Apelles
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Apelles. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A celebrated painter of Cos, or, as others say, of Ephesus; son of Pithius, He lived in the age of Alexander the Great, who forbade anyone but Apelles to paint his portrait... He was so absorbed in his profession that he never allowed a day to pass without employing himself at his art; hence the proverb of Nulla dies sine lined. His most perfect picture was Venus Anadyomene, which was not quite finished when he died. He painted a picture in which a horse was a prominent feature, and so correctly was it delineated that a horse passing by it neighed, supposing it to be alive. He was ordered by Alexander to paint a portrait of one of his favorites-Campaspe. While painting her picture, Apelles became enamored with her and married her. He only put his name to three of his pictures-a sleeping Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an Alexander.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a-pel'lez, a Grecian painter, born 332 B. C. He painted a portrait of Alexander the Great on the walls of the Temple of Diana of Ephesus. A shoemaker, according to one story, found fault with a defect in the sandals of Apelles' Venus. The artist accepted the suggestion; but when the unlucky cobbler grew bold and ventured other criticism, Apelles told him sharply that "a shoemaker should stick to his last." He worked with industry and is credited with the proverb, "No day without a line." 2026 Editor's Note: Not one work by antiquity's most celebrated painter survives — Apelles is famous entirely through stories. Two of his sayings live on: 'a shoemaker should stick to his last' (which gave English the rare word ' ultracrepidarian ' for someone who opines beyond their competence) and 'no day without a line,' still an artist's motto. (Ed: BR 2026-06-06)