rt RCA ae Trane tao Tite Ministry of Culture and TourismHERACLES TO ALEXANDER THE GREAT Treasures from the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy A collaboration between the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 17th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities ASHMOLEAN16 Painting at the Macedonian court Harikleia Brekoulaki Alexander the Great used to visit Apelles’ officina (atelier) and talk a great deal about painting, provoking the criticism of the legendary painter who would politely advise him to drop the subject (Pliny the Elder HIN.35.85-86). ‘The authority wielded over the king by Apelles and the honours and atfec- tion he received (HN.35.86-87) highlight the importance of the painted image ~ the eikon ~ in the crafting of the king’s royal identity and heroic persona. ‘Alexander was already familiar with the impact that ‘realistic’ images were likely to convey, through the numerous portraits of his father Philip II pro- duced by Apelles and other renowned artists (HIN.35.935 35.114). He would also express a personal liking for paintings, for example, by removing from the city of ‘Thebes a work by the painter Aristides to his native house at Pella (HN.35. 99). Previous Macedonian kings had also patronized the arts, with prolific art- ists said to have taken up residence at their court. King Archelaos hired Zeuxis of Heraclea to paint his house, which subsequently became a popular attrac- tion (Aclian Hist, Misc. 14.17) For Alexander's immediate successors painting was still held in very high esteem, serving both as a vehicle for political propaganda and as a precious royal gift. Philoxenos of Eretria was commissioned by King Cassander to paint a battle between Alexander and Darius (HIN.35.110), while Aratos gained the favour of Ptolemy Philadelphos by sending him drawings and paintings from the Sicyonian school (Plutarch, Aratus 12.5; 13.4) King Demetrios Poliorcetes, in order to avoid burning a picture by Protogenes, was said to have abstained from setting fire to Rhodes, when the city could only be taken from the side ‘where the picture was stored (HN.35.105) Although Pliny recalls the activity of noteworthy native Macedonian paint- cers, such as Heraclides of Macedon, who migrated to Athens afier the capture of King Perseus in the second century 8c (HIN.35.35; 35.146), the tradition of painting that flourished in late classical and Hellenistic Macedonia (fourth to first centuries nc) is not largely indigenous in origin.* Rather, it articulates the cultural and political aspirations of its kings, wishing to assimilate within their [209]court the glory such art had gained through the masterpieces of Panhellenic sanctuaries and Athenian public buildings. In the fourth century ¢, painting, was the art par excellence. Macedonia, as an ‘international’ cultural crossroad, attracted eminent painters from the well-established schools of southern Greece, to produce portraits of its monarchs and images of their gods, deco- rating their houses and tombs. The funerary use of painting on the facades and interiors of the royal tombs at Aegae enhanced the symbolic function of the monuments, also illustrating the Macedonians’ belief in the heroisation of the deceased and the afterlife. Even though the identity of the artists who produced the masterpieces at the necropolis of Aegae remains doubtful, their exceptional quality is unanimously acknowledged. On the austere facade of Philips tomb (fig. 247), the monumen- tal composition of the frieze reflects the painter’ sophisticated and lifelike use of colour, and at the same time his debt to the sculptural tradition, visible in the skilfully organized hunting groups and in the figures’ dynamic, yet static, postures and symmetrical arrangements, Instead of a classical, abstract back- ground, what we see is a realistic landscape where action takes place within a specific time frame, so that the background becomes actively entailed in the pictures narratives. he subtle variations of light pink, yellow, blue and sgreen hues applied in large diluted brushstrokes to the background suggest the pure and cold colours of the dawn, the usual time for hunting (figs. 247-48). An illusion of depth is conveyed through the remarkable depiction of distant objects in paler and bluer colours, contrasting with the warmer earthern hues of the amply displayed bodies and the captured animals in the foreground. ‘The supremacy of the predators over their prey emphasises manly authority Tig. 247 The fagade ofthe tomb of King Philip I Tig. 248. Hunting frieze from Philip 1s tombFigs. 