UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ARCHITECTURAL DEPARTMENT LIBRARY
HISTORY
OF
ANCIENT ART
BY
Dr. FRANZ von REBER
MBKTO« or TMB BAVAKMN SOYAL AND CTATB GAI.LSlim OF PAINTIMQt
MOPSSSOa IN TIW UNIVXBUTV AMD rOLVTBCNNIC OF MUNICM
ttcDiscli bn tl)c ^utljor
TRANSLATED AND AUGMENTED
BY
JOSEPH THACHER CLARKE
WITH 310 ILLUSTRATIONS AND A GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the jear 1882, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Office of the ijibrarian of Oongress, at Washington.
Copyright, 1910, by Joseph Thachbr Clarkb.
PRINTED ;N the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(y
^'
AJ53e>o
gA)VJ
The application of the historic method to the study of the Fine Arts, be-
gun with imperfect means by Winckelmann one hundred and twenty years
ago, has been productive of the best results in our own days. It has intro-
duced order into a subject previously confused, disclosing the natural prog-
ress of the arts, and the relations of the arts of the different races by whom
they have been successively practised. It has also had the more important
result of securing to the fine arts their due place in the history of mankind
as the chief record of various stages of civilization, and as the most trust-
worthy expression of the faith, the sentiments, and the emotions of past
ages, and often even of their institutions and modes of life. The recogni-
tion of the significance of the fine arts in these respects is, indeed, as yet
but partial, and the historical study of art does not hold the place in the
scheme of liberal education which it is certain before long to attain. One
reason of this fact lies in the circumstance that few of the general historical
treatises on the fine arts that have been produced during the last fifty years
have been works of sufficient learning or judgment to give them authority
as satisfactory sources of instruction. Errors of statement and vague spec-
ulations have abounded in them. The subject, moreover, has been con-
fused, especially in Germany, by the intrusion of metaphysics into its do-
main, in the guise of a professed but spurious science of aesthetics.
Under these conditions, a history of the fine arts that should state cor-
rectly what is known concerning their works, and should treat their various
manifestations with intelligence and in just proportion, would be of great
value to the student. Such, within its limits as a manual and for the pe-
riod which it covers, is Dr. Reber's History of Ancient Art. So far as I am
aware, there is no compend of information on the subject in any language so
trustworthy and so judicious as this. It serves equally well as an introduc-
tion to the study and as a treatise to which the advanced student may refer
31 4^4n
VI
with advantage to refresh his knowledge of the outlines of any part of the
field.
The work was originally published in 187 1; but so rapid has been the
progress of discovery during the last ten years that, in order to bring the
book up to the requirements of the present time, a thorough revision of it
was needed, together with the addition of much new matter and many new
illustrations. This labor of revision and addition has been jointly per-
formed by the author and the translator, the latter having had the advantage
of doing the greater part of his work with the immediate assistance of Dr.
Reber himself, and of bringing to it fresh resources of his own, the result of
original study and investigation. The translator having been absent from
the country, engaged in archaeological research, during the printing of the
volume, the last revision and the correction of the text have been in the
hands of Professor William R. Ware, of the School of Mines of Columbia
College.
Charles Eliot Norton.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, ^fa)', 1882.
In view of the great confusion which results from an irregular orthography
of Greek proper names, a return to the original spelling of words not fully
Anglicized may need an explanation, but no apology : it is only adopting
a system already followed by scholars of the highest standing. The Ro-
mans, until the advent of thai second classical revival in which the pres-
ent century is still engaged, served as mediums for all acquaintance with
Hellenic civilization. They employed Greek names, with certain alter-
ations agreeable to the Latin tongue, blunting and coarsening the delicate
sounds of Greek speech, much in the same manner as they debased the
artistic forms of Greek architecture by a mechanical system of design. The
clear ov became urn, oc was changed to us, tt to e or /', etc. This Latinized
nomenclature, like the Roman triglyph and Tuscan capital, was exclusively
adopted by the early Renaissance, until, with the increasing knowledge of
Greek lands and works of art, names were introduced which do not happen
to occur in the writings of Roman authors. These were either changed in
accordance with the more or less variable standard in use during the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries, or were adopted in their Greek form with-
out change, the latter method being more and more generally employed.
This has gradually led to a partial revision of Greek names and their spell-
ing. Zeus and Hermes, Artemis and Athene, have resumed, as Greek dei-
ties, their original titles ; — Sunium and Assus have been changed to Sunion
and Assos ; while other names have only been reformed in part, as in the
case of the unfortunate Polycleitos, who at times appears as Polyclrtos, and
at times as Polycleitws. Confusion and misunderstanding cannot but result
from this unreasonable triple system of Latinized, Anglicized, and Greek or-
thography. Peirithoos may be sought in alphabetically classified works of
reference under Per and Pir as well as under Peir. Uipyanov, Pergamon, is
written Pergamum, Pergamus, and Pergamos, in the two latter forms being
VUl
naturally conftised with the Cretan nipyafiog, Pergamos, which, in its turn, is
Latinized to Pergamus. In the present book the Greek spelling of Greek
names has been adopted in all those cases where the word has not been
fully Anglicized; that is to say, changed in pronunciation, when it would
sound pedantic to employ its original form, as, for instance, to speak of the
well-known Paestum and Lucian as Poseidonia and Loukianos. The Eng-
lish alphabet provides, however, two letters for the Greek Kairira, and the
more familiar ^ has been employed, as in Corinth, acropolis, etc., except
in cases where the true sound is not thereby conveyed, — namely, before e, i,
and y, — when the k is substituted. Moreover, the final ai is transformed to
a, according to the universal usage of our tongue.
Joseph Thacher Clarke.
CONTENTS.
EGYPT.
The Delta. The Oldest Monuments, if
not the most Ancient Civiliiatioa of
the World I, a
Changeless Continuity of Life auid
Art 2
ARCHITECTURE.
The Age, Purpose, and Architectural
Significance of the Pyramids . . 3-5
The Pyramids of Gizeh . . . .5-7
Variety of Pyramidal Forms . . . 8, 9
The Pyramids of Saccara, Meydoun,
Dashour, Abousere, and lUahoun 9-12
Table of Dimensions . .12
The Younger Pyramids of Nubia. Trun-
cated Pyramids 12
Rock-cut Tombs 13
Development of Column from Pier . 14
The Tombs at Beni-hassan . 14, 15
Development of the Lotos-column l6, 17
The Invasion of the Hycsos. Restric-
tion of the Prismatic Shaft. Extend-
ed Application of the Floral Column
in the New Theban Empire . 18, 19
The Calyx Capital . . . . 20,21
Piers with Figures of Osiris and Ty-
phon. Entablature . . . .21
Cavern Sepulchres .
. 22
Temple Plan, Obelisks .
. 23
Peristyle Court
. . . 25
Hypostyle HaU .
. 26, 27
The Dwellings of Kings and Priests 28
Peripteral Temples . .29
Rock-cut Temples 30
The Monuments at Abou-Simbel . 31, 32
Palatial and Domestic Architecture . 33
Interiors 34
The Labyrinth 35
Unimportant Character of Secular Ar-
chitecture 36
SCULPTURE.
Fundamental and Changeless Peculiari-
ties 36
Conventional Types . . -37
The Formation of the Head . . .38
Head-dresses. Conjunction of Human
Trunks and Animal Heads. . . 39
The Body. Lack of Progressiveness
and of History 40
Animal Forms i-^ 41
Materials- 42
Reliefs 43
Coilanaglyphics 44
The Variety and Interest of the Sub-
jects Illustrated 45
PAINTING.
Intimate Relation to Sculpture. Hiero-
glyphics 46
Painting as an Architectural Decoration.
Retrospect 47
CHALD J!A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
The Traditional Age. The Land and
People. - . ■ 48
Building Materials. Clay and Bitumen 49
Perishable Character of the Monuments.
Hills of Rubbish Recognized as
Cities .50
CONTENTS.
ARCHITECTURE.
Chaldaa.
The Ruins of Mugheir, or Ur.
Warka and Abou-Sharein
The Principle of the Arch
Political History ....
Babylon.
The Fabulous Account of Herodotos
The Temple Pyramid at Borsippa .
Palace Structures. The Hanging Gar
dens of Semiramis ...
Private Dwellings. Works of Engineer
ing
PAOI
50
51
52
53
Assyria.
Nineveh 59
The Discoveries of Layard and Botta . 60
The Hills of Coyundjic and Nebbi-Jo-
nas 61
Royal Dwellings 62
The Palace at Kisr-Sargon . . 63-65
Terrace Pyramids 66
Lighting and Roofing ... 66, 67
The Restriction of Columnar Architect-
ure 68
The Forms of Small Columns . 69-71
Vaulted Construction . . . .71
The Pointed Arch
The General Appearance of the Palaces
Sacred Architecture
Terrace Pyramids .
The Cella ....
The Dwellings of the Priests .
Altars and Obelisks
Domestic Architecture .
SCULPTURE.
Little Represented in Chaldxa
Babylonian Seals and Gems ,
Enamelled Tiles
Statues . '. ~T
Conventional Types
Cherubims .
Mural Reliefs
Variance from Egyptian Sculpture
Historical Reliefs .
Religious Representations
Formal Landscapes. Bronzes
PAOI
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79,80
81
82
83
• 8s
85,86
• 87
87-89
• 90
91-93
. 94
95,96
PAINTING.
Upon Tiles and Stucco .... 96
Colors 97
The General Appearance of Assyrian
Architecture, as Decorated by Reliefs
and Paintings 98
PERSIA.
Historical Considerations . . -99
The Artistic Poverty of the Medes.
The Achaemenidae. Their Chief
Cities 100
ARCHITECTURE.
>^ersepolis
The Characteristic Differences of
sian and Mesopotamian Building
The Introduction of Columns
Columnar Forms .
Capitals ....
The Entablature
V Plan of the Palace of Darius
Its State of Preservation
Illuntination .
Upper Stories
The Palace and Hall of Xerxes
^ The Propylaea
The Harem ....
loi, 102
Per-
. ip»-
• 103
103, 104
105-107
. 108
109-113
. 110
no, III
ni-113
114
• "5
116, 117
The Disposition of the Terrace . .117
Fire Altars 118
Funeral Monuments . . . 119-121
Tomb of Cyrus 119
Tombs of the Later Achaemenidae . . 120
Tombs of Subjects 121
Domestic Architecture . . . .121
SCULPTURE.
Its Dependence upon the Art of Assyria 121
Egyptian and Hellenic Influences . , 122
Mythological and Ceremonial Represen-
tations 123-125
The Sculptured Decoration of Palaces
and Terraces . . . . 126, 127
Rarity of Historical Scenes . . . 128
PAINTING.
Chiefly Ornamental .... 128
General Harmony of the Three Arts . 129
CONTENTS.
PHtENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
Extensive Artistic Influence of Meso-
potamia in Point of Distance u well
as of Time 130
The Seleucidjc. The Sassanidae . 131, 133
Pkmnici^
Explorations in Recent Times . 133, 133
The Chief Cities 133
ARCHITECTURE.
Ruins at Amrith .... 134, 135
The Monuments known as El-Megha-
«'• «3S-«37
The Grotto Tombs of Central Phcenida.
Sarcophagi at Jebeil . . 137, 138
Domestic Architecture .... 138
SCULPTURE.
Work of Driven MeUl (Sphyrelaton) . 139
Bronxes 139, 140
Inlaid Work. Ivory Carvings. Glass. 140
Influence of the Sphyrelaton upon
Sculptural Style 141
Stone-cutting 143
The Decisive Influence of both Egypt
and Mesopotamia . . . .143
PaUttim.
The Dependence of the Jews in Artistic
Respects upon Egypt .... 143
The Tabernacle .... 143-147
Its Disposition .... 144, 145
Its Columns. The Horns of the Altar.
The Seven-armed Candlestick . 145, 146
The Holy of Holies. Chei-ubim . 146, 147
.Solomon's Temple .... 147-156
Untrustworthiness of Biblical Accounts 147
Construction of the Building. Its Site 148
The Brjuen Laver 149
"Jachin and Boaz" . . . 149-151
The Tower 151, 15a
Interior. Upper Story . . . 153, 154
Materials 154
Decoration. The Molten Sea. The
Mercy-scat and Cherubim . • '55
The Destruction and Rebuilding of this
Temple 156
Its Architectural Character . -157
Rock-cut Tombs . . 157, 158
Cyfrut and Carikagt.
The Rock-cut Tombs at Paphos . . 160
The Temple of Aphrodite at Golgoi.
Cesnola's Discoveries . . 161, 162
The Ruins of Carthage . .163
Malta, the Balearic Isles, Sardinia . .163
Alia Min»r.
An Independent Art Found only in Ly-
cia, Phrygia, and Lydia . . 164
The Rock-cut Tombs of Lycia. The Tim-
bered Dwelling Carved in Stone 165, 166
The Monument of the Harpies at Xan-
thos 167
Lycian Sarcophagi 168
Temple Fa9ades Imitated upon Clifis . 169
The Rock-cut Tombs of Phrygia . 171, 172
The Tumuli of Lydia . .173,174
HELLAS.
The itgean Sea the Centre of Greek
Civilization 175
The Dorians and the lonians . . 1 76
The Development of Poetry Elarlier than
that of Art 177
ARCHITECTURE.
The Tholos of Atreus . . . 179-183
The Phoenician Character of its Decora-
tion 183
The Grave at Menidi .... 183
The Treasure-houses of the Pelopidae . 184
Tumuli 185
The Common Modes of Burial . . 186
Pyramids 186, 187
Primitive Fortifications. Tiryns . . 187
Mykense '88
Gateways and Portals . . . 189-193
The Agora of Mykenae . . . .192
Primitive Temple Cellas without Col-
umns »92, 193
The Structure upon Mt. Ocha. Timber-
ed Roofs and Ceilings. The Origin
of the Doric Entablature . . 195-197
The Decorative Painting of Woodwork 197
The Doric Column. . . . I97-I99
Its Egyptian Prototype .... 198
Xll
CONTENTS.
The Development of the Temple-plan 199-202
•^rhe Temple in Antis .... 199
Prostylos 200
Amphiprostylos. Peripteros. . . 201
Stone Construction 202
The Entasis 203
The Capital 204
The Inclination of the Columns . . 205
The Details of the Entablature . 206-209
Polychromy 210
Curvatures 211,212
The Pteroma and Ceiling . . . 213
Illumination 214
Archaic Doric Temples . . . . 215
The Progress of this Style. Selinous .216
Corinth 217
Acragas 219
Olympia. .(Egina 222
The Supremacy of Athens . . . 223
The Theseion 224
The Parthenon 225
The Propylaea . . . . . 226
Phigalia 227
Eleusis 228
The Ionic Style. Its Intimate Rela-
tion to Oriental Architecture . 229, 230
The Capital 231-233
The Entablature ..... 234
Its Want of Historical Development . 235
Phigalia 236
The Ionic Monuments of Asia Minor 237-240
The Ionic Monuments of Attica . 240-245
The Temple upon the Ilissos . . . 241
The Propylaea 242
The Erechtheion .... 243-245
Caryatides 245
The Corinthian Capital . . . 246-249
The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens 249
Monumental Tombs .... 250
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassos . 251, 252
The Monument of the Nereides at Xan-
thos 252
The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. 253
The so-called Tower of the Winds at
Athens 253
The Stoa . . .
The Palaestra ....
The Gymnasion
The Stadion and Hippodrome
The Theatre and Odeion
253-255
• 255
. 256
• 257
258-260
rASB
Domestic Architecture. Palaces . 260, 261
The Boundless Luxury of the Diadochi . 261
SCULPTURE.
The Unrivalled Perfection of the Art.
Its Fundamental Deviation from the
Principles of Egyptian Sculpture. 264, 265
Its Dependence upon Western Asia . 266
Empaistic Work. Xoana . . . 267
Daedalos 268
The Homeric Shield of Achilles. Its
Workmanship and Artistic Impor-
tance ...... 269-271
Pseudo-Hesiodic Shield of Heracles . 272
The Gate of the Lions at Mykenae 273, 274
Schliemann's Excavations upon the
Acropolis of Mykenae . . 274, 275
The Chest of Kypselos. The Throne of
Apollo at Amyclae . . . 276-278
The Introduction of Bronze Casting.
Marble-cutting and Chryselephantine
Work 278-281
The Potter Boutades .... 278
Glaucos. Rhoicos and Theodoros . 279
Boupalos and Athenis .... 280
Dipoinos and Skyllis . . . 281, 282
The First Metopes at Selinous . 283, 284
Archaic Statues at Miletos . . . 285
Reliefs at Assos. The Apollo of Thera 286
The Stele of Aristion . . . 287, 288
The Second Metopes at Selinous . . 290
Archaistic Works .... 291, 292
The Gable Sculptures of the Temple of
^gina 293-296
The School of ^gina : Gallon and Ona-
tas 296, 297
The School of Attica : Hegias, Critios,
and Nesiotes 297
Canachos 298
Agelades 299
Calamis 300
Pythagoras 301
Myron 302, 303
The Progress of Athens after the Persian
Wars 303
Pheidias 304-3 '5
The Athene Parthenos . . . 310-313
The Panathenaic Frieze . . 313-315
The Metopes 316
The Scholars of Pheidias. Agoracritos 3 16, 3 1 7
CONTENTS.
Xlll
The Gable Sculptures of the Temple of
Olympia 3"7. 3»8
The Victory of Paionios • 3'9
The Scholars of Myron .... 320
The Phigalian Frieze .321
Callimachos and Demetrios . . 333
Polycleitos 322-336
The Third Metopes at Seiinous . 327, 338
The Extent of the School of Attica and
Argos. Kcphisodotos . 329
Scopaa 330-333
The Niobids 33>. 33^
Praxiteles 333
The Scholars of Scopas and Praxiteles.
The Sculptures of the Mausoleum of
Halicarnassos 334
The Hermes of Olympia . 335, 336
The Venus of Melos . 338, 339
Silanion and Euphranor . . 340
Lysippos 340-344
The School of Lysippos . . 344, 345
The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Pe-
riod 346.347
The Altar at Pergamon . . 347. 348
The so-called Dying Gladiator . 348, 349
The School of Pergamon . 349, 350
The School of Rhodes. TheLaocoon 351-353
The Farncse Bull .... 353-355
The Apollo Belvedere . . . 356-358
rial
The Introduction of Greek Sculpture
into Rome ji^36o
The Borghese Gladiator . . 361
The Belvedere Torso .... 362
The Hellenic Renaissance in Rome 363-366
PAINTINa
Lack of all Remains .... 366
Its Early Development Fictitiously Re-
lated by Pliny. Eumaros. Kimon . 367
Polygnotos 368, 369
The Scenography of Agatharchos. Of
Apollodoros 370
Zeuxis 37«.37a
Parrhasios 373.374
Timanthes 374
The School of Sikyon : Eupompos,
Pamphilos 375
Melanthios. Pausias .... 376
The School of Thebes and Athens : Ni-
comachos, Aristides, Euphranor . 377, 378
Nikias 378
Apelles 379-382
Protogenes 383
Antiphilos. iCtion. Asclepiodorus.
Theon 384
Hellenistic Painting. Timomachos . 385
Trivial and Obscene Subjects. Mosaic.
Sosos 386
ETEURIA.
Relationship to the Arts of Greece . 387
ARCHITECTURE.
The so-called Cyclopean Walls. Arched
Gates 388
Vaulted Canals 389
Cemeteries. Tumuli. The Tomb of
Porsena 390
Imitations of Dwellings upon Tombs 391,392
Grotto Sepulchres 392
Imitations of Temple Fa9ades upon
Cliflfe 393.394
Norchia ...... 394.395
The Etruscan Temple . . . 396, 397
The Dwelling-house . ." .' . 397
Its Court 398, 399
Lack of Progressive Architectural His-
tory 399.400
SCULPTURE.
Museums. The Oldest or Decorative
Period. Phoenician Importations . 400
The Influence of Western Asia Super-
seded by that of Greece . . 401, 402
The Sarcophagus of Caere . . . 402
Realism. Sculpture in Marble . . 403
The Bronze Chariot from Perugia. . 404
The Capitoline Wolf. Engraved Mirrors 405
Height of Etruscan Art. Hellenistic In-
fluences 406
Sculptured Sarcophagi . . . 406, 407
Terra-cottas and BronzeJi . . . 408
The, Similarity of late Etruscan to Ro-
man Sculpture .... 408, 409
PAINTING.
Its Development Similar to that of
XIV
CONTENTS.
Sculpture. The Ornamental and De- j The Influence of Greece . . .4"
pendent Period 409 Artistic Manufactures . . • 4"> 4>2
Realistic Characteristics . • 409, 4io ' Sgraffiti. The Importance of Etruscan
The Wall - paintings of Caere and Cor-
neto 409.410
Art
412
ROME.
The Conditions of Civilization Similar
to those of Etruria .... 4>3
ARCHITECTURE.
Primitive Walls . . • • 414-415
Gates. Vaulted Canals . ■ • 4^6
Temples: their Tuscan Character. The
Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus . .417
Hellenic Influences . • • -418
Prostyles and Pseudo-peripteros . 419. 420
The Tuscan Order . . -420
The Doric Order . . . • 420, 421
The Ionic Order . . • .421,422
The Corinthian Order . . • 423. 424
The Composite Capital .... 424
Constructive Advances. Arching and
Vaulting 425
Aqueducts and Sewers . . • 425. 426
Baths 426-429
The Influence of Etruria . . . 448
The Influence of Greece. . . . 449
Rise of Sculpture after the Samnite
War 449.450
Importations of Statues from Greece . 45 1
Coponius 452
Portrait Sculpture .... 453-455
Iconic Statues 453
The Horses of St. Mark's . . -454
Shortcomings of Roman Reliefs . 456, 457
j Historical Representations . . 457-459
Trajan's Column 45^
I The Arch of Titus 459
I The Monument of Antoninus Pius . 460
The Degeneration of Sculpture . • 461
Portraiture 461, 462
The Arch of Constantine . . 463
PAINTING.
The Baths of Agrippa. The Pantheon 427 j yj^^ Earliest Paintings by Greek Artists.
The Temple of Ceres
Fabius Pictor .
Pacuvius and Metrodoros
Battle-scenes
Panel-painting. Collections
464
464, 465
• 465
465, 466
. 466
The Baths of Caracalla and of Diocle-
tian 428,429!
The Circus, Theatre, and Amphithe- !
atre 430-436
The Theatre of Marcellus . • • 433 ^ „._. ^„ ^.
The Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum) 436 ^ ^^jj Decorations after the Alexandrian
Funeral Monuments . . • 436. 437 Fashion 466-470
Commemorative Columns . • • 437 | The Golden House of Nero . . . 467
Triumphal Arches . . • 438-440 | Landscapes. Architectural Ornamenta-
tion 468,469
Mosaics 470,471
Public Buildings. Basilicas . . 441-443
Dwellings 444
Private Courts of Justice the Prototypes
of the Christian Basilica . 445-447
SCULPTURE.
Lack of Statues during the Earliest
Period. Decorative Work . 447> 448
From Herculaneum and Pompeii . . 47'
Conclusion 47'. 472
The Christian Paintings of the Cata-
combs ...... 472
GLOSSARY
INDEX .
473
479
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
EGYPT.
noi-u
1. The Pyramids of Gizeh
2. The Great Pyramid of Gizeh. Sec-
tion N. and S., looking West
3. Section of the Great Pyramid of
Saccara
4. The Pyramid of Meydouu
5. Southern Stone Pyramid of Dashour
6l Section of the Middle Pyramid of
Abousere
7. Egyptian Wall-painting. Transport
of a Colossus
& Section and Plan of the Northern
most Rock -cut Tomb at Beni
hassan
9. Second Rock - cut Tomb at Beni
hassan
la Pier Decoration from the Tombs of
Sauiet-el-Meytin .
11. Lotos-column of Beni-hassan .
12. Column from Sedinga
13. Lotos- columns from Thebes .
14. Calyx Capital from Carnac
15. Capitals from Edfou.
16. Osiris Pier ....
17. Royal Grave near Thebes
18. Southern Temple of Canute .
9
10
II
>3
«4
•5
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
rracBB
19. Temple of Edfou
2a Great Temple of Camac .
21. Section of the Hypostyle Hall
Great Temple of Carnac
22. Chapel upon the Platform of the
Temple of Dendera
23. Temple of Philx
24. Fa9ade of the Rock-cut Temple of
Abou-Simbel.
25. Hall of the Rock • cat Temple of
Abou-Simbel
26. Egyptian Wall - painting. Interior
of a House ....
27. Labyrinth of the Fayoum.
28. Egyptian Profile. Greek Profile
29. Husband and Wife. (Munich Glyp
tothek.) ....
30. The Schoolmaster of Boulac
31. Lion of Reddish Granite. (British
Museum.) ....
32. Egyptian Wall-painting. Sculptural
Work
33. Eg}'ptian Wall - painting. Lance
maker
34. Egyptian Wall-painting. Prisoners
of Different Nationalities
rAOB
26
27
28
29
30
3«
32
33
35
38
39
40
41
43
44
45
CHALD^fiA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
35. Relief from Corsabad. Assyrian
Shrines ....
36. Temple at Mugheir (Ur) .
41
37. Ruins of Warka
38. Patterned Wall. Warka
39. Tomb at Mugheir .
40. Bors - Nimrud. Temple - terrace at
Borsippa
Plan and Elevation of the Temple at
48 1 Borsippa 56
49 42. Plan of Babylon . . *. .59
51 43. Plan of Nineveh . . . .61
51 44. Plan of the Palace of Kisr-Sargon,
52 ' Corsabad 63
45. Ornamented Pavement from the
54 Northern Palace of Coyundjic . 64
XVI
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
wiaomm paoe
46. Cornice of the Temple Substruct-
ure at Corsabad .... 66
47. Plan of the Northwestern Palace of
Nimrud 67
48. Relief from Coyundjic ... 68
49. Plan of the Palace of Esarhaddon
at Nimrud 69
50. Various Capitals and Bases, from
Assyrian Reliefs .... 70
51. Table, from an Assyrian Relief . 71
52. Mouth of a Tunnel under the N. E.
Palace, Nimrud .... 72
53. Tunnel under the S. E. Palace,
Nimrud 72
54. View of an Assyrian Palace, Res-
toration 73
55. Terraced Pyramid, from a Relief,
Coyundjic 74
56. Plan and Section of the Terraced
Pyramid, Nimrud • • • 75
57. Relief from the Northern Palace,
Coyundjic 76
58. Entrance to One of the So-called
Temples, Nimrud ... 77
59. Obelisk from Nimrud ... 78
60. Assyrian Dwellings. Relief from
Coyundjic 79
61. Tent-like Dwelling. Relief from
Coyundjic 80
62. Susa. Relief from Coyundjic . 81
63. Babylonian Seal, and its Impres-
sion 82
64- Wall Decoration of Enamelled .
Tiles 83
65. Statue of a King, from Nimrud . 84
66. Winged Lion, " " . 85
67. Winged Bull, " " . 85
68. Lion, « .« .86
69. King and Warrior. Relief from
Corsabad 88
70. Heads. Reliefs from Nimrud . 89
71. Temple, Relief from Corsabad . 90
72. A Besieged City. Relief from
Nimrud 91
73. Wounded Lioness. Relief from
Coyundjic 92
74. Transportation of Stone. Relief
from Coyundjic .... 93
75. Transport of a Cherubim . . 94
76. Glazed Terra-cotta, from Nimrud. 97
PERSIA.
77. Restoration of the Palace of Darius,
Persepolis 99
78. Plan of Persepolis . . . .101
79. Fragment of a Base from Pasarga-
dx 103
80. Persian Columns with Bull Capitals 104
81. Spiral Ornaments upon Chairs . 105
82. Columns from the Eastern Portico
of the Hall of Xerxes . . . 106
83. Rock-cut Tomb of Darius . . 107
84. Entablature of the Palace of Darius 109
85. Plan of the Palace of Darius at
Persepolis no
86. Persian Door-casing . . .112
87. Relief from the Portal of the Hall
of a Hundred Columns . • 1 13
88. Propylaea of Xerxes at Persepolis. 115
89. Altar Pedestals at Pasargadae . 118
90. The Tomb of Cyrus . . .119
91. Relief from a Portal, Persepolis . 124
92. Relief from the Stairs of the Palace
of Darius 127
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
93. Rock-cut Tombs at Myra . .130
94. Temple Cella (El-Maabed) at Am-
rith 134
95. The Monuments El-Meghazil at
Amrith 136
96. Fa9ade of a Rock-cut Tomb at Je-
beil 138
97. From a Relief at Saida . . .141
98. From the Monument El-Meghazil
at Amrith 141
99. From Rock-cut Relief at Mashnaka 142
100. The Mosaic Tabernacle . . 143
loi. Relief at Thabarieh . . . 146
102. Vase Discovered in Cyprus . .150
103. Hypothetical Plan and Section of
Solomon's Temple . . • '5'
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
xvn
104. Rock-cut Tomb at Siloam
105. Rock-cut Tomb at Ilinnom
106. Tomb at Paphos in Cyprus
107. Cyprian Pilaster Capitals
108. Votive Figure from Cyprus
109. Cyprian Head
iia Rock-cut Tomb at Antiphellos
III. Rock-cut Tomb at Antiphellos
113. Rock-cut Tomb at Myra
158
158
160
161
i6a
163
164
165
166
1 13. The so-called Monument of the
Harpies at Xanthos . . . 167
114. Sarcophagus at Antiphellos. . 168
115. Rock-cut Tomb at Telmissos . 169
116. Details of Columns from Telmis-
sos, Myra, and Antiphellos. 170
117. The so-called Tomb of Midas 171
118. Phrygian Rock -cut Tomb near Do-
ganlu 172
1 19. The so-called Grave of Tantalos . 174
laa View of the Athenian Propylca.
Restoration
121. Plan and Section of the Tholos of
Atreus
123. Restoration of the Tholos of
Atreus. Portal .
123. Fragments of an Engaged Column
from the same .
124. The Pyramid of Kencrex
125. Plan of the Acropolis of Tiryns
126. The Gate of the Lions at Mykenae
127. The Smaller Gate at Mykenx
138. Portal from Samos
139. Gateway of Phigalia
13a Portal upon Delos
131. Gate of Missolonghi
133. Gate of Messene .
133. Gate of Thoricos .
134. Gate of Ephesos .
135. Interior of a Structure upon Mount
Ocha, Euboea
136. Elevation of the Comer of the
Middle Temple, Selinous .
137. Entablature of the Parthenon
138. Scheme of the Doric Entablature.
139. Plan and Elevation of the so-called
Temple of Theseus
140. Painting over the Pteroma of the
same
141. Coffered Pteroma Ceiling, Seli
nous
142. Coffered Ceilings from the Parthe
non
143. Plan of the Middle Temple, Seli
nous .
144. Capital from the Northern Tem
pie, Selinous
£
OBEECE.
«45-
175
146.
179
147-
180
148.
181
149-
186
188
15a
189
189
151.
190
190
153.
191
193
«53-
93
193
154.
«93
155-
194
156.
203
206
157-
307
158.
308
209
211
212
213
216
159-
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
Capital from the Middle Temple,
Selinous 216
Capita] from the Temple at Assos. 216
Capital from the Eastern Plateau,
Selinous 217
Capital from the Temple of Zeus,
Selinous 217
Capital from the Temple of Hera-
cles, A cragas . .217
Capital from the Temple of The-
seus, Athens .... 218
Capital from the Portico of Philip,
Delos 218
Capital from the Temple of De-
meter, Paestum . . .218
Plan of the Great Temple at
Paestum . . . . 219
Plan, Section, and Elevation of the
Temple of Zeus, Acragas . . 220
Entablatures of the Older and of
the Present Parthenon . . 221
Plan of the Temple of Zeus at
Olympia 222
Plan of the Parthenon . . . 225
Plan and View of the Propylaea,
Athens 226
Plan of the Temple of Apollo,
Bassae 227
Plan of the Temenos at Eleusis . 228
Ionic Order of the Mausoleum at
Halicamassos .... 232
Plan of the Normal Ionic Capital 233
Plan of the Comer Ionic Capital . 233
Ceiling of the Peripteros of the
Mausoleum. Restored . . 235
Base and Capital from Bassae . 236
Base from the Heraion at Samos . 237
XVI n
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
167. Base from the Temple of Apollo
Didymseos, Miletos .
168. Base from the Temple of Athene,
Priene ....
169. Base from the Propylaea, Cnidos
170. " " Temple of Wing
less Victory, Athens .
171. Ruins of the Temple at Aphrodisias
172. The Temple upon the Ilissos
173. Plan of the Erechtheion
1 74. Northwestern View of the Erech
theion ....
175. Order of the Eastern Portico of
the Erechtheion .
176. Corinthian Capital from Bassae
177. " " from the Tem
pie of Apollo, Miletos
178. Corinthian Capital from the Tower
of the Winds, Athens
179. Tomb at Mylassa .
180. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassos
Restoration
181. The Monument of the Nereides at
Xanthos ....
182. Plan of the Stoa Diple at Thoricos
183. Plan of the Stadion at Messene
184. Plan of the Hippodrome at Olym
pia
185. Plan of the Greek Theatre, accord
ing to Vitruvius.
186. The Theatre at Segesta. Restored
187. The Cover of Dodwell's Vase
(Munich.) ....
188. The Relief over the Gate of the
Lions, Mykenae .
189. Steles from the Acropolis of My
kense
190. Golden Mask from Mykenae
191. Figures from the Vase of Clitias
and Ergotimos .
192. Metope Relief from Selinous
193. Statues from Miletos .
194. The Apollo of Thera .
195. Archaic Relief from Sparta.
196. The Stele of Aristion .
197. A Stele found at Orchomenos
198. Head of a Warrior, Selinous
199. Archaistic Artemis, from Pompeii
200. Central Figures from the Western
Gable, ^gina ....
PAOS
PIGDKI
201.
237
202.
203.
237
204.
237
205.
237
206.
239
207.
241
242
208.
243
209.
244
210.
248
248
248
251
213.
252
214.
215.
253
254
216.
256
217.
218.
257
219.
220.
258
259
221.
271
222.
223.
273
224.
225.
275
276
226.
227.
277
228.
284
229.
28s
230.
286
287
231.
288
232.
290
233-
291
292
234-
294 235.
Harmodios and Aristogeiton
Apollo, after Canachos.
The Discos-thrower
Statuette of the Athene Parthenos
Fragment Imitated from the Shield
of Athene Parthenos.
Coins of Elis.
Demeter and Persephone, from the
Parthenon ....
Aphrodite and Peitho, from the
Parthenon ....
Fragment from the Frieze of the
Cell a of the Parthenon
Figure from the Temple of Zeus,
Olympia ....
Figure from the Temple of Zeus,
Olympia ....
Head of Apollo, from the Temple
of Zeus, Olympia
Metope from the Temple of Zeus,
Olympia ....
The Victory of Paionios, Olympia
From the Frieze of the Temple at
Phigalia ....
Copy of the Doryphoros, Naples
Amazon, after Polycleitos
Head of Hera, Naples .
The Ludovisi Juno, Rome .
Metope from the Eastern Plateau,
Selinous ....
Eirene and Ploutos, after Kephi
sodotos ....
The Apollo Kitharoidos
Niobids. (Florence.) .
Head of Niobe
Fragment of the Frieze at Hali
carnassos ....
Head of Eros. (Vatican.) .
The Hermes of Praxiteles
The Head of the Hermes .
The Venus of Melos .
Copy of the Apoxyomenos of Ly
sippos ....
The Farnese Hercules .
The Zeus of Otricoli .
Boreas, from the Tower of the
.Winds ....
Notos, from the Tower of the
Winds ....
Coins of the Diadochi .
297
298
302
305
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
XIX
riM ' wtmvmn
236. The Dying Gladiator
237. The Laocoon
2j8. The Farnese Bull .
239. The Wrestlers
24a The Apollo Belvedere
348 [ 241. The Artemis of Versailles
35a 242. The Horghesc Gladiator
354
356
357
243. The Helvcdcre Torso .
344. Group from the Villa Ludovisi
245. The Capitoline Centaur
359
361
362
364
36s
ETRU&IA.
246. The Campana Tomb at Veii
247. The Gate of Falerii
248. Canal of the Marta
249. Restored Plan and Elevation of
the Tomb of Porsena
25a Ceiling of a Tomb at Cervetri
2SI' Plan and Section of a Tomb at
Cervetri ....
252. Interior of a Tomb at Cervetri
253. Temple Tomb at Norchia .
254. Elevation of the Etruscan Temple.
according to Vitruvius
387
388
389
391
393
393
394
395
397
255. Tomb at Cometo . . .398
356. Etruscan Sarcophagus . . 399
257. Bust from the Grotto dell' Iside in
Vulci 402
25& Sarcophagus of Terra-cotta from
Caere 403
359. Etruscan Relief .... 404
26a The Capitoline Wolf . 405
361. Etruscan Stone Sarcophagus . 407
363. Painting from Cxre .410
263. The Janus Quadrifrons in the
Forum Boarium.
364. Gateway in the Walls of Norba
265. Remains of the Servian Wall
266. The Cloaca Maxima
267. Plan of the Temple of Fortuna
Virilis ....
26& Plan of the Temple of Antoninus
and Faustina
269. Tuscan Column fi'om the Coliseum
270. The Temple at Con .
271. View of the Temple of Fortuna
Virilis ....
272. Corinthian Capital from the Pan
theon
273. Composite Capital
274. Section of the Aqua MarciaTepula
and Julia ....
275. Section of the Pantheon, in its
Present Condition
276. Section of the Pantheon. Resto
ration by Adler.
277. Plan of the Baths of Caracalla
278. Chief Hall of the Baths of Cara
calla
279. Plan of the Circus of Romulus
ROME.
280.
413
414
415
417
419
419
420
421
422
424
424
426
427
292.
428 j 293.
429
294.
430 295.
431'
281.
282.
283.
284.
285.
286.
287.
288.
289.
290.
291.
Scheme of the Roman Theatre,
according to Vitruvius . 432
Theatre of Marcel 1 us, Rome. . 433
Plan of the Flavian Amphitheatre 434
Section of the Auditorium of the
Flavian Amphitheatre . . 435
Fa9ade and Section of a Rock-cut
Tomb at Petra .... 438
Triumphal Arch of Titus . . 439
" " Septimius Se-
verus 440
Section of the Primitive Roman
Basilica 442
Plan of the Primitive Roman Ba-
silica 442
Plan of the Basilica of Maxentius. 443
Section of the House of Pansa in
Pompeii 444
Plan of the House of Pansa in
Pompeii 444
The "Flavian Palace . . . 445
Court of the Palace of Diocletian
at Spalatro 446
Fragment of the Cista Praenestina. 447
Janus Bifrons upon an Ancient
Roman Coin .... 448
XX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
rIGUBB PAGE
296. Statue of Isis. (Museum of Na-
ples.) 450
297. Relief of Mithras. (In the Louvre.) 451
298. Vertumnus (Silvanus). (In Ber-
lin.) 452
299. Relief of Bonus Eventus. (British
Museum.) 453
300. Statue of Augustus. (In the Vat-
ican.) 454
301. Equestrian Statue of Nonius Bal-
busjun 455
302. Relief from the Arch of Titus in
Rome 458
303. Relief of Trajan, from the Arch of
Constantine in Rome. . . 459
304. Relief upon the Pedestal of the
Column of Antoninus Pius . 460
305. Victory, from the Arch of Con-
stantine 463
306. Wall-painting from the Aurea
DomusofNero. . . . 466
307. Ceres. Pompeian Wall-painting. 467
308. Wall-painting from Herculaneum. 468
309. Landscape-painting from Pompeii 469
310. Wall-painting of Decorative Ar-
chitecture, Pompeii . . . 470
Fig. I.— The Pyrunids of Gizeh.
EGYPT.
Ir is a curious chance that the most ancient monuments of hu-
man civilization should stand upon a land which is one of the
youngest geological formations of our earth. The scene of that ar-
tistic activity made known to us by the oldest architectural remains
of Africa and of the world was not Upper Egypt, where steep pri-
meval cliffs narrow the valley of the Nile, but the alluvion of the
river's delta. It would be difficult to decide whether the impulse
of monumental creativeness were here first felt, or whether the
mere fact of the preservation of these Egyptian works, secured by
the indestructibility of their construction as well as by the un-
changeableness of Egyptian art, be sufficient to explain this prior-
ity to other nations of antiquity — notably to Mesopotamia. Al-
though no ruins have been found in Chaldaea of earlier date than
the twenty-third century B.C., it is not at all impossible that re-
mains of greater antiquity may yet come to light in a country which
is by no means thoroughly explored. Nor should we deem the old-
2 -EGYfT.— ARCIirrECTURE.
est structures now preserved to be necessarily those first erected. The
perishable materials of the buildings which stood in the plains of
the Euphrates and Tigris, generally sun-dried bricks with asphalt
cement, were not calculated to insure long duration, or to prevent
their overthrow and obliteration by the continual changes in the
course of these rivers, through the silting and swamping of their
valleys. Yet, though tradition would incline us to assume that
Chaldaean civilization and art were the more ancient, the oldest
monuments knoivn exist upon the banks of the Nile.
The changeless blue of the Egyptian sky, the strictly regular
return of all the natural phenomena connected with the Nile,
that wonderful stream of the land's life, are entirely in accord with
the fixedness of Egyptian civilization in all its branches. Though
the high state of advance which we first find in Egyptian art, three
thousand years before the Christian era, must necessarily have been
preceded by less perfected degrees, it is wholly impossible to per-
ceive such stages of development in any of the monuments known.
After Egypt had attained a certain height of civilization, its histo-
ry, during the thousands of years known to us, shows none of those
phases of advance or decline, of development in short, to be ob-
served in Europe during every century, if not during every decade.
The Egyptian completed buildings and statues begun by his re-
mote ancestors without the slightest striving for individual pecu-
liarity. He commenced new works in the same spirit, leaving them
for similar execution by his great-grandchildren. Numberless gen-
erations thus dragged on without bequeathing a trace of any
peculiar character and ability. It is only by the cartouches of
the kings in the hieroglyphic inscriptions that it is possible to
separate the dynasties, and to group into periods of a thousand
years or more, works of art which seem from their style to belong to
one and the same age. What gigantic revolutions have affected the
civilization of Europe during the fourteen centuries elapsed since
the overthrow of the Roman Empire, and how slight are the appre-
ciable changes during the nearly equal number of years of the an-
cient dynasties of Memphis — the period of the pyramids, or again
of the Theban kingdom — from the seventeenth dynasty to the rule
of the Ptolemies !
PYRAMIDS. 3
The true age of the monuments of Lower Egypt has not
long been known. When Napoleon I. fired the spirits of his
troops before the Battle of the Pyramids by the well - known
words '* Forty centuries look down upon you from the heights of
these pyramids," he must have been aware that, according to the
conceptions of the archaeological science of the time, he was exag-
gerating. In fact, however, he was far behind the truth. The pyra-
mids of Abousere, possibly also those of Dashour, are of the third
dynasty (3338 to 3124 B.C., according to Lepsius), those of Gizeh
of the fourth dynasty of Manetho (3124 to 2840 B.C.). These are
structures which have stood for five thousand years. The pyra-
mids of Cochome, referred to the first dynasty of Manetho, are still
older, dating from a time nearly coincident, according to Biblical
authority, with the creation of the world itself (3761 B.C.).
It is true we are still so far from chronological certainty that
dates often differ astonishingly. Osbum, for instance, places the
fourth and fifth dynasties as late as the period between 2228 and
2108 B.C., and notably the two kings of the fourth dynasty, Shofo
and Nu-Shofo, about 2170 B.C. The first twelve dynasties of Mem-
phis, dated by Lepsius about 3892 to 2167, and by Osburn as late as
1959 B.C., are now known principally by their monumental tombs.
Among these, the sepulchres of the kings are prominent in like
manner as the ruler in an absolute and theocratic monarchy is ele-
vated above his subjects.
The enslaved people labored upon the monuments of their mas-
ters, often during the entire lifetime of these latter. It may be
seen from contemporary wall-paintings that the discipline main-
tained during the work of construction was not lacking in strict-
ness, but it was certainly not that excessive oppression generally
imagined. A body of over one hundred thousand workmen sorely
oppressed might, even in Egypt, have been difficult to manage by a
hated despot. It was principally during the annual inundations of
the Nile that the kings employed and fed the poorer classes, at that
time, perhaps, unable otherwise to subsist. During other seasons the
rulers could not have taken the tillers of the soil from fields and
flocks without great injury to their own interests. It is no mark of
a selfish despotism, which builds without reference to the welfare of
4 EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
land and subjects, that the kings removed their enormous sepulchral
piles from the vicinity of their residences — from the valuable allu-
vion of the Nile to the barren edge of the desert. They thus, as
Plato recommends, occupied no place with dwellings of the dead
where it would be possible for the living to find nourishment. The
fertile ground of the valley was not encumbered by the colossal
pyramids, which were so numerous in ancient Egypt that Lepsius
found the remains of sixty-seven in the forty-eight kilometers alone
between Cairo and the Fayoum, on the western bank of the river.
Supposing only five score such pyramids, with an average area of
one hundred ares each, two elevenths of that of the great pyramid
of Gizeh, to have stood in the narrow valley of the Nile, what an
enormous loss in the grain production of that most fertile but
limited land would so great a reduction of arable surface have
caused during the past five thousand years !
The fundamental motive of the pyramid is the funeral mound.
A small upheaval above the natural level of the ground results of
itself from the earth displaced by the bulk of the buried body.
Our present practice of interment clearly illustrates this. Increased
dimensions elevate the mound to an independent monument. Many
nations, some of a high degree of civilization, have contented them-
selves with such imposing hills of earth over the grave, — tumuli,
which, from the manner of their construction, assumed a conical
form. Others placed the mound upon a low cylinder, thus bet-
ter marking its distinction from accidental natural elevations. The
Egyptians and the Mesopotamians rejected the cone entirely, and
formed, with plane surfaces upon a square plan, the highly mon-
umental pyramid. Peculiar to the former people are the inclined
sides which give to the pyramid its absolute geometrical form,
as opposed to the terraced structures of Chaldaea. The sand of
the desert ebbed and flowed fifty centuries ago as constantly as in
our time, when the sphinx, after being uncovered to its base, has
been quickly hidden again to the neck. Rulers, unwilling that
their gigantic tombs should be thus submerged, were obliged to
secure to them great height, with inclined and unbroken sides, upon
which the sand could not lodge.
The typical pyramid of Gizeh. near Cairo — the monument of
PYRAMIDS. 5
Cheops (Shofo, Suphis), the first or second king of the fourth dy-
nasty— rises above the broad necropoUs of Memphis, by far the
largest and one of the most marvellous works of mankind. {Fig. i.)
With a ground-line mean of 232.56 m., the great pyramid attained
an altitude of 148.21 m., of which the entire apex is now overthrown,
leaving a height of about 138 m.* The original intention of the
builders was doubtless an absolutely square plan. The greatest dif-
crence in the length of the ground-lines of the base is 0.45 m. The
angle of the upward inclination of the sides has been found, by meas-
urements at various points, to average 5 1 ° 5 1 ' 43". The entire pyra-
mid is solidly built of massive blocks, pierced by a few narrow passages
which lead to small chambers. {Fig. 2.) Like most of these monu-
ments, the entrance is situated somewhat above the ground ; it opens
to a passage which descends with a gentle inclination. The shaft is
covered with stones leaning against each other, so as to present the
great resistance of a gable to the superimposed mass. In passing out
of the masonry it is continued into the natural rock under the same
angle, 26° 27'. Near the point of separation it meets with another
passage, which ascends with an inclination of 26° 6' to the centre of
the structure, sending off a nearly horizontal branch at half-way. All
three shafts lead to grave-chambers, the highest being the most im-
portant. As the ascent continues above the horizontal branch, its
importance is emphasized by the passage being increased from 1.2 or
1.5 m. high to a corridor 8.5 m. in height, roofed by gradually project-
ing blocks, and having upon its floor a slide to facilitate the trans-
port of the sarcophagus. Thereupon follows a horizontal vestibule,
closed most securely by four blocks of granite which fell like portcul-
lises. Only three of these had been let down ; the fourth remained
in its original position, the lower grooves never having been cut to
allow its descent. The upper chamber, of polished granite, but other-
wise not ornamented, is 10.48 m. long, 5.24 m. broad, and 5.84 m,
high.f It is ceiled horizontally with nine colossal lintels of granite,
•The measurements in the text are the mean of the results attained by the French acad-
emicians in 1799, and by Colonel Howard Vyse in 1837. The recent measurements of Mr.
Thomas Inglis make the north side 231.64 m., the south 231.49 m., the east and west sides
alike 231.19 m., or an average of 231.38 m.
t According to Piazzi Smyth.
6 EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
a detail which seemed at first surprising, as other voids of far less
width were more firmly covered, either by projecting and gradual-
ly approaching stones, as in the ascending corridor; or with blocks
leaned together so as to form a gable, as in the other passages, and
in the middle chamber, called that of the Queen. Yet it was for the
security of this upper chamber that the greatest care proved to
have been taken. The weight of the half-height of the pyramid
remaining above it was by no means allowed to rest upon its hori-
\
Vx
■s^.
-5=^
Fig. 2. — The Great Pyramid of Gizeh. Section North and South, looking West,
zontal lintels. There are above them five low relieving spaces sep-
arated by four stone ceilings similar to the first ; mighty blocks are
inclined over all these to a gable triangle. In case of rupture the
horizontal beams would of themselves have formed new triangles
and prevented direct downward pressure, Cheops certainly did not
need to fear the ceiling of his chamber falling in upon him. Venti-
lation was provided for the room by two narrow air-channels, which,
inclining upwards, took the shortest course to the outside.
PYRAMIDS. 7
The perfectly geometrical form of the pyramids of Gizeh has
from early times led to speculations upon their having been erected
in conformity with mathematical or astronomical calculations; and
endless attempts have been made to discover the fixed proportions
which they are supposed to embody, and to determine their sym-
bolical or metrical significance. Too much is often assumed upon
the strength of accidental coincidences, generally only approximate;
but if such proportions indeed existed, whatever may have been
their intention, they are evidently beyond the true province of art.
The second great pyramid, built by the succes.sor of Cheops,
Chephren (Sophris), seems not to have been so regular in its inte-
rior arrangement. The third, that of Chephren's successor, My-
kerinos (Menkera), is of the most beautiful execution. The une-
venness of the ground was so considerable that a substructure of
masonry was here necessar}-. The entire kernel is of rectangular
courses of stone, and, with the e.xception of the exterior casing, is
built in the form of steps. This manner of construction was em-
ployed in most of the pyramids, but is here particularly noticeable.
The casing of granite, highly polished, is still partly intact ; the joints
of its stones are scarcely perceptible, and are not wider than the
thickness of a sheet of paper.
The mechanical excellence of all these pyramids is indeed won-
derful ; they remain as a marvellous proof of the constructive abil-
ity of man in ages far anterior to known periods of the world's his-
tory. Nor are they mere piles of masonry which could have been
erected by an enslaved people without the guidance of skilled and
thoughtful designers. The arrangement of the passages, of the
chambers and their portcullises, of the quarried stone and polished
revetment, was admirably adapted to the required ends.
In the third pyramid two corridors have been found, one above
the other. The upper, opening within from the first chamber, at
some height above the floor, does not reach the exterior surface,
but ends suddenly against the unpierced outside casings. This
peculiarity is explained by, and in turn gives weight to, the state-
ment that this pyramid, as originally built by Mykerinos, was con-
siderably smaller than it is at present, measuring, according to the
end of the unfinished upper corridor, 54.86 m. on the side of the
8 EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
plan, and 42.20 m. in vertical height. Nitocris, the last queen of the
sixth dynasty, prepared the pyramid to serve also as her own monu-
ment by adding courses of stone which increased these dimensions
to 117.29 and 66.75 "1- respectively. But as the original entrance,
by the prolongation of its inclined line outward, would thereby
have opened much too high above the ground, a new corridor be-
neath the first was rendered necessary. The second chamber, which
probably once contained the sarcophagus of the queen, was found
entirely plundered. The third and lowest, better protected, had
been opened ; but in it there still remained in position a magnifi-
cent coffer of basalt. The exterior of this sarcophagus was sculpt-
ured with lattice-work in imitation of a palace-like structure with
portals. Fragments of the wooden coffin, with carved hieroglyph-
ics, once within it, and of the mummy itself, were flung about the
room. The sarcophagus, of the greatest value as illustrating the
architectural forms of its time, sank in the Mediterranean with the
ship which was carrying it away to England. The mummy and the
lid of the coffin are in the British Museum. Hieroglyphics upon
the latter designate the venerable remains as those of King Men-
kera, the same Mykerinos whom Herodotos, following traditions of
the Egyptian priests, mentions as one of the best rulers of the land.
The stone ceiling of the Mykerinos chamber was at first thought
to be vaulted, it having the form of a low pointed arch. This
peculiarity proved, however, to be due to a hollowing -out of the
inclined gable blocks.
Princes and princesses of these early dynasties appear to have'
been buried in smaller pyramids, like those which stand in groups
of three near the first and third great pyramids of Gizeh. Promi-
nent subjects were allowed to take a place in the royal necropolis ;
but their pyramids were always truncated, in form resembling the
Egyptian footstool — the pyramidal point remained the peculiar
privilege of the kings. It appears to have been customary to
commence all these structures with a few large terraces of ma-
sonry, which were not fully developed into the perfectly pyramidal
structure until the last stones, the revetments, were put in place.
These terraces generally had vertical sides. Occasionally this con-
struction was varied by being formed with sloping sides, which
PYRAMIDS. g
repeated the obtuse ascending angle of the footstool, so that the
separate steps, elsewhere with a vertical rise, were here somewhat
inclined. It is not certain whether the absolute pyramidal form
was always intended to be carried out upon the completion of these
latter monuments. The examples of the inclined terraces which
have been preserved rather seem to show that various attempts
were made to develop architecturally upon the exterior the pecu-
liarity of its inner construction. The arrangement and line of the
kernel were more or less strictly adhered to, so that the last course
of facing-stones showed the original angle of the interior masonry.
Fig. 3.— Section of the Great Pyramid of Saccara.
The increasing of the terraces by successive courses — coats, as
it were — seems to have been generally continued as long as the
reign of a Pharaoh would permit. The layers, when inclined, were
most numerous at the foot of the pyramid, decreasing in number as
they ascend, that the mass might not take the proportions of a tow-
er. This manner of building is displayed by the section of the first
pyramid of Saccara {Fi^: 3), which, if the courses had been continued
in equal number, would have reached a height of at least one hun-
dred and fifty meters, instead of the 57.91 m. effected by its terrace-
lO
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
like contractions. The pyramid of Meydoun shows that this con-
traction did not necessarily take place in regular and equal steps.
{Fig. 4.) There the layers were added, without decreasing in number,
to a considerable height, when the structure was quickly completed
by broad and low terraces. Similar to this must have been those
pyramids which ended in a platform and served as the mighty ped-
estals of colossal figures, described by Herodotos as existing in
Lake Moeris. A remarkable variation from these forms is finally to
be noticed in the stone pyramid of Dashour. {Fig. 5.) Rising at first
Fig. 4. — The Pyramid of Meydoun.
with steep inclination, 54° 14', it changes its slant at half-height to
reach, with a smaller angle, 42° 59', a more rapid conclusion. This
artistically unfortunate form seems to have been owing to a change
of plan during the execution of the work ; it was doubtless originally
designed to have been finished like the pyramid of Meydoun. It is
hardly necessary to seek the origin of the double angle in the analo-
gous obtuse termination of Egyptian obelisks. This pyramid of Da-
shour is further remarkable on account of its magnificent revetment
of polished Mocattam limestone, which is almost entirely preserved.
F\"kAxMIUS.
II
There is as great a difference in the material as in the form of
the pyramids. As early as the third dynasty King Asychis (Asu-
chra) built a pyramid of what Herodotos terms Nile mud; that is to
say, of sun-dried bricks. It is not improbable that the great pyra-
mid of Dashour may be identified with this. Besides this peculiarity
of material, it is of unusual construction, not having been immedi-
ately built upon the natural ground, but standing on a thick layer
of sand, which, enclosed by retaining-walls, forms an excellent foun-
dation.
Fig. 5. — Southern Stone Pyramid of Dashour.
One of the group of pyramids at Abousere is built of rubble-
stones, quarried from the high plateau of the desert itself, and rough-
ly cemented with Nile mud. The builder of this irregular masonry
held it the more necessary to insure the ceiling of his grave-chamber
with the greatest care, and three gables of stones, 10.90 m. long and
3.66 m. thick, provide a resistance as sufficient against the imposed
mass as does the sixfold roofing of the King's Chamber at Gizeh.
{Fig. 6.) The exterior layers were carefully constructed of blocks
from the quarries of Tourah. Immense dikes, forerunners of our
modem causeways, led from these quarries to the buildings at Abou-
12
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
sere. Although intended only for the conveyance of materials, they
were yet so firmly built that they exist at the present time. Egyp-
tian wall-paintings show in the clearest manner the transportation
of colossal monolithic statues along these ways upon sledges, either
moved upon rollers or dragged over an oiled slide, as in Fig. 7. The
pyramid of Illahoun, like the northern pyramid of Dashour and oth-
ers, is built of brick ; its masonry was additionally strengthened by
walls of stone, the thickest being upon the diagonals of the plan.
The pyramid of Meydoun is built of alternate horizontal courses of
variously quarried stone. The following are the most important
pyramids still standing, with their dimensions in meters :
Name of Pyramid.
1. Great pyramid of Gizeh.
2. Second pyramid of Gizeh
3. Northern stone pyramid of Dashour.. . .
4. Southern stone pyramid of Dashour. . . .
5. Pyramid of Illahoun
6. Pyramid of Meydoun
7. Northern pyramid of Lisht
8. Pyramid of Hovara
9. Northern pyramid of Lisht
10. Southern brick pyramid of Dashour. . .
11. Great pyramid of Abousere
12. Third pyramid of Gizeh
13. Northern brick pyramid of Dashour. . . .
14. Great pyramid of Saccara
15. Pyramid of Abou-Roash
Original
Height.
Present
Height.'
Side of Plan.
Angle of Ascent
148.21
13939
104-39
'03.29
81.46
69.39
66.83
65.2";
61.06
137-34
136.37
99-49
97.28
39.62
68.40
20.85
32-31
27-31
47-55
49-99
61.87
27-43
57-91
232.56
215.09
219.28
187-93
now, 170.69
now, 161.54
now, 137.16
116.92
now, 109.73
104.39
109.60
77-04
104.34
E. X W. 120.02
N. X S
107.01
104.39
51° 52'
52° 21
43° 36'
above 54° 14'
below 42° 59'
74° 10'
57 20
51° 42'
51° 10'
51° 20'
73° 30'
The Nubian pyramids on Mount Barkal and in Meroe, far more
numerous than those of Lower Egypt, have lost much of their in-
terest since investigations have shown that the civilization of Egypt
and the prototypes of monumental art did not descend from Nubia,
as was at first supposed, but arose in the delta and advanced up the
stream. Inscriptions prove these pyramids to be some three thou-
sand years younger than those of Memphis, dating them at as
recent an epoch as the beginning of the Christian era. They are
generally grouped in an extended necropolis, and differ from those
of the ancient kingdom by a steeper angle of elevation, by a
roundel-moulding upon the angles, and, above all, by much smaller
dimensions.
Though the truncated pyramidal form, as has been seen in a
ROCK-CUT TOMBS.
13
number of tombs at Gizeh, was not excluded from the funeral archi.
lecture of Egyptian subjects, it was never general. Rock-cut tombs
were much more customary. The upright clififs which border the
banks of the Nile led naturally to such a formation, and in their
sides are excavated caverns of very different dimensions, from the
prevalent small, square chambers, with a narrow entrance high
above the level of the valley, to the most extended series of rooms.
Fig. 6. — Section of the Middle Pyramid of Abousere.
These tombs were commonly decorated by mural paintings alone,
but occasionally by carved architectural details, which always repre-
sent a wooden sheathing of slats or lattice-work. The larger cham-
bers, even of the most primitive period, have the roof supported by
square piers.
It is from these piers that the Egyptian columns seem to have
originated, dividing from the outset into two classes and develop-
ing in different directions.
H
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
One class of columns arose from chamfering the corners of the
square pier, this support being thus transformed into an eight-sided,
and, when the proceeding was repeated, to a sixteen -sided, shaft.
The first phase of change, with its octagonal plan, was simple and
advantageous — a predominance of vertical line was secured to the
support, as well as greater room and ease of passage to the cham-
ber. The second, the sixteen-sided figure, offered but few new ad-
vantages ; on the contrary, the play of light and shade between
the sixteen sides and angles was lost in proportion as the edges be-
came more obtuse and less visible. As the sleek rotundity of an
absolutely cylindrical shaft was not desirable, the blunt angles of
the sixteen-sided prism, of rather coarse ston6, were emphasized to
Fig. 7. — Transport of a Colossus. Egyptian Wall-painting.
avoid the disagreeable uncertainty which is felt when the plan is un-
decided between a polygo^i and a circle. This was effected by chan-
nelling the sides, making the a^ris more prominent and giving a
more lively variation of vertical light and shade. The pier thus
maintained, in some degree, its prismatic character while approach-
ing the cylinder, and the channelled column arose.
