Cicero tells us that the Crotoniats,
opportunity
to show his power of delineating form,
who were then at the height of their prosperity, and that in several varieties ; the male was fierce
engaged Zeuxis, for a large sum of money, to adorn and shaggy, and his face, though smiling, was wild
with paintings the temple of Juno in their city; and savage ; the Centauress combined the beauties of
and Aelian (V.
who were then at the height of their prosperity, and that in several varieties ; the male was fierce
engaged Zeuxis, for a large sum of money, to adorn and shaggy, and his face, though smiling, was wild
with paintings the temple of Juno in their city; and savage ; the Centauress combined the beauties of
and Aelian (V.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
t.
Pü
and, on the other hand, the date of 01. 79 is not | Now, from the general character of the allusions
only opposed to Pliny's view (for which indeed it in the comic poets, we may safely inſer that the
makes no difference whether the imagined error picture alluded to was only recently painted ; and
was 28 years or 68, since both would be abso- therefore we are quite prepared to accept the ex-
lutely wrong), but it is so utterly inconsistent press statement of the Scholiast, that the picture
with all we learn from other quarters of the age of referred to was one painted by Zeuxis, and dedi-
Zeuxis, that we cannot believe it to have been cated in the temple of Aphrodite at Athens, repre
assigned by any of the Greek writers whom Pliny senting Eros in the fairest youthful beauty, and
followed, and therefore we cannot believe that he as crowned with roses (comp. Suid. 8. v. 'Avok
had any occasion to refer to it. This date of Ol. 79 www). The date of the Acharnians was B. C. 425 ;
would, in fact, make Zeuxis a contemporary of and this agrees wonderfully well with the passage in
Polygnotus. The important result which remains the Protagorus, where it is clearly implied that the
to us is the positive testimony of some of the
Greek painter had already achieved a very high reputa-
writers on art, that Zeuxis flourished in Ol. 89, tion. It is hardly necessary to remark, that there
B. C. 424.
is no difficulty in explaining the word veworl as
Pliny's reason for rejecting this statement, and referring to a period three or four years back,
for fixing on the 95th Olympiad as the commence especially when we are dealing with a chrono
ment of the career of Zeuxis, is, we suspect, to be logical allusion in Plato. It is true that each por-
found in his notion of the relation of Zeuxis totion of the incidental evidence now adduced has a
Apollodorus, whom he places at Ol. 93. Pliny certain degree of indefiniteness ; but some of the
evidently believed Zeuxis to have been largely soundest results of critical inquiries are based upon
indebted to Apollodorus ; and thus far, as we shall the cumulative force and mutual confirmation of a
presently see, he was doubtless in the right. But body of incidental evidence, no one portion of
if he drew from this relation the inference that which, by itself, would justify the conclusion.
Zeuxis must have begun to flourish some eight or The above arguments apply to the beginning of the
twelve years, or even at all, after the time at which career of Zeuxis : they are abundantly confirmed by
A pollodorus was at the height of his reputation, evidence referring to a later period, namely, from
he adopted a conclusion which by no means neces. what we are told of his connection with Archelaus,
sarily follows. We are nowhere expressly told that king of Macedonia, whose reign began in B. C. 413,
Zeuxis was a pupil of Apollodorus ; but this does and ended in B. C. 399, the very year in which, ac-
not matter. In schools of art the disciple is often cording to Pliny, Zeuxis began to flourish. But for
very little younger, sometimes eren older, than his this king he executed an important and extensive
master; and this is especially the case where an work, which would not have been entrusted to any
artist, who has already made some progress in his but an artist of established reputation, the decora-
studies or even in the practice of his art, enters the tion of the royal palace at Pella with paintings,
school of a master who is celebrated in some one for which Zeuxis received four hundred minae
point of the art, for the sake of acquiring the know- (Aelian, V. H. xiv. 17). Aelian relates this fact
ledge of that point. Numerous examples might be in connection with a remark of Socrates upon iſ,
cited from the history both of ancient and mo- which is worth repeating, both for its own sake,
dern art of this sort of relation between contempo- and as showing that the work must have been
rary artists, and also of the errors made by adopt- executed some time before B. C. 399 (when So.
ing some fixed average period as that by which it crates himself was put to death), and yet after
may be assumed that the disciple was later than the fame of Zeuxis had been spread far and wide
his master. For these reasons we draw a con. -“ Archelaus,” said the philosopher, “had spent
clusion in favour of the date we have assigned to 400 minae on his house, hiring Zeuxis of Heracleia
Zeuxis, even from the manner in which Pliny to paint it, but nothing on himself (that is, on his
denies its correctness.
own improvement). Wherefore men travelled from
This date is abundantly confirmed by other a distance, eager to see the house, but none visited
evidence. Quintilian (xii. 10) tells us that he Macedonia for the sake of Archelaus himself. "
lived about the time of the Peloponnesian War. We are also told by Pliny, that Zeuxis, after ac-
The allusions to him, which are put into the mouth quiring a great fortune by the exercise of his art,
of Socrates by Xenophon and Plato, even after adopted the custom of giving away his pictures,
making all allowance for the anachronisms which because no adequate price could be set upon them;
the latter is often content to commit for the sake and one of the paintings so given away was
of dramatic effect, point to the date above fixed, picture of Pan, which he presented to Archelaus :
and place him, at all events, earlier than the date another proof that he had reached the summit of
assigned by Pliny (Plat. Gorg. p. 453, c. d. ; Xen. his reputation before that king's death in B. C. 399.
Mem. i. 4. § 6, Oecon. x. l; and probably also Another indication of his date is found in the
Sympos. iv. 63, and Plat. Protag. p. 318, b. c. ; story related by Plutarch (Per. 13), which repre-
see Zeuxippus). Besides the general indications sents him as partly contemporary with Agatharcus,
of his date, furnished by these passages, the one who painted scenes for Aeschylus or Sophocles
last quoted (if Zeuxippus there be Zeuxis) gives [AGATHARCUS).
a specific date perfectly in accordance with the one On these grounds we may say, with almost abso-
assumed, for the second visit of Protagoras to lute certainty, that Zeuxis flourished chiefly during
Athens, on occasion of which the dialogue is sup- the last quarter of the fifth century, B. c. ; and, as
posed to be held, took place in B. c. 422. Similar it has been shown to be probable that he was
incidental evidence may be derived from Aris- already exercising his art at Athens with great
tophanes, who, in the Acharnians (991, 992), success at the beginning of that period, we may
having mentioned Eros, adds :-
assume that he was then not less than thirty years
ώσπερ ο γεγραμμένος, έχων στέφανον ανθέμων. in the Protagoras); and therefore that he was
old (and this falls within the meaning of veávio KOS
tions »
of inte
menco
In the
fable to
which
admire
facts w
tory -
give of
In
dispat
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of TL
forme
belief
in Lu
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is gir
know
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brate
Out
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have
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indic
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the
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by
LOT
calle
## p. 1327 (#1343) ##########################################
ZEUXIS.
1327
ZEUXIS.
