Zeuxis (painter)

Zeuxis (ˈzjuːksɪs; Ζεῦξις) (of Heraclea) was a Greek painter who flourished during the 5th century BCE and became famous for his ability to imitate nature and especially still life with his art. Zeuxis was an innovative Greek painter. Although his paintings have not survived, historical records state they were known for their realism, small scale, novel subject matter, and independent format. His technique created volumetric illusion through manipulating light and shadow, a change from the usual method of filling in shapes with flat color. Preferring small scale panels to murals, Zeuxis also introduced genre subjects (such as still life) into painting. He contributed to the composite method of composition, and may have originated an approach to, and thus influenced the concept of the ideal form of the nude, as described by art historian Kenneth Clark. As the story goes, according to Cicero, Zeuxis could not find a woman beautiful enough to pose as Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world, so he selected the finest features of five different models of the city of Croton to create a composite image of ideal beauty. Zeuxis was born in Heraclea in 464 BCE, probably Heraclea Lucania, in the present-day region of Basilicata in the southeastern "boot" of Italy. He may have studied with Demophilus of Himera (Sicily), or with Neseus of Thasos (an island in the northern Aegean Sea), and/or with the Greek painter Appollodorus. Records cite his notable works as Helen, Zeus Enthroned and The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents. He also painted an assembly of gods, Eros crowned with roses, Alcmene, Menelaus, an athlete, Pan, Marsyas chained, and an old woman. King Archelaus I of Macedon employed Zeuxis to decorate the palace of his new capital Pella with a picture of Pan. Most of his works went to Rome and to Byzantium, but disappeared during the time of Pausanias. Zeuxis is said to have died laughing at the humorous way he painted the goddess Aphrodite, after the old woman who commissioned it insisted on modeling for the portrait.