Dionysius of Colophon

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Dionysius ( ancient Greek Διονύσιος ) was an ancient Greek painter who came from Colophon and who was a contemporary of Polygnot around the middle of the 5th century BC. Worked.

There are no names or descriptions of his works, but there are some aesthetic assessments of his style. Most of his paintings must have been smaller than life, because Polygnot is said to have surpassed him on this point. Aristotle already put Dionysius together with Polygnot and added the painter Pauson as a third . About all three he judged that "Polygnot above reality, Pauson below it and Dionysius according to reality" created their figures. Compared to that of the idealizing Polygnot, his work showed, on the one hand, naturalistic tendencies. On the other hand, a certain "prosaic" and handicraft-focused trait will have characterized the work of Dionysius and influenced Aristotle's judgment. Plutarch writes that the poetry of his work gives the impression of a great effort and lacks any ease of execution, Aelian reports that he had imitated Polygnot in the strict care, in the manner of the figure design, in the delicacy of the garments. The repeated simultaneous mention of Polygnot shows a certain importance of Dionysius, but he seems to have been a craftsman to a much greater extent than an artist in the ancient judgment.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Aelian , varia historia 4, 3.
  2. ^ Aristotle, de arte poetica 2.
  3. ^ Plutarch, Timoleon 36.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Dionysius of Colophon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dionysius; Διονύσιος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient Greek painter
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century BC BC or 5th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH colophon
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC Chr.