Apollodorus of Athens: A Priest in Adoration and Ajax Struck by Lightning
Active at the beginning of the 5th century BC, Apollodoros is remembered as having invented skiagraphia, a new painting method for creating shadows and volume, which might evoke the modern chiaroscuro, but might also have been just a new attention given to shading. In any case, this is probably why Pliny says that “he was the first to paint objects as they really appeared”.
In addition to this technique, Apollodoros may have been one of the first well-known artists to paint on easels rather than walls. His paintings primarily depicted mythological figures from epic poems.
In the two recreations for the Gallery of Lost Paintings, I chose somewhat archaic profile views of characters, but with a classical touch to the postures, to reflect the time period of this early classical painter, and tried to accentuate the colour contrast in the Ajax struck by Lightning panel, which would have lent itself well to chiaroscuro.
Inspirations
A priest on a 5th century crater from the Louvre. He is preparing a sacrifice, not "in adoration". Vase painting is not even talked about by ancient literary texts, and was certainly considered an inferior art form to panel painting, but it is plausible that forms, silhouettes, shapes and ideas were copied from one medium to the others.
A fresco from the Casa dei Vettii in Pompeii representing Pentheus being torn by maenads. I took this among other works as a reference of an agonizing hero for Ajax.