Category Archives: Painting

Written by Lydia Serrant, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom

Women had limited mobility in ancient Greek society. They could attend public speeches, certain festivals, and sanctuaries, but otherwise, women were expected to spend most of their time in the gynaikon, the female-only quarters usually located on the upper floor of the house.

From there, women were expected to undertake a strict set of tasks, such as fetching water from the well, managing the household, and weaving fabric. The daily lives and experiences of Greek women are therefore shrouded in mystery. What we do know about ancient Greek women is mostly written from the male perspective, but it is clear they spent large portions of their lives isolated from general society.

Accounts of women who pushed beyond these boundaries give us a but a glimpse of the female contributions to the ancient world. For example, accounts of female painters in ancient Greece are rare and short – and therefore of immense value.

While Greek women with means were known to donate or commission great works of art, not much evidence survives of Greek female artists. The scarcity of such accounts is further evidence of the social restrictions placed upon women in the ancient world.

Kora of Sicyon (650 BC)

The Origin of Painting, by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, 1785

Kora of Sicyon is considered the first female painter of ancient Greece, or at least the first recorded female artist of the time.

Kora is believed born between 700 – 601 BC and was the daughter of the sculptor and potter Dibutades. She is mentioned by Pliny The Elder in his Natural History (AD 77), where she is described to have painted the shadow of the face of her lover. Her father later filled this in with clay, resulting in one of the first clay reliefs. The relief was preserved as a gift to the city of Nymphaeum until the Romans sacked Corinth in 146 BC.

Anaxandra (228 BC)

A Greek Woman, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Anaxandra was known for painting icons and figures from Greek mythology. She learned from her father, Nealkes, a painter who was known for saving famous artworks from destruction after the liberation of Sicyon in 251 BC.

According to Clement of Alexandria, Anaxandra was an active painter in 228 BC and is mentioned in his work ”Women as Well as men are Capable of Perfection”. If the title of his book is to be believed, then it appears that some men in ancient Greece were open to the idea of women participating in artistic endeavors.

However, it is unlikely that Clement knew Anaxandra or her work first-hand, having referenced the lost work of the Hellenistic scholar Didymus as his source.

Irene (or Alcisthene) 200 BC

Eirene or Irene, from De Mulieribus Claris by Boccaccio, early 15th century

Pliny the Elder was a naval commander and natural philosopher whose works note evidence of female artistic expression. Pliny also writes briefly about Alcisthene (or Alkisthene) who may have been a female painter. However, Latin sources describe her as a dancer, the subject of a painting completed by Irene, the daughter of Cratinus. Irene is noted to have learned her craft from her father, and her paintings are said to be of significance to the Cult of Demeter, Mother Earth, and Goddess of the Corn.

Irene is also credited for painting a portrait of Calypso, the water nymph who imprisoned Odysseus on her island for over a decade. Pliny credits Irene with two other works titled, ”The Old Man” and ”The Juggler Theodores”.

Although Pliny’s descriptions of Irene are brief, and her identity is somewhat confused with Alcisthene, his record of female painters is invaluable. This later became a source of interest and inspiration of Renaissance painters and authors, such a Giovanni Boccaccio, who wrote of Irene:

‘’I thought her work worthy of some praise, since it is very unusual for women, and is not pursued without a high degree of talent, which customarily most rare in them’’

Boccaccio’s comments reflect established societal beliefs about male superiority in Renaissance Italy that extend back to ancient Greece.

Timarete (5^th Century BC)

Digital rendering of William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s painting of a Greek girl

Noted for her painting of Artemis at Ephesus, Timerete is one of the very few Greek female artists of whom we not only have a record of her artistic contribution, but also her feelings about the roles of Greek women in general. Like Irene, Timerete was the daughter of an artist, her father being Micon the Younger of Athens. Micon was known for painting famous battle scenes. Timatete disdained the role expected of her as a woman in ancient Greece, according to Pliny, writing that she “scorned the duties of women and practiced her father’s art.”

