S4S 
do not know with what degree of progress. 
The monuments of Egyptian painting, says 
\\ inckelman, with which we are best acquaint- 
ed, are the chests of their mummies, which 
have endured so long that they appear to be 
secure from the injuries of time. That learned 
antiquarian gives' the following account of the 
method of painting used on these chests: 
“ White, made of white lead, is first laid 
| on as a ground, and the outlines of the figure 
| are traced on this ground with black. The 
colours afterwards used are four in number, 
namely, blue, red, yellow, and green, and 
these are laid on without any mixture or shad- 
inn-. The red and blue prevail most, and 
seem to have been prepared in the coarsest 
manner. The light is formed by leaving the 
white-lead ground, where it is necessary, in 
the same manner as white paper is treated in 
drawings/’ 
In the travels of Norden in Upper Egypt, 
there is a description of some colossal figures, 
coloured in the same manner as themummies. 
The colours are laid on a ground prepared in 
the manner of fresco, and they are said to 
have retained their freshness for many thou- 
sand years. 
The painting of the chests of mummies, of 
earthen-ware, ' and of ornaments on their 
barges, appears to have been the chief em- 
ployment of the Egyptian artists. Pliny re- 
lates that they painted also on the precious 
metals, but in what manner they exercised 
this latter branch of art is unknown. 
This style of Egyptian painting is supposed 
to have continued till the reign of the 
Ptolemies. 
In antient Etruria, now called Tuscany, the 
arts flourished at a very early 7 period. Pliny 
savs that painting was carried to- great per- 
fection in Italy before the foundation of 
Kome; and it appears that even in his time 
the painters of Etruria were held in great 
esteem. 
The only Etrurian paintings which are 
now remaining were found in the tomb of the 
Tarquins. They consist of long painted 
frizes, and pilasters adorned with large figures 
which occupied the whole space from the 
base to the cornice. These paintings are on a 
ground of thick mortar, and many of them in 
a high state of preservation. 
Winckelman is of opinion, that in Cam- 
pania also the arts had been introduced by the 
colonies of Greeks who settled at Naples and 
Kola ; but considers as purely Campanian 
works some medals of Capua and Teanum, 
whither the Greeks had not reached, and 
praises the beauty of several. The authority, 
however, of these medals is questioned. 
There have been discovered also, says the 
learned abbe, a great number of painted Cam- 
panian vases, which, for design, are worthy of 
a place in the works of Rafl'ael, and give us 
a high idea of the perfection of antient art. 
But it is in Greece that the history of 
painting is first deserving of particular atten- 
tion. The Greeks have, with most singular 
diligence, preserved the names of their artists 
from the ear lest introduction of the arts 
amongst them. Ardices of Corinth, and Te- 
lephones and Crato of Sicyon, are noticed at 
a period wh n painting had advanced no 
farther than the mere circumscription of sha- 
dows bv single lines. To this mode of design 
they gave the name of sciographia. Those 
artists taught something of the effect of light 
PAINTING. 
andshade,and of course gave an appearance of 
roundness to the object represented. 1 his 
step of art was first called graphice. 1 o these 
succeeded the monochromatists', a numerous 
list ; the first of whom was Cleophantes the 
Corinthian, who filled up his outline with a 
single colour, every where of equal force, and 
thence gave the name of monochroms (or ob - 
jects of one colour) to his paintings. 
Cimon Cl eon ams invented the art of vary- 
ing the attitudes of his figures, distinguishing 
the joints and muscles, and imitating the folds 
of draperies. But the highest encomium given 
of him by /Elian, is that lie somewhat im- 
proved the rude art of his time. 
The antient schools were those of Sicyon, 
Rhodes, Corinth, and Athens. Pliny men- 
tions that the authority of Eupompus, an artist 
of Sicyon, was ot so great weight that, whereas 
before him there were only two schools, the 
Asiatic and the Grecian, they were froth his 
time divided into three, the Attic, Sicyonian, 
and Ionic. 
Aglaophon and Polvgnotus of Thasos, who 
lived about 420 years before Christ, were the 
first painters of eminence. Polygnotus is 
said to have been the first who gave a pleas- 
ing air to the draperies and head-dresses of 
his female figures, and to have opened the 
mouth so far as to shew the beauty of the 
teeth. Aristotle speaks of him as excellent 
in expression. But the art of painting may 
be still considered to have been in an inferior 
state till the time of Timanthes, Parrhasius, 
and Zeuxis, who nourished about the period 
of the Peloponnesian war. 
