The Indiscreet Charm of Brightness: from Early Greek Thought to Plato.

In the surviving fragments of the early Greek philosophers we find evidence both of the awareness of the emotional impact of colours on the observer depending on their luminosity (or the lack thereof) and of the suspicion that colours may constitute or, worse, be exploited as a deceitful covering of the truth (cf. Parmenides, Fragment 8, 39-41 DK; Empedocles, Fragment 23 DK; Gorgias, Fragment 11, 17-18 DK). This judgment about the ‘ambivalence’ of colours is clearly shared by Plato, as shown by his criticism of painting, and particularly of the technique of σκιαγραφία, in the broader frame- work of his discussion on mimesis. However, Plato is far from being immune to the charm of colours in nature as well as in painting. As a matter of fact, as I argue in this paper, it can be shown that Plato conceived the luminosity of certain colours (esp. ‘white’ and the col- ours of precious metals) as the sensible medium through which intel- ligible Beauty makes itself visible to the human eye