Apelles, a pel'leez, the most famous of the painters of ancient Greece and of antiquity, was born in the fourth century B. C., probably at Colophon. Ephorus of Ephesus was his first teacher, but, attracted by the renown of the Sicyonian school, Apelles later went to Sicyon to study. In the time of Philip he went to Macedonia and there a close friendship between him and Alexander the Great was established. His portrait of Alexander with a thunderbolt in his hand was one of his most celebrated paintings. His drawings are especially noted for accuracy in detail and delicacy of coloring. Lucian's detailed description of Apelles's works gave inspiration to the Italian Botticelli, the German Durer and many other artists.