Polygnotus (/pɒlɪɡˈnoʊtəs/;Greek:ΠολύγνωτοςPolygnotos) was anancient Greek painter from the middle of the 5th century BC.
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 employed only a few simple colours.[1] Technically, his art was primitive. According to Aristotle, his excellence lay in the beauty of his drawing of individual figures, especially in his art's "ethical" and ideal character. A contemporary and teacher ofPhidias, Polygnotus had the same grand manner. Almost childlike simplicity, sentiment at once noble and gentle, and extreme grace and charm of execution marked his works, in contrast to the more animated, complicated and technically superior paintings of later ages.
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