Although the roles of women were greatly restricted in ancient times, records from contemporary historians suggest that there were instances of women stepping outside of their expected boundaries to pursue areas of personal interest, even making a name for themselves along the way.

What is evident is that most of the female artists here did have the backing and support of their already famous fathers. It was perhaps the protection and support provided by the family and senior male relatives that enabled these women to challenge traditional gender roles, an advantage that many other Greek women probably did not have. However, thanks to them, the female artistic talent and contribution to Greek aesthetic culture has been captured, albeit minimally.

Although the descriptions of these women are short, the fact that they exist at all is a testament to the determination of Greek women and those that supported them. Finally, it speaks to the impact of feminine artistry on the male-dominant culture of ancient Greece.

References:

Venit, M. (1988). The Caputi Hydria and Working Women in Classical Athens. The Classical World, 81(4), 265-272. doi:10.2307/4350194

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wmna/hd_wmna.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_of_Sicyon

https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/irene-fl-200-bce

Ridgway, B. (1987). Ancient Greek Women and Art: The Material Evidence. American Journal of Archaeology, 91(3), 399-409. doi:10.2307/505361

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timarete

https://web.archive.org/web/20070405163226/https://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0172.html

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/anasandra

In a break from the norm I shall start this contribution not with a glib remark or unnecessary bit of pretentiousness, but with a warning. This week’s article will be a bit on the spicy side both in terms of language and sexual content. If either offend you then I strongly suggest that you stop reading….

…now!

Okay, now that the kids have been put to bed, we can leave behind our everyday banalities and plunge head-first into a world of sex,

Ancient Graffiti

swearing, toilet-humor, bravado, machismo and politics. No, not HBO – today we concern ourselves with the most accessible and least analyzed form of ancient Latin literature; graffiti.

In all fairness, it is no fault on the part of archaeologists or literary scholars that graffiti of the ancient world sits on the back-burner. Most has been destroyed and much that remains is very difficult to decipher.

The wonderful exceptions to this are the examples surviving at Pompeii and Herculaneum. If these tragically, but beautifully, preserved cities are anything to go by, then we can assume that ancient Italy would have been daubed in even more graffiti than… well, modern Italy.

Pompeii

So what sort of thing lined the walls of the shops, houses, brothels and public buildings of these ancient towns before they were paradoxically destroyed – and preserved – from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD?

Well, much as we might expect, there was plenty of love in the air. “Marcus loves Spendusa” and “Rufus loves Cornelia Hele” are two examples which make us realize just how unoriginal some modern graffiti actually is.

However, at least this is pleasant and innocent enough. After all, declarations of love can be tainted with a fair amount of bitterness, especially in the middle of a love triangle: “Successus, a weaver, loves the innkeeper’s slave girl named Iris. She, however, does not love him. Still, he begs her to have pity on him. His rival, Severus wrote this. Goodbye.”

To which is replied: “Envious one, why do you get in the way? Submit to a handsomer man and one who is being treated very wrongly.”

The final word being: “I have spoken. I have written all there is to say. You love Iris, but she does not love you.”

The beauty of these inane scribbles is they tell us exactly how everyday folk thought and spoke. This was not high art, this was not epic poetry, this was the voice of the man in the street; an ancient twitter account, but perhaps read by someone who the writer actually knew!

And as with social networking, public walls were deemed the ideal receptacles for the angst of the lovelorn: “Let everyone in love come and see. I want to break Venus’ ribs with clubs and cripple the goddess’ loins. If she can strike through my soft chest, then why can’t I smash her head with a club?”

And of course, as one would expect of graffiti, romantic love very often played second fiddle to sexual desire:

“I screwed a lot of girls here.”
“On June 15th, Hermeros screwed here with Phileterus and Caphisus.”
“Sollemnes, you screw well!”

Are just a few of many such examples.

However, these are on the tame side. A more explicit examples is:
“Restituta, take off your tunic, please, and show us your hairy privates.”

A relatively polite request. Though some scribbles are more bragging in their tone:
“Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion.”

