The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors Architects, Volume 1 | Page 2

at seeing
divine honours accorded to the image of a beast; so that he not only
broke it to powder, but, in the punishment of so great a fault, caused the
Levites to put to death many thousands of the false Israelites who had
committed this idolatry. But as the sin consisted in adoring idols and
not in making them, it is written in Exodus that the art of design and of
making statues, not only in marble but in all kinds of metal, was given
by the mouth of God himself to Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, and to
Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, who made the two cherubim of gold, the
candles, the veil, and the borders of the sacerdotal vestments, together
with a number of other beautiful things in the tabernacle, for no other
purpose than that people should put them on for their own adornment
and delight. From the things seen before the flood, the pride of man
found the means to make statues of those who wished their fame in the
world to be immortal; and the Greeks, who give a different origin to
this, say that the Ethiopians found the first statues, according to
Diodorus, the Egyptians imitated these, while the Greeks followed the
Egyptians. From this time until Homer's day it is clear that sculpture
and painting were perfect, as we may see from the description of
Achilles' shield by that divine poet, who represents it with such skill
that the image of it is presented to our minds as clearly as if we had
seen the thing itself. Lactantius Firmianus attributes the credit of the
invention to Prometheus, who like God formed the human form out of
dust. But according to Pliny this art was introduced into Egypt by
Gyges of Lydia, who on seeing his shadow cast by the fire, at once
drew a representation of himself on the wall with a piece of coal. For
some time after that it was the custom to draw in outline only, without
any colouring, Pliny again being our authority. This was afterwards
introduced by Philocles of Egypt with considerable pains, and also by
Cleanthes and Ardices of Corinth and by Telephanes of Sicyon.
Cleophantes of Corinth was the first of the Greeks to use colours, and
Apollodorus was the first to introduce the brush. Polignotus of Thasos,
Zeuxis and Timagoras of Chalcis, Pythia and Aglaphon followed them,
all most celebrated, and after them came the renowned Apelles who

was so highly esteemed and honoured for his skill by Alexander the
Great, for his wonderful delineation of Calumny and Favour, as Lucian
relates. Almost all the painters and sculptors were of high excellence,
being frequently endowed by heaven, not only with the additional gift
of poetry, as we read in Pacuvius, but also with that of philosophy.
Metrodorus is an instance in point, for he was equally skilled as a
philosopher and as a painter, and when Apelles was sent by the
Athenians to Paulus Emilius to adorn his triumph he remained to teach
philosophy to the general's sons. Sculpture was thus generally practised
in Greece, where there flourished a number of excellent artists, among
them being Phidias of Athens, Praxiteles and Polycletus, very great
masters. Lysippus and Pyrgoteles who were of considerable skill in
engraving, and Pygmalion in ivory carving in relief, it being recorded
of him that he obtained life by his prayers for the figure of a maid
carved by him. The ancient Greeks and Romans also honoured and
rewarded painting, since they granted the citizenship and very liberal
gifts to those who excelled in this art. Painting flourished in Rome to
such an extent that Fabius gave a name to his house, subscribing
himself in the beautiful things he did in the temple of safety as Fabius
the painter. By public decree slaves were prohibited from practising
painting, and so much honour was continually afforded by the people to
the art and to artists that rare works were sent to Rome among the
spoils to appear in the triumphs; excellent artists who were slaves
obtained their liberty and received notable rewards from the republic.
The Romans bore such a reverence for the art that when the city of
Syracuse was sacked Marcellus gave orders that his men should treat
with respect a famous artist there, and also that they should be careful
not to set fire to a quarter in which there was a very fine picture. This
was afterwards carried to Rome to adorn his triumph. To that city in the
course of time almost all the spoils of the world were brought, and the
artists themselves gathered there beside these excellent works. By such
means Rome became an exceedingly beautiful city, more richly
adorned by the statues