Part 7

PAINTINGS

Very view Ancient Greek paintings survived and what we know is mainly from Roman copies sometimes probably of not the same quality as the originals. How much these paintings are close to the originals is unknown. Many paintings have been produced by artists who were paid to decorate the walls in houses and who sometimes used drawings of original masterpieces. We have important informations about Greek paintings and artists from Pliny the Elder, a Roman who was born in 24 or 25 AD and who died 24-August 79 AD from toxic gases as his body was found, one of the victims of the Vesuv explosion that destroyed Pompeii and killed all its citizens.