Propert. iii. 7. 11; Auson. Ep. 106 ;
from the frequent mention of tabulae with reference Anthol. Planud. iv. 178-182. ) Statius (Sülr. i. 1.
to bis pictures. Pliny expressly says, that he did 100) and Martial (xi. 9) call painting by the name
not paint on walls. (xxxv. 37. )
of “ Ars A pellea. " Sir Joshua Reynolds says of
the Greek painters, and evidently with an especial
* Does this refer only to the excessive thinness reference to A pelles, “if we had the good fortune
of the lines, or may it mean that the three lines to possess what the ancients themselves esteemed
were actually tapered away towards a common their masterpieces, I have no doubt but we should
vanishing point ?
find their figures as correctly drawn as the Lao.
## p. 223 (#243) ############################################
APELLES.
223
APELLICON.
;
coon, and probably coloured like Titian” (Notes on | ledge of the degrees of things, or taste, presupposes
Du Fresnoy, note 37); and, though the point has a perfect knowledge of the things themselves : that
been disputed, such is the general judgment of the colour, grace, and taste, are ornaments, not substi-
best modern authorities. It need scarcely be said, tutes, of form, expression, and character ; and,
that not one of the pictures of Apelles remains to when they usurp that title, degenerate into splen-
decide the question by.
did faults. Such were the principles on which
In order to understand what was the excellence A pelles formed his Venus, or rather the personifi-
which was peculiar to Apelles, we must reſer to cation of Female Grace, -the wonder of art, the
the state of the art of painting in his time. (Dict. despair of artists. ” That this view of the Venus
of Ant. s. v. Painting. ) After the essential forns is right, is proved, if proof were needed, by the
of Polygnotus had been elevated to dramatic effect words of Pliny (xxxv. 36. $ 10), “ Deesse iis
and ideal expression by Apollodorus and Zeuxis, unam Venerem dicebat, quam Graeci Charita vo-
and enlivened with the varied character and feeling cant,” except that there is no reason for calling
which the school of Eupompus drew forth from the Venus the personification of Female Grace ;"
direct observation of nature, A pelles perceived that it was rather Grace personified in a female form.
something still was wanting, something which the Apelles wrote on painting, but his works are
refinements attained by his contemporaries in group- entirely lost.
[P. S. )
ing, perspective, accuracy, and finish, did not sup APELLES ('Anellñs), a disciple of Marcion,
ply-something which he boasted, and succeeding departed in some points from the teaching of his
ages confirmed the boast, that he alone achieved – master. Instead of wholly rejecting the Old
namely, the quality called rápis, venustas, grace Testament, he looked upon its contents as coming
(Plin. xxxv. 36. & 10; Quintil. xii. 10; Plut. De partly from the good principle, partly from the
met. 22; Aelian, V. H. xii. 41); that is, not only evil principle. Instead of denying entirely the
beauty, sublimity, and pathos, but beauty, subli- reality of Christ's human body, he held that in his
mity, and pathos, each in its proper measure; the descent from heaven he assumed to himself an
expending of power enough to produce the desired aërial body, which he gave back to the air as he
effect, and no more; the absence of all exaggeration, ascended. He denied the resurrection of the body,
as well as of any sensible deficiency; the most na- and considered differences of religious belief as
tural and pleasing mode of impressing the subject on unimportant, since, said he,“ all who put their
the spectator's mind, without displaying the means trust in the Crucified One will be saved, if they
by which the impression is produced. In fact, the only prove their faith by good works. ”
meaning which Fuseli attaches to the word seems Apelles flourished about A. D. 188, and lived to
to be that in which it was used by A pelles : “ By a very grcat age. Tertullian (Praescript. Haeret.
grace I mean that artless balance of motion and 30) says that he was expelled from the school of
repose sprung from character, founded on propriety, Marcion for fornication with one Philumene, who
which neither falls short of the demands nor over- fancied herself a prophetess, and whose fantasies
leaps the modesty of nature. Applied to execution, were recorded by Apelles in his book entitled
it means that dexterous power which hides the pavepuo eis. But since Rhodon, who was the
means by which it was attained, the difficulties personal opponent of Apelles, speaks of him as
it has conquered. ” (Lect. 1. ) In the same Lecture universally honoured for his course of life (Euseb.
