Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXV. AN ACCOUNT OF PAINTINGS AND COLOURS., CHAP. 10.—WHAT PICTURES THE EMPERORS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC.

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CHAP. 10.—WHAT PICTURES THE EMPERORS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC.

The late Emperor Augustus did more than all the others; for he placed in the most conspicuous part of his Forum, two pictures, representing War and Triumph.¹ He also placed in the Temple of his father,² Cæsar, a picture of the Castors,³ and one of Victory, in addition to those which we shall mention in our account of the works of the different artists.⁴ He also inserted two pictures in the wall of the Curia⁵ which he consecrated in the Comitium;⁶ one of which was a Nemea⁷ seated upon a lion, and bearing a palm in her hand. Close to her is an Old Man, standing with a staff, and above his head hangs the picture of a chariot with two horses. Nicias⁸ has written upon this picture that he "inburned"⁹ it, such being the word he has employed.

In the second picture the thing to be chiefly admired, is the resemblance that the youth bears to the old man his father, allowing, of course, for the difference in age; above them soars an eagle, which grasps a dragon in its talons. Philochares¹⁰ attests that he is the author of this work, an instance, if we only consider it, of the mighty power wielded by the pictorial art; for here, thanks to Philochares, the senate of the Roman people, age after age, has before its eyes Glaucion and his son Aristippus, persons who would otherwise have been altogether unknown. The Emperor Tiberius, too, a prince who was by no means very gracious, has exhibited in the temple dedicated by him, in his turn, to Augustus, several pictures which we shall describe hereafter.¹¹

1 According to Hardouin, this was done after the battle of Actium, in which Augustus subdued his rival Antony.—B.

2 By adoption. The Temple of Julius Cæsar was in the Forum, in the Eighth Region of the City.

3 See B. vii. c. 22, B. x. c. 60, and B. xxxiv, c. 11.

4 In Chapter 36 of this Book.—B.

5 See B. vii. cc. 45, 54, 60, and B. xxxiv. c. 11.

6 See B. vii. c. 54, B. xv. c. 20, B. xxxiii. c. 6, and B. xxxiv. c. 11.

7 This was the personification of the Nemean forest in Peloponnesus, where Hercules killed the lion, the first of the labours imposed upon him by Eurystheus.—B.

8 See Chapter 40 of this Book,

9 "Inussisse;" meaning that he executed it in encaustic. The Greek term used was probably ενεκαυσε.

10 Hemsterhuys is of opinion that he was the brother of Æschines, the orator, contemptuously alluded to by Demosthenes, Fals. Legat. Sec. 237, as a painter of perfume pots. If sc, he was probably an Athenian, and must have flourished about the 109th Olympiad.

11 In Chapter 40 of this Book.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Cross-references to this page (39):
- Harper's, Apelles
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), ARITHMET´ICA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ATHE´NAE
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CAUNUS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), E´PHESUS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ROMA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), SI´CYON
- Smith's Bio, Aene'as
- Smith's Bio, Ajax
- Smith's Bio, Aristode'mus (*)Aristo/dhmos), artists.
- Smith's Bio, Aristode'mus
- Smith's Bio, Asclepiodo'rus
- Smith's Bio, Callicles
- Smith's Bio, Campaspe
- Smith's Bio, Doro'theus
- Smith's Bio, Euxe'nidas
- Smith's Bio, Ju'nius
- Smith's Bio, Leo'ntion
- Smith's Bio, Lu'dius
- Smith's Bio, Mela'nthius
- Smith's Bio, Mu'mmius
- Smith's Bio, Nealces
- Smith's Bio, Ni'ceros
- Smith's Bio, Nico'machus
- Smith's Bio, Nico'piianes
- Smith's Bio, Nobi'lior
- Smith's Bio, Pam'philus
- Smith's Bio, Perseus
- Smith's Bio, Philippus, Ma'rcius
- Smith's Bio, Philiscus
- Smith's Bio, Pinus, Corne'lius
- Smith's Bio, Priscus
- Smith's Bio, Proto'genes
- Smith's Bio, Pyreicus
- Smith's Bio, Sera'pion
- Smith's Bio, Telestas
- Smith's Bio, Theomnestus
- Smith's Bio, Timanthes
- Smith's Bio, Xeno'crates
Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
- Plutarch, Demetrius, Plut. Demetr. 22
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (4):
- Lewis & Short, Ăpelles
- Lewis & Short, ămoenus
- Lewis & Short, biblĭŏthēca
- Lewis & Short, instĭtŭo

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 10.—WHAT PICTURES THE EMPERORS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 10.—WHAT PICTURES THE EMPERORS HAVE EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.