( fl second half of the 5th century BC). Greek painter from Athens. He was the son or grandson of Charmides of Athens and the nephew or possibly brother of the sculptor Pheidias, with whom he worked at Olympia; none of his work survives. He painted parts of Pheidias’ chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus, particularly the drapery. Pausanias (Guide to Greece V.xi.1) described lilies and animals on the drapery, and these may have been Panainos’ work. He also decorated barriers around the statue: those opposite the door were plain blue, while the others bore nine two-figure scenes. Panainos painted the interior of the shield of the chryselephantine statue of Athena in the goddess’s temple at Elis, the work of either Pheidias or his pupil Kolotes. He also painted the walls of the temple—Pliny (Natural History XXXVI.177) claimed that saffron and milk were mixed with the plaster to prepare the walls. The most famous painting attributed to Panainos was the Battle of Marathon in the Painted Stoa (Stoa Poikile) in the Athenian Agora. The earlier artist MIKON was, however, also credited with this work, once in conjunction with Polygnotos of Thasos; perhaps Panainos completed the work that Mikon had begun. Some of the figures in the Battle of Marathon seem to have been attempted portraits (e.g. of the Athenian playwright Aeschylus and the Persian general Artaphernes). Ancient sources record that the general Miltiades, depicted urging his men forward, was not named, implying that the names of other figures were inscribed. Pliny (XXXV.57) mentioned the extensive range of colours used in the portraits. Competitions among painters were instituted at the Pythian and Isthmian Games in the time of Panainos, who lost to Timagoras of Chalkis in the Pythian Games.

• Panainos
  • Polygnotos of Thasos
  • attributions
    • Mikon
  • collaboration
    • Greece, ancient, §IV, 2(iii)(b): High Classical monumental sculpture
    • Kolotes
    • Pheidias, §2: High Classical phase, 446–430 BC
  • works
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 1(ii)(b): Wall and panel painting: Classical-period subject-matter
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(ii)(a): Wall and panel painting: Classical, 5th century BC
    • Greece, ancient, §VI, 3(i): Painting theory and criticism: 5th century BC
    • Narrative art, §I, 3: Ancient Greece and Rome