Story of the First Painting

You'd say, "what do you mean by story ? " Well.. as people like to dream and imagination a beginning to everything.. there had to be one for this expansive medium of expression, don't you think? So let's delve into the story headfirst and then see how much of it is a story and how much of it could actually had happened .

So the story goes like -

Jean-Baptiste Regnault : Dibutade ou l'Origine de la peinture 1786

"once upon a time in ancient Greece, a shepherd fell in love with a girl in his village. They were young and they were very much in love. In the winter and spring, they spent a lions share of their time together.. they would chat and go for walks.. But then summer arrived and that meant the shepherd had to leave for the mountains with his sheep to take them to graze the new grass. And that meant, they would be apart for quite a long long time.. that was heartbreaking. The day of his departure arrived, and for the last possible hours they were sitting together. As they both sat there , the girl saw how his shadow was falling gently on the wall. So with a stone she drew an outline on the edges of his shadow. This meant, she would have something to remember him by. "

That is rather a lovely story. So let's see if we can find any evidence against or about it. Gaius Plinius Secundus (23//24 AD - 79 AD) called Pliny the Elder, was an Italian author, naturalist and philosopher. On the account of the origin of painting, he writes, "We have no certain knowledge as to the commencement of the art of painting, nor does this enquiry fall under our consideration. The Egyptians assert that it was invented among themselves, six thousand years before it passed into Greece; a vain boast, it is very evident. As to the Greeks, some say that it was invented at Sicyon, others at Corinth; but they all agree that it originated in tracing lines round the human shadow.."and goes on to add later that "It was through his daughter that he made the discovery; who, being deeply in love with a young man about to depart on a long journey, traced the profile of his face, as thrown upon the wall by the light of the lamp" So we can assume that there might be a little bit of truth to it. This story has sparked interest in painters for quite a while.. so if you go on a search spree, you will find a series of paintings that blossom centring this very story. Here are some of them :

As we like to say now for photographing life "to capture a moment", back in the time when the means to do that was slowly being invented must have been reassuring to say the least. Stories show us parts of our nature and desires. Good stories, do them with compassion and some, with gentleness. This one has both and shows our milestone in the light of evolution : from shadows to photo.

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Do You Feel the Story is True?

• yes
• no
• I like it as a mystery 😋