An Epigram and a Treasury: on Sim. FGE XXXIIIb [B. 162; D. 163; EG XXXIII]

Petrovic, Andrej

Abstract

Κίμων ἔγραψε τὴν θύραν τὴν δεξιάν, τὴν δ’ ἐξιόντων δεξιὰν Διονύσιος. Cimon painted the door to the right, and the right door as one goes out, Dionysius. (Anth. Pal. 9.758) Denys Page correctly classified this epigram, which comes from a series of Simonidea in the ninth book of the Palatine Anthology, as a signature epigram. The Cimon mentioned in the first line of the epigram is regularly identified as Cimon of Cleonae, a late sixth-century B.C. painter commended by Pliny (HN 35.34) and Aelian (VH 8.8) for his technique and, possibly, use of perspective. The identity of Dionysius from line 2 is disputed: from little that we know of a painter named Dionysius of Colophon who may have been a younger contemporary of Cimon, it is difficult to reach any conclusion. What connects the two artists is that they were both famed for their portrayal of humans and that they may have entered in a sort of a competition with each other.

Citation

Petrovic, A. (2013). An Epigram and a Treasury: on Sim. FGE XXXIIIb [B. 162; D. 163; EG XXXIII]. Classical Quarterly, 63(2), 885-888. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009838813000359

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 21, 2015
• Journal: Classical Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 0009-8388
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-6844
• Publisher: Classical Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 885-888
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009838813000359
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1518796