In the contest between the two latter of 
these great painters, Zeuxis declared himself 
to be overcome, because a cluster of grapes, 
painted by him, bad only deceived the birds, 
but lie was himself deceived by a curtain 
painted by his rival. I he principal works ot 
Zeuxis, according to Pliny, were his Penelope, 
in which he appeared to have expressed the 
manners of that princess; a Jupiter surrounded 
by the gods; the infant Hercules strangling 
the serpents in the presence of Amphitryon 
and Alemene ; Helen; and Marsyas bound by 
Apollo. Lucian also gives an account of a 
picture by Zeuxis, representing male and fe- 
male centaurs; in describing which, after 
speaking of the composition itself, he proceeds 
to notice the execution of the work: and 
praises particularly the truth and delicacy of 
the drawing, the perfect blending of the co- 
lours, the skilful shading, and the scientific ob- 
servance of proportion and harmony, through- 
out the whole performance. 
Parrhasius was esteemed superior to others 
iu correctness of outline and softness ot co- 
louring. Timanthes is chiefly celebrated for 
expression, and, in particular, for his picture 
of the sacrifice of Iphigenia; in which he co- 
vered the face of Agamemnon with a mantle, 
because he thought it impossible to represent 
any expression adequate to the feelings of his 
situation. 
The fame of these great artists was sur- 
passed by the class of painters who imme- 
diately succeeded them. Protogenes, Pam- 
pliilus, ' Melanthius, Antiphilus, Theon, Eu- 
phranor, and, finally, Apelles, carried the art 
of painting to the utmost perfection which it 
has ever attained. These were chiefly emi- 
nent in separate provinces ot art. Euptiranor 
united a great skill in various branches, and 
Apelles eclipsed all other painters in hn 
powers of giving elegance and grace to Ins 
figures. 
From the time of these pre-eminent mas- 
ters, painting gradually declined in Greece ; 
and, the Romans becoming masters of the 
whole country, the arts sunk into insipidity 
and insignificance. 
The undisputed and unrivalled excellence 
of the Greek schools appears to have con- 
sisted in drawing and expression. None of 
their greatest works remaining to our time, 
we caii only take the accounts of historians 
respecting their powers of colouring ; but it 
is evident that they were capable ot making 
very nice distinctions in this branch oi ait, 
from the comparison made between two 
pictures of Theseus, painted by different art- 
ists, in one of which the hero was said to ap- 
pear as if he had been fed on roses, and in the 
other on flesh. 
It is still more particularly doubtful w Ae- 
ther the anlients possessed the know ledge of 
chiaro-scuro in so eminent a degree as it lias 
since been shewn in the works of the Lom- 
bard and Flemish schools. The present re- 
mains of antient paintings do not certainly 
warrant any conclusion in their favour, al- 
though many passages in their historians tend 
to make us believe them skilled in this point; 
and, as the works that remain are undoubtedly 
executed by inferior artists, their authority 
may be thought of little weight against the 
general testimony on the contrary side. 
The character of the antient school of art 
is thus given by a Greek writer: 
“The paintings of the antients,” says Dio- 
nysius of Halicarnassus, “ were at first simple 
and unvaried in their colouring, but correct 
in their drawing, and distinguished by their 
elegance. Those which succeeded, less cor- 
rect in their drawing, were more finished, 
more varied in their fight and shades, trusting 
their effect to the multitude of their colours.” 
Roman art. We have already seen tnat 
before the foundation of Rome the arts were 
cultivated in Etruria. Pliny also mentions 
some paintings at Ardeaq Lanuvium, and 
Care, older than Rome, but it is uncertain 
by what artists these were executed. As long 
as the Romans employed artists of other 
countries, they were indifferent to the cul- 
tivation of the arts; but towards the year of 
Rome 450, and 303 years before Chri -t, one 
of the Fabii, a patrician family in Rome, 
thought it no discredit to employ himself in 
painting. He painted the temple ot the 
goddess Salus, and assumed the name of 
Fabius Pictor, or the painter. His works re- 
mained till the temple itself was destroyed by 
fire in the reign of Claudius. 
The example of Fabius did not excite imi- 
tation. More than a century elapsed before 
the tragic poet Pacuvius followed his ex- 
ample, and painted the temple of Hercules. 
Turpilius, a Roman knight, was also a painter, 
contemporary with Pacuvius. Painting did 
not come into great repute till the time of 
Messala, who, as well as Lucius Scipio, paint- 
ed representations ot his own victories. Few 
names ot Roman painters, even in the time of 
Augustus, are mentioned by writers. The 
ans, however, flourished m hign reputation 
under manv of the emperors, particularly from 
die time ot Nerva to Antoninus; and Nero 
is said to have prided himself on his skill in 
painting. A colos,al painting of 120 ieet in 
height was executed by his orders, and was. 
