Page:Anecdotes of painters, engravers, sculptors and architects, and curiosities of art (IA anecdotesofpaint01spoo).pdf/179

 *tique Cupid in the Vatican, supposed to be a copy of the Cupid of Phryne.

THE KING OF BITHYNIA AND THE VENUS OF CNIDUS.

According to Lucian, Nicomedes, King of Bithynia, was so captivated with the Venus of Cnidus, that he offered to pay a debt of the city, amounting to one hundred talents, (about one hundred thousand dollars) on condition of their giving up to him this celebrated statue; but the citizens, to their honor, refused to part with it on any terms, regarding it as the principal glory of the state.

PHIDIAS.

Phidias, the most renowned sculptor of antiquity, was born about B. C. 490. Quintilian calls him "the Sculptor of the Gods," and others, "the Æschylus of Sculpture," from the character of grandeur and sublimity in his works. The times in which he lived were peculiarly favorable to the development of his genius. He was employed upon great public works during the administration of Cimon, and subsequently, when Pericles attained the height of his power, Phidias seems to have been consulted in regard to the conduct of all the works in sculpture, as well as architecture. Plutarch says, "It was Phidias who had the direction of these works, although great architects and skillful sculptors were employed in erecting them." Among the most remarkable objects upon which his talents were