Rock-cut tombs of the twelfth dynasty (2380-2167 B.C., accord-
ing to Lepsius) situated at Beni-hassan, and part of the necropolis of
the ancient Nus, a city early destroyed, show the polygonal pier
in the two phases of eight and sixteen sided plan. The most
northern of these has the octagonal unchannelled pier in the vesti-
bule, and the sixteen-sided channelled column within. Only fifteen
channels are executed on the latter, the sixteenth side being left
COLUMNS.
15
plane for the reception of a painted row of hieroglyphics. Both ex-
terior and interior shafts have a base like a large flat millstone,
which projects far beyond the lower diameter of the column, its
edge being bevelled inward. A square abacus plinth is the only
medium between shaft and ceiling, the two columns of the vestibule
lacking even this. A full entablature did not exist in the interior,
as a representative of the outer edge of roof and ceiling there would
natiir-\lly have been out of place. The northernmost tomb has
no distinct entablature carved upon the exterior ; but its neighbor
Fig. & — Section and Plan of the Northernmost Rock-cut Tomb at Beni-hassan.
{Fig. 9) shows, cut from the solid rock, a massive horizontal epistyle
above the columns, and upon this the projecting edge of the ceiling,
which appears to consist of squarely hewn joists. Lattice-work was
found represented upon the stone sarcophagus of Mykerinos. Here
the model of a wooden ceiling is truthfully imitated upon the rock.
As, in the flat coverings of rainless Egypt, roof and ceiling appear
one and the same, this entablature has but two members — epistyle
and cornice ; while the frieze, in Greek architecture the representative
of a horizontal ceiling beneath the inclined roof, does not here exist.
i6
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
,r(i\\> 1\
This order of architecture, called, because of the similarity of the
shaft, the Proto-Doric, was predominant in the ancient kingdom.
But at least as early as the twelfth dynasty another class of col-
umns was in use which had been developed in an entirely different
manner. The Proto-Doric columns originated from the mathemati-
cal duplication of tjie prismatic sides and angles_of the square pier ;
these second made the same pier their model, but followed its
painted ornament, not its architectural form. The primitive de-
signer enriched his work with flowers, striving to preserve the quick-
ly fading natural decoration by an imperishable imitation. Many
of the bands of ornament customary in antiquity may be considered
as rows or wreaths of leaves and
flowers, although often they do
not betray their derivation at
\ first sight, because of the origi-
nal imperfect representation of
nature, the subsequent strict
conventionalization, and final
degeneracy into formalism.
In Egypt, ornamental adap-
tations of the lotos-flowers of
the Nile appear at first in long,
frieze -like rows, the blossoms
being bound together by the
stems in much the same ar-
rangement as similar decorations in Assyria, or the better conven-
tionalized anthemion friezes in Greece. When this horizontal orna-
ment was transferred to the narrow vertical sides of a pier, it was
necessary to place the flowers closely together, to lengthen the
curled stems and bind them ; in short, to form of the wreaths, which
had answered for the narrow band, a bouquet better corresponding
to the tall, upright space to be filled.
Such a bunch of long-stemmed [otos-buds is shown upon the
pillars of the tombs near Sauiet-el-Meytin {Fig. lo), which, certain-
ly of the ancient kingdom, were probably of the sixth dynasty.
This bouquet may have been as customary an ornament for the
pier as the garlands of lotos-flowers were for the frieze.
Fig. 9. — Second Rock-cut Tomb at Beni-hassan.
FLORAL COLUMNS.
17
The history of architectural decoration shows that the stone-
cutter's chisel everywhere followed in the footsteps of color. The
four sides of the pier bore the same painted flowers ; if these were
to be sculptured, nothing could be more natural than to carry them
from four-sided relief into the full round, where they offered the
same face to all points of view, and transformed the painted pier into
a column formed like a bunch of lotos-blossoms. This development
must have taken place early in the ancient
kingdom, for we find the floral column in
the same tombs of the twelfth dynasty at
Beni-hassan which show the so-called Proto-
Doric shaft in its various phases. Form and
color so work together in the floral column
as to leave no doubt of the fundamental idea
having been the bunch of lotos-buds painted
upon the sides of the pier. Four stems of
rounded profile are engaged, rising from a
flat base similar to that of the polygonal
column. They are tied together under
the buds by fivefold ribbons of different
colors. Above these the lotos - flowers
spread from the stems, showing between
their green leaves the opening buds in
narrow slits of white. The flowers of the
painted bouquet {Fig. 10) are spread apart ;
but in the sculptured column they are nec-
essarily united, forming the capital. Even
the little blossoms with short stems, repre-
sented upon the painting of Sauiet-el-Mey-
tin, are not neglected, although the calyx itself has become much
smaller, owing to technical reasons of the execution.
Beni-hassan proves that the two orders, the channelled polygonal
shaft and the^ lotos-column {Fig. 11), had been developed as early as
the twelfth dynasty ; but as columnar architecture was not general
in the ancient kingdom, the examples preserved are isolated. The
little temple of that age discovered by Mariette Bey near the great
sphinx of Gizeh shows no trace of columns, their place being supplied
2
Fig. 10. — Pier Decoration from
the Tombs of Sauiet-el-Meytin.
i8
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
by monolithic piers. The period between the twenty-second and
the sixteenth century B.C., during which the Nile-land was occupied
by the nomadic Hycsos, the shepherd kings, enemies to all civil-
ization, was not favorable to the further application and devel-
opment of architectural genius. The columns do not again ap-
pear until the advent of the new Theban kingdom with the eigh-
teenth dynasty (1591 B.C., according to Lepsius), when they were
extensively employed, especially in temples. It was then that the
typical forms of the orders were determined. The Proto-Doric, the
channelled polygonal column of the tombs at Beni-hassan, fell into
disuse. Its simplicity suited neither the desire for richness of form,
peculiar to the later Egyptians, nor the de-
light in polychromatic ornament, which found
only one unchannelled strip at its disposal.
The polygonal shaft received, in certain
measure, a new lease of life by the invention
of a necessary part, a capital in place of the
meagre abacus plinth which had formerly been
the insufficient medium of transition between
the upright support and the horizontal entab-
lature. The vegetable prototype was deserted,
and a female head, or rather a fourfold mask
about a cubical kernel, crowned the shaft, be-
[ \ ing surmounted by an ornament somewhat re-
Fig, n.— Lotos -column of sembling a chapel. The column thereby be-
Beni-hassan. ^^^^ similar to a Hermes, or to a caryatid fig-
ure of Janus Quadrifrons, as it were. {Fig. 12.) But the representa-
tion of the deity Athor had only a limited application, and seems to
have prevented the column from being generally employed.
A far wider field was opened to the floral column, which in its
architectural and ornamental development was removed further and
further from its original model. The changes were brought about in
two ways, the most direct alterations being effected by the sculptor.
The four buds and stems of the lotos-columns of Beni-hassan were
increased to eight ; the latter changed their round cylinders to an-
gular prisms, thus giving up much of the vegetable character. The
former straight and stiff shaft, rising directly from the base, was
FLORAL COLUMNS.
19
curved near the bottom by a short swelling, which suddenly increased
the diameter. This entasis was surrounded by a row of leaves, again
characterizing the ascending bundle as stems. Leaves were also
added at the foot of the buds, these being out of place and impair-
ing the consequential development expressed in the column of Beni-
hassan, though corresponding well enough with the treatment adopted
for the similar enlargement at the foot of the shaft.
The four little flowers, which were tied in by the
bands of the Beni-hassan column, naturally became
eight in number with the duplication of the stems
and blossoms. They were before much diminished
in size, but here became an entirely unorganic,
rectangular ornament. The binding ribbons of the
neck retained their original variegated colors ; but
the painting of the capital itself put aside every
likeness to the natural colors of the flower. {Fig,
An entirely picturesque transformation also af-
fected the lotos -column, and led to the second
phase of its development. The stone shaft was cut
cylindrically, the memberings being omitted and all
reminiscences of stem and bud being abandoned.
The wreaths of leaves remained at the lower end
of the shaft and of the capital, as did also the bind-
ing ribbons with the little flowers, which were still
more broadened and distorted. The rest of the
column gave space for painted, or rather coilana-
glyphic, representations of devotional acts, for the
cartouches of the kings and for hieroglyphic in- C
scriptions. {Fig. 13 <^-) The capital, which had Fig. 12,— Column from
before consisted of four and of eight buds, became Sedmga.
consolidated to a single one ; the binding ribbon of the neck was
retained without a function. It was the more natural to open the
single bud to the calyx of a flower, a graceful and satisfactory solu-
tion of the problem which retained its sway henceforth in Egypt
much as the Corinthian capital, so nearly related in form to this
Egyptian calyx, predominated over other Roman varieties. The
20
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
shaft and the ribbons remained, as in the painted column of the
Memnonium. {Fig. 13 b.) So also did the row of leaves at the base
of the capital ; the little flowers were entirely omitted, and the upper
part of the calyx was thickly covered with royal seals painted between
upright ornaments, so small that their line does not affect the com-
position of the whole. {Pig. 14.) A discord resulted from the re-
tention of the abacus plinth of the former bud capital in its original
proportions, a defect which in
some degree defeated the aesthet-
ic advantages of the boldly pro-
jecting calyx as a medium be-
tween the vertical support and
the horizontal mass above it.
The calyx capital attained no
typical and established form in
Egyptian architecture, even as
the Corinthian capital received
no formal development in the
Hellenic art which originated
it. The decoration of the calyx
continued to offer a wide field
for the inventive talent of the
Egyptian architect, which was
here employed with most fortu-
nate results. The ruined build-
ings, especially of later periods,
show hundreds of different cap-
^. , T ^ , , T,, . itals, from the simplest upright
Fig. 13. — Lotos -columns from Thebes. ' r r &
a. Sculptured Column from I*. Painted Column from the forms of the papyrUS tO clabo-
the Great Temple at Camac. I Memnonium of Ramses II. , , , ,i , ,
rately turned and rolled leaves ;
these floral ornaments being almost always composed and conven-
tionalized with admirable taste.
A decided advance was made by separating the upper edge of
the calyx, with notches, into four large petals, although the decora-
tion did not have sufficient influence to affect the column as a whole.
The most satisfactory among the varieties of the floral column, and
that most thoroughly carried out, was certainly the palm ; the cap-
FLORAL CAPITALS.
21
ital of which was characterized as a crown of leaves, and the shaft,
by an imitation of the bark, as a palm-stem. The tall leaves ren-
dered a greater height of the palm capital necessary; thus increased,
it most closely approached the Corinthian in beauty of outline. The
division of the great calyx into eight lobes was another result of this
decoration. As the palm capital was frequently placed among
others, especially by the Egyptians of later periods, it naturally had
the effect upon the varieties to be brought into harmony with it of
lowering the necking of their shafts in the same measure as had been
necessary for itself. {Fig. 15.)
The slender proportions prevalent during the time of the Ptole-
mies caused the abacus
plinth upon the calyx to
be heightened to a cube,
and even increased to twice
the height of the capital
itself, in which case it was
ornamented by the heads
of Athor and Typhon, or
by the entire dwarfed fig-
ure of the latter. In rare
cases, piers take the place
of columns in the temple
courts, and are masked by
statues of Osiris or of Ty-
phon. {Fig. 16.) These figures have of themselves no constructive
function as supports, and are not to be classed with the caryatides
and telamones of Greece.
The great variety of form in the column and capital is not shared
by the entablature. This consists, as seen at the tombs of Beni-
hassan, of two members. The lower stretches from pier to pier, or
from column to column, as a connecting epistyle. The upper, rep-
resenting the horizontal ceiling, reposes thereupon, and is crowned
by the universal cornice-moulding — a boldly projecting Egyptian
scotia. Between these two members there is a continuous roundlet,
often characterized, by its ornament of an encircling ribbon, as a bun-
dle of reeds. The cornice is sometimes marked by rows of reed-
Fig. 14. — Calyx Capital from Carnac
22
EG Y PT.— A RC H ITECTU RE.
leaves bent forward at the top, the epistyle covered with hiero-
glyphics. In later times, the decoration of the entablature be-
came more florid, repetitions of the uraeos serpent appearing as a
cornice ornament.
The columns of the new kingdom had, meanwhile, been given
up in the rock-cut tombs, where they first occurred. Yet the cavern
sepulchres themselves remained so much in vogue that they even
served the kings of the Theban dynasties in place of pyramids.
Their tendency was rather to burrow deeply into the cliff than
to create large sepulchral chambers, where the support of columns
would have been necessary. The principal intention of the excava-
Fig. 15. — Capitals from Edfou.
tors — to make the royal burial-place as inaccessible as possible — was
adverse to any monumental development of the interior. The deco-
ration was restricted to paintings upon the long and repeatedly
closed corridors, and sufficed only to rank these above the bare chan-
nels of the pyramids. The formation of the earth on the border of
the desert offered no ground for the exterior architectural treatment
of these graves, and a simple portal is generally all that designates
the entrance to the shafts which were the sepulchres of the Theban
dynasties. The plan of that at Biban-el-Moluc is given in Fig. ly.
The temples of the new kingdom with their numerous halls
and courts offered, on the other hand, most ample scope for the
application of columnar architecture. These extended series of
TEMPLE PLAN.
23
strangely enclosed rooms and courts, though richly decorated with
paintings, would have seemed bare within and without if the col-
umn had not entered into their composition, and if the building had
not been expanded and ornamented by its help. With the floral
orders, the temple interior became an architectural organism truly
deserving of study and admiration.
With exception of that portion of the structure which stood be-
fore the chief portal, and cannot be considered as an integral part of
the building, every Egyptian temple was divided into three principal
parts, contained within an oblong enclosure : namely, the court, the
hall of columns, and the holy of holies
— a series of cellas. {Fig. i8.) Long
rows of sphinxes generally stand fac-
ing the avenue which leads to the en-
trance of the temple, and prepare for
the sacred silence within. The door-
way is flanked by two enormous tow-
ers, so-called pylons, formed like steep
truncated pyramids. The walls of these
masses of masonry, ornamented with
coilanaglyphic paintings, show slots
upon the front for the reception of the
high flag-poles which are represented
upon contemporary wall -decorations.
The towers are crowned with the sco-
tia cornice, the roundlet of which is
continued down the angles. Within
they are pierced by stairways and small chambers, scantily lighted
by narrow slits in the wall. It is probable that the summits of
these pylons, without doubt the highest standpoints in the valley of
the Nile, served as observatories for the Egyptian astronomers ahd
astrologers ; a practical use was thus added to the original purpose
of monumental decorative gate-ways. Two or four colossal sitting
figures were generally placed before the pylons, and sometimes also
two obelisks, bearing the dedicatory inscriptions of the temple.
The obelisks are among the most curious and characteristic
structures of Egypt. They are very comparable to the pyramids.
Fig. 16. — Osiris Pier.
24
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
and perhaps may even be regarded as small pyramids placed as an
apex upon a tall shaft. Few deviate from this type ; one of the obe-
lisks of Carnac, crowned by a profile like a pointed arch, and the
obelisk of Medinet-el-Fayoum with rounded
id, are exceptions. The obelisks are mono-
I I hie. In consideration of the difficulty of
1 locuring so large a block from the granite
1 larries, of transporting its enormous weight
I id erecting its tall mass, this peculiarity
Ided greatly to the imposing effect of the
onument. The delight of the later Roman
c-iperors in the possession of obelisks caused
many of these to be transported to Rome,
where they still form prominent ornaments
of the city. Most of those remaining in
Egypt lie overthrown, and often deeply
buried under the accumulating earth of
centuries. The two before the Temple of
Luxor were both erect until 1831, in which
year one of them was removed to the Place
de la Concorde in Paris. The removal dur-
ing 1877-78 of an obelisk, and its erection
in London, show what difficulties must have
attended the quarrying, carving, transport,
and elevation of these gigantic monuments
in primitive times.*
The chief portal of the temple, flanked
by the two pylons, opens upon the great
peristyle court. The colonnades are upon
two or three of its sides, seldom towards the
entrance. In the most elaborate instances,
as the Temple of Luxor, the court is bordered with double rows of
supports — columns alternating with piers — before which stand the
Fig. 17. — Royal Grave near
Thebes.
* The fellow of this monolith, known as Cleopatra's Needle, until recently stood at Alex-
andria, whither it had been moved from Heliopolis ; but having been presented by the late
Khedive to the city of New York, it has been shipped across the Atlantic, and erected in
the Central Park of that city.
TEMPLE PLAN. 2$
above-mentioned figures of Osiris. Sometimes this peristyle court
is duplicated, as in the great Memnonium of Ramses II. and the
temples of Medinet-Abou and Luxor, the two spaces being separated
either by smaller second pylons (Medinet-Abou), by a simple wall
pierced by a gate (Memnonium), or by a narrow colonnade between
them (Lu.\or). In such cases the architectural treatment of the
courts differs, the second usually being more richly provided with
columns and piers than the first. Smaller temples are often so built
against these courts that they can be entered only from within them
{Fig. 20), while they project, with the greater part of their plan, be-
yond the chief enclosure.
The second chief division of the building — the hall of columns,
the hypostyle — is entered from the court, either directly or through
new pylons. This space, generally not so deep as the outer peri-
III I I I III lMsKa^*HB-PH^M^
I I I I I I I 11 IV
Fig. 18. — Southern Temple of Carnac
Style, is entirely covered, the stone ceiling being upheld by close-
standing columns, the number of which varies greatly according to
the dimensions of the building. In the southern Temple of Carnac,
the plan of which {Fig. 18) may be regarded as typical of the usual
Egyptian arrangement, eight columns are sufficient, while the di-
mensions of the hypostyle hall of Medinet-Abou render twenty-four
necessary — a number increased to thirty-two in Luxor, forty-eight
in the Memnonium of Ramses II., and to a maximum of one hun-
dred and thirty-four in the Great Temple of Carnac. Smaller halls
may have received their light through the portal. The upper half of
the intercolumniations of the court colonnades was also occasionally
left open, as shown by Fig. 19; but, with the enormous dimensions
of the hypostyle and the close ranges of shafts so frequent, a more
perfect system of illumination was necessary. The light of day was
'procured for the hall by an eminently satisfactory arrangement.
26
EG Y PT.— ARC HITECTU RE.
which gives the key to the true manner of lighting any enclosed
space from above — the clerestory — so effectively developed in later
ages. The two rows of columns nearest the longitudinal axis were
made half as high again as their neighbors, thus lifting their entab-
lature and ceiling well above that of the remaining space. These
two ceilings on different levels were connected by piers placed upon
the next range of shorter columns, which supported the edge of the
higher covering. The light entered between these piers, their open-
Fig. 19. — Temple of Edfon.
ings being but little impeded by stone tracery. The central aisle
was thus brilliantly lighted, and, under the cloudless sky, rays and
reflections could find their way into the most remote corners of the
forest of columns. As shown by Fig. 21, the larger central columns
were distinguished by the broad-spreading calyx capital from the
others, which retained the simpler forms of the folded bud. The
effect of such a hall, especially of the great hypostyle of Carnac,
must have been magnificently rich and imposing. The dimensions
of the chief columns were in this instance gigantic. They were
TEMPLE PLAN.
2;
22.86 m. high. Their ca-
lyx capitals were 6.10 m.
in diameter, the epistyle
beams 6.70 by 1.83 by
1.22 m. The entire hall
was 91.44 m. in length.
Walls and columns were
thickly covered with
carved and painted deco-
rations, which were kept
well subordinated to the
grand forms of the archi-
tecture, and were so
blended by the varying
light and shade that a
rich and sober effect was
produced by the some-
what gaudy colors.
One example, the
Temple of Soleb, shows
this second division of
the building also repeat-
ed : that such a duplica-
tion was less common
than that of the courts
is explained by the far
greater requirements of
its construction. The last
of the three chief temple
divisions was reached
from the hypostyle hall,
either by a simple gate-
way or by a third pylon
portal. The Egyptian
priests performed their
mystic rites and guarded
the sacred animals in a
Fig. 20. — Great Temple of Carnac
28
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
series of chambers, the innermost of which — the real temple cella
— was exceedingly small in proportion to the entire building, being
sometimes even cut from a single stone.
As the temple served the priesthood for a dwelling, a cloister-
like arrangement of this third space was necessary. The long-
accepted supposition that even the royal palaces were included in
the temple enclosure has recently been questioned, although the
hieratic character of the monarchy, and the strict religious ritual by
which the life of the king in his function of high-priest was gov-
erned, even to the smallest particulars, would render this of itself
not improbable. The plan of the Great Temple of Carnac shows
Fig. 21. — Section of the Hypostyle Hall, Great Temple of Carnac.
the dwelling of the priests, with its halls and smaller rooms, sep-
arated by a court from the places of worship.
Magnificently as the temple architecture of the Egyptians had
developed since the eighteenth dynasty, its advance had mainly af-
fected the interior. The temples of every other people were built
with more or less reference to an imposing exterior effect, but those
of Egypt generally remained the fortress-like enclosures which had
become typical in the earliest ages of the land's history. The perip-
teral plan, indeed, occurs in several small cellas of the ancient king-
dom, but it was exceptional, and did not arrive at any systematic
development. It has been seen that Egyptian architecture, though it
chanced upon the channelled shaft of the Proto-Doric column, was ap-
parently unable to utilize this motive, the great importance of which
PEkU'TEKAL TEMPLES. 20
was not recognized in the land of the Nile. The peripteral temple
plan is a similar advance, which, not fitted for the requirements and
tendencies of Egyptian architecture, lay dormant for centuries. The
unbroken fortress-like walls of the temple were not pierced and re-
solved into the surrounding ptcroma until the sceptre of Egypt had
been swayed during three centuries by the semi-Hellenic Ptolemies.
These rulers, warned by the example of Cambyses, were wise enough
not to interfere with their Egyptian subjects in their most sensitive
point of religious conceptions, rendered sacred by the traditions of
thousands of years. But they did not hesitate to reintroduce into
Fig. 22. — Chapel upon the Platform of the Temple of Dendera.
the land the exterior splendor of the peripteral plan, by that time
so fully developed in Greece. The free and cheerful religious rites
of the Greeks, performed before the temple, and not within it, agreed,
as did the natural character of the people, with the peripteral temple,
which was opened outwardly by its pteroma. It was otherwise with
the mysterious and sombre precision of the Egyptian ritual, which
demanded absolute seclusion. Though the peripteral temple plan
was in some measure brought into vogue by the Ptolemies, it was,
in Egypt, deprived of its chief characteristic — the freely opened
intercolumniation. The Romans, in their desire similarly to com-
bine columnar architecture with entire enclosure, merely decorated
30
EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
exterior walls with engaged shafts and pilasters, giving up the col-
umns as supporting members of independent function, and using
them only as a suggestive ornament. This merely decorative treat-
ment, rare in Greece, was not adopted in Egypt until the latest
times. The Egyptian preferred to place a screen - like wall, half
the height of the columns, in each opening; this hid all the interior
from view, even when the building was of small dimensions, as in
Fig. 22, and permitted the access of light and air through the upper
half of the intercolumniation. The one used as an entrance was
also closed by a door-frame of greater height than the side screens.
Upon the corners of the peripteral building inclined piers were
often retained, as a reminiscence of the original enclosure wall as
well as for greater constructional security. This is shown by the
Temple of Philae. (/^^^. 23.)
That the arrangement of
outstanding columns did
not entirely supplant the
closed surrounding walls
is evident from the same
plan, where both methods
occur side by side in a
group of buildings of the
same date.
Fig. 23.-Temple of Philae. ^^^^^ ^^^^ p^^^^ ^^
the narrow valley of the Nile where the cliffs of the desert so ad-
vanced upon the river as to leave absolutely no room for the
erection of temples occupying so much ground. The inhabitants
here had recourse to grotto temples ; that is to say, they transferred
the principal rooms of the sanctuary to an excavation in the cliff.
When the space between rock and stream permitted it, the courts
and pylons were built, and only the hypostyle hall and the holy
of holies, reduced to the minimum necessary for the performance
of the rites, were cut from the rock. This is the case in El -Cab,
Redesie, Silsilis, and Girsheh. The last of these, the largest, had
a court with Osiris piers upon the sides and with four columns
upon the front, which seems never to have been flanked by pylons.
Its largest excavated space, apparently corresponding to a second
ROCK-CUT TEMPLES. ^1
court, is also decorated upon the longer sides with Osiris piers.
Thereupon follows a narrow hall, which but inadequately represents
the hypostyle ; and, finally, as the holy of holies, a small chamber
with an altar.
Far more important than these are the grotto temples of Abou-
Simbel, in the vicinity of the second cataract, where the portals are
also cut wholly from the rock. The larger of the two even attempts
to approach, as well as is possible, the enormous pylons of the
great Theban temples. {Fig. 24.) To this end the gentle inclina-
Fig. 24. — Facade of the Rock -cut Temple of Abou-Simbel.
tion of the cliff was cut away to the talus angle of the Egyptian
walls and pylons, and the cornice above, of roundlet and scotia,
was worked from the rock. Four such colossal sitting figures, as
are often placed before the pylons, were also cut from the cliff —
an effective ornament and an economy of labor thus being secured.
The representation of the portal between two pylons was given
up ; the whole front formed one wall in which the entrance-door
was cut without further decoration. The empty space above
the opening was filled by a high - relief, carved within an oblong
32 EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
niche. {f^ig- 24.) The entrance, which has now been cleared
of the sand, leads in natural order to a space corresponding
to the court of the free-standing temples ; it is somewhat similar
to that of Girsheh, which was also erected by Ramses II., though
more imposing and of better proportions. {Fig. 25.) A following
room, the ceiling of which is supported by four piers, suggests the
temple hypostyle, here much dwindled in extent from the difficulty
of its excavation as well as from the general restriction of this
Fig. 25. — Hall of the Rock-cut Temple of Abou-Simbel.
space in Nubian monuments compared with those of Central Egypt.
The innermost chambers of the holy of holies are not only as
small as those of the free-standing temples, but are reduced in
number.
The second rock-cut temple of Abou-Simbel, situated near the
one described, is of smaller dimensions. It has upright colossal
statues upon the front, which, instead of being cut in the round,
have more the effect of reliefs from the fact that they stand in
niches, a difference arising from the greater steepness of the cliff at
PALACES AND DWELLINGS.
33
this point. The treatment appears rational in consideration of the
smaller amount of material thereby removed, though the unmonu-
mental effect of the reliefs, which lean with the inclination of the
wall, is an unfortunate result of this economy. The first hall, analo-
gous to the temple court, has its ceiling supported by six piers,
which are decorated upon the side towards the central aisle by
Athor masks. Three entrances lead from this hall into a narrow
space, here entirely at variance with the character of a hypostyle,
and through this into the holy of holies. Notwithstanding the con-
Fig. 26. — Interior of a House. E^n'pt'an Wall-painting.
traction of the two inner departments, the three principal divisions
of the free-standing buildings can be recognized in all rock-cut tem-
ples.
The existing ruins allow a comparatively clear understanding
of the religious architecture of Egypt, in which class the m(
mental tombs must be reckoned as well as the various forms of
temples ; but we are left almost entirely uninstructed as to the nat-
ure of the private dwellings. The plan of the cloisters within the
great temple of Carnac (compare Fig. 20) is indeed clear, though, be-
3
34 EGYPT.— ARCHITECTURE.
ing only a portion of a larger scheme, it had no individual or exte-
rior expression. The manner in which these spaces were roofed
and lighted is not evident.
The so-called royal pavilion of Medinet-Abou is a complete
puzzle in its development of plan and assumed connection with
other structures ; it can only be held to prove that some private
buildings were of several stories. Other peculiarities here notice-
able are windows framed by lintels and jambs of enormous blocks,
and rounded battlements above a projecting cornice.
Egyptian sculptures and wall - paintings often represent the
interiors of well-to-do private houses and of palaces ; they show the
plans of dwellings and adjoining vegetable-gardens so well that the
very products of the latter can be distinguished ; but, though these
plans designate the separate rooms and their entrances, it is still
impossible to comprehend the general arrangement of a normal
house, or its exterior appearance. The views of the interiors, with
their slim columns and narrow entablatures, with a system of perspec-
tive which shows things above one another instead of behind one
another, with their evident misrepresentations and constructive im-
possibilities, must have stood in very much the same relation to the
Egyptian reality as the fictitious architecture of the Pompeian wall-
decorations does to the buildings of the Greeks and Romans. The
architectural details introduced by the painter served only as a frame
for the figures or for the contents of the store-rooms which he
represented.
It may be concluded that, when private dwellings were more pre-
tentious than the single room necessary to provide the most impera-
tive shelter, columns were not excluded from them ; and, from the
absence of any remains of these supports, it is probable they were of
wood. The ruins and rubbish of sun-dried bricks, which compose
the overthrown cities hitherto excavated, show that the great ma-
jority of dwellings were no more than low hovels.
Even palaces seldom went beyond a series of small chambers,
and thus did not present an important architectural problem. This
is illustrated by the gigantic labyrinth, famed in so many fables of
antiquity, and somewhat known by the excavations of Lepsius in the
Fayoum. {Fig. 27.) A great number of small chambers are here
DWELLINGS.
35
grouped in three rectangular wings around an oblong space, which
was probably divided into several courts. The walls remaining do
not show that geometrical regularity of arrangement described by
Herodotos, Strabo, Diodoros, and Pliny, but a really labyrinthic ag-
gregate of small chambers, the destination of which is not clear.
The pyramid which closes the fourth side of the square is alone of
monumental importance. It seems possible that, instead of one or
more palaces, we have here the remains of some city. It is cer-
€?^
Fig. 27. — Labyrinth of the Fayoum.
tainly wrong to connect the work with the Dodecarchia (twenty-
sixth dynasty, 685 to 525 B.C.) : the twelve pretenders would hardly
have united to erect a common monument. In the list of Manetho,
Amenophis III., the sixth king of the twelfth dynasty, is mentioned
as the founder, a notice corroborated by inscriptions discovered on
the site.
That the private buildings were so unimportant in comparison
with the religious architecture of Egypt is explained by the excessive
36 EGYPT.— SCULPTURE,
subjugation of the people to a monastic ritual, and by the favorable
character of the Egyptian climate. It is necessity that prompts in-
vention, and Egypt, with its ever-cloudless sky and constant tempera-
ture, required no protection against the inclemency of the weather ;
the climate did not force man to spend his days within doors, nor
did it destroy the lightest shelter. In the absence of rain, the most
primitive horizontal ceiling was sufficient. According to the relig-
ious conceptions of the Egyptian, it was more important for him to
prepare a permanent house for his death -sleep — he had more at
heart the protection of his corpse than of his living body. Thus
thousands of graves have been preserved, while science cannot find
a single dwelling remaining to betray even the general character of
Egyptian domestic architecture. To these considerations it must be
added that the dwellings stood in the valley of the Nile, and have
been subjected to annual inundations which have formed a consid-
erable alluvial deposit, while the graves were almost without excep-
tion situated upon the changeless cliffs that border on the desert.
The architecture of Egypt was practised in a manner to show al-
most no historical development — with the sculpture this is the case
in still greater degree. The most ancient carved remains, which with
reasonable security may be assigned to the fifth dynasty, show the
formal system, retained during the subsequent twenty centuries,
as already perfected. Even at that early date the network of lines,
which the Egyptian sculptors (more as mechanics than as artists)
followed down to the time of the Ptolemies, was already calculated
and introduced as a canon.
Besides figures of the gods, the sculpture of Egypt is rich in the
images of kings, queens, and prominent subjects ; and in such por-
traits the observation of the living model, of the peculiarities of
character which lead to the differences of exterior appearance,
would seem to be a natural consequence. But as the individual
disappeared in the mass of the Egyptian people, so the appreci-
ation of individuality was almost wholly lacking in the Egyptian
artist. Sculptors and painters worked without the least desire for
pre-eminence in ability and distinction, without thought of perpetu-
ating their names, and the work they produced expressed these
THE CONVENTIONAL FIGURE. 37
faults. As Brunn truly remarks, we can look upon whole rows of
Egyptian sculptures without a question ever arising in our minds as
to the authorship of this or that work, without observing that one is
superior to the others, or that any were much above manufactures.
The work became what the artist felt himself personally to be — a
mere link in a monotonous chain. The result of this is that the stat-
ues generally represent an entirely abstract human being — not an
absolute ideal, for that can hardly be said to exist in any art, but a
type of the Egyptian race, well understood and unalterably repeated.
As soon as the art had to a certain degree mastered the normal ap-
pearance of the human body, it contented itself therewith and came
to a standstill. The peculiarities in the living model or in the attrib-
uted characters of the deities were rarely considered by the artist,
who only distinguished by attributes what should be otherwise ex-
pressed ; he did not attempt to show the effect of the mind upon
the outer being, and thus to give to sculpture its true importance.
The description of single Egyptian works is consequently almost
the same as the consideration of the entire sculpture and painting
of the land — the more so as the artist not only employed generally
one and the same conventional figure, but in position and move-
ment mainly alternated between two types. The statues are, with
a few exceptions, either sitting or in an act between standing and
stepping, which does not appear to be an advance, because the feet
are too near together ; both soles being flat upon the ground, the
centre of gravity falls between the two legs, almost more upon the
one behind than upon the one before. A figure seems to move only
when the body, advanced before the centre of its two supports,
throws the greatest part of its weight upon the forward leg, and
thus relieves the hinder foot, which, with uplifted heel, touches the
ground with the toes, in readiness to be removed. Both sitting and
standing statues have the arms pressed closely to the body — the
former with bent elbows and hands resting flat upon the knees, the
latter with arms hanging straightly and stiffly, the hands holding the
so-called Nile key ; or folded upon the breast, the hands grasping
attributes, crook and plough or whip. Individual action is in every
case excluded. If the formation of the body be more closely exam-
ined, the following peculiarities are remarkable : The head, as the
38
EGYPT.— SCULPTURE.
comparison of it with a Greek type at Fig. 28 shows, deviates so
greatly from the normal oval that it could almost be drawn within a
square, the principal line of the face being about parallel to the back
of the head, as is the flat outline of the top of the skull to the Hne
from the chin to the neck. The general directions of the eye, the
mouth, and the ear are not perpendicular to the sides of the parallel-
ogram, inclining too markedly upward ; the comparatively large ear
is placed half as high again from the throat as it should be. These
deviations are in some measure explained by the peculiarities of
race characteristic of the Orientals, and especially of the Egyptians —
by the different formation of the skull and position of the eye. The
Egyptian Profile.
Fig. 28.
Greek Profile.
forehead is almost straight, being on a line with the upper lip ;
and, as it recedes from the nose, does not project at all. It is
rendered still more unimportant by the curved ridge of the brows
lacking decision, and the eye itself wanting in depth. The eye
has remained in the rough condition of a primitive imitation of
nature — thick strips surround it in place of lids, and continue, the
upper overlapping the under, beyond its exterior angle towards the
ear. The gently curved, round, broad nose projects but little over
the upper lip, which, instead of preparing the close of the oval tow-
ards the chin, is pushed forward like the lower lip, upward and out-
ward. The closed, sensually broad lips are sharply outlined. The
THE CONVENTIONAL FIGURE.
39
comers of the mouth, sHghtly drawn upward, give, with the similar
indination of the angles of the eyes, a certain expression of smiling
sarcasm not intended by the designer, and consequently cold and
stiff. The chin is flat and pointed in profile, the line from it to the
short and thin neck almost straight.
Such is the type that was retained through thousands of years,
so unchangeably that even the sexes are scarcely to be distinguished
by the heads. Male figures often have a kind of chin beard, cut at
right angles, and bound on with ribbons which can sometimes be
distinctly traced. The heads, and
through them the whole figures, are
characterized by head-dresses, refer-
able to one fundamental form — the
pshent, a high cap like a tiara ; but
they have been so modified from
their prototype that the Description
de V^gypte, pi. 1 1 5, shows thirty dis-
tinct varieties.
The deities are frequently rec-
ognizable by the heads of animals
— of a lion, ram, cow, ape, jackal,
crocodile, hawk, or ibis, as the case
may be. The worship of nature,
peculiar to Egypt, found a better
expression in these symbols than
in the monotonous representations
of man, in marked contrast to the
incorporation of Hellenic myths,
where, in the monstrous conjunction of human and animal forms,
the human head was rarely given up, it being more generally placed
upon the body of an animal.
The figure, as accepted by the Egyptian designer, was, to the
smallest details, drawn according to a network of lines. Diodorus
states it to have had 2\\ units in height, the unit being probably
the length of the nose. The shoulders are drawn upward, and,
like the flat breast, are broad ; the hips, on the contrary, are narrow
and weakly modelled : they are girded with a cloth which appears
Fig. 29. — Husband and Wife.
Glyptothek.)
(Munich
40
EG Y PT.— SC U LPTU RE.
carefully folded and adjusted, but, with all its tightness, does not fit
the forms of the body. When upon sitting figures, this cloth often
stands out as stiffly and straightly as if carved of wood, giving no
indication of the true nature of its material. The lean arms are
muscular, dry, and hard ; the hands are rendered clumsy by the
equally thick and almost equally long fingers. The legs are not
powerful, and rather slim, indicating
great elasticity, and, like all other
parts of the body, the ability to en-
dure great exertion. The knees are
sharp and drawn with anatomical un-
derstanding ; the feet are narrow and
long, as are also the toes, which, lying
in their entire length upon the ground,
do not greatly differ in dimensions and
form. In female figures the breasts
are fully developed, the nipples being
formed like a rosette ; a closely fitting
gown reaches from the broad neck-
ornament, common with both sexes,
to the ankles, but, being represented
without reference to the material and
without the most necessary folds, ap-
pears so elastic that its existence is
only surely to be perceived at the
borders.
The most ancient sculptures and
the later works of Nubia are some-
what heavy and full, those of the best
period (the time of Ramses) more slim
F5g.3o.-The Schoolmaster of Boulac. ^^j elastic. After the fifth Century
B.C. the figures become better modelled, and a certain influence of
Greek sculpture is betrayed. But the ancient type remained in the
chief characteristics unchanged until the end of the Ptolemaic dy-
nasties, and even to the later ages of the Roman Empire. Those
works of Greek and Roman sculptors, so popular during the age of
HfK^rian, which borrowed the costume and position of Egyptian
ANIMAL FORMS. .^I
statues while having nothing else in common with Egyptian art
(such, for instance, as the numerous figures of Antinous to be found
in almost all the larger museums), must not be classed with the
truly national works executed in Egypt and for that country.
The monotony of Egyptian sculpture was not without some ex-
ceptions. Less pretentious works, where the necessity of canonic
idealization seems not to have been so imperative — as in the well-
fed form of the so-called schoolmaster in the museum of Boulac
{Fig. 30), which shows not only in the head, but in the entire body,
an undeniable portrait — make it questionable whether the conven-
tionalized representations may not be more owing to the restraint
of religious authority and tradition, to the hieratic laws which exer-
cised so complete a sway over the life of the country in every re-
Fig. 31. — Lion of Reddish Granite. (British Museum.)
spect, than to any absolute incapability of the Egyptian artist for
individual characterization.
Egyptian sculpture, thus under the ban of religious conservatism,
always dealt more successfully with the forms of animals than with
human beings and deities. In hunting scenes there is wonderful
spirit and character in the drawing of the dogs, and of the animals
which they attack. The artist attained an elastic and life-like force
in the representation of all animal forms, even when these were
compelled into monstrous combinations with human members. The
most common of the latter are the androsphinxes, which differ from
the Greek sphinx in being male — having the head and breast
of a man and the body of a crouching lion. At times the human
head is supplanted by that of a ram or hawk. Rams were also
42 EGYPT.— SCULPTURE.
treated as sphinxes, especially before the temples of Ammon and
Kneph. The most important androsphinx is the well-known colos-
sus of Gizeh with the head of Thothmes IV. The heads of the
sphinxes seem usually to have been portraits of kings. This gigan-
tic guardian of the necropolis of Memphis, the most enormous mon-
umental figure of the world, with space between the outstretched
front legs for a chapel there built, is now again buried to the neck
by the shifting sand of the pyramid plateau after having been ex-
cavated with great labor. Its face alone is 12.2 m. long. But it is in
cases where the entire lion is represented without deformation that
Egyptian sculpture attains its greatest perfection. {Fig. 31.)
A great majority of the Egyptian works of sculpture were cut
with marvellous patience in the hardest materials, in variously col-
ored granite, diorite, syenite, and basalt. Limestone and alabaster
were rarely employed for colossal or life-size statues, but were used
more frequently for works of smaller dimensions ; these were also
burned in clay with a surface of blue or green glazing, or were cut
in more valuable stones, such as agate, jasper, carnelian, and lapis-
lazuli. Enamelled clay idols were manufactured in great numbers ;
modern museums contain hundreds of these little figures of perfect-
ly similar form. The so-called scarabaeus is also very common —
beetle-shaped bodies of clay, or of the above-named stones — with
incised figures or hieroglyphics upon their lower surface. Such
amulets were perforated and worn as beads, and were placed loosely
in the coffins with the mummies.
The artistic manufacture of colored glass was extensive. Fine
metal-work was less common, although ornaments of enamelled
gold, silver, and copper of high artistic value have occasionally been
found. Wood -carving was practised upon the mummy -coflfins.
Although the valley of the Nile did not produce large pieces of a
satisfactory material, this lack was supplied by gluing together lay-
ers of palm or sycamore wood, and hiding the defects of this process
by a painted priming of stucco. The coffins themselves are in so
far works of sculpture as they represent upon the cover the form of
the swathed body plaeed within them, and even show the face as
exposed.
The sculpture of reliefs was less developed and less correct than
COILANAGLYPHIC RELIEFS.
43
of the round. As the relief was always very low, and could not ex-
press the greater projections, the artist's desire to represent the hu-
man body clearly and completely led to an unfortunate conflict be-
tween the profile and front view of the figure. While mostly drawn
in profile, and showing particularly the head and legs in side view,
which is the more favorable for representation in low -relief, the
shoulders and breast are developed in the other direction, and are
seen as from in front. It is only in this position that both arms
are visible — an important consideration to the artist, whose object
was solely to represent some action or attributes. It was also felt
as a difficulty that in a relief of the side view the visible shoul-
der should project farther than any other part of the body, the
Fig. 32. — Sculptural Work. Egyptian Wall-painting.
breadth of the breast and arms being more than double that of the
head. The primitive designer, to avoid these objections, resorted
to a forced and clumsy torsion of the body, which may be noticed
in the childhood of almost every art — in the Assyrian as well as in
the most ancient Greek. The head, with exception of the eye, which
was represented as in front, was taken in profile ; shoulders and
breast from in front, but arms and hands, as well as hips, legs, and
feet, in profile again. The lower the relief, the less could the sur-
face be modelled, and this led to a sharp demarcation of the outline,
which exaggerated the peculiar leanness of the Egyptian race to a
hard angularity.
The relief is a transitional stage between sculpture and painting ;
it works upon a more or less flat surface, seeks its chief effect in out-
44
EGYPT.— PAINTING.
line, and lends itself readily to the heightening of color. The most
common Egyptian relief, which has been termed coilanaglyphic, be-
ing hollowed out, stands even nearer to painting than to sculpture.
In real reliefs the surface is so cut away as to leave the figures em-
bossed ; but here the forms do not rise above the background, and
the original plane remains untouched : the sculptor contented him-
self with firmly incising the outlines, and slightly rounding the forms
of the body within them. This incised outline is clearly seen only
by sharp side light, but it has the advantage of protecting the bor-
ders of the figures and thus securing the indestructibility of the
representation. In other respects the coilanaglyphics are nothing
else than paintings, the space within the
carved outlines being colored in the same
manner as are all Egyptian wall decora-
tions. The limits of the latter art were
thus greatly extended, for all temples
were covered with such colored coilana-
glyphics, while the stuccoed sides of rock-
cut tombs and of brick masonry were
richly ornamented by paintings.
The number of ancient painted dec-
orations which have been preserved is
very great, notwithstanding their age
and the perishable nature of all pig-
ments exposed to air and light. The
subjects represented and often repeated are, for the greater part,
religious scenes, which share the monotony of the strict Egyptian
ritual, though often allowing an interesting insight into the customs
of interment, the transport of mummies by the processional boat,
the sacred dances and sacrifices. Representations of profane scenes
are more varied and are exceedingly interesting ; the technicalities of
Egyptian art are shown by the cutting of a monolithic palm-column,
the polishing of a granite chapel, the painting of walls, the writing
of hieroglyphics upon tablets and papyrus, the carving and painting
of sphinxes and statues {Fig. 32), the transport of a colossal figure
upon a sledge {Fig. 7), the making of bricks and walling of brick
masonry, the interior of houses {Fig. 26), even the plans of dwellings
Fig. 33. — Lance-maker. Egyptian
Wall-painting.
THE EMPLOYMENT OF COLOR.
45
and gardens. Besides numerous tools and the products of manufact-
uring trades, there may be recognized upon these paintings weav-
ers, rope-makers, the preparers of paper and of linen cloth, ship-
builders, carpenters with hand-saw and auger, and the Gutters of
bows and lances {Fig. 33), who employ adzes quite similar to those
still in use. Commerce on land and sea is represented by wares,
unpacked or in bales, by scales, various kinds of wagons and trading
vessels, etc., all shown in the clearest manner possible. Ploughs,
sowing and harvesting, the gathering of figs and grapes, the pressing
of oil and wine, illustrate the condition of agriculture ; while the es-
pecial ability of the Egyptians for animal representations is exer-
cised in the hunting scenes of lions, tigers, buffaloes, jackals, and
gazelles ; by the snaring of birds and fishes in nets, as well as by the
F'g- 34- — Prisoners of Different Nationalities. Egyptian Wall-painting.
admirably characterized figures of apes, porcupines, etc. There are
also historical paintings, great battle scenes, the storming of cities,
and the triumph of the returning victors, who bring with them
booty and prisoners, the nationality of whom is often readily dis-
tinguishable by peculiarities of physiognomy and costume. {Fig. 34,)
The Egyptian kings appear of superhuman size, either fighting from
splendid war-chariots, or striding forward to sacrifice their kneeling
enemies, a dozen of whom, seized at once by the hair, are decapi-
tated at a blow.
Extended and varied as these Egyptian representations were,
and instructive as that which through their agency has been pre-
served now is, it yet must be confessed that the painting was more
a conventional picture-writing than an art. The seven colors used
46 EGYPT.— PAINTING;
— red, blue, brown, yellow, green, black, and white — are, as a rule,
applied simply, without mixture or variation, and without much ref-
erence to the appearance of nature. At least, it is very rarely that
any striving after natural effect is to be noticed ; that, for instance,
the skin of a negress appears bluish-gray through a partially trans-
parent white drapery, or that the typical red-brown complexion of
an Egyptian, under similar conditions, is of a broken yellow. With-
in the sharply drawn outlines the colors are flat and without any
modification by light and shade, upon the changing effects of which
all pictorial illusion is based. This illusion is the fundamental prin-
ciple of painting, the aim of which is to render the appearance of
objects. It being here entirely lacking, we cannot properly speak
of an art of painting in Egypt, or, indeed, in antiquity at all, before
the time of Polygnotos. Egyptian paintings are entirely of the
nature of ornament ; the representation of human beings is conven-
tionalized in the same manner as are floral ornaments, — while imi-
tated to a certain degree from nature, it is simplified according to the
requirements of decorative laws. The actions shown are all without
truth and life. The beauty of decoration demands a certain har-
mony in the choice of colors, which is there unfettered ; in Egyptian
paintings this is sought and attained at the cost of truth to nature.
It was not distasteful to the Egyptian to see the same figure re-
peated a dozen times in absolute similarity, for an ornament can
always bear repetition.
To these considerations must be added a marked peculiarity of
Egyptian painting. Although the art had been restricted to the
portrayal of merely exterior actions, even this end could hardly have
been attained without the complement of a written explanation,
which was here so adjoined as to harmonize with the figures in
composition and even in color. This conjunction is far more inti-
mate than is that of picture and text in an illustrated chronicle : the
hieroglyphic writing and the painting are closely allied in character.
It was only a step from the one to the other, and their limits are
sometimes hardly distinguishable, especially in the stucco paintings
of the mummy-coffins and the pen and brush drawings upon papy-
rus manuscripts, where the carelessness of the execution increases
the similarity. The hieroglyphic inscriptions might even be consid-
DECLINE OF EGYPTIAN ART. 47
ered as the extreme consequence of the hieratically conventionalized
pictures.
The painting of Egypt existed unchanged for a period of more
than two thousand years, with a stability unequalled in the other
civilizations of the world. It was perhaps not quite so extensively
employed in the ancient kingdom as in later times: paintings can
be dated as far back as the third dynasty (3338 to 3124 B.C., accord-
ing to Lepsius), but they were restricted to interior decoration. The
walls of the pyramids were unadorned by color. After the practice
of art had been greatly limited by the invasion of the Hycsos (from
the thirteenth to the seventeenth dynasty, 2136 to 1591 B.C.), it
arose with new vigor at the advent of the modern kingdom, espe-
cially during the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, when the ar-
chitecture which flourished at Thebes offered a wide field for painted
decorations. From that time the walls lost their bareness, and rich-
ly colored ornaments were employed even upon the exterior, enli-
vening the dead and heavy character of Egyptian building and
somewhat supplying the deficiency of its exterior development.
The art of Egypt attained its greatest elaboration — not, indeed,
without some loss of national character — in the time of Alexander
and the Ptolemies (332 to 30 B.C.), when Hellenic influence broke
through the sombre massiveness of the unmembered walls and ap-
plied the brilliant decoration of colored columns to the exterior.
But, delightful as the island of Philze appears because of these
changes, it yet marks the commencing decline of Egyptian art, with
the negation of the serious and mystical peculiarities of the land.
The excellence of Egyptian technical processes could only delay the
utter exhaustion and extinction of their art until the time of the
later Roman empire.
F'g- 35- — Assyrian Shrines. Relief from Corsabad.
CHALDy^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
THE traditional culture of the land of the Euphrates and Tigris
is not younger than that of the Nile. Though the third dynas-
ty (commencing, according to Berosos, with the twenty-third century
B.C.) is the first of which we have monumental remains, it cannot be
denied that long before that time an important people had inhab-
ited the country, a nation very different from the nomadic hordes
which then, as to-day, roved through the neighboring deserts. Sev-
eral races of antiquity were conscious that the most primitive peo-
ple of civilization had lived in the land of the two streams. The
Jews considered that to have been their original home. The Patri-
arch Abraham had emigrated from Chaldaean Ur to Canaan. The
Greek legend of Deucalion points to the history of Mesopotamia in
the same manner as does the Jewish myth of the Deluge ; the old-
est Greek knowledge of astronomy, astrology, and the calculation
of time seems to have been derived from the same source. The
tale of the division of the nations in Babel, and their spreading over
the face of the earth from that point, is certainly based upon the
existence of a most ancient centre of civilization upon the banks of
the Euphrates.
The land offered no materials for monuments which, like those
of Egypt, could stand uninjured through thousands of years. The
narrow valley of the Nile is enclosed by the cliffs of the desert bor-
der, which seemed directly to encourage, by the excellence of the
BUILDING MATERIALS.
49
building-stone there procured, the erection of immense and inde-
structible works. The plain of Mesopotamia, on the other hand,
spread far beyond the courses of the two streams, losing itself in
deserts without any line of eminences as a demarcation. The remote
mountains offered no quarries at all comparable to those of Egyftt-
The soil was of good clay for the manufacture of bricks, but fuel
was lacking with which to bum and harden them. The inhabitants
of the land were generally obliged to content themselves with dry-
ing the clay in the sun, making up by the great thickness of the
Fig. 36. — Temple of Mugheir (Ur).
masonry for the firmness lacking to the material. They further
strengthened the massive walls with a facing, or with buttress-like
piers of burnt brick, or solidified the interior with alternate courses
of this harder substance. The bitumen which still flows at Hit, on
the Euphrates, north of Bagdad at the southern border of the higher
alluvial terrace of Assyria, was an excellent substance for cementing
the bricks ; in more important works it was used alternately with
lime-mortar : in common buildings, or in the interior of the thickest
walls, clay kneaded with straw answered the purpose of a cement.
A
go CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
It is natural that little should now remain of such structures.
They could only survive the thousands of years that have elapsed
since their building, when an immense thickness secured at least the
kernel of the wall, or when the ruins of other buildings early cov-
ered and protected them. The remains of ancient Chaldaea are
generally nothing more than formless heaps of rubbish, many of
which have not yet been opened. Taylor, Loftus, and their prede-
cessors, Ainsworth, Chesney, and Layard, discovered the ruins of
over thirty cities in the lower half of the Mesopotamian plain. Of
these, Mugheir (the ancient Ur), Warka (Erech), Niffer (Nipur), and
Abou - Sharein offered the most important remains of great age ;
while the ruins of Sura, Tel Sifr, Calvadha, and Ackercuf are main-
ly of the later Chaldaean period.
Recognizable among the rubbish -hills of Mugheir are the re-
mains of a terrace which consisted of two oblong steps, the lowest
measuring 60.35 by 40.54 m. in length and breadth, and about 12
m. in height, standing upon a platform raised 6 m. above the sur-
rounding country. The greater part of this is overthrown and
buried beneath its own material. The kernel of the solid structure
is of sun-dried bricks ; the facing, which is divided by buttresses,
being of burnt brick cemented with bitumen. The whole is per-
forated by numerous small air-channels. The second step is only
about half preserved, and that which it must once have supported
has entirely disappeared. A remarkable inscription, repeated upon
the four corners of the upper terrace, explained the purpose of the
structure and the time of its erection. According to Sir H. Raw-
linson's interpretation of the cuneiform legend, this was dedicated
to the deity Sin (Hurki) as a temple, and was first founded by King
Urukh (about 2230 B.C.). The name of the spot is given as Ur, a
city known from Biblical tradition. The inscriptions were not, how-
ever, contemporaneous with the foundation of the building, for, af-
ter giving a long line of kings, they at last name Nabonetos, the
last King of Babylon, as the restorer of the temple — a fact which is
further attested by the bricks themselves, those of the lower terrace
having the name of Urukh, those of the upper of Nabonetos. The
temple remains of Warka and of Abou - Sharein unite with these
ruins of Mugheir to show that the Chaldaean temple consisted of a
TEMPLE TERRACES.
51
simple and massive terrace of few steps, crowned, without doubt, by
a chapel, which must be supposed richly decorated with colors and
gold ornaments from the fragments of agate, alabaster, and fine mar-
f-kiilfi?Sii3
bles, of gold-plating and gilded nails, found in Abou-Sharein, and
from the blue enamelled clay tiles of Mugheir. The sides of the
great steps were either plainly buttressed or treated with projec-
52
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
tions, as is the case with the terrace wall of a palace at Warka,
shown by Fig. 37. There was here a complicated system of reeded
projections and stepped incisions— cylinders and prisms which can-
not be called pilasters, as they were without capitals, and probably
also without base-mouldings. Another ruin of Warka {Fig. 38) has
a colored wall-facing, made by driving conical pegs of terra-cotta
about 0.1 m. long into the clay, so that the red, black, and whitish
base surfaces form different patterns. This ruin is further interest-
ing as giving some insight into the private architecture of the Chal-
daeans. Rooms were there found separated from one another by
walls fully as thick as the enclosed
spaces themselves were broad —
a clumsy heaviness which shows
what massive masonry the poor
crumbling material necessitated.
The existing remains suggest so
strongly the arrangement of the
later Assyrian palaces that there
can be but little doubt that they,
in some degree, served as a model
for these latter ; although the pal-
ace wall, with its revetment of
alabaster, might be erected with
less thickness. No trace of win-
dow-like openings can be ob-
served in the ruins of Warka or
in those of Abou-Sharein.
The principle of the arch, though not extensively employed,
was well understood and occasionally introduced in Assyria. From
a small grave -chamber discovered at Mugheir, we may conclude
that it was not known in the ancient Chaldaean period. The roof-
ing was then effected by a gradual projection of the horizontal
courses of bricks until the opposite sides nearly touched each other
at the top of the gable thus formed. {Fig. 39.) It may perhaps be
assumed that this manner of covering by the so-called false arch
and vault was only employed for very narrow spaces, while larger
rooms were more naturally ceiled by wooden beams. The ruins of
Fig- 39- — Tomb of Mugheir.
HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 53
Warka, though they do not give a very clear understanding of the
fortifications of ancient Chaldaea, at least show that the city walls
were not necessarily square, as had been concluded from the testi-
mony of ancient writers, but, as in this case, followed the irregular
outline of the city.
The political history of Chaldxa was from the earliest times
greatly disturbed by internal divisions. At first the city Nipur,
celebrated for its worship of Bel, appears to have been the most
important place, at least of Southern Chaldaea. To this followed
Ur or Hur, the city worshipping Hurki or Sin, then Nisin or Carrac,
and, finally, Larsa, the present Senkereh. Upper Chaldaean Baby-
lon, originally Ca-dimirra, does not seem to have become the only
capital until the age of King Cammurabi, about 1500 B.C. A hun-
dred years later Northern Mesopotamia, Assyria, began to gain pre-
dominance, and in the thirteenth century B.C. Babylon was con-
quered (for the first time?) by Tiglathi-Nin, a son of King Salma-
neser of Assyria. Chaldaea soon regained its independence, but only
to fall again into the power of the conqueror Tiglath-Pileser, and to
remain for five centuries subjugated to Nineveh. The attempts to
throw off this yoke of Assyrian authority were in vain ; even the
uprising under the bold Merodach-Baladan, 731 B.C., was not of
long duration, and finally led to the depopulation and total destruc-
tion of the prominent Chaldaean cities by Sennacherib. The As-
syrian Esar-haddon rebuilt Babylon ; but it did not recover its an-
cient importance until the Satrap Nabopolassar revolted from his
allegiance, and, with the help of the Medes, made an end of the
kingdom of Nineveh : and until his son Nebuchadnezzar, after the
fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., reduced even distant Egypt to vassal-
age, thus taking into possession the full heritage of the Assyrian
empire in both south and west.
Though the subjugation of the land by Assyria had not been
without effect upon the civilization of Chaldaea, the general char-
acter of Bj.bylonian art remained much the same through all these
political changes. The last king, Nabonetos, could complete the
teniple^ofJUr, which Urukh had founded seventeen centuries be-
fore, as though there had been no interruption in the work. The
terraced ruins show that there was no great difference in the ar-
54
CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
chitectural treatment of ages so removed. Other city ruins show
such an intermixture of ancient Chaldaean and Babylonian walls
that their date can be determined only by inscriptions or by
stamps upon the bricks. The earlier remains are predominant in
Mugheir, Warka, and Abou - Sharein ; but the later capital of the
country, Babylon, the city of Nebuchadnezzar, is known almost
exclusively by the imposing structures of the modern kingdom.
Greek antiquity, up to the time of Alexander, was acquainted with
Fig. 40. — Bors-Nimrud. Temple-terrace of Borsippa.
this city of wonders only by fables. Even the explicit description
of Herodotos is in great degree mythical, especially his astonishing
account of the city walls: 480 stadia (96.557 m.) in length, 200 ells
(100 m.) high, and 50 ells (25 m.) broad. The ruins have also
proved the account of the famed hundred gates of the city walls,
and the square network of straight streets which ran from these, to
be hyperbolical. Such immense masses of masonry would, as Layard
has maintained, certainly have left heaps of rubbish ; and, in fact,
the ruins of a much smaller city enclosure have been traced. The
BABYLON. 55
irregular orientation of the palace plan is also incompatible with the
conception that the city was divided up into squares with the regu-
larity of a chess-board. The traditional account that the enormous
terraced temple of Bel was built on the borders of the stream oppo-
site the palace structures is certainly incorrect ; for, while these lat-
ter are still represented by extensive brick ruins, there is not a trace
upon the other bank, the supposed site, of massive terraces which
could not possibly have so entirely disappeared. Nor could the
stream have swept away so colossal a building; for a little north of
Hillah, in the immediate vicinity of the spot where Herodotos de-
scribes the temple of Bel, there have been found the remains of a
small Mylitta temple, which would have offered almost no resist-
ance to an inundation. Yet Herodotos undoubtedly related, be-
sides his fables, much that was correct about Babylon. His account
of the temple of Bel seems only questionable in so far as the site
is concerned ; the rest of his description agrees perfectly with ruins
which have been found about eleven kilometers westward, and are
known by the name Bors-Nimrud. {Fig. 40.) The temple thus
could not have belonged to the city proper of Babylon ; and inscrip-
tions mention the place as Borsippa, spoken of by Greek writers as
a separate town, which could at best be regarded as a distant sub-
urb of the extended Babylon. The immense hill of rubbish stand-
ing entirely isolated in the desert has a lower circumference of
685 m. This dimension agrees tolerably well with the six stadia
given by Herodotos as the measure of the first step of the terraced
pyramid. The regularly diminished seven steps, the " towers" of
Herodotos, 7.5 m. high, reaching altogether a total altitude of 75 m.,
rose from a square substructure with a side of two stadia (180 m.)
and a height of 22.5 m. The diagonals of these different terraces
were not directly above one another, the steps being 9 m. broad
in front and only 3.9 m. broad behind, while the sides were equal
— 6.3 m. This peculiarity of the ruin agrees with the flights of
stairs described by Herodotos, which, notwithstanding the analogy of
the palace temple of Kisr-Sargon, may here naturally be supposed
to have been upon the front, where the terraces were sufficiently
broad for this purpose. Fig. 41 is an attempt to restore the chief
lines of the structure by means of the dimensions given by Oppert.