2 of the an
safels Dier that she
SILT pasted; and
d to accept the e
iast, tha: se per
Zeons, and it
se at Athens
poebel besaty, and
A Sci. L'AMOR
Tans was B C 43;
el sith the masses
earls impäri saat be
I a tery high reçuz
to remark, Lihat sens
g the word Putri a
or four years back
alog with a con
i is true that each per
nce now addaced bass
Dess; bei rise of the
Baines are based was
sainal contra os
HCE, no one poriano
sfy the conclusion
or to the beginning of
afur danty controed
lei period, panels, rue
Onect. on with Ali
reis begun in BG 412
se Fert Tear in bici, a
regan to courish Bu: 2
i important and erase
are been entrested to Br
ed reparation, the decis
e at Peila with Justin
ived foar bundred as
· Aelian relates she
mark of Socrates sea
8, both for its on sks
the work prest hare ben
efore & c. 399 (when &
it to death ), and yet ster
id been spread far and wide
the philosopher, - had set
se, hiring Zecris of Hesos
'g on himself (that is ca
Wherefore men trare ed ina
me the bouss, but rate mode
sake of Archelaus bissen
P. inf, that Zentis, azer es
tune by the exercise of bis 27,
1 of giving away his pas
born about B. C. 455, and that he came to Athens character from Dionysius of Colophon, the imitator
about or soon after the beginning of the Pelopon- of Polygnotus. The head-quarters of the Ionian
nesian War. He must have been in Macedonian school must soon have been fixed at Ephesus,
at the court of Archelaus, soon after B. C. 413. He where we find its home in the time of Parrhasius
must have spent some time in Magna Graecia, as and his successors, and where, from the tradition
we leam from the story respecting the picture of which makes Zeuxis an Ephesian, it is probable
Helen, which he painted for the city of Croton ; that he also studied. At all events, he clearly be
and it is also probable that he visited Sicily, as we longed to this school of painting, the leading cha-
are told that one of those inestimable pictures, racteristics of which were accuracy of imitation,
which he gave away, was presented to the Agri- the exhibition of sensual charms, and the gra-
gentines. His travels through Greece itself were tification of sensual taste. The perfection to
no doubt extensive. We find him at Olympia, which Zeuxis carried these qualities, which we
where he made an ostentatious display, before the suppose him to have learned in the Asiatic school,
eyes of all Greece, of the wealth which his art had will presently appear in the description of his
brought him, by appearing in a robe embroidered paintings. But there wns another element in his
with his own name in letters of gold : another style, which he acquired at Athens, whither he
example of that vanity, into which the conscious-went at the very period when the wondrous works
ness of merit often betrays the artist, and which of Pheidias in sculpture were just completed, and
was still more strongly exhibited by his contem- when Apollodorus was beginning to develope
porary PARRHASIUS. The time of his death those marvellous powers of his own art which
is unknown, for the inference which has been reside in the contrast of light and shade, and which
drawn from the enlogium upon him in the oration appear to have remained a secret even to Polygnotus.
of Isocrates repl artidósews merely confirms the [APOLLODOR US. ] How great was the influence
fact, which is evident from the arguments already of Apollodorus upon Zeuxis, may be seen in the
adduced as to his age, that he died before the de manner in which Pliny introduces the name of
livery of that oration in B. c. 355 (comp. Harpocrat. Zeuxis (Ab Apollodoro artis fores apertas Zeuris
s. v. ). The story told of the manner of his death, intravit), and still more strikingly in the complaint
namely, that he choked with laughing at a picture of which Apollodorus embodied in verse, that Zeuxis
an old woman which he had just painted (Festus, had robbed him of his art and carried it away,
8. v. Pictur), furnishes another instance of those fic that is, had surpassed him in what constituted his
tions which the ancient grammarians were so fond peculiar excellence. (Plin. l. c. In eum Apollodorus
of inventing, in order to make the deaths of great supra scriptus rersum fecit, artem ipsi ablatum
men correspond with the character of their lives. Zeuxin ferre secum. ) Quintilian (xii. 10) has
In the case of Zeuxis, we would understand the robbed Apollodorus still further, by ascribing the
fable to refer to that marvellous power of imitation, invention of the treatment of light and shade to
which was one of the most conspicuous and most Zeuxis (Luminum umbrarumque invenisse rationem
admired qualities of his style. The few other Zeuris traditur). And as to the influence of
facts which are known respecting his personal his-Pheidias upon Zeuxis, we need no direct testimony
tory will be best stated in the account we have to to assure us how deeply the genius of the young
give of his works.
painter must have been affected by those glorious
In attempting to trace the artistic life of Zeuxis, productions, then in all their freshness, the very
we meet with a difficulty in the outset. It was a fragments of which have caused a new birth in
disputed question, Pliny tells us, whether he was modern art; but we are not without some positive
the disciple of Demophilus of Himera, or of Neseas evidence on the subject, in the statement that
of Thasos. Now we cannot but think that the Zeuxis, like Pheidias, took Homer's descriptions
former of these opinions is connected with the as the model for his own representations of heroic
belief that the birthplace of Zeuxis was Heracleia persons, whom, even in his female figures, he
in Lucania ; for, if Demophilus of Himera be the painted in such a manner, as to give larger pro-
same person as the artist of whom a brief account portions to the limbs than in the ordinary human
is given under DAMOPHILUS, he must have been body. (Quintil. 1. c. : plus membris corporis dedit, id
known through Southern and Central Italy, as amplius atque augustius ratus, atque, ut existimant,
well as in his native Sicily, as one of the most cele- Homerum secutus, cui validissima quaeque forma
brated painters of the age preceding that of Zeuxis. etiam in feminis placet. ") Some of the ancient
On the other hand, from the tradition respecting writers charged him with carrying this enlarge-
Neseas of Thasos (of whom, unfortunately, we ment of the heads and limbs of his figures even to
have no other mention), we are inclined to derive, a fault (Plin. l. c. ; Deprehenditur tamen ceu grandior
not only a confirmation of our opinion, that Zeuxis in capitibus articulisque).
was a native of the Pontic Heracleia, but also an In one respect, however, the art of Zeuxis had
indication of the school in which he received his already degenerated from that of Pheidias and
early training. For the island of Thasos was the Polygnotus. His idealism was that of form, not of
home and head of the Ionic school of painting, character. What Aristotle calls hoos, the exhibition
in both its branches, the Asiatic and the Attic. of character in such a manner as to elevate the
In it lived the family of artists to which belonged feelings and moral sentiments of the spectator, was
Polygnotus, who established at Athens the new entirely wanting, the philosopher tells us, in the
school of painting, which, after some rivalry with works of Zeuxis, while it was conspicuous in those
the older Attic school, with which Micon and Pa- of Polygnotus ; and Zeuxis was rather the Euripides
naenus were connected, became united with the of painting than its Homer. (Aristot. Poct. vi. 5;
latter, and acquired the position which is marked for a fuller explanation of the passage, see Poly-
by the inventions and fame of the Athenian APOL-GNOTUS, P. 464. ) When Pliny says of the Pe-
LODORUS; while the Asiatic (or, as it is usually nelope of Zeuxis, evidently as a sort of answer to
called simply the Ionian) school, received a new I the judgment of Aristotle, "in qua pinxisse mores
Spielen
.
2 price could be set open ebens;
untings so giren awas sa i
ich he presented to Arbesa:
he bad reached the said
re that king's death in RC
in of his date is found in the
Pitarch (Per. 13) she fear
Jy contemporary with datbank
Des for Aeschylus ar
ands ve may af, sith almost also
ta: Zeusis fourished chieds door
of the ofth century, BC; 2. , 39
bond to be probable that he wa
sing his art at Athens with parent
beginning of that period se si
je was then not less than thirts T
falls within the meaning of protest
zgoras); and therefore that he
## p. 1328 (#1344) ##########################################
1328
ZEUXIS.
