BOOK XXXV. XXXVI. 103-105 



brush, quite unable to satisfy himself. Finally he 

 fell into a rage with his art because it was percep- 

 tible, and dashed a sponge against the place in the 

 picture that oftended him, and the sponge restored 

 the colours he had removed, in the way that his 

 anxiety had wished them to appear, and chance 

 produced the effect of nature in the picture ! 



It is said that Nealces also following this example 

 of his achieved a similar success in representing a 

 horse's foam by dashing a sponge on the picture in a 

 similar manner, in a representation of a man clucking 

 in his cheek to soothe a horse he was holding. Thus 

 did Protogenes indicate the possibilities of a stroke 

 of luck also. 



It was on account of this lalysus " that King Protogmes 

 Demetrius, in order to avoid burning a picture, 'oemetrim. 

 abstained from setting fire to Rhodes when the city 305-4 b.o. 

 could only be taken from the side where the picture 

 was stored, and through consideration for the safety 

 of a picture lost the chance of a victory ! Protogenes 

 at the time was in his little garden on the outskirts 

 of the city, that is in the middle of the ' Camp of 

 Demetrius,' and would not be interrupted by the 

 battles going on, or on any account suspend the 

 works he had begun, had he not been summoned by 

 the King, who asked him what gave him the assurance 

 to continue outside the walls. He replied that 

 he knew the King was waging war M-ith the Rhodians, 

 not with the arts. The King, delighted to be able to 

 safeguard the hands which he had spared, placed 

 guardposts to protect him, and, to avoid repeatedly 

 calling him from his work, actually though an enemy 

 came to pay him visits, and quitting his aspirations 

 for his own victory, in the thick of battles and the 



339 



