Between these twin sister arts there had been in
all times, and especially in Greek antiquity, a close sympathy and a
reciprocal influence. The method in dealing with the history of Greek
painting in this course would be similar to that adopted in the course
on sculpture. The evidence of ancient authors as to the works and
characteristics of Greek painters would be first examined, then the
extant monuments which illustrate the history of this branch of art
would be described. In the case of painting, the extant monuments were
few and far between, but we might learn much by the careful study of the
mural paintings from the buried Campanian cities, Pompeii, Herculaneum,
and those found in the tombs near Rome and Etruria. The paintings on
Greek vases would enable us to trace the history of what is called
ceramographic art from B.C. 600 for nearly five centuries onward.
After noticing the traditions preserved by Pliny and others as to the
earliest painters, the lecturer passed on to the period after the
Persian war. Polygnotos of Thasos was the earliest Greek painter of
celebrity. He flourished B.C. 480-460. At Athens he decorated with
paintings the portico called the Stoa Poikile, the Temple of the
Dioscuri, the Temple of Theseus, and the Pinakotheke on the Akropolis.
At Delphi he painted on the walls of the building called Lesche two
celebrated pictures, the taking of Troy and the descent of Ulysses into
Hades.
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