A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

(Ὀνάτας) of Aegina, the son of Micon, was a distinguished statuary and painter, contemporary with Polygnotus, Ageladas, and Hegias. From the various notices of him it nmav be collected that he flourished down to about (1. 80, B. C. 460, that is, in the age immediately preceding that of Phidias. It is uncertain whether his father Micon was the great painter of that name.

The works of Onatas are frequently described by Pausanias, who is, however, the only ancient writer who mentions him, with the exception of a single epigram in the Greek anthology. Pausanias also says that, though he called himself an Aeginetan on his works, he was inferior to none of the artists from Daedalus and the Attic school (5.25.7. s. 13 : Τὸν δε Ὀνάταν τοῦτον ὅμως, καὶ τέχνης ἐς τὰ ἀγάλματα ὄντα Αἰγιναίας, οὐδενὸς ὕστερον θήσομεν τῶν ἀπὸ Δαιδάλου τε καὶ ἐργαστηρίου τοῦ Ἁττικοῦ). Pausanias mentions the following works of Onatas :--