ZEUXIS.
gen in
No. 5
P. xliii
.
tions &
he mal
Damely
commc
such a
aimed
strang
perleci
subjec
statem
deduct
Of
his
pa
be na
1
scene-
which
obsers
('Eye
tale is
anothi
Zeuri
he wo
ciletur," we can only say that, knowing nothing of almost to perfection. The well-known story of the
the picture in question, and knowing too much of trial of skill in that species of painting between
Pliny's judgment in such matters, we cannot give these two artists, if not literally true, indicates the
the Roman compiler credit for understanding what opinion which was held in ancient times of their
the Greek philosopher meant by 180s.
powers of imitation. In this contest the picture of
His marvellous power in expressing the ideal Zeuxis represented a bunch of grapes, so naturally
standard of human beauty, and of exactly imitating painted that the birds flew at the picture to eat the
those natural objects, which are incapable of an fruit ; upon which the artist, confident in this
ideal representation, are celebrated by several an- proof of his success, called upon his rival no longer
cient writers. In the passage, more than once re- to delay to draw aside the curtain and show his
ferred to in this work, in which Cicero expresses picture : but the picture of Parrhasis was the
the general character of several of the chief artists curtain itself, which Zeuxis had mistaken for real
of Greece (Brut. 18), as illustrative of the gradual | drapery. On discovering his error, Zeuxis ho-
progress of art, he says of Zeuxis, Polygnotus, and nourably yielded the palm to Parrhasins, saying
Timanthes, we praise their forms and outlines that he himself had deceived birds, but Parrhasius
(formas et lineamenta); but in Echion, Nico. an artist. (Plin. l. c. § 3. ) Such a tale, perhaps.
nachus, Protogenes, and A pelles erery thing is hardly falls within the province of criticism ; other-
already perfected. ” Elsewhere (de Invent. ii. 1; wise an exception might be taken to the decision
comp. Victorin. Erpos. ad loc. ) he relates, more of Zeuxis, on more grounds than one.
As a pen-
fully than any other ancient author, the well-known dant to this story, Pliny (l. c. $ 4) relates another,
story of his choice of the five most beautiful virgins less known, but more interesting, if true ; namely,
of Croton", as models for his picture of Helen, to that Zeuxis afterwards painted a boy carrying
be dedicated in the temple of Juno in that city ; grapes, at which a bird again flew ; but this time
which is one of the best illustrations of the sort of the artist was displeased at his success, and said
ideal character which was expressed in the paint. " I have painted the grapes better than the boy ;
ings of Zeuxis, and which shows us that his ideal for had I made him perfectly like life, the bird
ism consisted in the formation of a high average of would have been frightened away. '
merely human beauty, by the actual imitation, in Besides this accuracy of imitation, many of the
one figure, of the most beautiful models of each se- works of Zeuxis displayed great dramatic power.
parate part which he could find. This picture, This appears to have been especially the case with
Cicero tells us, was esteemed the finest work of the his Infant Hercules strangling the Serpent, where
painter, in that application of his art in which he the chief force of the composition consisted in the
most excelled, namely the delineation of the female terror of Alcmena and Amphitryon, as they wit-
form ; and Zeuxis himself is said to have indicated nessed the struggle. (Plin. l. c. 8 2. : Hercules In-
his own opinion, that the picture was not only his fans Dracones strangulans, Alcmena coram parente
masterpiece, but that its excellence could not be et Amphitryone. ) This picture was one of those
surpassed, by adding to it the following lines of which Zeuxis painted after he had reached the
Homer (Il. iii. 156—158): –
summit of his fame, and which he freely gare
Ου νέμεσις Τρώας και εύκνήμιδας Αχαιούς
away as above all price ; for there can be no doubt
Toiņa audi guvaiki nolùv xpóvov črgea náoxery that it was the same work as the Alemena, which,
αινώς αθανάτισι θεης εις ώπα έoικεν.
as Pliny states a little before, he presented to the
people of Agrigentum. Another picture, in which
(Val. Max. iii. 7, ext. 1. ) This judgment was lie showed the same dramatic power, applied to a
confirmed by that of the great painter Nicomachus very different subject, was his Female Hippocentaur,
(see NICOMACHUS, p. 1196, a. ), but, when he saw of which a most charming description is given by
a goddess in the Helen of Zeuxis, we must re- Lucian (Zeuxis, 3, foll. ), who saw a copy of the
member that, in his age, even more than in that of work at Athens, the original having been lost in a
Zeuxis himself, the highest idea of a divine form shipwreck off Cape Malea, on its way to Rome,
was satisfied by the perfection of merely human whither it has been sent by Sulla. It represented
beauty. This picture and its history were cele- a peaceful, happy, cheerful group of Centaurs, in
brated, Cicero further tells us, by many poets, who which the repose of the mother suckling her young
preserved the names of the five virgins upon whom was beautifully contrasted with the sportive rough-
the choice of Zeuxis fell ; and it has more than ness of the father, who was partly visible on an
once been alluded to by modern poets. (See espe- elevation in the background, holding up a lion's
cially, Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, xi. 71-78. ) This whelp to frighten the little ones. The mixed
picture is said to have contributed greatly to the shape of the Centaurs gave the artist a splendid
artist's wealth.
Cicero tells us that the Crotoniats, opportunity to show his power of delineating form,
who were then at the height of their prosperity, and that in several varieties ; the male was fierce
engaged Zeuxis, for a large sum of money, to adorn and shaggy, and his face, though smiling, was wild
with paintings the temple of Juno in their city; and savage ; the Centauress combined the beauties of
and Aelian (V. H. iv. 12) relates a gossipping a perfect female form, in the upper part, with those
story, that, before the picture was dedicated, of a mare of the purest Thessalian breed, so skilfully
Zeuxis made an exhibition of it, at a fixed price, united that it was impossible to detect the point of
paid before admission, and so made a great gain of transition from the human form to the animal ; and
it ; but this proceeding caused his Helen to be the young ones, though new born, showed the
known by the epithet of 'Etaipa.
fierce wildness of their nature, mingled with in-
The accurate imitation of inanimate objects was fantine timidity and curiosity at the sight of the
a department of the art which Zeuxis and his lion's whelp, and while they looked at it, they
younger rival Parrhasius appear to have carried clung closer to their mother. The figure of a
female Centaur, suckling her young one, copied
Not Agrigentum, as Pliny says. doubtless from the painting of Zeuxis, is seen in a
time
time
eis
tem).
comm
lebrat
by PI
pictor
to bla
clius,
The
or, a
Aelia
P 22
It
sages
The
by F
whic!
were
pract
they
the ta
of co
of G
celeb
serer
Cicer
pictu
at CD
bad
exces
distir
Crot
Zeus
but I
for ti
does
that
at A
Was
How
Cent
V
## p. 1329 (#1345) ##########################################
ZEEXIS.
1329
'ZEUXIS.
ZOE
et to perfection. The sel-known story of the
of Man in that species of painting betreten
189 artists, if not literally irse
, indicate the
. wtich was beld in ancient time of the
1 of imitation. In this contest the pister el
reprekated a banc o tapes, en
152: the brads few at the picture do 4233
pa mach ibe artisa
, con der: a thy
19 fuccess, cubed apot his dira. Es kann
13 draw aside the curtain and shorts
but the pictare of Parka'n 13 tie
e rinZeurs had zeker for me
Og discovering bis error, Zecas
vided the pain to Parttasies, KTER
he had deceived birds, ta: Paris
Pinb63. ) Such a zle, permet
thin the province of Cricke; ober
Pia izat be taken to the decat
mare groands an one. As a res
IT, Pias le § 4) relata 200
more interesting. 1 174;:
terwards printed a bor cats
a bord 231 der; bat this time
pleased at his success, and she
the grapes better than the ber;
im perleci's like lite, the 21
atened awar. "
sary of imitation, but
pared great dramatic post.
been especial tie z
trang'ing the Srpen, wie
aus position consisted in the
1 Amphitryen, 25 DeT TE
Pin. 26 $2: Herstels
*, Siemens onze partit
pocture sus ope to see
after he had reached *
d which be free 372
for there ana be so cute
as the first time
ve be presend tott
pother picture, 3 792)
LIC power, acum
| Fast Human
scripcion is given
bo sir a COFT
haring been lost in
its way to 204
21 I: representa
up of lectus is
suck'ng ko
the sportive must
z' isi be az M1
sing op a Sz
Tbe und
gem in the Florentine Museum (Gori, vol. i. p. 95, | already mentioned ; and his picture of the Muses
No. 5 ; Müller, Denkmäler d. alten Kunst, rol. i. was carried off to Rome, from Ambracia, by Fulvius
p. xliii. No. 203). Lucian himself (Zeur. 3) men- Nobilior.
tions this work in illustration of a statement which In addition to the works which have been al
he makes concerning Zeuxis's choice of subjects, ready mentioned, we possess notices of the following
namely, that “ he did not paint those popular and pictures by Zeuxis. His Jupiter enthroned, with
common subjects (or at least very few of them), the gods standing by, is mentioned by Pliny with
such as heroes, or gods, or battles, but he always the epithet magnificus, and its subject confirms the
aimed at novelty, and iſ any thing unusual or opinion that it was one of the artist's finest works.
strange occurred to him, upon it he displayed the Pliny also mentions his Marsyas Bound (Marsyas
perfection of his art. " A glance, however, at the religatus), in the temple of Concord. À minute
subjects of the painter's works will show that this description of a painting on this subject is given
statement is to be accepted with a considerable by Philostratus, who, however, does not mention
deduction.
