1	Polygnotos’s Troy Taken Mural(s) located in the Lesche (or Meeting House) of the Knidians at Delphi
2	Historical Background Pausanius dedicates 7 ‘chapters’ to “two lost wall paintings by the innovative early Classical artist Polygnotos of Thasos” (Fawkes, 2002). “Polygnotos worked in the 460s” and was contemporary with the following vase painters: the Achilles, Phiale, Penelope Painters, the vase painter Polygnotos (“who takes his name from the wall painter and followed in the steps of the Niobid painter”), and a group of individual painters called by Beazley the Polygnotos Group” (2002). Fawkes (2002) hopes to use the styles of these painters (most of whom were likely influenced by the master Polygnotos, not vice versa) to serve as guides in representing “the drapery, hairstyles, and other objects in the description in the style of the time” for his own reconstruction. The works of these contemporaries and near contemporaries in vase painting are used as supplements to Pausanius’s description, which is more reliable but does not touch on such aesthetic issues because Pausanius’s description was more concerned with the mythological (story) aspects of the mural than colors or exact locations of figures in relation to the walls of the Lesche (Fawkes, 2002; Stansbury-O’Donnell, 1989). The murals were located in the Lesche (meeting house) of the Knidians at Delphi. “It was a single long room with internal columns, dedicated after the Knidian victory over the Persians in 469 BC” (Fawkes, 2002). “The two murals on facing walls were probably lit from above by clerestory windows. The interior measurements of the Lesche allow the paintings to be 55' x 15', and were probably painted on framed wooden panels which were pegged to the wall with iron pins. The painting depicted Troy Taken and the Underworld, and included dozens of almost life size figures” (Fawkes).
3	Lesche at Delphi
4	Lesche Actual condition of Lesche plan (the blocks) with speculated reconstruction of missing columns/walls. Speculative reconstruction model of Lesche Inscription of Lesche: “Knidians [something] to Apollo”
5	Reconstruction History First reconstructed (in the modern era) by Carl Robert in 1893 Widely distributed since then “departed significantly from much of Pausanias’s account, creating difficulties in the use of his drawings and reconstructions” (Stansbury-O’Donnell, 1989). There are no surviving fragments of monumental painting from Classical Greece; thus Pausanias’s description of Polygnotos’s work in the Lesche has been the primary source for scholars to generalize about all such painting during the Classical Period (Stansbury-O’Donnell (1989).
6	Concerns about Robert’s Reconstruction Stansbury-O’Donnell & R. A. Tomlinson think the mural must have occupied 3 walls, “on the basis of seating arrangement in the Lesche” (p.205). The only direct “testimony” for any arrangement for the murals comes from Pausanias: “As you go into the building the whole portion of the painting to your right represents Ilium captured and the Greeks sailing away” (10.25.2) (quoted in Stansbury-O’Donnell, 1989).
7	Stansbury-O’Donnell’s Reconstruction
8	Comparison Between Literally Following Pausanius & Robert’s Reconstruction
9	N. Wall
10	E. Wall
11	S. Wall
12	Physical Appearance, Coloration, etc. Pausanius seems fairly reliable in his descriptions of other monuments, such as the metope sculpture at Olympia, so there’s no reason to doubt his accuracy of descriptions regarding Polynotos’s mural painting (Stansbury-O’Donnell, 1989). Even so, his descriptions don’t say much about color, dress or artistic rendering of figures. Thus, we must turn to contemporary & near contemporary vase painters, who represent the only extant forms of painting that are roughly contemporary with Polygnotos. And for the Polygnotos painter and his group (slightly later than Polygnotos), there is perhaps even greater reliability if, in fact, the name truly was meant to invoke that of the master free painter.
13	Niobid Vase Painter
14	Volute Crater (Painter of Woolly Satyrs)
15	Another Perspective Fawkes doesn’t give any detail, beyond Pausanius’s description, about why he chose this particular composition: noteworthy features are the boy (seated) without a name and Phrontis as the only sailor with a beard who is also the only figure in this section mentioned in Homer (Odyssey).