56
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
Upon the summit of this terraced pyramid stood the necessarily
small temple, which, according to Herodotos, contained a spacious
couch and a golden table, but no statue of the deity. The sides of
Fig. 41. — Plan and Elevation of the Temple at Borsippa. (From
Oppert's Measurements.)
the terraces are directed to the cardinal points of the compass, as
was the case also with the ancient Chaldaean temple of Ur; and, as
at Ur, inscribed cylinders were here walled in at the angles. These
TERRACES AND HANGING GARDENS. 57
relate that Nebuchadnezzar had magnificently completed the struct-
ure— " the temple-pyramid of the seven spheres, the wonder of Bor-
sippa," begun by a former king. Rawlinson and Oppert have con-
cluded, from the remains of glazed bricks of different colors, that
each of the seven terraces was dedicated to one of the seven planets
of the ancients, and was characterized by its color — the upper, gold ;
the second, silver ; the next, red, blue, yellow, white ; and the lowest,
black — according to the hues assigned to the sun, the moon, Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The lowest terrace has a
panelled architectural treatment similar to that noticed in the ruins
at Warka and the palace temple at Kisr-Sargon. It is probable that
these high terraces in the flat plains of Mesopotamia were elevations
which served the Chaldxan astronomers for their celebrated observa-
tories, as the pylons of temples upon the banks of the Nile were
similarly used by the Egyptian priests. As Strabo speaks especially
of an astronomical school at Borsippa, there can be little doubt that
it was in some way connected with the terraced pyramid of the
seven spheres.
The ruins of Hillah, Casr, Mudjelibeh, and Jumjuma give even
less information concerning the palace buildings than the hill of
Bors-Nimrud does concerning the form of the Chaldaean temple.
These masses of masonry have for centuries served as quarries, and,
as far distant as Bagdad, bricks, bearing the stamp of Nebuchadnez-
zar, betray that the material has been transported from the ruins of
Babylon. Though the supply is by no means exhausted, this ex-
cavation has rendered much unrecognizable, and has so greatly
increased the destruction that Layard held it impossible to dis-
cover a clew to the plan of the palace structure in the confusion
of its overthrown and rifled rubbish. Oppert assumes the hill of
Jumjuma, or Amran-ibn-Ali, as it is called from the Mohammedan
chapel now standing upon it, to be the remains of the celebrated
Hanging Gardens known as those of Semiramis, the wonder of the
ancient world. But, plausible as his supposition is, it will hardly be
possible to prove by existing remains the correctness of the descrip-
tion given by Diodoros of the Hanging Gardens, in itself more proba-
ble than the report followed by Strabo. Diodoros speaks of the Gar-
dens as a terraced structure, the side of the square plan being about
58 CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
1 20 m. in length, with separate steps which ascended from the land
side, while upon the banks of the river a steep wall formed the back
of the highest terrace, measuring 15 m. vertically, and closing the
gardens towards the water. The steps were constructed by the help
of thirteen thick parallel walls, each being higher than the one next
below it. They left between them twelve narrow corridors, the ceil-
ings of which, like those over Assyrian canals, were probably vault-
ed, and were then covered with rushes and bitumen, burnt brick
pavements and lead sheathing, so as to bear the stairways which
connected the different terraces, the reservoirs for cascades and
fountains, and the imposed garden - earth with large trees, etc.
Pumping works in the highest of these covered corridors supplied
the garden with the necessary water from the Euphrates.
The ruined terraces of Mudjelibeh (Babil), avoided by the Arabs
as the scene of the punishment of the fallen angels, are so complete-
ly overthrown that it is not possible to determine whether the re-
mains are those of a temple or of a palace. It is probable that
they had some connection with the great pyramidal tomb of Belus,
a structure which may be assumed to have been much like the step-
ped pyramid of Nimrud to be described below. The monument
of Mudjelibeh was destroyed as early as the time of Xerxes II. It
has since served as a quarry for the neighboring cities Seleucia and
Ctesiphon, and has been demolished to the lowest terrace.
The enormous river embankments and dikes which protected
Lower Mesopotamia from flood and drought, though now only to
be traced by inconsiderable remains, are of the greatest importance
and interest. The neglect of these invaluable works, and of the
sluices and irrigating canals in connection with them, has reduced to
a deserted and pestilential swamp that most fertile land known to
Herodotos — where once a harvest of two and three hundredfold
was returned to the tiller of the soil. Though there are vestiges
of some ancient bridges in the land, it is not possible to decide
whether the account given by Diodoros of the great tunnel con-
structed by Semiramis be true or fabulous.
There seems to have been no reason for the erection of such
tall edifices in the vastly extended Babylon as the three and four
storied houses described by Herodotos, and no analogy to such a
NINEVEH. 5g
peculiarity exists in the great modern cities of the Orient. It must
be remembered in this connection that the crumbling bricks to
which the Mesopotamians were restricted would, in such high build-
ings, have demanded clumsily massive substructures and lower-story
walls.
Though the ruins of Babylon have only recently been thorough-
ly examined, their existence has long been known. Benjamin of
Tudela speaks of Bors-Nimrud as the Biblical Tower of Babel, and
this local tradition has been handed down to the present day. The
palace ruins of the great city have always been readily recognizable,
Fig. 42. — Han of Babylon. (According to Rich.)
and the one has been called Babel, the other Casr (palace), from
time immemorial.
It is otherwise with the second great centre of Mesopotamia —
Nineveh, the famed capital of the kingdom of Assyria, in the upper
land of the great streams. As early as the beginning of this cen-
tury, Carsten Niebuhr expressed the conviction that the remains
of the overthrown city were to be sought among the hills of rub-
bish which lie opposite the present Mosul, beyond the Tigris ; but
the energetic Rich, who devoted so much time and labor to the
barren ruins of Babylon, paid no attention to the site. Nineveh had
6o CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
entirely disappeared, and was only traditionally known from the
Book of Jonah and from the legend of Sardanapalos. It was during
two visits to Mosul, in the years 1840 and 1842, that the eminent
English traveller and statesman Sir A. H. Layard conceived the
plan of undertaking investigations in the vicinity. He expressed
his convictions at the time to the French consul, M. P. E. Botta, and
in 1843 that gentleman commenced the excavation of the hill Co-
yundjic, which lay next to Mosul. The natives, becoming aware of
the nature of the search, directed his attention to the hill of Corsabad,
situated at a distance of about twenty-five kilometers from Mosul ;
the excavations were removed thither, and carried on with most
gratifying results. A few days' digging laid bare a number of walls
reveted with huge slabs of alabaster. The wonderful sculptures in
relief upon these excited redoubled activity, and soon entire cham-
bers of the palace structure were freed from the overthrown rubbish
which had covered it for well-nigh three thousand years. The
French government purchased the entire village of Corsabad : in
M. V. Place was provided a worthy successor to M. Botta. The in-
scriptions discovered have proved the ruins to be those of a palace
founded by Sargon about 710 B.C. in the city Kisr-Sargon or Dur-
Sargina.
In the year 1845, Layard obtained, through' Sir Stratford Can-
ning, then ambassador to Turkey, the necessary means for the Eng-
lish government to take part in the promising undertaking. He
at first directed his attention to Nimrud, a hill of ruins about a
day's journey south of Mosul, the great size of which promised the
existence of important remains. An immense terrace platform was
there found to have supported a number of palaces, several of which
were excavated, the more valuable sculptures and other objects of
interest being transported to the British Museum. At Nimrud
were discovered the most ancient and the most modern of Assyrian
buildings known — namely, the northwestern palace, temple, and tow-
er built by Assur-nazi-pal shortly after 885 B.C., as well as the
Temple of Assur-ebil-ili, presumably the last Assyrian king, dating
to about 610 B.C. Besides these, there were the southeastern and
central palaces built by Shalmaneser II. after 860, the latter having
been restored by Tiglath-pileser II., from 745 to 727, as Sargon re-
COYUNDJIC AND NEBBI-JONAS.
6t
built the northwestern palace after 722 ; and, finally, there was the
southwestern palace of Esar-haddon, from 681 to 668 B.C. The city
itself (Calah) corresponded in grandeur and extent with the palace
terrace. It was founded by Shalmaneser, and long rivalled Nineveh,
especially after its reconstruction by Assur-nazi-pal.
It is now beyond a doubt that the chief capital of the country
is buried beneath the hills of Coyundjic and Nebbi-Jonas, the latter
so called from a Mohammedan chapel to the prophet Jonah which
traditionally marks the site of Nineveh. Both these mounds of
Fig. 43. — Plan of Nineveh.
ruins were examined by Layard. In the southwestern palace of
Coyundjic, built by Assur-bani-pal, from 668 to 626 B.C., was dis-
covered the most extensive among these dwellings of Oriental
despots. The most elaborate of Assyrian palaces was the northern
one of this site, built by Assur-bani-pal about 640 B.C., a monarch
who devoted certain chambers of the southwestern palace, orig-
inally erected by his grandfather, to the reception of inscribed clay
tablets — an inexhaustible wealth for the study of Assyrian history,
of which hardly a third part seems to have been recovered intact.
6^ CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
In Nebbi-Jonas were found traces of the palaces of Vulnirari III.,
from 812 to 783 ; of Sennacherib, from 705 to 681 ; and of Esar-had-
don, from 681 to 668 B.C. The line of the city walls, still recogniza-
ble among the hills of rubbish, is shown by the plan at Fig. 43.
These fortifications could hardly have enclosed the entire city, and
it is probable that only the inner town, with the palaces and public
buildings, was thus protected, and that the dwelling-houses of the
many inhabitants formed suburbs which extended far around the
enclosed centre, gradually losing themselves in gardens and groves of
date-trees, as is the case with modern capitals of the East. The com-
paratively small walls of Babylon, at variance with the report given
by Herodotos, lead to the same conclusion in regard to that city.
The ruins of Calah-Shergat, situated about 100 kilometers down
the stream from Nineveh, are identified with Assur, the oldest cap-
ital of the land, which maintained its pre-eminence until Nineveh,
in the fourteenth century B.C., became the great centre of power.
Reson is thought to be recognized in the ruins of Selamiyeh, lying
between Nimrud and Nineveh, and Erbil in Arbola. These sites
have not been sufficiently examined to be of direct importance in
the history of art.
It is plain from the ruins already mentioned that the dwellings
of the kings took the most prominent place among the creations of
Assyrian architecture. The despotic element had in Mesopotamia
the same superiority as the hierarchy in Egypt : in the former coun-
try the palace was as much in the foreground as was the temple in
the latter. In ancient Chaldaea the two elements, and consequently
the two classes of monuments, were more equally represented. Still,
in most points of view, the relation of Chaldaean and Assyrian archi-
tecture is very close, and the differences arose chiefly from tlie supe-
rior material at the builders' disposal in Upper Mesopotamia. The
terraces of Assyria, like those of Chaldaea, were solidly constructed
of sun-dried bricks and stamped earth, but the neighboring moun-
tains provided stone for the complete revetment of these masses
with quarried blocks. Carefully hewn slabs existed upon the terrace
platform of Sargon's palace, and upon the substructure of the pyra-
mid of Nimrud, while there was rough Cyclopean stone-work em-
ployed in the construction of the city walls at Kisr-Sargon. The
PALACE OF KISRSARGON. 63
facing of brightly glazed tiles and stucco-paintings, universal in Chal-
daea, is restricted upon Assyrian masonry of the same brick materi-
als to the upper part of the wall, the lower half being sheathed and
protected by sculptured slabs of alabaster. The appearance of the
whole gained greatly by this change, the revetment of reliefs in
: T-TT-TiPPT*
i 1 A ,
Fig. 44. — Palace of Kisr-Sargon, CorsabaA
place of the painted figures giving a more imposing and durable
character to the walls. The palace architecture of Assyria is best
exemplified by the plan of the royal dwelling of Kisr-Sargon {Fig.
44), the isolated position and clear disposition of which are adapted
to show the general character of these structures. The platform
64
CUALDMA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
terrace consisted of two divisions, the broader (P) being inside the
limits of the city fortifications, while the remainder (T) projected be-
yond them. A double flight of steps (A) led to the chief portal
(B), ornamented by gigantic winged human-headed bulls, which here
not only stood on the sides of the passage itself, as at all principal
entrances, but laterally upon the front walls, within and without.
These figures are among the most characteristic creations of As-
syrian art ; they will be treated more in detail in the following con-
sideration of the sculpture of the country. The triple gateway
Fig. 45. — Ornamented Pavement from the Northern Palace of Coyundjic.
opened into the first and largest enclosed court (C). Upon the left
of this, one narrow passage led to the chambers of the harem, which
were ranged around six smaller courts (D to H). Upon the right
of the first enclosure were the household ofifices (J), with eight courts
and numerous halls, magazines, kitchens, cellars, stables, etc. The
side opposite the chief entrance was formed by the private apart-
ments of the monarch (M) and by the great hall of the palace — a
group of chambers not presenting its chief front to the first court (C),
with which it was connected only by subordinate entrances — but to
PALACE OF KISR-SARGON. 65
a second enclosure of almost equal extent (K), which may be regard-
ed as the chief open space of the royal dwelling. An inclined ascent
(R) led to the right wing of the inner terrace, by which the king, ap-
proaching in a chariot or borne by attendants in a sedan-chair, could
enter his seraglio without passing the first court (C) or the entrance
to the household offices (J). The encroaching line of the city wall
(P) made it impossible for the portal to the second court (S) to be
arranged in the central axis of that enclosure ; but strict symmetry
of plan was not adopted even when there were no such obstacles.
The inner apartments of the king were entered by a magnificent
triple gateway (L) from the court of the seraglio; these were, in
certain measure, regularly planned, being so grouped around a
smaller court ( M ) that oblong halls, as long as this was square,
were upon three of its sides. The hall upon the south opens into a
number of intricate chambers, probably used as baths, sleeping-
apartments, and rooms for the immediate body-guards of the king
and for the temporary families of the harem. Upon the north a wing
was added to the building, projecting almost to the outer border of
the terrace, and dividing this (T) into a northern and a western
court. The addition was the most richly ornamented portion of the
entire palace ; it was probably here that the halls of reception were
placed. The walls of other parts of the seraglio were reveted upon
their lower part with sculptured slabs of alabaster ; but this treat-
ment was not elsewhere so freely applied, nor was it as richly deco-
rated as in this northwestern wing. In the first hall, which is 35 m.
long and 10 m. broad, the walls are ornamented with continuous
scenes representing, as in a procession, the homage and punishment
of prisoners-of-war. In other rooms and in smaller courts these
reliefs, divided by a band of cuneiform inscriptions, are of smaller
dimensions and less pretentious execution, though of marked inter-
est as forming, with their copious inscriptions, chronicles of histor-
ical events.
The spacious terrace at the west has in its centre an oblong hall
(N), generally supposed to be the temple or chapel of the palace,
but which may with more probability be considered as a hall of
state. The scanty remains of this structure make a sure determina-
tion of its purpose impossible. They consist chiefly of the founda-
5
(^
CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
tions of solid unburnt brick masonry, faced with slabs of black
basalt. The cornice of this substructure is of gray limestone, in
form much resembling the characteristic scotia of Egyptian archi-
tecture. {Fig- 46.)
A small terraced pyramid (O) at the southwest is a more remark-
able structure. Four of its steps, with their facing of white, black,
orange, and blue enamelled tiles, are still remaining. These lead,
from analogy with the pyramid of Borsippa, to the assumption
of three further steps, tiled with the red, silver, and gold assigned
to the remaining planets. The vertical panelling of the sides is
somewhat similar to that of the remains at Warka ; it is not here
restricted to the walls of the lower terrace, like that upon the
ruins of Mugheir and Borsippa. The square platform at the top of
the terraces, the side of which could have measured little miore than
10 m., received either an altar or a small cella, not longer than 6 m.
Ascent to the top of the pyramid was
provided by an inclined plane, which
wound from step to step in a rectan-
gular spiral. The destination of the
pyramid as the palace chapel seems
reasonably certain, from its similarity
to other terraced temples of Assyria.
The palaces hitherto discovered show
the greatest freedom of detailed arrangement. The variations
among the plans may be illustrated by a comparison of those of
the northwestern palace of Nimrud {^Fig. 47), the palace of Esar-
haddon ^Fig. 49), and of that of Sennacherib at Coyundjic. The
methods of construction adopted for their erection are more sim-
ilar. All have walls built of burnt or unburnt brick and of
stamped clay ; those of the larger chambers are reveted in their low-
er half with slabs of alabaster or with brightly enamelled tiles, and
ornamented by paintings upon stucco above. All the principal
halls are so narrow in proportion to their length as to resemble
corridors — a peculiarity arising from technical difficulties of ceiling.
The manner of lighting and roofing adopted in Assyrian palaces
is not directly evident from the existing remains ; none of the
walls, the highest of which reaches 9 m. above the ground, showing
Fig. 46. — Cornice of the Temple
Substructure at Corsabad.
LIGHTING OF THE PALACES. 67
traces of any window-like openings. Some authorities assume that
all the light of the interior was admitted through the doors. That
this may, in some instances, have been barely possible is evident
from the plan of Sargon's palace at Corsabad {Fig. 44), where the
principal chambers were entered directly from the open courts, or,
in exceptional instances, were preceded by narrow ante-rooms which
could not greatly have interfered with the light. But it is plain
from the plan of the northwestern Palace of Nimrud {Fig. 47) that
twelve chambers in such unfavorable positions as those shown
f 'g- 47- — Plan of 'he Northwestern Palace of NimniA
upon its eastern side could not have received the slightest light
through the two narrow passages leading from the confined court.
It is futile to deny the necessity of light and air for the dwellings
of man ; and theories which suppose these enormous spaces left in
darkness, or unventilated and lighted artificially, are certainly un-
tenable. Other scholars are of the opinion that light and air were
procured through horizontal openings in the ceiling and roof; but
this imperfect and unpractical arrangement is particularly ill adapted
for inhabited rooms, and is rendered extremely improbable by the
68
CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
fact that upon the pavements there did not exist the slightest ar-
rangement for leading off the water which must have fallen upon
them had the roof been an inefficient shelter. The floors were rare-
ly of stone slabs, like the carved fragments shown in Fig. 45, and
in other places the sun-dried bricks would have been rapidly re-
duced to mud by the furious rain-storms of Mesopotamia.
The present condition of the ruins, the walls of which nowhere
rise to the full height of the chambers, does not, however, exclude
the possibility of openings for light having existed just beneath
the ceiling. The form of such orifices cannot surely be deter-
mined ; high windows could not have existed, and there must have
been low openings in the top of the wall, separated by piers, be-
tween which stood small columns,
as is evident from a relief of Co-
yundjic, given in Fig. 48 to serve
as an argument for this manner of
illumination. Light and air could
thus have been freely admitted,
without inconvenience to the
dwellers within. The high posi-
tion of the apertures, immediate-
ly under the somewhat projecting
roof, prevented the entrance of rain,
and shut off the interior from the
view of those without, just as this
same manner of lighting to-day
protects the harems of the East. The small shafts, which were
introduced as supports between these windows, appear to have
been the only representatives of columnar architecture in the As-
syrian palace. If columns had been used, in their customary func-
tion, as upholders of the roof, — as members which bore an important
entablature, — some traces of these would certainly have been pre-
served ; their material could hardly have been more perishable than
the sun-dried brick of the walls. The entire arrangement of plan
shows that their assistance was not relied upon. The chambers
were disproportionately narrow, plainly to render it possible to
cover them without the introduction of intermediate supports.
Fig. 48. — Relief from Coyundjic.
COLUMNAR ARCHITECTURE. (5g
The beauty and fitness of the corridor-like spaces were so sacrificed to
this narrowness that its universal appearance can be regarded only
as a constructive necessity. It is well illustrated by the cramped
principal hall of the palace of Esar-haddon at Nimrud {Fig. 49),
where a greater width than that permitted by the span of ceiling
timbers was only to be obtained by the erection of a division wall
to provide a subsidiary support for the beams. So helpless a make-
shift, destroying the unity and grandeur of the hall, could have been
adopted only in entire ignorance of the opening and supporting ele-
ment of the column, apparently never recognized in Assyria.
The form of the small columns, which stood in the openings al-
I'ig- 49- — Plan of the Palace of Esar-haddon at Nimrud.
lowed for light in the upper walls, can be approximately determined
from the representations upon reliefs. The shafts were cylindrical,
and probably without flutings ; they had a roundlet, or at least a
projecting fillet, at either end. The base consisted solely of a high
tore, sometimes notched upon the top, or placed upon the back of
a striding lion. {Fig. 50.) The most common form of the capitals
was a peculiar conjunction of two spiral scrolls, similar to a doubled
Ionic capital, with an echinos-like roundlet beneath and a stepped
abacus above. It is hardly to be doubted that this was the proto-
type of the Ionic capital, although it cannot be determined from
the reliefs whether a lateral roll corresponded to the volute of the
front, or whether the helix was repeated upon all four sides, as is
^o
CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
the case with the capitals of Persian columns. The small scale of
the representations upon reliefs, and their careless execution, do not
permit a sure understanding of any part of the capitals. A table
{Fig. 51) upon a relief of Coyundjic better determines the form of
the volutes ; it has distinct spirals in place of the rosettes, wrongly
shown by Layard's drawing.* There is reason to suppose that the
double helix was not the primitive and normal form of the Assyrian
»iS
Fig. 50. — Various Forms of Capitals and Bases, from Assyrian Reliefs.
capital, but was rather an abbreviation of the leaved calyx so fre-
quently met with in Phoenicia, Palestine, and Cyprus, and that the
rolled ends of the leaves, shown by two of the examples in Fig. 50,
originally suggested the volutes of the capital and the various spiral
forms occurring upon carved Assyrian furniture, as in Fig. 8i. The
question will be considered more at length in the section upon Syr-
ian architecture.
* Discoveries, p. 444.
ROOFING AND VAULTING.
n
The columns of Assyria were employed only in this subordi-
nate position, and the dimensions and shape of larger enclosed
spaces were dependent upon the limited span of the wooden ceil-
ing beams. Assyrian palaces were, in these respects, unable to fulfil
the demands of a monumental architecture. It can only be sur-
mised how roof and ceiling were constructed in detail. The beams
were naturally so placed as to require the least possible length to
span the clear width ; the sinking in the middle, to which the elastic
trunks of palm-trees so much inclined, and the accumulation of
water in the hollow thereby formed, were -r^ r"^ r*^ r^V
thus avoided as well as might be. The con-
structive details of the roof-platform are not
surely known ; it is probable that a layer of
clay and earth was placed upon the beams,
being rolled down compactly after every
rain. The exterior representation of roof
and ceiling, the wall entablature, may have
consisted of a painted wooden sheathing,
bearing ornaments of the character dis-
played by the pavement. ^Fig. 45.) It
was divided, like the Egyptian entablature,
into two parts ; in neither case was there a
marked distinction between roof and ceil-
ing. The imitations of building-fronts upon
reliefs make it probable that stepped battle-
ments rose above the main cornice.
The fundamental principles of vaulted
construction, as of columnar architecture, were known in Assyria, but
neither the column nor the arch was worthily recognized and devel-
oped into an important feature capable of exercising an influence
upon the extent or form of the enclosed spaces. The palace ter-
races were pierced by narrow vaulted channels, still to be traced
among the ruins. This was the case with the most ancient struct-
ure of Assyria, the northwestern palace of Nimrud. {^Fig. 52.)
Though it cannot be proved that the Assyrians were the original
inventors of the arch of wedge-shaped stones, there are certainly no
£arlier instances of t.hi§ manner of building known than those of that
Fig. 51. — Table upon an
Assyrian Relief.
72
CHALDyEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
country. Round arch barrel-vaults were not exclusively used for
such channels ; an ogive appears upon the same terrace of Nimrud,
in the somewhat later southeastern palace. {Fig. 53.) Though the
key-stone of the latter is undeveloped, the vault is yet built upon
the principle of the Gothic pointed arch. It is not impossible that
this form may have descended in uninterrupted tradition from Mes-
opotamia to the Arabs, being brought by them to Europe, where, ef-
fecting a change in the round Romanesque arch, it exercised a deci-
sive influence in the development of mediaeval manners of building.
till"
- if-— m\i"m
Fig. 52. — Mouth of a Channel under the
Northwestern Palace, Nimrud.
F'g- 53- — Channel under the Southeastern
Palace, Nimrud.
The bricks of these vaulted Assyrian channels are carefully moulds
ed to the more or less marked wedge-form determined by the size
of the arch — a greater refinement than is practised by modern ma-
sons, who use only rectangular bricks, effecting the curve by the
wedge-shape of the mortar-joint. Yet, perfected as vaulted con-
struction appears in these channels, its application seems to have
been almost restricted to them ; Assyrian builders hesitated to ap-
ply vaulted ceilings to spaces of much greater span than gates and
window apertures. Reliefs show arched portals alternating with
PALACE ARCHITECTURE. 73
horizontally covered openings ; and in the fortification walls of
Kisr-Sargon, the city adjoining the palace-ruins of Corsabad, traces
of a barrel-vaulted entrance have been discovered where the arch,
of 4.5 m. clear, rested upon the backs of the winged monsters re-
ferred to as the guardians of all important gateways. A vaulted
corridor, considerably less in span, will be noticed at the temple pyr-
amid of Nimrud. Among the numerous palace chambers remain-
ing, only a few narrow cells show traces of vaults ; the opinion of
some recent investigators, that the customary horizontal ceilings
Fig. S4- — Restoration of an Assyrian Palace.
of smaller rooms were surmounted by cupolas of beaten earth, does
not appear plausible.
From the chief points gained by this consideration, it is evident
that the restoration given in Fig. 54, a variation of the reconstruc-
tion by Layard and Fergusson, cannot greatly misrepresent the
once existing structures. The Assyrian palace was, upon the whole,
a more satisfactory building than the Egyptian temple. The out-
lines and masses of its composition were grand ; it was richly orna-
mented, perhaps even overladen, with sculptured and colored dec-
74 CHALU^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
oration. The massive and unpierced walls of the lower half bore a
kind of open loggia, consisting of light columns between powerful
piers which were fully capable of upholding the ceiling. The entire
edifice being elevated upon a terrace, upper stories were not neces-
sary to secure an imposing height. The existence of one lower story
alone is indicated by the ruins ; no large staircases, or other means
of ascent to an upper floor, were provided. The apparent duplica-
tion of the stories of houses upon reliefs is owing to a fault of per-
spective common to the primitive representations of all nations :
things are shown as above and upon, instead of behind and beyond,
one another. The ground-chambers, of which sixty-eight have been
^ Fig. 55. — Terraced Pyramid. Relief from Coyundjic.
counted in the Palace of Sennacherib at Coyundjic, and over two hun-
dred in the Palace of Sargon, were surely ample in number and extent.
Though the royal dwellings of Assyria chiefly attract attention
in considering the architecture of the country, there are also many
remains of sacred buildings in the lands of the Upper Tigris. But
we are acquainted only with those places of worship which stood in
immediate connection with the palaces, no traces of edifices for gen-
eral and popular worship having been discovered up to the present
time. Even were we without knowledge of the ruins, it would be
^ilatural to suppose the temples of Assyria similar to those of Meso-
potamia ; that is to say, pyramidal terraces, with high lower stories.
TERRACED PYRAMIDS.
75
(Compare Fig. 41.) A relief from Coyundjic, the upper portion of
which is unfortunately destroyed, confirms this view, showing a ter-
raced structure of three or four steps situated upon a natural eleva*
tion. The lower terrace is decorated, like Chaldzean works of the
kind, with pilasters in
low -relief; before it
are pylon towers.
{Fig. 55.) This specif-
ically Mesopotamian
type is to be recog-
nized in the most
prominent ruins of
Assyrian sacred ar-
chitecture — namely,
in the terraced pyr-
amid which occupied
one corner of the
great palace platform
of Nimrud. It is also
to be observed in the
more fragmentary re-
mains at Kileh-Sher-
gat, which time has
buried beneath shape-
less hills of rubbish,
without entirely ob-
literating the original
disposition. The ru-
ins at this site have
not been thoroughly
c^ tss^af
^tpl]
investigated ; those *'•§• 56- — Plan and Section of the Terraced Pyramid of Nimrud.
at Nimrud showed '• ^*"'''^^"^'^*"'' *• Modem shafts. 3. Revetment Wall of Cut Stone.
5. Solid Brick Masonry. 6. Great Palace Ten-ace. 7. Temple.
the lower part of the
pyramid at least to have been solidly built of bricks, reveted with
a wall of quarried stones. {Fig. 56.) In the height of the main
palace terrace was a shaft, the purpose of which is uncertain, as it
was without entrance, and empty ; it is interesting in architectural
76 CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
respects from the admirably executed barrel-vault of brick masonry
which formed its ceiling. The ruin, for the greater part destroyed,
offered beyond this corridor but few peculiarities. The stone re-
vetment has been almost entirely carried away, and every trace of
the temple cella which must have surmounted these terraces, as it
did those of Chaldaea, has disappeared. The better-preserved but
much smaller terraced temple of the palace at Kisr-Sargon has al-
ready been mentioned. Two interesting reliefs show the general
form of such cellas, though in these instances the structures repre-
sented are not raised upon artificial elevations. {Figs. 35 and 57.)
They are small temples in antis, rectangular buildings, three sides of
which are formed by walls ; while, in the open fourth, two columns
Fig. 57. — Relief from the Northern Palace of Coyundjic
support the entablature and roof. In one case the ends of the walls
upon each side of the columns are undecorated ; in the other the
pilasters, though without a base, are crowned with a member similar
to the capitals of the columns. The simple entablature projects in
an oblique line; it is terminated by stepped battlements, in which
the Mesopotamian type of the terraced pyramid is repeated in out-
line and adopted as a merely decorative detail. Such temple cellas
were erected not alone upon extensive terraces, but in the plain •,
perhaps, also, like the similar structures of Phoenicia, in the midst
of sacred lakes. The reliefs given in the cuts show the chapels to
have stood at the foot of natural elevations, as well as upon them.
Another form of sanctuary, with gabled roof and lanceolate acroteria,
is represented upon a relief of Corsabad. {Fig. 71.) The building
TEMPLES AND OBEUSKS.
n
remotely resembles a Hellenic peripteros. Its constructive pecu-
liarities cannot well be understood from the relief, as these con-
siderations were probably not clear to the sculptor himself. It is
possible that the architectural form was one foreign to the coun-
try,— perhaps the imitation of a temple in Southern Asia Minor.
Another variety of these palace chapels appears upon the terrace
of Nimrud, the forms there differing but slightly from those of the
dwelling -chambers; the sacred cellas are distinguished only by
Fig. 58. — Entrance to one of the so-called Temples, Nimrud.
the exclusively mythological character of the reliefs, and by the
altars and offerings placed at the entrance. {Fig. 58.) It is possi-
ble, however, that these spaces were used as the dwellings of priests
rather than as sanctuaries, especially as the two examples known are
situated near the base of the great temple of Nimrud, being in this
respect admirably adapted to the uses of the sacerdotal officers in
the royal household.
The forms of Assyrian altars are illustrated by reliefs.)^ {Pigs.
78
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
35 and 57.) The rectangular shaft, at times furrowed, rests upon a
plinth, and bears a projecting slab, bordered by stepped battlements.
A tripod was found before the entrance to the so-called Temple of
Nimrud {Fig. 58); and upon reliefs are represented fire-altars, up-
holding by a single support a basin for burnt sacrifices. These
altars and the bronze tables for offerings were not treated as archi-
tectural details, but more resembled the chairs and thrones various-
ly represented upon reliefs.
The Assyrian obelisks were of greater importance ; though they
cannot be compared to the gigantic wonders of Egyptian mechani-
cal skill, they yet represent the typical forms of Assyrian art as char-
acteristically as do the Egyptian
shafts the architecture of that land-
A small specimen carved in black
basalt, 2. 1 m. high and 0.6 m. broad
at base, was discovered in Nimrud
and has been transported to the
British Museum. {Fig. 59.) The
gently diminished pier is crown-
ed with a terraced pyramid, thus
giving the principal monumental
form of Mesopotomia, on a small
scale, as distinctly as the termi-
nation of Egyptian obelisks does
the more strictly geometrical pyra-
mid of the Nile land. The steps
and part of the shaft are carved with cuneiform inscriptions, and
with reliefs which represent an act of homage— the presentation to
the king of various gifts, animals, etc.
Rich as are the results of scientific investigations in regard to
the palaces of Assyria, they are deficient in everything concerning
the cities, which could have been but mean and insignificant in com-
parison with the royal dwellings. Only scanty traces of the fortifica-
tion walls around Coyundjic, Corsabad, and Nimrud have been pre-
served. From reliefs these appear to have been provided with pro-
jecting galleries for defence, with square or circular loop-holes, and
with battlements of rectangular or oblique outline. As before men-
Fig. 59. — Obelisk from Nimrud.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. jg
tioned, there have been preserved at Kisr-Sargon (Corsabad) the
remains of a round-arched city gate, flanked with winged lions. (A
skilful restoration of this is given by Viollet-le-Duc in his Entre-
tiens.) The small hills of rubbish within the city did not tempt
the closer investigation of excavators, who found such inexhausti-
ble rewards for their labors at the palace terraces. Private dwell-
ings, which were not, like the chambers of the kings, constructed
with hewn and sculptured stones as a revetment of the weak ma-
sonry of unburnt bricks, are now in so complete a state of destruc-
tion that an understanding of their original form is hardly possible.
The known reliefs are not adequate to convey satisfactory informa-
Fig. 6a — Assjrrian Dwellings. Relief from Coyundjic
tion in regard to them. Among the clearest of these is a relief of Co-
yundjic {Fig. 60), which shows buildings with hemispherical and oval
cupolas, much like those still customary in some parts of Syria.
The openings for light and air are distinctly indicated in the summit
of the vaults. On the other hand, dwellings like that shown in Fig.
61, which often occur in great numbers within the enclosure of forti-
fication walls, are of most perplexing construction, unless assumed to
be tents. Some interior views indicate this character, and the sur-
rounding walls might accordingly be considered the fortifications of
an encampment. The plan-like illustrations of walled towns, where
the houses are repeated in conventionalized forms, give no definite
8o
CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
information concerning the peculiarities of Assyrian domestic archi-
tecture. {Fig- 62.) They remind us rather of the topographical
usage prevalent during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of
our era, when, in similar manner, approxirnate representations of
houses and cottages were typically employed to designate a village,
a town, or a city, upon maps from which no conception of the nat-
ure of the structures could be obtained. But it may be concluded
from these views that a majority of the dwellings consisted of a
higher and a lower division, each being provided with an indepen-
dent platform.
The character of Egyptian architecture was essentially influ-
enced by the rich colored ornamentation which covered and en-
Fig. 61. — Tent-like Dwelling. Relief from Coyundjic.
livened so much of the wall-surface with the coilanaglyphic paint-
ings peculiar to that country. Upon the palace buildings of Mesopo-
tamia painting and sculpture were something more than mere dec-
orative adjuncts to the architectural construction. They may even
be said to have predominated. The brick walls of Nineveh, instead
of bearing ornamental slabs, were themselves upheld by the richly
sculptured revetment. The works of the sculptor and the painter
take a more important place in the history of Assyrian art than do
those of the architect. This, however, was not the case in the earli-
est ages of the Chaldaean empire, for monuments like the Temple of
the Moon at Ur (Mugheir), and like the remains at Warka, appear
to have been almost destitute of carved, if not of painted, ornamen-
BABYLONIAN SCULPTURE.
8i
tation. The simple treatment of wall-surfaces with glazed and col-
ored tiles, even when laid in the variegated patterns of the Chaldaean
buildings, can hardly be spoken of as painting ; and in that country
no surely attested remains of sculpture have been discovered. Nor
could the carving of stone flourish in the later Babylonian period.
The remoteness from mountains and quarries of the great cities, and
especially of the capital itself, which stood in the midst of an ex-
tended alluvion, was too great to allow stone material to be readi-
ly procured even for the revetment of walls. Only one fragment
of a larger relief was found by Layard among the ruins of Baby-
lon,* and this was so entirely similar to the Assyrian sculptures
that it would, without further question, have been regarded as tht
Fig. 6a. — Susa. Assyrian Relief from Co3rundjic
work of Nineveh had not the Babylonian character of the cunei-
form inscriptions indicated its origin. A colossal statue of black
basalt, representing a lion standing upon a human being, a work
known to travellers for over a century, still lies in position, half
buried in the earth ; it might convey an adequate idea of the sculpt-
ure of Babylon were it not so weathered and imperfect as not to be
considered worth removal. The most numerous examples of the
stone-carving of Southern Mesopotamia — that is to say, of Baby-
lonia— are given by the cylindrical seals of syenite, basalt, agate, car-
nelian, etc. These stones generally measure about 0.03 m. in length
• Nineveh and Babylon, p. 508.
6
82
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
and o.oi m. in diameter; they are perforated in the line of their
axis, to allow of their being strung upon a cord or fixed upon a
metal wire, by which, if held as a handle, the seal could be rolled
over some soft substance, such as wax, thus leaving the impression
of the figures engraved upon it. {Fig. 63.) The great variance be-
tween the style of these cylinders and that of Mesopotamian re-
liefs is mainly due to the totally different technical peculiarities of
intaglio and relief-cutting, The seals of Babylonia and Assyria are
usually so much alike that
J they are to be distinguish-
llillm M\ ed only by the character of
the cuneiform inscriptions,
or, in some instances, by
the mythological subjects
represented. The origin of
many of the carved cylin-
ders which lack such in-
dications cannot be deter-
mined, the place of their
discovery being of slight
importance in the case of
objects so easily transport-
able. Numbers of these
seals exist in all large
European museums, being
picked up by the inhabi-
tants of Hillah after tor-
Fig- 63. — Babylonian Seal in the British
Museum, and its Impression.
rents of rain have furrowed the earth in which they lie concealed.
The Babylonians made up for this national lack of monu-
mental works of sculpture, due, as has been seen, to the difficul-
ty of obtaining suitable material, by the development of another
branch of decorative art. Favored by the clayey earth of the Chal-
daean alluvion, they did not content themselves with the manufact-
ure of admirable bricks, or with exact and durable masonry of this
material, but developed a glazed decoration of their outer surfaces.
The walls of chambers seem generally to have been prepared with a
coating of plaster and then painted. Naturally, no traces of this
ENAMELLED TILES. 83
process exist, but passages in the books of the Biblical prophets
indicate it to have been customary. Exterior walls, which, on ac-
ount of climatic influences, could not thus be treated, were orna-
mented with enamelled and variously colored tiles. Upon the
steps of temple terraces this was effected by glazing the outer
sides of all the bricks with a single color, but for palace walls
entire compositions were so formed that each separate tile was
drawn and colored in reference to the entire representation.. {Fig.
64.) Remains show the glazing to have been quite thick ; the col-
ors, chiefly bright blue, red, dark yellow, white, and black, have
Fig. 64. — Wall Decoration of Enamelled Tiles.
been perfectly preserved. A French traveller of the last century
relates that a chamber with walls of colored tiles, representing,
among other objects, the sun, moon, and a cow, was unearthed
from the hill of Mudjelibeh, one of the mounds of ruins formed by
the overthrow of the Babylonian palaces. An account given by Dio-
doros, who describes a great hunting scene upon the innermost city
wall, shows how extended this enamel painting must have been.
Among many figures the queen, Semiramis, took a prominent part
in the action, throwing a spear at a panther from her position
on horseback, while the lance of the king transfixed a lion.
The general character of the composition can be understood
84 CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
from the analogy of similar scenes represented upon reliefs from
Nineveh.
The palace decorations naturally developed in an entirely dif-
ferent manner in Northern Mesopotamia — Assyria. The spurs of
neighboring mountains advanced from all sides close upon Nineveh,
and good building-stones, notably the most beautiful alabaster, are
Fig. 65. — Statue of a King, from Nimrud. (British Museum.)
found in the plain, under the shallow strata of alluvial earth. The
flat colored decoration of the walls with glazed bricks was super-
seded by a carved revetment of lavish richness, which so generally
covered the lower half of larger palace chambers with reliefs that
an almost inexhaustible material is presented for elucidation of the
style by the fragments discovered during the short period of twenty
years.
SCULPTURAL FORMS.
8!
Fig. 66. — Winged Lion from Nimrud.
Museum.)
(British
Sculpture so concentrated itself upon this decorative field of
revetment reliefs that it appears rarely to have ventured the execu-
tion of independent works. Statues in the full round are extremely
rare, and the few known are nearly as similar to each other as
are those of Egypt. The best-preserved figure was found in the so-
called temple at the foot
of the terraced pyramid
of Nimrud, and has been
carried to the British Mu-
seum. {Fig^.6$.) It is about
I m. in height, hewn from
a hard limestone, and rep-
resents a king in the garb
of a priest. The round
head is covered with long
thick hair, which, falling
somewhat over the fore-
head, is not parted, but di>
vided into wavy horizon-
tal rows ; it cads upon t4ie
shoulders In a straight sec-
tion of closely and regu-
larly arranged spiral curls.
The imposing beard is
still more conventional-
ized ; beginning in thick
curls, it is arranged in al-
ternate courses of rope-like
twists and rows of small
coils. The ends of the
mustache curl into mark-
ed spirals. The large eyes, of rather oblique position, are situated
too low, and are consequently without expression. Their strap-like
lids do not sufficiently protrude, while the thick eyebrows, exces-
sively curved upward and meeting above the bridge of the nose, so
interfere with the natural form of the forehead as to give to the face
a gloomy and almost bestial expression. The curved Semitic nose is
Fig. 67. — Winged Bull from Nimrud-
Museum.)
(British
86
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
broad and fleshy, as are all the features, which, though not appear-
ing puffy, have a decided tendency to fatness. The well-formed ear
is placed lower than is that of Egyptian statues, and is ornament-
ed with large rings. The thick and short neck disappears behind
under the full locks of hair ; the round shoulders make the back ap-
pear broader than the breast, but are more correctly modelled than
those of Egyptian figures. The long priestly garment, thickly
fringed, covers one of the fleshy arms up to the wrist, and falls
without folds or indication of the lower body beneath it, being gird-
Fig. 68. — Lion from Nimrud. (British Museum.)
ed around the stout waist by a twisted sash ; it leaves only the toes
visible. The right hand holds an instrument formed like an augur's
crook, probably of some sacred significance ; the left grasps the
sceptre. Arms and hands have broad muscles, blunt, rounded out-
lines, and the short and thick proportions peculiar to the entire
body. With the exception of the face, the sculptor made few ab-
solute misrepresentations of nature, though evidently more skilled
in relief-carving, and paying but little attention to the side view.
An inscription upon the breast designates the statue as that of
King Ashurakbal, the builder of the northwestern palace and of
CHEKUBIMS. g^
the so-called temple of Nimrud, " the conqueror of the upper valley
of the Tigris to Lebanon and the great sea, who brought under his
power all the lands, from the rising to the setting of the sun."
The monsters mentioned above form a peculiar transitional
step between the full round and relief sculpture. {Fi^s. 66 and 67.)
Winged bulls, or, more rarely, lions, with human heads and ani-
mal ears, flanked the larger portals as sacred guardians of the en-
trance. On the sides of the passage they were executed in relief up
to the heads, which were worked almost entirely free, and project,
with the royal or divine tiara, from the main block. In the front
view, the breast and fore legs, as well as the head, appear in the
round. This combination of round and relief carving resulted in two
abnormities. In the first place, the animals have five legs, as the
side was allowed four, while the front, besides the support which it
had in common with the side, demanded another, that it might not
appear one-legged. F'urther, the monsters seem, in the relief, to be
striding and advancing, but in the front view to be firmly standing.
These cherubims — for thus the commentators of the Bible call such
" forms having a human head, the body of a lion or bull, and the
wings of an eagle " — are among the most characteristic works of
Mesopotamian sculpture. They were imposing symbols of guar-
dian deities ; the hair of the head and beard curled tightly, as did
that of breast, abdomen, and the end of the tail ; the feathers of
the powerful wings were almost straight, the legs hard and muscu-
lar, the expression of the face severe and majestic. Lions of nor-
mal formation, exceptionally occurring in the place of these cher-
ubims, show so masterly an understanding of nature and such wise
conventionalization that, with the sphinx-like lions of Egypt (com-
pare Fi^. 31), they rank among the most successful representations
of animals in any period of sculpture. Prominent among the sub-
jects shown by the reliefs, serving the purposes of mural decora-
tion, is the so-called tree of life, a symbol not adequately explained,
a plant form woven in ribbons and anthemions to an ornamental
play of lines, before which stand sacrificing figures or winged genii
with eagle-heads, holding in the one hand a basket, in the other a
species of pine-cone, or in the one a lotos-flower or a scourge, and
in the other a gazelle or a small lion. Upon this follow the long
88 CHALDiEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
processions advancing in homage before the king, which so fittingly
covered the walls of the courts. The monarch stands to receive his
vizier, who is followed by several warriors. {Fig- 69.) Behind stand
eunuchs — one holding a sun-shade, another a fan for flies, a third a
handkerchief, a fourth drinking-vessels, a fifth jugs with bottoms
formed like the jaws of a lion (used to dip out wine from the large
Fig. 69. — Relief from Corsabad. (Louvre.)
cooling-vessels), a sixth a wine-skin ; the two following have a large
platter with food and the stand belonging thereto ; another comes
with two models of cities, perhaps to be explained as dishes ; then
two with a throne, the next with a table, those following with a
bench; others, again, with a magnificent chariot, the tongue of which
is carved as a horse's head and the cross-pieces as the heads of ga-
CEREMONIAL RELIEFS. gg
zelles, while the rich back of the seat is supported by human figures;
two helmeted warriors follow this, with a less elaborate war-chariot,
and others lead four horses to the scene. A similar representation
shows subjects bringirrj gifts to the king. Some lead horses ; num-
bers of others present flowers and fruits, among which apples, pome-
granates, grapes, pineapples, figs, etc., may be distinguished ; those
following offer cakes, locusts strung upon sticks, hares, birds, and
the like. The figures upon these ceremonial reliefs, generally over
life-size, are carefully executed to the smallest detail. Little can
be said concerning their peculiarities of feature beyond that stated
Fig. 7a — Fragments of Reliefs fi-om NimruA (British Museum.)
above, in the consideration of the statue of King Ashurakbal. In
opposition to the wiry toughness of the Egyptian type, the vo-
luptuous and vigorous fulness of the Assyrian appears distinctly in
the full cheeks, the thick eyelids and brows, the widely opened eyes
with curved and projecting balls, the energetic aquiline nose, the
pouting lips, and the imposing growth of hair and beard, so neg-
lected in Egyptian sculptures. Eunuchs are characterized by a lack
of beard ; the usual fulness degenerates into mere obesity in all the
features, but especially in the heavy and hanging under-jaw, and the
weak, fleshy arms, the only parts of the body not hidden by the gar-
ments. The fragments illustrated by Fig. 70, when compared with
90
CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
Egyptian heads from reliefs {Fig. 28), will convey an idea of the en-
tire difference of race and artistic style in the lands of the Tigris and
of the Nile.
In the works of Assyria, as in those of Egypt, the breast is usu-
ally presented in front view, for the reasons already set forth, but
the attempt to show this part of the body in true profile is more
common in the former country ; an instance may be observed in the
vizier of Fig. 69. The wrists, like the arms, are muscular and stout ;
the hands broad, coarse, and awkwardly stiff. Bracelets, closing
firmly by means of a spiral spring, are placed upon the wrists and
above the elbows. The magnificence of these and similar orna-
ments, which have frequently been copied by modern jewellers, and
-^-MWiU*)"—
Fig. 71. — Temple. Relief from Corsabad.
also the dignity of the swords and other accoutrements, strictly de-
pend upon the rank of the wearer, being graded from the king and
vizier to the warrior and eunuch. The most customary garment in
time of peace reached from the neck to the ankles, and was often
edged with a fringe of tassels and a double or fourfold border of
pearls. The underdress is smooth and white, that of the king alone
being' richly patterned. The overgarment seems to have consisted
almost wholly of fringes, leaving the right arm free. The royal
mantle was also in this respect an exception, having two sleeves and
covering the shoulders, besides being ornamented with rosettes or
embroidered with mythological representations. The feet in As-
syrian reliefs are long and powerful, more supple and true to nature
SCULPTURAL TYPES. pi
than the hands, though the toes lie too closely upon the ground.
The monarch and his escort have rings upon the great toe of each
foot ; they wear a kind of sandal which covers only the heel, in wise
recognition of the fact that a complete sole disturbs in some meas-
ure the natural elastic action of the ball of the foot and the toes.
When the underdress is short, as is the case in hunting and warlike
costumes, the leg below the knee is correctly but rather stiffly mod-
elled ; the muscles protrude like hard bands, without giving to the
limb the vigorous force peculiar to Egyptian works. Yet the whole
composition, as well as every detail of Assyrian sculpture, displays
more direct study of nature than was to be found in Egypt, where
the figures were created upon an abstract model, — a canon founded
more upon convention than upon observation of life. Instead of
Fig. 72. — Relief from Nimrud.
remaining behind reality, as did the Egyptian, the Assyrian sculptor
went beyond natural truth, exaggerating and coarsening. There
the figures were without flesh and blood, ghost-like, as if their slim
trunks and extremities were not fitted for earthly nourishment; here
the material existence was expressed in the most positive manner.
A voluptuous fulness was chosen as a type of the luxurious and con-
templative Mesopotamian, in the same way as the elastic leanness
of the Egyptian figure characterized the sinewy Fellah, emaciated
from scanty nourishment and fatiguing exertion in his dry climate.
More than three quarters of the historical reliefs are warlike
scenes, mostly on a small scale, with figures less than half a meter
high. Cities are surrounded, set on fire, and plundered ; when the
fortress is situated upon a height, the besiegers build ramparts of
92
CHALDyEA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
fascines, and, sheltered by these, attack the walls with battering-rams
similar to those used by the Romans. The defenders attempt to
burn these offensive machines with torches and to cripple them with
chains, the latter being warded off from below with hooks and poles.
It is also shown how warfare was carried on in the open field, upon
wooded mountains, in swamps, and on the marshy banks of rivers,
with the aid of lances, slings, and bows. The archers are sometimes
protected by a kind of chain mail. It is represented with great clear-
ness and fulness how the defeated enemies seek to save themselves
by flight to a swamp, how friends and foes swim rivers supported
upon inflated skins, while the king is transported in his chariot upon
Fig. 73. — Wounded Lioness, from Coyundjic.
a ferry-boat. Some battle-fields are covered with the slain, whose sev-
ered heads are piled up to form a trophy of victory truly Oriental.
At times the male prisoners of war are shown suffering death by
torture ; they are stripped to the skin and beaten with clubs, or are
impaled and flayed alive in great numbers. The tongues and ears
of others are cut off; while prisoners of higher rank are dragged by
rings through the under-lip before the victorious king, who languid-
ly deigns to blind them with a lance. At the same time, the mon-
arch receives homage from kneeling subjects ; players of stringed
instruments celebrate his victory, while eunuchs record the amount
of booty brought before him. The spoil is shown with great cir-
HISTORICAL RELIEFS.
93
cumstantiality ; female captives, holding children by the hand and
infants at the breast, advance on foot or are borne upon carts, and
all manner of utensils and provisions are carried upon beasts of bur-
den and drays. The captured herds — beeves, sheep, and camels — are
given with wonderful truth to nature ; like the animal types occur-
ring in the act of homage upon the obelisk of Nimrud already men-
tioned, they are of masterly characterization — the peculiarities of
the lion, antelope, buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant, and ape being care-
fully observed and admirably rendered. The same understanding
of animal forms is shown in the often-repeated hunting scenes : the
conception of the wounded beasts is truly wonderful. {Fig. 73.) Be-
sides the capture of gigantic lions and buffaloes, the snaring of small
Fig. 74. — Transport of Stone. Relief from Coyundjic.
game, hares and birds, is shown. Even the various species of fish
can be distinguished in the reliefs, which show net and rod fishing.
Many industrial occupations are also represented. Trees are
felled, the trunks of which are floated upon the river as rafts, or are
dragged behind boats, for the building of a royal palace ; terraced
mounds are heaped up by enslaved laborers with baskets of earth.
Larger masses of building -stone, and the cherubims already de-
scribed, are brought down stream from the quarries by means of
rafts, the buoyancy of which is increased by inflated skins bound
beneath them. {Fig. 74.) The statues are carried to the terrace
platforms by inclined planes, up which they are drawn by hosts of
workmen, who pull upon the cordage attached to the sledge, which
94
CHALD^A, BABYLOxVIA, AiND ASSYRIA.
slides over rollers, and are driven forward by blows from the over-
seers. {Fig- 75.)
Religious representations are much rarer than in theocratic
Egypt. The kings of despotic Mesopotamia arrogated to them-
selves the supremacy allowed in Egypt to the gods, who in the latter
country had been placed by the priests in relation with every human
action, and whose ceremonial scenes were so predominant. The
typical winged figure described above occurs continually in small re-
liefs, and even in diminutive ornaments. In rare instances a griffin
or a kind of Pegasos is employed in its place upon purely decorative
Fig. 75. — Transport of a Cherubim.
works. The sacred symbol of the tree of life, or that of the great
god Ashur — the winged and encircled figure already mentioned — is
worshipped by standing or kneeling human beings and by inferior
deities. Processions are represented bearing images upon thrones,
and the sacrifice of lambs is shown, the animals being slaughtered
and burned piecemeal. These purely ceremonial reliefs differ funda-
mentally from the historical scenes. In the former the figures are
over life-size ; they are carved with great attention to detail, and are
never grouped, but placed at regular distances : in the latter the hu-
man beings do not receive the attention devoted to the inanimate
objects occurring in the pictured story, and especially to the indi-
BRONZES AND IVORY CARVINGS. 05
cations of its locality. The fortifications of besieged towns are
mapped out with scrupulous exactness, and are easily understood
when it is borne in mind that the effect of distance, from the lack of
perspective in this primitive art, is expressed by piling things upon
one another which were in reality behind one another. Buildings
are shown by reliefs like those given in Figs. 35 and 57, with a more
or less successful attempt to clearly illustrate constructive details.
The landscape is conventionalized in a peculiar manner. Fields
of grain upon regularly rolling hills are designated by wavy lines;
the trees are usually suggestive of the carved toys accompanying
the well-known Noah's ark of our children — this impression being
heightened by the trunks radially diverging from the hill, that they
may be the more closely grouped together. The childlike art of the
Assyrians here expressed a common error of childhood — that more
trees can grow upon the increased surface of a hill than upon a plain
with an area equal to the base of the hill -cone. At times, when
necessary for the characterization of a locality, palms, grape-vines,
figs, and other plants are indicated by a detailed imitation of leaves
and fruit. Lakes, rivers {Fig. 74), and swamps are carefully drawn
in wavy parallel lines with spirally conventionalized ripples; they
are bordered with reeds and sedges, and inhabited by aquatic ani-
mals easily recognized by the naturalist. The events are represent-
ed in a simple and straightforward manner ; unimportant figures are
diminutive and less carefully carved, while the chief actors in a scene
not only tower above their fellow-beings, but even above trees and
fortifications. As the only intention of the artist was to represent
a locality and an occurrence, he did not hesitate to give a city such
proportions that the defenders upon its battlements could never
have passed through its gates, and, standing upon the ground, would
have overtopped the towers.
These conventionalized types do not appear in the bronzes,
sheathings of thin wood-work, bowls, and other vessels, or in the
rarer remains of ivory carvings. A number of objects of this kind,
discovered during the excavations of Nineveh, are deposited in the
British Museum. The better preserved and more easily recogniz-
able among the ivory carvings are of Egyptian style, and even in
some instances represent Egyptian religious ceremonies. This is
^ CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
also, in a measure, the case with the bronzes, which are composed
of ten parts of copper and one of tin ; though a majority of these
show thicker and heavier forms, especially in the animals, and strike
ingly remind one of similar utensils discovered in Phoenicia and>
Cyprus. These articles must be considered either to have been.^di-
rectly imported, or so slavishly copied from foreign originals that
they are at present not surely distinguishable. There can be little
doubt that the native place of the bronze vessels was Phoenicia,
and not Egypt. The former country, as proved by the repeated
allusions of Homer and other early authors, was famed in the pre-
historic ages of Greece for the manufacture of metal utensils, and
especially for an extended employment of the bronze supplied by
the copper-mines of Cyprus and the tin trade with England. When
considered in connection with the well-known extent of Phoenician
commerce, this derivation of the metal remains found at Nineveh is
rendered more than probable.
The few and unimportant vestiges of Assyrian painting add
little material to the history of art. It has already been men-
tioned that the palace walls were covered with a colored facing,
shown by fragments found among the ruins to have been of painted
stucco and glazed tiles. It consisted of bands of ornament, rows
of rosettes and anthemions, woven strap -work, conventionalized
mythical animals, and other forms arranged in set regularity. This
treatment was adopted especially for the exterior and for the courts,
where imposing ceremonial reliefs with colossal figures covered the
lower surface of the wall. Animals the size of life are given in
yellow upon a blue ground, such mosaic mural decorations being
formed of tiles drawn and colored with reference to their ultimate
position. {Fig. 64.) There are also paintings corresponding to
the reliefs of alabaster common upon the lower half of important
walls. With figures somewhat over 0.2 m. high, they represent
scenes which appear to have stood in some relation to the carved
ornaments of interior chambers. The most important of the frag-
ments preserved shows a king, who, returning from battle or the
hunt, is about to place to his lips a bowl handed him by a servant.
{Fig. 76.) The bow which he holds in his left hand rests upon the
earth ; a sword hangs by his side. A eunuch with bow, quiver,
PAINTING. ^7
and sword, and a warrior in short dress, with lance and pointed hel-
met, follow him. The garments are outlined by a broad band of yel-
' ^w color, somewhat similar in effect to the heavy leading of mediae-
val stained glass-work, which increases the impression of flat stiff-
nefe peculiar to the Assyrian costumes of baggy cloth without folds.
The head, arms, and legs are drawn in simple lines. A dark-yellow
border separates the green dress from the red background, and the
brownish color of the exposed flesh. White is intermingled with
Red. Brown. Green. Yellow.
Fig. 76. — Glazed Terra-cotta, from NimruA
Black.
yellow in the rosettes, fringes, swords, etc. ; the hair, beard, sandals,
and the pupils of the eyes are black. Other fragments illustrated
by Layard have a green background, yellow flesh, blue garments,
horses, fishes, etc., all drawn with a heavy white, or, in rare in-
stances, brown, outline. It would be difficult to determine wheth-
er these pigments have preserved their original color, and whether,
indeed, some tints are not entirely lost. Chemical analysis has
demonstrated that several metallic preparations were known to the
Assyrians. The yellow is that preparation of antimony and lead
7
98 CHALD^A, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA.
which, under the name of Naples yellow, has been supposed a mod-
ern invention ; the blue is a combination of copper and lead, also
praised as a device of recent date in its application as a flux for
glazing. The white is an enamel of oxidized tin, commonly held
to have been first employed by the Arabs of Northern Africa in the
eighth or ninth Christian century ; the red is a suboxide of copper.
In regard to the style of these paintings, little can be added to
that already stated in the consideration of Assyrian sculpture. The
figures are somewhat more slender, and seem at times to betray
a slight Egyptian influence. As in that country, the tones of color
within the firm outlines are without modulation, differing only in
the hues of the substances they represent. The composition is,
perhaps, more picturesque, the figures frequently covering each
other with varied position and action. The carved slabs which
served as a revetment of the lower wall - surfaces were brought
into harmony with the paintings above them by the addition of
color to the reliefs. The hair, beard, and the pupils of the eyes
were black ; some parts of the dress, as the ribbons of the tiara, the
sandals, etc., red. There is no doubt that other tints, not now rec-
ognizable, were added to the sculptures ; but it must not be held
that this painting was so brilliant and decided as some restorations
represent. If the uniform effect of a completely painted wall-sur-
face had been desired, the carving would largely have been given
up. The best ornamental treatment of the architecturally bare
surface was given by the marked division of its height. If the
light openings of columns and pilasters, just under the ceiling, be
assumed to have existed above the high and unpierced wall, as a
distinct horizontal member crowning the enclosing mass, we can
but admire this combination, in the Assyrian palace, of superposed
courses of sculptured, painted, and architectural works.
Fig- 77- — Restoration of the Palace of Darius, Persepolis.
PERSIA.
THE fall of Nineveh, instead of being despicable — according
to the common legend — from the weakness of Sardanapalus,
the last Assyrian king, deserves rather, from the heroic ruin of
the monarch with his city, to be compared to the fall of Carthage
or of Jerusalem. It removed for some time the centre of West-
ern Asiatic power farther to the east, beyond the Mesopotamian
streams: first to mountainous Media, whose inhabitants, through
want of culture, were better fitted to destroy than to build, and
who, therefore, play almost no part in the history of art. As the
short reign of Median greatness passed away, political power tend-
ed to the southeast, to Persia, which raised its world - renowned
kingdom upon the ruins of the Median, and stretched the bounda-
ries of the new empire far beyond any former compass of Western
100 PERSIA.
Asiatic sovereignty. Cyrus, the first historical monarch of Persia,
not only conquered all resistance, notably that of Nebuchadnezzar
and his Babylonian dominion, and of the Lydian king Croesus (by no
means remarkable solely on account of his great riches), but carried
his victorious arms even to the ^gean Sea ; so that Asia, in so far as
it was known to Europe, was synonymous with Persia. Cambyses,
successor to Cyrus, crushed the oldest power of the world, that of
the Pharaohs ; and the third Persian king crossed the Bosporos,
that he might embody in the colossal Persian empire the eastern
lands of Europe and the borders of the Pontos. Persia, by the
personal greatness of some of. its rulers, by the healthy force of its
original inhabitants, as well as by marked good - fortune, thus at-
tained a position in the history of the world hitherto equalled by
no other country ; and it was by no means wanting in a correspond-
ing monumental expression of this advance.
