Eirene (artist)

:"This article is about the Greek artist. For Eirene, the personification of peace and wealth, one of the Horae, see Horae".

Eirene or Irene was an ancient Greek artist described by Pliny the Elder. She was the daughter of a painter, and created an image of a girl that was housed at Eleusis.

During the Renaissance, Boccaccio, a 14th century humanist, included Eirene in "De mulieribus claris" (Latin for "On Famous Women"). However, in this telling Boccaccio apparently conflated many of the women described by Pliny and attributed many more works to Eirene. Some other paintings he credits to Eirene are an older Calypso, the gladiator Theodorus, and a famous dancer called Alcisthenes. [Virginia Brown's translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Famous Women, pp 123 - 124; Harvard University Press, 2001; ISBN 0-674-01130-9]

ee also

* Women artists

Sources

References

*Pliny the Elder. "Naturalis historia", XXXV.40.140, 147.
*Harris, Anne Sutherland and Linda Nochlin. "Women Artists: 1550-1950". Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Knopf, New York, 1976.