GLI SGUARDI DELLA PITTURA: I VOLTI E GLI OCCHI NELLE EIKONES DI FILOSTRATO MAGGIORE*

Abstract

In the Eikones Philostratus the Elder praises painting against the many forms of plastic art: modelling in
clay, imitation in bronze, and the work of those who carve Lygdian or Parian marble. Painting makes its
contribution by the use of colours and with this one means ingeniously accomplishes much more, showing
light and shadow and knowing the gaze, now of the man who is mad, now of the man who is sorrowing
or rejoicing. The article focuses on the attention that Philostratus reserves for the faces, the eyes and other
features of the painted figures as an expression of their character and feelings.