Whilst others may be a chide to a straying lover:
“Amplicatus, I know that Icarus is buggering you. Salvius wrote this.”

And others simply wish to offer advice – sometimes cryptic:
“The one who buggers a fire burns his penis.”

Sometimes domestic:
“Take hold of your servant girl whenever you want to; it’s your right.”

Often tourist:
“If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii.”

Occasionally written by women:
“Crescens the retarius, lord and healer of the girls at night.”

That’s not to say all the advice on display is sexually oriented:
“A small problem gets larger if you ignore it,” is a slightly more profound graffito.

Indeed, sexual content was not universally approved of, as this example from the ‘House of the Moralist’ shows:
“Remove lustful expressions and flirtatious tender eyes from another man’s wife; may there be modesty in your expression.”

Perhaps the same author was responsible for this domestic tip:
“Let water wash your feet clean and a slave wipe them dry; let a cloth cover the couch; take care of our linens.”

At times the role of ancient graffiti was more practical; shopping lists and details of rooms for rent have been identified in addition to plenty of election campaigning.

However, the Romans were not above a little outright abuse:
“Phileros is a eunuch!”
“Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than when they ever have before!”

That said, there was also a fair share of humor being waggishly daubed about:
“May he who vandalizes this picture incur the wrath of Pompeian Venus” was written over the picture in question.
“We have wet the bed, host. I confess we have done wrong. If you want to know why, there was no chamber pot” was found in a tavern.

However the winner is the following graffiti, simply because of how the joke must have come across when archaeologists first uncovered and then slowly translated it:
“O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not already collapsed in ruin.”

Then there are the fine examples of superior graffiti that help elevate what might be expected from such a genre – and these are certainly worth bearing in mind the next time you’re in a rest stop bathroom, pen in hand, thinking desperately for an original rhyme for ‘Nantucket’:

“Lovers are like bees in that they live a honeyed life.”

“Let whoever loves prosper; but let the person who doesn’t know how to love die. And let the one who outlaws love die twice.”

“Nothing can last for ever; once the sun has shone, it returns beneath the sea. The moon, once full, eventually wanes, the violence of the winds often turns into a light breeze.”

“If you are able, but not willing, why do you put off our joy and kindle hope and tell me always to come back tomorrow. So, force me to die since you force me to live without you. Your gift will be to stop torturing me. Certainly, hope returns to the lover what it has once snatched away.”

And if they don’t stir something within your soul… well, read the dirty ones again

First, they needed to seek out the correct minerals, and grind and heat them to a fine powder. Bee’s wax was then used to mix and adhere the pigments to wood or linen. They practiced a technique called ‘encaustic’, employing wax in a heated state and then working fast before it dried. Encaustic was painted on thin wood and likely treated with distemper or animal glue. Linen was also used for paintings when the wax was in a cool state. This was called the ‘punic’ technique.

Polygnotus of Thasos (500 BC – 440 BC) was not only the first painter to portray emotion in his portraiture, but also one of the first to make the leap from sculpture to painting. He was noted for his arrangement and distribution of figures, placing them at various points in space which were correct in depth and perspective, as opposed to the horizontal plane artists used before him. And as for his painting, Pausanias, a 2nd century Greek traveller and geographer, states that his large paneled depiction of the sacking of Troy was displayed in the Agora, or Athenian market.

Pamphilos of Macedonia, prominent in 3rd century BC, was an artist, but made his mark in history as the teacher who originated the scientific method, or the use of math to ensure proper proportions. He attended, and later became head of, the Sicyonian Art School, located in the northern Peloponnesus which was founded by Eupompus. Pamphilos’ most famous pupil was none other than Apelles, portrait artist to Alexander the Great.

Sadly none of the paintings described here have survived. It is the historians, such as Pliny the Elder and Herodotus, who have given us the detailed information on the artists and their materials, and whom we should thank.

—
Victoria Papale is an artist and studied art in Greece in 2007 at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros. There she was introduced to the Earth Tones which are now her four colors of expression.