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

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subjects on the basis <strong>of</strong> which artistic skill was measured <strong>and</strong> fame was built <strong>in</strong> <strong>Classical</strong><br />

<strong>Greece</strong>. It also speaks <strong>of</strong> the Younger Kalamis as an animalier, therefore, plac<strong>in</strong>g him on<br />

a similar level with Strongylion. In addition, that Praxiteles contributed the charioteer to<br />

help Kalamis bridge his less exceptional ability to render human figures shows, first,<br />

collaboration between two sculptors, which recalls that <strong>of</strong> Onatas with the Elder Kalamis,<br />

<strong>and</strong> second, places animal figures on the same level <strong>of</strong> importance as human ones <strong>in</strong><br />

terms <strong>of</strong> both execution <strong>and</strong> spectatorship. This evidence, <strong>in</strong> turn, h<strong>in</strong>ts at the prospect <strong>of</strong><br />

animal representations’ hav<strong>in</strong>g much more to <strong>of</strong>fer the study <strong>of</strong> Greek art than has<br />

previously been realized.<br />

To turn next to the realm <strong>of</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, another passage <strong>of</strong> Pl<strong>in</strong>y refers to Nikias, a<br />

fourth-century artist, whose well-rendered images <strong>of</strong> dogs contributed to his fame <strong>in</strong><br />

antiquity:<br />

[A]t Ephesos there is a Sepulchre <strong>of</strong> a Megabyzus, the priest <strong>of</strong> Artemis at<br />

Ephesos, <strong>and</strong> at Athens the Nekyomanteia [“Invocation <strong>of</strong> the Dead”] after<br />

Homer. This picture he [Nikias] refused to sell to K<strong>in</strong>g Attalos for 60 talents<br />

<strong>and</strong> gave it rather to his home town, s<strong>in</strong>ce he had plenty <strong>of</strong> money already. He<br />

also did some large pictures, among which are a Calypso, an Io, <strong>and</strong> an<br />

Andromeda; also the very excellent Alex<strong>and</strong>er <strong>in</strong> the porticoes <strong>of</strong> Pompey <strong>and</strong> a<br />

Seated Calypso are ascribed to him. Of four-footed animals he rendered dogs the<br />

best. (NH 35.131-35.133) [159]<br />

Like Strongylion, <strong>and</strong> the Elder <strong>and</strong> Younger Kalamis, Nikias appears here as an artist<br />

known to be skilled <strong>in</strong> depict<strong>in</strong>g animals, particularly dogs. This evidence aga<strong>in</strong><br />

highlights the important role <strong>of</strong> animals <strong>in</strong> establish<strong>in</strong>g the oeuvre <strong>and</strong> fame <strong>of</strong> an artist <strong>in</strong><br />

antiquity. In addition, the fact that the dog is s<strong>in</strong>gled out from Nikias’s other,<br />

unspecified images <strong>of</strong> animals clearly shows the tendency to match artistic skill with a<br />

specific animal species, as was previously the case with Strongylion (cattle <strong>and</strong> horses)<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Younger Kalamis (horses). Given its frequency, such a tendency h<strong>in</strong>ts at the<br />

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