Zeuxis as its pninter (Eikon. 2); and the subject
of the diligence, with which Zeuxis elaborated frequently occurs on vases, sarcopbagi, candelabra,
his paintings, we have a proof in the reply which and other remains of ancient art, as well as in the
he made to Agatharcus, who, as was natural for a painting found at Herculancum, and one or two
scene-painter, was boasting of the rapidity with others, which may be presumed to be more or less
which he executed his works, when Zeuxis quictly copied from the work of Zeuxis. (For an account
observed :
:-“But I take a long time about mine" of these works, see Müller, Archäol. d. K'unst,
('Εγώ δε πολλά χρόνω: Ρlut. Per. 13). The $ 362, n. 4 ; for a sketch of the picture at Hercu-
tale is told with a slight variation by Plutarch, in laneum, Müller, Denkmäler d. alten Kunst, vol. i.
another passage (De Amic. Mult. 5, p. 94, f. ), that pl. xliii. No. 204; and for copies of other works,
Zeuxis, being blamed for the slowness with which which represent the story of Apollo and Marsyas,
he worked, replied, “ I confess that I take a long see the Denkmäler, vol. ii. pl. xiv. Nos. 149–154).
time to paint ; for I paint works to last a long The Menelaus of Zeuxis is mentioned by Tzetzes
time (Ομολογώ εν πολλά χρόνα γράφειν, και γάρ (Chil. viii. 196–198); and his Boreas or Triton
eis nonúv. hence the proverb, Pingo in aeternita- by Lucian (Timon, 54). Pliny tells us that he
tem). There are other anecdotes told of Zeuxis in painted monochromes in shades of gray (monochro-
common with other great painters. Thus the ce- mata ex albo); and also that there were some vases
lebrated verse, ascribed to APOLLODORUS, is said painted by him (figlina opera) at Ambracia, where
by Pliny to have been written by Zeuxis upon his they were left untouched by Fulvius Nobilior,
picture of an athlete:-“ A man will find it easier when he took away the picture of the Muses. The
to blame than to imitate ” (Invisurum aliquem fu- statement of Cicero (Brutus, 18), that Zeuxis used
cilius, quam imitaturum): or, in the original, only four colours, is explained in the Dictionary of
Μωμήσεται τις μάλλον και μιμήσεται.
Antiquitics, s. 0. Colores, p. 320, b. 2d ed.
2. An artist in gold (aurifer) in the household
The reproof addressed by A pelles to Megabyzus, of Augustus, whose freedman he was, as we learn
or, as others say, to Alexander, is ascriced by from an inscription on the columbarium of Livia.
Aelian (V. H. ii. 2) to Zeuxis. (See APELLES, (Gori, Nos. 114-122; Bianchini, No. 43; Welcker,
p. 221, a. )
Kunstblatt, 1827, No. 84 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
It is unnecessary to multiply references to pas- M. Schorn, p. 430).
sages of the ancient writers in praise of Zeuxis. Respecting a supposed statuary Zeuris, whose
The remarkable fact that his name is not mentioned name arises from a false reading of Pliny, see
by Pausanias, is explained by the supposition, SILANION and ZeUXIADES.
[P. S. ]
which is almost undoubtedly true, that his pictures ΖΙΒΟ ETES or ZIPOETES (Ζιβοίτης or Ζιποί-
were nuostly upon panels, according to the general 795). 1. King of Bithynia, the son of Bas. He
practice of the Greek painters, and therefore that reigned for forty-eight years (B. C. 326—278). He
they had either been destroyed or plundered before carried on successful wars with Lysimachus and
the time of Pausanias. The latter process would Antiochus, the son of Seleucus. (Memnon, ap.
of course be carried on by the Roman conquerors Phot. Cod. 224, p. 228, ed. Bekker. ) In B. c. 315
of Greece with an eagerness proportioned to the he carried on a war against Astacus and Chalcedon.
celebrity of the artist, and accordingly we find (Diod. xix. 60. ) He founded a city which was
several of his best works in the list of Pliny. called Zipoetium after him at the foot of Mount
Cicero also expressly tells us, with reference to the Lyperus. He lived to the age of seventy-six, and
pictures which he painted for the temple of Juno left behind him four children, the eldest of whom,
at Croton, that not even the sanctity of the fane Nicomedes, succeeded himn. (Memnon, l. c. )
had availed for the preservation of any of them, 2. Son of the preceding, who established him-
except the Helen. He does not, however, say self in a part of Bithynia, and against whom Nico-
distinctly whether that great work was still at medes carried on war in B. c. 277. It was for the
Croton in his time. Pliny mentions a Helen by purpose of overpowering him that Nicomedes called
Zeuxis as being at Rome, in the portico of Philip ; in the aid of the Gauls. (Liv. xxxviii. 16; comp.
but he does not identify it with the picture painted Clinton, Fasti Hellen. vol. iii. p. 411. ).
for the Crotoniats, the subject of which indeed he The name Tiboetes (TIBOETES] is by some cor-
does not mention: it is not improbable however rected to Ziboetes.
[C. P. M. )
that they were the same. The picture of Helen ZIGABE’NUS, EUTHY'MIUS. [EUTUY-
at Athens, in the portico called 'Anpitwr Etoá MIUS.
was of course not the same ; but it may have been ZMILUS. (Smilis. ]
a copy of it. (Eustath. ad N. xi. 629, p. 836, 37). ZOE (Zań), the name of several empresses of
How the Athenians were robbed by Sulla of his Constantinople, of whom the following were the
Centaur, and how that picture perished, has been most important :
VOL. III.
p
le setiaz
Dz'e vas terre
TA F*
cie bez
i the per
uosi ne
led 3
-
40
one, apzinot
## p. 1330 (#1346) ##########################################
1330
ZOILUS.
ZOILUS.
tin, in th
nade is th
à M. Scho
2. A s
bold of
interpreta:
THIAR
doubtful.
2d ed. )
ZONA
a celebrat
lived in
Alexis I.
name.
