I believe the anecdote you're seeking is about the painter Apelles,
who painted Campaspe (sometimes known as known as Pancaste), the
mistress of Alexander the Great. Alexander kept the painting, and gave
Campaspe to Apelles.
"When Renaissance patrons and men of letters wished to compliment an
artist (including Titian himself), they would refer to him as Apelles,
recalling the court artist of Alexander the Great. The magnitude of
Apelles' genius was demonstrated, significantly, by his painting of a
beautiful woman, that is, his nude portrait of Alexander's mistress,
Campaspe. Seeing the beauty of the portrait, Alexander saw that the
artist appreciated her (and loved her) more than he. And so Alexander
'paid' for the portrait by presenting Campaspe to Apelles [Pliny,
Natural History, 35.79-97]."
State University of New York, Oneonta: Art History
http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/ARTH/arth213/Titian_Venus_urbino.html
"Campaspe
She is also known as Pancaste. Although she does never appear in the
five major sources, modern author Lane Fox traces her existance back
to the Roman authors Pliny (Natural History), Lucian and Aelian (Varia
Historia). Campaspe was a concubine of Alexander and a prominent
citizen of Larisa in Thessaly (Central Greece). According to Aelian
she might have been the first woman with whom Alexander had sexual
intercourse.
Alexander ordered his painter Apelles, presumably the only artist to
be allowed to paint his image, to do a nude painting of Campaspe. But
Apelles fell in love with Campaspe during the job. 'So Alexander gave
him Campaspe as a present, the most generous gift of any patron and
one which would remain a model for patronage and painters on through
the Renaissance', writes Lane Fox. Or, as Bosworth says in his
Conquest & Empire: 'Apelles depicted Alexander with the thunderbolt of
Zeus in the celebrated painting for the Artemisium in Ephesus, and he
was handsomely rewarded for doing so'.
Painter Apelles also used Campaspe as a model for his most celebrated
painting of Aphrodite (Venus) 'rising out of the sea'. She was
'wringing her hair, and the falling drops of water formed a
transparent silver veil around her form'."
Pothos: Alexander's Lovers
http://www.pothos.org/alexander.asp?paraID=115&keyword_id=12&title=Lovers
If you require a good retelling of the tale from a citable print
source, here is one:
"Perhaps it was his success in this picture that led Alexander to
request Apelles to take a likeness of one of the distinguished
beauties of his court, Campaspe, a young slave, of whose charms the
ardent young monarch was passionately enamoured. Apelles was unwilling
to refuse, and the young girl consented to sit for her picture. Day
after day she came, and the artist apparently made but little progress
in his work. He was aware that she was destined to grace the court of
the monarch. At length, as she one day sat before him, he threw down
his pallet and found himself at her feet. Campaspe quickly dropped her
veil and retired without a word; from this time she appeared at the
painters room no more. Alexander remarked that Apelles was silent and
abstracted. He one day inquired why there was such delay with the
picture of Campaspe. Great King, replied Apelles, wonder not that, the
beauty which has moved the conquerer of the world, should subdue one
of his subjects. You have assigned me a task beyond my powers. I love
Campaspe ! And what says she to thee I said Alexander. Not a word !
replied Apelles. The monarch too remained silent. The next day he
ordered that the portrait should be completed; and again the young
beauty appeared in the study of the artist. When the picture was
finished, Apelles presented it to Alexander. I accept it, said the
monarch; the picture is mine; Campaspe thine."
Historical Sketches of the Old Painters. [The United States Democratic
review. / Volume 1, Issue 2, January 1838, page 175]
Library of Congress: The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncps:@field(DOCID+@lit(AGD1642-0001-24))::
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: apelles alexander pancaste OR campaspe
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=apelles+alexander+pancaste+OR+campaspe
I hope this is precisely what you need. If it is not, or if anything
is unclear, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
