Apollodorus (painter)
Encyclopedia
Apollodorus Skiagraphos was an influential Ancient Greek
painter
of the 5th century BC whose work has since been entirely lost. Apollodorus left a technique behind known as skiagraphia, a way to easily produce shadow, that affected the works not only of his contemporaries but also of later generations.
and Pliny the Elder
. It was recorded that Apollodorus was active
around 480 BCE; his dates of birth and death, however, are not attested in any surviving historical works or fragments of works. He was given a myriad names by those who wrote about him. To Pliny, he was the great painter Apollodorus of Athens; therefore, it can be assumed that he lived and worked in the polis
of Athens
. But, to Plutarch and Hesychius, other ancient Greek historians, he was Apollodorus Skiagraphos, The Shadow-Painter, named after his greatest legacy. Sadly, none of his actual paintings remain, for, due to weathering, all of ancient Greek painting has been destroyed and the elegance and beauty of Greek art can only be viewed in the sculpture that was later copied by the Romans
and architectural ruins that remain. The subjects of some of the paintings were recorded, however, by quite a number of ancient Greek historians. Pliny the Elder recorded two paintings, Praying Priest and Ajax
Burned by Lightning, that resided in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon
which was situated in modern day Turkey
. Other ancient Greek historians cited the painting Odysseus
Wearing a Cap and also Heracleidae
, a painting that referenced the descendants of Hercules
. Also, one of his paintings was supposedly entitled Alcmena and the Daughters of Hercules Supplicating the Athenians. As demonstrated by the titles of the paintings, it is probable that the majority of his works were similar to the other artists of the era in that their subject matter was most often based around the Greek gods and goddesses or other famous Greek citizens from historical epic poems that were passed on for generations in the oral tradition
. The topics of his paintings may have been unimaginative and common during the time period; however, it was his ingenious technique that made him such a renowned painter. One of the major artistic techniques that Apollodorus developed was called skiagraphia, or shading in English, hence his title “the Shadow-Painter”. Now, it may seem a little strange that shading is considered an important technique since in modern times kindergartners are taught how to shade objects. But, as recorded by the famed historian Plutarch, an inscription above one of Apollodorus' painting read, “’Tis no hard thing to reprehend me; But let the men that blame me mend me.” This can be explicated to say, “You could criticize [skiagraphia] more easily than you could imitate it” This type of shading is highly sophisticated and even today people struggle to master skiagraphia. Apollodorus used an intricate way of “crosshatching and the thickening of inner contour lines as well as the admixture of light and dark tones” to show a form of perspective. Though it expanded the use of perspective in the ancient Greek world, skiagraphia was most effective in the depiction of stationary objects such as drapery, fruit, or faces; making it completely useless in the painting of a body in action or a spatial setting for which perspective
is usually used. Another one of Apollodorus' greatest accomplishments did not have to do with his actual style or technique; on the other hand, it only had to do with the medium he chose. Apollodorus could very well have been one to the first well-known artists who painted on an easel as opposed to a wall which was the common action of the day. In the end, Apollodorus was responsible for much of what is considered great art by critics, even though none of what he actually painted has survived.
and Neseus of Thasos
. Apollodorus should have treated Zeuxis great respect because Zeuxis had been trained by some of the greats of ancient Greek art
; however the two of them, as recorded by Pliny, were constantly at odds with each other. At one point, Apollodorus even accused Zeuxis of stealing art techniques from others which might very well have been true because Zeuxis was also attributed with the expansion and development of Apollodorus' prized skiagraphia. Zeuxis is said to have innovated skiagraphia by “adding highlights to shading and applying subtly different colors.” Regardless of what Zeuxis did, he was not the only painter to adapt Apollodorus' creation for his own purposes. Another painter named Parrhasius of Ephesus
, also an enemy to the self-obsessed Zeuxis, helped expand skiagraphia as well. He supposedly used it in a contest against Zeuxis and won because the curtain that Parrhasius had painted looked so real that Zeuxis tried to pull it back; however, it is entirely possible that this fantastic tale is simply an urban myth created by Parrhasius to make himself look good. Where as Zeuxis examined the technique of light and shade in skiagraphia, Parrhasius looked into the contoured lines that help express depth in a spatial way; therefore taking the meaning of skiagraphia even further. Not only was skiagraphia prominent in Athens, but also its influence extended beyond the polis' borders into the tomb paintings of Vergina
, Aineia, and Lefkadia in northern Greece
and even into Kazanlak
, a city in Bulgaria
. Though scarce, some of the tomb frescoes in Kazanlak had limited in color; however others in Vergina and Aineia used six or more colors further demonstrating the extent of the transformation of Apollodorus' skiagraphia. Skiagraphia continued to mutate and develop until the age of the Italian Renaissance
when it was given a new name: chiaroscuro
.
