CHAP. 55.—THE MOST REMARKABLE WORKS IN SILVER, AND THE
NAMES OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS IN SILVER.
It is a remarkable fact that the art of chasing gold should
have conferred no celebrity upon any person, while that of
embossing silver has rendered many illustrious. The greatest
renown, however, has been acquired by Mentor, of whom
mention has been made already.[1] Four pairs [of vases] were
all that were ever[2] made by him; and at the present day, not
one of these, it is said, is any longer in existence, owing to
the conflagrations of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus and of
that in the Capitol.[3] Varro informs us in his writings that he
also was in possession of a bronze statue, the work of this
artist. Next to Mentor, the most admired artists were Acra-
gas,[4] Boëthus,[5] and Mys.[6] Works of all these artists are still
extant in the Isle of Rhodes; of Boëthus, in the Temple of
Minerva, at Lindus; of Acragas, in the Temple of Father
Liber, at Rhodes, consisting of cups engraved with figures in
relief of Centaurs and Bacchantes; and of Mys, in the same
temple, figures of Sileni and Cupids. Representations also
of the chase by Acragas on drinking cups were held in high
estimation.
Next to these in repute comes Calamis.[7] Antipater[8] too, it
has been said, laid, rather than engraved,[9] a Sleeping Satyr
upon a drinking-bowl.[10] Next to these come Stratonicus[11] of
Cyzicus, and Tauriscus:[12] Ariston[13] also, and Eunicus,[14] of
Mytilene are highly praised; Hecatæus[15] also, and, about the
age of Pompeius Magnus, Pasiteles,[16] Posidonius[17] of Ephesus,
Hedystratides[18] who engraved battle-scenes and armed warriors,
and Zopyrus,[19] who represented the Court of the Areopa-
gus and the trial of Orestes,[20] upon two cups valued at twelve
thousand sesterces. There was Pytheas[21] also, a work of
whose sold at the rate of ten thousand denarii for two
ounces: it was a drinking-bowl, the figures on which represented
Ulysses and Diomedes stealing the Palladium.[22] The
same artist engraved also, upon some small drinking-vessels,
kitchen scenes,[23] known as "magiriscia;"[24] of such remarkably
fine workmanship and so liable to injury, that it was quite
impossible to take copies[25] of them. Teucer too, the inlayer,[26]
enjoyed a great reputation.
All at once, however, this art became so lost in point of
excellence, that at the present day ancient specimens are the
only ones at all valued; and only those pieces of plate are held
in esteem the designs on which are so much worn that the
figures cannot be distinguished.
Silver becomes tainted by the contact of mineral waters,
and of the salt exhalations from them, as in the interior of
Spain, for instance.
1. In B. vii. c. 39, and in Chapter 53 of this Book.
2. "Quatuor paria ab eo omnino facta sunt." Sillig, in his Dictionary
of Ancient Artists, finds a difficulty in this passage. "The term 'omnino'
seems to imply that the productions in question, all of which perished,
were the only works executed by this artist; but we find several passages
of ancient writers, in which vases, &c. engraved by Mentor, are mentioned
as extant. Thus, then, we must conclude, either that the term 'omnino'
should be understood in the sense of 'chiefly,' 'pre-eminently,' or that the
individuals claiming to possess works of Mentor, were themselves misinformed,
or endeavoured to deceive others." If, however, we look at the
word "paria" in a strictly technical sense, the difficulty will probably be
removed. Pliny's meaning seems to be that Mentor made four pairs, and
no more, of some peculiar kind of vessel probably, and that all these
pairs were now lost. He does not say that Mentor did not make other
works of art, in single pieces. Thiersch, Act. Acad. Monac. v. p. 128, expresses
an opinion that the word "omnino" is a corruption and that in
it lies concealed the name of the kind of plate that is meant.
3. See B. vii. c. 39.
4. His age and country are unknown.
5. From Pausanias we learn that he was a statuary and engraver on
plate, born at Carthage; but Raoul Rochette thinks that he was a native
of Chalcedon. He is mentioned also by Cicero, In Verrem, 4. 14, and in
the Culex, 1. 66, ascribed by some to Virgil.
6. His country is uncertain. According to the statements of Pausanias,
B. i. c. 28, he must have been a contemporary of Phidias, about Olymp.
84, B.C. 444. He is mentioned also by Propertius, Martial, and Statius.
7. His birth-place is unknown, but he probably lived about the time of
Phidias, and we learn from Pausanias that he was living when the plague
ceased at Athens, in B.C. 429. He is mentioned also by Cicero, Ovid,
Quintilian, Lucian, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
8. Nothing further is known of this artist.
9. "Collocavisse verius quam cælasse."
10. "Phiala."
11. He lived probably about Olymp. 126; but his country is unknown.
He is mentioned by Athenæus. See also B. xxxiv. c. 19.
12. Nothing whatever is known of him, unless indeed he is identical with
the Tauriscus mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 5.
13. Nothing is known of his age or country. He is also mentioned in
B. xxxiv. c. 19.
14. His age and country are unknown. See B. xxxiv. c.19.
15. Nothing further is known of him. See B. xxxiv. c. 19.
16. See the end of this Book.
17. Beyond the mention made of him in B. xxxiv. c. 19, no particulars
relative to him are known.
18. Other readings of this name are "Lædus Stratiotes," "Ledis Thracides,"
"Hieris Thracides," and "Lidistratices." The Bamberg MS. has
"Hedys Trachides." Salmasius, Hardouin, and Sillig propose "Leostratides,"
and Thiersch "Lysistratides."
19. Nothing further is known of him.
20. For the murder of his mother Clytæmnestra.
21. Nothing is known of this artist.
22. From Troy.
23. "Coquos," literally, "cooks."
24. "Cooks in miniature."
25. By the process of moulding, probably.
26. "Crustarius." Of this artist nothing further is known.