Fuseli gires the following estimate of the character H. E. v. 13), we may conclude that the former
of A pelles as an artist : « The name of Apelles in part of Tertullian's story is one of those inventions
Pliny is the synonyme of unrivalled and unattain which were so commonly made in order to damage
able excellence, but the enumeration of his works the character of heretics. Besides the pavepuoers,
points out the modification which we ought to ap- A pelles wrote a work entitled “ Syllogisms,” the
ply to that superiority ; it neither comprises exclu- object of which Eusebius states (l. c. ) to have been,
sive sublimity of invention, the most acute discri- to prove that the writings of Moses were false.
mination of character, the widest sphere of compre- It must have been a very large work, since Am-
bension, the most judicious and best balanced brose (De Paradis. 5) quotes from the thirty-eighth
composition, por the deepest pathos of expression : volume of it. (See also Tertull. adv. Marcion,
his great prerogative consisted more in the unison iv. 17; Augustin. de Huer. 23; Epiphanius, Haer.
than in the extent of his powers; he knew better 44. )
(P. S. )
what he could do, what ought to be done, at what ÁPE'LLICON ('ATEMW), a native of Teos,
point he could arrive, and what lay beyond his was a Peripatetic philosopher and a great collector
reach, than any other artist. Grace of conception of books. In addition to the number which his
and refinement of taste were his elements, and immense wealth enabled him to purchase, he stole
went hand in hand with grace of execution and several out of the archives of different Greek cities.
taste in finish; powerful and seldom possessed His practices having been discovered at Athens, he
singly, irresistible when united : that be built both was obliged to fly from the city to save his life.
on the firm basis of the former system, not on its He afterwards returned during the tyranny of
subversion, his well-known contest of lines with Aristion, who patronized him, as a member of the
Protogenes, not a legendary tale, but a well at- siime philosophic sect with himself, and gave him
tested fact, irrefragably proves :. . the corollaries the command of the expedition against Delos,
we may adduce from the contest are obviously which, though at first successful, was ruined by
these, that the schools of Greece recognized all one the carelessness of Apellicon, who was surprised by
elemental principle : that acuteness and fidelity of the Romans under Orobius, and with difficulty
eye and obedience of hand form precision ; preci- escaped, having lost his whole army. (Athen. v.
sion, proportion; proportion, beauty: that it is the pp. 214, 215. ) His library was carried to Rome
'little more or less,' imperceptible to rulgar eyes, i by Sulla. (B. C. 84. ) A pellicon had died just be
which constitutes grace, and establishes the supe fore. (Strab. xiii. p. 609. )
riority of one artist above another : that the know- Apellicon's library contained the autograpbs of
p
## p. 224 (#244) ############################################
224
APHAREUS.
APHTHONIUS.
Aristotle's works, which had been given by thet in ancient story under the name of 'Adapnolda. or
philosopher, on his death-bed, to Theophrastus, 'Apapntıddan, for their fight with the Dioscuri,
and by him to Neleus, who carried them to Scepsis, which is described by Pindar. (Nem. x. Ill, &c. )
in Troas, where they remained, baving been hidden Two other mythical personages of this name occur
and much injured in a cave, till they were pur- in Hom. Il. xiii. 541; 0v. Met
. xii. 341. (L. S. )
chased by Apellicon, who published a very faulty APHA'REUS ('A papeús), an Athenian orator
edition of them. Upon the arrival of the MSS. at and tragic poet, was a son of the rhetorician Hip-
Rome, they were examined by the grammarian pias and Plathane. After the death of his father,
Tyrannion, who furnished copies of them to An- i his mother married the orator Isocrates, who
dronicus of Rhodes, upon which the latter adopted Aphareus as his son. He was trained in
founded his edition of Aristotle. (ANDKONICUS the school of Isocrates, and is said to have written
of Rhodes. )
(P. S. ) judicial and deliberative speeches (λόγοι δικανικοί
APEMIUS ('Anhunos), a surname of Zeus, kal ovubovdeutikol). An oration of the former
under which he had an altar on mount Pares in kind, of which we know only the name, was writ-
Attica, on which sacrifices were offered to him. ten and spoken by Aphareus on behalf of Isocrates
(Paus. i. 32. & 2. )
(L. S. ) against Megacleides. (Plut. lit. X. Orat. p. 839;
APER, a Greek grammarian, who lived in Rome Dionys. Isocr. 18, Dmarch, 13; Eudoc. p. 67 ;
in the time of Tiberius. He belonged to the Suid. s. r. ; Phot. Cod. 260. ) According to Plu-
school of Aristarchus, and was the instructor of Larch, Aphareus wrote thirty-seven tragedies, but
Heracleides Ponticus.