, fresco
es, and woodcut
s. Chiaroscuro is used to produce volume and relief, to unify the objects in a painting, or differentiate them from one another. The simple creation of skiagraphia lead to the invention of diverse techniques that continued to be produced from the times of ancient Greece to Gothic times and then it reached its pinnacle in the Italian Renaissance in 14th- century and even today it continues to be important to artists. In the 15th-century, chiaroscuro was described by Cennino Cennini, a famous Italian painter. He stated that the ideas of gradation between light and dark, skiagraphia, were combined with Medieval techniques known as incidendo and matizando, which are a “layerings of white, brown, or black in linear patterns over a uniform color” to indicate relief and volume. These two were previously used by monks in the illustration of religious manuscripts. The addition of these two techniques to skiagraphia was instrumental in the evolution of chiaroscuro. Giotto, a Florentine painter, and Cimabue
, Giotto's teacher, used chiaroscuro in their late Gothic painting as well, by mixing large amounts of white into the painting, therefore creating an easy transition between tones. In fresco
es, mosaics, and manuscript illuminations, artists like Master Honore, a French manuscript painter, and Pietro, a painter and mosaic designer active in the Middle Ages, modeled from underneath with black and white space to create brightness in their works. In the end, Apollodorus' master creation after years of mutation, and evolution transformed into something that, though it still resembled the original and served the same purpose, was new and thoroughly necessary to all great works of art.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
painter
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
of the 5th century BC whose work has since been entirely lost. Apollodorus left a technique behind known as skiagraphia, a way to easily produce shadow, that affected the works not only of his contemporaries but also of later generations.
Life and accomplishments
Little is known about the actual life of Apollodorus, although he was catalogued by the notable historians PlutarchPlutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
and Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
. It was recorded that Apollodorus was active
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
around 480 BCE; his dates of birth and death, however, are not attested in any surviving historical works or fragments of works. He was given a myriad names by those who wrote about him. To Pliny, he was the great painter Apollodorus of Athens; therefore, it can be assumed that he lived and worked in the polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. But, to Plutarch and Hesychius, other ancient Greek historians, he was Apollodorus Skiagraphos, The Shadow-Painter, named after his greatest legacy. Sadly, none of his actual paintings remain, for, due to weathering, all of ancient Greek painting has been destroyed and the elegance and beauty of Greek art can only be viewed in the sculpture that was later copied by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and architectural ruins that remain. The subjects of some of the paintings were recorded, however, by quite a number of ancient Greek historians. Pliny the Elder recorded two paintings, Praying Priest and Ajax
Ajax the Lesser
Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also...
Burned by Lightning, that resided in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon
Pergamon
Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
which was situated in modern day Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Other ancient Greek historians cited the painting Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
Wearing a Cap and also Heracleidae
Heracleidae
In Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira Other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus...
, a painting that referenced the descendants of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
. Also, one of his paintings was supposedly entitled Alcmena and the Daughters of Hercules Supplicating the Athenians. As demonstrated by the titles of the paintings, it is probable that the majority of his works were similar to the other artists of the era in that their subject matter was most often based around the Greek gods and goddesses or other famous Greek citizens from historical epic poems that were passed on for generations in the oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. The topics of his paintings may have been unimaginative and common during the time period; however, it was his ingenious technique that made him such a renowned painter. One of the major artistic techniques that Apollodorus developed was called skiagraphia, or shading in English, hence his title “the Shadow-Painter”. Now, it may seem a little strange that shading is considered an important technique since in modern times kindergartners are taught how to shade objects. But, as recorded by the famed historian Plutarch, an inscription above one of Apollodorus' painting read, “’Tis no hard thing to reprehend me; But let the men that blame me mend me.” This can be explicated to say, “You could criticize [skiagraphia] more easily than you could imitate it” This type of shading is highly sophisticated and even today people struggle to master skiagraphia. Apollodorus used an intricate way of “crosshatching and the thickening of inner contour lines as well as the admixture of light and dark tones” to show a form of perspective. Though it expanded the use of perspective in the ancient Greek world, skiagraphia was most effective in the depiction of stationary objects such as drapery, fruit, or faces; making it completely useless in the painting of a body in action or a spatial setting for which perspective
Perspective (visual)
Perspective, in context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes; or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects...
is usually used. Another one of Apollodorus' greatest accomplishments did not have to do with his actual style or technique; on the other hand, it only had to do with the medium he chose. Apollodorus could very well have been one to the first well-known artists who painted on an easel as opposed to a wall which was the common action of the day. In the end, Apollodorus was responsible for much of what is considered great art by critics, even though none of what he actually painted has survived.