The chief cities of the land — Susa, Pasargadae, and Persepolis, for
which latter, a name known through Greek historians, we might
substitute New Metropolis of the Persians — strove, at least in their
royal palaces, to surpass the cities of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
Diodoros speaks of Persepolis as " the world - renowned royal for-
tress," imposing even to the Greeks. The thousands of years that
have passed have yet left remains sufficient for an ideal reconstruc-
tion of the whole, and a conception of the artistic ability of the Per-
sians may there be obtained. This is less the case with Susa, more
destroyed, and in no wise thoroughly examined. Its site, known by
the name Shush, which still clings to the ruins, is revered by Moham-
medan pilgrims as that of the tomb of Daniel, in like manner as the
location of Nineveh found traditional confirmation among them in
the Mohammedan chapel of Jonas. The remains of Pasargadse, near
Murgab, are somewhat better preserved than are those of Susa.
Beside its palace terraces, among its other tombs, altars, etc., there
rises, nearly intact, one of the most wonderful monuments of the
world — the tomb of the great Cyrus. Most important, however,
and worthy of chief consideration, is New Pasargadae, or Persepolis,
where the nriassive palace ruins near Istakr, known under the name
of Chehil-Minar (forty columns) or Takt-i-Jemshid (throne of Jem-
shid), have for centuries been the wonder of travellers.
PERS£POLIS.
lOl
The Persians, of later development than the Mesopotamians,
naturally based their art upon the older culture of the people con-
quered by them. The palaces were similarly placed upon extensive
Fig. 78. — Plan of Persepolis.
A. Grand Stairway. B. Propylaea of Xerxes. C. Cisterns. D, E, F, G. Great Hall of Xerxes.
H. Portal between the Palaces and Harem. K. Palace of Darius. L, M, N. Palace of
Xerxes. O. Unrecognized Ruins. P. Harem. Q. Portal to the Court of the Harem.
terraces, which, like those in Nimrud, seem to have been afterwards
enlarged to make room for several royal dwellings. The palace ter-
I02 ; ,>EEfSIA.
race of Persepolis {Fig. 78) is, as an exception, not isolated, but so
placed as to employ a rocky plateau, which, levelled partly by ex-
cavation, partly by filling, acquired architectural character by the
vertical revetment of its borders : it abutted with one of its ob-
long sides upon a cliff, this forming a background of richly carved
tomb-fa9ades. The casing of. the platform beneath the Palace of
Kisr-Sargon (Corsabad) consisted of a masonry formed of quite reg-
ularly hewn stones. At Persepolis, on the other hand, is employed,
in a similar position, a kind of Cyclopean masonry with predomi-
nant horizontal lines — a proof that this wall does not necessarily
indicate a greater age than does a facing of hewn stone.
In spite of the close relationship of the architecture of Persia
to that of Assyria, the ruins still show in many points such a fun-
damental difference that Mr. Fergusson's nearly absolute identi-
fication of the art of the two nations cannot be accepted, and a
higher grade of independent position, at least in architecture, must
be granted to the Persians. |_The Assyrian ruins showed walls and
no columns ; in Persia, on the contrary, we find columns and no
walls. In view of this, it is a daring hypothesis to assume that
chance has preserved here only the one, there only the other, con-
structional member — that the Persian ruins exhibit the skeleton,
as it were, the Assyrian the flesh, of one and the same architectural
body, the totality of which is only to be understood and explained
by the mutual complement, the combination of the two. For such
is Mr. Fergusson's view. The inadmissibility of transferring Per-
sian columns to Assyrian palaces has already been made evident.
The peculiar formation of plan recognized in the ruins of Nin-
eveh, the narrow and corridor -like chambers, required no interior
supports. The clumsy disproportion of the long and cramped As-
syrian rooms seems rather to have been decided by the lack of such
constructive assistance ; with it, on the other hand, the Persian pal-
ace was enabled to develop freely. The subordinate shafts in the
windows of the palaces at Nineveh did not partake of the true nat-
ure of a column, they did not serve to enlarge an enclosed space,
but were merely decorative substitutes for the piers which elsewhere
separated the openings. It is not possible to transfer the character-
istic Persian details either to these or to the columns in antis of the
^ COLUMNAR FORMS. IO3
Assyrian temple cellas./_The sculptured reliefs mentioned above,
from which alone the columns of Assyria are known, present an en-
tirely different class of forms. The Persians recognized the full im-
portance of columnar construction in opening and enlarging en-
closed spaces as no other nation has done except the Egyptians.
It is in this that the artistic advance of the former beyond their
Chaldaean and Babylonian predecessors consists?"/
-L^The columns of Persia were developed with a characteristic con-
ventionalization which, though not entirely without foreign prece-
dents, was upon the whole original, and, at least in the more simple
varieties, decidedly artistic ; the capital was peculiarly adapted to
its functions. But one small fragment has been found of the an-
cient remains of Pasargadx, dating, according to inscriptions, to the
epoch of Cyrus. It is a base, and is fortunately
characteristic and interesting. {Fig. 79.) The
tore is similar, upon the one hand, to the
plinth -mouldings of Assyrian columns; upon
the other, in its detail, to the more recent crea-
tion of the Ionic column, which was not without
connection with the art of Mesopotamia. The
ornamentation consists of shallow horizontal
channellings, with sharp arrises like those of the
so-called Proto - Doric shafts of Egypt, and is Fig. 79.— Fragment of a
closely allied to the bases of^he most ancient ^^ ^'°'° Pasargadae.
examples of the Ionic stylej The terrace of Persepolis, with its
monuments, built during or after the time of Darius, displays these
bases only in the palaces built by that king. The tore there occur-
ring was placed upon two square plinths. The later monuments of
Persepolis, which, for the greater part, were built by Xerxes, show
the base to have kept pace with the further advance of the shaft,
and to have consisted of multiplied and embellished members. The
square plinth is supplanted by a beautifully curved calyx, turned
downward and ornamented by two rows of leaves — the upper round-
ed and heart-shaped, the lower lanceolate. To this is sometimes add-
ed a wreath of anthem ions, which appears to have been taken from
Syrian or PhcEnician models. The projecting moulding of these
more elaborate examples is diminished in size, and has lost the hori-
I04
PERSIA.
zontal grooves. JThe shaft, with thirty-six shallow channels, sepa-
ated by sharp arrises like those of the primitive base, rises upon the
combined tore and plinth to a height of nine times its lower diame-
ter. It is not inconsiderably diminished. The junction between
shaft and base is effected, as in the Ionic style, by a gentle curve,
ornamented by a small roundlet. The capital shows, instead of the
floral form usual in other
countries, an animal com-
bination, which, from the
analogy of certain gold
coins of Western Asia, ap-
pears to have been a wide-
ly known symbol. It con-
sists of two bull's heads
and shoulders, grown to-
gether back to back, with
the front legs bent under
them in a recumbent posi-
tion. The head is drawn
upward, the elegantly
curved neck being orna-
\fmented by a rich chaplet.
Upon the common back
of the two animals lies the
chief transverse beam of
the ceiling. A description
of the peculiar style of
carving will be given in
the section upon Persian
sculpture. It may only be
here premised that the
Fig.8o.-Persian Columns with Bull Capitals. general treatment of the
animals is quite similar to that noticed in Assyria. The capital is
particularly well adapted to receive and support two ceiling timbers
crossing above it at right angles ; the lower of these shows its sec-
tion upon the front of the building, and rests upon the back of the
bulls; while the epistyle beam upon it, which joins the columns and
COLUMNAR FORMS.
105
is seen in its whole length upon the front, is supported by the heads
and by the main timber between them. This method of laying the
ceiling beams was the reverse of that followed by the architects of
other nations. The timbers of the ceiling, which run at right angles,
are usually placed upon, and not beneath, the connecting epistyle.
In the time of Xerxes, these simple bull capitals appear not to
have satisfied the increasing demands of luxurious elegance. Three
new members were therefore placed below them, and the entire
capital became almost as high as the remainder of the shaft, which
was naturally much curtailed by this innovation. {Fig. 80.) The
two lower of these new members may perhaps be counted as one
— the wreath of falling leaves being regarded as part of the calyx
a b c d e
Fig. 81. — Spiral Ornaments upon Chairs.
«. From an Atsymn Relief. A. From the Vicinity of Miletos. c. From Xanthos. d,e,/. From Paintingt
upon Greek Vases.
above it. These leaves are very simply treated ; they do not curve,
and are terminated by a semicircle : between them and the calyx
there is a small egg-and-dart moulding ; that is to say, a wreath of
small leaves entirely bent over. As the derivation of this charac-
teristic member cannot be traced to Syria, the supposition is nat-
ural that it was derived from the Hellenic architecture of Asia
Minor, which had been fully developed in its principal aspects since
the time of Darius. The general form, as well as the detailed dec-
oration of the upright calyx by narrow bundles of lotos -flowers,
points so distinctly to an Egyptian model that it must, without fur-
ther question, be ascribed to the influence of that land, which had
been subjugated by the Persian Cambyses. After a repetition of
the egg-and-dart moulding, there follows above the calyx a remark-
io6
PERSIA.
able member of sixteen spiral rolls, as similar to the forms of Assyr-
ian as to those of Ionic capitals. The spirals are so placed around
the oblong kernel of the shaft that two touch upon each of its an-
gles— thus standing vertically, and not horizontally. The derivation
of the form appears to
be owing more to Assyr-
ian-Mesopotamian rem-
iniscences than to any
influence of the Greek
Ionic style. The remark-
able vertical position of
the volutes is better ex-
plained by subordinate
ornaments of the former
than by architectural
members of the latter
land. The decorations
upon the legs of thrones
and other parts of fur-
'niture, shown by reliefs,
prove the helix to have
been more frequently
used by the Assyrians as
the vertical ornament
of a shaft than as a hor-
izontal coronation — a
capital. {Fig. 8i.) That
the former usage was
extensive is shown by
the similar occurrence
of the form upon Greek
examples from Asia Mi-
nor. The spiral, with
concave or convex fluting, with ribbed and channelled rolls, was
originally double ; in Persia it was transferred to a four-sided shaft,
to serve, not as a coronation, but as a vertical ornament, as one of
the three or four distinct members of the complicated capital. The
Fig. 82. — Columns from the Eastern Portico of the Hall
of Xerxes.
THE ENTABLATURE. IO7
double-headed animals were placed upon it as the termination of the
column. In the mythological sculptures of Mesopotamian lands,
lions and bulls shared equally the honors of frequent representation ;
and upon the capitals of Persepolis a horned and double-headed lion
was substituted for the double-headed bull. This, however, was not
in an important position, and the change is known by only a single
example — the eastern portico of the Great Hall of Xerxes. {Fig. 82.)
The isolated attempt was the more successful because no other ani-
Fig. 83. — Rock-cut Tomb of Darius.
mal forms had been so well conceived and characterized by the Orien-
tals as the lion ; that king of beasts, with open mouth and powerful
paws, was the favorite subject for decorative treatment down to the
latest times of Hellenic art. As the comparatively short fore legs
of the lion could not be bent underneath the body, but were neces-
sarily extended from the shoulder, the general outline of the capital
was impaired by a long and straight horizontal line just at its junc-
tion with the shaft ; and on this account the lions, notwithstanding
their more majestic heads, could not displace the traditional bulls.
M4
I08 PERSIA.
As the entablature was in all probability entirely constructed of
wood, and has disappeared without a trace, the restoration of this
part of the building is difficult. But the normal forms may yet be
determined with greater correctness than is presented in Coste's res-
toration {Fig. 82), which is a tasteful combination of the scotia and
roundlet cornice common to both Egyptian and Assyrian architect-
ure, with dentils and the leaved ornaments found above all the doors
and windows of Persian remains, and with the decorations upon the
borders of staircase buttresses. A number of rock-cut tombs ap-
pertaining to the early Persian kings, the Achemenidae, and dating
from the time of Darius, represent the facades of royal palaces, and
give important information concerning the exterior appearance of
such structures. The oldest and best-preserved of these is desig-
nated by cuneiform inscriptions as the tomb of Darius. {Fig. 83.)
It is especially interesting as illustrating the formation of the en-
tablature. An epistyle, triply stepped, like that of the Ionic style,
so that each face slightly projects beyond the one beneath it, is
placed above the transverse beam, which lies upon the backs of the
double-headed animals forming the capitals of the columns. The
multiplication of the faces of the epistyle is explained by the weak-
ness of the timber produced by Mesopotamia and Persia, which, in
opposition to the single and massive Doric lintel-block, required the
employment of several beams to obtain the desired capability of
support. Upon it followed the ornaments known as dentils, repre-
sentatives of the small and closely lying joists of the horizontal,
slightly projecting roof. They are quite similar to the dentils upon
the tombs of Beni-hassan, and to those of the still more naive imita-
tions of wooden houses found in Lycia, which will be considered in
the following section. n
In Persia, the proportions of the dentils and of the distances be-
tween them are still characteristic of the original timbered construc-
tion— a truthfulness of imitation which was lost as early as the devel-
opment of the Ionic style. The nature of the band following above is
not clear ; it might be natural to suppose in it a representative of such
a hollow cornice with leaves as Coste has introduced upon his entabla-
ture, were it not that a frieze-relief with ornamental lions is visible
upon this member in another tomb, and that a remarkable block of
PALACE OF DARIUS.
109
the Palace of Darius at Persepolis bears further testimony against
it. One of the corner piers of the front portico of that building has
been preserved to such a height that the side bearing of the lintel
can be observed. This renders the projection and outline of the en-
tablature certain. It was six times stepped, and may best be re-
constructed, as in Fig. 84, by a series of narrow bands, which rep-
resent in some measure the layers of the horizontal ceiling and
roof. From a comparison with the rock-cut tomb, it is plain
that a further cornice, like that over the door and window-frames,
was here not possible. If a parapet had been desired for the acces-
sible platform of the roof, it must have taken the form of a light
balustrade, not that of a heavy scotia cornice.
The oldest and, because best-preserved, the most intelligible of
the royal dwellings upon the
terrace of Persepolis is that
shown by inscriptions to
have been built by Darius.
i^Fig. 85; and K upon the
topographical plan of Per-
sepolis, Fig. 78.) It exhib-
its a regular and well-con-
sidered plan, the oblong
form and general disposi-
tion of which are somewhat
n
Fig. 84. — Entablature of the Palace of Darius.
Reconstructed from the Bearing.
similar to the simpler Greek houses. A flight of steps led from each
side to the narrow southeastern front — a double tetrastyle loggia.
This was flanked by two moderately large rooms, which, as they
could be entered only from the portico and had no connection with
the interior, were probably intended for guards or servants. A
door, between four windows, opened into the square hall, the ceiling
of which was supported by sixteen columns, standing in line with
those of the loggia. This space corresponded to the atrium of Greek
and Roman houses. Three of its sides, that of the front being ex-
cepted, had access to inner rooms — those upon the right and left
being small, while, opposite the entrance, they were more spacious,
and separated from the hall by a corridor. The walls were en-
riched by niches as well as by door and window openings. Through
no
PERSIA.
one of the chambers upon the left was a lateral entrance, reached by
a double flight of steps upon the southwest. Notwithstanding the
preservation of the special foundation terrace, of the steps, of the
door, window, and niche frames, as well as of some corner piers, the
ruin did not at first glance make evident the disposition here de-
scribed. All the columns of the palace have disappeared. It is un-
certain whether this is because the supports of the less pretentious
structure were of wood, or whether stone shafts, of the moderate di-
mensions which must be assigned to them, were carried away during
the two thousand years in which the ruins of the palace terrace have
served as a quarry for neighboring
towns. The square plinths upon
which the columns stood have, how-
ever, remained in their original po-
sition, so that the number and site
of the supports may be easily and
surely determined. The greater
portion of the walls has also dis-
appeared. Some corner piers and
the marble frames of doors, win-
dows, and niches, cut from immense
monolithic blocks, alone stand
erect; but their perfect state of
preservation and well-marked po-
sition permit the nature of the wall
between them to be determined
. without difficulty. It seems that
this was of small quarried stones, or even of brick, thus being easily
removed, or, in the latter case, reduced to dust by atmospheric in-
fluences; while the massive door and window casings were secure
from removal by man and from the injuries of time. Their stepped
jambs are decorated upon the inner side with reliefs; the heavy
lintels have a scotia cornice, carved with a triple row of leaves and
bordered below by an astragal. Of the openings for providing light
to the great hall no traces remain. If, as is usually supposed, the
windows now recognizable were all that ever existed, the cham-
bers of the palace would have been most gloomy, with the excep-
Fig. 85. — Plan of the Palace of Darius at
Persepolis.
PALACE OF DARIUS. HI
tion of the hall of columns, which had four openings upon the loggia,
besides the door. The light of the hall itself must have been dim,
for it could not enter directly, the windows and doors being beneath
the shade of the deep portico, with its double range of columns;
and when still more impeded by the close-standing shafts of the
hypostyle, it would have been wholly insufficient for the cham-
bers. It is further to be remarked that several of the inner rooms
have no direct communication with the hall, while if they had de-
pended on it for light they would certainly have been provided
with window-openings in place of the blind niches. It is evident
from the existence of a second story, presently to be discussed,
that horizontal apertures in the roof and ceiling could not have
existed ; this would be even more inadmissible here than in the
palace buildings of Nineveh. It is necessary, however, to assume
other openings for illumination and ventilation than those now to
be observed in the ruins, and windows were most probably arranged
in the manner in which the Orientals still secure their dwellings
from the view of the outer world while admitting light and air —
the manner customary with the Assyrians, as well as with the more
ancient Greeks. The apertures were probably upon the exterior
walls, just under the ceiling, high above the ground. All traces of
architectural members in such a position must necessarily have
disappeared when the mass of masonry which supported them was
overthrown. It is possible that their form was entirely plain, like
that given in the restoration of the Palace of Darius at the head
of this section {Fig. yy), and offered no carved details to aid in their
recognition.
A comparison of the rock-cut fagade upon the tomb of Darius
with the palace of that king will aid in the consideration of the
upper story. As the tomb represents the palace with but slight
variations, even agreeing tolerably well with its proportions, it may
be supposed that the monarch copied his dwelling upon the front of
his grave, that he might, as it were, inhabit it even after his death.
This is not an isolated instance of such a proceeding in the his-
tory of architecture. The second story, distinctly recognizable upon
the tomb, cannot be regarded as an insignificant decoration, espe-
cially as the Palace of Darius at Persepolis seems, from its plan, to
112
PERSIA.
have been thus arranged. The limited area covered, exceeded by
many a modern private house, renders an enlargement by a sec-
ond story natural ; and this is also made probable by the hypo-
style, which occupies a place where an open court, with full upper
light, would otherwise have been more suitable. Space for the
staircases was provided by the two narrow corridors next the rear
chambers. The second story was not, however, extended over the
entire ground -plan, but seems to have left the flat roof of the
side chambers as an elevated veranda, perhaps sheltered from the
sun by canopies, as the talar, a similar though smaller upper struct-
ure, stands as a pavilion upon the modern houses of Persia. The
walls of the second
story could scarcely
have been placed else-
where than upon the
otherwise unreasona-
bly thick partition-en-
closure of the hypo-
style hall. They could
not have stood over
an intercolumniation,
as upon the fagade of
the rock-cut tomb — for
this would have been
difficult, if not impos-
sible of construction —
but in other respects the upper part of the palace may have been
like that representation. Its corner supports, which are a strange
combination of scotias and roundlets, ending below in lion's paws
and above in a one-sided lion capital, have, at least, every ap-
pearance of being copied from an architectural model, and are
similar in their lower half to the legs of the throne given in Fig.
87. The standing figures, which, in double row, support the ceil-
ing, may have been carved in relief or simply painted. That this
was a common ornament is evident from its repetition upon the
reliefs of gateways, where such typical figures are admirably char-
acterized as representatives of the various nations subjugated by the
Fig. 86. — Jfersian Door-casing.
PALACE OF XERXES.
113
Persian power, they literally supporting the throne. The entrance
and the second-story windows may be supposed to have been upon
the side opposite the front, where the veranda was broadest and the
staircases led from the lower floor, as otherwise the imitation of the
facade upon the rock-cut tomb would have shown windows and
doors as well as a staircase, which probably led in double flight
to the uppermost roof. That
this house-top was flat and ac-
cessible is evident from the re-
liefs considered in this connec-
tion {Figs. 83 and 87), one of
which represents the royal throne
shaded by a canopy, the other
one of those fire-altars which, ac-
cording to Persian custom, was
placed upon the highest level of
the house. This altar upon the
summit of a royal palace is men-
tioned in the Bible, when Heze-
kiah, overthrowing the Sabaean
worship of the sun, destroyed
" the altar which is upon the top
of the upper rooms of Ahaz."
In the restoration of the Palace
of Darius {Fig. "jf), the introduc-
tion of the altar with the royal
canopy may be considered as
more than a mere decoration of
the design. This simplest and
best-preserved ruin upon the ter-
race of Persepolis permits a comparatively trustworthy understand-
ing of the elements of Persian palace architecture.
The ruin O of the topographical plan {Fig. 78) shows the re-
mains of a similar structure of about the same dimensions, later, and
therefore of less interest, than the Palace of Darius. The Palace of
Xerxes (L, M, N) was nearly double this size, being provided with a
spacious terrace before its gates, and with a colonnade upon one
Fig. 87.— Relief from the Portal of the Hall
of Hundred Columns.
1 14 PERSIA.
side, the nature of which cannot readily be explained. On the other
hand, it had no large chambers behind the hypostyle, as the rooms
upon the right and left seem, by their more spacious proportions, to
have rendered these unnecessary. The portico was hexastyle, and
the square hall behind it consequently provided with thirty-six col-
umns. Two of the side chambers were so large that their ceilings
required the support of four columns.
Of still greater dimensions, more than eight times the area of
the Palace of Darius, was the Palace Hall of Xerxes (D, E, F, G)
which was preceded by a magnificent double flight of steps. The
ceiling of the imposing hypostyle was upheld by thirty-six columns
of gigantic size. There are no traces of chambers having been
connected with it ; three of its sides were provided with hexastyle
porticos, which masked and artistically enlivened the dead enclos-
ing-walls. The masonry has disappeared, with the exception of un-
important remains of the portal (G), which Coste has restored as the
foundations of pedestals. Although a similar ruin at Susa, exam-
ined by Loftus, was also without walls, it is impossible to agree
with Coste that these were originally altogether lacking, and that
the columns of the central space were unenclosed — that the three
portals, provided with separate roofs, were grouped around this
without any connection. While we agree with Fergusson in as far
as regards the completion of the wall line and the unity of the
whole under a common roof, we must yet discredit his further
assumption that this building was provided, like the Palace of
Darius, with an upper story ; all the requisite conditions for this
were lacking. PThe ruin is remarkable from the remains of the co-
lossal columns being in the comparatively best state of preserva-
tion. They represent the three orders described above : those of
the western portico having the double-headed bull ; those of the
eastern the double-headed lion, and the others the form of shaft
coronation combined of three or four members^ The destination of
this building was not that of a dwelling, but, without doubt, that of
a festive hall for the audiences and ceremonies of the vainest and
most magnificent of despotic monarchs. To this end it was fitting-
ly placed next to the entrance-gate of the palace terrace. It is one
of the most enormous buildings of the world; the area covered by
THE I'ALACE OF XERXES.
"5
its plan, about 10,500 sq. m., nearly equals that of the Cathedral
of Milan, and surpassc^ that of the Cologne cathedral by about
2350 sq. m.
The imposing portal next to it. B, proved by inscriptions to have
also been erected by Xerxes, remains upright in the grand masses
shown by Fig, 88. An adequate explanation of its nature is not
possible. It is only clear that its principal disposition, like that of
the similar portal, H, of the terrace, was determined by the inter-
section of passages, the crossing being marked by four columns,
while the parallel walls were of sculptured marble blocks. In a for-
Fig. 88. — Propylaea of Xerxes at Persepolis.
mer work upon the history of ancient architecture,* the author has
expressed the supposition that side walls were built in the directions
marked by dotted lines upon the topographical plan {Fig. 78), con-
necting the portal with the ascending staircase. The gate would
thus receive the character of a fortification, a termination of the
palace terrace, instead of being the useless structure, easily to be
circumvented, which it is commonly considered. It is probable that
these side walls existed also at the chief portals of the Assyrian
palaces, as otherwise the entrances, especially that of the harem.
* "Geschichte der Baukunst im Alterthum." Franz Reber. Leipzig, 1864-1866.
Il6 PERSIA.
would have been too much exposed. These masses of masonry
have disappeared from the ruins of Nineveh, because of the crum-
bling of the terrace borders, and in PersepoHs, where all walls have
been overthrown and carried away, their extent is not marked by
the more durable door and window frames, which alone remain of
the palace enclosures.
The assumption of similar communicating walls in connection
with the other portal structures of the palace terrace (H and Q) not
only renders to these their full importance, but throws light upon a
building of enormous extent (C), the destination of which has hith-
erto been problematical. This edifice has been called, in lack of a
better name, the Hall of a Hundred Columns. It is an extended
enclosure of square plan, within which stood columns, traceable
by the remains of six of their number. Upon the front was a por-
tico, not decastyle, like the interior, but octastyle ; two bases re-
maining in situ determine its arrangement and dimensions. The
columns may be calculated, from their lower diameter, to have been
about 7 m. high. The enclosure of the hall, determined in extent by
the remains of all the portals and niches, measured 68 m. upon each
side. According to general acceptance, the building was restricted
to the area now covered by its ruins, and served as a second great
hall for ceremonies. Fergusson terms it a coronation hall. But,
apart from the fact that the Hall of Xerxes must have been far bet-
ter fitted by its imposing proportions for such a purpose than this
low and broad space, where the forest of columns would have im-
peded the view, it is hardly possible that two such extensive build-
ings would have been provided upon the terrace for the same use.
But some adequate space is yet to be assigned to that important
necessity of Oriental custom, the harem, which tradition particularly
asserts to have existed among the Persian palaces. If the ruin is
examined in its relation to the other palace structures of PersepoHs,
it becomes plain that it can be nothing else than the central hall of
a similar, but more extended, series of chambers, of which, as is
also the case with the ruined remains at O, hypostyle and portico
have alone been preserved, while the walls of all the outer rooms
have disappeared. Only the doors and windows of any wall upon
the terrace now exist ; and as the entrances were naturally small
THE PALACE OF DARIUS, 117
and the openings for light high above the ground, in the enclosure
of the harem, it is not surprising that this masonry has disappeared
in almost its entire extent. Two principal portals, perhaps the only
ones of the outermost walls, have been preserved, however, and
mark the outline of the building. These are the gateways H and
Q of the topographical plan : the first of these even shows some
trace of the enclosing wall ; it is the entrance from the palaces K,
L, M, N, and O ; the second probably led to an open court, to which
access must have been allowed the fair prisoners. The space be-
tween the hypostyle and the exterior wall, indicated upon the plan
by dotted lines, must have been occupied by the numerous small
rooms which provided dwellings for the three hundred girls of the
harem. The low and broad central hall served as a place of as-
semblage ; the great number of its columns and the excessive low-
ness of the ceiling exclude the idea of its having been used for pub-
lic ceremonies, but render it particularly fitted for this purpose, the
many shafts separating the groups of intimate conversers. The dim
twilight of the room was, at these evening assemblies, enlivened by
the many-colored lamps of the East. The harem upon the terrace
thus received a development analogous to that of the royal dwell-
ings, and its necessarily great extent was provided for in a becom-
ing place. By the assumption that the remains at P are those of
the harem, an integral part of the Oriental palace is recognized, and
a large tract of the terrace area is occupied, the use of which could
not otherwise be designated upon the topographical plan.
The disposition of the terrace under Darius appears to have dif-
fered considerably from that under his successors. It is not known
whether its extent has since been increased ; to establish this point,
extensive excavations would be required. It is probable that the
northwestern side of the plateau has been built out by adding earth
to the natural rock ; the buildings upon the southern half appear
the more primitive : it is certain, however, that the position of the
ascent was changed during the great reconstruction completed by
Xerxes, and possibly commenced during the latter part of the reign
of Darius. The orientation of the Palace of Darius, which, of all
the buildings at Persepolis, alone faces the south, shows the great
staircase to have been originally upon the southern end of the ter-
ii8
PERSIA.
race. Enormous dowelled blocks of stone assured the stability and
preservation of the newer parts of the substructure. The broad
and gently rising flights of steps remain in so good a condition that
it is even to-day possible to ascend them upon horseback.
Among the remaining monuments of Persian architecture there
are no temples ; it would be vain to seek such structures ; the wor-
ship of the land did not demand closed rooms, requiring only sacri-
fice and prayer upon the summits of mountains or artificial eleva-
tions. Herodotos relates that the Persians not only scorned tem-
ples, but did not erect images of their deities, nor even altars. This
last point is certainly incorrect ; the worship of fire particularly
called for altars, and these are represented upon the ornamented
facades of the rock-cut tombs. {Fig. 83.) It is probable that two
pedestals, standing
near each other upon
the palace terrace of
Pasargadae, are ancient
Persian. They are
cubes, each about 3
m. high; one is ter-
minated by steps, and
has upon one side a
straight line of as-
Fig.89.-Altar Pedestals at Pasargadae. cending Stairs; the
platform at the summit was sufficiently large to receive an altar, or
may perhaps itself have been used as a receptacle for fire and sacri-
fices. They are similar to the altar upon the upper story of the
Palace of Darius, used for religious devotion. The supposition may
be ventured that these two altars, in such vicinity, point to the du-
alism of the Persian worship of Ormuzd and Ahriman.
Other large monuments of the land may have had something
to do with religious observances; but as they lack any character-
istic form, this cannot be proved. Such is the case with the cone
of Darabgerd, known as Kella Darab, apparently an imitation of
a natural mound. It is surrounded by a circular wall, perforated
in eight equidistant places, and rises, in two rings of masonry, to a
height of 48 m. A similar structure is the massive tower of Firuz-
THE TOMB OF CYRUS.
119
Abad, a rectangular obelisk 27 m. high, measuring 8.5 m. upon each
side of its base. Near it is an enormous platform, with broad but-
tresses upon the four sides, which are directed to the cardinal points
of the compass; the foundation of the mass measures 61 by 78 m.
The masonry is of carefully hewn stone, of a workmanship not found
in the country after the advent of the Christian era ; the swallow-
tail dowelling of the blocks is similar to that upon the pavement
of the terrace at Persepolis.
Fig. 90. — Tomb of Cyrus.
To the consideration of these structures must be added that of
the semi-sacred tombs. Though few other monuments can be traced
back to the age of the founder of the Persian sovereignty, the heroic
Cyrus, fortune appears to have preserved his tomb almost entirely
intact in architectural respects. The description of it by Arrian is
not precise, but his account may still be identified with an interest-
ing and evidently ancient Persian monument, now known as Med-
shed Mader-i-Suleiman, the tomb of the mother of Solomon. Its sit-
uation is in Murgab, not distant from the ruins of Pasargadae, which
I20 PERSIA.
contain inscriptions with the name of Cyrus, and reHefs commem-
orating his exploits. The monument consists of a terrace seven
times stepped, covering a ground surface of 12.5 by 13.5 m. ; it is
built of enormous blocks carefully joined, and bears a cella with ga-
bled roof. The simple and gently curved mouldings of the cornice
and base of the cella do not betray Greek influence, but it is possi-
ble that the form of the roof, rare in the Orient, may be attributed
to reminiscences of Hellenic construction observed during the cam-
paigns of Cyrus in Asia Minor. The entrance, described by Arrian
as very small, is 0.9 m. broad and 1.2 m. high; the exterior of the
cella is 5.2 m. broad and 6.3 m. long; the chamber itself only 3 m.
long and 2.1 m. broad and high. There is naturally no longer any
trace of the objects once within the interior — the table, coffin, and
bier of solid gold ; the garments of royal purple. The inscriptions
have, unfortunately, also disappeared. The blocks of the chamber
floor are swallow-tailed into each other with great exactness ; to
which circumstance, and to the exact jointing of all the massive ma-
sonry, this exceptionally fine state of the building's preservation is
to be ascribed. The whole structure gives the impression of a ter-
raced Chaldaean temple. It is not improbable that the Tomb of
Cyrus received this sacred form because the character of a hero of
Western Asia was attributed to the king soon after his death. A
colonnade appears to have enclosed the sombre pile ; several drums
of its columns still project above the ground. The accounts of
Greek authors refer to buildings erected for the priests to whose
care the monument was intrusted ; these are believed to have been
recognized in the remains of a neighboring caravansary.
The tombs of later Persian kings, which, during the entire dy-
nasty of the Achaemenidae, were almost alike, are of a totally differ-
ent nature from that of Cyrus, being cut in and upon the face of the
rock. Upon the steep cliff" of Naksh-i-Rustam and Persepolis there
are seven of these facades, which form an imposing feature of the
landscape, whether viewed in the vicinity or from afar. All follow
the type of the Tomb of Darius described above, giving a rep-
resentation of the royal dwelling upon the wall before the grave-
chamber. {Fig. 83.) Only the lower half of the door is used as an
entrance, the upper part being closed by an imitation of slat-work.
ROCKCUT TOMBS. I2i
It leads to a corridor running parallel to the face of the cliff; in the
Tomb of Darius this extends to the left, beyond the breadth of the
facade, to three chambers, each of which is arranged for three cof-
fins. All these graves had been plundered when investigated by
Coste and Flandin. A rock-cut tomb at Serpul-Zohab is of still
simpler disposition ; originally it had two columns upon the front,
but was not further decorated ; the interior consisted of a small
chamber, providing only sufficient space for two sarcophagi. It is
not certain whether other monuments in the vicinity of Naksh-i-
Rustam and of Pasargadse should be regarded as tombs. They re-
semble towers ; their corners are strengthened by pilasters, and they
have oblong niches upon each side, the frames of which are triply
stepped. Of the tombs of Persian subjects nothing whatever is
known ; it may be possible that the people of that nation were ac-
customed formerly, as at present, to carry down their dead from the
highlands to the Necropolis of Chaldxa, where millions of graves
still await scientific investigation.
As little is known of Persian domestic architecture. No ves-
tiges of private houses have been found which belong to an his-
torical period earlier than that of the Roman emperors. The habi-
tations of subjects were not to be compared with the magnificent
palaces of their despotic rulers, and must have been built of the
most destructible materials. We may imagine the Persian house
somewhat to have resembled, in disposition of plan, the royal dwell-
ings, though of course greatly simplified by the substitution of an
open court for the hypostyle hall, by the omission of terraces, col-
umns, and carvings, and by the reduction of all spaces and dimen-
sions to a minimum.
/-..^The Persians developed far less independence in sculpture than
in architecture. They showed themselves, in their carvings, to be
but meanly endowed scholars of the Assyrians, and gained little by
subjecting themselves to the influence of other nations, the spirit
of which they did not comprehend or employ towards any possible
improvement of Assyrian traditions. The Mesopotamians were, in
their artistic development, thrown upon their own resources ; they
therefore looked earnestly to the fountain-head of nature as the
model of their sculptured work ; but the Persians, in the wider
122 PERSIA.
extent of their kingdom, instead of profiting by the study of
nature, so requisite to true progress, depended upon forms and
methods inherited from the Assyrians, upon which they engrafted
certain peculiarities borrowed from the Egyptians, and also, in still
greater measure, from the higher art practised among the Greeks
of Asia Minor in the time of Darius and Xerxes. In this adoption
of foreign properties, in this mingling of Mesopotamian, Egyptian,
and Hellenic manners of expression, they utterly sacrificed origi-
nality and simplicity of style, and made of their sculpture a repul-
sive hybrid of inharmonious elements. It may well be conceived
that with this lifeless imitation the creative impulse languished, and
art became more and more limited, until it shrank at last into mere
ornamental handiwork. The Persians could the more easily forego
the revetment of their walls with carved slabs, after the Assyrian
fashion, as their architecture itself, far more than that of Mesopota-
mia, fulfilled its own aim, — accomplished witlvjts own means what
was elsewhere effected by sculpture and paintingrl --.^^^^
/_With Persian statu'es in the full round we have no acquaintance.
Several examples remain of colossal monsters in the half round, like
those met with in Assyrian sculpture. In conception and in detail,
in proportion and in situation, they scarcely differ from those of
Assyria : they are only somewhat stiffer ; their strap-like sinews and
veins, their muscles and hair, are conventionalized almost to pure
ornament ; they have entirely lost the life-like natural truth of the
works of Nineveh, ^he tendency towards decoration is well ex-
pressed in the wings of these monsters. The rectilinear feathers
of the models upon the Tigris were in Persia transformed into the
graceful but unnatural curves seen also in the griffins of Greek
architecture. This Colossus is found in the best state of preserva-
tion at the Propylaea of Xerxes near the ascent of the terrace of
Persepolis. On the front are perfect bulls, with proportionately
small heads ; on the back are the cherubim already mentioned,
with long-bearded, tiara-crowned human heads. These purely As-
syrian monsters of the gateway may perhaps be regarded as tro-
phies from Mesopotamia, which, in the course of time, had become
naturalized into the Persian practice of palace architecture.
If the masonry, probably of brick, had received a richly sculpt-
SCULPTURE. 123
ured stone revetment, like that which covered the Assyrian walls,
some remains of this would certainly have been found. It seems,
however, that the wall surfaces were ornamented only with paint-
ings. In proportion as carved decoration was diminished, the archi-
tectural treatment of the enclosing masses was increased, by doors,
windows, and niches, and by the repeatedly stepped epistyle beams
and its crowning scotia, richly ornamented with leaves over the lin-
tels. Only the inner surfaces of the door-jambs were used for represen-
tations in relief, the subjects being partly mythological, partly cere-
monial. The ruins of Pasargadx show such a mythological figure, in
long, close-lying garments without folds, according to the Assyrian
tradition, though of somewhat lighter proportion. It has a less pro-
nounced Semitic profile, Egyptianized by long twisted ram's horns
upon the head, and with the irrelevant ornaments of the Nile situla,
disks, and uraeos-serpents ; the greater part of it is so destroyed that
only the outline is recognizable. ^Upon the terrace of Persepolis
there is repeated a kingly or divine being lifth^ a lion into the air
while strangling it, such as appears in more vigorous design upon
the reliefs of Nineveh ; or this figure pierces iwith a. short sword a
bull, lion, or griffin standing upright upon its hinder legs. One of
these peculiar mythological representations is given in Fig.gi.^ The
head of the male figure, ornamented with a diadem, is distinguished
from the Assyrian type only by a longer and less protruding nose,
and by some diminution of the luxuriant hair and beard. The ex-
posed limbs, the arms and legs, have more slender proportions ; with
a softer and somewhat Hellenized swing of the outlines, there is less
modelling than was found upon the Tigris. The expression of great
muscular power, of striking and healthy energy of action, peculiar to
the Assyrians, is lost in Persia. The garments are not sack-like and
close-fitting ; with the richly patterned treatment of surfaces, there
is an attempt, not altogether fortunate, to indicate the folds of dra-
pery and the free flow of cloth. It is possible to recognize in this
respect the influence of Asiatic Hellas, falling, indeed, upon rather
sterile ground, and received with little understandingtTThe strapped
shoes take from the cramped foot its true form, being curved in the
sole even more than is the case with the naked instep. The power,
long since acquired by the Greeks, of so raising the hinder foot of
124
PERSIA.
a moving figure that only the toes touch the ground, was as far
from being possessed by the Persians as was the power of causing
the whole body to take part in an action — carrying forward the
momentary position. The human being is apparently able neither
to turn the animal away from himself, nor, by additional exertion, to
give the death-blow. The opposing griffin is similarly petrified ; it
here appears with eagle's head and feathered tail, occurring in other
Fig. 91. — Relief for a Portal of Persepolis. (See Fig. 86.)
representations with lion's head and scorpion's tail. Both paw.
of the fore feet, and one of the eagle's claws of the hind feet, are in
the position of attack ; one paw grasps the right arm, as it reaches
towards the head of the monster; the other is laid upon the left,
which pierces its body with a broad and pointed dagger. At the
same time, one of the bird-like hinder legs touches the front knee
of the human figure. But nowhere is there the energetic movement
BAS-RELIEFS. ,25
of seizing or pressure found upon Assyrian sculptures ; there is a
posture, but no action ; and thus the lion-eagle monster has no
frightful power — only something hatefully comical in figure and
bearing. Nor has the bull or lion, which occasionally takes the
place of the griffin, anything of the Assyrian force ; the scene might
be considered as a harmless play of the man with the animal, were
it not for the sword half buried in the body.
The most accessible subjects for such an art were naturally mere
ceremonial representations, where the action, reduced to a minimum,
was naturally neither momentary nor energetic. There are the
promenades of the king, with staff and lotos-flower in his hands, fol-
lowed by eunuchs, one third of his size, who carry his handkerchief
and sunshade, and cool him with a fan of peacock's feathers. It is
worthy of curious notice that, upon a door at the back of the palace,
the sunshade is omitted from the relief, as being of use only in going
out. A casual observation of Persian sculpture may be deceptive,
and we may seem to recognize quiet dignity in what is mere want
of all expression. It is thus with the frequently repeated ceremo-
nial scenes, the architectural employment of which has been men-
tioned above. {Fig. 87.) The canopied throne appears raised upon
an elevation ; the king sits with his feet resting upon a footstool,
his retinue before him with censers. Three superposed rows of men
stand as supporters of the throne, with outstretched arms bearing
the platform. The figures are placed in such regular position that
the effect is purely ornamental ; but are individually interesting,. in
so far as they are intended to represent, in feature and costume, the
different nationalities of the Persian empire. Notwithstanding the
celebrated description of the review of the Persian army upon the
banks of the Hellespont given by Herodotos, it would be hopeless
to attempt to recognize among the figures the types of known
tribes. Of a similar kind are the upper parts of the rock-cut reliefs
upon the tombs of the Achaemenidae, the architectural peculiarities of
which have already been mentioned. Because of the sacred char-
acter of these graves, the kings are not represented enthroned, but
standing upon a stepped platform before an altar, over which floats
the winged and encircled deity, near the disk of the sun or moon.
A consideration of the exterior treatment of the upper story of the
126 PERSIA.
palaces would here be in place if it could be shown that the orna-
mentation was indeed carved.
S Persian sculpture received its most extensive application upon
the buttresses of the steps placed before every palace. Here are
found the ceremonial scenes of the Assyrian courts in a feeble ren-
dering, far removed from the sharp and careful cutting of the de-
tails, and the naturalistic modelling of the bodies, peculiar to the
works of Mesopotamia. Long processions of men represent differ-
ent nationalities, characterized by their costumes and by the treats
ment of hair and beard ; by their various feather-caps, hoods, capu-
chins, pointed hats ; short skirts, with wide pantaloons ; long gar-
ments, with great fulness at the bottom, and sleeves falling in mul-
tiplied folds ; by the skins of animals worn as mantles ; by girdles,
sword-belts and swords, bows and quivers ; by peculiar sandals, shoes,
boots, and the like./ These subjects bring to the monarch most
manifold gifts — horses, dromedaries, musk-oxen, rams, goats, a wag-
on, elephants' tusks, stuffs, garments (among which various kinds
of stockings are even distinguishable), swords, double-headed ham-
mers, bracelets for the arms ; censers, with vessels for incense ; salve,
in little bowls, borne upon trays which hang like scales ; wine-skins,
goblets, globular and flat cake-like loaves of food, carried in the palm
of the hand ; carved cups and saucers ; little bags, etc. Others bear
only lotos-flowers and pomegranates. jThey are slim, narrow-chest-
ed figures; the short upper body is given in profile, without ana-
tomical truth in general form or detail ; not only without motion,
but apparently incapable of it. At times the position of the arms
shows, not, indeed, a gesture, but some attempt of varied position ;
the hands lie upon one another, or touch the mouth, the end of
the beard, the hilt of the sword hanging at the side, or the quiver,
or are extended so as to rest upon the shoulders of the preceding
figure in the procession.
Lifeless as these appear, they are still superior to the guards, arrti-
ed with a lance, who march towards each other from opposite sides,
in long processions. {Fig. 92.) The heads differ from the Assyrian
type only in the pointed chin-beard ; the bodies alternate between
uniforms of two fixed patterns. One of these is without a shield, in
a closely fitting leathern garment, with awkward pantaloons bound
SCULPTUUE.
127
at the ankles, and a globular cap of surpassing clumsiness. The oth-
er, distinguished by shield and plumes, with a long robe drawn up
at the hips, and with wide sleeves hanging in folds, is more tolera-
ble. The elliptical shields, like those of Boeotia, have a round cut
upon both sides, in which the lance was probably placed ; they are
strengthened by a circular plate riveted to the centre. Upon the
terrace stairs, in the triangles formed by the ascending steps, are
Fig. 92. — Relief from the Stairs of the Palace of Darius.
groups of animals — lions seizing bulls from behind. Though the
forms are rendered with but little understanding of detail, the en-
tire composition is well fitted to the triangular space allowed it, and
thus has a certain decorative and architectural value. The parapet
of the staircase terrace is decorated with rows of highly convention-
alized lotos-flowers upon leafy stems ; in its centre is the winged di-
vinity of the disk between crouching lions. These carvings upon
the staircase buttress, though monotonous, were still so rich that they
128 PERSIA.
gave to this member much the same distinction as that of the gable
in Greek architecture, to which it is somewhat similar in outline,
the ascent from each side forming a triangle. The representations
upon it are, in their subjects, suited to the palace fronts, where
guards were in place, as well as gift-bearing deputies from tributary
nations. Though the division of the surface into several horizontal
stripes by rows of figures, one over another, is not artistically beau-
tiful, it still has the advantage that the standard of proportion is not
infringed upon, as is so often the case when colossal statues are
placed before buildings ; the disadvantage may perhaps be less
when life-sized figures, like these, are dwarfed by being brought
into comparison with enormous edifices.
Only one important historical scene is known — the rock-cut re-
lief of Bi-Sueton. A king, followed by guardsmen, sets his foot and
bow upon a victim lying backwards on the ground, who stretches
up his hands in a beseeching manner, while a procession of nine
prisoners approaches, their hands tied behind them, and bound one
to the other. Above is the winged deity. The proud bearing of
the king, and the stooping of the helpless enemies, show a slightly
superior artistic ability. Though Persian sculpture was successful
in some rare instances, the conviction must still remain that, in
comparison with the art of Assyria, it was not only a dependent im-
itation, but failed to attain any of the superiorities of its model.
That which was borrowed from other lands than Mesopotamia was
superficially carried into execution in unimportant details. Strictly
speaking, we can hardly acknowledge the existence of the art of
sculpture in Persia, as it was without either independent founda-
tion or any progress of its own.
Of Persian painting there are no remains or information. The
walls were without doubt plastered and colored. If there had been
a revetment of glazed tiles, according to the Mesopotamian prac-
tice, some fragments of this almost indestructible material would
surely have been found. From analogy of the carvings, it is proba-
ble that paintings upon the walls were chiefly ornamental and of
subordinate importance. Upon the principal front of the buildings
there remained but little space where painted decorations could be
employed ; the facade of the Tomb of Darius was largely covered
SCULPTURE. 129
with inscriptions. On the other hand, the restoration of the Palace
of Darius, at the head of this chapter {Fig. 77), shows that the aid
of color was particularly needed upon the other sides, which would
have been bare and monotonous without painted ornaments. We
may suppose that the Persians felt this need, and that decorative
painting was extensively employed ; they were led to it by familiarity
with the methods of Assyrian art, and with the colored mural deco-
rations universal in Egypt, both which lands they considered their
tributary provinces. Though we cannot speak of monumental inde-
pendence in Persian sculpture and painting — of which, indeed, no an-
cient Orientals had any conception — the art of the land had at least
the superiority that its three branches, in their application, stood" ip
true relations to each other, inasmuch as architecture employed and
brought forward the sister arts as secondary, decorative aid ; paint-
ing and sculpture did not predominate in the excessive degree char-
acteristic of the older nations of the East. The Egyptians, whose
architecture, otherwise so richly developed, was chiefly restricted to
the interior, made excessive use of painting and coilanaglyphics to
enliven the dead masses of exterior walls. The Assyrians needed
sculptured revetment and painted stucco to support and hide the
weakness of their masonry, and its incapacity for architectural treat-
ment, within and without. Merely decorative art thus gained an
undue supremacy in both countries. Among the Persians, on the
other hand, architecture attained its full rights by important and
harmonious advances, while decorative sculpture and painting with-
drew to their proper subordinate positions.
9
F'g- 93- — Rock-cut Tombs of Myra.
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
THE primitive tradition which makes the valley of the Euphra-
tes and Tigris the centre of the most advanced culture of the
earth is illustrated by the extraordinary expanse of Mesopotamian
influence in both time and space. Extending eastwards even to the
Ganges, in a westerly direction passing beyond the Adriatic, bound-
ed on the north only by inhospitable Scythia (Siberia), and on the
south by the Indian Ocean, its roots, long after the advent of the
Christian era, sent forth fresh shoots into Western Asia, recogniza-
ble in the monuments of the Sassanidae and in the works of the
world-conquering Arabians. The spring of native civilization was
not entirely exhausted, although, after the fall of the Persian em-
%£.'
HISTORY. 131
pire and the foundation of a Greek Asiatic monarchy by Alexander
the Great, Hellenism had expanded itself over Western Asia for five
centuries, — first among the luxurious Seleucida;, who had attached to
themselves the Asiatic half of the Macedonian empire, and in later
times under the strict military power of the imperial Roman period.
Nor could the barbarism of the Parthians wholly obliterate from
the land the reminiscences of ancient Persian and Mesopotamian
culture. These influences appear again when the Persian Ardshir
— boasting a direct descent from the Achaemenidae, and therefore
called Artaxerxes by the Byzantine Greeks — shook off the yoke of
the barbaric Parthians in the year 226 after Christ, as his forefather
Cyrus, eight centuries previously, had founded his empire upon that
of the Medes. Ardshir was the first ruler of a new national Per-
sian dynasty, named after his father, Sassan, — a race under whose
sway the land east of the Tigris was raised to a glory and impor-
tance which made itself felt even in distant and powerful Rome.
One Roman emperor, the unhappy Valerian, was even forced to lan-
guish during the last ten years of his life in a Persian prison, the
Romans not venturing to free him from the despicable slavery of
the Sassanian Shahpur I., who meanwhile took care to hand down
to posterity that world-renowned result of Persian bravery and cun-
ning by numerous monuments and rock-carved reliefs, which testify,
as a leaf of authentic history, to an event so humiliating to Rome.
The Palace of Ctesiphon, — the Sassanian representative of the
Hellenic Seleucia upon the Tigris, a city of the Diadochi which
had itself taken the place of the Chaldaean Babylon on the Euphra-
tes,— the dwellings of Sarbistan and Firuz-Abad, with many other
buildings and monuments sculptured upon the face of cliffs, give
evidence of the artistic ability of the new Persian kingdom, which
continued to flourish until the foundation of the Mohammedan pow-
er in Mesopotamia, 641 A.D. Much was certainly lost, and the ar-
tistic ornamentation of architecture, as illustrated by the columns
and pilasters of Sarbistan, which are without capital or base, sank
again to the rudeness of the ancient monuments of Chaldaea ; but,
on the other hand, the constructive gain was not inconsiderable,
notably in the greater development of gateways, windows, and nich-
es, as well as in the appearance of immense arches, cylindrical vaults,
^
132 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
and cupolas, which received peculiar forms of parabolic Hues, though
not excluding the round arch. The later Persians had marked influ-
ence upon the conquering Arabs, who, with few native traditions,
were readily receptive : this is illustrated by the horse-shoe arch, so
characteristic of Moorish architecture, which may be traced in the
works of the Sassanidae from the Palace of Ctesiphon to the Monu-
ment of Tak-i-Gero. Chronological considerations and the increas-
ing influence of Greek and Roman elements seem, however, to for-
bid the treatment of Sassanian architecture in this sequence. Indian
art is omitted chiefly upon the ground that the best work of the Far-
ther East does not appertain to a history of antiquity at all; the
remains antedating the Christian era, such as the columns of Asoka,
are too undeveloped and wanting in independence to deserve sepa-
rate consideration. This would be even less the place for a review
of Sassanian sculpture, because in this, in spite of the recurrence of
ancient Mesopotamian figures and details, and notwithstanding the
national peculiarities observable in the modelling of muscles and
draperies, the Hellenic and Roman influences are too great to allow
of a proper treatment of the subject apart from the artistic develop-
ment of Greece and Italy. Sassanian and Indian art, though stand-
ing in a certain relation to the civilization of antiquity, may re-
ceive a more just historical treatment if considered immediately be-
fore the advent of Mohammedan methods of building, — upon the
threshold of the Middle Ages.
The chief currents of culture and intellectual development have
ever flowed steadily towards the West; such was the course of the
wide-spreading artistic influence of Mesopotamia. The valley of the
Euphrates and Tigris is divided from the shores of the Mediterra-
nean" by desert tracts which did not allow Assyrian traditions, though
directed and furthered by the important trade-roads, to take imme-
diate and undisputed possession of the strip of Phoenician coast.
Egypt lay too near for this; its influence could not remain unfelt
by the seafaring inhabitants of the Syrian lands. Indefinite theories
have been prevalent for some time concerning the meeting and
blending of the peculiar civilizations of the lands of the Nile and
the Tigris, but until recently Phoenicia was the least-known country
of the ancient world. The Syrian expedition of the French under
CITIES. 133
the auspices of Napoleon III., like the Egyptian under Napoleon I.,
presented the possibility of a thorough and systematic exploration
of Phoenician remains. The difficulties of prosecuting the investi-
gations were not less than they had been in Chald.nea. " The land,"
says Renan, who was commissioned to conduct the explorations, " is
now completely deserted. The destruction of the forests has every-
where done its evil work ; the soil, year after year carried off by
the inhabitants of the villages or washed away by the torrents of
winter rain, has disappeared from the native rock ; the flow of water
from the springs, more and more exhausted, has become too weak
to find its way to the sea against the many hinderances ; hemmed
in by dunes and alluvial formations, it fills the plain with the poi-
sonous exhalations of swamps, so that the once blooming and pop-
ulous land has become a pestilent desert, where for miles there is
scarcely a hut to be seen."
The remaining monuments are chiefly grouped around the five
principal trading towns of the coast, — Ruad (Aradus), Amrith (Mar-
athus), Jebeil (Byblus), Saida (Sidon), and Sur (Tyre), — which follow
one another from north to south in the given succession. Still far-
ther to the south are isolated ruins near Gabr-Hiram and Um-el-
Auamid. Beyrout, now the most important city of all the original
Phoenician territory, has the fewest remains of antiquity ; the great-
er number are at the totally deserted site of Marathus, where the
neighboring brook, Nahr-el-Amrith, alone retains a trace of the city's
anciently celebrated name. The city Aradus, frequently mentioned
in the Mosaic Scriptures, founded Marathus, its most important col-
ony, as well as Paltus, Balaneia, Carnek, and Enhydra. Of Aradus
itself little exists beyond a few enormous blocks of hewn stone ; the
fanaticism of the present inhabitants of Ruad prevented an ade-
quate examination of the site. All these cities lost their impor-
tance in the Roman period, with the ascendency of Antaradus, the
mediaeval Tortosa.
The remains at Amrith are barely sufficient to give a conception
of the temple buildings and monumental tombs of the Phoenicians.
One fane, in an exceptionally good state of preservation, is still called
by the inhabitants El-Maabed (the temple). It consists of a rectan-
gular area, the temenos, 48 m. broad and 55 m. long, sunk into the
134
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
native rock, so that three of its sides are formed by the perpendic-
ular cut, and reach the height of 5 m. Upon the north, the en-
trance, the enclosure was completed by a wall, which was also con-
tinued around the other three sides, and there heightened the boun-
dary. Two piers, in the southeastern and southwestern corners, stand-
ing 3.5 m. from the edge of the rock, and numerous sockets for the
ends of the beams, plainly visible in the walls, lead to the supposi-
tion that a gallery was carried partially or entirely around the space.
The whole sunken area formed the court of a temple, perhaps a sa-
cred lake, as many traces of paved springs in the interior seem to
Fig. 94.— Temple Cella (El-Maabed) of Amrith.
indicate. The small cella, which rises exactly in the centre of the
quadrangle, thus became an unapproachable sanctuary. {Fig. 94.)
It is formed of only five stones. The socle is hewn from the solid
rock, 3 m. high and 5.5 m. square, with traces of a stairway upon the
right side. The three-walled cella, open to the north, is 5 m. high ;
its ceiling is monolithic, while the walls consist of three superposed
blocks cut to the plan of the chamber. The roof, chiselled within to
the form of a flat-arched vault, juts forward over the opening ; its
projection may have been supported by light columns of metal, the
probable form of which will be considered in connection with the
SANCTUARIES. I35
rock-cut reliefs of Mashnaka. Upon the side-walls, which stand
2.34 in. apart, there are two low benches, leaving a ground-space
of only 0.8 m. between them. The architectural decoration of this
shrine is limited to a cornice of scotia and roundlet ; though this
appears also in Assyria and Persia, it still gives an Egyptian charac-
ter to the cella exterior, which in plan and general disposition is very
similar to the Mesopotamian chapels represented upon Assyrian re-
liefs {Fi^s. 35 and 57), and to such structures as appear to have ex-
isted upon the terraced pyramids of Chaldxa. In this cella we pos-
sess the oldest and the only Semitic temple known, still in admira-
ble preservation, although the downfall of the crumbling mass is
predicted by the authorities who accompanied the Phoenician ex-
pedition. Of two similar structures, which stood near the city of
Marathus, Renan could discover only overthrown blocks buried in
the swamp of Ain-el-Hayat (fountain of the serpents) and hidden
by oleander-bushes. They stood at a distance of 10 m., their open
sides turned towards each other. The remains of the better-pre-
served cella show it to have been entirely monolithic. It stood
upon a double substructure, of which, strange to say, the lower part
is considerably smaller than the upper. It betrays still closer rela-
tionship with Egyptian works of the kind by rows of uraeos-serpents
over the cornice scotia and the winged disk upon the inner ceiling.
From their plan, they appear to have had no columnar supports,
and resemble, in the careful restoration made by Mr. Thobois, the
monolithic cellas of Philae preserved in Leyden and in the Louvre.
Traces of three other sanctuaries, or at least of their temenos en-
closure, which is partly cut in the rock and partly built, exist in
the vicinity of the Stadion of Amrith, now known as El-Meklaa (the
quarry), and designated by Renan, upon insufficient grounds, as
itself ancient Phcenician.
The monumental tombs of Amrith are not less important than
these places of worship ; the ruins known under the name EUAuamid-
el-Meghazil (the spindle-columns) are truly majestic. (Fz^. 95.) The
first rises in three cylindrical steps upon a square platform little ele-
vated above the ground. The lower part, 2.5 m. in height and 5.15 m.
in diameter, built of two stones, is ornamented over the corners of the
platform with engaged lions, which are among the most prominent
136
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
works of Phoenician sculpture known, and will be considered at
greater length below. Upon this first cylindrical step rests a block
7 m. high, ornamented at the base with delicately curved moulding,
and at the summit with dentils and battlements. These latter are
found also upon fragments from Jebeil in conjunction with squares
Fig. 95. — The Monuments El-Meghazil of Amrith.
and rosettes and a particularly characteristic frieze of straight-lined
laurel branches; they show great similarity to Mesopotamian re-
main?. In the circular plan of the structure there is no reminis-
cence of Egyptian methods of art ; an hemispherical termination
lends to the whole so marked an individuality that, although its
MONUMENTAL TOMBS. 1 37
form seems not to have been universal, or even the most common,
upon the Syrian coasts, there yet may be recognized in this monu-
ment a truly original Phoenician type. In the development of me-
morial stones a cultured people generally expresses its fundamental
artistic conceptions, as is the case with the pyramidal termination of
Egyptian obelisks, and with the Assyrian piers terminated by a step-
ped terrace, in both of which are embodied the lines predominant
in the architecture of those nations. A stairway hewn in the rock
leads to the subterranean burial chambers ; its entrance is at some
little distance from the monument, as shown in the section Fig. 95.
Only 6 m. removed from this rises a second pile, which, from a
certain parallelism of position, seems to belong with it. It is sim-
pler than the first, consisting of a cube measuring 3 m. upon the
side, so roughly hewn that it appears a block taken just as it was
quarried ; upon it is a monolithic cylinder 4 m. high and 3.7 m. in
diameter, terminated by a five-sided pyramid of steep inclination.
Somewhat removed from these are two similar monuments, of which
the better preserved stands upon steps and rises in two cubes, sep-
arated by a cornice of wavy outline, the upper block terminating in
a four-sided pyramid, now almost entirely overthrown. It is re-
markable for the monolithic horizontal covering of the entrance to
the grave chambers, which is again a little distant from the base.
Of the pyramidal termination of its neighbor, only traces remain.
