Expert of Ancient Painting and Precision

The name Apelles has reverberated throughout the history of art, and he is considered by many to be the greatest painter of antiquity. He has no surviving works, yet the stories of his skill and offerings to the art of painting never cease to inspire artists and scholars alike.

Apelles has been immortalized from ancient Greek texts to Renaissance ideals, resulting in an indelible mark on the art world.

The Fame of Apelles

The ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder wrote in Natural History one of the more profound praises of Apelles, preserving that. But it was Apelles who was greater than any other painters, whether preceding or succeeding.

He contributed more to painting, single-handed, than all the others together, This is one of the highest accolades of admiration Apelles was accorded both in his time and all centuries after.

Apelles, whose life extended from ca. 380 to 370 bce, was probably born in the Greek city of Colophon on the western coast of Asia Minor. His professional career began in Ephesus and he refined his skills under the great artist Pamphilus in Sicyon.

There Apelles learned the basic principles of scientific painting, emphasizing geometry, proportion, and the laws of perspective, His training at such a revered school would prepare him perfectly for the cultured craftsmanship that set him apart from other artists.

A Patronage with Kings

Apelles's career took a turn for the better when he became the official court painter for King Philip II of Macedonia, and later and perhaps more famously,his son, Alexander the Great.

He spent more than three decades painting the royal family, the portrait of Alexander being one of his most popular.

He also recorded images of war, providing a visual account of the majesty of Alexander's conquests. Not only did his connection to such influential patrons enhance his reputation, but it also enabled him to experiment artistically, mixing realism with stylistic experimentation.

After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Apelles worked under the patronage of the Hellenistic kings, including King Antigonus I and King Ptolemy I Soter.

Despite all of the upheavals in the politics of the ancient world, Apelles's fame remained untarnished, and his oeuvre would go on to influence painters throughout the Mediterranean.

Innovative Media Practices

Among Apelles's most enduring legacies are the technical contributions he made to painting. His experimentation with light and shadow contrasted his work with paintings that came before him, a precursor to what would be called chiaroscuro.

In his portrait of Alexander the Great, that great master Apelles augmented his brilliance by darkening the background as he lightened the subjects chest and face, producing a stunning contrast that heightened the subject's features.

His palette was remarkably small, consisting mainly of white, black, red and yellow, a group known as tetrachromia. But he also used light blue, evidence that he was expanding his palette of expression.

While this might seem like a limiting palette, Apelles produced an unprecedented level of realism in his painting. A secret to his success was the creation of a special black varnish known as ''attramentum''.

This material, which Apelles guarded as a closely held secret, preserved his paintings and mellowed the tinctures, giving them an exceptional brilliance and durability.

Science is about Precision and Perfectionism

The Pompeiian Tacitus records of him an ''apipein'' who surpassed all others in technique, of ''Charis'' who made it part of his paintings. This is how he stuck to the idea that beauty in art can only be achieved by supposedly true mathematical proportions and geometrical principles.

Apelles also knew the dangers of perfectionism, though. It speaks to his philosophy of knowing at which point to leave the painting alone in order to find its balance without over-mass ac thing the work.His famous saying ''other painters are better than me in everything, but always their paintings are worse'' seems to refer exactly to the idea we wrote in the previous line.

One of the most fascinating stories of Apelles typifies his commitment to accuracy and perfection. And even his competition submission to draw a horse, he asked for live horse to be brought to the venue so he could draw them from life. ''To the applause of my horses, such a perfect picture,''attributed to Apelles himself, was the last thing you would hear when he left the studio.