Apollodorus (painter)

Apollodorus Skiagraphos () was an influential Ancient Greek painter of the 5th century BC whose work has since been entirely lost. Apollodorus left a technique behind known as skiagraphia, a way to easily produce shadow, that affected the works not only of his contemporaries but also of later generations.

Life and accomplishments

Little is known about the actual life of Apollodorus, although he was catalogued by the notable historians Plutarch and Pliny the Elder. It was recorded that Apollodorus was active around 480 BCE; his dates of birth and death, however, are not attested in any surviving historical works or fragments of works. He was given a myriad names by those who wrote about him. To Pliny, he was the great painter Apollodorus of Athens; therefore, it can be assumed that he lived and worked in the polis of Athens. But, to Plutarch and Hesychius, other ancient Greek historians, he was Apollodorus Skiagraphos, The Shadow-Painter, named after his greatest legacy. Sadly, none of his actual paintings remain, for, due to weathering, all of ancient Greek painting has been destroyed and the...
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