A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

1. Of Cleonae, a painter of great renown, praised by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 35.34) and Aelian. (V. H. 8.8.) It is difficult to ascertain, from Pliny's obscure words, wherein the peculiar merits of Cimon consisted : it is certain, however, that he was not satisfied with drawing simply the outlines of his figures, such as we see in the oldest painted vases, but that he also represented limbs, veins, and the folds of garments. He invented the Catasgrapha, that is, not the profile, according to the common interpretation (Caylus, Mém. de l' Acad. vol. xxv. p. 265), but the various positions of figures, as they appear when looking upwards, downwards, and sideways; and he must therefore be considered as the first painter of perspective. It would appear from an epigram of Simonides (Anthol. Palat. 9.758), that he was a contemporary of Dionysius, and belonged therefore to the 80th Olympiad; but as he was certainly more ancient, Κλ́χων should in that passage be changed into Μίχων. (Böttiger, Archäolog. d. Malerei, p. 234, &c.; Müller, Handb. § 99.)