16	Fawkes “A similar image of a seated woman may be seen on a lekythos in Philadelphia by the Achilleus painter (next slide). I have drawn her sitting in a chair rather than on a rock (she is a queen after all), and wearing a crown, after a bell krater by the Persephone Painter” (Fawkes, 2002) “Iphis is from a skyphos by the Penelope Painter. Their hair is shown cut short in the manner of slave women” (Fawkes, 2002).
17	Influences for Reconstruction Seated woman figure by Achilles painter, influence for Helen’s seated depiction bell crater by Persephone Painter (right) influence for her ‘crown’.
18	Influences Depiction of Iphis comes from a skyphos by the Penelope painter (drawing located left). The posture of Electra also seems influenced by this vase.
19	Fawkes “In Polygnotos' painting, either Astynax has not yet been killed although is mother is already taken captive, or it is a different child who is represented. On the Sack of Troy vase by the Brygos Painter, Neoptolemos is depicted swinging the child by the leg. On the Kleophrades Painters' vase, Astynax is already dead” (Fawkes, 2002). “Polyxena [is depicted] with long loose hair in contrast to the hooded matrons, which also may be seen on a lekythos depicting Polyxena in Toledo” (Fawkes, 2002).
20	Influences (left) ‘sack of troy’ vase by Brygos painter; Astynax being dangled (right) Kleophrates painter’s vase; Astynax already dead
21	Influences for Polyxena (left) lekythos in Toledo with Polyxena (right) Top frieze, part 1: grape vine; Polyxena, shown profile to the left, approaches a water fountain, on which a bird is perched; Troilus, next to his horse, followed by another bird, is behind her; a row of 6 hoplite warriors follow Troilos, all shown profile to t he left
22	Influences (Below) the basis for the captive women depiction; comes from a skyphos in Berlin
23	Fawkes “Acamas is depicted on the Kleophrades Painter's hydra rescuing Aithra (Theseus' mother)” (Fawkes, 2002). “The Brygos Painter depicts the Trojan men as unarmed; I have taken the figure of Elasus from this source” (Fawkes, 2002).
24	Influences (left) Kleophrades Painter's hydra was inspiration for Acamas (right) Brygos Painter; inspiration for Trojan men as unarmed
25	Conclusion Based on Pausanius’s description of the mural, archaeology of the building itself and contemporary vase painting, it is possible to speculate, with a fair degree of accuracy, about the physical characteristics and placement of figures on the mural, as well as their relative size. However, we are much limited in speculation about actual colors used because we know that free painting on walls utilized more varied colors than those possible of vases (e.g., the tomb of the diver), but the only contemporary references we have to compare with ARE vase paintings, making the colors less reliable in any reconstruction. Finally, there are a few ‘items’ or inanimate objects that Pausanius refers to in his description, but for the most part, we are left to speculate about how much foreground and background material (i.e., trees, plants, rocks, ground/contour lines) to include in any reconstruction.
26	Sources Pausanius (2^nd Cen. CE). Guide to Greece. trans. Peter Levi. Penguin, 1971. Glynnis Fawkes (2002). A lost painting by Polygnotos at Delphi: A reconstruction based on the descriptions by Pausanius. In Perseus Project. Gregory Crane (ed.). Retrieved 3/30/03. Available: http://www.perseus.tufts. edu/cl135/Students/Glynnis_Fawkes/Polygnotos.html. Elizabeth Janis (2002). The lesche of the Knidians. In Perseus Project. Gregory Crane (ed.). Retrieved 3/30/03. Available: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cl135/ Students/Elizabeth_Janis/Intro.html. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell. (1989). Polygnotos’s Illiupersis: A new reconstruction. AJA, vol. 93, 2, 203-215.