1. Surnamed Carbonopsina, the wife of Leo VI. | According to Heracleides Ponticus (Alleg. Hom.
the philosopher, who reigned A. D. 886- 911. She p. 427), he was originally a Thracian slave. Aelian
survived her husband, and her effigy appears on speaks of him as having been a pupil of Polycrates,
the coins of her son Constantinus VII. Porphyro who wrote an accusation of Socrates.
genitus. (Eckhel, vol. viii. pp. 246—248. ) (L50 Zoilus was celebrated for the asperity with
VI. ; CONSTANTINUS VII. ]
which he assailed Homer, from which he derived
2. The daughter of Constantinus IX. was mar- the epithet of 'Ounpoudotit. (Suid. & v. ; Schol. ad
ried first to Romanus III. Argyrus, who succeeded | Il. v. 7, 20, i. 129, x. 274, xviii. 22, xxii. 209,
her father on the throne, and reigned A. D. 1028–xxiii. 100 ; Eustath. ad Od. p. 1614 ; Schol. in
1034.
and, on the other hand, the date of 01. 79 is not | Now, from the general character of the allusions
only opposed to Pliny's view (for which indeed it in the comic poets, we may safely inſer that the
makes no difference whether the imagined error picture alluded to was only recently painted ; and
was 28 years or 68, since both would be abso- therefore we are quite prepared to accept the ex-
lutely wrong), but it is so utterly inconsistent press statement of the Scholiast, that the picture
with all we learn from other quarters of the age of referred to was one painted by Zeuxis, and dedi-
Zeuxis, that we cannot believe it to have been cated in the temple of Aphrodite at Athens, repre
assigned by any of the Greek writers whom Pliny senting Eros in the fairest youthful beauty, and
followed, and therefore we cannot believe that he as crowned with roses (comp. Suid. 8. v. 'Avok
had any occasion to refer to it. This date of Ol. 79 www). The date of the Acharnians was B. C. 425 ;
would, in fact, make Zeuxis a contemporary of and this agrees wonderfully well with the passage in
Polygnotus. The important result which remains the Protagorus, where it is clearly implied that the
to us is the positive testimony of some of the
Greek painter had already achieved a very high reputa-
writers on art, that Zeuxis flourished in Ol. 89, tion. It is hardly necessary to remark, that there
B. C. 424.
is no difficulty in explaining the word veworl as
Pliny's reason for rejecting this statement, and referring to a period three or four years back,
for fixing on the 95th Olympiad as the commence especially when we are dealing with a chrono
ment of the career of Zeuxis, is, we suspect, to be logical allusion in Plato. It is true that each por-
found in his notion of the relation of Zeuxis totion of the incidental evidence now adduced has a
Apollodorus, whom he places at Ol. 93. Pliny certain degree of indefiniteness ; but some of the
evidently believed Zeuxis to have been largely soundest results of critical inquiries are based upon
indebted to Apollodorus ; and thus far, as we shall the cumulative force and mutual confirmation of a
presently see, he was doubtless in the right. But body of incidental evidence, no one portion of
if he drew from this relation the inference that which, by itself, would justify the conclusion.
Zeuxis must have begun to flourish some eight or The above arguments apply to the beginning of the
twelve years, or even at all, after the time at which career of Zeuxis : they are abundantly confirmed by
A pollodorus was at the height of his reputation, evidence referring to a later period, namely, from
he adopted a conclusion which by no means neces. what we are told of his connection with Archelaus,
sarily follows. We are nowhere expressly told that king of Macedonia, whose reign began in B. C. 413,
Zeuxis was a pupil of Apollodorus ; but this does and ended in B. C. 399, the very year in which, ac-
not matter. In schools of art the disciple is often cording to Pliny, Zeuxis began to flourish. But for
very little younger, sometimes eren older, than his this king he executed an important and extensive
master; and this is especially the case where an work, which would not have been entrusted to any
artist, who has already made some progress in his but an artist of established reputation, the decora-
studies or even in the practice of his art, enters the tion of the royal palace at Pella with paintings,
school of a master who is celebrated in some one for which Zeuxis received four hundred minae
point of the art, for the sake of acquiring the know- (Aelian, V. H. xiv. 17). Aelian relates this fact
ledge of that point. Numerous examples might be in connection with a remark of Socrates upon iſ,
cited from the history both of ancient and mo- which is worth repeating, both for its own sake,
dern art of this sort of relation between contempo- and as showing that the work must have been
rary artists, and also of the errors made by adopt- executed some time before B. C. 399 (when So.
ing some fixed average period as that by which it crates himself was put to death), and yet after
may be assumed that the disciple was later than the fame of Zeuxis had been spread far and wide
his master. For these reasons we draw a con. -“ Archelaus,” said the philosopher, “had spent
clusion in favour of the date we have assigned to 400 minae on his house, hiring Zeuxis of Heracleia
Zeuxis, even from the manner in which Pliny to paint it, but nothing on himself (that is, on his
denies its correctness.
own improvement). Wherefore men travelled from
This date is abundantly confirmed by other a distance, eager to see the house, but none visited
evidence. Quintilian (xii. 10) tells us that he Macedonia for the sake of Archelaus himself. "
lived about the time of the Peloponnesian War. We are also told by Pliny, that Zeuxis, after ac-
The allusions to him, which are put into the mouth quiring a great fortune by the exercise of his art,
of Socrates by Xenophon and Plato, even after adopted the custom of giving away his pictures,
making all allowance for the anachronisms which because no adequate price could be set upon them;
the latter is often content to commit for the sake and one of the paintings so given away was
of dramatic effect, point to the date above fixed, picture of Pan, which he presented to Archelaus :
and place him, at all events, earlier than the date another proof that he had reached the summit of
assigned by Pliny (Plat. Gorg. p. 453, c. d. ; Xen. his reputation before that king's death in B. C. 399.
Mem. i. 4. § 6, Oecon. x. l; and probably also Another indication of his date is found in the
Sympos. iv. 63, and Plat. Protag. p. 318, b. c. ; story related by Plutarch (Per. 13), which repre-
see Zeuxippus). Besides the general indications sents him as partly contemporary with Agatharcus,
of his date, furnished by these passages, the one who painted scenes for Aeschylus or Sophocles
last quoted (if Zeuxippus there be Zeuxis) gives [AGATHARCUS).
a specific date perfectly in accordance with the one On these grounds we may say, with almost abso-
assumed, for the second visit of Protagoras to lute certainty, that Zeuxis flourished chiefly during
Athens, on occasion of which the dialogue is sup- the last quarter of the fifth century, B. c. ; and, as
posed to be held, took place in B. c. 422. Similar it has been shown to be probable that he was
incidental evidence may be derived from Aris- already exercising his art at Athens with great
tophanes, who, in the Acharnians (991, 992), success at the beginning of that period, we may
having mentioned Eros, adds :-
assume that he was then not less than thirty years
ώσπερ ο γεγραμμένος, έχων στέφανον ανθέμων. in the Protagoras); and therefore that he was
old (and this falls within the meaning of veávio KOS
tions »
of inte
menco
In the
fable to
which
admire
facts w
tory -
give of
In
dispat
the di
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in Lu
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know
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brate
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have
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the
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by
LOT
calle
## p. 1327 (#1343) ##########################################
ZEUXIS.
1327
ZEUXIS.
