f some sort. Nikias
outlived Alexander the Great, and saw the beginning of the school of
painters to which the great Apelles belonged--that which is called the
Hellenic school, in which Greek art reached its highest point.

Apelles was the greatest of all Greek painters. He was born at Kolophon;
but as he made his first studies at Ephesus he has been called an
Ephesian: later he studied in the school of Sikyon, but even when a pupil
there he was said to be the equal of all his instructors. Philip of
Macedon heard of his fame, and persuaded Apelles to remove to his capital
city, which was called Pella. While there Apelles became the friend of the
young Alexander, and when the latter came to the throne he made Apelles
his court-painter, and is said to have issued an edict forbidding all
other artists from painting his portrait. Later on Apelles removed to
Ephesus.

During the early part of his artistic life Apelles did little else than
paint such pictures as exalted the fame of Philip, and afterward that of
Alexander. He painted many portraits of both these great men; for one of
Alexander he received nearly twenty-five thousand dollars; in it the
monarch was represented as grasping the thunderbolt, as Jupiter might have
done, and the hand appeared to be stretched out from the picture. This
portrait was in the splendid temple of Diana, or Artemis, at Ephesus.
Alexander was accustomed to say of it, "There are two Alexanders, one
invincible, the living son of Philip--the other immutable, the picture of
Apelles."

Later in his life Apelles painted many pictures of mythological subjects.
He visited Alexandria, in Egypt; he did not win the favor of King Ptolemy,
and his enemies in the Egyptian court played cruel practical jokes upon
him. On one occasion he received an invitation to a feast at which the
king had not desired his presence. The monarch was angry; but Apelles told
him the truth, and appeased his wrath by sketching on the wall the exact
likeness of the servant who had carried the invitation to him. However,
Ptolemy remained unfavorable to him, and Apelles painted a great picture,
called Calumny, in which he represented those who had been his enemies,
and thus held them up to the scorn of the world. Apelles visited Rhodes
and Athens, but is thought to have died in the island of Kos, where he had
painted two very beautiful pictures of the goddess Venus. One of these is
called the Venus Anadyomene, or Venus rising fro