Philostratus the Lemnian

▪ Greek author

born AD 190

      ancient Greek writer, son-in-law of Flavius Philostratus. He was the author of a letter to Aspasius of Ravenna and of the first series of the Imagines in two books, discussing, in elegant and sophisticated prose, 65 real or imaginary paintings on mythological themes in a portico at Naples. They are an important source for the knowledge of Hellenistic art and roused the enthusiasm of the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von).

      Philostratus the Younger, grandson of Philostratus the Lemnian, wrote a second, shorter series of Imagines in the 3rd century AD.

* * *