Polygnotus (/pɒlɪɡˈnoʊtəs/;Greek:ΠολύγνωτοςPolygnotos) was anancient Greek painter active in the middle of the 5th century BC. Later scholars ofClassical World considered him to be one of the first great painters, sometimes even the inventor of the artform.
He was the son and pupil ofAglaophon.[1] He was a native ofThasos but was adopted by the Athenians and admitted to their citizenship.
During the time ofCimon, Polygnotus painted for the Athenians a picture of the taking ofTroy on the walls of theStoa Poikile and another of the marriage of the daughters ofLeucippus in theAnacaeum.Plutarch mentions historians and the poetMelanthius attest that Polygnotus did not paint for money but rather out of a charitable feeling towards the Athenian people. In the hall at the entrance to theAcropolis, other works of his were preserved.[2] The most important of his paintings were his frescoes in theLesche of the Knidians, a building erected atDelphi by the people ofCnidus. The subjects of these were the visit toHades byOdysseus and the taking of Troy.
The travellerPausanias recorded a careful description of these paintings, figure by figure.[3] The foundations of the building have been recovered in the course of the French excavations at Delphi. Some archaeologists have tried reconstructing the paintings from this evidence rather than their colours. The figures were detached and rarely overlapping, ranged in two or three rows one above another, and the further 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.
Polygnotus was among the first Greek painters to produce large-scale murals for public buildings.[4] Throughout Classical Antiquity, he was highly respected for the innovations he made to painting.Theophrastus called him the "inventor" of painting,[5] whileQuintilian said he was one of the first great painters, "whose works deserve inspection for something more than their mere antiquity."[6]
According to Aristotle, his excellence lay in the beauty of his drawing of individual figures, especially in his art's "ethical" and ideal character. He was among the earliest painters to attempt depicting three-dimensional scenes. Whereas prior artists had placed their figures on a simple groundline, and treated the blank areas around their figures as empty space, Polygnotus arranged his figures on different levels, posing them in a landscape made up of transparent water and rocky land.[7]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Polygnotus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Media related toPolygnotos of Thasos at Wikimedia Commons