Effect on Contemporaries
Though not much about his life is known, historians have made assumptions about him and his works and actions via his contemporaries. The arrogant Zeuxis of Heraclea was one of Apollodorus' biggest enemies. Zeuxis was tutored in the arts by Demophilus of HimeraHimera
thumb|250px|Remains of the Temple of Victory.thumb|250px|Ideal reconstruction of the Temple of Victory.Himera , was an important ancient Greek city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name , between Panormus and Cephaloedium...
and Neseus of Thasos
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area...
. Apollodorus should have treated Zeuxis great respect because Zeuxis had been trained by some of the greats of ancient Greek art
Greek art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan prehistorical civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the ancient period...
; however the two of them, as recorded by Pliny, were constantly at odds with each other. At one point, Apollodorus even accused Zeuxis of stealing art techniques from others which might very well have been true because Zeuxis was also attributed with the expansion and development of Apollodorus' prized skiagraphia. Zeuxis is said to have innovated skiagraphia by “adding highlights to shading and applying subtly different colors.” Regardless of what Zeuxis did, he was not the only painter to adapt Apollodorus' creation for his own purposes. Another painter named Parrhasius of Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, also an enemy to the self-obsessed Zeuxis, helped expand skiagraphia as well. He supposedly used it in a contest against Zeuxis and won because the curtain that Parrhasius had painted looked so real that Zeuxis tried to pull it back; however, it is entirely possible that this fantastic tale is simply an urban myth created by Parrhasius to make himself look good. Where as Zeuxis examined the technique of light and shade in skiagraphia, Parrhasius looked into the contoured lines that help express depth in a spatial way; therefore taking the meaning of skiagraphia even further. Not only was skiagraphia prominent in Athens, but also its influence extended beyond the polis' borders into the tomb paintings of Vergina
Vergina
Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, located in the peripheral unit of Imathia, Central Macedonia. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Veroia, of which it is a municipal unit...
, Aineia, and Lefkadia in northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and even into Kazanlak
Kazanlak
Kazanlak, formerly Kazanlık is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley...
, a city in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Though scarce, some of the tomb frescoes in Kazanlak had limited in color; however others in Vergina and Aineia used six or more colors further demonstrating the extent of the transformation of Apollodorus' skiagraphia. Skiagraphia continued to mutate and develop until the age of the Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
when it was given a new name: chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
.
Effect on Chiaroscuro
The invention of chiaroscuro is extremely important; not only in the context of art history, but also for the future because it is always evolving and mutating. Apollodorus' development of skiagraphia was only the beginning of a long and wondrous road through art's gradual development. The word chiaroscuro in and of itself is an oxymoron. In Italian, chiaro means light and scuro means dark, ergo the two together symbolize the combination and distribution of light and dark into one to create a more lifelike image. No longer simply used for paintings on canvas of stationary objects, chiaroscuro is used in all types of art, even sculptureSculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es, and woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s. Chiaroscuro is used to produce volume and relief, to unify the objects in a painting, or differentiate them from one another. The simple creation of skiagraphia lead to the invention of diverse techniques that continued to be produced from the times of ancient Greece to Gothic times and then it reached its pinnacle in the Italian Renaissance in 14th- century and even today it continues to be important to artists. In the 15th-century, chiaroscuro was described by Cennino Cennini, a famous Italian painter. He stated that the ideas of gradation between light and dark, skiagraphia, were combined with Medieval techniques known as incidendo and matizando, which are a “layerings of white, brown, or black in linear patterns over a uniform color” to indicate relief and volume. These two were previously used by monks in the illustration of religious manuscripts. The addition of these two techniques to skiagraphia was instrumental in the evolution of chiaroscuro. Giotto, a Florentine painter, and Cimabue
Cimabue
Cimabue , also known as Bencivieni di Pepo or in modern Italian, Benvenuto di Giuseppe, was an Italian painter and creator of mosaics from Florence....
, Giotto's teacher, used chiaroscuro in their late Gothic painting as well, by mixing large amounts of white into the painting, therefore creating an easy transition between tones. In fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es, mosaics, and manuscript illuminations, artists like Master Honore, a French manuscript painter, and Pietro, a painter and mosaic designer active in the Middle Ages, modeled from underneath with black and white space to create brightness in their works. In the end, Apollodorus' master creation after years of mutation, and evolution transformed into something that, though it still resembled the original and served the same purpose, was new and thoroughly necessary to all great works of art.