ng divine honours accorded to
the image of a beast; so that he not only broke it to powder, but, in
the punishment of so great a fault, caused the Levites to put to
death many thousands of the false Israelites who had committed this
idolatry. But as the sin consisted in adoring idols and not in making
them, it is written in Exodus that the art of design and of making
statues, not only in marble but in all kinds of metal, was given by
the mouth of God himself to Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, and to
Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, who made the two cherubim of gold, the
candles, the veil, and the borders of the sacerdotal vestments,
together with a number of other beautiful things in the tabernacle,
for no other purpose than that people should put them on for their
own adornment and delight. From the things seen before the flood, the
pride of man found the means to make statues of those who wished
their fame in the world to be immortal; and the Greeks, who give a
different origin to this, say that the Ethiopians found the first
statues, according to Diodorus, the Egyptians imitated these, while
the Greeks followed the Egyptians. From this time until Homer's day
it is clear that sculpture and painting were perfect, as we may see
from the description of Achilles' shield by that divine poet, who
represents it with such skill that the image of it is presented to
our minds as clearly as if we had seen the thing itself. Lactantius
Firmianus attributes the credit of the invention to Prometheus, who
like God formed the human form out of dust. But according to Pliny
this art was introduced into Egypt by Gyges of Lydia, who on seeing
his shadow cast by the fire, at once drew a representation of himself
on the wall with a piece of coal. For some time after that it was the
custom to draw in outline only, without any colouring, Pliny again
being our authority. This was afterwards introduced by Philocles of
Egypt with considerable pains, and also by Cleanthes and Ardices of
Corinth and by Telephanes of Sicyon. Cleophantes of Corinth was the
first of the Greeks to use colours, and Apollodorus was the first to
introduce the brush. Polignotus of Thasos, Zeuxis and Timagoras of
Chalcis, Pythia and Aglaphon followed them, all most celebrated, and
after them came the renowned Apelles who was so highly esteemed and
honoured for his skill by Alexander the Great, for his wonderful
delineation of Calumny and Favour, as Lucian relates. Almost all