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The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

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Aristotle likens the formation <strong>of</strong> the body <strong>of</strong> an animal embryo to the creation <strong>of</strong> a<br />

pa<strong>in</strong>ted depiction. In his view, nature first forms the parts <strong>of</strong> the body <strong>in</strong> outl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> then<br />

proceeds to add color <strong>and</strong> texture to them. In this respect, nature is like a pa<strong>in</strong>ter, who<br />

first sketches the zw|~on <strong>in</strong> outl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> then proceeds to add color to it. <strong>The</strong> word ζw|~on<br />

has been translated as “animal,” but this render<strong>in</strong>g does not seem appropriate. Given the<br />

direct association <strong>of</strong> the context with pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, the term can be better understood as the<br />

image <strong>in</strong> general or the subject <strong>of</strong> representation that the pa<strong>in</strong>ter <strong>in</strong>tended to create. <strong>The</strong><br />

blurr<strong>in</strong>g between image <strong>and</strong> subject is not surpris<strong>in</strong>g here, s<strong>in</strong>ce it conforms to an earlier<br />

tendency already encountered <strong>in</strong> Herodotus <strong>and</strong> Plato. Regard<strong>in</strong>g the sketch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> this<br />

zw|~on <strong>in</strong> outl<strong>in</strong>e, two aspects st<strong>and</strong> out clearly: first, it constitutes an early stage <strong>in</strong> the<br />

process <strong>of</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> second, it exhibits a concern with form. This aspect strengthens<br />

the possibility that what Aristotle had actually <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d when us<strong>in</strong>g zw|~on was not so<br />

much the image represented by a pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, but rather the representational subject itself.<br />

In addition, Aristotle’s concern with form as expressed <strong>in</strong> his reference to outl<strong>in</strong>e recalls,<br />

<strong>in</strong> general, Alcidamas’ preoccupation with form, <strong>and</strong> more specifically, Plato’s Stranger<br />

<strong>in</strong> the Politicus. As seen earlier, the Stranger resembled the <strong>in</strong>complete stage <strong>of</strong> his<br />

discussion with the younger Socrates to that <strong>of</strong> a sufficiently outl<strong>in</strong>ed, but still colorless<br />

zw|~on produced by means <strong>of</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g [146]. Given this similarity, Plato’s outl<strong>in</strong>ed, but<br />

still <strong>in</strong>complete zw|~on can be easily merged with Aristotle’s perception <strong>of</strong> an outl<strong>in</strong>ed,<br />

uncolored zw|~on as an early stage <strong>of</strong> the pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g process. This evidence aga<strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>ks<br />

zw|~on to the technical vocabulary <strong>of</strong> the arts. Explicit evidence that a prelim<strong>in</strong>ary outl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

<strong>of</strong> the subject to be depicted <strong>in</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g was not a literary <strong>in</strong>vention, but, actually, one <strong>of</strong><br />

the steps <strong>in</strong> the pa<strong>in</strong>ter’s procedure derives from the wall-pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> the mid-fourth-<br />

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