The art of painting pictures so near to life as to deceive the
naked eye is very old. Pliny relates that Zeuxis once painted
some grapes so naturally that birds used to come and peck at
them, and that Parrhasius once painted a curtain so artfully
that Zeuxis desired to draw it aside so that he could see the
picture it hid. Discovering his error, he confest himself
outdone, as he had only imposed on birds, whereas Parrhasius had
deceived the human intellect. Another time Zeuxis painted a boy
with some grapes, and when the birds again flew at the grapes he
was very angry, saying that he was certainly at fault with the
picture. He reasoned that had it been perfect the birds would
have been frightened away by the boy.
Caius Valerius Flaccus says that Zeuxis’ death was occasioned by
an immoderate fit of laughter on looking at the comic picture he
had drawn of an old woman.--Philadelphia _Ledger_.
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