(b Kolophon, Ionia; fl late 4th century BC–early 3rd century BC; d ?Kos). Greek painter. Ancient sources stating that he was born at Kos (Pliny XXXV.xxxvi.79) or Ephesos (Strabo: Geography XIV.i.25) apparently confused his correct place of birth (Suidas: ‘Apelles’) with cities where he was later active. According to Pliny, Apelles flourished in the 112th Olympiad (332 BC), and his association with Philip II of Macedon implies that his career began before 336 BC. His work for Ptolemy I of Egypt suggests that it lasted until after 304 BC, when Ptolemy declared himself king. No painting by Apelles survives, however, and his works are known only from literary sources.

• Apelles
  • Alexander the Great
  • Archives, §2(i): General archives
  • Greece, ancient, §VI, 1(i)(b): Wall and panel painting: Techniques
  • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(ii)(b): Wall and panel painting: Classical, 4th century BC
  • Humanism, §3: Humanism and the visual arts
  • Pliny: (1) Pliny the elder, §2(iv): Natural History, Book XXXV: Painting
  • attributions
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 1(ii)(b): Wall and panel painting: Classical-period subject-matter
  • collaboration
    • Melanthios
  • methods
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 3(iii): Painting theory and criticism: 3rd century BC
    • Model, artist’s, §1: Classical and medieval
  • patrons and collectors
    • Augustus, Emperor
    • Greece, ancient, §I, 4(ii): Patronage: Sculpture, painting and other arts
  • teachers
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 1(iii): Wall and panel painting: Painters and society
    • Pamphilos
  • works
    • Allegory, §II: Classical
    • Iconographic programmes, §1: Before c 1420
    • Iconographic programmes, §2: c 1420–c 1550
    • Istoria
    • Kos, §2(i): Ancient Greek and Roman architecture
  • writings
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 3(ii): Painting theory and criticism: 4th century BC