Parrhasius (painter)

The period of his activity is fixed by the anecdote which Xenophon records of the conversation between him and Socrates on the subject of art; he was therefore distinguished as a painter before 399 BC.

[4] Seneca relates a tale that Parrhasius bought one of the Olynthians whom Philip sold into slavery, 346 BC, and tortured him in order to have a model for a picture of the bound Prometheus for the Parthenon in Athens; but the story, which is similar to one told of Michelangelo, is chronologically impossible.

[5] Pliny the Elder described Parrhasius's contest with Zeuxis in his book Naturalis Historia: The latter painted some grapes so perfectly that a flock of birds flew down to eat them but, instead, only pecked at their picture.

Some scholars have proposed that his influence can be seen in White-Ground vase-paintings of his era, particularly in the works associated with Group R painters.

His other works, besides the obscene subjects with which he is said to have amused his leisure, are chiefly mythological groups.