4 : | 
of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. ; 525 
A behalfe: which was fo great, that 44. Aufidizs, who farmed and undertooke the cuftodie or kee- 
ping of the Capitoll,the temple,and all therein the fame yeare wherein Z.Manlivsand Q.Ful- 
viws were Confuls,and which was from the foundation of the citie of Rome 575 yeates,advertis 
fed the Senat, That thofe fhields there, which forfo long together were appointed and affigned 
thither by the Cenfors,were not of braffe,as they had beene takén for,but of filver. 
Concerning piftures, andthe firft originall of painters art, Lam not ableto refolve and fee 
downe any thing for certaine: neither is ita queftioh pertinent to my defligne and purpofe;I am 
not ignorant,that as Zigyptians doe vaunt thereof,avouching that it was devifed among them, 
and practifed fixe yeares,before there was any talke or knowledge théféof in Greece:a 
vaine brag and oftentation of theirs,as all the world may fee, As for the Greeke writers,fomeaf 
B  cribe the invention of painting tothe Sicyonians, othérs,to the Corinthians.” Burtheyall doe 
jointly agree inthis, That the firft pourtrait wasnoching els but'the bare pourfling and drawing 
onely the fhaddow of aperfon unto his juft proportionand lineaments. This firft draught or 
ground, they began afterwards to lay with one fimple colour, and no more ‘which kind of pi- 
ture, after that they fell once to more curious workmanfhip,they called Monochromaton,that 
istofay, apourtrait of one colour, for diftinction fake from other pictures of fundrie colours : 
which notwithftanding,yet this plaine manner of painting continueth at this day, and ismuch 
e ufed. As forthe linearie portraying or drawing fhapes and proportions by lines alone, itis faid, 
- That eitherPslocles the Agyptian,or elfe Cleanthes the Corinthian was the inventor therof.But 
whofoever devifedit, certes Ardices the Corinthian, and Telephanes the Sicyonian, were the firft 
C that practifed it. Howbeit colours they ufed none, yet they proceeded thus far as to difperfe their 
lines within,as well as to draw the pourfle, and all with a coale and nothing elfe . And therefore 
their manner and order wasto write alfo the names of {uch asthey thus painted, and alwaies to 
fet them clofe tothe pi@ures. But the firft that tooke upon him to paint with colour, was Cleo. 
phantws the Corinthian who(as they fay) tooke no more bura peece of a red patfherd,which he 
ground into pouder,and this was all the colour thatheufed . This Cleephantzs, or fome other of 
that name,was he,who by the teftimonie of Cornelius Nepos,as lwillanon {hewmoteatlarge,ac- 
companied Dematatws the father of Tarquinius Prifcus king of Rome,when he fied from Corinth 
to avoid the wrongs of Cyp/ellws the tyrant,who perfecuted and opprefled him.But it cannot bee 
fo :for furely before this Zarguénes time,the att of painting was growne to fome perfection,even 
D_ in Italie: for proofe whereof, extant there be at this day to be feene at Ardea within the temples 
there,antique pictures, and indeed more ancient than the citie of Rome: andI aflure you, no pi- 
tures came ever to my fight,which I wonder fo much at, namely,thatthey fhould continue fo 
~ Jong, frefh,and as if they were but newly made, confidering the places where they be,foruinate 
and uncovered over head, Semblably,at Lanuvium there remaine yet two pi@tures of ladie Ata 
Igata and queene Helena clofe one tothe other, paintednaked,by one.and thefame hand : both 
of thein are for beautie incomparable,and yet a man may difcerne the *one ofthem to be a mai- 
den by her modeft and chaft countenance;which pictures, notwithftanding the ruins of the tem- 
ple where they ftand,arenot a whit disfigured or defaced.Of late daies, Pontizs lieutenant under 
4 C.Cal'gulathe Emperour, did what he couldto have removed them out of the place, and caried 
_ E them away wholeand entier,upon a wanton affe@tion and luftfull-fancie that he caft unto them: 
. butthe plaftre or porget of the wall whereupon they were painted,was of that temper that would 
not abideto be ftitred. Ar Czere alfo there continue certaine piCtures of greater antiquitie ‘than 
thofe which I have named. And verely,whofoever fhall well view 8 pernfe the rare workmanfhip 
therein, will confeffe, that no art in the world grew fooner to the height of abfolute perfetion 
than it,confidering that during the ftate of Troy no man kriew what painting was. 
*} Atalanta: 
Cuar. um ~* PQ iS said A 
2& Of Romanes that wereexcellent painters, When thé art of painting came firftinto credit ~ 
_ and eftimation at Rome. What Romans they were that exhibited the pourtraits of their owne 
F ____ vittories in pictures, And about what time painted tables made by ftrangersin forrain parts, 
were accepted and in great requeft at Rome, | ; 
‘A, Mong theRomanesalfo this Art grew betimes into reputation : as may appeare by the 
Ari: a moft noble and honourable houfe in Rome, who of this {cience were furnamed 
me 4 Be aa . as —-~Pidtoress 
ia} ' bee 