All these monuments were in part cut from the native rock and
in part composed of enormous monoliths ; a fifth, of considerably
greater dimensions, was built of quarried stones. Of this latter,
the commanding mausoleum known under the name of Burdj-el-
Bezzak (Tower of the Snails), little remains beyond the platform,
which measures 11 m. in height and 9 m. in the square plan. The
four-sided pyramid, of obtuse inclination, placed upon this eleva-
tion, is now entirely overthrown. The blocks, 5 m. long, are hewn
only upon the joints, and left with a rough face. A cornice of
curved profile ran around the platform ; within it are two cham-
bers, each lighted by a small window, the existence of which ren-
dered the otherwise customary grotto beneath the pile superfluous.
Grotto tombs, with a decorated entrance cut upon the rock wall,
seem to have been most generally employed in Central Phoenicia.
138
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
They are exemplified by the numerous remains of this kind at Saida
(Sidon) and Jebeil (Byblus). A tomb at the latter place shows a sim-
ple but interesting facade ; its ornamentation, by the heavy gable and
ring-formed acroterium, is strikingly similar to forms occurring in
Central Asia Minor (Phrygia). {Fig. 96.) Its flat border and plain five-
leaved rosette in the tympanon triangle give no evidence of Hellenic
influence. The interior of these tombs is generally a large room,
with curved ceiling and niches upon three of its sides, sunk into the
rock, one above another, like those of the Catacombs, to hold the
rows of coffins. The finest of the sarcophagi of Jebeil is deco-
rated with festoons, wreaths, single leaves and branches, in a naive
style of ornament betraying no
knowledge of Greek sculpture.
In Southern Phoenicia a monu-
mental development of the sar-
cophagus seems to have been
chiefly favored. The tomb
known as that of Hiram (Gabr--
hiram), south of Sur (Tyre), is an
immense coffer, 3 m. high, with
a heavy arched cover, raised
upon a plinth built of hewn
blocks 4.24 m. long, 2.64 m.
broad, and 3 m. high, the upper
Fig. 96.-Fa9adeofa Rock-cut Tomb at Jebeil. p^^ of which is formed by a
monolithic slab almost one meter in thickness. Not far from this
site, at Um-el-Auamid, is a large sarcophagus, 2.40 m. long and 1.24
m. broad, with a gable-shaped lid decorated by clumsy corner acro-
terias. Against one of its sides stands a small altar, remarkable for
the corners of its battlemented termination, which must be similar
to the horns of the altar which stood in the tabernacle of Solomon's
Temple.
Of the domestic architecture of Phoenicia can be mentioned only
an entirely unornamented house, hewn from the rock, in Amrith,
and a portal at Um-el-Auamid, where the middle block of the
triple lintel is decorated with the Egyptian disk and uraeos-serpents
upon either side. The materials employed by the Phoenician archi-
'^ilitii-Ui^;.
SCULPTURE. I3Q
tccts seem generally to have been the cedars of Lebanon and the
various metals of transmarine commerce ; it is on this account that
the preserved monuments are so few, and their remains so bare of
carved decoration.
This explains also the lack of examples illustrating the sculpture
and extended industrial art of the country. The Homeric epics
constantly point to the Syrian coast as the home of all contempo-
rary skill in metal-work, pottery, and weaving. Stone statues were
rare ; metal was the favorite material of Phoenician sculpture, al-
though it was but seldom, as in the columns before the Temple of
Jerusalem, employed for casting. The usual proceeding of the artif-
icer was to make a core of wood for the work, whether this were to
be in relief or in the full round ; upon it sheets of metal were se-
cured, and these finally beaten with the hammer to the modelling
of the carved wood beneath, thus forming a so-called sphyrelaton.
The sculptures of Solomon's Temple illustrate this process, and, ac-
cording to the Biblical account, may unhesitatingly be ascribed to
Phoenician artists. In some instances the beaten metal was gold,
this being the case with the Temple of Jerusalem and with a small
temple at Carthage, which contained an image similarly overlaid.
Silver was more rarely thus employed, though it is known that from
the earliest times the Spanish silver- mines were worked by the
Phoenicians. The metal was perhaps more frequently devoted to
utensils like the twelve silver vessels discovered upon Cyprus, of
which those now in the Louvre show a workmanship nearly akin to
that of the before -mentioned Assyrian bronzes. It has been re-
marked in the section upon A.ssyria that this style was neither
purely Mesopotamian nor Egyptian, but rather a mixture of both,
the latter predominating. This points to the Phoenician origin of
such works, and these silver vessels of Cyprus lend a striking con-
firmation to the supposition. The beaten metal was usually a
bronze, the copper in its composition being derived from the Phoe-
nician island Cyprus, the tin an article of commerce brought from
England. It is natural that the Phoenicians, to whom alone these
metals were accessible, should be regarded as the inventors of that
amalgamation of ten parts of copper with one of tin known as
bronze, of so great importance in casting. Homer's mention of
I40 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
vessels and utensils from Sidon, and the discovery of Phoenician
bronzes in the ruins of Nineveh, prove a most ancient and extended
trade in objects formed of that metal.
The carved wooden form covered with sheets of metal, the sphy-
relaton, is a peculiarly Phoenician product. Such beaten reliefs were
generally of copper, pure, or with a small percentage of tin ; gold,
silver, and even tin were, however, similarly employed, in conjunc-
tion with mosaics of precious stones, ivory, and notably with amber,
a substance greatly prized in early antiquity, and brought by the
enterprising Phoenicians from the coasts of the North Sea. A cer-
tain effect of color was thus obtained. In the decoration of weap-
ons, a ground of metal served instead of the wood as a foundation.
This inlaid work was known to the Greeks of the Homeric age.
It stood in the same relation to primitive monumental painting
as the mosaic of the Byzantines did to the decline of the art,
its greatest height of development being reached by the so-called
chryselephantine sculpture, where a combination of carving and in-
laying was effected with gold and ivory upon a wooden kernel.
The throne of Solomon was an example of this, the lions carved
upon its arms rendering it the work rather of a sculptor than of an
artisan. Carvings entirely of ivory are mentioned by Hezekiah as
frequently existing in the sanctuaries of Tyre, and in Nineveh there
have been found many fragments, apparently Egyptian, which may,
without doubt, be attributed to the Phoenicians. The Biblical
prophets speak of great works in Tyre composed of precious stones,
and Theophrastos mentions an entire obelisk of emerald as existing
in the Temple of Melkarth of that city, which is explained to have
been of a colored glass {plastna di smeraldo). Glass itself, assumed
to have been invented by the Phoenicians, but common in Egypt
before the fifteenth century B.C., appears to have been made only
in colored, and generally opaque, masses. The most ancient piece
of white transparent glass known is described by Layard as a cup
whereupon is cut the name of King Sargon in cuneiform charac-
ters— consequently an Assyrian work from the end of the seventh
century B.C.
Phoenician sculpture is almost exclusively represented by metal-
work, and, as this was mostly beaten, it is natural that it should as-
SCULPTURE.
141
sume that peculiar style of conventionalization which, even in works
of stone, reminds us of empaistic prototypes, — that is to say, of the
characteristic forms and modes of conception originally decided by
the properties of beaten metal. This style is shown by the Phceni-
:ian leaved ornaments upon architectural details, and is especially
striking in the representations of animal forms. Upon a frieze at
Saida {ftj;^. 97), for example, is a remarkable illustration of the Phoe-
nician sphyrelaton, which enables us to understand the form of
the bulls upon the brazen laver in the Temple of Jerusalem. The
half-lions upon the monument of Amrith, also, although carelessly
carved and much weathered, are still more interesting in this re-
Fig. 97.— From a keiiei ot Saida.
Fig. 9& — From the Monument El-
Meghazil of Amrith.
gard. (Figs. 95 and 98.) Besides their peculiarities as imitations
of empaistic work, especially recc^;nizable in the primitive legs,
they show some reminiscences of Egjptian granite forms and of
a Mesopotamian conception of animal nature, marked also upon
the buU's-head by the strap-like formation of the sinews. Less
direct insight can be gained from other Phoenician sculptures be-
cause of their more advanced state of destruction. The rock-cut
reliefs of Gineh and of Mashnaka, however, well deserve to be
mentioned. The first shows upon one side an animal, apparently
a bear, leaping upon a man, while at the right, in a sunken rectan-
gular frame, is an enthroned figure, and in another a man in front
142
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
view, with two dogs, which are scarcely recognizable. Enough is still
preserved to show that the work is not of Egyptian origin, but may
more justly be compared to Assyrian sculptures, though without the
stifif character of courtly ceremonial peculiar to the works of Nine-
veh. The two rock-cut reliefs of a mountain -pass near Mashnaka
{Fig. 99) are more important to the history of the architecture than
to that of the sculpture of Western Asia, because of the remarkable
forms of the capitals represented upon them ; they will be consid-
ered in connection with Solomon's Temple. The smaller, movable
F'g- 99- — Rock-cut Relief of Mashnaka.
sculptures found in Phoenicia, which were possibly not the work of
the country, are of less interest ; they usually exhibit decided Egyp-
tian influence. Numerous marble sarcophagi found in Saida are
characterized by the confusion of style peculiar to Phoenicia. The
covers are imitated from the swathed human forms represented
upon the lids of Egyptian mummy -coffins; the heads betray in
some measure the influence of Greece, and render it probable that
they were executed in the time of the Seleucidae.
As might be expected from the position of the country, lying
between Egypt and Chaldaea, and from the national commerce and
THE TAHERNACLE.
143
manufactures, which attracted the products of both countries, the
artistic style of Phoenicia was a mixture of Egyptian and Meso-
potamian elements. This was, of course, also the case with that of
the Jews, who, in their architecture and sculpture, were as dependent
upon the Phoenicians as were the primitive Romans upon the Etrus-
cans. The influence of Egypt was felt in Palestine in a greater de-
gree than in Phoenicia, because the Israelites had grown to a people
upon the banks of the Nile, and without doubt transplanted many
artistic conceptions, as well as methods and details, to the Promised
30 ' *o
Fig. 100. — The Mosaic Tabernacle.
Land. This is noticeable in the tabernacle and in the temple, the
latter, as is well known, receiving its general disposition from its re-
lation to that former encampment. The tabernacle {Ft^. 100) is in
fundamental character a repetition in movable tents of the triple
Egyptian temple system of court, hall, and cella. At the time of
the emigration of the Jews from their long sojourn in Goshen, they
could have been familiar only with Egyptian forms ; we cannot mis-
take if we suppose them, before their intercourse with the Phceni-
cians, to have supplied all their artistic needs from Egyptian prec-
edents.
144 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
The simple enclosure of the tabernacle formed a court, with a
front of fifty cubits, and twice as long as it was broad. There were
twenty-one columns, like tent-poles, upon the sides, and eleven upon
the front; those of the corners being counted twice. These sup-
ports were five cubits high, ornamented with silver capitals, and
standing in sockets of bronze ; they must have been entirely simi-
lar to the shafts represented upon Egyptian wall-paintings. They
appear not to have been joined by cross-bars. White immovable
hangings were fastened between them, beneath their capitals, v/ith
the exception of the four central intercolumniations of the eastern
front, where hung movable curtains of blue, purple, and scarlet Hnen.
The tabernacle itself, b, did not stand in the centre of this enclosure,
but nearer the western end, probably so that a square of fifty cubits
was left before its entrance, in which space there stood the altar, c,
of earth and wooden sheathing for burnt-offerings, five cubits square
and three cubits high, and the laver of brass, d. There thus re-
mained upon the three other sides a space of twenty cubits between
the tabernacle and the enclosure. This disposition is not expressly
affirmed, but may naturally be assumed from the indications pre-
sented by the dimensions of the tabernacle, which was thirty cubits
long and ten broad. Except in the front, e, where were five col-
umns, it was formed of forty-eight boards overlaid with sheet-gold.
These boards, like the poles of the enclosure, were not rammed
into the earth, but stood upon double sockets of silver ; they were
fastened together by tenons and by bars, which were pushed through
projecting golden rings. The arrangement of the five columns of
the front, also overlaid with gold, is not certain. It is hardly pos-
sible that they were placed in antis ; for, although the shafts were
but thin poles, the six intercolumniations thus formed would have
had a width of only one and a half cubits each — too narrow for pas-
sage. The two outermost columns may, from this consideration, be
assumed to have stood before the ends of the boarded wall, in pro-
style arrangement, or close upon this, as indicated in the plan at e\
a method of avoiding the narrowing of the space by the two exte-
rior intercolumniations which was adopted in much later times upon
the so-called tombs of Absalom and Zachariah, to be considered be-
low, where the forms may have been in some measure decided by
THE TABERNACLE. I45
reminiscences of these primitive constructions. If the ten cubits
of the tabernacle front were divided into four parts instead of six,
passage would have been easy.
There is no information concerning the appearance of these
shafts. Their sockets of bronze may have been similar to the high
bases of Moorish columns, and to those which support the canopy-
poles of our churches. If the shafts were neither connected by
cross-braces nor rammed into the earth, they must have been pro-
vided with a footing even broader than that of either of the in-
stances mentioned, and have resembled the wide-spreading plinths
of Egyptian lotos columns. That the columns were disproportion-
ately slim is evident from the consideration that five shafts of nor-
mal Egyptian, or Greek Doric, proportions, ten cubits high, would
have entirely occupied the narrow front of the tabernacle, and have
left no space for the intercolumniations. Mere tent -poles would
have been sufficient, as the building was provided with no fixed roof,
but was covered, like the tents of Bedouins, with colored linen, cloths
of goat-hair, and the skins of rams and seals. As this covering re-
ceived its chief support from the side walls, a light epistyle of wood
was sufficient to unite the summits of the front columns. It cannot
be said that there was any entablature, in the proper sense of the
word.
The proportions of the tabernacle, three times as long as it was
broad, were like those of the Egyptian temple. It was divided into
two unequal compartments, the front,/", being twice the depth of
the innermost holy of holies, g. The altar for incense, h, one cubit
square in plan and two cubits high, probably stood in the centre of
the first space; it was of acacia -wood, covered with beaten gold.
Like the altar for burnt-sacrifices, its corners were ornamented with
" horns," the nature of which has been variously explained, but
which could have been nothing else than corner acroteria, like those
upon the monuments, sarcophagi, etc., of Asia Minor, and those of
the small altar found at Um-el-Auamid, in Phoenicia. Such acrote-
ria— which do, indeed, somewhat resemble upright horns — were not
merely for ornament, but served to hold the golden lattice-work
{zer) surrounding the top of the altar, to prevent the scattering of
coals. Next to the northern side-wall stood the table for shew-
10
146
PHOENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
bread,/; in the southwestern corner of the space the seven-armed
candlestick, k, was so obliquely placed that, to a person entering,
its flames were in a line. The form of the candlestick is known
from the representation upon the Arch of Titus, which, though pos-
sibly not copied from the original — ^as Josephus relates that only an
imitation was paraded during the triumph of Titus — yet agrees with
the main points of the Biblical description. The seven arms consist-
ed of three concentrical semicircles and a vertical staff, all of which
ended at the same height. The base was polygonal, and ornament-
ed with sculptures, the support decorated with leaves, the arms rep-
resented branches with buds and blossoms, ending in the open ca-
lyxes of the flowers which bore the lamps. Its importance, as was
the case with all the appurte-
nances of Jewish worship, was
considerably greater in material
than in artistic respects ; the can-
dlestick was without doubt solid,
and was made of a talent of gold
— worth more than four hundred
pounds sterling. A relief of Tha.
barieh, probably older than the?
Christian era, shows its genera?
form ; it is given in Fig. loi as
further illustrative of the pecul-
iar metallic style of the Phoenician-Israelitic art of stone-cutting.
The holy of holies, a cubical space of ten cubits on the side, was
separated from the larger antechamber by four columns, /, which were
also covered with gold, and stood upon silver sockets ; they bore a
second curtain of four colors. This cella contained the palladium of
the people, the ark of the covenant, m, a coffer of acacia-wood, two
cubits and a half long and a cubit, and a half high, borne upon poles
fixed in golden rings. Upon the lid, the so-called mercy-seat, were
the figures of two cherubim, monstrous combinations of bulls, lions,
eagles, and human bodies; or, at least, of three of these — the body
of either the lion or the bull being adopted. Though De Saulcy and
Layard do not doubt that these cherubim were perfectly similar to
the symbolical monsters before the portals of the palaces of Nine-
Fig, loi. — Relief of Thabarieh.
SULOMON'S TEMPLE. I47
veh, it must not be forgotten that the Jews were, at this period of
their wanderings, so completely influenced by Egyptian conceptions
of art that peculiarly Assyrian forms could not have existed in the
tabernacle. The cherubim must rather have been Egyptian — en-
tirely similar to the sphinxes, which, as has been seen, frequently
presented this same combination of human head and breast, with
the body of a lion. Neumann considers the cherubim to resemble
the animals upon an Assyrian ornament, with sunken head and bent
fore-legs ; but it is more probable that they were crouched like a
sphinx, or were, perhaps, sitting upon their hinder quarters, like the
figures of a Phoenician throne of rather later period published by Re-
nan. They were carved in wood and overlaid with thin sheets of
gold, as was also the golden calf with which the Israelites in the
desert sought to imitate the Egyptian idolatry of animals. This is
all that can be said of the Jewish sculpture of the period ; the Sec-
ond Commandment entirely prevented any independent development
of art.
The form and arrangement of the tabernacle are in the main
clear. This is not the case with the monumental temple which Sol-
omon, according to the plan of his great predecessor, erected to
take its place, after King David had recovered, and brought to the
plateau of Moriah (at present known as Haram-el-Sherif ) the ark of
the covenant, which had for some time been held as booty in the
hands of enemies. The Biblical accounts enlarge, after the well-
known manner of the Jews, principally upon the great cost of the
materials, and are thus rather archaeological notices than artistic
descriptions. As might be expected from writers ignorant of art,
the statements are, for the greater part, vague and confused. The
conditions of Jewish architecture and sculpture appear radically
changed since the time of Moses. Immediately after the exodus,
Egyptian conceptions and manners of work were dominant ; but,
as time advanced without further direct communication between
the two countries, these became more and more outgrown, and at
last completely changed to a dependency upon the civilization and
art of Phoenicia. The Egyptian element, however, by no means
disappears, for, as has been seen, it existed in Phoenicia itself, as
might be expected from its geographical position between Meso-
148 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
potamia and Egypt. The Jews were not so far developed from a
nomadic people as to be able themselves to create imposing ar-
chitectural works. These call for centuries of practice in the art
of building. The construction of their temple was given over to
their northern neighbors, the more readily as Solomon was in
friendly alliance with Hiram, King of Tyre. The Tyrian architect
Hiram was sent with a great number of assistants to Jerusalem.
Stone-cutters of Byblos worked, with the aid of Jews, in the quar-
ries of Jerusalem ; the necessary timber was hewn in the Phoenician
forests of Lebanon ; and upon the Jordan, in the vicinity of Scvthop-
olis, a mefai-toundry tor the temple ornaments was built under Phoe-
nician direction. An understanding of the activity among these ar-
tisans during the time of building may be obtainedtrom a consid-
eration of tbejumber of workmen employed : eighty thousand stone-
cutters were assisted by seventy thousand bearers of burdens. This
multitude of laborers would not have needed one year to complete
the temple, far less the seven years actually employed ( 1014 to
1007 B.C.), had it not been for the imposing substructure of the
rocky plateau, — a mass of masonry which may almost be compared
to the Egyptian pyramids ; surpassing the remains at Ruad, if not
in the colossal size of the blocks, at least in the exactitude of their
workmanship. From the numbers said to have labored in Jerusalem
at one time, it appears probable that by far the greater part of the
immense foundations was built under Solomon, though the support-
ing vaults of the southeastern comer are known to date from the
time of Herod, if not even later. / The erection of enormous terraced
foundations plays a prominent, and at times even the most impor-
tantTpart in the architecture of all the people of Western Asia.
The temple itseif'OCCupied but a very small part ot the oblong
area, more than 1500 m. in circumference, which was gained by this
artificial extension of the rocky plateau. This space was provided
with gates upon all four_sides^o some of which access was had-by
arched bridges ; it was surrounded by thick walls and double ranges
of columns, asserted by Josephus to have been monolithic. This
outer court, accessible to all, contained a smaller interior enclosure
formed by other colonnades, and probably also by several large
halls ; four gateways with gilded bronze doors led to the interior, to
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. I^n
which every worthy Jew had access. Infidels were debarred from far-
ther advance by a grating almost 1.5 m. high, which enclosed the space
corresponding to the outer court of the Mosaic tabernacle. The al-
tar for burnt-offerings had been increased in plan to a square of twen-
ty cubits, and to a height of ten cubits ; an inclined ascent of consid-
erable size was necessary to reach the summit. It is believed that the
kernel of this altar is the holy rock in the present Mosque of Omar.
The brazen laver (the kijor) had developed into the so-called
molten sea, — a basin of ten cubits in diameter, cast in bronze, and
supported at a height of five cubits upon the backs of twelve bronze
oxen. It may be conceived as very similar to the fountain of the
Court of the Lions in the Alhambra. The oxen were so divided in
groups of three that they faced the cardinal points of the compass,
" and all their hinder parts were inward." These figures, so purely
Phoenician, must have been far more similar to the productions of
Assyria than could have been the case with the Mosaic cherubim.
Their heads probably resembled that shown above {Fig. 97) upon
the relief of Saida, their legs those of the primitive animals upon the
monument of Amrith {Fig. 98), or of the lions in the court of the
Alhambra. The altar and the molten sea were situated before the
front of the temple, the axis of which was turned east and west, at
right angles to the general direction of the outer court, which ran
north and south.
The entrance to the temple was ornamented by two bronze col-
umns, known as Jachin and Boaz ; their height is given in different
passages as 18 and 35 cubits, and here begins the confusion caused
by the Biblical contradictions which make it so difficult to obtain a
reliable understanding of the nature of Solomon's building. It can-
not even be decided whether these columns were in the entrance, as
architectural supports, or stood before the gates, without a func-
tion,— they being spoken of as in, upon, and before the portico. If
they stood in the entrance itself, as supports of its lintel (as assumed
by Baehr), it is probable that they did not divide its width into
three equal intercolumniations. The diameter of the shafts was
four cubits, and such an arrangement would so have occupied the
total opening of the portal, only fourteen cubits, that but two cubits
would have remained for each of the three passages. It is more prob-
I50
PIICENICIA. PALESTINE. AND ASIA MINOR.
able that they were placed next to the jambs in the manner assumed
for the front of the tabernacle. If the columns be supposed to have
stood before the portico, without any function of support, like obe-
lisks, all difficulty is avoided. In either case it would be important,
for an understanding of the style of Solomon's Temple and of Phoe-
nician workmanship, to comprehend the long description given of
their capitals. It is only clear that these were four or five cubits
high, and had the general form of lilies, probably that of a calyx,
as if derived from the floral capitals of Egypt. A column discov-
ered in the foundation vaults of the temple exhibits a peculiarly
heavy capital of this kind, which is,
however, though evidently of primi-
tive outline and proportions, charac-
terized by the acanthus-like carving
as a work influenced by the later art
of Greece. It is to be observed that
the normal Egyptian-bell calyx, with-
out additions, could not be spoken of
as having the form of a hly, by which
name the curled ends of leaves were
usually designated in the Orient. The
volutes thus especially referred to
must have been similar to those upon
the Assyrian capital, and notably to
those of the rock-cut relief in the Pass
of Mashnaka {Fig. 99), which, situated
upon Phoenician territory, offer the most striking analogy. An illus-
tration of the extensive ornamental employment of the helix termi-
nation is offered by the decoration of a vase recently discovered in
Cyprus {Fig. 102), and by pilaster capitals in the Cesnola collection.
{Fig. 107.) It is an anachronism to bring the columns, because of their
channelled shafts and some minor peculiarities, into connection with
the forms of Persian architecture, which could not have been devel-
oped so long before the time of Cyrus. The additions — wreaths of
chains, nets of checker-work, hanging pomegranates, etc. — of which
the Scriptures render a chaotic account, cannot, in detail, be under-
stood or explained. If the shafts are supposed to have been united
Fig. 102. — Vase Discovered in Cy-
prus.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.
151
by a lattice-work of metal, it is more natural to seek a parallel in
the free-standing columns of an Assyrian relief than in the canopies
of Persian thrones suggested by Julius Braun. That the chains,
net-work, and the pomegranates did not hang upon the capitals
themselves has been argued by Vogud, frofn the analogy of an an-
cient capital of the Mosque of Haram, and is made evident by
Fig. 103. — Hypothetical Plan and Section of Solomon's Temple.
Braun's question, how, indeed, it would be possible to count two
hundred pomegranates strung around a capital at such a height
above the ground.
An important portal stood before the halls of the temple. With
a plan of 10 cubits deep and 20 cubits broad, the astonishing height
of 120 cubits is attributed to this tower, a number appearing in the
Chronicles, and repeated in the Septuagint and by Josephus, so that
152 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
it cannot be regarded as the mistake of a transcriber. But even if
the first measures are arbitrarily assumed to refer only to a small
interior space enclosed by walls of enormous thickness, the con-
structive impracticability of erecting a tower of such height is evi-
dent ; it appears impossible that the temple could have been pre-
ceded by a pile twice as high as the principal building was long, and
six times as high as this was broad ! We would not venture to
present a restoration with such proportions, and must agree with
Hirt, Streber, De Saulcy, De Vogu6, and others, that the account is
a Scriptural exaggeration, passed on from hand to hand. It is hard-
ly to be explained by the suggestions of De Saulcy and Streber. The
first of these authorities wishes to reduce the elevation by the sup-
position that one half of the entire height existed under the earth
as a foundation, so that only 60 cubits remained visible above.
This is ludicrous ; the solid rock beneath the temple rendered such
remarkable foundations useless and impossible to execute. Streber,
also seeking to uphold the Biblical authority, would have it that the
120 cubits was obtained by adding together the heights of two py-
lons. But this is no less inadmissible, apart from the extreme im-
probability of heights having been given in so unwonted a manner;
the portal appears, from its narrow width, to have been a single
tower, and not divided, like those of Egypt, into two separate py-
lons. It is at least probable, however, that the structure rose above
the main building ; like the pylons of Egypt, it must have had a
marked talus, and without doubt a cornice of scotia and roundlet, as
these forms appear upon the monumental tombs of Siloam {Fig. 104)
— the oldest of Palestine — and as this cornice was common in Phoe-
nicia, and appears also in Assyria, upon the temple terrace of Kisr
Sargon, and in Persia, over door and window openings. The en-
trance, 14 cubits broad, was probably diminished as its walls ascend-
ed, sloping like the outer angle of the elevation, so that the con-
struction of the lintel presents little difficulty, especially when we
consider the enormous stones employed in the restoration of the
building by Herod, some of which Josephus relates to have been 5
and 6 cubits broad and thick, and 45 (') cubits long. Above the
lintel the same principle of a relieving triangle seems to have been
practised, as may be observed in various parts of Egypt and in My-
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. 1 53
keniE : the blocks over the door did not lie directly upon the lintel,
but gradually approached from both sides above the jambs, leaving
between them a gable-shaped opening, which was closed, in order to
spare the beam beneath, by only a slab of marble, as at Mykenae, or
by light, thin masonry. This method of construction is indicated
by the mention that a golden candlestick, dedicated by Queen Hel-
ena, was so placed over the temple entrance as to be shone upon
by the sun ; and especially bv thr ri'fftr'fnyf t^ n trinngle rvistin];'
nver \he Hnnr whirh nppned into the holv nf hnllfiS. The first gate
had jambs of olive-wood and movable doors of cypress, both over-
laid with gold. It led to the larger hall, 20 cubits broad, 40 cubits
long, and 30 cubits high ; to which adjoined the holy of holies, a
cubical space of 20 cubits side. The access to this, permitted in
rare instances, was through a richly carved door, overlaid with gold
and draped with a magnificent curtain. The separating wall was
of gilded cedar. These two halls were surrounded upon all sides,
with the exception of the front, by a large number of small cham-
bers, in three stories, lighted from without by three rows of win-
dows. These secondary sacristies were each 5 cubits in height with-
in, and, with their ceilings, must have attained an altitude of 20 cu-
bits. The holy of holies was consequently entirely surrounded, and
must have been without windows, and dark. The larger space still
rose 10 cubits above this side structure, and in this clerestory its
windows, which are especially mentioned, must have found place.
The flat roof, or, rather, the terraces upon different heights of which
it was composed, mounted from the holy of holies to the portal
tower in steps somewhat more than 20, 30, and perhaps 60 cubits
high. According to Eupolemo (Eusebius), the covering was of cop-
per sheathing.
The temple bore an upper story, explicitly described by Josephus,
as it appeared after Herod's reconstruction of the building, but
which is only once mentioned before his time, with the remark that
these upper chambers were overlaid with gold (2 Chron. iii. 9). The
height of this second story is evident from Josephus, who gives 60
cubits as the total elevation of the building, while the space be-
neath it had but 30 cubits in this dimension. In regard to the
extent of its plan, it must be assumed that it was not built above the
154 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
lateral chambers or the holy of holies, as the height of the princi-
pal hall was far greater than that of the chambers ; this would have
made the upper story on entirely different levels, and have required
staircases large enough to occupy the whole of the space above the
20 square cubits of the holy of holies ; and the height of this cham-
ber would, upon the exterior, have become thrice that of its length
and breadth — namely, 60 cubits. Such deformities, impracticable of
execution, without purpose, and offending all sense of fitness and
beauty, may be rejected when the authorities for them are indefinite
and contradictory, or, as is the case with Maimonides (1190 A.D.),
are assuredly unauthentic. It is probable that the upper story was
built only upon the ceiling of the larger hall ; and that it was not
formed of the massive materials employed for the walls of the low-
er temple, but, as is indicated by the statement that these upper
chambers were overlaid with gold, was built lightly of wood. Such
a manner of construction would have permitted a passage to be left
around it in the width of the hall ceiling, thus uniting the suitabili-
ty and the aesthetic advantages of a terraced form, and agreeing with
Mesopotamian and Persian analogies. The suggestion may even be
ventured that it was by a misunderstanding connected with these
upper chambers that the fabulous height of 120 cubits was origi-
nally assigned to the portal tower, which, perhaps, was regarded as
twice the height of the principal hall ; if the elevation of the lower
hall and the upper story had been taken together, if 60 cubits had
been doubled in the place of 30, this would account for the 120 cu-
bits taking the place of the more probable 60.
The lower walls of the temple were built of hewn blocks of white
marble. The remarkable statement that a layer of cypress or cedar
beams always followed upon one of stone cannot be explained oth-
erwise than as a reference to the interior revetment of the masonry
with wood. The wall of the court, where the beams are said to
have followed three courses of stone, must be considered as of triple
thickness, its quarried blocks being hidden by a sheathing, like that
of the temple. The statement that the ceiling joists of the small-
er surrounding chambers were not sunk into the stone wall itself,
but were borne upon the beams, now becomes intelligible; they
rested upon the studding of the wooden revetment. The entire
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. I^r
interior of the temple, exclusive of the passage through the porti-
co, is particularly asserted to have been provided with this sheath-
ing. The partition between the holy of holies and the principal
hall was probably altogether of wood, as here only the two revet-
ments were visible. Upon these walls were sculptured ornaments
overlaid with beaten gold. This wood-carving, with its surface of
sheet-metal, here took the place of the sculptured and painted dec-
oration upon the walls of Nineveh ; it is in this point that the chief
diflerence between the mural treatment of Upper Mesopotamia and
Phoenicia appears to have consisted. Quarries of alabaster were
common in Assyria ; Mount Lebanon, on the other hand, provided
the most beautiful wood for carving, and Phoenician commerce pro-
cured the metals for the characteristic beaten work — the sphyrela-
ton.
The few notices preserved concerning the decorations of Solo-
mon's Temple prove them to have been similar, in both subject and
design, to those of Nineveh ; they represented cherubim, palms (the
so-called tree of life), and floral wreaths. It was only in the cher-
ubim and in the oxen bearing the molten sea that the exercise of
sculpture in the full round was at all permitted, and these subjects
did not greatly encourage the artistic study of nature. The cheru-
bim stood in the holy of holies as guardians of the ark of the cove-
nant. They were independent colossal figures, carved of olive-wood
and overlaid with beaten gold. They were no longer, as in the Mo-
saic tabernacle, upon the lid of the ark — the mercy-seat — in a recum-
bent or sitting position, but stood at either side of the holy coffer,
and were without doubt greatly different in style from their prede-
cessors. In the consideration of the cherubim of the tabernacle, the
similarity of these works to Assyrian parallels was denied, for the
Israelites, immediately after the exodus, were naturally acquainted
alone with the artistic traditions of Egypt ; but this was by no means
the case in the time of Solomon, when we have to deal with Phoeni-
cian styles, — that is to say, with a combination of various manners
of artistic conception and expression. The cherubim of Solomon
may fairly be assumed to have in the main resembled the mon-
strous guardians of Assyrian palaces ; the chief deviation from the
cherubim of Nineveh was that their wings were not folded closely,
156 PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
but were outstretched as if for flight, so that the tips of their feath-
ers touched together over the ark of the sanctuary, and extended to
the side walls of the holy of holies, measuring ten cubits in entire
span. The ark of the covenant itself and the other vessels of the
temple were either overlaid with gold or were of the solid metal.
The altar of incense, the shew-bread table, and the seven-armed can-
dlestick remained as they had been in the tabernacle ; to them were
added, besides many less important utensils, ten further lamp-holders
of gold. As the beaten metal not only extended over all the carved
walls of wooden sheathing, but even covered the horizontal ceiling,
the eye saw nothing but gold — a decoration which the many-flamed
candlesticks must have rendered particularly brilliant, but which was
eminently barbaric, as the metal was probably not enlivened by col-
ored enamels. It is in questionable taste, even in the most promi-
nent members of an architectural composition, to outbid the artistic
expression of a work by employing for it a material of too striking
intrinsic value ; but it is wholly condemnable to paralyze the con-
centrating effect, which is always attained by the moderate use of
a very bright and valuable material, by its universal employment,
and thus to lose the precious character of the centre through the
attempted magnificence of the whole.
As is well known, Solomon's Temple was destroyed at the com-
mand of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, in 587 B.C. The
attempt to rebuild it was not entirely successful until Cyrus ended
the Babylonian exile, and not only permitted the building to pro-
ceed, but even returned the sacred utensils, which had been carried
off as booty, and kept in the Temple of Bel. This reconstruction,
named, after the ruler, Zerubbabel, was not completed until after
forty-six years, when, under Darius, all the difficulties in the way
of its prosecution were overcome. There is reason for supposing
that the influence of Persia made itself felt upon the style of the
new work, but nothing of importance to the history of art is directly
known concerning it. The magnificent restoration of Herod, com-
menced in 16 or 15 B.C., was executed in ten years, to be destroyed
within a century by Titus, so that, literally, not one stone remained
upon the other. The remodelled temple is not important to the
history of Phoenician -Israelitic art; though the original plan and
PALESTINE. 157
arrangement were in the main preserved, its style became a debase-
ment of the Greek and Roman orders. The gigantic platform, the
site of the building with which so many remarkable events are con-
nected, will always continue to be of peculiar interest in the history
of the world's development.
The description of Solomon's palace given by the Scriptures is too
vague to convey any adequate conception of it. It was a building
extended by columns and provided with an upper story: the shafts
were of cedar-wood ; their form is not mentioned. The walls were
of stone, hewn rectangularly, as might be expected from the similar
masonry of the temple. The cedar beams of the ceiling must be
supposed, agreeably to Solomon's preference for costly materials, to
have been overlaid with gold. There is nothing in these descrip-
tions to suggest Persian arrangement or details, which did not de-
velop from Assyrian methods of building until four centuries later.
As the Phoenician architecture of this epoch can be compared to
that of no younger land than Mesopotamia, and as the plans of the
known Assyrian palaces are provided with no halls of columns, it is
natural to seek for the origin of the hypostyle disposition in Egyp-
tian elements, which, in other respects, take so important a place in
the development of Israelitic art. Buildings of wood overlaid with
metal are, on the other hand, peculiarly characteristic of the Syrian
coast.
All this magnificence has totally disappeared, and it would be
natural to expect that, as in other parts of Western Asia, the rock-
cut tombs in the vicinity of Jerusalem, preserved by their indestruct-
ibility, would give the most direct and trustworthy information con-
cerning the Phoenician - Israelitic style. But the more ancient of
these monuments — those erected before the time of the Seleucidae —
are of such extreme simplicity that, from lack of detail, they convey
no understanding of Phoenician columns and entablatures, nor, in-
deed, of any characteristic architectural forms. A simple stairway
leads to the smaller grotto graves, which, excavated in the cliff, were
once closed by slabs of stones. Their plan is generally square, the
ceiling cut to the form of a flat barrel-vault. In the larger family
sepulchres the burial-chambers are grouped around an antechamber,
the bodies in them being placed upon stone benches or pushed into
158
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
coffin-like niches. When the entrance is at all architecturally char-
acterized upon the exterior, which is of comparatively rare occur-
rence, it displays the heavy Egyptian scotia and roundlet {Fig. 104), or
a simple framing with a gable and a ridge acroterium of double vo-
lutes, like the rock-cut tombs of Phrygia. {Fig. 105.) Where there is
carved foliage in the gables and friezes, as upon the so-called tombs
of the judges and kings, these are the conventional traces of a later
period, though these ornaments frequently retain in design and exe-
cution the peculiar dry angularity characteristic of the imitation of
beaten metal which is so universal in Phoenicia.
Fig. 104. — Rock-cut Tomb of Siloam.
Fig. 105. — Rock-cut Tomb of Hinnom.
The influence of Greece and Rome is distinctly betrayed in the
so-called Tomb of Jacob, the pretended sepulchres of the kings,
and the tombs attributed, without reason, to Absalom and Zacha-
riah. These monuments, some of which have been cut entirely from
the native rock, are ornamented by Doric friezes with Roman disks
in the metopes, and by Doric and Ionic columns and engaged shafts,
which reproduced the debased forms which characterize the treat-
ment of Greek architecture under the Romans. Yet in all this there
are still traces of national peculiarities. At times vegetable orna-
ments, grapes and grape-leaves, pomegranates, ivy, laurel, and acorns
fill the tympanon and the frieze, interrupted by the triglyphs. The
CARTHAGE. I jq
general form of the two last - named tombs is peculiar. That of
Zachariah is a cube of a little over 5 m. on the side ; that of Absa-
lom of almost 7 m. They are ornamented by pilasters and debased
Ionic engaged shafts, and have heavy cornices of the Egyptian round-
let and scotia, to which is added, upon the Tomb of Absalom, a late
Doric frieze. The former is concluded by a pyramid, 3.6 m. high,
cut also from the native rock, a termination which gives to the gen-"
eral form a certain similarity to the Tomb of Amrith known as the
Snail-tower. The latter supports upon the cube a smaller and much
lower mass of masonry, built of quarried stones, and bearing upon a
doubly stepped cylindrical base a cone of concave outline, which
terminates, at a height of 13.5 m. above the ground, in a clumsy,
tulip-like flower. The entrance to the burial-chamber cut in the
rock substructure of Absalom's tomb has been broken in above the
scotia cornice ; the traces of nails upon the walls of the small space
point to the customary sheathing of metal. Notwithstanding such
isolated reminiscences of indigenous — that is to say, Phoenician —
manners of building, it is impossible to agree with several noted au-
thorities in recognizing, in the Doric and Ionic details which appear
combined with them, predecessors and models of the Hellenic de-
velopment of these styles. Such prototypes should least be sought
among a people who, possessing no art of their own, did but borrow
from their neighbors. And, moreover, these forms appear by no
means to be primitive attempts, but clearly exhibit the lifelessness
and debasement of the latest period of Greek architectural history.
These monuments may safely be ascribed to the last two centu-
ries B.C. Although the Corinthian order almost entirely superseded
the older styles in Italy during the time of the Caesars, these provin-
cial Doric and Ionic forms may still be assumed to date rather from
the later than from the earlier half of this period.
Palestine, in the history of art, may be regarded as a domain of
Phoenicia, and the same thing may be said of Cyprus and of Car-
thage. All the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, lying as it did
between the great powers of civilization in the valley of the Nile
and the plain of the Euphrates and Tigris, seemed destined by nat-
ure, as we have seen, to combine the artistic peculiarities of Egypt
and Assyria. Cyprus, in a somewhat similar position, shared the
i6o
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
PhcEnician civilization and was also exposed to the influence of the
Greeks, especially to that of the Dorians, who had founded colonies
upon the southern islands of the ^gean, and who early possessed
a stronghold in Crete. It is therefore not surprising that upon the
rock-cut tombs of Cyprus the Doric style of architecture was not
restricted to the late and debased forms found upon the tombs near
Jerusalem, but may occasionally be met with in a very primitive
state of development. An instance of this is offered by a tomb
near Paphos. {Fig. io6.) In general, the position of the island ex-
posed it more to the influence of Egypt than of Mesopotamia ; it
is not evident in how marked a degree this was felt. Of the chief
Fig. io6. — Tomb at Paphos in Cyprus.
Phcenician sanctuary upon Cyprus — the Temple of Astarte at Pa-
phos— there exist only insufficient representations upon coins and
upon an engraved gem of the Museo Pio-Clementino. These prove
no more than that, within a circular enclosure of lattice-work, there
stood a tall structure towering above low side-buildings, which were
supported, like porticos, upon columns. Two Egyptian shafts ap-
pear to have been placed before the entrance, without function as
supports, and, like Jachin and Boaz, without strictly architectural
purpose. Still less is known of the temples of Amathus and Gol-
goi. It is hardly probable that the remains of a building discovered
by General Cesnola in the village of Atienu, near the present port
of Larnaka (the Biblical Chitim and Greek Kition) are those of the
CYPRUS.
I6l
world-famed Temple of Aphrodite at Golgoi. The structure seems
rather to have been a treasure-house, in some way connected with
the great temple, which once contained, with the votive statues
there discovered, other objects belonging to the temenos. The ob-
long plan with irregular entrances, the bareness of its walls, and
especially the carelessly arranged pedestals which filled the space
within, seem to point to its original destination as that of a mag-
azine. The only objects of architectural interest discovered in these
remains are the columns which flank the doors, in a position corre-
sponding to that of the columns of the Mosaic tabernacle. The
bases, found in position, are channelled like those of Persia. The
Fig. 107. — Cyprian Pilaster Capitals.
shafts and capitals are not preserved. The form of the latter may
perhaps be surmised from a comparison of fragments in the Cesnola
collection {Fig. 107), analogous to the capitals of Mashnaka, to the
double spirals of Assyrian architecture, and to the descriptions
given of the lily-capitals of Solomon's Temple.
Cesnola's discoveries upon Cyprus are more important in sculpt-
ural than in architectural respects, and are worthy to rank with
those of Botta, Layard, and Schliemann, The chief works are lime-
stone statues of various sizes. To these are added, from the inves-
tigations of other ruins, doubtless of tombs, a great number of mi-
nor articles : terra-cotta figures, vases and lamps, and various objects
of glass, metal, etc. These works are easily divided into two great
groups, each of peculiar style, with which the inscriptions that have
IT
1 62
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
been discovered agree in general character and in relative number
Among the eighty-five inscriptions found up to 1870, thirty-three
are Greek, twenty Phoenician, and thirty-twc Cyprian. The styles
of Phoenician and Cyprian sculpture resemble each other far more
closely than did the languages of those countries, so that in the com-
parative rarity of examples it is difficult
to distinguish the origin of these works.
They show a kind of compromise be-
tween Egyptian, Syrian (Assyrian), and
early Greek methods — a combination
agreeing with the geographical position
of the island, and with the descent and
history of its inhabitants. All Cyprian
sculpture shows, in so far as it is not
influenced by a reflection of the later
Greek and Roman forms, the Phoenician
style which has been described as devel-
oped from beaten metal-work ; this is ev-
ident even in the stone carvings. {Figs.
108 and 109.)
The destruction of Carthage is as fa-
mous for its completeness as that of Je-
rusalem, which, indeed, it resembled in
other respects, and it is natural that but
few traces of this magnificent Queen of
the Sea should have been preserved.
Recent French and English investiga-
tions under Bente and Davis describe
the considerable remains of the fortifi-
cation walls of the Byrsa, built of colos-
sal blocks of tufa. Their great thickness,
10 m., permitted the formation of semi-
circular chambers in three superposed stories, which, being acces-
sible from within, served as casemates and magazines. The nu-
merous rock-cut tombs are, as in Phoenicia, provided with steps
from above, and form an oblong crypt, about which the deep niches
for the reception of bodies are grouped.
Fig. 108. — Votive Figure from Cy
prus.
MALTA AND SARDINIA. 163
The remains of barbaric temples upon Malta and the neighbor-
ing islands are of subordinate importance, if indeed they are to be
mentioned at all, in the consideration of Phoenician art. The dou-
ble temple upon Gozo is the most important of them. It consists
of two adjoining spaces, each concluded by a semicircular apse, hav-
ing upon both sides similar niches, so that the entire enclosure ap-
pears as a combination of apses around an oblong. The pavement
is partly of rectangular blocks, so stepped as to show an interior di-
vision ; but the Cyclopean masonry of the walls is so rough that, in
its entire lack of ornamental treatment, the
structure has but little interest for the history
of art, and permits no conclusions concerning
Phoenician architecture, which elsewhere pro-
duced such incomparable masonry of hewn
stones.
The funeral monuments of the remaining
Punic lands, of the Balearic Isles, and notably
of Sardinia, though of greater artistic value,
are fully as uncertain in their origin. Their
form is at times like that of the monuments
of Amrith ; yet they may very possibly be
of Etruscan derivation, for, apart from their
resemblance to the tombs of Etruria, they
are almost exclusively upon the eastern
coast of Sardinia, the side turned towards
Italy, while the Phoenicians would more nat-
urally have come in contact with the west-
ern part of the island.
The most advanced outpost of the extended civilization of
Phoenicia was Asia Minor. Under the dominion of the Seleucidae
and of the Romans, the influence of Greek art was so felt upon the
Syrian coast, and even as far as the banks of the Tigris, that pure-
ly national works of architecture and sculpture are comparatively
rare. But this influence was doubly great in the land of which,
from the earliest times, the lonians had possessed the seaboard, and
where they had founded a number of flourishing cities which had
attained to a degree of prosperity and culture not less than that of
Fig. 109. — Cyprian Head.
164
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
their relatives upon the peninsula of the Peloponnesos. Yet, al-
though Ionian art bore some of its finest fruit upon Asiatic soil,
and from roots which may partly be traced back to Mesopotamia,
this can be historically treated only in connection with the civiliza-
tion of Greece and its common origin and development. Hellenic
Asia Minor and the countries under its influence — that is to say,
the coasts and islands of the ^gean, Propontis and Pontus — cannot
be separately considered. All the sculpture of these regions must
therefore be reserved for a later page ; but there are a few archi-
tectural monuments of the southern coast and of the interior which
require our present attention
as being peculiarly national.
Yet even in these territories,
divided according to their an-
cient population into Lycia,
Phrygia, and Lydia, all the
monumental architecture was
greatly affected by the long
Asiatic sway of the Diadochi,
and by the military power of
Rome. The temples and pub-
lic edifices gave up their na-
tional peculiarities for man-
ners of building characteristic
of Greece and Rome. It was
Fig. no.— Rock-cut Tomb at Antiphellos. ^^^y j„ ^^^ tombs that original
conceptions retained a stubborn hold. These, when cut in the rock,
became imitations of the dwellings of the country. Types of house
construction were represented which had been determined by the cli-
matic necessities and by different building materials of each province.
By their massive simplicity and by the popular consideration that
a changeless dwelling best suited the quiet repose of the dead,
the rock -cut tombs retained their primitive peculiarities without
sensible alteration, being exposed only to unimportant modifica-
tions. Little reference was made in them to the advance of ar-
tistic or constructional methods from age to age. Though we
have to deal exclusively with the tombs of the country, they al-
LYCIA.
165
low US to draw conclusions concerning the appearance of other
buildings, whether temples or dwellings, which they had taken as
their models.
Next to the PhcEnician coast, and opposite Phoenician Cyprus,
lies Lycia, embracing the greater part of the southern sea-line of
Asia Minor. It calls for chief consideration because of its almost
numberless tombs, some of which are admirably preserved, and be-
cause of their instructive variety. Entire cliffs, like the Necropolis
of Myra, shown in Fig. 93 at the head of this section, are literally
covered with such monumental fa9ades, picturesquely grouped ac-
cording to the natural configuration of the rock. The greater num-
ber are excavated grottoes,
the fronts of which are care-
ful imitations of timbered
houses. They might be call-
ed log-house tombs if other
than the roof beams were of
unsquared trunks. The inter-
stices between the framing,
when not remaining open as
an entrance, are closed by
panels. The individuality of
these monuments is as mark-
ed as could have been possi-
ble among the dwellings of
Lycian mountaineers, whose
wealth was not great, and whose architectural demands did not
much vary. An exact imitation of the ingenious carpentry is cut
in the rock down to the smallest detail : the stiles of the pan-
elling, the round unhewn timbers of the roof, the clamping and
dovetailing of the beams, and the primitive tree-nails with which
these are secured are shown with the greatest distinctness. The
appearance of the whole, when intact, must have resembled a petri-
fied village. These groups of tombs are among the most curious
and striking remains of antiquity. The attempt was made by sev-
eral races of early civilization to prepare a funeral-chamber which
should resemble as closely as possible the dwellings inhabited dur-
Fig. 1 1 1. — Rock-cut Tomb at Antiphellos.
1 66
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
ing life ; but this intention was not elsewhere so thoroughly carried
out, and never resulted in so piquant a contradiction to the material
in which it was executed. The native rock was made completely
to deny its nature, and to present the image of a distinctively wood-
en construction. Upon abrupt cliffs this was usually restricted to
a facade, which at times was very simple, but quite characteristic,
Fig. 112. — Rock-cut Tomb at Myra.
as in a tomb at Antiphellos {Fig. no), where the wooden framing
underneath the flat projecting roof forms two windows, left open
as entrances to the cavern. A somewhat more complicated ex-
ample is shown by another tomb of this site {Fig. iii), which is
especially remarkable on account of the carefully imitated coping
of the cross-beams. In this case only one of the door and window
panels is open, and a gabled roof appears, which seems to have been
LYCIA. ,67
customary in Asia Minor, and to some degree in Phoenicia. The
framing of an interior or of side walls is also shown by the stone
imitation, as in the case of a fine example at Myra {Fig. 112), which
seems to illustrate the utmost limit of the style. But here the
contradiction between the form and the material is so glaring that
the curious elegance of the result does not redeem it. The re-
peating of wooden constructions in stone without any modifica-
tion — which is at first sight, and in less extent, pleasing and piqu-
ant — has here become disagreeably obtrusive. This is still more
striking upon the rarer monumental sarcophagi at Phellos and
Myra, where the block -house is carved in the full round from
the native rock. These works represent
the wooden model upon all four sides,
so completely and conscientiously that
it would be possible, by their aid, to re-
construct the dwelling-house of a Ly-
cian mountaineer in wood — to repeat
from such a petrified copy the original,
though its frail materials perished more
than twenty centuries ago. It is curious
how greatly the present huts of the coun-
try resemble their antique predecessors.
Near these tombs, in some instances
even connected with them, though usu-
ally independent, stand upright monu-
ments of the nature of obelisks, but with an upper member charac-
teristic of Lycia. In place of the pyramidal point of Egypt, or of
the hemispherical or stepped termination of Phoenicia and Assyria,
there is here a cornice of projecting slabs, upon which rests a small
but comparatively high block. The most important example is
that known as the Monument of the Harpies {Fig. 113), now in con-
siderable part transported to the Lycian Hall of the British Mu-
seum. It consisted of a gigantic monolith bearing a small burial-
chamber, the enclosing slabs of which were ornamented by the fa-
mous reliefs, so important in the history of Greek sculpture.
The third group of Lycian sepulchral monuments, the smaller
sarcophagi, is the most numerous, forming at times an extended
Fig. 1 13. — So-called Monument of
the Harpies at Xanthos.
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
necropolis. Though the majority are not free from Hellenic influ-
ences, they yet generally maintain the peculiar national characteris-
tics, being imitations of wooden constructions somewhat similar to
the rock-cut tombs. The lid in some instances appears to be of
slat-work, and, instead of the semicircular gable common in Phoeni-
cia, presents a pointed arch. The cornice dentils distinctly betray
their derivation from the projecting ceiling beams, which, upon the
block-house tombs, had still preserved the round form of unhewn
timbers. A tomb at Antiphellos
(Fig. 1 14) has a channel cut upon
the summit of the lid, probably
to serve as a socket for the
ridge - crestings. The heads of
lions and other projecting or-
naments upon the sides enrich
the architectural treatment. The
monument cannot be spoken of
as a sarcophagus, in the true
sense of the word, for its lid was
not movable, the body being in-
troduced from the front, where
window -like openings were pro-
vided for the purpose.
A fourth class of Lycian rock-
cut tombs, those with a facade
resembling a small temple - front,
is of particular interest to the
history of architecture. Many
among these display the influence of a late Hellenic period, yet
some preserve such primitive forms as to make it certain that
Lycia took a prominent part in the development of the Ionic
style — that the southern coast of Asia Minor was an important sta-
tion, marking the advance of artistic culture from Mesopotamia to
the ^gean Sea. These tombs generally represent the front of a
temple in antis — that is to say, of a portico with two columns be-
tween the advanced side walls. The predominant Ionic forms are
singularly primitive in the capital and entablature, the greater num-
Fig. 114. — Sarcophagus at Antiphellos.
LYCIA. ,69
ber of the examples showing no trace of the decline of the style, or
of the Roman type, so easily recognizable by the formal character
of the details. These differ greatly, and seem to show the experi-
ments of an early period of development, which may still have been
contemporaneous with a far higher advance of the style upon the
more northern coasts of the ^Egean Sea and Sporades, being influ-
enced in a different degree by the same Western Asiatic motives.
The important combination which characterizes the perfection of
Ionic architecture — the con-
junction of the volute with
the Doric echinos beneath it
— does not appear upon these
capitals ; the spiral has not a
graceful curve, and the con-
traction of the side rolls of
the volute is lacking; the ab-
acus is badly profiled, and the
shafts are often joined without
a curve to the clumsy bases.
(Compare Fig. 116.) As was
always the case among the
Orientals, who knew of no in-
dependent gable and roof for-
mation above the ceiling, the
entablature consisted of only
two members, — the epistyle,
uniting the columns, and the
terminating cornice. The triple
Fig. 115. — Rock-cut Tomb at Telmissos.
division of the entablature, of so marked importance in the per-
fected style, was not known ; even the two members here occurring
were not sharply defined, and the dentils of the cornice were fully
developed at a time when their original constructive significance
had not yet been forgotten in their decorative application. The
gable acroteria are clumsy knops, similar to the circular ridge or-
naments and the horn-like corner pieces of Phoenician monuments.
In short, we may trace in the rock -cut tombs of Lycia, if not a
Prpto-Ionic style, yet a distinct parallel development of the most
I/O
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
primitive Ionic forms. These did not exclude the influence of
Greece, after the full perfection of the style had been attained, but
rather prepared its way. An example of such later semi-Hellenic
work may be observed in the magnificent monument of Xanthos,
built in the middle of the fourth century B.C. as a trophy after
the capture of Telmissos by the Xanthians. This also has been in
part transported to the British Museum. This structure was not
cut from the solid rock, but was built of quarried stones. It shows
the full development of Ionic forms. Upon a comparatively high
substructure there stood a cella surrounded by columns — of a pe-
ripteral arrangement rare in Lycia, where all the tombs which rep-
Fig. Ii6. — Details of Columns from Telmissos, Myra, and Antiphellos.
resent temples seem to show that the national places of worship,
like those of Assyria and PhcEnicia, were restricted to a portico in
antis, the evolution of the peripteros being an improvement of the
Greeks. The naive originality observable in the Ionic does not ex-
ist in the more isolated Doric forms, although a few very archaic
monuments of the latter style are known. Their existence is ex-
plained by the vicinity of Crete, that southern outpost of early Dor-
ic culture, as well as by the neighboring Doric colonies which flour-
ished upon the southwestern extremity of Asia Minor.
Lycia appears to have had but little influence upon the other
countries of the seaboard, which were almost entirely Hellenized ;
PHRYGIA.
171
nor did its influence penetrate as far into the interior country as
Phr>'gia, where the civilization of the Greeks was introduced only
by way of the Mgean and Pontic coasts. There were neither fre-
quented ports nor navigable streams to open the way. The track-
lessness of wooded mountains restricted the commercial and intel-
lectual horizon of the Phrygians, who, as a nomadic people, were
contented with the slightest artistic exertion. In the same way as
the Lycian carved his wooden hut upon the face of the clifif, that
he might retain after his death the beloved dwelling of his life, the
Phrygian ornamented the front of his grotto graves by a represen-
Fig. 1 1 7. — So-called Tomb of Midas.
tation of his movable house, the nomadic tent. Only the cloth of
the tent, with its woven pattern, was shown ; its constructive ribs,
not visible upon the exterior of the original, were omitted from
the imitation. The most important of these tomb frontispieces, be-
tween Kiutahija and Sivrihissar upon the Saquaria, which are at-
tributed to Phrygian kings, is called by the Turks Yasili-Kaia (the
inscribed stone), (fig. 117.) It is known as the Tomb of Midas
from the one legible word, Midai, occurring in an unintelligible in-
scription. Upon the face of the cliff there is cut a square surface,
II m. broad and about 9 m. high, terminated above by a low gable,
172
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
which, with the acroterium, adds 3 m. to the height of the whole.
The triangle is framed by a light lattice-work in low relief, and
crowned with two volutes, similar to the circular ridge decorations
of Phoenician tombs. The tympanon is not carved, but probably,
with the entire front, was painted. The extensive rectangular sur-
face beneath is covered with a complicated meander ornament in
relief — a play of lines evidently taken from a woven pattern and re-
sembhng the decorations of Moorish walls, where the fundamental
motive was also the tent -cloth. The border of this surface rep-
resents, without conventionalization, an e.dging set with precious
stones, such as may have been
customary upon costly Syrian
stuffs. The small interior cham-
ber was only large enough for
^^o5Afp the reception of a sarcophagus.
The entrance to it was not
marked by any architectural
features — even as the tent it-
self was not provided with a
door — but the passage was orig-
inally closed by a slab, upon the
face of which the woven pattern
was without doubt continued.
A second tomb of the vicinity,
also marked by an undecipher-
able inscription, is of similar
character. {Fig. 118.) The ga-
Fig. 118. — Phrygian Rock-cut Tomb near Do
ganlu.
ble represents a wooden construction, somewhat like the framing of
Lycian sarcophagi ; its double acroterium is decorated with three ro-
settes. The principal surface, the square below, is without carving,
and had probably a painted pattern. A third frontispiece of this
type shows a floral frieze of alternate palmettoes and buds, resem-
bling an Assyrian motive, but inverted, perhaps because its direct
model was the border of a carpet. It recalls the hanging rows of
pomegranates upon the columns Jachin and Boaz of Solomon's Tem-
ple. The cliffs of Phrygia are honey-combed by such rock-cut tombs.
Especially in the district north of Seid-el-Ar are there numberless
LYDIA. 173
small grottoes, the entrances to which are either perfectly plain or
provided only with a simple triangular gable — all giving proof of
the rarity of artistic cflTort among these idyllic mountains.
The influence of Assyrian and Persian methods is evident even
to the west of the river Halys, the border of the Mesopotamian do-
minion before Cyrus ; but upon its farther banks, in Eastern Phrygia,
Oriental art is universally prevalent. At Eyuk there are remains,
supposed to be those of a temple, with a portal flanked by monsters
like the cherubim of Nineveh and Persepolis. At Boghaz - Kieui,
besides rock-cut reliefs entirely similar to those of Persia, there are
the foundations of a terrace with the ruins of a palace, built upon
the plan of the royal dwellings of Persepolis.
Lydia, the last of the three independent countries of Asia Mi-
nor, was so near to the Ionic cities of the coast, and so exposed to
the influence of their civilization, that but few national peculiarities
were preserved in the historical period. The tumulus was there,
as in early Greece, the customary form of the monumental tomb.
In Lydia, as in Etruria, numbers of these mounds stood in an ex-
tended necropolis. The conical tumulus is as characteristic a form
for the e.xtreme west of Asia Minor, for the Troad, as the strict-
ly geometrical pyramid is for Egypt, or its terraced variation for
Mesopotamia. The mound of earth was at times reveted with
a masonry of large polygonal blocks, or placed upon a low cylin-
drical drum of such Cyclopean walls ; the only architectural orna-
ments were simple base and cornice mouldings. The best -pre-
served, though not the most important, monument of this kind is
the so-called Grave of Tantalos upon Mount Sipylos, near Smyrna,
one of a group of twelve. {Fig. 119.) The rectangular chamber in
its centre, 3.5 m. long and almost 3 m. high, is roofed by a false
vault, the horizontal, gradually projecting stones being cut within
to the outline of a pointed arch. The entrance to this tumulus,
like the shafts of the Egyptian pyramids, was hidden by the casing
of exterior masonry. The fragments of a stone pier near by, some-
what like the Meghazil monument of Amrith, probably belonged to
the ornament upon the summit of the cone, which, with a diameter
of plan equal to 33.6 m., attained a height of 27.6 m. Of greater
grandeur, though in an entire state of destruction, are the royal
174
PHCENICIA, PALESTINE, AND ASIA MINOR.
graves of the Lydian capital. The world-renowned name of Sardis
has been preserved in the appellation of the squalid village Sara-
bat now standing upon its site. In its vicinity are the remains of
more than one hundred tumuli. The most important of these, with
a cylindrical drum 257 m. in diameter and 18.5 m. high, still rises to
an elevation of 61.5 m. It is with some probability identified with
that monument of Alyattes described by Herodotos, who exagger-
ates its dimensions to a diameter of 400 m. The cone of rammed
earth was apparently not reveted with stone. Upon its apex there
was a pier of five blocks, which bore a hemispherical termination ;
of this various fragments have been found.