2 of the an
safels Dier that she
SILT pasted; and
d to accept the e
iast, tha: se per
Zeons, and it
se at Athens
poebel besaty, and
A Sci. L'AMOR
Tans was B C 43;
el sith the masses
earls impäri saat be
I a tery high reçuz
to remark, Lihat sens
g the word Putri a
or four years back
alog with a con
i is true that each per
nce now addaced bass
Dess; bei rise of the
Baines are based was
sainal contra os
HCE, no one poriano
sfy the conclusion
or to the beginning of
afur danty controed
lei period, panels, rue
Onect. on with Ali
reis begun in BG 412
se Fert Tear in bici, a
regan to courish Bu: 2
i important and erase
are been entrested to Br
ed reparation, the decis
e at Peila with Justin
ived foar bundred as
· Aelian relates she
mark of Socrates sea
8, both for its on sks
the work prest hare ben
efore & c. 399 (when &
it to death ), and yet ster
id been spread far and wide
the philosopher, - had set
se, hiring Zecris of Hesos
'g on himself (that is ca
Wherefore men trare ed ina
me the bouss, but rate mode
sake of Archelaus bissen
P. inf, that Zentis, azer es
tune by the exercise of bis 27,
1 of giving away his pas
born about B. C. 455, and that he came to Athens character from Dionysius of Colophon, the imitator
about or soon after the beginning of the Pelopon- of Polygnotus. The head-quarters of the Ionian
nesian War. He must have been in Macedonian school must soon have been fixed at Ephesus,
at the court of Archelaus, soon after B. C. 413. He where we find its home in the time of Parrhasius
must have spent some time in Magna Graecia, as and his successors, and where, from the tradition
we leam from the story respecting the picture of which makes Zeuxis an Ephesian, it is probable
Helen, which he painted for the city of Croton ; that he also studied. At all events, he clearly be
and it is also probable that he visited Sicily, as we longed to this school of painting, the leading cha-
are told that one of those inestimable pictures, racteristics of which were accuracy of imitation,
which he gave away, was presented to the Agri- the exhibition of sensual charms, and the gra-
gentines. His travels through Greece itself were tification of sensual taste. The perfection to
no doubt extensive. We find him at Olympia, which Zeuxis carried these qualities, which we
where he made an ostentatious display, before the suppose him to have learned in the Asiatic school,
eyes of all Greece, of the wealth which his art had will presently appear in the description of his
brought him, by appearing in a robe embroidered paintings. But there wns another element in his
with his own name in letters of gold : another style, which he acquired at Athens, whither he
example of that vanity, into which the conscious-went at the very period when the wondrous works
ness of merit often betrays the artist, and which of Pheidias in sculpture were just completed, and
was still more strongly exhibited by his contem- when Apollodorus was beginning to develope
porary PARRHASIUS. The time of his death those marvellous powers of his own art which
is unknown, for the inference which has been reside in the contrast of light and shade, and which
drawn from the enlogium upon him in the oration appear to have remained a secret even to Polygnotus.
of Isocrates repl artidósews merely confirms the [APOLLODOR US. ] How great was the influence
fact, which is evident from the arguments already of Apollodorus upon Zeuxis, may be seen in the
adduced as to his age, that he died before the de manner in which Pliny introduces the name of
livery of that oration in B. c. 355 (comp. Harpocrat. Zeuxis (Ab Apollodoro artis fores apertas Zeuris
s. v. ). The story told of the manner of his death, intravit), and still more strikingly in the complaint
namely, that he choked with laughing at a picture of which Apollodorus embodied in verse, that Zeuxis
an old woman which he had just painted (Festus, had robbed him of his art and carried it away,
8. v. Pictur), furnishes another instance of those fic that is, had surpassed him in what constituted his
tions which the ancient grammarians were so fond peculiar excellence. (Plin. l. c. In eum Apollodorus
of inventing, in order to make the deaths of great supra scriptus rersum fecit, artem ipsi ablatum
men correspond with the character of their lives. Zeuxin ferre secum. ) Quintilian (xii. 10) has
In the case of Zeuxis, we would understand the robbed Apollodorus still further, by ascribing the
fable to refer to that marvellous power of imitation, invention of the treatment of light and shade to
which was one of the most conspicuous and most Zeuxis (Luminum umbrarumque invenisse rationem
admired qualities of his style. The few other Zeuris traditur). And as to the influence of
facts which are known respecting his personal his-Pheidias upon Zeuxis, we need no direct testimony
tory will be best stated in the account we have to to assure us how deeply the genius of the young
give of his works.
painter must have been affected by those glorious
In attempting to trace the artistic life of Zeuxis, productions, then in all their freshness, the very
we meet with a difficulty in the outset. It was a fragments of which have caused a new birth in
disputed question, Pliny tells us, whether he was modern art; but we are not without some positive
the disciple of Demophilus of Himera, or of Neseas evidence on the subject, in the statement that
of Thasos. Now we cannot but think that the Zeuxis, like Pheidias, took Homer's descriptions
former of these opinions is connected with the as the model for his own representations of heroic
belief that the birthplace of Zeuxis was Heracleia persons, whom, even in his female figures, he
in Lucania ; for, if Demophilus of Himera be the painted in such a manner, as to give larger pro-
same person as the artist of whom a brief account portions to the limbs than in the ordinary human
is given under DAMOPHILUS, he must have been body. (Quintil. 1. c. : plus membris corporis dedit, id
known through Southern and Central Italy, as amplius atque augustius ratus, atque, ut existimant,
well as in his native Sicily, as one of the most cele- Homerum secutus, cui validissima quaeque forma
brated painters of the age preceding that of Zeuxis. etiam in feminis placet. ") Some of the ancient
On the other hand, from the tradition respecting writers charged him with carrying this enlarge-
Neseas of Thasos (of whom, unfortunately, we ment of the heads and limbs of his figures even to
have no other mention), we are inclined to derive, a fault (Plin. l. c. ; Deprehenditur tamen ceu grandior
not only a confirmation of our opinion, that Zeuxis in capitibus articulisque).
was a native of the Pontic Heracleia, but also an In one respect, however, the art of Zeuxis had
indication of the school in which he received his already degenerated from that of Pheidias and
early training. For the island of Thasos was the Polygnotus. His idealism was that of form, not of
home and head of the Ionic school of painting, character. What Aristotle calls hoos, the exhibition
in both its branches, the Asiatic and the Attic. of character in such a manner as to elevate the
In it lived the family of artists to which belonged feelings and moral sentiments of the spectator, was
Polygnotus, who established at Athens the new entirely wanting, the philosopher tells us, in the
school of painting, which, after some rivalry with works of Zeuxis, while it was conspicuous in those
the older Attic school, with which Micon and Pa- of Polygnotus ; and Zeuxis was rather the Euripides
naenus were connected, became united with the of painting than its Homer. (Aristot. Poct. vi. 5;
latter, and acquired the position which is marked for a fuller explanation of the passage, see Poly-
by the inventions and fame of the Athenian APOL-GNOTUS, P. 464. ) When Pliny says of the Pe-
LODORUS; while the Asiatic (or, as it is usually nelope of Zeuxis, evidently as a sort of answer to
called simply the Ionian) school, received a new I the judgment of Aristotle, "in qua pinxisse mores
Spielen
.
2 price could be set open ebens;
untings so giren awas sa i
ich he presented to Arbesa:
he bad reached the said
re that king's death in RC
in of his date is found in the
Pitarch (Per. 13) she fear
Jy contemporary with datbank
Des for Aeschylus ar
ands ve may af, sith almost also
ta: Zeusis fourished chieds door
of the ofth century, BC; 2. , 39
bond to be probable that he wa
sing his art at Athens with parent
beginning of that period se si
je was then not less than thirts T
falls within the meaning of protest
zgoras); and therefore that he
## p. 1328 (#1344) ##########################################
1328
ZEUXIS.
ZEUXIS.
gen in
No. 5
P. xliii
.
tions &
he mal
Damely
commc
such a
aimed
strang
perleci
subjec
statem
deduct
Of
his
pa
be na
1
scene-
which
obsers
('Eye
tale is
anothi
Zeuri
he wo
ciletur," we can only say that, knowing nothing of almost to perfection. The well-known story of the
the picture in question, and knowing too much of trial of skill in that species of painting between
Pliny's judgment in such matters, we cannot give these two artists, if not literally true, indicates the
the Roman compiler credit for understanding what opinion which was held in ancient times of their
the Greek philosopher meant by 180s.
powers of imitation. In this contest the picture of
His marvellous power in expressing the ideal Zeuxis represented a bunch of grapes, so naturally
standard of human beauty, and of exactly imitating painted that the birds flew at the picture to eat the
those natural objects, which are incapable of an fruit ; upon which the artist, confident in this
ideal representation, are celebrated by several an- proof of his success, called upon his rival no longer
cient writers. In the passage, more than once re- to delay to draw aside the curtain and show his
ferred to in this work, in which Cicero expresses picture : but the picture of Parrhasis was the
the general character of several of the chief artists curtain itself, which Zeuxis had mistaken for real
of Greece (Brut. 18), as illustrative of the gradual | drapery. On discovering his error, Zeuxis ho-
progress of art, he says of Zeuxis, Polygnotus, and nourably yielded the palm to Parrhasins, saying
Timanthes, we praise their forms and outlines that he himself had deceived birds, but Parrhasius
(formas et lineamenta); but in Echion, Nico. an artist. (Plin. l. c. § 3. ) Such a tale, perhaps.
nachus, Protogenes, and A pelles erery thing is hardly falls within the province of criticism ; other-
already perfected. ” Elsewhere (de Invent. ii. 1; wise an exception might be taken to the decision
comp. Victorin. Erpos. ad loc. ) he relates, more of Zeuxis, on more grounds than one.
