Greece is often considered to be the “Cradle of Democracy” and is one of the countries which helped lead us into our current societal structures. They also have a rich culture full of philosophy, mythology, unique foods, artists and various other traditions. Ancient Greek painters were known to have influenced many artists after them and that is what we are going to talk about today.

Below we are going to list some of the more influential names in ancient Greek art.

Androcydes

Andrycydes a Greek painter who lived around 4th century B.C.

He was most famous for his painting of the ‘Battle of Plataea’. This painting was considered controversial among politicians for quite some time after his death. The painting was originally commissioned by the City of Thebes.

Apollodorus

Apollodorus is considered to be one of the more innovative Greek artists due to his invention of ‘Skiagraphia’, which is a system used to draw or paint shadows.

His advanced techniques were used all the way through the Italian Renaissance, around the 14th Century.

Artemon

Artemon is thought to have lived around 300 B.C.

The well-known Roman philosopher Pliny is the first person to have written about Artemon.

He created many famous paintings including those of Queen Straonice, Hercules, and Deianira.

His Hercules paintings in particular proved to be quite popular and were even placed in Rome.

Echion

Echion was most known for creating a painting of the union between Alexander and Romaxana.

He is thought to be one of the first Greek painters who had their work featured at Ancient Greek Olympic Games. Proxenidas, a judge in the Olympic Games was so fond of Echions artwork that he eventually gave his daughters hand in marriage to Echion.

His style of layering was considered quite unique during his time.

Heraclides

Heraclides was considered a pioneer of marine art from the country of Macedonia.

In a world where paintings and artwork were often hard to differentiate, he made a name for himself by painting marine life and sea ships.

Pamphilus

Pamphilusn was the founder of the Sicyonian School of Painting.

Many famous Greek artists studied here including Melanthius, Pausias and Apelles.

It spawned many inevitably famous artists and was considered to be one of the best.

Parrhasius

Parrhasius was an ancient painter of the greatest repute.

His artwork was often featured on wood and parchment.

He was considered to be one of the best Greek artists and many young painters of the era aspired to be similar to him.

Thales

Thales was a painter from Ancient Greece who was mentioned multiples times by a man named Diogenes Laertius.

He is often compared with Pheidias and Apelles.

This comparison was originally made by the late Byzantine writer, Theodore Hyrtacenus.