These tumuli approach in dimensions closely to the pyramids
Fig. 119. — The So-called Grave of Tantilo
of Egypt. The elevation of the cone upon a cylindrical base was
a certain advance, but its execution was such as to allow of no com-
parison between the monuments of the two countries. The pyra-
mids of Egypt were built; the tumuli of Lydia were merely heaped
up of earth. The former demanded great technical ability and the
assistance of a commanding and calculating mind ; the latter were
the works of an enslaved people alone. But, on the other hand, the
Lydian cones more closely resembled the natural form of a funeral
mound than did the pyramids of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and on
this account were capable of greater development. Such tumuli
are to be met with from Asia to Etruria, and were adopted even by
the great architects of Greece: the highest artistic civilization al-
ways gives preference to the simplest solution of a problem.
^j^r=— --
Fig. 12a — View of the Athenian Propylaia. Kestoratiun.
HELLAS.
TH E Mediterranean Sea was the heart of the Old World ; the
important lands of the early history of civilization were group-
ed about its richly indented shores, generally decreasing in respect of
culture asthey receded from ft. The northeastern part of the Med-
iterranean, because of its many islands, having an even greater pro-
portionate coast-line, was the centre of the countries ennobled by Hel-
lenic civilization. Separating and uniting at once, like all the wa-
ters of the earth, the .^gean Sea formed the boundary between the
two chief races of Greek intellectual life — the Dorians and the lo-
nians; while it was, at the same time, the favoring medium of ex-
change for the productions of their genius. European Greece, with
its predominating Doric population, and the almost exclusively Ionic
coasts of Asia Minor, equally looked upon this sea as their own, trav
176 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
ersing it with thousands of ships, and gaining more from the track-
less waters before them than from the interior lands of the immense
continents whose seaboard alone they were content to occupy. In
Asia the Greeks were restricted to the countries upon its uttermost
western border ; in European Greece the development was chiefly
directed towards the eastern coast, paying even less attention to
their own shores on the Adriatic than to the early colonized ports
of Magna - Graecia and Sicily. The Archipelago itself provided
convenient strongholds and outposts in every direction. The nu-
merous harbors and anchoring -places of its many islands offered
protection against the notorious treachery of the .^gean main — a
protection imperatively necessary for the primitive seafarers of
antiquity. But, as in the history of all civilization, the currents
of Greek intellectual and artistic progress moved distinctly from
east to west. The European (Doric) culture was in itself less calcu-
lated to influence Asia than the Asiatic (Ionic) to affect the younger
continent. It was, as decided by nature, upon European soil, upon
Attica — the most advanced promontory of European Greece — that
the two branches of the Greek race united, and bore in Athens that
double fruit at which we marvel. The Dorians, displaced, in some
measure, by the rapid growth of Ionic Asia and Europe, turned still
farther westward, and settled upon the shores of Sicily and the
Gulf of Tarention, where imposing monuments still attest the ex-
tent of their power.
The legends of the wanderings of Hellenic tribes, and especially
of the so-called Doric migration, were based upon the busy currents
of intercourse between Asia and Europe, over seas and straits, and
between the European continent artd the Morea, the ' Island of
Pelops. The relations and the quarrels of Hellenic and semi-bar-
baric peoples upon each side of the .^gean are illustrated by the
tales of the Argonauts and their voyage, and of the Trojan War,
both of which bear the stamp of a certain piratical rivalry. The
fatal lack of unity, resulting from the separate development of
neighboring districts, could not be more distinctly characterized
than by the fact that the Greek races, although they felt them-
selves divided from other nations — from barbarians — by an im-
passable gulf, and were aware of their own absolute intellectual
THK HOMERIC ERA. 1 77
superiority, yet lacked any comprehensive designation for them-
selves : the name Greeks, or Hellenes, is of comparatively recent
origin.
The Homeric epics prove that the intellectual development of
the people to whom the immortal poet belonged stood, at least
as early as the ninth century B.C., at a height to which nations
of such primitive civilization as the Egyptians and Chaldaians had
never attained. Phenomenal as the appearance of those poems
may have been, they still could not have stood so high above their
time — which they evidently represent with a certain transfigura-
tion— that contemporaries were not able to comprehend and enjoy
them. The creative arts stood, at this epoch, in strange contrast to
so great an intellectual height ; they were far surpassed by the ad-
vance of poetry. Though certain textile and ceramic manufactures
(the making of wooden and bronze utensils, woven stuffs, and pot-
tery) must have been practised to some extent in Greece proper,
the better artistic productions are continually referred to as im-
ported from the civilized countries of Asia. Larger objects, and no-
tably buildings, were either exceedingly primitive, or, in the lack
of trained native ability, were erected and ornamented in foreign
styles. The Homeric epics know nothing of a columnar temple,
nothing of artistic images of the gods, nothing even of dwellings
corresponding to the importance of their princely heroes. Even
at a much later time a Spartan, accustomed to erect his own house
with saw and axe alone, might be astonished at the squarely hewn
beams of a ceiling, which he previously had seen formed only of
round trunks, like those imitated upon the Lycian block-house tombs.
It is of this exceeding simplicity that we must picture to our-
selves the palaces of the kings, one of which is so attractively de-
scribed by the singer of the Odyssey, in the account of the royal
dwelling at Ithaca. The entire establishment must have been simi-
lar to a grange — a wall enclosing a number of buildings with the
court before them. The rustic parallel is clearly brought to mind
by the description of this farm-yard, where the compost-heap, sur-
rounded by swine and geese, was the bed of the old watch-dog, who,
in Homer's truly idyllic account, alone recognizes his master, and,
dying, wags his tail in greeting. From this yard a gate led to an
12
jng HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
inner court, comparable to the peristyle of later buildings, but with-
out the ornament of columns, and in all respects extremely primi-
tive. Goats and beeves were driven in here without further ado to
be slaughtered. This adjoined upon one side the chambers of the
men, upon the other those of the women, so separated that the tu-
multuous massacre of the suitors in the principal hall did not dis-
turb the slumber of Penelope, and only reached the ears of the maids
like distant moaning. Upon the third side, probably opposite the en-
trance, was the hall of the men, a ceiled space, which must have been
of considerable extent, as the hundred and eight unwelcome guests
could here unite in the banquet and other amusements. Its ceiling,
like that of the armory and that of the royal sleeping-chamber, was
supported by upright beams of wood. We may imagine these simi-
lar to the shafts in the Palace of Oinomaos at Elis, one of which,
bound together with iron hoops, was preserved as a relic in the time
of Pausanias. The ceiling beams of the hall were smoked and black-
ened by open fires and torch-lights as in rustic dwellings. Of the
walls there is no mention, though the supposition is not improbable
that the bright metal sheathing of the palaces of Menelaos and Al-
kinoos existed here also. It would be explained by the Phoenician
overlaying of wood -work with beaten bronze, or, to speak more
correctly, with copper. The space could not have been without
openings for light and air. These are not directly mentioned by
the poet, but may be assumed, from the analogies offered by oth-
er civilized nations of early antiquity, to have existed in the wall,
immediately under the ceiling. Here the interstices between the
immense horizontal beams, which rested upon the walls, were left
open, and the motive of the subsequent Doric metope resulted of
itself. That the timbers overhead were not sheathed with boards
is evident from a Homeric simile : Athene rose to the ceiling, and
there sat, " like unto the resting swallow ;" that is to say, upon the
cross-beams of the open triangle formed by the roof-framing. Fur-
ther evidence is offered by the account of the hanging of Epicaste
upon a ceiling beam, which must have been exposed from all sides.
Th^ tholos of the palace at Ithaca was an isolated circular
structure, before the court, and may perhaps be identified with the
high thalamos to which Telemachos descended. In this also lay
THOLOS UF ATREUS.
179
gold and metal in heaps; while shrines containing garments, and
amphoras filled with oil and wine, etc., stood around. Its double
door, of careful workmanship, agrees with the character of a treas-
ury. If this identification of the tholos and thalamos be accepted,
Fig. 121. — Plan and Section of the Tholos of Atreus.
no doubt can remain that we have here to deal with a space simi-
lar to many yet remaining in Greece, generally known under the
name of treasure-houses. Examples exist at Orchomenos, near
Pharsalos, Amyclae, Menidi, and in Mykenae.
One of the five in Mykenae, known as the Treasury, or the Tho-
i8o
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
los, of Atreus, remains in an admirable state of preservation, espe-
cially as regards the interior. This consists of a space of circular
Fig. 122.— Restoration of the Tholos of Atreus. Portal. (Clarke.)
plan, 15 m. in diameter, and of the same height, formed like a point-
ed vault. {Fig. 121.) Its walls begin to curve from the floor, which
is of stamped clay pis6. Upon this the first circular course of ma-
THOLOS OF ATREUS.
I8I
-7^
<-«r*'»g>
^ \\\Y)l}p.f>/ .
sonry immediately reposes. The walls then rise, in parabolic out-
line, to a pointed apex. They are not constructed upon the princi-
ple of a vault — that is to say, with wedge-shaped stones, and with
the direction of joints to a common centre — but are laid in horizon-
tal beds, each course so projecting over the one beneath it that, by
this diminution of the concentric circles, they finally unite at the
summit. They were smoothly cut upon the jointing surfaces, while
the face was not chiselled until after the completion of the masonry.
The blocks were rectangular, and
the joints, which consequently in-
creased radially in plan, were fill-
ed with the same pis6 used for
the floor; the interstice between
the wall door and the rock-cut
inner chamber upon one side be-
ing also cemented with this sub-
stance. An entrance - passage,
the dromos, led from the valley
to the tholos in a gently inclined
ascent. It was bordered by walls
of cut stone, but nowhere ceiled.
Its floor, 6.20 m. broad and 36 m.
long, was paved with pis^. This
entrance-passage was terminated
without by a terraced retaining-
wall, and within by an elaborate
portal fagade. The recent in-
vestigations of Stamatakis and
Thiersch have given suflficient
information concerning the composition and details of this front
to permit a restoration of its chief masses. {Fig. 122.) The low-
er part was constructed of long stones, carefully cut and jointed.
The stepped jambs of the opening, peculiar to all antique doors,
were probably cut after the blocks were in position. Upon ei-
ther side were decorative engaged columns, which are so entirely
similar to the one represented upon the Gate of the Lions at My-
kenje that it is possible completely to understand their nature by
Fig. 123. — Fragments of an Engaged Col-
umn from the Tholos of Atreus.
l82 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
that general guide ; by the help of fragments which still exist, and
others drawn in former publications, though now lost ; by traces
upon the wall, and especially by the sockets cut for the swallow-
tail clampings of the bases and capitals. The shaft, instead of be-
ing diminished, increases as it ascends, as does also the column upon
the relief over the Gate of the Lions. Its base, from this analogy,
and from the narrow space left for it by the clampings, seems to
have consisted of a simple tore. The abacus and parts of the
mouldings beneath it still exist ; the coronation was formed by two
roundlets, separated by a scotia, the lower being considerably small-
er in height and diameter than the upper. {Fig. 123.) Without the
lower member, there is a certain similarity of the capital to a Doric
echinos, which is increased by the proportions of the boldly project-
ing abacus; but the whole is so similar to an Asiatic (Ionic) base
that it was not natural to believe it a capital, and the fragment pub-
lished by Donaldson has hitherto been believed to be the foot of
the shaft. The columns were entirely covered with an ornamenta-
tion in relief of zigzag lines alternating with the well-known spiral
wave ; they stood upon rectangular pedestals, of which the triply
stepped plinths have been preserved. The existence of bronze or-
naments upon the lintel of the door is evident from the traces of
nails; five lion -heads can be distinctly recognized. An epistyle
extended from capital to capital across the entire front of the por-
tal ; it projected far beyond the lintel, upon which it partly reposed.
Above this entablature was a surface, like an attica, which masked
the triangle formed by the relieving blocks over the lintel. The up-
per walls were not originally visible, having been reveted by thin
slabs of stone, secured in position by dowels. Fragments from My-
kenae deposited in the British Museum, in the Munich Antiquarium,
and in Athens appertained to this upper fagade ; they all show spi-
ral ornaments between horizontal grooves, and are similar to many
other decorations of the same age. The borders of the casing over
the relieving triangle and its extreme upper corner were patterned
in like manner, as is plain from the mitre-joint of some of the slabs,
and from a small fragment exactly fitting the upper angle of the
opening. The entire triangle was probably closed by some light
stone carving, since it could have had no function as a passage for
THOLOS OF ATREUS. 1 83
light. The door, as may be seen from traces of pivots upon the sill
and lintel, had two wings, which, from their bolt - holes, appear to
have been so large that, when closed, they considerably overlapped.
Upon the exterior jambs a broad strip of metal was affixed, still to
be traced by two vertical rows of nail-holes, in which fragments of
bronze occasionally remain. This work leads to the supposition
that the wings of the door were themselves overlayed with metal,
and, with the characteristic forms of the decoration upon the mon-
ument, points to the peculiarities of Asiatic art. It is natural to
attribute this to the influence of Phoenicia ; indeed, the effect of the
civilization of that country upon early Greece can hardly be overes-
timated. A broad, horizontal strip of metal sheathing existed also
upon the exterior, and small fragments of it are repeatedly met with
in the rubbish filling the tholos ; similar vestiges are found in a sec-
ond monument of the kind near by. This overlaying of walls with
sheet copper was by no means uncommon in ancient Greece. The
subterranean bronze chamber of Danae may be explained as a tomb
sheathed with metal. In mythical ages, in the sanctuary at Delphi,
as well as in later times, in the Chalkioicos of Athene at Sparta,
this wall-treatment appears employed for temples, even as Homer
described it in palaces at Sparta and the Island of the Phaeacians.
The Tholos of Atreus was itself subterranean ; the exterior of the
conical mass of masonry was covered with a hill of earth. In con-
sideration of the almost perfect preservation of the interior, it is ev-
ident that some remains of a strictly architectural exterior would
have been recognizable, had it existed. A tumulus covered and
protected the structure ; though its earth is now, for the greater
part, washed away, to it must still be ascribed the good condition
in which the kernel has remained.
The recently discovered grave at Menidi, in Attica (Lolling), is
a parallel construction. As regards beauty of execution and rich-
ness of ornament, it is far inferior to the Tholos of Atreus ; it is also
much smaller, having an average diameter of 8.35 m. and 9 m. orig-
inal height. Its only peculiarity is that the relieving blocks over
the lintel, instead of projecting one over the other so as to form a
triangle, are so placed as to leave four voids between as many
horizontal beams, in a manner similar to the arrangement for re-
1 84 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
lieving the ceiling of the principal chamber of the great pyramid of
Gizeh.
The Tholos of Atreus offers a welcome commentary upon the
thesauros of the royal palace at Ithaca, but only in respect to its
construction. The purpose of the circular buildings still existing in
Greece seems to have been entirely different from that of the treas-
ure-house described in the Odyssey. It is true that eminent au-
thorities deny this difference — and the analogies of the round Ho-
meric building, of the treasure - vaults at Mykenae mentioned by
Pausanias, and of the treasury of Minyas in Orchomenos, lend their
arguments some weight, and, at least, a greater probability than
the suppositions that the structures of tholos form were intended
for spring-houses (Forchhammer) or places of worship (Pyl). But
there are reasons against all these assumptions. The treasure-
houses of the Pelopidae must have been upon the acropolis, in-
side the fortification walls, not at various distances outside their
limits, as is the case with those of Mykenae. Still less could such
vaults for hoarded valuables have been as distant from the city as
was the Tholos of Baphio from the ancient Amyclae, which stood
entirely isolated in the midst of an open plain, without the possi-
bility of communication with any royal residence. The tumuli of
earth above the crypts would have but ill suited them to form a part
of the palace building ; while for a cell which was only to receive
precious goods — for a magazine of deposit — the rich overlaying of
the interior walls with sheet metal, and especially the elaborate carv-
ing of the portal front, seem out of place. These peculiarities, not
to mention some of less importance, point to another purpose, for
which they are, one and all, fitted — namely, the destination of the
structures as tombs. Their position, before the acropolis and with-
out the city walls; the covering of the chamber with earth in a tumu-
lus form ; the impossibility of their having had any communication
with other buildings; the elaborate decoration of the entrance, and
the princely wealth of metals in the interior — all support, with the
striking analogies beyond the ^gean, this conception of the tho-
los buildings advocated by Welcker and Mure. It is possible that it
is to these structures that Pausanias refers as the treasure-houses of
the Atridae ; but Pausanias, like us, knew Mykenae only by its ruins.
TUMULI AND PYRAMIDS. ,85
That patron of all ciceroni upon classic ground was not exacting for
proofs of their legends. The hypothesis of Pyl may in so far be
correct that the tholos itself did not serve as the place of sepulchre,
which was provided by the small side chamber, but was a chapel
for the funeral worship naturally to be assumed in connection with
an heroic dynasty.
It is not possible to assign these tombs to individuals, like
those of the early Persian monarchs, or even to dynasties : the
questionable identification of the graves discovered in the agora
of the acropolis, ventured by Schliemann, would here be inadmis-
sible. It is reasonably certain, however, that the best - preserved
tholos, that known by the name of Atreus, is about contemporane-
ous with the Gate of the Lions, and dates from the most flourishing
period of the heroic age — before the downfall of the Atridae upon
the return of Agamemnon.
A small chamber, only of sufficient size to receive the cinerary
urn, in the centre of an upheaval of earth, was sufficient for the
graves of the heroes who fell before Troy. Several of these tumuli
exist. The larger of them, those of Hector and of Achilles, had a
considerable elevation, and, standing upon a low promontory, were
visible far at sea. They were without architectural features or
decoration, mere cones of earth and stones ; terminated, as Homer
relates concerning those of Ilos, Sarpedon, and Elpenor, by a monu-
ment like a column, which must have resembled the piers upon Lyd-
ian tumuli. It is questionable whether the trees which grew in later
times upon the mounds of Protesilaos before Troy, and of Alcmaeon
in Arcadia, were originally and intentionally there placed, and are to
be deemed characteristic of such works. Those planted upon the
tumulus of Augustus in Rome may certainly be referred to his indi-
vidual desire. From the account given by Pausanias of the tumulus
of iEpytos at Pheneos, in Arcadia; from foundations remaining upon
the island of Syme, and from later ruins at Kyrene — not to mention
a well-preserved tumulus of very considerable dimensions, reveted
with stone, which, from its situation in Algerian territory, might per-
haps be ascribed to the Carthaginians, or even to the Romans — from
all these examples, it is evident that such mounds, like the tumuli
of Lydia and Etruria, were, for the greater part, elevated upon cylin-
1 86
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
drical foundations. But whether the interior were chambered or
solid, whether the cone of earth rose directly from the earth or
from a drum substructure, the tumulus appears to have been, in
primitive times, the most customary form of monumental tomb for
persons of high rank.
The common man was probably buried in pits, as at the pres-
ent day, the grave being marked by an upright stone, with or with-
out some slight ornament. Schliemann's discoveries in the agora of
Mykenae show that, under certain circumstances, this procedure was
adopted even for princes. The kingly importance of these sepul-
chres is assured by their position, and by the immense quantity of
Fig. 124. — Pyramid of Kenchreae.
gold and valuables found within them. The decorative style of
these objects dates them conclusively to the heroic age ; but the
assignment of the different graves to Agamemnon and his associ-
ates is a mere hypothesis.
A pyramidal form was only in isolated instances substituted for
the tumulus. Of a pyramid, described by Pausanias as existing be-
tween Argos and Epidauros, there now remains a mass of masonry
measuring 12 m. in the line of the diagonal. A second, near Ken-
chreae, between Argos and Tegea, is better preserved. {Ftg: 124.) Its
plan is oblong, 14.5 m. long and nearly 12 m. broad ; the two cham-
bers of the interior are at present unroofed. The structure appears
FORTIFICATION WALLS. 1 87
to have served as a common place of sepulchre for the fallen, and, at
the same time, as a memorial of victory. This destination is also
evident in two further pyramidal remains, in Laconia and near Les-
sa, which are described by Curtius and by Ross. The Greeks adopt-
ed both Asiatic and Egyptian forms for their funeral monuments;
but in the construction of both tumulus and pyramid they intro-
duced comparatively large chambers, early striving for ends foreign
to those despotic lands: — a wise economy of material and labor and
a gain of space.
Mausoleums and sepulchres are always among the first traces
of civilization, and the most ancient examples of architectural art.
In Greece, however, there are contemporaneous remains significant
of other purposes. Chief among these are the fortifications of
towns, although in general these works enclosed only the acropolis,
which contained the residences of the rulers and the sanctuaries of
the people. The true age of these defences can by no means be
surely determined. Not all Cyclopean masonry is to be attributed
to the earliest ages of Hellenic antiquity, for this manner of polygo-
nal jointing remained in use long after a time when cut and squared
stones were generally employed. On the other hand, immense rec-
tangular blocks, laid in horizontal courses, frequently occur in city
walls which are known to be of the greatest antiquity and even to
have been totally ruined in the historical period, such monoliths be-
ing regularly used upon comers, the jambs of gates, etc., where espe-
cial strength and independent firmness were called for. When the
surface of Cyclopean walls is perfectly smooth and exactly jointed,
these may confidently be regarded as not of primitive antiquity;
the erection of such masonry is a subtlety of greater difficulty than
that of square blocks and horizontal beds. But walls built of enor-
mous boulders, unhewn, and roughly piled up without calculation^
the larger interstices being filled with smaller stones, are of extreme
age. Such masonry appeared to later generations to be the work
of giants, of Cyclops, and hence a name which might more fittingly
be changed to Pelasgic than to Poseidonic, as suggested by Glad-
stone. The walls of Tiryns {Fig. 125) are of such gigantic blocks
— bulwarks mentioned by Homer and Hesiod, and admired in their
ruins by Pausanias. They are built upon a ridge of rock, which is
1 88 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
over 190 m. long, only 70 m. broad, and ielevated 10 m. above the
surrounding plain. The masonry is from 7 to 15 m. thick; of its
original height, estimated as 18 m,, there remains from 10 to 12 m.
The enormous stones vary from 2 to 3 m. in length and 0.9 to 12.
m. in thickness. In its greatest breadth the wall is provided with
galleries, roofed by projecting stones laid in horizontal beds and cut
to the outline of a pointed arch. Such spaces are provided with
loopholes upon the exterior, and, without doubt, served as maga-
zines and casemates. Within these fortifications must have stood
the royal residence, famed in the legends of Heracles and Eurys-
theus ; of it no recognizable traces remain.
The walls of Mykenae are not of equally gigantic masonry, but are
Fig. 125. — Plan of the Acropolis of Tiryns.
fully as old, and are especially interesting because of the city having
been a complete ruin in the earliest historical times. Besides case-
mate galleries in the walls, there are in Mykenae a number of highly
important gateways and portals; those of the fortifications at Tiryns
were entirely destroyed, an inclined plane leading to the eastern side
of the acropolis is there alone to be recognized as an approach.
The doors were naturally of greater technical perfection than the
long line of bulwarks ; having been created for both admittance and
defence, they required a certain constructive calculation, and permit-
ted the employment of more exterior ornament. The simplest pos-
sible form of a gateway is the combination of three stones — the two
jambs and the lintel — observable in two examples at Mykenae. {Figs.
GATEWAYS. 1 89
126 and 127.) Such a construction had the disadvantage that the
upright blocks could not be joined to the wall, and that the lintel,
which necessarily lay clear for a considerable length, could not im-
mediately receive the massive continuation of the masonry above
it. Notwithstanding the convergence of the jambs upon the great
gate of Mykense, the beam has a length of 4.6 m., with a span of 3.05
m. ; the bottom of the door being 3.2 m. wide, and its height 3.25 m.
A relieving gable was consequently constructed, similar to that com-
mon in Egypt during the age of the Pyramids, and to that described
in the consideration of the Tholos of Atrcus. A triangular opening
remained above the lintel, by which the efficacy of the wall as a for-
tification was considerably impaired. The orifice was closed by one
Fig. n6. — Gate of the Lions at Mykenae. Fig. 127.— Smaller Gate of Mykenae.
or two slabs, which did not press heavily upon the lintel ; but they
could not have been sufficient to escape fracture by heavy missiles,
or to resist the blows of a battering-ram. The attack was therefore
diverted from this vulnerable point by moral means. The panel re-
ceived a certain consecration by some protecting sacred symbol be-
ing carved upon it — such, for instance, as a Gorgon's head — a re-
course which was effective in times when the slightest desecration
of a divine emblem was deemed more impious than the bloodiest
deed of human violence. Such a carving has been preserved over
the gateway of Mykenae, which has received its name from the lions
represented upon it. As a work of sculpture, it will be considered
below. The column between the animals has, however, a bearing
igo
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
upon the architectural forms of the epoch. It is the same shaft,
diminishing from summit to base, which has been noticed upon the
portal front of the Tholos of Atreus. A second gate of Mykenae
resembled the Gate of the Lions, but was smaller and simpler. {Fig.
127.)
The form of three blocks appears to have been soon changed, the
wall itself serving in place of an especial jamb. The span of the lin-
tel was decreased by two or four boldly projecting blocks as brack-
ets. Examples of this development are offered by portals of Samos
and Phigalia. {Figs. 128 and 129.) But in the same measure as the
danger from the great span of the lintel was diminished, that of the
brackets being pressed downward and disjointed was increased. A
third manner of covering the opening, by stones leaned against each
Fig. 128.— Portal upon Samos. Fig. 129. — Gate of Phigalia.
Other at an angle, was a still further advance. {Fig. 130.) When
the side thrust could be well borne — and for this the walls were
always sufficient — such a gable could support any pressure that
could possibly be imposed, while allowing a great breadth of pas-
sage. Finally, a triangular construction could be obtained by a grad-
ual projection of horizontal stones, laid as they had been in so
many instances for the relief of a lintel beneath them. This con-
struction occurs in two varieties, differing in appearance, though
not in principle : the projection of the horizontal courses of stone
either began directly from the ground {Fig. 130), as has been no-
ticed in the Tholos of Atreus {Fig. 122), or commenced at some
height, the jambs being carried up vertically. {Fig. 132.) In both
these varieties the line of the gable frequently appears concavely
TOWERS.
191
curved, as in the parabolic walls of the tholos, and the outline of
a pointed arch was thus obtained. {Fi^s. 133 and 134.) In spite
of their early familiarity with the abstract principle of the arch, as
shown in //^. 1 30, the Greeks refused to adopt the true arch, with
its wedge-shaped stones, even in late historical ages, when they as-
suredly were acquainted with its construction. An illustration of
their feeling in this respect is given by the aqueduct adjoining
the Tower of the Winds in Athens, where the semicircles are cut
from monoliths.
The influence of the gateways upon the masonry is evident from
the more frequent adoption of the rectangular blocks, which had at
first only been employed to
give the portals an indepen-
dent strength, both for the
ramparts and for the out-
works and protecting towers
which these openings neces-
sitated. Such a fortification,
erected for the defence of a
gate, still stands in Tiryns —
the city to which succeeding
ages ascribed the invention
of tower -building (Pliny,
Hisf. Nat. vii. 56) ; it reach-
es a height of 13 m. The
tower which defended the gate of Mykenae was even larger. Homer
mentions such structures at Troy, Thebes, and Calydon, and is also
familiar with casemates and battlements. The latter are shown by
paintings upon archaic vases to have been of the normal rectangular
shape.
Schliemann's excavations in Mykenae have proved that in this
city the agora was situated just within the principal gate. Some of
the stone benches encircling the agora were found in almost perfect
preservation ; they were constructed of slabs standing erect in con-
centric rows to receive the horizontal seats. They lend a new
confirmation of Homer's truthful characterization of locality, illus-
trating a passage which occurs in the description of the shield
Fie. 130. — Portal upon Delos.
192 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
of Achilles, which describes the judgment scene upon the market-
place :
" On polish'd chairs, in solemn circle, sat
The rev'rend elders."
Though the remains of these prehistoric ages show in some de-
gree the form of an ancient Greek acropoHs, with its royal dwelling
of courts and halls, and the sepulchral monuments before its gates,
they are yet insufficient to complete even the main outhnes of the
picture by giving any understanding of the temple — that structure
destined to become the ideal of Hellenic architecture. While the
life and customs contemporary with the Homeric poems are, in oth-
er respects, represented with incomparable truth and distinctness,
Fig. 131, — Gate of Missolonghi. Fig. 132.— Gate of Messene.
the epics are entirely silent upon this subject. It appears that the
temples were neither of great size nor of artistic importance ; among
the ruins of Tiryns and Mykenae there are no vestiges of columns
or entablatures. The symbolical images of the deities were placed
upon cliffs, in caverns, among the branches of sacred trees, or in the
hollows of their trunks, and simple altars were erected before them.
Frequently the worship of a deity was merely connected with a
grove, or with some other locality fitted by nature for this pur-
pose, and was there performed without an image or other dead
symbol. It was thus with the most primitive god of Greek mythol-
ogy, Zeus of Dodona. When a building was provided at all, it was,
in the heroic ages, restricted to the cella, a ceiled chapel of oblong
PREHISTORIC CELLAS.
'93
plan, which stood in the centre of a consecrated area, Uie-temeiios.
This original form^the whole of the primitive shrine — is recogniza-
ble even in the developed peripteros, as the kernel within the ot ;.
standing columns. It does not appear strange that we should Vrf
acquainted with so few of these chapels when it is considered that
hardly greater traces remain of the entire architecture of the Teu-
tonic races during the first seven Christian centuries. It is natural.
m the development of civilization, that sanctuaries exemplifying dif-
ferent phases of advancement should seldom stand next to each oth-
er ; after the destruction of the old, the new arises in its place, upon
its consecrated site. Examples of such original cellas are not, how-
ever, entirely wanting. Several remains published by Dodwell and
max^^i^t
Fig. 133. — Gate of Thoricos.
Fig. 134.— Gate of Ephesos.
Stackelberg are to be explained as chapels. A structure upon De-
los, designated by Thiersch as a tomb, is quite comparable to a
columnless temple cella. There is less probability that the ruins
upon Mount Ocha and near the village Stoura, upon Euboea, were
temples. They are chambers sheltered from above by slabs of
stone, inclined like a gable. {Ft^. 135.)
This method of roofing could not have been generally practised
in early times, when simple and natural constructions utilized the
materials at hand best adapted to the purpose. The builders,
among the bald mountains of Euboea, were forced to such a man-
ner of covering their chamber by lack of wood. The south of the
tsiand produces no trees which could provide the timber for roof-
beams; while, on the other hand, open quarries in the neighbor-
13
194
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
hood furnished a kind of slate -stone which is easily split into
ii-Tfe slabs like joists and boards. So clumsy a ceiling construction
as that upon Mount Ocha was not natural in countries of dense
forests, such as was the original home of the Dorians. In other
parts of Hellas than the rocky and sterile islands of the ALgea.r\.
the chapels must have been roofed with wood. The most obvious
considerations make it evident that ceiling and roof of the primi-
tive cella were originally of wood. In the later marble architecture
of Greece this assumption is confirmed by numerous reminiscences
of timbered construction, sufficient even to explain the methods and
form of the original carpentry.
A pitched and gabled roof seems to have been generally em-
ployed for these early struct-
ures. The horizontal ceil-
ing might be sufficient for
the changeless blue sky of
Egypt, but could not suffice
in Greece, where, in certain
seasons, heavy rains were fre-
quent, and even hail -storms
not unknown. Still no land
upon the Mediterranean was
familiar with the great steep-
ness of roof made necessary
by the enduring snow and
ice of the North. In colder climates the pitch of the covering
was not only greatly increased, but all horizontal projections were
avoided, and the upper surfaces of smaller members and mould-
ings inclined. The rafters required ceiling beams beneath them ;
because of the necessary support and jointing, they could not be
placed directly upon the stone walls, and it was further desi-
rable to support the summit of the triangle by a king-post. The
ceiling thus provided stood in such relation to the roof that a
beam tied together each pair of rafters, and was, consequently, so
laid across the oblong enclosure that the ends reposed upon the
side walls. Upon these horizontal timbers planks v/ere placed
which concealed the inclined roof. By this an independent ceiling;
Fig. 135. — Interior of a Structure upon Mount
Ocha, Euboea.
DORIC TIMBERING. Igj
was created ; and. as the boarding was laid upon the beams and
not fastened to their lower side, this gave rise to the formation of
lacunae or long coffers. The ends both of the horizontal ceiling
beams and of the roof rafters were visible upon the exterior: the
latter, forming the eaves, projected beyond the wall, to further the
shedding of water and to protect the sides of the building. As the
upper surface of the roof had been so closed as to be water-tight, it
is natural that this sheathing should have been carried around upon
all sides of the projecting rafter ends. It was otherwise with the
spaces between the beams, which, being protected by the eaves,
were not covered and masked by boards. The artistic instinct of
the Greek would not permit him thus to conceal constructive forms
when this was not rendered necessary by practical considerations.
They received, on the contrary, an especial emphasis, that they might
express their peculiar function with full force. Moreover, the clos-
ing of the aperture between the ends of the beams would have re-
quired the provision of other openings for light, as there were no
windows in the walls of masonry.
This manner of roof and ceiling construction was generally em-
ployed in European Greece, being customary for palaces and dwell-
ings as well as for the primitive temples. Open interstices between
the horizontal beams existed in the hall of the royal dwelling at
Ithaca. There can be no further doubt as to the development and
original function of the metopes of the Doric entablature when it is
considered that the Greeks, as late as the time of Euripides {Jphig.
in Taur. 113), were familiar with the idea that it was possible to en-
ter a primitive structure through these openings between the ends of
the beams. The masking of the metopes would thus have been not
only purposeless, but even detrimental ; it was reasonable, however,
to sheathe the ends of the beams themselves by small boards, which
should at once protect and ornament them. The hewn extremities
of such great timbers were rough and ugly ; without covering, they
would have been exposed to rapid decay. The simple decoration
of three narrow strips of wood affixed to the ends of the beams was
so customary in primitive carpentry that it became a typical mo-
tive in the later architecture of Greece. The chamfering of sharp
edges of boards has been practised by the wood-workers of all na-
196 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
tions. When two corners thus treated are placed together, there
results a prismatic groove, which distinctly marks the edges of
the separate pieces. Thus originated the primitive form of the
triglyph, as the most natural and practical decoration of the rough-
hewn ends of the ceiling beams by sheathing. The upper edges of
the three strips were hidden against a plate beneath the rafters; the
lower were covered by a continuous board, which united the various
members of the frieze, and concealed any inexact jointing between
the beams and the top of the wall. By placing the chamfered
boards upright, an aesthetic advantage was obtained : a vertical
line was repeated jufet before the conclusion of the entablature by
the cornice, being thus emphasized in the midst of horizontal mem-
bers. Other ornamental details were added, based, likewise, upon
motives of the original wooden construction. The continuous strip
affixed to the lower edges of the triglyphs was securely and visi-
bly fastened. This was effected by several thick trunnels, so driv-
en in from below that the heads were left protruding. Under the
end of each beam the strip was doubled, to give additional strength
where the wood was most weakened by perforation. The ends of
the rafters were also sheathed, and brought into harmony with
the frieze. The inclined eaves were covered with boards, and as
these did not stand erect, like those before the ceiling beams, but
hung from the lower sides of the rafters, there was particular need
for an increased and distinctly secure attachment. The sheath-
ing was consequently pinned by more numerous trunnels; and as
every triglyph had been provided with a second strip, here a sec-
ond board was placed under the end of each rafter. The projecting
heads of these nails were called guttce by the later Romans, but this
cannot convince us that the peculiar form was intended as an orna-
mental petrifaction of hanging rain-drops: such a glorification of
bad weather would have been foreign to the Greeks, accustomed to
the clearest skies ; and, for so primitive a construction, this explana-
tion appears far-fetched. The imitation of rain-drops could nowhere
have been more out of place than upon the inclined lower side of
the eaves ; drops might, perhaps, hang from the front edge of the
cornice, but never upon its under slope, which rain could not even
wet. The construction of an original work of carpentry thus pro-
PRIMITIVE DORIC CONSTRUCTION. Ig7
vided the motives of the Doric entablature — naively expressing the
advance from the roughest practical necessity to high architectural
perfection. In the apertures between the beam-ends, or metopes,
and in the open triangle of the gable, were placed votive offerings,
which there found a secure and sheltered stand, heightening the ex-
terior importance of the work. In small chapels this interference
with the openings for light could have been of no disadvantage.
The gable was closed by a boarding, which hid from view the rough
inner construction of the roof. This veil, the tympanon, was placed
behind the triangle formed by the outer cross-beam and rafters, as
the ceiling had been laid above the other horizontal timbers. The
low gable thus naturally developed upon the front ; and in later
times, when the votive offerings had been exchanged for sculptured
figures, formed a most characteristic and imposing feature.
The effect was heightened by the partly protective, partly dec-
orative, painting of all the wooden surfaces. Red and blue appear
originally to have been the chief colors ; the former, in a dark shade,
being used for the sheathing of the tympanon, the latter for the
triglyphs and other members. Upon the bands were figured or-
naments, most of which had developed from Asiatic prototypes;
they consisted of the meander, anthem ions, and the woven ribbons,
etc., observable upon Assyrian sculptures and upon the archaic
bronzes and vases of Greece and Central Italy. The extended
polychromatic treatment of the marble temple is doubtless a remi-
niscence of this painted wood. Without such traditions, it would
have developed differently: upon a structure of stone it would
have been less restricted to the frieze and cornice.
The entablature had thus far advanced without connection with
that most noble work of architecture — the Doric column. The shaft
and entablature of the style were not created in connection or si-
multaneously ; the forms of triglyph and mutule are not a growth
from the columnar root, but rather prove the Doric frieze and cor-
. ice to have been the primitive Hellenic expression of roof and ceil-
ing, which preceded the column, even as the plainest constructive
necessities precede ornament. The peculiar wooden character of the
entablature could exercise no important influence upon the shaft.
If the existence, in heroic times, of the peripteros, the ttinplc v'**h
IqS HELLAS.— architecture.
outstanding columns, be denied — and of such structures there is
not a vestige — it cannot be supposed that columns existed at all.
Interior suppyorts of wood are, indeed, mentioned by Homer, and en-
gaged shafts formed part of the fa9ade of the Tholos of Atreus, and
were represented upon the relief over the Gate of the Lions in
Mykenae; but between these and- the Doric column there is a dis-
tance only to be explained by the assumption that Asiatic influence
was paramount, if not exclusive, in the architecture of the heroic
ages of Greece. Though it is possible that rudiments of the Doric
echinos may be recognized in the upper tore and scotia of the en-
gaged columns of Mykenae, it is yet evident that the turned-work
of these members resulted from a wooden prototype, and that the
overladen decoration of the shaft, in its style, is due to familiarity
with a sheeting of beaten metal — i. e., to Phoenician artistic tradi-
tions. That the forms of the entablature were not created for the
peripteros appears from the circumstance that the metopes lose their
value as windows by the change of plan, and leave the cella without
openings for light and air when surrounded by columns. With
the appearance of the peripteral temple, the Doric entablature,
which upon the oblong chapel had been the natural expression
upon the exterior of roof and ceiling construction, became a func-
tionless ornament, needing, as will be seen, many changes to bring
it into harmony with the outstanding colonnade.
The development of the Doric column is not perfectly clear ; it
is more than probable that it was not wholly autochthonic and prim-
itive Greek, like the entablature of the style. Its principal part, the
shaft, was certainly imported. No prominent architectural feature
can be deemed newly invented that has been in common usage in a
neighboring and accessible country for centuries. The Doric shaft,
with its characteristic diminution and channellings, was known in
Egypt more than a thousand years before its introduction into
Greece, as proved by the monuments of Beni-Hassan. Commercia-
intercourse had existed between the two countries for centuries, and
it cannot be assumed that the Greeks had not seen Egyptian
works of architecture ; they could not have arrived at precisely the
^ff e results by independent invention. It would rather be difficult
to conceive how the receptive Greeks could have refused all instruc-
DEVELOPMENT OF Tllli TEMPLE-PLAN. ipo
tion from the neighboring people, so far in advance of them for
centuries after the Trojan war. Eight-sided drums have been found
at Bolymnos, and an octangular shaft at Troezen ; but these isolated
instances offer no proof that the development of the channelled
shaft from the square pier was effected in Greece in the same man-
ner as had been done fifteen centuries or more previously in Egypt.
The genius of the Greeks, however, always showed its independence
when the artistic perception of the neighboring nations had been at
fault or defective. It was impossible for them to rest content with
the termination of the so-called Proto-Doric columns of Beni-Hassan.
A simple plinth upon the upper end of the shaft was insufficient ; it
left without mediation the contrast between the forcible upright line
of the channels and the long level of the epistyle. Some interposi-
tion was necessary between the vertical and the horizontal members,
and a moulding of inclined outline was best fitted to fulfil this nat-
ural requirement, which almost appears to be an aesthetic law. The
abacus plinth was retained as the transition from the circular drums
of the shaft to the broader oblong of the lintel. The oblique and
projecting member between the two, the echinos, was a link con-
necting the plans, as well as the directions, of column and entabla-
ture. The perfectly straight outline of an inverted cone was rarely
employed in Greece for the echinos ; a stele of Artemis Brauro-
nia upon the Athenian acropolis, shown by inscriptions to be of
great age. is an isolated instance. This rigid line was early ex-
changed for a curve, which, in its advancing stages of refinement,
became one of the most characteristic features of Doric architect-
ure. The moulding seems, at times, to have been ornamented
with painted leaves, which, in the Ionic echinos beneath the roll,
was changed, in the manner peculiar to that order, from the colored
indication to carving. It is not certain whether this floral decora-
tion was generally adopted, or existed only in the isolated instance
by which it is known — the so-called Temple of Theseus. Upon
the translation of the wooden construction to a stone entablature,
which resulted in a narrow fnt'ircolumniation, the base was given
up, and the upper step of the stylobate was regarded as a common
plinth.
It appears that the employment of columns connected with
200 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE,
temples commenced, in Greece, in the manner observed upon the
rock-cut tomb fagades of Egypt and Lycia, and the chapels of Meso-
potamia and Phoenicia : two columns were placed within the open
front, between the projecting side walls ; that is to say, the temple
was in antis.
The next step was the removal of thes^side walls, or parastadae, col-
umns taking their place in the corners before them, and t\iQ prostyle
temple was thus obtained. These changes rendered several impor-
tant alterations necessary. They caused a new wall to be erected be-
fore the interior of the cella, the naos, the colonnade of the front thus
acquiring the nature of a portico, the pronaos. The jambs of the door
in this wall were so inclined as to diminish the span of the lintel, the
frame receiving upon its upper corners the stepped ears, or parotides,
customary in Western Asia. A new member of the' entablature was
needed to replace the omitted wall and provide a bearing for the ceil-
ing cross-beams — namely, the epistyle. It is possible that this mem-
ber, distinctly separated, existed before the change, but it certainly
was not necessary. The division of the cella into naos and pronaos
finally altered the position of the front ceiling-beams ; in the naos
they lay, as before, resting upon the side walls, but in the pronaos
they were placed lengthwise — from the columns to the newly erect-
ed division wall. Besides improving the construction of the porti-
co ceiling, this greatly added to the beauty of the front entablature:
epistyle and ceiling-beams would otherwise have lain upon each
other, in the same direction, but from this change resulted the
frieze of triglyphs and metopes upon the front, as upon the sides.
The gain was not effected without a difficulty arising in the frieze
above the end of the side wall and the corner column, the outer ceil-
ing-beam of the pronaos thus lying in its length upon the epistyle
without the formation of a metope. And here the constructive truth
was first sacrificed in favor of the exterior appearance : a cube,
standing above the corner column, took the place of the outer
beam, and the continuous alternation of triglyphs and metopes was
carried out.
Having so far deviated from logical construction, the desire
for an harmonious treatment of the exterior led to other and
greater changes. The dead-wall of the rear had had no part in the
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEMPLE-PLAN. 20I
development of the frieze, and appeared intolerably bare. This
deficiency could hardly be overcome otherwise than by a repetition
of a portico upon the back, creating the epinaos, and carrying the
entablature of triglyphs and metopes around the entire building,
thus perfecting the amphiprostyle temple.
The more these alterations were made in favor of the exterior
appearance, the more was the original structure dismembered. The
extreme boundary of possible concessions was attained, and, at the
next step, the entablature, translated into stone, separated itself en-
tirely from the construction and became an applied ornament. In
one stride the ultimate type of the Hellenic temple was determined,
by carrying outstanding columns entirely around the cella, — the
building became a peripteros.
It is probable that these extensive alterations took place almost
simultaneously, and were adopted at once for the most prominent
shrines, while the preceding varieties — the temple in antis and the
prostyle and amphiprostyle temples — though their entablatures
were also executed in stone, were only employed in subordinate
positions. With the heightened importance of the decorative ex-
terior the monumental significance of the temple rose above the
mere necessities of a chamber for the sacred image. The structure
acquired equal solidity in every part exposed to view. It was built
of a homogeneous material. The timbering of roof and ceiling was
hidden by the stone symbols placed before the ends of the rafters
and beams ; the entablature was allowed an independent freedom of
development and proportion. The heaviness of the material made
it necessary to diminish the voids and increase the solids of the
supports as much as was feasible. The stone shafts were allowed
a greater diameter and placed more nearly together than when,
as was the case in Etruria at a much later period, their burden had
been of timber. The stone cornice, which was not as high as the epi-
style, could not span the same clear width, and called for a second
support over the intercolumniations, — a further triglyph. This was
the more acceptable, as the appearance of the frieze was improved
by its adoption ; the breadth of triglyph and metope became nearly
equal and better proportioned, their alternating rhythm more pleas-
ing. The metopes, having upon the peripteros no importance as
202 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
windows, were closed by thin slabs, which added to the unity and
imposing force of the edifice. It is surprising how faithfully the
traditional forms were still retained, even to the smallect details,
while they yet received a truly artistic conventionalization and
those proportions which make the Doric temple tlie grandest and
most perfect monument of architectural history. It is probable
that the completed peripteros existed as early as the seventh cen-
tury B.C. The first steps of advance were rapidly made, and may,
perhaps, be referred to the ages immediately preceding. It would
indeed be interesting to know when, where, and by whom the in-
comparable design was perfected which gave to the world its proud-
est edifice ; but it must suffice to understand the intentions of
which the Doric temple was the final result.
Semper has suggested that a canopy-like roof, supported by col-
umns, was placed above and around the small temple cella to in-
crease its extent, and, at the same time, to express its power and sa-
credness by that oldest symbol of terrestrial and celestial authority.
This attractive assumption does not interfere with the theory of the
previous development of the temple in antis and the prostylos, or
with the historical considerations based upon the appearance of an
imperfect peripteros centuries before in Egypt. The cella and out-
standing columns rose from a stepped foundation, the crepidoma,
the kernel of which, the stereobate, was formed of massive walls,
or, when possible, of the native rock. The blocks were too high
for human steps, and are not to be conceived as stairs. Such
an ascent entirely surrounding the temple would have been pur-
poseless, and contrary to the isolating character of the crepidoma.
They formed a base, such as is displayed in an exaggerated manner
by the Mesopotamian sanctuaries, where, however, the chapels ele-
vated upon the gigantic terraces were small in proportion to the sub-
structure. In buildings of greater dimensions, the few and mas-
sive steps serving as the base of the Greek temple were increased,
not in number, but in size. They were thus always proportional
and fitted to their function as a foundation. Accessible stairs from
all sides would have given a pyramidal effect to the lower part of
the composition ; while, at the foot of the upright supports, the hor-
izontal line should rather be emphatically pronounced. Smaller in-
DUKli: FORMS.
203
termediate blocks
were provided for the
ascent to the temple,
thus made possible
only upon the front.
The upper step, the
stylobate, was, as has
been said, the common
plinth, the columns
being without base-
moulding, and, conse-
quently, without indi-
vidual functions or iso-
lated independence.
The comparatively
narrow intercolumnia- c~
tions were the better
passages from this ab-
sence of projections
at the foot of the col-
umns. The powerful
shafts were doubly
modified by the dim-
inution and by the
entasis. The first re-
finement found its
model in the natural
contraction of all as-
cending bodies; a
greater strength is
needed below because
of the increasing
weight. To this must
be added an optical
motive: every dimi-
nution modifies the
perspective effect, in-
?'?9;^is»«_
Fig. 136. — Corner Elevation of the Middle Temple of the
Acropolis of Selinous. Restoration.
204 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
creasing the apparent height or distance of bodies thus bordered
by lines slightly converging, though apparently parallel. The en-
tasis was entirely decided by such optical considerations. It over-
came a deception, resulting from the diminution^ which makes a
straight-lined cone of very steep sides appear of slightly concave
outline. The shafts usually had twenty, in a few instances six-
teen, channels, of nearly elliptical profile, separated by sharp ar-
rises. As may be seen in unfinished temples, these grooves were
not executed until the last stone of the building was in place,
that the chipping of the delicate edges by the imposition of the
drums or blocks next to them, and by other accidents during the
process of building, might be avoided. It was only upon the
capital that the channels were cut in advance, as a guide. To
avoid the chipping of this stone, it was necessary to prevent its
sharp lower edges from resting directly upon the top of the drum
beneath it. To this end a diminutive step, a scamillus of smaller
diameter, was turned upon the bottom of the capital block, or the
same effect was attained by slightly slanting off and increasing the''
right angle of its lower edge. It was contrary to the artistic feeling
of the Greek architect for constructive truth to mask even this slight
necessity by priming and painting. It was, rather, made more dis-
tinct by increased size and a characteristic profile, in some instances
even by a repetition of the incision. The upper end of the shaft was
thus distinctly separated, notwithstanding the continuous channel-
lings, and was related to the capital as the mediating neck of the
column, the hypotrachelion. The echinos began its projection with
several annulets, which still more definitely marked the junction of
the capital with the shaft. It would be difficult to decide whether
these mouldings were reminiscences of the binding-ribbons upon
the necking of Egyptian floral columns. They were not placed be-
neath the echinos, but upon it, and consequently follow the curved
profile, enlarging concentrically with its projection. The Doric cap-
ital, among all capitals that we know, attains the highest aesthetic per-
fection by its fulfilment of the requirements of a transitional mem-
ber: by the proportion of its projection, and especially by its ex-
pressive and characteristic curve, which rises from a firm and almost
straight line to the decided turn beneath the abacus. The outline
DORIC FORMS. 205
is more elastic than a simple oblique angle, more vigorous and capa-
ble of resistance than the concave curve. The echinos provides the
requisite projection ; the abacus upon it forms the second transition
from the circular plan of the shaft to the rectangle of the entabla-
ture. In the Doric style this upper half is about the same height as
the echinos beneath it, while in the capitals of other orders the
curved members of circular plan have been developed at the ex-
pense of this plinth, which is dwarfed to a thin plate.
It was first noticed by Cockerell in 1829 that the axes of the
columns surrounding the cella are not vertical, but lean inward.
This peculiarity was chiefly adopted to counteract an optical de-
ception, resulting, like the deviation which led to the entasis, from
the diminution of the shafts, making these, when perfectly upright,
appear inclined away from the neighboring wall and from each
other. The deception is particularly felt upon the corner shafts;
these were corrected to lean in the direction of the diagonal, and
decided the inclination of the columns of the front and side The
absolute deviation from the vertical is very slight, about i -150th of
the height, and by no means makes the inner sides of the dimin-
ished columns parallel to the wall. The inclination was effected by
the irregular cutting of the first block, which was lower within than
without, being so formed that the surface of its base was not cir-
cular, but slightly elliptical. All the succeeding drums had per-
fectly round beds, and consequently slanted in the manner decided
by the first. The contact of these stones of the shaft was restricted
to a narrow rim upon the exterior of their plan. In their centre
they were steadied by an encased dowel of wood, the form of which
is known from the remains of the Parthenon ; this served as a pivot
for the grinding of one block upon the other.
The stone beams of the epistyle lay from axis to axis of the col-
umns. In buildings of great dimensions several slabs were laid side
by side as lintels, each having the entire height of this member,
which, as forming the conjunction of the columns, may be conceived
as a representative of the wall. The outer surface of the epistyle
block was carved upon its upper edge with the tainia and trunnels,
described as securing the triglyphs of the original timbered entab-
lature. The forms of these details show the great reverence with
206
HKfJASL>— AltCBaTECnntE.
which the primitiTe wooden protolypes ? ?vc imitated, while, at tihe
same time^ they were fitted to be cat in stone in a £ir moie aitislic
manner tlian were the direct cc^ies of carpentrjr observed in Lycia.
T!ie slits of tlie triglypii tertninated at first in elliptical lines;, w^ush
becamer in the decline of the style, straight and hoiizoataL Tbe
trigiyphs themselves were so distriboited that one was ptsrrd over
each coinmis and one over
the centre t^eadb intetcii^sm&-
niation. An ezceptioa wais
made at the cofner, where
the tri^^liridi could not: be
placed in the axis of the dhaft,
beii^ needed for dte sopcoft
of the ai^ile. It wooSd be
contrary to the open and non-
. sustaining character o€ the
metope for this to be as-^
s^ned to a position so con-
stnictive^ important. Vitrn-
vinsy r^^ardleas of this cocsid-
eration, reoooMncnds that the
comer tng^ypt. be placed in
tibe asds of tibe cohmm be-
neath it, like an the other-
lwitmilynmg»A4ia«iiiiii»dh;awfy
is SdMnm where this occms —
the so-called Temple of De-
meter at Paestmn. The dis-
tuubonce of sjrmmetry whidi
resulted to tbe fiiieze by the
removal oi the corner tr^l^rph fincHoa the axis was f nun f ^thaHa^nf*^
by the metopes beir^ made digjhtly huj^er, and especially by the
outer intercQlomniations bexE^ greatly dimmislwd in width. This
last step was also desrable fo}<m other conadcraiioa% notably be-
cause the dark !^c^roaind of the oetla canscd the opcaiag^i between
the inner shafts to appear narrower than the firce and figftt space
between those of the extericMr.
Kj^ igjw — Eatablatnxe of t&e Fart&eaon.
DORIC FORMS.
207
All these changes were primarily caused by the Doric entabla-
ture not having been created for the peripteros; it was necessary
thus to fit it for decorative employment.
The metopes were originally open interstices between the beams;
intcrtrabies, as they might be called, with reference to the interco-
lumniations; having, upon the peripteros, been closed within and
without by light slabs, the votive offerings, formerly placed in the
apertures, were now superseded by sculptures in relief upon these
stones, which gave to
the entire entablature
— or, when the carving
was restricted, to that
of the fronts — an im-
posing decoration. A
continuous band, like
that beneath the tri-
glyphs, terminated the
frieze ; but the individ-
uality of triglyph and
metope was even here
maintained, the super-
posed member being
broken around them, as
i. separate coronation
for each.
The cornice showed
reminiscences of the
projecting eaves by its
corona being cut with a *"•«• »38-Scheme of the Doric Entablature.
downward slant, such as would never have been invented for the
treatment of stone. That this inclination was not precisely the
same as the pitch of the roof rafters cannot be adduced as an argu-
ment against its fundamental idea ; in the marble structure there
was nothing to* call for so exact a resemblance. The decoration
of the lower surface of the corona shows the original motive of its
wooden construction as distinctly expressed as was the formation
of the triglyph in the frieze. The position of the ends of the
208
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
rafters, beneath the sheathing, is marked by boards, each being pin-
ned upon it with eighteen wooden pegs. From the duplication of
the triglyphs in the stone building there resulted an equal number
of mutules, and these were still further multiplied by being placed
over each metope — this latter increase having been at first attempt-
ed with members of half the normal width, as at Fig. 136. The
• • e
m
%
^
^
€) • • #
•
•
•
•
•
•
• •
• •
• • c
I
•
%
#
J©
® • • 9
Fig. 139. — Plan and Elevation of the so-called Temple of Theseus, Athens.
whole composition was thus the more richly divided the higher the
building ascended ; upon one column rested two triglyphs and four
mutules. It is further remarkable that, to make the decoration har-
monious upon all sides of the edifice, these mutules were also intro-
duced upon the front and rear entablatures ; this repetition, with
the inclination of the corona upon the fronts, naturally without a
DORIC POLYCHROMY.
209
gutter, must be regarded as a further concession, made, contrary to
the genetic signification of members, in favor of the monumental
appearance of the entire exterior. The corona is bordered by the
so-called Doric cyma, or beak-moulding, distantly resembling the
scotia of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The concluding gutter is of a
beautifully curved outline. When it occurs upon the sides of the
building, where it is frequently restricted to the corners, it is pro-
vided with lions' heads, which, arranged over the columns as gar-
goyles, throw from their open jaws the rain-water of the roof be-
yond the steps of the crepidoma. An isolated instance — the He-
Fig. 140. — Painting upon the Pteroma of the Temple of Theseus.
raion of Olympia, which seems never to have been provided with a
stone entablature — shows that the timbered roof and ceiling were
placed at times with a wooden epistyle directly upon the stone col-
umns of a peripteros. The covering of the roof was formed, in the
best period, by flat marble tiles, the joints of which were covered by
smaller curved blocks, running from ridge to eaves, and terminated
over the cornice by antefixes. The apex and corners of the gable
were provided with acroteria, standing upon special bases. They
are reminiscences of an ancient usage of Western Asia : those of the
corners found their origin in the ornaments of primitive altars and.
sarcophagi, known in Biblical accounts as horns. They were some-
14
210 HELLAS.— ARC niTECTURK
times supplanted by votive offerings suited to the position, such as
tripods, or by griffins and other symbolical figures. The pointed
acroterium of the apex was usually the whole of the two half-an-
themions represented upon those of the corners ; in larger monu-
ments it was often replaced by statues, just as extended composi-
tions of figures were created for the tympanon beneath, as a substi-
tute for the dedicated objects which appear to have originally filled
the gable.
The polychromy of the Doric temple was one of the most impor-
tant features of its external appearance. It is probable that the great-
er part of its marble surface, possibly the whole, was colored. Our
Northern conceptions can with difficulty comprehend the full value
of this treatment in the general composition ; in our gray landscape,
a building thus painted might appear harsh and variegated. The
color of the lower supporting members was restricted to a light tint,
the so-called baphe, which had first been applied to the stucco
priming necessary for the coarse and porous stone of older temples,
and was afterwards transferreid from this to the marble of later mon-
uments. It stained the surface with a light golden-brown tint, mod-
erating the harsh chalky white of lime stucco, or of marble, and in-
vesting the newly erected building with the patina by which age
always modulates the color of stone. This baphe was employed
for the marble temple on account of the traditional painting of the
stucco priming, because of the too dazzling white natural to the
freshly hewn material, and, finally, in order to harmonize the col-
umns and stylobate with the intensely rich colors of the entablature.
Dark and positive pigments were restricted to the frieze and cornice,
having, without doubt, been first employed to preserve the original
wooden material. The beams and slat-work, like the triglyphs with
their regulas and the mutules, were designated by blue; the trunnels
were red or gilded. That which had at first been open was treated
as a dark-red background ; the metopes and tympanon thus clearly
outlining the reliefs and groups of statues which ornamented them.
The continuous members were treated with particular richness ; the
narrower strips were painted with the meander and other woven
forms ; the gutter with anthemions ; while the Doric cyma was dec-
orated with leaves of various colors, so artistically conventionalized
CURVATURE OF THE HORIZONTALS.
211
F^
n
□
aiiiiisa
aaaij
3E
asHijj
a®
^a^js
as but little to resemble nature. The inner side of the entablature
was still more richly colored. {Ft^. 140.)
One of the most wonderful refinements of Greek architecture
was the attention paid to opti-
cal deceptions, and the correc-
tion of these by the curvature of
all straight and horizontal lines.
It has been mentioned that the
peripteral columns did not stand
mathematically upright, all the
axes being inclined inwards;
the discovery of this fact was
followed by a publication, made
by the architect Hoffcr in 1838,
which maintained that no per-
fectly level line existed upon
the entire temple, the horizon-
tals being curved slightly up-
wards. HoflTer's assertions were
verified by the micrometrical
studies made by Penrose, in
1846, upon the Parthenon, the
so-called Theseion, the Propy-
laea, Erechtheion, and the Tem-
ple of Olympian Zeus in Ath-
ens, and afterwards upon the
temples of Nemea and Segesta.
His measurements make evi-
dent a curvature of 0.069 m. in
30.876 m. upon the front of the
Parthenon, and of 0.108 m. in
69.525 m. upon its sides.
Though so very slight a devia-
tion is not readily apparent.
