Polygnotus

Polygnotus /ˌpɒlɪɡˈnoʊtəs/ (Greek: Πολύγνωτος Polygnotos) was an ancient Greek painter from the middle of the 5th century BC who received Athenian citizenship in recognition of his paintings in Athens.

Life

He was the son and pupil of Aglaophon. He was a native of Thasos, but was adopted by the Athenians, and admitted to their citizenship.

The later years of his art were from the Transitional period which was from 480 to 450 B.C., and live around the time of a sculptor named Myron^[1].

During the time of

Pausanias recorded a careful description of Polygnotus' paintings figure by figure and the foundations of the building have been recovered in the course of the French excavations at Delphi. From this evidence, some archaeologists have tried to reconstruct the paintings, other than their colours. The figures were detached and seldom overlapping, ranged in two or three rows one above another; and the farther were not smaller nor dimmer than the nearer. Therefore, it seems that the paintings of this time were executed on almost precisely the same plan as contemporary sculptural reliefs.^[3]

Style

Polygnotus was known for the use of four colors such as red, black, white, and ochre and usually paying attention to minute details, while also using foreshortening to add perspective to his paintings. He painted in a classic style which was formal, well calculated and organized^[4]. Aristotle and Lucian noted that Polygnotus made expressionistic art, meaning it had movement and emotion, like the art was moving and had a mind of its own. Pliny the Elder once mentioned that Polygnotus originated transparent drapery and claimed that he also painted a mouth with an open mouth instead of a closed or non expressive mouth which at that time, was not used in art yet.^[5] Pliny also states that Polygnotus was also an adept sculptor, and Theophrastus once claimed he was one of the first famous painters, while also noting that Polygnotus did not use shading, which was thought of as "primitive" at the time. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 35. 58) also states that Polygnotus incorporated transparent drapery, which was mostly displayed with women and his figures were often characterized by ethos (character).Polygnotus was known for his painting, but he could also draw at what Cicero once stated was an "admirable" level. Pausanias also stated that he used varied groundline and spatial distribution of figures. Much of his art involved having symbolic but non literal references, with a mostly naturalistic style. Aristotle claimed that Polygnotus would paint people in his paintings higher than they were on a social hierarchy and in a moral standpoint.^[5]

Works

Polygnotus painted on huge walls or even halls and was known for creating murals like the "Ulysses Visiting Hades".^[4] Polygnotus made most of his art in the Transitional Period, which lasted from 480 to 450 B.C and his style is mostly influenced by Myron, a Greek Sculptor.^[1] Most famously, between c. 470 and 447, he decorated the Painted Stoa, Theseion, and Anakeion (shrine to Castor and Pollux) in Athens; and, at Delphi, the Cnidian Lesche. He then painted the Sack of Troy and the Underworld, along with Odysseus after killing the suitors (in Plataea). Polygnotus' artwork doesn't exist physically, but Pausanias did describe his Delphi paintings in detail, mentioning that certain vase paintings in the mid-5th century could be evidence that he introduced a varied groundline and spatial distribution of figures. ^[6]

Sack of Troy

An earlier version of the ‘Sack of Troy’ was created before the current version in the Stoa Poecile, with its date of creation unknown. The later version in the Cnidian located at Delphi was the more famous version of the ‘Sack of Troy’, which featured a detailed visual reference to the events that unfolded during the taking of Troy. This work in particular blended Greek fantasy with reality, a trademark of most Greek art at the time^[7]. The Sack of Troy details Trojan prisoners, walking between the wall off Troy, with the bottom of the picture showing Andromache and her children Medesikaste, and Polyxena. These people were shown as prisoners along with the people on the bottom half of the picture like Deinome, Metioche, Peisis, and Kleodike. ^[8]

References