The contest of Zeuxis and Parrhasius
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Zeuxis and his contemporary Parrhasius were two ancient Greek painters reported in the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder to have staged a contest to determine which of the two was the greater artist in who was the better painter.
When Zeuxis unveiled his painting of grapes, they appeared so luscious and inviting that birds flew down from the sky to peck at them. Zeuxis then asked Parrhasius to pull aside the curtain from his painting, only for Parrhasius to reveal the curtain itself was a painting, and Zeuxis was forced to concede defeat. Zeuxis is rumoured to have said: 'I have deceived the birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis.'
In a 1964 seminar, the psychoanalyst and theorist Jacques Lacan observed that the myth of the two painters reveals an interesting aspect of human cognition. While animals are attracted to superficial appearances, humans are enticed by the idea of that which is hidden.
See also