Parrhasius

par-ra'shi-us (about 470-400 B. C.), a Grecian painter. Celebrated for wealth, insolence, and ability. He is said to have outmatched his rival, Zeuxis, by painting a picture of a curtain. Zeuxis came to see the picture and was so deceived by its naturalness that he waited for the curtain to be drawn aside that he might view the painting. Parrhasius is accused, probably unjustly, of crucifying a prisoner to get the real expression of pain for a picture he was painting.