- 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