1
laa
laa
laa
3
3
IP
F
0
0
a
0
aaara
MMm
aaio
100
Fig. 141. — Coffered Pteroma Ceiling of the
Southern Temple upon the Eastern Pla-
teau of Selinous. Restoration.
there are no mathematically rectangular forms upon the entire
building ; the corner metopes are, for instance, trapezoidal. Wheth-
er these curves, the existence of which is not to be denied, were
212
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
really intentional, was questioned by Boetticher, but it has been
proved beyond a doubt by the further investigations of Ziller.
The motive for the adoption of refinements, so extraordinarily del-
icate and difficult of execution, was the same desire to correct dis-
pleasing optical deceptions which prompted the entasis of the col-
umns and the inclination of their axes from the vertical. The ap-
parent deviation of the lines, sagging from the horizontal, was most
disagreeably apparent upon the front entablature — the base of the
gable triangle, which, when straight, invariably appears concave.
Fig. 142. — Fragments of Coffered Ceilings from the Parthenon.
A . From the Side Pteroma. B. Krorn the Epinaos.
while a corona, in reality curved upwards, presents itself to the
eye as perfectly level. By a deviation from the absolutely horizon-
tal, the appearance of greater correctness was attained.
The peripteral columns of the Doric style worthily express the
peculiar character of the Dorians by their simple dignity. By them
a passage was formed around the cella, the pteroma, the ceiling of
which was most richly decorated with cofiferings. {Fig. 141.) So
short a span was here required of the horizontal beams that it was
possible to translate them into stone simultaneously with the outer en-
tablature ; this seems to have been universal in the larger peripteral
DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.
213
temples, that of Zeus in Olympia possibly being an exception. The
ceiling did not remain in its original position, resting upon the epi-
style, but, with the increased dimensions of the stone frieze, was con-
siderably elevated. The spaces between the lintels were closed by
slabs of stone which retained the form of the original wooden coffer-
ings, being hollowed by stepped lacunse, diminishing in size. A tran-
sitional moulding was placed in each angle formed by a vertical and
horizontal surface. Upon the coffered ceilings of Attic monuments
{Fig. 142) this member is the Lesbian cyma, supplemented by an
astragal, these signs of an Ionic influence being further noticeable
in other parts of these buildings. The wall of the cella, though sur-
rounded by the pteroma, still bears traces of the entablature, which,
as shown above, preceded the outstanding columns; the triglyphs
Fig. 143. — Plan of the Middle Temple upon the Acropolis of Selinous.
and metopes are repeated, or in their place is a frieze of sculpt-
ured reliefs, in which the isolated carvings of the metope become
continuous and connected. At times there remain beneath the lat-
ter the taenia, regulas, and trunnels — only to be exi)lained and justi-
fied as the reminiscences of portions of an originally well-founded
decoration which had, in part, been gradually supplanted.
The cella itself, within the pteroma, appears in plan either without
columns, as a temple in antis, as a prostylos, or as an amphiprosty-
los, thus supporting the assumption that these were the original
forms of its development. The cella was often greatly increased in
length ; this made its transverse division desirable, and there re-
sulted the front portico, or pronaos, the principal hall of the tem-
ple, or naos, and the space partitioned off at the rear, called, ana-
logically, the epinaos. An especial chamber of the building was at
214 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
times isolated to serve as a treasury; this was known as the opis-
th.odomos. {Fig. 143.) The pronaos, v/hether with or without col-
umns, was closed, if at all, only by a light bronze grating ; from
it a wide portal, occupying almost the entire division wall, opened
into the naos. Its upper part was fixed, but entrance was afforded
through its lower part by folding wings. The grooves worn by the
doors are still visible upon the Parthenon floor. The interior was
disproportionately narrow, a result of the peripteral enclosure and
of the limitations imposed by the gable, which would have become
too high and heavy if the front had been greatly widened in favor
of the interior breadth ; moreover, the horizontal ceiling was un-
favorable to width, which was limited to the natural span of the
beams.
The possibility of admitting much light had been given up with
the change in the position of the entablature and metopes. Not-
withstanding the size of the door, sufficient daylight could not enter
through this ; it was itself in the shadow of the pteroma, and gen-
erally, also, of a pronaos. But little illumination was required for
the small chapel when this served solely as a receptacle for the sa-
cred image. A dim and mystical twilight was easily obtained by
the use of one or more perpetually burning lamps, which could only
have been favorable to the artistically unpretentious interior. It
v/as otherwise with the larger and more important temples, opened
for festive assemblages. Their interiors were divided by architectu-
ral members, and contained manifold works of art and objects of
value — a varied richness, which called for an increased splendor of
light, possible only by artificial illumination.*
In the desire to increase the available space of the temple inte-
rior, the enclosing walls were advanced more closely to the columns
of the peripteros, thus decreasing the width of the pteroma ; while
the hall was divided by two rows of inner shafts into three aisles,
the outer two of which, considerably narrower than the middle, were
* The modern hypothetical distinction between agonal, or festal, temples and those
used only for worship is now generally regarded as erroneous ; while the existence of a so-
called hypsethron — an opening supposed to have existed in the roof and ceiling of the naos
for the admission of daylight — is inadmissible from the point of view both of design and
of structure.
ARCHAIC DORIC TEMPLES. 21 5
partitioned into two stories by the introduction of galleries, acces-
sible by staircases at either side of the chief portal.
We now turn from this general consideration of the Doric style
to a review of the principal monuments remaining, dividing them,
as well as possible, into groups representative of certain ages and
periods of development. The oldest peripteral temples known
are not situated in Greece proper, but in the early colonies upon
the coasts of Magna Graccia and Sicily. They are distinguishable
from later buildings by a naive freedom of form and the lack of
any strictly systematical development — any canonical type. The
carving of details is as careful as the coarse and porous limestone
permits. The columns stand so far apart that the low and heavy
proportion of the whole is not altered by the comparatively high
stylobate. The great distance of the shafts from the wall reduces
the naos to a corridor-like narrowness, the more noticeable as the
whole temple plan is very long. {Fig. 143.) The columns them-
selves are low, never having a height greater than five lower diame«
ters. The monolithic shaft is much diminished, and has an exces-
sive entasis ; it is provided with twenty, or in rare instances sixteen,
channels of segmental outline. The incisions beneath the capital
block, bordering the hypotrachelion, are generally multiplied, often
being three in number. The necking upon the columns of Sicilian
temples is not merely the straight commencement of the channel-
lings, but often forms, under the rings, a slight scotia — the apophyge
— which weakly detaches the echinos from the shaft by interrupting
its organic connection. The echinos has too great a projection ; its
outline is soft, and the small rings are placed too high. The entire
capital appears powerless and flat : on this account the thickness of
the entablature has not been increased ; the outer and inner surfaces
of the epistyle do not project beyond the upper diameter of the shaft.
The members of the entablature are exceedingly high and heavy, as
are the details, down to the trunnels and cyma. The frieze alone is
low, and the metopes consequently small, being framed by massive
triglyphs, the chamferings of which have circular or lanceolate end-
ings. The mutules above the triglyphs have the same great
breadth; in one instance there remains above the metope only
space for half a mutule. {Fig. 136.) The polychromy is, in general,
2l6
HELLA S.— ARC HITECTU RE.
sombre — yellow-brown and black, with little red, being the colors
chiefly employed ; the patterns of the ornaments are distinctly of
Oriental origin.
The most prominent monuments of this class are at Selinous,
upon the western extremity of Sicily. That city was founded in
628 B.C. : its acropolis appears to have been early occupied by tem-
ples ; at least the northernmost of these buildings, with the widest
intercolumniations, of two and two thirds lower diameter, and the
most spacious pteroma, dates from the commencement of the sixth
century B.C. The middle temple of the acropolis appears scarcely
fifty years younger; it is celebrated for the primitive reliefs of its
metopes, which will be considered in the section upon Greek sculpt-
I ! =
Fig. 144. — Northern Temple upon Fig. 145. — Middle Temple Fig. 146.— Temple of Assos.
the Acropolis of Selinous. upon the Acropolis of
Selinous.
ure. A corner of the building is given above, /7^. 136; its capital is
Fig. 145. A third example of this earliest period of development —
which is designated by Semper as the laxly archaic style — is known
under the name Tavola dei Palladini, and stands among the ruins of
the Elian colony, Metapontion, a city founded as early as 768 B.C.,
but entirely rebuilt in 586 B.C., after its destruction by the original
inhabitants of Lower Italy. The fifteen columns at present upright
probably date from the sixth century B.C. The intercolumniations
are wide, the shafts excessively diminished, and the curve of the echi-
nos too pronounced. It is difficult to decide whether to this class
may belong the remains of the temple at Cadacchio upon Corfu (Cor-
kyra), and of that built of lava at Assos, in the Troad. {Fig. 146.)
K
ARCHAIC DORIC TEMPLES.
217
The former has been greatly disfigured by a late restoration, and it
is not at present possible to determine the date of the latter, known
only by insufficient publications.
The next advances of temple architecture consist in placing the
higher columns more nearly together and in heightening and nar-
rowing the triglyphs. The elegance of proportion and detail was
thus considerably increased. Ionic elements were first introduced
in this period, greatly to the advantage of the style, which is desig-
nated as the archaic. An example is the middle temple upon the
eastern plateau of Selinous, where the columns are cut with Ionic
flutes. It is also important in the history of sculpture from the re-
1
Fig. 147. — Middle Temple upon
the Eastern Plateau of Seli-
Fig. 148. — Temple of Zeus
upon the Elastern Plateau
of Selinous.
Fig. 149.— So-called Temple
of Heracles, Acragas.
mains of metopes car\'ed with scenes of the gigantomachia. {Fig.
147.) Of similar character is the great uncompleted Temple of Zeus
upon the same plateau, 1 10 m. long and 50 m. broad, with three aisles
and galleries in the interior {Fig. 148); and also the so-called Chiesa
di Sansone at Metapontion, of which small temple there are only
tew and scattered remains. A third Doric temple of this site, dis-
covered during the last few months, is as yet inedited. It is uncer-
tain whether the Temple of Artemis upon the island of Syracuse
(Ortygia) should be reckoned with this group.
One example of the epoch exists in Greece proper — the Temple
of Corinth. Its columns were once heavily primed with stucco, and
2ll
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
are now so weathered that it is impossible to draw any definite con-
clusions from them. The outline of the capital is primitive, though
not in the degree formerly supposed, when this ruin v/as thought
to be the oldest monument of the Doric style. The two last-men-
tioned remains and the Temple of Athene upon the island Ortygia
have the heaviest and lowest proportions, the lower diameter of the
columns comparing to the height as i to 4.27 (Athene), i to 4.29
(Artemis), and i to 4.32 (Corinth).
The Temple of Zeus at Selinous was the first of a number of
colossal structures, in which the architectural ability of the Greeks,
-'- I
Fig. 150.— So-called Tem- Fig. 151.— Porticus of Philip, Fig. 152.— So-called Temple of
pie of Theseus, Athens. Delos. Demeter, Pcestum.
by that time thoroughly schooled, sought also to develop itself in
enormous size. The hexastyle front was increased to the octastyle,
thus permitting wider dimensions of the cella, which still, however,
did not attain the greatest possible extent, the architect being un-
willing to reduce the breadth of the pteroma. The columns be-
came even shorter and thicker ; they were less diminished and had
a more delicately adjusted entasis; the intercolumniations were in-
creased. The separation of the capital from the shaft by an apoph-
yge was abandoned ; the entasis was made steeper and of a more
vigorous outline. The disproportionately high and weak triglyphs
are especially characteristic of this stage of development ; with the
GREAT TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT ACRAGAS.
219
exception of these, tne entablature still remained low and heavy.
Marble came more and more into use as a building-stone ; the exe-
cution of details in stucco was rarer. The new material did noc
limit the use of color, which, in place of the former tones, became
brighter — red, blue, and yellow prevailing. The most imposing, be-
cause the best-preserved, of these colossal works is the magnificent
Temple of Pcestum, with its two stories of inner columns partly in-
tact. {Fig. 153.) The triglyphs have not as yet disappeared from
the walls of the cella, but otherwise the construction shows no prim-
itive trails, being fully fitted for its execution in stone. Resembling
this in many points is the Temple of Acragas,or Agrigentum, termed
that of Heracles. {Fig. 149.) The great Temple of Zeus of the same
city was of the most gigantic dimensions ever attempted in the sa-
cred architecture of the Greeks. It was also, unfortunately, even
Fig. 153. — Plan of the Great Temple of Poestum.
greater than was really practicable for a trabeated construction in
such a building- material, and consequently became a monstrosity.
The temple was heptastyle, that is, had seven columns upon the
front, which rendered impossible the normal entrance in the mid-
dle. It differed still more decidedly from other Greek temples in
that the cella was not surrounded by an open pteroma, the out-
standing columns being supplanted by a wall decorated with en-
gaged shafts. It would be difficult to decide whether this peculiar
pseudo-peripteros owed its conformation to the building -stone at
disposal, only to be quarried in blocks too short for the lintels of the
pteroma, or whether other considerations led to this abnormal nega-
tion of the fundamental principles of columnar architecture, which
here has no relation' to the better-founded practices of Roman
builders in the application of engaged shafts. The transformation
220
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
of the pteroma made an entire change in the general disposition of
plan ; but too little of the building now remains above ground to
render its arrangement certain. If door -openings be assumed at
both sides of the middle column, as in the illustration, this would
Fig. 154. — Plan, Section, and Elevation of the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Acragas.
have been possible only upon the west, the middle column of the
east — the customary entrance-front — being proved by the remains
to have been engaged. It is not probable that windows existed in
the wall between the columns ; the supposition is more natural
that some of the side metopes were unclosed, and provided the
TEMl'LE OF ZEUS AT ULYMPIA.
221
pteroma with sufficient daylight. This would have been no innova-
tion, but rather, in this case, where it was impossible to execute the
open peripteros, a return to the original method of illumination
through the interstices between the beams upon the top of the cella
wall. The btf jre-mentioned Temple of Athene upon the island of
Ortygia is another Sicilian example belonging to this archaic period
of gigantic dimensions.
The two colossal monuments of Athens, built during the second
Mmiin'.iiiiiim;iM
Fig. 155. — Entablatures of the Older and Present Parthenon.
half of the sixth century, are more important, although the older
Parthenon upon the acropolis, if, indeed, ever completed, could not
have stood longer than half a century, and the Doric temple of
Olympian Zeus was discontinued before its construction had far ad-
vanced. A comparison of a fragment of the earlier building with
the entablature of the present Parthenon shows how disproportion-
ately high were the triglyphs and how heavy and broad the taenia
and regulas of the archaic period. {Fig. 155.)
The exercise of the designer's individual ability in these works,
222
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
and the hieratic retention of every constructive and aesthetic gain
thus obtained, prepared for the fullest perfection of the Doric style.
The advance was effected by a slight attenuation of the too massive
columns, a further reduction of the height of the entablature, and an
increase in the projection of the smaller decorative members. The
temples built during, or shortly after, the time of the Persian wars
show the gradual introduction of these changes. Among the Si-
cilian remains of this period are the uncompleted Temple of Se-
gesta, the so-called Temple of Concordia at Acragas, and the six
peripteral temples upon the acropolis and eastern plateau of Selinous
not previously mentioned. Among those of Greece proper, the
Temple of Athene upon ^Egina and the Temple of Zeus at Olym-
Fig. 156. — Plan of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia,
pia {Fig. 156) are most prominent. The frieze of criglyphs was omit-
ted from the cella walls of the Temple of yEgina, but the regulas and
trunnels were retained with curious effect : it is as though the de-
signer were only slowly and with difficulty led to give up, one by
one, the traditions of a primitive wooden construction. The date of
the building of the Olympian temple is uncertain, but the name of
its architect, Libon, of Elis, has been handed down, with one ex-
ception the earliest connected with Greek architecture. The re-
cent excavations have entirely exposed the overthrown ruins. They
show that the forms of the edifice are more primitive than would
have been expected from the age in which Pheidias completed the
celebrated chryselephantine statue of the temple deity. It is possi-
ble that the advance of the building was slow, or that there were
DORIC MONUMENTS OF ATTICA. 223
long interruptions of the work before its final completion. An es-
pecially important result of the investigations is the evidence that
an enclosed aedicula for the statue of Zeus, hitherto advocated by
restorers because of the supposed opening in the roof and ceiling
for light, did not exist, the interior having been divided into three
aisles like the great Temple of Paestum. The proportions of the
peripteros were of great vigor and beauty. It was built of poros,
with the exception of the metope reliefs upon the fronts of the eel-
la, and the carved gutter and roof tiles, which were of marble. This
so-called poros, a stone almost exclusively employed for the ear-
lier buildings of the Greeks, is a rough shell conglomerate, usually
brought to a surface by a heavy priming of stucco. The floor of
the pteroma of the great temple at Olympia was of a pebble ce-
ment, the small inner staircases of wood.
While the architecture of the Peloponnesos still retained traces
of the archaic style, the highest perfection of Doric forms was attain-
ed in Attica, reaching its fulfilment at a time, after the Persian wars,
when the political supremacy of Athens was far greater than that ever
enjoyed by any state of the world so restricted in territory. The de-
served sovereignty of Athens over Greece, its naval power, imposing
even to the Orientals of Western Asia and Egypt, and, finally, the
necessity and opportunity of rebuilding the Attic capital after its de-
struction by the Persians, before the decisive battle of Salamis, caused
a monumental rebirth of the noble city, which not only became the
classic model in those ages throughout the extent of Greece and its
colonies upon distant shores, but the highest ideal of architecture to
the present day and for the entire future of the human race. Attica
was fitted to cultivate equally the artistic peculiarities of the two
branches of the Hellenic stock, its Ionic population being inter-
mingled, in a marked degree, with Doric elements. It had attained
the highest development of civilization, and was the home of the
most famed artists. By the taxes levied upon the eastern mainland
and the islands of the Archipelago, Athens had almost unlimited
means at its disposal. To this nature added the incomparable mar-
ble building- material, quarried almost before the gates of the city,
which indeed possessed all the conditions requisite for the first mon-
umental capital of Greece and of the civilized world. Familiarity
224 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
with the Ionic style did not permit that heaviness and clumsiness of
Y architectural members observable upon the contemporaneous temples
of the Peloponnesos. The columns of the Temple of ^Egina had been
allowed a height as great as 5.3 times their lower diameter. In the
Doric buildings of Athens this was still further increased, the so-
called Temple of Theseus having the proportion of 5.62 to i, the Par-
thenon as 5.47 to I. The diminution and entasis of the shaft were
reduced to just relations; the delicate curve of the latter, as demand-
ed by the optical deception it was to correct, was greatest below the
half height of the column. The channellings no longer remained
segmental arcs, but received an independently designed, elliptical
profile. The echinos became steeper, rising in an almost straight line
to the firm and sharp turn beneath the abacus. The triglyphs, re-
turning slightly to former proportions, became broader than those of
the preceding period ; smaller members were diminished in height,
but were made more projecting. The colors of the entablature be-
came still more intense ; blue and red predominated ; green was also
employed, and gilding appeared upon the trunnels and in the beauti-
fully composed surface patterns. Ionic elements, almost entirely dis-
used during the latter ages, reappeared in very general employment,
especially in the deep cofiferings of the pteroma ceiling and upon the
capitals of the pilasters.
The typical monuments of this Attic Doric style are the so-
called Theseion, and the Parthenon and Propylaea of the Athenian
acropolis. The first of these buildings {Fig. 139) was certainly
not sacred to Theseus ; its dedication is not surely known. It pre-
ceded the highest perfection, still betraying some slight archaic
influences. The triglyphs are too high, the smaller members, no-
tably the regulas and trunnels, too heavy. Ionic elements are
freely introduced. Besides the coffering of the pteroma ceiling
and the before-mentioned pilaster capitals, there was an Ionic zo-
phoros, or continuous frieze of figures, bordered above and below
by leaved cyma-mouldings and astragals, in place of the Doric en-
tablature usually employed, at least in part, upon the walls of the
cella. The ornamental painting was extended to the capitals of
the pteroma columns {Fig. 150), which bore a series of leaves, and
to the walls, the interior of the naos having been prepared for
THE PARTHENON AND PROPYLiEA OF ATHENS.
225
the reception of pigments. The perfect preservation of the build-
ing is owing to its early transformation into a Christian church.
The Parthenon far surpassed the Theseion in artistic perfection -,
it was, indeed, worthy the superintendence of a Pheidias. Its archi-
tect, Ictinos, conceived his work to stand so high above contempo-
rary buildings that he celebrated it in an especial monograph, men-
tioned by Vitruvius, though, unfortunately, not consulted by him.
The dimensions of the octastyle temple were imposing ; the edge of
the stylobate measured about 30 by 68 m. ; elevated upon the steep
acropolis, it could be seen from a great distance. Though its site
was not limited, the economy of space was carried to an extreme.
The intercolumniations are narrow, especially those of the front ; the
Fig. 157. — Plan of the Parthenon.
pteroma was thus reduced in breadth to less than one and one half
times the lower diameter of the columns. {Fig. 157.) The pronaos
and epinaos had no side walls, the cella being amphiprostyle, en-
closed by high grilles. The depth of these vestibules was less than
one quarter of their breadth. The remaining interior was parti-
tioned into two chambers of unequal size : the naos and the opis-
thodomos, the latter of which served as a treasury. The naos was
divided by ranges of columns into three chief aisles, and the gallery
oyer the sides was carried across the nave, next to the rear wall.
The world-renowned chryselephantine statue of Athene, 12 m. high,
stood before the transverse columns, between which and the par-
tition there was allowed a passage, nearly equal in breadth to the
15
226 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
side aisles. The stairs to the gallery may, from the analogies of the
great temples of Olympia and Paestum, be assumed to have existed
at either side of the entrance.
Fig. 158. — Plan and View of the Propylaea, Athens.
The Propylaea of the Athenian acropolis, by which the architect
Mnesicles made his name immortal, were not less perfect than the
Parthenon. Work upon them was begun shortly before the com-
TEMPLE OF BASSiE.
227
pleti'on of the latter building, in 438 B.C., and occupied five years.
Ionic members had frequently been employed upon Doric struct-
ures, but the Propylaea offer the first instance of a combination of
the styles in almost equal proportions : the interior of these gates
was entirely Ionic, the exterior entirely Doric. {Figs. 120 and 158.)
Six Ionic columns bore the famed marble ceiling of great span,
while two Doric porticos formed the fronts. The stone-cutting of
all the monuments upon the Athenifin acropo'is we.<; incomparably
exact and beautiful, as was the harmony c.f
their proportions and forms.
The Temple of Phigalia, or Bassae, in Ar-
cadia, though stated to h?.ve been built by
the architect of the Parthenon, shows that
the perfection of the monuments last consid-
ered was possible only upon Attic ground.
The sanctuary of Arcadia was dedicated to
Apollo Epicourios in gratitude for the deliv-
erance of the district from the plague of
431 B.C. Its plan {Fig. 159) was excessively
long, having fifteen side columns, with a hex-
astyle front. The elevation offers a remark-
able combination of archaic traditional forms
and of exaggerated novelties. Though the
three incisions of the capital necking are
peculiarly primitive, the echinos has become
even steeper than it was upon the Parthe-
non. Ionic sculptured ornaments begin to
appear upon the entablature. The inward
inclination of the axes of the columns and the curvature of the hor-
izontals have been neglected in Bassae, as if the architect had not
considered it worth while to display such refinements to the uncul-
tivated Arcadians. In the interior of the temple Ionic columns are
engaged upon short transverse walls, which project from the sides.
These are so remarkably archaic in form {Fig. 165) that it is diffi-
cult to explain how Athenian architects* who must have been .fa-
miliar with the interior columns of the Propylaea and those of the
Krechtheion, then in course of construction, could have prepared
!e « 4 • • •
1:
•
• « '
0
*
:\
9
r ^
•
^ 0 ^
•
Q ^ J
•
^^^1 *
0
• • 1 •
• •
# • 9 • • •
Fig- 159.— Plan of the Tem-
ple of Apollo at Bassae.
228
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
the designs. An extremely ancient and undeveloped Corinthian
capital {Fig. 176) has been found among the ruins of Bassae ; it
will be referred to below. Many of the anomalies of the temple
would be explained by the assumption that the building occupied
the site of a former chapel, the entrance to which had naturally
been upon the east, and that the lack of available ground prevent-
ed the retention of the original and usual orientation, making the
peripteros, as the enlargement of a former fane, open the inner
chamber of the naos upon one of the long sides.
Other Attic remains, some of which date from the end of the
fifth century, also show traces of the deterioration of the art. Chief
among these are the Propylaea of Eleusis and the house of assem-
Fig. 160. — Plan of the Temenos of Eleusis.
blage for those initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries, known as the
' Telesterion, a square hypostyle hall, fronted by a portico of twelve
columns, apparently without a gable. {Fig- 160.) It is not known
how soon after the Persian wars the temples of Rhamnous and Su-
nion were rebuilt ; they may have slightly preceded the age of de-
cline. The increasing love of magnificence and luxury felt among
the Greeks was not satisfied with the simple majesty of the Doric
style ; the Ionic was more and more frequently substituted in pref-
erence. The latter had been employed for the Propylaea of the
Athenian acropolis, and had appeared independently in smaller tem-
ples, and, finally, in the national shrine of Attica, the Erechtheion.
The Doric became restricted to porticos and peristyles, and, in
THE IONIC STYLE. 229
double - storied interiors, to the lower order, for which important
constructional functions it was fitted by the great solidity of the
column. But the desire to simplify the execution of Doric mem-
bers, and reduce the expense which must have been attendant upon
the delicate refinements of curvatures, introduced dry and hard geo-
metrical forms, and the aesthetic value of the style was, for the
greater part, lost. An example of this debasement is offered by
the portico of Philip upon Delos, where the echinos projects in an
absolutely straight line. {Fig. 151.) In the colonies, upon the other
hand, even as late as the Roman period, the style was archaistically
treated, with a provincial lack of good taste, illustrated by the weak
echinos and apophyge of the capital of the so-called Temple of De-
meter at Paestum. {Fig. 1^2.)
An entirely different manner of building had early appeared by
the side of the Doric style, which cannot be accounted of quite
equal birth with that eldest male offspring of Hellenic civilization,
but, to carry out the simile, should rather be considered as a step-
sister. The development of the peripteral plan, the echinos corona-
tion of the channelled shafts, and the entablature of triglyphs, met-
opes, and mutules, appear autochthonic and purely Greek ; while the
Ionic style, though adopting the plan and general disposition of the
former, was, in its most characteristic details, an importation from
Asia. It is not meant by this that the perfected style was not char-
acteristically Hellenic. The Greeks accepted none of the products
of their neighbors without a change — a transformation of disposi-
tion and detail by their peculiar genius. But the fundamental mo-
tives, the elements of the style, in as far as these are not identified
with the Doric, had been taken from neighboring Eastern lands of
primitive civilization : from the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria.
The Ionic column betrays this relationship in both base and cap-
ital. The former consists fundamentally of a tore elevated upon a
drum, usually hollowed by a scotia. This tore was employed as a
footing for the columns of Nineveh, and is familiar through one ex-
ample and through representations upon reliefs. From thence it
was transplanted to Persia, where, in the middle of the sixth cen-
tury B.C., it appears with the horizontal channelling found upon
the more primitive Ionic monuments. {Fig- 79.) The concave
230
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
profile of the under plinth is new and Hellenic. The delicate per-
ception of the Greek designer recognized the advantage of this
scotia over the clumsy heaviness which had resulted from the tore
being placed immediately upon the ground or upon a rectangular
slab, and the lower member was made to harmonize with the chan-
nelled moulding above it by the emphasis of horizontal lines. It
is uncertain whether the slender proportions of the Ionic shaft, so
marked in comparison with the strength of the Doric style, is to be
attributed to Oriental influences. It agreed as well with the light
Ionic entablature and ceiling as did the powerful Doric column
with the great weight imposed upon it ; and it may be regarded as
one of the principles of architectural construction that the strength
of the support has ever been originally determined by the weight
of the ceiling and superstructure: the column has been adapted to
the entablature, not the height of epistyle, frieze and cornice to
the diameter of the shaft. With this consideration agreed the de-
sire to attain great elegance and lightness of proportion, peculiar to
the Ionic race. The Ionic column, thus made of greater propor-
tional height, had diminution and entasis like the Doric. It dif-
fered remarkably in the fluting. A vertical grooving cannot be
traced upon the columns of Assyria ; upon those of Persia it is sim-
ilar to the Doric channels, with sharp arrises. The development of
the flute itself may perhaps be deemed peculiarly Greek. As paint-
ed ornaments were gradually given up, they were replaced by archi-
tectural carvings ; such sculptured decorations were harmoniously
introduced upon the shaft, and the channels were deepened to a
semicircular profile. This rendered a change of the arrises neces-
sary, for if the ends of the arcs were to have abutted, as upon the
Doric column, the deep flute, with its extremely sharp edge, could
only have been executed upon a plane. Upon a convexly curved
surface, like that of the cylindrical drums, it would have been im-
possible to cut semicircular grooves immediately adjoining, as their
outlines would have intersected. The sharp arrises were therefore
relinquished, and a broad vertical band, the surface of the original
cylinder, was left in its place, the play of light and shade which en-
livened the body of the shaft being increased by these flutings, but
the evidence of the derivation of the channelled column from the
THE IONIC CAPITAL. 23 1
polygonal pier was entirely sacrificed, the cylindrical form being
characterized as original by the remaining fillets. The carving of
the shaft was rendered more difficult from the slight projections left
at the top and bottom as transitional members to the base and to
the capital. This horizontal fillet was a further gain to the outline
of the column, concave and convex surfaces thus alternating from
floor to ceiling. The fiutings were terminated above and below,
before reaching this transverse member, by a semicircle, which
agreed with their sectional outline.
The capital consisted, in part, of an echinos, similar to that of the
Doric style, the leaves, which, at least in one instance, had been
painted upon it, being here carved, and an astragal taking the place
of the necking rings. This echinos is almost entirely covered by a
spiral roll, which gives to the style its most striking characteristic.
With the discovery of the helix upon the capitals of Assyrian re-
liefs, all the labored explanations of the significance and derivation
of this member have fallen to the ground. It is impossible to be-
lieve, with Vitruvius, that the Ionic column was considered as the
representative of the fair sex : that the locks of hair were indicated
by the spiral line of the capital, the folds of the wide garments and
draperies by the flutes and fillets, and the sandals by the base. Nor
are the theories more satisfactory which seek for such natural motives
as spiral shells or twisted ram's horns, assumed to have been primitive
ornaments of the sanctuaries. And it is still worse to regard the pe-
culiar form of the capital as decided by the conception of an elastic
cushion, which, displaced by the weight of the entablature, curls again
at either side of the echinos. The Ionic helix was a form of capital
imported from the East, where it had been used by barbaric designers
as a mere ornament upon upright legs of furniture {Fig.Zi), or upon
Persian columns {Fig. 80) — a form developed by the Greeks into an
architectural member of the first importance. The Assyrians, by
doubling the volutes, had formed with this motive a capital not par-
ticularly well adapted to the functions of a transitional member be-
tween vertical support and horizontal burden. The Hellenic archi-
tect perceived that a more decided projection was necessary, and
therefore placed an echinos beneath the volute, leaving the roll as
the medium between the circular shaft and oblong entablature.
232
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
which, in the Doric style, had been formed by the abacus. The
horizontal lines of the abacus, thus supplanted, were represented
upon the Ionic column only by a narrow moulding, curved to the
Fig. i6i. — Ionic Order from the Peripteros of the Mausoleum of Halicamassos.
profile of a cyma and sculptured with a leaved ornament. In the
Greek capital the spirals became an elegantly curved roll, of greater
length than breadth, with tightly curled ends, which were bound
THE IONIC ORDER. 233
together, upon either side of the echinos, by a band. The capital
thus shows its true profile, the helices upon front and back, and
upon the subordinate sides rolls of their thickness. {Fi^. 161.)
This difference between face and side resulted in one great difficul-
ty upon the comers, which, like the irregularity of the division of
the Doric frieze of triglyphs and metopes in the same place, proves
that the Ionic style also did not originate upon the peripteral plan,
but was adapted to it from a temple in antis. It was natural that
the more ornamental side of the column should face the entrance
front, and thus the capitals upon the longer sides of the building
were forced to show their rolls, the partu honteusc, unless the corner
capital assumed an unnatural deformation to present the helices
Fig. 162. — Plan of the Normal Ionic Capital. Fig. 163. — Plan of the Corner Ionic Capital.
upon two adjoining, instead of two opposite, faces. {Figs. 162 and
163.) The comer capital thus became a miserable hybrid, which,
because of the impossibility of its execution in a natural manner,
from the intersection of the outer volutes when these proceeded in
a straight line parallel to the epistyle, lost not only all constructive
significance and harmony with those next to it, but also its individ-
ual beauty. There was no other expedient than to bend the faces
of the corner volutes outward in the line of the diagonal — a malfor-
mation visible at every standpoint. A further difficulty was pre-
sented by the corners of the spirals over the echinos, which required
to be masked by floral decorations. Upon the narrow abacus mould-
in|f rested the entablatpre, remarkable for the Oriental character of
234 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
the details, and notably for reminiscences of primitive wooden con-
struction, which are almost as evident in the Ionic as in the Doric
style. The epistyle, formed in the latter by a single plane block,
was here triply stepped to agree with the multiplied beams re-
quired by the nature of Oriental timber — generally provided by
the various species of palms. According to the description of Vi-
truvius, the motive was also employed for the wooden epistyle beams
of Etruscan temples. Each face projected slightly beyond the one
beneath it, as previously customary in Asia, and shown by the ruins
of the palace of Darius {Fig. 84) and the rock -cut fagade of that
monarch's tomb {Fig. 83). The epistyle is terminated by a Lesbian
cyma and an astragal, the latter being, in some instances, repeated
upon every light step from beam to beam beneath. The frieze,
known in this style as the zophoros, the bearer of figures, is an
original Hellenic creation, the Oriental entablature consisting of
only two members as representative of only two constructive feat-
ures: the epistyle that connected the columns, and the ceiling and
roof, which, in the rainless countries of the East, appear as one and
the same member. In Greece the inclined roof was separated fun-
damentally from the horizontal ceiling, and the entablature conse-
quently expressed a triple character. The naive and truthful man-
ner of this expression, peculiar to the Doric style, was not followed
by the Ionic. The second member of the entablature, the frieze,
should represent the ceiling, but the symbols of that constructive
feature, the dentils, were crowded up among the details of the cor-
nice, while the zophoros itself, perhaps as a result of the relief sculpt-
ure employed upon the Doric metopes, became a continuous deco-
ration of carving. The dentils, as significant of the ends of the small
ceiling-beams, were in their proper place, touching the epistyle, upon
the monuments of Persia {Fig. 83), and also upon the tombs of Lycia
{Figs, no and in), so closely allied to the Mesopotamian tradition ;
they were there of far greater size than in the Greek Ionic, where
their position and diminutive dimensions reduced them to a mere
ornament. The members of the cornice stand in no such relation to
the interior construction of beams and rafters as did the mutules and
trunnels of the Doric temples. The curved gutter, however, is or-
namented with lion's-heads and anthemions, which seem in both
THE IONIC ORDER. 235
styles to have been derived from western Asia. The stone beams
of the pteroma ceiling rest directly upon the epistyle, and are con-
sequently as far below their ex-
terior representatives, the cornice
dentils, as, in the Doric, they
were above the triglyphs. Be-
tween them are the rich coffer-
ings, not with small lacunae, cal-
culated to produce an effect
mainly by color, but in broad
surfaces, frequently stepped, with
carved cyma- mouldings in the
angles. {Fig. 164.) The plan of
the cella differed but slightly
from that of Doric temples. The
doors are usually provided with
parotides, the doubly-spiral brack-
ets which have remained a popu-
lar ornament beneath the corona-
tions of door and window open-
ings until the present day.
The historical development
of the Ionic temple is not illus-
trated by as many examples as
was that of the Doric style, and,
indeed, there was no such mark-
ed and regular advance as that
observable in the temples of Se-
linous, Olympia, and Athens. A
great number of Ionic monu-
ments stand in a district not as
yet thoroughly examined : the
southern coasts of Asia Minor.
Towards the border of Lycia
traces of an archaic or proto-Ionic style have been observed, more
closely allied to Eastern motives than were the developed tem-
ples of Greece. The capitals of Lycian tombs {Fig. no) have no
Fig. 164. — Ceiling from the Peripteros of
the Mausoleum of Halicarnassos. Res-
toration.
236
HELLAS.— ARC HITECT U RE.
echinos, by the addition of which so great an advance was subse-
quently made ; the formation of the rolls upon the sides was also
primitive, they being at times perfectly straight, at times dispropor-
tionately curved. The difficult transition from the end of the shaft
to the volutes was evaded, and masked by anthemions or other or-
naments. The only example of such an imperfect formation in
European Greece existed in the interior of the Temple of Apollo at
Bassae {Fig. 159); the date of its erection, however, shows this ex-
ample not to have been archaic, but rather archaistic, — that is to
say, intentionally and affectedly imitated from primitive peculiar-
ities of form. ( Fig.
165.) The columns,
engaged to transverse
walls, have bases of ex-
cessive projection, the
thin and feeble tore be-
ing out of proportion
to the high member
beneath it. The low-
er end of the shaft it-
self forms a second pro-
jection, which greatly
exceeds the usual cong^
and fillet of the bottom
drum. The shallow
flutings are continued
up to the very top of the shaft, there being concluded by an almost
straight line. The capital itself is most strikingly archaistic, pre-
senting the helices upon each of its three exposed faces ; it is an ap-
plied decoration which has given up all semblance of constructive
unity or function, leaving the prismatic kernel, without an abacus
moulding, to project above the curves and support the imposed en-
tablature. The narrow space remaining between the two large spi-
rals of each side is almost entirely filled by a decoration of anthemi-
ons, and the introduction of an echinos is thus rendered unneces-
sary The sculptured zophoros of the interior entablature, now
one of the chief treasures of the British Museum, betrays in its ng-
Fig. 165. — Base and Capital from Bassae.
IONIC TEMPLES.
237
ures the greatest freedom from convention, in marked contrast to
the affectedly antique character of the architectural forms.
The northern coast of Asia Minor, as far as it is at present known,
Fig. 166. — From the Heraion pig. 167. — From the Temple of
upon Samos. Apollo Didymaeos, Miletos,
I JUUUU
Fig. 168.— From the Tem-
ple of Athene at Priene.
Fig. 169. — From the Propylaea Fig. 170. — From the Temple of
of Cnidos. Wingless Victory, Athens.
offers few Ionic remains of the archaic period. The original Temple
of Artemis, at Ephesos, according to Pliny the most ancient peripte-
ros of the style, has been totally obliterated by frequent reconstruc-
tions and the famed conflaGrration of Herostratos. A second fane of
238 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
national importance, the Temple of Hera, at Samos, is at present
known only by one unfluted column, 1.6 m. in lower diameter, and
by horizontally fluted tores and plinths. These two buildings were
of such interest that their architects saw fit to celebrate their
constructive peculiarities in monographs, as had been done for the
Doric Parthenon. The writings of Chersiphron and of the Cretan
Metagenes upon the Artemision at Ephesos, and of Theodoros, the
son of the Samian Illecles, upon the Heraion of that island, are men-
tioned as late as the time of the Roman emperors. These peripteral
temples, built about the middle of'the sixth century B.C., were of
very considerable dimensions, but were far surpassed in size by a
third national shrine of the lonians, the Temple of Apollo Didy-
maeo.s, rebuilt by Paionios of Ephesos and Daphnis of Miletos
almost a century later than the former monuments, 470 B.C., upon
the site of an ancient structure destroyed by the Persians. The
temple was a dipteros decastylos, that is, had a double row of out-
standing columns around the cella, with ten upon the front ; it meas-
ured 91 m. in length and 49 m. in breadth. The columns were pro-
portionately tall, 19 m. in height, which equals nine and a half lower
diameters, and were placed closely together, the intercolumniations
being only one and a half diameters wide. The scotia of the base
was divided by a projecting moulding and elevated upon a square
plinth ; the tore had no horizontal flutings. {Fig. 167.) The capital
had a straight connection between the spirals, and the epistyle was
stepped but twice. The interior of the temple was provided with
pilasters, the capitals of which are of an Oriental character, richly
decorated with floral motives. A Corinthian capital also occurs
upon the building {Fig. 177), which will be referred to below. The
enormous temple of which there are fragmentary remains at Sardis,
supposed to be that of Cybele, appears to have been erected during
this period, and resembles the shrine of Apollo Didymaeos at Mile-
tos. The Temple of Athene Polias at Priene, the work of the ar-
chitect Pythios, who celebrated its completion in a monograph,
dates from the middle of the fourth century B.C., as it was dedi-
cated by Alexander the Great. It was a hexastyle peripteros, of
normal dimensions, 35 m. long and 19 m. broad. The plans of
Ionic temples differed in proportion from those of the Doric style,
IONIC TEMPLES. 239
their lengfth being less than twice their width. The base of the
temple at Priene (/V^. 168) is peculiar, in that the horizontal flutings
of the tore, entirely lacking in the Didymaion, were restricted to its
lower half; this can hardly be taken to prove that the building was
never completed, but is rather explained by the consideration that
no escape was possible for the rain-water which dripped into the up-
per grooves. The connection between the spirals of the capital face
Fig. 171. — ^Temple Ruin at Aphrodisias.
is curved downward ; the ornaments of the entablature are more
florid, and the gutter is almost overladen with floral motives. The
tetrastyle Ionic Propylaea of the same place appear to be of more
recent date ; the capitals of the inner pilasters are decorated simi-
larly to those within the Didymaion. Another structure of this
kind at Cnidos is of more beautiful detail, the base {Fig. 169) being
particularly graceful in outline and proportions ; the increased curve
240 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
of its tore obviated the trouble of water standing in the horizon,
ta! flutings. There are but few remains of the temples of Artemis
Leucophryne at Magnesia, and of Dionysos at Teos, built towards the
end of the fourth century B.C., and celebrated in monographs by the
architect Hermogenes. The first of these was, according to Strabo,
the third largest fane of Asia Minor, measuring 64 m. in length and
29 m. in breadth. The influence of Attic architecture is evident in the
bases and in the rich decoration of the capital rolls. The building
is thought to be the first example of a pseudodipteros, that is, of a
peripteros having a pteroma equal to the breadth of that upon a
temple with two ranges of outstanding columns, a dipteros. Re-
sembling this, though smaller, was the hexastyle peripteros of Teos,
at first intended to have been of the Doric style, the plan being
altered to Ionic after all the material had been provided. Traces
of decline in the art prove the octastyle peripteros of Apollo at
Claros, near Colophon, and the temple at Pessinus, in Galatia, to
have been more recent. The Temple of Panhellenic Zeus and the
Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias {Fig. 171) are referred to the
beginning of the Christian era. The excessive attenuation of the
columns of the latter, which have a height equal to ten lower diam-
eters, the extension of the floral ornaments even to the channels of
the shaft and the connection of the capital spirals, the so-called Ggg-
and-dart moulding in the cyma, the diminutive dentils and the in-
troduction of consoles above them, all betray the tasteless magnifi-
cence of the Roman imperial period.
The Ionic style in Attica developed in a peculiar manner, being,
there superior, both as regards breadth of form and beauty of de-
tail, to the works of Asia Minor. The Doric had been perfected in
Athens, and the most noble Ionic monument, the Erechtheion,
stood beside the Parthenon ; the Athenian acropolis presented the
noblest examples in both methods of building, standing unrivalled
at the head of the Hellenic world in architectural, as in poHtical and
intellectual respects. Characteristic of the Attic Ionic are the so-
called Attic base and the entablature without dentils. The former
consists of a second tore beneath the concave plinth of the usual
base ; by this addition its symmetry was increased, and a rhyth-
mical profile of great beauty was gained : two convex and two con-
IONIC TEMPLES. ^AJ
cave members of harmonious proportion alternating from the upper
sUp to the commencement of the fluting. The Attic architect evi-
dently did not accept the significance of the dentils as representa-
tives of the ceiling-joists, and preferred to cut a decided drip upon
the lower surface of the corona, which had so marked a slant in the
more familiar Doric cornice. In the place of the dentils, a transi-
tion was provided by a cyma and astragal, which mouldings received
in Athens their typical perfection. The few Ionic ruins of Europe-
an Greece do not illustrate the historical development of the Attic
Fig. 172. — Temple u\x)n the Ilissos.
ionic style. The interior columns of the Temple of Apollo at Bas-
sae {Figs. 159 and 165) cannot be considered in this connection;
their archaistic details by no means express the influence of Athens,
notwithstanding that the work is attributed to the architect Icti-
nos. The peculiarities of Attic Ionic architecture are well exempli-
fied by the small amphiprostyle temple upon the Ilissos, near Ath-
ens, which, though now entirely destroyed, was in existence up to
the end of the last centurj'^, and was measured and drawn by Stuart
and Revett. {Fig. 172.) The lower tore of the base is here small
and weak, as if a hesitating attempt to improve the usual outline.
16
242
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTU RL.
The shaft was short, perhaps from the influence of the Doric exam-
ples ; the epistyle, from the same consideration, Was without the
characteristic steps. Similar to this is another tetrastyle amphi-
prostylos, the Temple of Wingless Victory before the Propylaea of
the acropolis, which, as if to compensate for the loss of the tem-
ple upon the Ilissos, was rebuilt in 1835, with overthrown fragments
rescued from a Turkish bastion, and has become one of the chief
Fig. 173. — Plan of the Erechtheion. (Boetticher.)
ornaments of the ascent. {Fig. 158.) The entire crepidoma is so
small — 8 m. long and 5.5 broad — that the cella, after the deduction
of the front and rear porticos, is even broader than it is deep. The
architectural details are of exceeding delicacy and perfection {Fig.
170); the sculptures of the zophoros and of the balustrade will be
considered in the following section. The inner columns of the
Athenian Propylaea show the lower tore fully developed, and the
base-mouldings isolated by a plinth of slightly concave profile, else-
THE ERECHTHEION.
243
where adopted only at Eleusis, in imitation of this building. The
highest perfection of the Ionic style was, as before said, attained
in the second national sanctuary of the Athenians — the world-re-
nowned Temple of Athene Polias upon the acropolis, the Erech-
theion. The construction of the edifice seems to have been un-
dertaken immediately after the burning of the ancient building by
the Persians, in 480 B.C., but, in consequence of the miseries of the
Peloponnesian war, its completion was delayed until eighty years
after that date. It was a combination of several shrines which,
Fig. 174. — Northwestern View of the ErechtheJon.
necessarily con.structed upon different levels, rendered a perfect sym-
metry of plan impossible. Other double temples, like those of Leto
and Asclepios, and of Aphrodite and Ares at Mantinea, or of Apol-
lo Carneios and of Hypnos at Sikyon, were not, upon the exterior, dis-
tinguishable from the common type, as, with an equal division of
the celia, entrances could be allowed upon either front. In the
Erechtheion this simple arrangement was not practicable, because
of the complicated nature of the combined sanctuaries and the irreg-
ularity of the ground ; yet this did not prove a disadvantage : to
the architectural perfection of the monument was thus added a
244
HELLAS.— A RC HITECTURE.
charm of picturesque composition usually foreign to the temple
buildings of Greek antiquity. The plan given {Fig. 173) is accord-
ing to Boetticher's restoration, but the mooted question of the inte-
rior division of the building is still far from being decided. Upon
the principal eastern front was a hexastyle portico, a, through which
entrance was given to the naos of
Athene Polias, b, occupying nearly
one half of the cella. Access to the
other division was obtained through
the tetrastyle hall, e, upon the north-
western corner, opening directly into
the narrow sanctuary of Pandrosos,
dy from which four portals led to as
many chambers : the first, g, to the
Chapel of Boutes ; the second, //, by
means of a short staircase, to the
Crypt of Poseidon, c ; from the third,
i, was a descent to a corridor lead-
ing to a space under the Naos of
Athene Polias ; while the last, oppo-
site the hall, led to the Porch of the
Caryatides,/. This complicated dis-
position was, as has been said, de-
pendent upon the peculiar natural
position of the ancient national
shrines : the tomb of Cecrops and
the memorials of the contest be-
tween Poseidon and Athene for the
possession of Athens, — the impres-
sion of the trident with which Posei-
don smote the cliff, leaving a spring
of salt water, and the olive-tree which, at the command of Athene,
sprang from the same rock. Of the interior of the building there
are almost no vestiges ; but the form of the exterior is, in the main,
clear. {Fig. 174.) The capitals upon the columns of the eastern
portico {Fig. 175), and upon the pilasters of the western wall, which
was pierced by windows, are of almost excessive magnificence. The
Fig. 175. — From the Eastern Pronaos
of the Erechtheion.
THE ERECHTHEION. 245
outlines of the spirals are doubled, the side-rolls are grooved, and
ornamented with astragals ; there is a band carved with a woven
ornament above the egg-and-dart moulding of the echinos, and an
entirely new feature has been added to the capital — a broad and
rich necking of carved anthemions. The effect of this band was
particularly favorable because the decoration upon it could be re-
peated beneath the capitals of the pilasters, and a greater harmony
of the corresponding members thus secured. The columns of the
northwestern porch are larger and even richer in detail, especially
the bases, the upper tore being ornamented with a woven motive in
place of the customary horizontal grooving. The entablature, from
which the dentils are missing, is of the utmost elegance of propor-
tion, the carving of its cyma-mouldings being the most delicate
work of architectural carving known. The reliefs upon the zopho-
ros were not cut from its substance, but were merely attached to
its plane surface ; few fragments have, consequently, been preserved.
One of the most beautiful features of the building is the Porch of the
Caryatides in the southwestern corner (F). In place of columns, the
figures of virgins support the horizontal marble ceiling, which is of
no great weight. The model for these was doubtless taken from the
basket-bearing maidens of the Panathenaic procession, the Canepho-
rae. The origin of the term caryatides is not known. Both geo-
graphical and historical proofs are wanting to make probable the
account given by Vitruvius, — that the motive for these figures was
derived from the women of the Peloponnesian town Carya, who
were condemned to slavery for treachery during the Persian war.
From the baskets of the Canephorae has been developed a capital
member, like an echinos, decorated with the egg-and-dart moulding
and an astragal, and provided with an abacus. The frieze is lacking
from the entablature, in recognition of the fact that roof and ceiling
are here one and the same member. The dentils appear in the cor-
nice, it being possible for them to take their true position upon the
epistyle. The faultless beauty of the decorative carving is particu-
larly evident upon the casings of the portals.
Monuments of the Ionic style, not numerous in Attica, are
rare in the Peloponnesos, and exceptional farther west, where the
Doric element of the population predominated. When Ionic ruins
246 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
are found in the latter districts, they generally betray the influence
of the Attic school, which is perceptible even in the Ionic order of
Rome. It is not strange that, after the acquaintance of the Ro-
mans with Hellenic lands, this method of building should, in their
universal eclecticism, have been frequently adopted. It will be seen
in the following section how Italy, the heir of the decaying civiliza-
tion of the East, reduced the forms of Ionic architecture to a facile
and commonplace scheme.
During the age of Pericles a foreign growth, the Corinthian cap-
ital, had been engrafted upon the Ionic style, which changed the
character of the whole, the more decidedly because introduced upon
the most prominent feature. This " Corinthian " innovation affect-
ed the capital alone, and cannot be considered as an order, still less
as a style, when compared to the Doric and Ionic. It was a mere
variety of the latter, which, in all other respects than the capital, re-
mained unaltered. The new form is mentioned as an innovation of
Callimachos, a sculptor celebrated for the magnificent golden lamp
and funnel made by him for the Erechtheion. The name of that
artificer may have given authority to the first introduction of the
Corinthian capital into Greek lands ; but the detailed account of Vi-
truvius in regard to its origin can hardly be deemed more than a
fable. He relates that a loving nurse had placed a basket of toys,
covered with a tile, upon the grave of a Corinthian girl, and that in
the spring-time an acanthos-plant, upon which it stood, sent forth
shoots covering the basket and curling beneath the tile, thus pro-
viding a model directly imitated by Callimachos. The calyx capi-
tals of Egypt had long been known to the Greeks. In transferring
this floral motive across the Mediterranean, the decorative foliage
of papyrus and lotus had been given up, those unknown plants not
being adapted to Hellenic conventionalization. National art ever
seeks the subjects for floral ornament from the growths of its native
soil. It was on this account that oak-leaves, thistles, grape-leaves,
and ivy were employed in Gothic architecture ; and, in a similar
manner, the Greek could make no more fortunate choice than the
Hellenic thistle, the acanthos, the forms of which even surpass in
beauty the serrated outline of the grape-leaf. The Corinthian cap-
ital suited well the prevalent tendency to attenuate the shaft, and,
THE CORINTHIAN CAPITAL. 247
at the same time, it furthered an harmonious agreement between the
capitals of columns and of pilasters. Its forms presented a better
solution of the problem of the capital, and were more perfect in an
abstract, if not in an artistic, point of view than any of the preced-
ing varieties. The two functions of the transitional member — the
projection, the oblique line between the vertical and the horizontal,
and the change from a circular to a rectangular plan — had, in the
Doric and Ionic capitals, been effected by two separate bodies ; in
the Corinthian they were accomplished by one alone. The kernel
gave the projection, considerably steeper, according to its height,
than the Doric or Ionic echinos. The oblique line, convex in
the former style, is here slightly concave, although still sufficient-
ly vigorous in character to bear the light entablature. The sur-
rounding floral decoration effects the transition from the circle to
the rectangle ; the upper leaves project towards the corners of the
thin abacus, under which they curl, giving to the capital, at some
little distance below its plinth, a section nearly square. A canonical
form of the Corinthian capital did not exist in progressive Hellenic
art. This does not appear until the order was reduced to a system
by the thought-saving and practical Romans. The completed type,
so familiar in the monuments of Italy, and used for centuries since
in all parts of the world, does not occur in Greece, the creation of
the Corinthian order, as such, being emphatically a work of the Ro-
mans. The Corinthian capital was, in Hellenic architecture, merely
a fanciful and ever -varied decoration of foliage around a concave
calyx. The before-mentioned example from the Temple of Apollo
in Bassae shows how imperfect the arrangement was at first. {Fig.
176.) The single row of leaves at its base does not sufficiently or-
nament the kernel; the spirals upon the four corners and the an-
themions between them leave too much of its surface uncovered.
The thin abacus is neither provided with a profile moulding, nor at
all carved ; upon its edge is painted a Doric meander ; its sides are
curved in plan, advancing above the corner spirals so that these
might project farther from the calyx. A decided advance is shown
by the capital of an engaged column employed within the Temple
of Apollo Didymaios at Miletos {Fig. 177), which appears to be of
more recent date. A double wreath of acanthos-leaves surrounds
248
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
the calyx, those upon the corners being made sufficiently tall to
support the spirals ; between them are anthemions. Fragments
brought from the ruins of Knidos to the British Museum are of
similar form. These remains all resemble, in a more or less marked
degree, the ultimate typical development of the Corinthian capital-
Fig. 177. — From the Temple of Apollo, near
Miletos.
Fig. 178.-
-From the Tower of the Winds,
Athens.
Others, and among them some of a later period, lack important con-
stituent parts. A second variety, discovered in the Didymaion, had
only one wreath of leaves, and no connection with the square aba-
cus by corner spirals. The capitals of the so-called Tower of the
Winds in Athens {Fig. 178) resemble them. Behind the acanthos-
leaves rises a simple row of lanceolate reeds, which follows the out-
THE CORINTHIAN CAPITAL. 249
line of the calyx. The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, built
more than a century previous, in 334 B.C., presents a beautiful in-
stance of a fanciful Corinthian capital. Between the shaft and the
calyx there is a preparatory necking of small leaves, similar to
those which existed upon the example within the temple at Bas-
sae. Above the low acanthos wreath rises a rich garland of foliage
and flowers, with a central anthemion rising to the top of the ab-
acus. The heavy corner volutes cannot compensate for the exces-
sive contraction of the calyx, which takes away from the unity and
force of the main transitional curve.
The Corinthian capital appears to have attained the form under
which it is now known in the middle of the second century B.C.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens received its peripteros
of Corinthian columns under Antiochos Epiphanes, 176-164 B.C.;
though its crepidoma, probably intended for an edifice of the Doric
style, had been prepared as early as the time of Peisistratos. The
architectural direction of the building had been intrusted to a Ro-
man, Cossutius, and it was, in fact, destined to provide material
for Rome itself, as, soon after its completion, the columns were car-
ried away by Sulla and employed in the restoration of the temple
upon the Roman Capitol, shortly before destroyed by fire. The
capitals thus removed appear to have been regarded as models,
and to have exercised a great influence upon the development of
the Corinthian order, as cultivated, almost exclusively, by the Ro-
mans. The calyx decorated with acanthos foliage corresponded to
the taste of the imperial epoch for architectural magnificence, and
its employment was not embarrassed by the diflficulties upon the
comers of peripteral temples which have been discussed in the con-
sideration of the Doric frieze and the Ionic capital. The floral dec-
oration soon extended to the entablature, increasing the number
and dimensions of its minor members. The most striking result
was the transformation of the dentils into the richly carved con-
soles of doubly spiral profile, which were imitated from the paro-
tides of the Ionic portal coronation, but were placed horizontally
instead of vertically. The use of both dentils and consoles is a bar-
baric duplication, characteristic of the tasteless architectural mag-
nificence of the Roman decline. The so-called Corinthian base is
250
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
no real characteristic of the order, being only a combination of Io-
nic and Attic forms, with a double scotia between the two tores.
Hellenic architecture has thus far been considered exclusively
in its relations to sacred edifices, because the art of building, among
nations whose civilization has been influenced by religious concep-
tions, is always best exemplified by temples. But it was natural
that Doric and Ionic forms should be employed, though in a less
conventional manner, for all the buildings of Greece, being richly
elaborated in monumental works, and more or less simplified and
adapted in structures intended for private or public usefulness, as
economy and civic destination alike forced restrictions upon the
disposition and decoration of the design.
The sacred nature of monumental tombs allied them most near-
ly to the temples. The conical tumulus had preceded the Hellenic
peripteros, and when that helpless form was entirely given up, after
the perfection of the columnar temple, the cinerary urn remained as
a leading motive, which excluded the lengthened plan of the perip-
teral temple and rather tended to increase the height of the mon-
ument— otherwise a subordinate dimension. Graves of less impor-
tance were marked by columns, upright blocks of stone with an
ornamental cap, or by steles, the angular termination of which of-
ten betrayed the influence of the temple gable, while the shaft re-
tained the nature of the pier. More prominent sepulchres consist-
ed of ranges of columns upon a cube, which, containing a sarcopha-
gus; took the place of the cylinder beneath the conical tumulus. As
the columns had, in general, only a decorative importance, it was
not necessary to construct a cella in connection with them. This
was only added when a chapel was required for funeral worship, or
when, as in mausoleums of great dimensions, inner walls were need-
ed to provide a bearing for the ceiling beams. The termination of
these structures was characteristic. The sacred gable was general-
ly avoided, in just appreciation of its significance, and the form of
the tumulus was retained, so far as the rectangular plan would per-
mit, a pyramidal superstructure taking the place of the cone.
That this pyramid was constructed in steps is evident from a
small tomb without a cella at Mylassa {Fz£^. 179), and from that mag-
nificent monument, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassos, one of the won-
Till-: MAUSOLEUM.
J5I
ders of the antique world. {Fig. 180.) The latter was erected by
Artemisia, the widow and successor of King Mausolos, who called
to her assistance the most celebrated architects of the time, Satyros
and Pythios ; as well as the greatest sculptors, Scopas, Bryaxis, Le-
ochares, and Timotheos. It is known by the extensive English ex-
cavations of 1856 and 1857. Although the opinions of prominent
Fig. 179. — Tomb at Mylassa.
authorities differ greatly as to its design, it is yet certain that upon
the massive oblong foundation, 30 m. long, 24 m. broad, and over 15
m. high, which contained the small sepulchral chamber, there stood
a ceila surrounded by thirty-six Ionic columns, and terminated by a
stepped pyramid, the truncated apex of which bore a colossal mai-
ble quadriga, with the statues of the queen and of a female chariot-
eer, the whole attaining a height of 42 m. The works of sculpts
252
HELLAS— ARCHITECTURE.
ure — the figures which stood in the intercolumniations and the re-
liefs upon the wall of the cella, and perhaps also upon the substruct-
ure— will be considered in the next section. It is possible that the
destination of the edifice was not that usually attributed to it, Ur-
lichs having argued that it was a heroon, and a memorial of victory.
The Monument of the Nereides at Xanthos {Fig. i8i) resembled
Fig. i8o. — Mausoleum of Halicarnassos.
the Mausoleum in many respects. It was a peristyle of sixteen
Ionic columns elevated upon a massive foundation. Statues stood
in its intercolumniations, while the zophoros and substructure were
carved with reliefs. A gabled roof seems, however, to have indicat-
ed the sacred character of the edifice. The cella and the surround-
ing columns of this class of buildings were united in various man-
MONUMENTS. 253
ners, a remarkable example of a pseudo-peripteros being offered by
the so-called Tomb of Theron in Acragas in Sicily. In other in-
stances three stories resulted from a duplication of the foundations
beneath the penpteros, as in the alleged Tomb of Mikipsas at Con-
stantina, the ancient Cirta in Numidia. This multiplication was par-
ticularly frequent in the Roman period. The tomb of this nature at
Saint -Remi, in Southern France, the ancient Glanum, built during
the reign of Augustus, is one of the most beautiful ruins known.
