Agatharchus

(Ἀγάθαρχος). (1) A Greek, the inventor of scene-painting. See Vitruv. vii. Praef.and the articles Pictura; Theatrum.

(2) A Samian painter, the contemporary of Zeuxis, who prided himself on the rapidity of his work, receiving from Zeuxis the famous retort that if Agatharcus painted his works in a short time, he (Zeuxis) painted “for a long time,” i. e. for posterity.