Laughing / Laughed to death Zeuxis or
Zeuxippos is a Greek painter who lived from Heraclea -464 to -398. Contemporary Apollodorus, the "painter of shadows", who said of him that "he kept for himself the art he was delighted to others." According to legend, he died of laughter by the portrait of an old lady.
The best known of his works (all now extinct) is a Child Raisin , which was painted grapes so so true, so realistic that, according to legend, the birds were peck. But he said: "I mieux peint les raisins que l'enfant; car si j'eusse aussi bien réussi pour celui-ci, l'oiseau aurait dû avoir peur ». MDR. Zeuxis was born in Heraclea, probably Heraclea Lucania in southern Italy, around 464 BC and was presumably the pupil of Apollodorus.
He is said to have laughed himself to death after painting a funny old woman (supposedly the woman had ordered a painting of Aphrodite and demanded that she be used as his model).
Most of his works were taken to Rome and to Byzantium but disappeared during the time of Pausanias. None have survived to this day.
Zeuxis and his contemporary Parrhasius (of Ephesus and later Athens) are reported in the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder to have staged a contest to determine which of the two was the greater artist. When Zeuxis unveiled his painting of grapes, they appeared so luscious and inviting that birds flew down from the sky to peck at them . Zeuxis then asked Parrhasius to pull aside the curtain from his painting, only for Parrhasius to reveal the curtain itself was a painting, and Zeuxis was forced to concede defeat. Zeuxis is rumoured to have said: 'I have deceived the birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis.'
In a 1964 seminar, The psychoanalyst and theorist Jacques Lacan Observed That the myth of The Two painters Reveals An interesting aspect of human cognition. While animals are Attracted to superficial appearance, Humans are enticed by The Idea of That Which Is Hidden.
Since we do is unfortunately no visual trace of the famous (in both senses of the word) grapes, I have copied below a work dedicated to Zeuxis made by a painter 19th century: Victor Mottez Zeuxis choosing his models (1858) (source : Wikipedia)
And most surprising is not it along the following statement on the copyright? (Source Wikipedia) MDR!
This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.
This applies to the United States of America, Australia and the European Union and in countries where the copyright has a lifespan of 70 years after the death of the author.
Note that some countries copyright terms longer than 70 years after the death of the author: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not the rule of the shorter term . Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement that rule of the shorter term.