As a pen-
fully than any other ancient author, the well-known dant to this story, Pliny (l. c. $ 4) relates another,
story of his choice of the five most beautiful virgins less known, but more interesting, if true ; namely,
of Croton", as models for his picture of Helen, to that Zeuxis afterwards painted a boy carrying
be dedicated in the temple of Juno in that city ; grapes, at which a bird again flew ; but this time
which is one of the best illustrations of the sort of the artist was displeased at his success, and said
ideal character which was expressed in the paint. " I have painted the grapes better than the boy ;
ings of Zeuxis, and which shows us that his ideal for had I made him perfectly like life, the bird
ism consisted in the formation of a high average of would have been frightened away. '
merely human beauty, by the actual imitation, in Besides this accuracy of imitation, many of the
one figure, of the most beautiful models of each se- works of Zeuxis displayed great dramatic power.
parate part which he could find. This picture, This appears to have been especially the case with
Cicero tells us, was esteemed the finest work of the his Infant Hercules strangling the Serpent, where
painter, in that application of his art in which he the chief force of the composition consisted in the
most excelled, namely the delineation of the female terror of Alcmena and Amphitryon, as they wit-
form ; and Zeuxis himself is said to have indicated nessed the struggle. (Plin. l. c. 8 2. : Hercules In-
his own opinion, that the picture was not only his fans Dracones strangulans, Alcmena coram parente
masterpiece, but that its excellence could not be et Amphitryone. ) This picture was one of those
surpassed, by adding to it the following lines of which Zeuxis painted after he had reached the
Homer (Il. iii. 156—158): –
summit of his fame, and which he freely gare
Ου νέμεσις Τρώας και εύκνήμιδας Αχαιούς
away as above all price ; for there can be no doubt
Toiņa audi guvaiki nolùv xpóvov črgea náoxery that it was the same work as the Alemena, which,
αινώς αθανάτισι θεης εις ώπα έoικεν.
as Pliny states a little before, he presented to the
people of Agrigentum. Another picture, in which
(Val. Max. iii. 7, ext. 1. ) This judgment was lie showed the same dramatic power, applied to a
confirmed by that of the great painter Nicomachus very different subject, was his Female Hippocentaur,
(see NICOMACHUS, p. 1196, a. ), but, when he saw of which a most charming description is given by
a goddess in the Helen of Zeuxis, we must re- Lucian (Zeuxis, 3, foll. ), who saw a copy of the
member that, in his age, even more than in that of work at Athens, the original having been lost in a
Zeuxis himself, the highest idea of a divine form shipwreck off Cape Malea, on its way to Rome,
was satisfied by the perfection of merely human whither it has been sent by Sulla. It represented
beauty. This picture and its history were cele- a peaceful, happy, cheerful group of Centaurs, in
brated, Cicero further tells us, by many poets, who which the repose of the mother suckling her young
preserved the names of the five virgins upon whom was beautifully contrasted with the sportive rough-
the choice of Zeuxis fell ; and it has more than ness of the father, who was partly visible on an
once been alluded to by modern poets. (See espe- elevation in the background, holding up a lion's
cially, Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, xi. 71-78. ) This whelp to frighten the little ones. The mixed
picture is said to have contributed greatly to the shape of the Centaurs gave the artist a splendid
artist's wealth.
Cicero tells us that the Crotoniats, opportunity to show his power of delineating form,
who were then at the height of their prosperity, and that in several varieties ; the male was fierce
engaged Zeuxis, for a large sum of money, to adorn and shaggy, and his face, though smiling, was wild
with paintings the temple of Juno in their city; and savage ; the Centauress combined the beauties of
and Aelian (V. H. iv. 12) relates a gossipping a perfect female form, in the upper part, with those
story, that, before the picture was dedicated, of a mare of the purest Thessalian breed, so skilfully
Zeuxis made an exhibition of it, at a fixed price, united that it was impossible to detect the point of
paid before admission, and so made a great gain of transition from the human form to the animal ; and
it ; but this proceeding caused his Helen to be the young ones, though new born, showed the
known by the epithet of 'Etaipa.
fierce wildness of their nature, mingled with in-
The accurate imitation of inanimate objects was fantine timidity and curiosity at the sight of the
a department of the art which Zeuxis and his lion's whelp, and while they looked at it, they
younger rival Parrhasius appear to have carried clung closer to their mother. The figure of a
female Centaur, suckling her young one, copied
Not Agrigentum, as Pliny says. doubtless from the painting of Zeuxis, is seen in a
time
time
eis
tem).
comm
lebrat
by PI
pictor
to bla
clius,
The
or, a
Aelia
P 22
It
sages
The
by F
whic!
were
pract
they
the ta
of co
of G
celeb
serer
Cicer
pictu
at CD
bad
exces
distir
Crot
Zeus
but I
for ti
does
that
at A
Was
How
Cent
V
## p. 1329 (#1345) ##########################################
ZEEXIS.
1329
'ZEUXIS.
ZOE
et to perfection. The sel-known story of the
of Man in that species of painting betreten
189 artists, if not literally irse
, indicate the
. wtich was beld in ancient time of the
1 of imitation. In this contest the pister el
reprekated a banc o tapes, en
152: the brads few at the picture do 4233
pa mach ibe artisa
, con der: a thy
19 fuccess, cubed apot his dira. Es kann
13 draw aside the curtain and shorts
but the pictare of Parka'n 13 tie
e rinZeurs had zeker for me
Og discovering bis error, Zecas
vided the pain to Parttasies, KTER
he had deceived birds, ta: Paris
Pinb63. ) Such a zle, permet
thin the province of Cricke; ober
Pia izat be taken to the decat
mare groands an one. As a res
IT, Pias le § 4) relata 200
more interesting. 1 174;:
terwards printed a bor cats
a bord 231 der; bat this time
pleased at his success, and she
the grapes better than the ber;
im perleci's like lite, the 21
atened awar. "
sary of imitation, but
pared great dramatic post.
been especial tie z
trang'ing the Srpen, wie
aus position consisted in the
1 Amphitryen, 25 DeT TE
Pin. 26 $2: Herstels
*, Siemens onze partit
pocture sus ope to see
after he had reached *
d which be free 372
for there ana be so cute
as the first time
ve be presend tott
pother picture, 3 792)
LIC power, acum
| Fast Human
scripcion is given
bo sir a COFT
haring been lost in
its way to 204
21 I: representa
up of lectus is
suck'ng ko
the sportive must
z' isi be az M1
sing op a Sz
Tbe und
gem in the Florentine Museum (Gori, vol. i. p. 95, | already mentioned ; and his picture of the Muses
No. 5 ; Müller, Denkmäler d. alten Kunst, rol. i. was carried off to Rome, from Ambracia, by Fulvius
p. xliii. No. 203). Lucian himself (Zeur. 3) men- Nobilior.
tions this work in illustration of a statement which In addition to the works which have been al
he makes concerning Zeuxis's choice of subjects, ready mentioned, we possess notices of the following
namely, that “ he did not paint those popular and pictures by Zeuxis. His Jupiter enthroned, with
common subjects (or at least very few of them), the gods standing by, is mentioned by Pliny with
such as heroes, or gods, or battles, but he always the epithet magnificus, and its subject confirms the
aimed at novelty, and iſ any thing unusual or opinion that it was one of the artist's finest works.
strange occurred to him, upon it he displayed the Pliny also mentions his Marsyas Bound (Marsyas
perfection of his art. " A glance, however, at the religatus), in the temple of Concord. À minute
subjects of the painter's works will show that this description of a painting on this subject is given
statement is to be accepted with a considerable by Philostratus, who, however, does not mention
deduction.