249-50 Detail from the hunting frieze showing the king ready to give the fatal bow tothe lion and heroic strength. Wild beasts are already fatally wounded, while the final death blow to the centrally placed lion in the most impressive hunting scene is further emphasised by the direction of the dead king’s gilded spear (figs. 1249-50). The crowned youthful successor, Alexander, occupies the middle of the frieze (figs. 30-31), thus anticipating the success of his expedition in the East, while concurrently commemorating the glorious past of his assassinated father. Technically speaking, in this frieze are displayed all those qualities for which Greek painting claimed fame, as listed by Lucian in his work Zeuxis or Antiochus (VL.s):"precision of ine, accuracy in the blending of colours, taste in the application of the paint, correct use of shadow, good perspective, propor- tion, and symmetry: A variety of hues also helps to obtain a delicate chromatic and tonal equilibrium, ‘he artists application of colour on a dry background in layers, starting with diluted brushstrokes, provides the figures with volume and renders their facial characteristics, with the help of hatching. Mastering the use of shading and manipulating the effects of his light source, coming from the left, the painter of the hunting scene transfers onto the wall his technical knowledge and the current tradition of panel painting. The coloured layers are obtained by mixing various organic and mineral pigments, including lead white and calcite, cinnabar and earthen, iron-based reds, natural copper-based greens and Egyptian blue, organic purple and certainly other pigments, as yet unclassified, coming from the rich mineral resources of ancient Macedonials ‘mines and subsoil. PAINTING AT THE MACEDONIAN CouRT [213]Regretting the loss of the painted wooden frieze that was originally fixed on tombs III fagade, we may only imagine the appearance of its panel painting, through the scanty remains of the small frieze with floral motif, still visible con the walls of the main chamber. Although, according to Pliny (HN.35.n8), ‘reat fame was confined to artists of panel paintings, they would have certainly ‘managed to paint on the wall, upon request. Despite their conventional depiction on a dark blue solid background, the 21 chariots surrounding the antechamber's walls of tomb III (fig. 251) reflect the expertise ofthe painter in memorising and reproducing an impressive range of animal movements and human gestures, even in small-scale compositions. However, the most powerful expression of free-style painting, abolishing strict contour lines and closed forms, for the benefit of facial expressions and physical gesticulation, isto be seen in the famous abduction scene in the ‘tomb ‘of Persephone’ (fig. 252). Using.a limited range of pigments, the painter distorts perspective in order to fit the figures onto the wall, and displays, despite his hasty execution, the solid background of an expert and talented artist. The ‘modest earthen hues of red and yellow ochres used for the figures and the chariot are counterbalanced by the bright organic pink of the unfolded gar- ‘ment, catching the spectator’s eye by its color floridus. ‘The youthful Kores [24] HARIKLEIA BREKOULAKI Fig. 251 Deal fom the chariot frieze ins the ante chamber walls of the tomb of Alexander TV (tomb IIT Fig. 52 Abduction of Persephone by Hades from the cist grave under the large tumulusat Aegaeig. 253 Back ofthe marble throne and eternal seat ofthe Queen Mother Eurydice Tig. 254 Detail from the back ofthe throne shoving a pair of horses and Hades nakedness as a sign of submission to the terrible God’s will - illustrating the myth in a most expressive manner ~ stands out against the majestic figure of Persephone as the omnipotent Queen of the Underworld, in the tomb of Eurydice Inside the main chamber of this extraordinary monument dated to the mid- fourth century wc, on the back of a luxurious marble throne, are depicted in epiphany Hades and Persephone (Kore) on their divine quadriga (chariot drawn by four horses), draped in purple robes and holding golden sceptres, (igs. 253-54). The movement of the horses is cut short, and their bodies are displayed obliquely, allowing the painter to express his technical abilities in advanced chiaroscuro (contrasts of light and shade) and the lively rendering of the horses’ facial features, Despite the remarkable impasto created by the thick brushstrokes ~ visible on the painting's surface ~ the subtle tonal qualities and. the delicacy in the rendering of outline recall the achievements of the famous, painter Parthasius (late fifth century nc) in the drawing of the contour line, ‘which ‘ought to round itself off and to terminate as to suggest the presence of the other parts behind it’ (FIN.35.67). The reduced chromatic intensities in the figures ofthe painted scene contrast with the colourful effect conveyed by the gilded floral frieze of the compos tion. Itis worth noting that the gamut of pigments identified is far from being ‘a common one: red ochre is entirely substituted by expensive cinnabar, to in ‘cate details, and also mixed with yellow ochre and carbon black to render the dark brown bodies of the animals. Besides the use of an organic purple, the 1b MACEDONIAN Court [217]rare mineral sandarac and the unusual bone white were also employed, while the choice of lead white as the most appropriate white pigment for painting on a dry stone surface finds here one of its earliest applications. On the surviving paintings of the monumental tombs at Aegae, royal imagery is clearly expressed through subjects such as hunting, racing, divine abduction and epiphany. The choice of these subjects underscores aspects of self-definition, wealth and hierarchy within an elite society. Apart from their ‘own informative, ‘narrative language, royal Macedonian paintings ~ due to their outstanding quality and remarkable stylistic diversity — serve as the most valuable tangible testimonies of ancient Greek painting at a time when this art had reached its culmination. [218] HARIKLEIA BREKOULAKI