Zeuxis as its pninter (Eikon. 2); and the subject
of the diligence, with which Zeuxis elaborated frequently occurs on vases, sarcopbagi, candelabra,
his paintings, we have a proof in the reply which and other remains of ancient art, as well as in the
he made to Agatharcus, who, as was natural for a painting found at Herculancum, and one or two
scene-painter, was boasting of the rapidity with others, which may be presumed to be more or less
which he executed his works, when Zeuxis quictly copied from the work of Zeuxis. (For an account
observed :
:-“But I take a long time about mine" of these works, see Müller, Archäol. d. K'unst,
('Εγώ δε πολλά χρόνω: Ρlut. Per. 13). The $ 362, n. 4 ; for a sketch of the picture at Hercu-
tale is told with a slight variation by Plutarch, in laneum, Müller, Denkmäler d. alten Kunst, vol. i.
another passage (De Amic. Mult. 5, p. 94, f. ), that pl. xliii. No. 204; and for copies of other works,
Zeuxis, being blamed for the slowness with which which represent the story of Apollo and Marsyas,
he worked, replied, “ I confess that I take a long see the Denkmäler, vol. ii. pl. xiv. Nos. 149–154).
time to paint ; for I paint works to last a long The Menelaus of Zeuxis is mentioned by Tzetzes
time (Ομολογώ εν πολλά χρόνα γράφειν, και γάρ (Chil. viii. 196–198); and his Boreas or Triton
eis nonúv. hence the proverb, Pingo in aeternita- by Lucian (Timon, 54). Pliny tells us that he
tem). There are other anecdotes told of Zeuxis in painted monochromes in shades of gray (monochro-
common with other great painters. Thus the ce- mata ex albo); and also that there were some vases
lebrated verse, ascribed to APOLLODORUS, is said painted by him (figlina opera) at Ambracia, where
by Pliny to have been written by Zeuxis upon his they were left untouched by Fulvius Nobilior,
picture of an athlete:-“ A man will find it easier when he took away the picture of the Muses. The
to blame than to imitate ” (Invisurum aliquem fu- statement of Cicero (Brutus, 18), that Zeuxis used
cilius, quam imitaturum): or, in the original, only four colours, is explained in the Dictionary of
Μωμήσεται τις μάλλον και μιμήσεται.
Antiquitics, s. 0. Colores, p. 320, b. 2d ed.
2. An artist in gold (aurifer) in the household
The reproof addressed by A pelles to Megabyzus, of Augustus, whose freedman he was, as we learn
or, as others say, to Alexander, is ascriced by from an inscription on the columbarium of Livia.
Aelian (V. H. ii. 2) to Zeuxis. (See APELLES, (Gori, Nos. 114-122; Bianchini, No. 43; Welcker,
p. 221, a. )
Kunstblatt, 1827, No. 84 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
It is unnecessary to multiply references to pas- M. Schorn, p. 430).
sages of the ancient writers in praise of Zeuxis. Respecting a supposed statuary Zeuris, whose
The remarkable fact that his name is not mentioned name arises from a false reading of Pliny, see
by Pausanias, is explained by the supposition, SILANION and ZeUXIADES.
[P. S. ]
which is almost undoubtedly true, that his pictures ΖΙΒΟ ETES or ZIPOETES (Ζιβοίτης or Ζιποί-
were nuostly upon panels, according to the general 795). 1. King of Bithynia, the son of Bas. He
practice of the Greek painters, and therefore that reigned for forty-eight years (B. C. 326—278). He
they had either been destroyed or plundered before carried on successful wars with Lysimachus and
the time of Pausanias. The latter process would Antiochus, the son of Seleucus. (Memnon, ap.
of course be carried on by the Roman conquerors Phot. Cod. 224, p. 228, ed. Bekker. ) In B. c. 315
of Greece with an eagerness proportioned to the he carried on a war against Astacus and Chalcedon.
celebrity of the artist, and accordingly we find (Diod. xix. 60. ) He founded a city which was
several of his best works in the list of Pliny. called Zipoetium after him at the foot of Mount
Cicero also expressly tells us, with reference to the Lyperus. He lived to the age of seventy-six, and
pictures which he painted for the temple of Juno left behind him four children, the eldest of whom,
at Croton, that not even the sanctity of the fane Nicomedes, succeeded himn. (Memnon, l. c. )
had availed for the preservation of any of them, 2. Son of the preceding, who established him-
except the Helen. He does not, however, say self in a part of Bithynia, and against whom Nico-
distinctly whether that great work was still at medes carried on war in B. c. 277. It was for the
Croton in his time. Pliny mentions a Helen by purpose of overpowering him that Nicomedes called
Zeuxis as being at Rome, in the portico of Philip ; in the aid of the Gauls. (Liv. xxxviii. 16; comp.
but he does not identify it with the picture painted Clinton, Fasti Hellen. vol. iii. p. 411. ).
for the Crotoniats, the subject of which indeed he The name Tiboetes (TIBOETES] is by some cor-
does not mention: it is not improbable however rected to Ziboetes.
[C. P. M. )
that they were the same. The picture of Helen ZIGABE’NUS, EUTHY'MIUS. [EUTUY-
at Athens, in the portico called 'Anpitwr Etoá MIUS.
was of course not the same ; but it may have been ZMILUS. (Smilis. ]
a copy of it. (Eustath. ad N. xi. 629, p. 836, 37). ZOE (Zań), the name of several empresses of
How the Athenians were robbed by Sulla of his Constantinople, of whom the following were the
Centaur, and how that picture perished, has been most important :
VOL. III.
p
le setiaz
Dz'e vas terre
TA F*
cie bez
i the per
uosi ne
led 3
-
40
one, apzinot
## p. 1330 (#1346) ##########################################
1330
ZOILUS.
ZOILUS.
tin, in th
nade is th
à M. Scho
2. A s
bold of
interpreta:
THIAR
doubtful.
2d ed. )
ZONA
a celebrat
lived in
Alexis I.
name.
1. Surnamed Carbonopsina, the wife of Leo VI. | According to Heracleides Ponticus (Alleg. Hom.
the philosopher, who reigned A. D. 886- 911. She p. 427), he was originally a Thracian slave. Aelian
survived her husband, and her effigy appears on speaks of him as having been a pupil of Polycrates,
the coins of her son Constantinus VII. Porphyro who wrote an accusation of Socrates.
genitus. (Eckhel, vol. viii. pp. 246—248. ) (L50 Zoilus was celebrated for the asperity with
VI. ; CONSTANTINUS VII. ]
which he assailed Homer, from which he derived
2. The daughter of Constantinus IX. was mar- the epithet of 'Ounpoudotit. (Suid. & v. ; Schol. ad
ried first to Romanus III. Argyrus, who succeeded | Il. v. 7, 20, i. 129, x. 274, xviii. 22, xxii. 209,
her father on the throne, and reigned A. D. 1028–xxiii. 100 ; Eustath. ad Od. p. 1614 ; Schol. in
1034.