Among the choragic monuments of Greece, the most interesting
is that erected by Lysicrates in commemoration of the victory gain-
ed by a chorus of boys of the Phyle Acamantis led by him. It
served as a pedestal for the prize bestowed, a tripod, and was a
Fig. t8i. — Monument of the Nereides at Xanthos.
pseudo-monopteros of small dimensions and beautiful details. En-
gaged columns with Corinthian capitals supported a monolithic
ceiling, the floral termination of which originally served as a base
for the tripod. The so-called Tower of the Winds was a clepsy-
dra, built by Andronicos Kyrrhestes, and was also furnished outside
with dials and a weathercock. It is especially interesting on ac-
count of the peculiar forms of its Corinthian capitals. {Fig- 178.)
The most extensive employment of columns in civic architect-
ure was in the porticos, the stoas, which surrounded the market-
places and extended through many streets, being connected with
baths, gymnasions, palaestras, stadia, and hippodromes, and even
appearing as independent buildings. The market-place, the agora,
was, in ancient cities, commonly of an irregular form ; when possi-
254
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
ble it was surrounded by colonnades. In more recent settlements
care was taken to provide a rectangular space for the purpose, in
which double porticos of considerable extent were built for shelter
in bad weather. In view of the effeminacy of the lonians, it is easy
to credit the account that this race first provided the chief places
in towns with the protection of stoas, introducing this custom in
Greece, where it soon became general. Extended colonnades were
frequently connected with them, traversing the principal streets.
The independent stoas, which were arranged in the greatest va-
riety of combinations, are of particular interest. The Stoa Poikile
(the many- colored), upon the market-place of Athens, was built
by Peisianax, the brother-in-law of Cimon, this latter causing the
walls to be decorated by Polygnotos and his assistants — upon
Fig. 182. — Stoa Diple at Thoricos.
one wing with scenes from the battle of Marathon, upon the other
from that of Oinoe, while the long background of the principal hall
was similarly treated. Upon the market-places the porticos were
often increased in width by a second row of columns, and in later
times a dividing-wall was frequently placed between these ranges
as a spina. According to Pausanias, this was the case with the so-
called Kerkyraion Hall of Elis. The form of a stoa diple, or double
colonnade, was more customary ; in it the central wall was replaced
by a third range of columns, as the case appears to have been at
Thoricos {Fig. 182), where the entrance was provided in the middle
of the longer sides by wider intercolumniations. The enlargement
was carried still farther by making the colonnade of three aisles,
with two inner ranges of columns, as in the Stoa of the Hellanodi-
SECULAR BUILDINGS. 255
k«e : covered spaces of great breadth, open upon all sides, and admira-
bly adapted to their purpose, were thus provided. It is natural to as-
sume that the great grain market of the Piraios was such an extend-
ed stoa, as was likewise the so-called Basilica of Paestum, a structure
of three aisles, lacking exterior enclosure. The latter building is as-
suredly misnamed, the nature of a basilica being dependent upon
outer walls. The prototype of the Roman and Christian basilicas is
rather to be sought in the law courts of the Archon Basileus in Ath-
ens, a combination of enclosed halls and chambers, which, by their
future development, received an historical and practical importance
e.xceeding that of any other work of Hellenic architecture, not ex-
cepting the temples, which became useless with the extinction of
Hellenic religious conceptions. The columns of stoas were multi-
plied above, as well as beside, one another, analogous to the galler-
ies over the side aisles of the larger temples. This appears to have
been the case upon the so-called Persian Hall at Sparta, where, in-
stead of upper shafts, there were piers decorated with the statues
of Persians, comparable to the corresponding architectural members
of the Incantada at Thessalonica, though the figures of gods and
heroes were, in the latter instance, attached to the supports in
three-quarter relief, while the statues at Sparta appear to have
been in the full round. It is evident from the Roman basilicas, to
be considered in another section, that the employment of galleries
was general in the enclosed stoas of Greece.
Chief among the public buildings of Hellas, after the agoras and
stoas, were the arrangements for the festive games. These were di-
vided into two classes: bodily exercises and scenic representations.
The former were the more important, forming a prominent part
in the education of every Greek citizen. Palaistras and gymnasia
were provided for the mancEuvres, stadia and hippodromes for
the public contests and races. In primitive times the palaistras
had no architectural character; a meadow and a sandy reach, gen-
erally upon the bank of a brook and shaded by trees, sufficed as
a training -ground. The private palaistras seem never to have
exceeded this simplicity; but the great importance of drill for
the military power of the State early demanded the erection of
suitable structures, and there resulted the gymnasion, a combina-
256
HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
tion of covered chambers and halls with open courts, which provided
separate and fitting spaces for the different gymnastic exercises
and for the baths, as well as for the higher intellectual entertain-
ments of the philosophers, rhetoricians, and poets. These struct-
ures were probably varied in character until the most suitable ar-
rangement was decided by experience. It seems early to have be-
come customary to surround a rectangular space by colonnades, to
which were added extensive wings, semicircular exedras, and the like,
for scientific and aesthetic instruction. Upon one side were grouped
a number of chambers known as the Ephebeion, Apodyterion, Elaio-
thesion, Conisterion, Corykeion, Laconicon, Lutron, etc., serving the
''flUW'i%iiim\\\v'''"^/,,„^lll^i,„Ml'^W;|™\ii|iirft
/^ifl
Fig. 183. — Stadion at Messene.
youths as places of assemblage, rooms for dressing and anointing, hot
and cold baths, etc. Opposite to them extended the stadion, while,
within the enclosure, promenades between groups of trees and beds
of flowers alternated with grounds for shorter races, quoit-throwing,
wrestling, and other contests. Some examples, like those of Ephe-
SOS, Hierapolis, and Alexandria, still display in their ruins the chief
features of this arrangement, though more or less influenced by the
customs of imperial Rome, where the baths had been in great meas-
ure separated from the gymnasia. The spirit of emulation was ex.
cited by the publicity of these institutions, and increased by the pe-
riodical festive competitions to a height far exceeding our modern
HIPPODROMES. 257
conceptions. A wreath of laurel or olive leaves, a small quantity of
oil, a tripod, or other similar rewards of victory, such as were given
as prizes in the games of Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, Corinth, and
Athens, conferred almost divine honor, even the years being known
by the name of the temporary hero of Olympia. The five chief di-
visions of the gymnastic exercises, the pentathlon — running, jump-
ing, wrestling, boxing, and the throwing of the discos — were practised
in the stadion, a space from 180 m. to 300 m. long, usually chosen
close to the side of a hill, which, more or less prepared by terracing
and grading, provided seats for spectators. If a narrow valley were
near at hand, as in the case of the Athenian stadion of the suburb
Agrae, the opposite slopes were thus occupied. The seats near the
goal were naturally the more desirable, and it was here that the archi-
Fig. 184. — Hippodrome at Olympia.
tectural features were concentrated, terraces being carried in a
semicircle around this centre. Examples are not wanting, as in
Aphrodisias in Asia Minor, where both ends were thus terminated,
and the space for spectators carried around the entire race-course,
thus pointing the way to a building of this form, the amphitheatre,
which was to become the delight of the Roman world. The stadion
of Messene {Fig. 183) shows how natural inclinations were followed
and utilized, though at the expense of a symmetrical disposition ; yet
this example dates from the later extravagant period of Greek his-
tory, and is far removed from the patriarchal simplicity of primitive
times. The stadion did not suffice for the races of horses and chari-
ots which had been favorites with the Greeks since the Trojan war.
In such early ages, any goal chosen in the plain was sufficient, like
17
258 HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
the oak-trunk mentioned by Homer; but it could not have been long
before the need was manifest of a sloping stand for the spectators
and an enclosure for the contestants, and thus the hippodrome, the
race-course, was developed similarly to the smaller stadion. The
most celebrated, and perhaps the oldest, hippodrome of Greece, that
of Olympia, is described by Pausanias. The right side, the longer,
consisted of an artificial embankment of earth, while the slope of a
hill was employed for the left ; at the entrance was a colonnade de-
voted to the preparations of the charioteers. The starting-point,
the aphesis, had, according to the expression of Pausanias, a form,
like the prow of a vessel — that is, advanced in a pointed form — to
Fig. 185. — Scheme of the Greek Theatre, according to Vitruvius.
facilitate the start. The plan here given. Fig. 184, is altered from
Visconti's restoration by these gates being opened towards the first
turning-point, the taraxippos, or terror of the horses.
The theatres, as enclosures for musical and scenic representations,
offered greater scope for architectural development. When possible,
the auditorium was in a situation where a natqral semicircular in-
clination served instead of the immense foundations which would
otherwise have been necessary for the elevated seats ; the stage and
surrounding buildings were, however, free-standing works of archi-
tecture. The arrangement of the Greek theatre is described by Vi-
truvius : three squares were inscribed in a circle, thus forming a
THEATRES. 259
twelve-pointed star {Fig. 185); one of the sides, a b, served as the
line of the front foundation of the stage. This platform, the logei-
on, was closed at the rear by a wall, treated like a facade, and form-
ing a background, the skene ; its position being -decided by the
tangent c J, parallel to the front side. The remainder of the cir-
cle, the orchestra, was reserved for the evolutions of the chorus and
for the stand of the musicians, the thymele ; it was not until the
development of the Roman theatre that spectators were admitted
to this enclosure. Its extent was slightly increased by drawing the
Fig. 186. — Restored View ot the 1 heaire of Segesta.
outline from the diameter, e f, to the stage with a doubled radius.
Around seven twelfths of the original circle was constructed the con-
centrical auditorium of ascending seats, divided by a platform at half-
height, the diazoma, into two parts, and accessible by radial passages.
The statement of Vitruvius, who, as usual, substitutes a thought-sav-
ing canon for the living individuality of Hellenic art, is not borne out
by the numerous remains of Greek theatres. The orchestra and au-
ditorium exceed the semicircle in every instance where local confor-
mations have not rendered this impossible ; but they either do this
26o HELLAS.— ARCHITECTURE.
by elongating the arc with tangents, as in the theatres of Segesta
{Fig. 1 86), Syracuse, Tyndaris, and Tauromenion, or by continuing the
circumference of the original circle without deviation, as in those of
Athens, Epidauros, Megalopolis, Delos, Melos, Cnidos, Laodikeia,
Side, Myra, Telmissos, Patara, Aizanis, etc. Among all known Greek
theatres only two, those at Mantinea and Alabanda, are situated in
the plain and entirely built of masonry ; the others, contrary to Ro-
man custom, utilize natural inclinations, as before explained. The
seats were either cut in the native rock, or were walled and reveted
with slabs of marble ; when the slope was of earth, important foun-
dations were undertaken.
The arrangements of odeions, or partially covered theatres for
festive musical representations, appear to have preceded, and in
some degree influenced, the architecture of the theatres. The old-
est known example of these structures is the Skias in Sparta, a cir-
cular building provided with a pitched roof, which was probably
built in accordance with forms customary in Asia Minor, as a Sa-
mian architect (Theodoros, the son of Telecles) was called from
Samos to superintend its erection. The odeion upon the Ilissos
near Athens appears to have been of similar disposition, and, like
the former, constructed chiefly of wood.
The private dwellings of Greece stood in no relation to the mon-
umental public buildings. That we are acquainted with no Greek
house is a proof that these were of the same subordinate importance
as was the family in the Hellenic state. The house was nothing
more than the scene of the family labors, and turned modestly in-
ward, confined and simple chambers being grouped around a cen-
tral court. The life of the Greeks was, for the most part, spent
away from home, upon the market-places and in the g}'^mnasia and
stoas ; it was only at meal-times and for repose that he sought the
retirement of his house. This was completely separated from the
outer world, the dwelling-chambers having no windows upon the
street and the fa9ade being unimportant. The rooms, with the ex-
ception, perhaps, of the dining-hall, were but little developed, being
generally lighted through the door alone. Their windowless walls
presented no opportunity for architectural treatment, this being re-
stricted to the court, a space of considerable size, surrounded by a
PALACES. 261
colonnade. For centuries there was nothing to lead to any increase
of this simple dwelling, or to the development of a palace archi-
tecture ; in the ages of the heroes and tyrants the constructive abil-
ity was insufficient, and later republican equality was inimical to all
individual ostentation. It was not until royal power had, in the
Macedonian epoch, taken the place of democracy that private ar-
chitecture made a decided advance, — less, however, in monumental
importance than in luxury and display. The chambers were multi-
plied by a repetition of the courts, the rooms still remaining small ;
while a refined extravagance, borrowing its decoration from the sis-
ter arts, took the place of architectural invention. Notwithstanding
the Greek terms applied to various forms of rooms by Vitruvius,
they appear to have been comparatively restricted in size. The so-
called Corinthian hall, covered with a barrel-vault, is specifically a
Roman creation ; the Egyptian hall, with a clerestory over the central
aisle, may have been built in remembrance of Alexandrian models,
while that of Kyzicos is illustrative of methods customary in Asia
Minor, and especially_in-Pergamen. The three chief cities of the
Diadochi must have presented imposing monuments of private
and palatial architecture: Alexandria, the Egyptian residence of
the Ptolemies, had been founded by Alexander himself, and in
great part designed by his architect, Deinocrates ; Antioch, upon
the Orontes in Syria, was built by Seleucos Nicator, with the aid of
the architect Xenaios, and rapid increase soon quadrupled its origi-
nal extent ; Pergamon had been restored and enlarged by Eumenes.
The wonderful works of that time show architecture to have lost all
earnestness and truthfulness through the extravagant demands cre-
ated by the luxurious courts of the Ptolemies, Seleucidae, and Attali-
dae ; their sham theatrical pomp was surpassed only by the Orien-
tal costliness and splendor of the materials. The monuments were
expressive of the weakness and superficiality into which the Eastern
Hellenic world had fallen, and for which the forms of Greek art
were employed only as a transparent varnish. Alexander the Great
had himself led the way to this profusion of monumental and pri-
vate buildings. It was he, for instance, who had caused Deionoc-
rates to erect a pyramidal pyre for the burning of the body of
his favorite Hephaisteion, which was a marvel of tastelessness and
262 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
extravagance : the square substructure of brick masonry, with sides
one stadion long, each ornamented with two hundred and forty
golden prows of vessels and nine hundred and sixty statues, bore a
second terrace decorated with golden wreathed torches ; the third
and fourth stages were reveted with reliefs of gold representing
hunting scenes and the battles of the centaurs ; the fifth with gold-
en lions and bulls, upon which followed Macedonian arms and tro-
phies taken from the barbarians. The whole was terminated by
golden figures of sirens, the hollow bodies of which accommodated
the singers of the funeral chant. A similar piece of display was the
magnificent wagon for the funeral procession of Alexander. Other
works were the gigantic tent for the Dionysian procession of Ptol-
emy II., Philadelphos, with its supports formed like palms and thyr-
ses, with its cupola-shaped roof, secret grottoes, etc. ; and the Tha-
lamegos, or colossal Nile bark, a floating palace built by Ptolemy
IV., Philopator, with its Temple of Aphrodite and many halls, one
of which had chryselephantine Corinthian columns, and was dec-
orated by a frieze of reliefs executed in ivory and affixed to a gold-
en ground. A dining-saloon was built in the Egyptian manner, as
a hypostyle, and the hall of Dionysos was provided with an apse
formed like a grotto. At the same time, wonders of technical and
mechanical skill divided attention with these works of barbarous
luxury. As early as the time of Hiero II. of Syracuse, Archimedes
and Archias built a monstrous ship, intended for the transportation
of grain, which is said to have comprised an entire city, with a gym-
nasion, a public park, towers, reception-rooms, dining-halls, etc. It
had three decks,, and was propelled by twenty rows of oarsmen.
Even this was surpassed by Ptolemy IV., who built a vessel with
forty rows of oars. In short, gigantic dimensions and tasteless mag-
nificence, favored by the insane competition among the followers
of Alexander, extinguished true art, the more rapidly as works of
these later ages were not executed with the solidity which pre-
served Roman architecture from similar decline, even though it
accepted many unsound artistic influences from these Hellenic and
barbarian despots.
The sculpture deserves even more unlimited admiration than
ITS PRE-EMINENCE. 263
the architecture of Greece. Hellenic building shows monumental
ideals such as the creative power of no other people has attained ;
yet the problems which presented themselves for solution were of
a limited nature. In sculpture, on the other hand, a height was
reached which the artists of all later times have scarcely been able
, to comprehend, far less to equal. For centuries cultivated nations
have drawn from this inexhaustible fountain, in unconditional ad-
miration,— learning from Greek statues, and acknowledging their
matchless perfection. Although it may justly be concluded that
a direct reconstruction of the architectural remains, as a whole,
were it possible, is not to be recommended, still no one can hesi-
tate to regard the best examples of Hellenic sculpture as a model
worthy of direct emulation, the controlling influence of which upon
the present age is only to be desired. And though the Gothic ca-
thedral may appear to some a higher artistic conception than the
Doric peripteros, no one would give preference to the sculptures
of the ancient Orientals, of the Mediaeval Christians, or even of the
great masters of the Renaissance, over the marble treasures gath-
ered in any of the larger collections of antiques.
As, among all the works of antiquity, it is to Hellenic sculpture
that the undisputed palm of precedence is given, it is befitting that
particular attention should be devoted to it — that it should be
treated as the central point, the focus, of the history of ancient art.
This is made possible by the accounts of classic authors handed
down concerning it, and by the multitudinous remains preserved
and accessible in the museums of all great cities ; it is rendered easy
by the circumstance that the attention and industry of the archaeo-
logical explorer and of the student of art have been directed to no
other field of antique life with equal zeal and with equally impor-
tant results. The history of the development of Hellenic sculpture
thus lies, in its main features, more clearly before us than does
that of any other ancient art. Although different views still exist
in regard to many particulars, the arguments advanced in their sup-
port only serve for greater general enlightenment. The lively dis-
cussion which the question of the beginnings of Greek sculpture has
called forth may be considered as terminated, since the Egyptian
origin, advocated by Thiersch, Ross, Feurbach, Julius Braun, Stahr,
264 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
and others, has been refuted, or at least reduced to the secondary
and later influence assumed by Friedrichs. Indeed, the oldest Gre-
cian sculptures, when compared with those of Egypt, display a com-
olete contrast, and prove that such a connection, if it existed at all,
was by no means intimate. Egyptian art worked upon purely me-
chanical principles, according to a typical network of lines. Sculpt-
ure was drawn into the province of architecture, and slavishly sub-
ordinated to it ; carved figures became little else than architectural
members through uniformity, symmetrical regularity, and multiplic-
ity of repetition. Piers masked by the form of Osiris were thus
substituted for columns, and long rows of sphinxes or colossal
statues were set, like the obelisks, to decorate the avenues lead-
ing to the temples. The fixed standard after which the heads of
such figures were patterned — more like the capitals of columns than
imitations of life — and the members, without action, and construct-
ed according to an established height or breadth, like the shafts of
pillars, and similarly regulated in proportions by their diameter —
took away all independence as works of sculpture, and caused the
statues rather to appear as parts of an architectural composition.
The ordinary Egyptian stone-cutter knew of only two positions,
well established by custom ; he renounced fundamentally the count-
less different appearances of life, and, with this, all representation of
action and of individuality. Primitive Greek sculpture, on the con-
trary, arose from a sound naturalism, which directed the eye of the
artist to real and peculiar appearances from the outset, often neg-
lecting the proportions of the whole in the desire characteristically
to express important details. The first Hellenic figures are want-
ing in that which was so prominent in the Egyptian : a correct, or
at least a schooled, outline and modelling ; while the pleasing imi-
tation of life in detail, utterly foreign to Egyptian sculptures, is
most forcibly presented. This naturalistic tendency prevented Hel-
lenic sculpture from degenerating into an Egyptian formalism ; the
Greek artist did not blindly attach himself to a hieratic model, but
studied organic life, thus keeping his works free from that ossified
conventionalism common to all Eastern civilization. The very first
carvings of Greece had a power of development which was wanting
in all the other nations of that period.
ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 265
To these differences of artistic principle must be added differ-
ences in characteristic forms, dependent partly upon race and part-
ly upon the different conceptions of the two nations — differences so
marked as to enable us to distinguish their works without hesita-
tion. The Egyptian head differs decidedly from the Greek head in
the high position of the ear, the long, narrow, and somewhat oblique-
ly placed eyes, the wide flat nose, and the thick lips. {Fig. 28.) The
Egyptian figure is slim, the primitive Greek almost stunted ; in the
former the shoulders are high and broad, in the latter sloping and
narrow ; there the hips are small, here large. The garments of
Egyptian works are either elastic, without natural folds, clinging so
closely to the body as often to be recognizable only at the bor-
ders, or are heavily pressed together in broad and angular masses.
The scanty clothing introduced into ancient Hellenic sculptures
shows throughout a close observation of nature ; and the dra-
pery is pleasing even in unsuccessful imitations, because it betrays
the loving care of the artist. In the oldest productions of Greece
we perceive a slumbering genius and capacity for development which
were wholly lacking in the trained handiwork of Egyptian art, — as
the faulty free-hand drawing of an intelligent boy, who tries to show
what he has seen, awakens greater interest and hope than do the la-
bored copies and tracings of an illiterate mechanic.
When compared with these weighty reasons against the depend-
ence of primitive Grecian sculpture upon that of Egypt, the argu-
ments adduced in favor of the supposition seem insufficient. Chief
among these is the opinion of several ancient writers who vaguely
imply that the oldest sculpture of the Greeks was related to that of
the Egyptians, and derived from it as a later production. But it is
well known that Pausanias and Diodoros were not exacting as to
proofs of their opinions in regard to the history of art. In this in-
stance, they were deluded by the same outward resemblance which
has been so deceptive in modern times, — a similarity dependent upon
that stiffness of archaic statues common to every primitive art, and
to the attenuation and union of the extremities, which resulted from
the economy of material and labor natural to both countries. But
though, in the beginning of Greek sculpture, certain difficulties of
execution were avoided in the same manner as in Egypt, and the
266 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
material of the carved figures, whether wood or stone, was meted out
as scantily as possible, it does not follow that they were directly
dependent upon the Egyptian works which were influenced by like
considerations.
It is otherwise with the relations between Western Asiatic art
and the early sculpture of Greece. The preceding section has made
it evident that the most prominent characteristics of the Ionic style
were developed from this root, and the influence of Asiatic motives
was as marked in regard to the sculpture as to the architecture of
Hellas. The fully perfected flower, however, but little betrays an
Oriental derivation in either province. The art of Asia Minor and
of Syria had taken an essentially different starting-point from that
of Egypt — one more nearly allied to the Greek point of view. In-
stead of formulating the human figure by a fixed canon after the
manner of the Egyptians, it looked to nature itself, with a decided
realistic tendency. But in its later development, as already shown,
Mesopotamian art went as much too far beyond reality as that of
Egypt had remained behind it ; and the self-sufficiency of the East-
ern despotisms resulted in that utter standstill which checked the
life of art in Assyria, Persia, and Phoenicia. The acquired forms, as
upon the Nile, stiffened into conventional types, with the difference
that those of Egypt took more the character of a written chronicle,
those of Mesopotamia and its dependencies more that of ornament.
Hellenic genius could only remain upon such a low level during its
immaturity ; there are, therefore, almost no traces of direct Asiatic
influence evident in the sculptures of Greece after the most primi-
tive period, although in this it is unmistakable. We may call this
period of development the heroic age, and understand by it the epoch
from the earliest times to the first Olympiad, TJ^ B.C. Even the
native legends concerning the beginning of Greek art point towards
the East. The mythical founders of monumental buildings, the Cy-
clops, to whom were ascribed the oldest stone sculptures, like those
upon the Lions' Gate of Mykenae, came from Lycia. The Dactylae
appear in groups upon the mountains of Phrygia and Crete often
bearing names characteristic of their significance as cunning artisans
— Kelmis, Damnameneus, and Acmon (hammer, tongs, and anvil);
while the Telchinae — Chryson, Argyron, and Chalkon (workers in
WOUU-WOKK. 267
gold, silver, and copper) — inhabited Rhodes. The personification of
various metal-workers in these mythical guilds is unequivocal, and
the attributed locality of their dwellings has a corresponding mean-
ing, pointing to the coasts of Western Asia, where the process of
overlaying wooden carvings with beaten metal was predominant, as
in Phoenicia and the intermediate island of Cyprus. This empaistic
work, of plates shaped upon a model by hammer and punch, presup-
poses the carving of the model itself, without which the creation of
the sphyrelaton was obviously impossible. The gold overlaying of
Solomon's Temple was formed upon reliefs carved in cedar-wood, and
was, perhaps, beaten over them : before the discovery of bronze-cast-
ing, we may conclude this also to have been the case with works of
statuary in the round. The art of sculpture in wood seems to have
been native among the early Greeks; carved idols, xoana, soon ap-
pearing as substitutes for those stones and trunks of trees (Paus. vii.
32), which, provided at times with the attributes of trident, caduceus,
lance, or sceptre, were at first worshipped as divine symbols. These
were frequently so old that no account could be given of their ori-
gin, and they were consequently said to have fallen from the skies.
It is difficult adequately to conceive the rudeness of these most an-
cient xoana. The arms were not at all separated from the body, and
were indicated only in as far as was necessary to attach to them
characteristic attributes, like the garment and spindle in one hand,
and the lance in the other, of the Trojan Athene described by Ho-
mer. The sacred figure was frequently quite covered with real doll-
like clothing, as is the Virgin or the Bambino in many modern places
of pilgrimage provided by the Roman Catholic Church. The difficul-
ty of representing the hair of these pupptts appears, from the later
treatment of the heads in marble, as seen in the Apollo of Tenea, to
have been evaded by the use of a woolly covering like a wig. The want
of definition in the faces is evident from the statement that some
xoana had closed eyes. This is not to be explained by the pious leg-
ends of antiquity that the image had refused to look upon some deed
of sacrilege, — such, for instance, as the rape of Cassandra, — but by the
fact that the eye was indicated only by a horizontal painted line. It
was from such rude figures that Daidalos advanced. It was not only
said that he was the inventor of various instruments for wood-work-
268 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
ing, such as the axe, saw, auger, and plummet ; but certain improve-
ments in the shaping of the statues were also ascribed to him, such
as the opening — that is to say, the formation — of the eye, and the sep-
arating of feet, as if in the act of stepping. The progress cannot, in
fact, have been great. The traditional account that the images had
to be bound after the freeing of their legs, to prevent their running
away, must not lead us to imagine an ideal perfection, or, indeed, any-
striking resemblance to life. The classical authorities who knew the
works attributed to Daidalos say, indeed, that they were " wonderful
to look upon," and that "the master would have made himself ridic-
ulous by such works in our day." The personality of Daidalos is
hardly better assured than that of the mythical workers in metal,
the Dactylae and Telchinae ; the name itself, signifying the cunning
workman, is nothing else than a personification of artistic skill, a col-
lective term for all primitive skill and activity in wood-carving. As
this had developed from handiwork, the legend calls the father of
Daidalos, Palamaon, the contriver, or Eupalamos, the skilful artisan.
The travels which Daidalos is said to have made from Athens to
Crete, Sicily, Thebes, Pisa, Egypt, etc., merely result from the ap-
pearance of so-called Daidalian works in those places. In the time
of Homer, the ninth century B.C., these images were already regarded
as of great age; so that the period of the beginning of Greek sculpt-
ure must be at least as remote as the tenth century B.C. The one
statue directly mentioned in the Iliad, the sitting Athene at Troy,
upon whose knees the Trojan women laid a garment, appeared to
the author of the Homeric epics to be a work in the manner of Dai-
dalos. If another passage (Iliad, i. 14) may be understood as refer-
ring to an image of Apollo, this must, like the Athene, have been at
least partially covered with real clothing. Such figures were also
overlaid with metal ; it is not to be doubted that the gold and silver
dogs, and the youthful torch-bearers of gold, in the Palace of Alkinoos
were carved models of wood covered with beaten plate. The em-
paistic process, native to Phoenician countries, was early imitated in
heroic Greece. Though the island of the Phaeacians was idealized
by the fancy of the poet, he yet cannot be supposed to have invent-
ed new technical processes in an account which was to be generally
intelligible. It seems, however, that sculptural art had no great
METAL- WORK. 260
range during the heroic ages ; perhaps the works overlaid with beaten
metal, which were known to Homer, may have been the results of
an accidental and superficial knowledge gained by intercourse with
the Oriental peoples inhabiting the coasts of Western Asia.
The manufacture of furniture and smaller decorative objects was
probably more important. Homer was acquainted with the use
of the lathe ; while relief-carving in wood, and inlaying of metal, ivory,
and amber, were early practised. The latter process can also be re-
ferred to Phoenician influence, in consideration both of the mate-
rials employed and of historical analogy. Even kings busied them-
selves with such handiwork, as the building of his nuptial couch by
Odysseus proves ; and royal ladies, such as Penelope, Andromache,
and Helen, embroidered and wove elaborate textures. Professional
workmen are also mentioned : Icmalios was the maker of Penelope's
seat ; and some productions of this nature, like the chest of Kypselos,
were as late as the beginning of the historical ages of Greece. Sculpt-
ured utensils of metal, vessels, tripods, and weapons, are particularly
and distinctly described in the Homeric epics. The jars and vases
described as *' embossed with flowers " may be imagined as decorated
with wreaths, like those found in Assyria and on Cyprus, and as simi-
lar to the early Italian bronzes. Cups with knobs (Iliad, xi. 633) were
discovered in the excavations at Nineveh ; conventionalized animals,
serpents and birds (Iliad, xi. 17 and 634 ; Odyssey, xi. 610, and xix.
227), are to be found upon many primitive vases, and may be sup-
posed to have existed as handles to vessels as well as upon clasps,
sword-belts, and armor. References to the Asiatic derivation of the
bronze-works known in prehistoric Greece are given by Homer, who
mentions craters from Sidon and a Cyprian coat of mail. The shields
were especially rich, being formed by several thin plates of metal
secured one over the other ; every disk was of greater circumference
than that above it, only a narrow concentric rim of each thus remain-
ing visible. The inner circle alone upon the comparatively simple
shield of Agamemnon (Iliad, xi. 32) was ornamented with sculpture,
in this case a Gorgoneion, the outer edges being provided with ten
knobs of tin ; upon the handle was a three-headed dragon. The
shield of Achilles (Iliad, xviii. 468) was wonderfully elaborate, and, as
the work of Hephaistos, probably exceeded by far the ordinary orna-
2'jo HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
mentation of heroic arms ; but it does not, on this account, give less
reliable information concerning the general form and nature of pre-
historic armor. Five layers of metal were superimposed, — two of
bronze, two of tin, perhaps alternating, that in the centre being of
gold ; four rings were thus formed around the inner circle, each cov-
ered with rich sculptural decoration. Symbols of earth, sea, and sky,
with the sun, moon, and stars, were within the golden di.sk. Upon
one side of the first concentric band was shown a city in time of
peace, with a wedding procession and a court of justice ; upon the
other a besieged city, with a sally of the defenders and a general
engagement. Upon the second ring were the four seasons, indicated
by ploughing, harvesting, the vintage, and by a herd of peacefully
grazing cattle attacked by lions. A harvest dance of youths and
maidens, before whom was a singer with a harp, decorated the third
ring ; while the fourth and outermost, probably narrower than the
others, was ornamented by waves representing the sea, which, accord-
ing to the conception of the ancients, surrounded the circular land
of the earth. The figures were cut from thin sheets of different
metals, and were riveted to the ground ; it is uncertain whether
these were first beaten to a relief, or were left flat, giving the effect
of a silhouette. The metals were naturally chosen of colors differ-
ent from that of the band to which they were affixed, and the treat-
ment, in principle, thus somewhat approached the art of painting.
The ground and the vineyards, in the pictures of the seasons, were
of gold, yet " the grapes shone blackish ;" the poles appear to have
been of silver, the trenches of iron, and the hedges of tin, while upon
the dancers " hung golden daggers upon silver straps." Such em-
paistic work must have been more closely related to surfaces of in-
laid metal upon wooden forms than to the statuesque Phoenician
.sphyrelaton. Homer's account of the shield of Achilles should be
considered not from a technical, but from an artistic, point of view.
The vivid description is, of course, due altogether to poetical license ;
but we may well believe that subjects like the harvest dances, festive
processions, warlike scenes, symbols of the seasons, etc., may have
been attempted upon utensils and weapons, though in a more simple
and decorative manner, their object not being an artistic .setting-
forth of details, but an intelligible indication of the whole. With
THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES.
271
what limited means this is possible is proved by Egyptian coilana-
glyphics, Assyrian reliefs, and the paintings upon Greek vases of the
most primitive style. {Fig. 187.) The artist of the heroic age cut
his figures from thin sheets of metal, just as children snip paper, and
set them together upon the background, filling up the intervening
spaces as best he might with ornaments and names. Direct Orien-
Fig. 187. — Cover of Dodwell's Vase, in Munich. Full size.
tal models were hardly needed for this ; but it is probable that, as in
the sphyrelaton, the influence of Asia Minor was felt : the conven-
tional character of the types painted upon the oldest Greek vases
bears distinct evidence of a Phoenician impulse. There was little
that was artistic in the details of such early decorations, but all the
more in the conception as a whole : the manner of expression was
weak, but the thought was admirable. Figures appear upon As-
272 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
Syrian sculptures, so similar to those described by the poet that by
their help one might almost reconstruct the Homeric shield ; in
Mesopotamia, however, the representations lacked unity in the fun-
damental conception, they were not well grouped in the given space,
and appear, as Brunn says, like a chronicle written in figures when
compared with such a poem as the artistic compositions, made up,
perhaps, of the same elements, described by Homer. The pseudo-
Hesiodic shield of Heracles resembled that of Achilles, the chief dif-
ference in outward form being that the three inner of the five cir-
cular layers were bordered upon the outer edges by narrow rings of
steel. The middle plate was decorated with the head of Phoibos,
encircled by twelve serpents like a Gorgon. The next band dis-
played a warlike scene and one of peace : the combat of the Lapithae
and Centaurs in one half, and Apollo among the Muses in the other.
The third had a like contrast between a besieged and a peaceful
city, similar in composition to those upon the shield of Achilles ;
while the fourth was also a representation of the seasons, chiefly dis-
tinguished from those of Homer by the substitution of a hare-hunt
as the symbol of winter. The reliefs upon the four narrow steel
rings must have differed in action from the larger groups ; in the
latter the radial lines of the upright figures prevailed, in the for-
mer a contrary movement was predominant. On the innermost
steel ring boars and lions moved concentrically around the shield ;
upon the next following was an arm of the sea, over which flew
Perseus, pursued by the Gorgons. The third was a chariot-race at
full speed ; and upon the outer rim were conventionalized waves,
with fishes and swans, forming an ornamental band similar to the
border of the Homeric shield.
Our knowledge of the sculptural activity of Greece in the he-
roic ages has, up to the most recent times, been derived almost
entirely from the poets, whose idealized descriptions are supported,
in regard to form, only by the analogy of Assyrian reliefs and the
paintings upon archaic vases. Works of a primitive period have,
indeed, not been entirely wanting ; but it being impossible to date
them, they lend no aid to an historical consideration. The deriva-
tion and age of only two are assured, and the characteristic forms
of one of these — the Niobe upon Mt. Sipylos, near Magnesia, men-
STONE-WORK. 273
tioned in the Iliad, xxiv. 613 — are entirely obliterated. It is so
rudely executed, or so weather-beaten, that even in antiquity it
appeared to Pausanias, even when seen from the immediate vicini-
ty, as but a shapeless rock, in which the human figure was scarcely
to be recognized, while, at a distance, it resembled a woman bowed
down with grief and weeping. The account has been verified in re-
cent times by the discovery of a rock-cut relief of three times the
size of life, so disintegrated that satisfactory drawings of its human
Fig. 188. — Relief from the Gate of the Lions at Mykenae.
forms could not be made. This renders the other pre - Homeric
monument, the most ancient known sculpture of Greece and of Eu-
rope, all the more important — namely, the relief over the gate of
Mykenae, called by the poet that of the Lions — the chief portal of
the fortress of the Atridae, the witness of the departure of Agamem-
non for the Trojan war, and of the downfall of his house on his re-
turn. {Figs. 188 and 126.) The structure has been already described
from an architectural point of view. The relief upon the slab which
closes the triangle above the lintel represents two lions standing
274 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
upright upon either side of a column ; their heads, turned outward,
were separate pieces, fastened with dowels to the background, and
have disappeared. The designation of these animals need not be
deemed erroneous because they have no manes. Pausanias speaks
of them as lions (though this in itself may not be of great weight),
and in the Phoenician examples of beaten metal-work, as in the ar-
chaic paintings upon Greek vases, the indication of hair is always
wanting. The Asiatic influence which, in architectural respects, had
made itself felt upon the Tholos of Atreus, must be acknowledged
here also ; thus alone is it possible to account for a peculiar model-
ling of the forms, entirely foreign to sculpture in stone. The resem-
blance of these lions to the animal figures of Assyria is readily rec-
ognizable ; it is the same resemblance as that which the art industry
of the Syrian coasts showed to that of Mesopotamia. The Phoenician
tradespeople, themselves skilled in many novel technical processes,
formred the medium between the cultured countries upon the Tigris
and the ^gean Sea. The Lycian Cyclops had also borrowed from
these neighbors, and to them was traditionally attributed this won-
derful stone carving at Mykenae, a work which, from all appearance,
was an isolated attempt. Such sculptures could not become national
and native so long as the requirements of the heroic Greeks were
satisfied with the mere decoration of useful objects. The impulse
towards monumental art seems first to have been awakened with
the introduction of the columnar temple. Schliemann's excavations
upon the Acropolis of Mykenae in 1876 have brought to light some
few works of sculpture which deserve to be considered. Prominent
among them are the memorial stones, two of which are shown in Fig.
189. They are remarkable for a naive primitiveness of conception
and the desire to display the subject chosen as distinctly as possible.
A vigorous action and a certain observation of nature are not lack-
ing, though the forms are incorrect, both in general effect and in de-
tail. The similarity of these works to Asiatic sculptures is marked ;
but no trace of Egyptian influence is to be recognized in the atten-
uated figures. The same derivation is evident in the spiral orna-
ments, which closely resemble those upon the facade of the Tholos
of Atreus, and upon Phoenician and Cyprian remains. All the re-
liefs imply models of beaten metal, and lend further support to the
TOMBSTONES. 27?
hypothesis which connects the heroic age of Greece with the civili-
zation of Western Asia, through the medium of Phoenician traders.
The golden masks found in the graves are not less interesting,
whether the assignment of these to the Homeric worthies — Aga-
memnon, Eurymedon, etc. — be accepted or not. {Fig. 190.) It is
at least certain that they are memorials of the heroic age, and the
great quantities of gold found in the sepulchres make it probable
that they appertained to a royal race, and were buried at a time
when the prosperity of Mykense was great and its power extensive.
Fig. 189. — Steles from the Acropolis of Mykenae.
The masks, like the grave-stones, are formed with the helpless real-
ism peculiar to the art of Western Asia, and entirely foreign to that
of Egypt. It is easy to believe that they were imported directly
from Phoenicia. This must certainly have been the case with the
beautifully executed ornaments o^cold — disks, diadems, stars, etc. —
the beaten workmanship of which isN^f a perfection only possible to
trained and practised manufacturers. The spirals and other linear
designs are executed with exceeding accuracy, by peculiar instru-
ments. Their motives are taken from the animal and vegetable
world, from cuttle-fishes, butterflies, and various forms of leaves
276 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
and flowers. It is certain that the perforated cylinders, cut, like gems,
in intaglio, with scenes of war and hunting, were introduced directly
from Asia; they are strikingly similar to the rolling seals of carne-
lian and agate found in Mesopotamia. A small model of a temple
is peculiarly Phoenician, like that repeated upon Paphian coins.
During the first two historical centuries, after the commencement
of reckoning time by Olympiads, the direction of activity in art ap-
pears to have changed but little. Sculpture, represented by guilds,
or families, of handicraftsmen in Athens, Argos, and Sikyon, remain-
ed little else than decoration, though, at least in the selection of sub-
jects, it opened for it-
self new fields. In the
heroic ages the scenes
were limited to the
most immediate reali-
ties; but, after the Ho-
meric epics had be-
come the property of
the nation, the pictu-
resque treasures of
many legends became
available. Arctinos of
Miletos, in the middle
of the eighth century,
and, somewhat later,
Fig. i90.-Golden Mask from Mykenae. LeschesofLesbos,
continuing the Iliad, sang of the downfall of Troy. Stasimos
of Cyprus chose preceding events as his theme ; while the myths
of the Seven against Thebes, of the Titanomachia, and of the
exploits of Heracles and Theseus found similar epic illustration.
These poems not only provided the subjects for sculpture, but de-
scribed them with plastic vividness. This is shown by the two
chief works of this period, — the Chest of Kypselos and the Throne
of Apollo at Amyclae. The first was an oblong shrine of cedar-
wood, which Kypselos, tyrant of Corinth, consecrated in the He-
raion of Olympia, in memory of his preservation as a child, when,
hidden in a fruit-box, he had escaped from the persecution of the
DECORATIVE WORK. 277
Bacchiadx. This chest, either upon three sides — the fourth stand-
ing against the wall — or upon the long Iron: side alone, was orna-
mented with carvings, in five bands, one over the other, probably of
unequal height. The reliefs, partly inlaid with ivory and gold, must
have been of a workmanship similar to that customary in the he-
roic ages. The uncommonly rich and varied representations, almost
exclusively mythological and heroic, were taken from the before-
mentioned cyclic poems (Pausanias, v. 17 to 19). The figures ap-
pear to have somewhat resembled in style those upon the Vase of
Clitias and Ergotimos in Florence {Fig. 191), which, on account of
its banded, arrangement and the similarity of its mythical subject,
deserves, rather than the cover of Dodwell's vase given above {Fig.
Fig. 191. — From the Vase of Clitias and Ergotimos.
187), to be compared to the Chest of Kypselos. The Throne of
Apollo at Amyclae, near Sparta, has been connected with the name
of one of the oldest artists known, Bathycles of Magnesia, who lived
half a century later than the maker of the Chest of Kypselos. This
throne also has been minutely described by Pausanias (iii. 18 to 19).
In regard to its sculptured decoration, his account of its construc-
tion is unintelligible ; it is only clear that the framework was co-
lossal, and that the ancient doll-like image stood within it, without
any seat. Not less than forty-one scenes, besides the larger compo-
sitions upon the pedestal of the statue, covered the outer and inner
sides of the throne with carvings in low -relief, similar in style to
those of the Chest of Kypselos. Upon the legs in full, or at least
in three-quarter, relief were figures of the Graces, the Hours, Tri-
278 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
tons, etc. ; upon the back were portraits of the master and of his
Magnesian assistants, besides sphinxes, panthers, and lions.
These works were still chiefly of a decorative character. Monu-
mental sculpture had not yet freed itself from the trammels of inad-
equately developed technical processes. So long as the artisan had
no choice other than the sphyrelaton and the xoanon, a material
foundation was wanting for the development of an independently
artistic sculpture. Even when isolated works of a higher order
were attempted, as in the colossal Zeus, of beaten gold-plate over
a wooden form, dedicated in Olympia by Kypselos or his son Peri-
ander, they can be considered, like the other sphyrelata of this and
of the heroic age, only as figures of great material value but of littie
artistic importance. Want of skill in execution favored that clinging
to old honored types of devotional figures inherent in the nature of
all religions. These influences stood in such close, interchangeable
relations that it is impossible to say whether, in the province of
sculptured images, the slowness of progress should be placed more
to the account of religious prejudices and the difficulties thrown in
the way of all change by hieratic institutions, or of the technical
limitations of doll-like xoana and sphyrelata.
New mechanical acquirements were needed for the furtherance
of the art. Three great discoveries, or, to speak more correctly, the
extended application of known processes, date from the beginning
of the sixth century B.C. : the casting of bronze, the sculpture of
marble, and chryselephantine work (the inlaying of gold and ivory
upon a wooden kernel). Each of these had its gradual development,
at least the first and the last being furthered by auxiliary inven-
tions. It was indispensable for the casting of bronze that model-
ling in clay should have attained a certain perfection. The name
of the Sikyonian potter Boutades is connected with the introduc-
tion of this branch of art ; it appears to have been in the middle of
the seventh century B.C. that he ornamented the acroteria and an-
tefixes of the temple roof, first with low-relief (prostypon) and then
with high-relief (ectypon). He also left a portrait panel in terra-
cotta, shown in the Nymphaion of Corinth until the destruction of
that city as the first work of its kind. In connection with it was
told the pleasing anecdote that the daughter of Boutades, in taking
MODELLING IN CLAY. 379
leave of her lover, sketched his shadow upon the wall with char-
coal, the father afterwards filling out the outline with clay and burn-
ing the relief thus produced. Neither of these accounts are of great
direct value, but that a potter could achieve a lasting reputation as
an artist may perhaps show that modelling in clay had already made
essential progress, and thus prepared the way for brass- founding,
which requires an original and mould of this more plastic material.
The discovery of soldering was also not without significance ; it
formed, in metal work, a connecting link between the riveting of
the sphyrelaton and casting, even indispensable to larger statues of
the latter process, which, at least in the beginning, were executed in
pieces. Soldering seems first to have been employed upon iron.
Glaucos of Chios attained great results by this means, and attracted
general attention to it in the seventh century B.C. His iron crater-
stand, dedicated at Delphi by Alyattes, was an elaborate work, orna-
mented upon the legs and clasps with sculptured animals and plants.
The way was thus prepared for monumental bronze-founding,
which was not, indeed, discovered by the Samians Rhoicos and The-
odoros, the sons of Phileas and Telecles, to whom it was attributed
by antiquity, — for, as has been seen, it was practised by the Phoe-
nicians,— but was by them first introduced into Greek art. The dates
assigned to their epoch vary from the beginning of the seventh to
the middle of the sixth century B.C. ; but it is the more reasonable
to place them, with Brunn, at the close of this period, without suppos-
ing that there were two masters by the name of Theodores, a father
and a son. The innovation probably began with the solid casting
of smaller works, but whether Rhoicos and Theodores were limited
to this is at least doubtful. Economy of material and the lessening
of weight in figures of great dimensions must soon have led to hol-
low casting upon a fire-proof kernel ; it is possible that it was this
very progress that made the two artists celebrated as discoverers.
The development of their technical improvements seems at first to
have impaired the artistic aspects of the works ; Pausanias says of
a female statue by Rhoicos, probably in the Temple of Artemis at
Ephesos, that it was even more archaic and rude than a figure of
Athene in Amphissa which was there held to be Trojan. That the
two Samians also practised in beaten metal work is clear from the
28o HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
colossal silver mixing-vessel, containing six hundred amphoras (about
200,000 litres), executed by Theodoros and dedicated at Delphi by
Croesus, from a golden vine with grapes of mounted jewels, and a
golden plane-tree in the possession of the Persian kings ; the latter
works remind us of examples of similar workmanship in the As-
syrian palaces, the existence of which has been proved by the frag-
ments of palms in gold-plate, lately found by Place upon a portal in
the palace of Sargon, at Corsabad. If Theodoros worked thus ex-
tensively in the precious metals, it is not surprising that he pro-
duced such small toreutic objects as those indicated by the legend
of the ring of Polycrates, ascribed to him, and the fabulous portrait
statue of a man, with a quadriga in his hand which a fly might
have covered with its wings.
A still more brilliant future was open to the second innovation,
that of sculpture in marble. Chios was the birthplace of Hellenic
marble statuary, as Samos had been of bronze-casting. Coarse stone
had been employed from the earliest times, in isolated instances like
the relief over the Gate of the Lions at Mykenae, for figures and
for small images ; and the introduction of marble statuary was older
than bronze-founding, for Melas, ancestor of a long race of sculptors
in Chios, lived about the middle of the seventh century B.C. Of
Melas himself and his son Mickiades little except the names are
known ; an artist of the third generation, Achermos, could venture
to represent a winged Victory, yet even he was surpassed by his
sons Boupalos and Athenis. It is evident, from several notices, that
marble sculpture flourished greatly under these latter, who, living
about 540 B.C., had become very particular in the choice of material
— using only the fine-grained and translucent Parian lychnites. No
one venturing to dispute their precedence, they could place upon
their sculptures, exhibited in Delos, the self-conscious inscription :
" Chios is celebrated, not alone for its vineyards, but for the works
of the sons of Achermos." Numerous works by them are mentioned
by ancient visitors, being collected in later times by princely dilet-
tanti. Augustus employed such sculptures upon the exterior of
many of his buildings, notably in the gable of the Palatine temple
of Apollo ; he had an especial and, as it appears, a not ill-founded
liking for them, and these works could not have been a disfigure-
MARBLE WORK. 28 1
mcnt, even to the universal magnificence of imperial Rome. An
explanation of this marked advance at so early a date is given by
this very fancy of Augustus : the works thus architecturally utilized
could not have been devotional images of the deities ; they must have
been decorative sculptures. The former class, from reasons already
touched upon, were hindered in artistic progress ; the latter being
beyond the jurisdiction of hieratic institutions, developed untram-
melled. It was only in ornamental figures that the assiduous and
talented sculptors of early times found free scope, and it was fortu-
nate that the demand for these architectural and decorative works
must naturally have been greater than for the more rare devotional
images, which were piously transferred from the older sanctuaries to
the new buildings which took their place. The gable groups of
iEgina show how unequally art advanced in these different and dis-
tinct fields.
During the time of Boupalos and Athenis, art began to flourish
in other places than Chios. First in Sikyon, with the two Cretans
Dipoinos and Skyllis, who may have been even older than the last
Chian masters. They were called, it seems, to Sikyon, and there
chiefly employed their energies in founding a school, changing at
times the site of their labors to Argos, Cleonae, and Ambrakia. Like
the masters of Chios, they chiefly employed the marble of Paros, and
it appears, from the accounts of a group representing Apollo, Ar-
temis, Athene, and Heracles, that they too sought their fame less 'in
devotional images for the interior of temples than in monumental
compositions for architectural ornament. Although these Cretan
sculptors, according to the testimony of Pliny, acquired great ce-
lebrity in marble working, they are more important as the founders
of the third among the statuesque arts above mentioned — that
process of gold and ivory overlaying which culminated in the great-
est masterpieces of Pheidias. It seems to have originated from the
native xoana of early times, by transferring the inlaid decoration
observed upon the furniture of the heroic ages to sculpture in the
round. It developed in plainly distinguishable stages. Dipoinos
and Skyllis still only in part covered the carved core of wood, and
restricted this overlaying to ivory. This is illustrated by the ac-
counts of a group of the mounted Dioscuri, with their mistresses
282 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
Hilasia and Phoebe, and their sons Anaxis and Mnasinos, in the
Temple of the Isius at Argos, which was cut out of common wood
and ebony, the former being covered with ivory. Statues were made
by Hegylos and his son Theocles, scholars of Dipoinos and Skyllis,
for the treasure-house of the Epidamnians in Olympia, which repre-
sented Heracles with the Nymphs of the Hesperides, and Atlas
bearing the heavenly globe ; Pausanias describes this work as cut
from cedar-wood, and the serpent and the tree with the golden ap-
ples of the Hesperides must certainly have required the inlaying of
gold, if not of ivory. The author particularly mentions the employ-
ment of gold upon another group : the struggle of Heracles with
Acheloos for Deianeira, the v/ork of Donycleidas and Dontas of
Lacedaemonia, also scholars of the Cretan masters. The perfection
of the chryselephantine process seems early to have been obtained,
the wood, before in great part visible, was by the latter artists used
only as a kernel, being completely covered with ivory and gold.
This was, at least, the case with the Themis of Donycleidas in the
Temple of Hera at Olympia. That Pausanias considers these statues
extremely archaic must be understood as a relative judgment ; it is
to be borne in mind that works by which a new process is intro-
duced are always of a primitive and imperfect appearance, if not
artistically backward. A sphyrelaton of beaten copper-plates riveted
together was still possible to this school, for a figure of Athene
Chalkioicos at Sparta was the work of Clearchos of Rhegion, a mem-
ber of this guild. The sphyrelaton was, indeed, nearly related to
chryselephantine work which was virtually a combination of the
sphyrelaton with the ancient xoanon. The iEginetan Smilis, of
this group of scholars, was celebrated as the first great artist of his
island. His connection with the Cretans is more certain than with
the later sculptors of .^gina ; if he should prove to be older than
the native Sikyonian masters, as has recently been asserted, this
would add another site to the primitive schools of Greek art.
The history of sculpture, drawn from the remarks of ancient writ-
ers, would bear only upon the development of these technical proc-
esses, and would give but little information concerning the style of
this period, if it were not possible to compare their accounts with
several ancient monuments which by great good-fortune have been
LOCAL STYLES. 283
preserved to our own time. But it is necessary here not to over-
look one point which is frequently lost sight of altogether — name-
ly, the local differences betrayed by works of one or the same epoch.
Examples of archaic stone sculpture are presented by European
Greece, by the Hellenic colonies of the East in Asia Minor, and by
those of the West in Sicily, which show the two latter provinces to
have followed a somewhat different course of artistic development,
and even the works of the Peloponnesos early to have betrayed
considerable variations, in conception and in principle, from those
of the more northern tracts of the Continent. Among the provincial
monuments, the first to be noted, because the oldest known, are the
metope reliefs upon the middle temple of the Acropolis of Selinous
in Sicily. The city was founded about 628 B.C., and, though this
temple may not have been the first built in the new colony, it must
be considered as dating at least from the first half of the sixth cen-
tury. Among numerous fragments of the metope sculptures two
tablets have been preserved almost uninjured which are of the
greatest value from the plainness with which they express both the
artistic advance and the imperfections of this early age. It would
be a mistake, however, to see in them representatives of the sculpt-
ural style of Greece proper, for they betray in many respects the pe-
culiar influences of Sicilian Doric. In as far as the artistic under-
standing of the works permitted, they evince a fresh and sound nat-
uralism, and a careful observation of the living model. But this did
not extend beyond the more independent members; while arms and
legs, hands and feet, are relatively excellent, the body and head are
disagreeably heavy, rude, and ill-proportioned. This contrast is par-
ticularly noticeable in that of the two reliefs which represent Her-
acles carrying upon his bow the two Kercopes. The more success-
ful modelling of the details of the limbs shows it to have been the
work of an abler artist than the other {Fig. 192), where Perseus, in the
presence of Athene, cuts off" the head of Medusa. The deity, with
naive helplessness, turns her right foot sideways, though otherwise
facing entirely towards the front ; the insufficient depth rendered
it impossible otherwise to give the foot its full length, and the
artist was perhaps withheld from a more correct form by an un-
conscious dependence upon the more familiar style of low relief.
284
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
The left leg of the Medusa appears, on account of the confining
frame, too short by half, and the little Pegasos stands upon long,
kangaroo-like hinder legs, in order that the body may come within
reach of the arm of Medusa. Yet the weakness of the transition
from the front view of the upper body to the profile of the legs is
Fig. 192. — Metope Relief from the Middle Temple of the Acropolis of Selinous.
less striking than in the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, and both
Perseus and Heracles are wholly free from that typical petrifaction
which characterized the art of the Nile and of the Tigris. In spite
of the first impression made by the monstrous and disproportioned
figures, these works have, with all their imperfections, the peculiai
charm of earnest effort, which is the guarantee of ultimate success.
ASIA MINOR. 28;
The most ancient Hellenic sculptures of Asia Minor do not
show the same self-reliance and direct study of nature. There the
influence of Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and even of Egypt
was so strongly felt that art could not remain wholly free from
canonical tendencies, and did not develop simply and directly from
natural models. The sitting colossal statues which flanked the
sacred way from the port of Panormos to the Temple of Apollo
Didymaios near Miletos, and, according to the characters of the in-
^g- *93- — Statues from Miletos. British Museum.
scriptions, date from about 540 B.C., show the naturalistic elements
of Greek work in the treatment of the bodies, and especially in the
garments, with their scanty but correct folds ; though it is not to
be denied that the arrangement in rows like the avenues of sphinxes,
and the enthroned, Memnon-like position of the priests and priest-
esses betray reminiscences of Egyptian conceptions, — while the
fulness of the bodies and the technical details of the seats are more
similar to the traditional forms of Assyria and Phoenicia. The
Asiatic influence is still more evident in the epistyle and metope
286
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
reliefs of the remarkable Doric temple at Assos, now in the Louvre ;
though the rudeness of their forms may be in part owing to the loss
of the stucco coating with which the coarse and excessively hard
stone was doubtless overlayed and in which many of the finer de-
tails may have been executed. A similarity to the beaten work of
metal plate peculiar to Phoenicia is easily recognizable, and reliefs
analogous in style, and even in subject, to the sculptures of Assos are
offered by the Etruscan bronze-
work of a chariot found in Peru-
gia, now in the Munich Glyptothek.
A number of sculptures found
in various parts of European Greece
are wholly different from these pro-
vincial works. Chief among them
are entirely nude youthful figures
standing in a stiff position, the arms
hanging close to the body, and the
legs separated — the left being gen-
erally a little advanced ; the head,
with receding brow, is slightly in-
clined, and looks directly forward ;
the eyes are large and protruding ;
the smiling mouth drawn outward
at the corners; while the wig-like
hair falls low over the shoulders.
They are commonly designated as
statues of Apollo, although the
want of all attributes, such as were
so universally employed by primi-
tive art for the figures of deities,
and which were so necessary for their characterization, makes this
more than uncertain. Moreover, according to Plutarch, a Delian
statue of Apollo, the work of Tectaios and Angelion, teachers of the
-^ginetan Gallon, and consequently of this period, showed the god
with outstretched hands ; a position which was typical in early an-
tiquity, and seems long to have been retained, as in the Milesian
Apollo of Canachos, and the small bronze figure in the Louvre. The
Fig. 194. — Apollo of Thera.
AlHLETES. 287
supposition appears plausible that these figures are those of victors
in the national ga»nes of Greece ; such votive offerings are known to
have been carved of wood in the earliest times, but, after 560 B.C.,
they appear to have been of stone, like that of Arrhachion in Phiga-
lia, described by Pausanias (viii. 40). The Apollo of Thera, now in
Athens {Fig. 194), is one of the more ancient of these works ; the
soft and yet not voluptuous forms of the body, the beauty of outline,
united with an evident uncertainty, do not denote a later phase of
artistic development than the hard sharpness and strict conven-
tionalism of the greater number of archaic statues. The beginning
of this discipline is shown by the Apollo of Tenea, now at Munich, in
which there is but little grace and artistic
beauty, but all the more an earnest striv-
ing after close correctness of modelling,
which is more successfully attained in the
limbs than in the trunk. Of this epoch,
and similar in style, though approaching
more nearly to the Apollo of Thera, are
the marble statues of Orchomenos, pre-
served only to the knees, and the torsos of
Megara and Naxos, now in Athens. The
more ancient sculptures found in Greece
proper are less antique in style than the
sculptures and reliefs already mentioned,
with the exception of some marble steles
from Sparta, the most important of which represents upon the one
side the meeting of Orestes and Iphigenia, upon the other the mur-
der of Clytaimnestra {Fig. 195). The rude, short figures are some-
what similar to those in the metopes of the middle temple upon
the Acropolis of Selinous. This excessive heaviness and awkward-
ness appears almost entirely overcome in the stele of Aristion, found
in northern Attica, and now in Athens. The low relief {Fig. 196),
designated as the work of Aristocles, represents a man armed as a
hoplite, and is similar, in many important respects, to the Apollo of
Tenea, though a decided advance beyond that work. The Attic re-
lief of a woman mounting a chariot, notwithstanding a primitive
harshness of form, shows, in the graceful drapery, the inclination of
Fig. 195. — Archaic Relief from
Sparta.
288
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
the head and the position of the arms, as well as in the greater cer-
tainty of the drawing, qualities which cannot be ascribed exclusively
to the superior perception of the inhabitants of Attica, but must be
due, at least in part, to a later and more advanced stage of develop-
ment. With these works may be compared
the so-called Leucothea relief in the Villa Al-
bani, which does not, indeed, equal them in com-
position, but is superior in grace of bearing and
beauty of detail. Another sculpture represents
the bringing of a child to a female figure seated
upon a throne, perhaps the dead mother, and
is similar in subject to the celebrated reliefs
of the Monument of the Harpies at Xanthos,
now in the British Museum, where the Harpies
bear children or souls to the deities of the
lower world. The former, by greater fulness
and softness, as also by less clearness and un-
derstanding in the general treatment, seems to
precede the latter in point of time, dating from
the period between the Milesian colossal fig-
ures and the Attic reliefs described, that is to
say, from 520 to 500 B.C.
The older metopes of Selinous, the statues
of Miletos, the reliefs of Assos, and even the
so-called figures of Apollo from Thera, Naxos,
Orchomenos, and Tenea, betray great looseness
and uncertainty of form ; like the productions of
every period of experiment, they give no evi-
dence of systematical and accepted principles —
the canonical establishment of a certain degree
of perfection. In the subsequent period there
Fig. 196.— Stele of Aristion, was, in various cities, an earnest endeavor to
by Aristocles.
make an end to this want of training by thor-
ough and academic discipline. These efforts could not, in Greece,
result in that typical lifelessness, that faulty execution and man-
nerism, universal in Egypt and the despotic lands of the East,
which operated against all direct study of nature ; but, by the com-
ATHENS. 289
bination of individual observations and improvements, they increased
and purified the artistic appreciation, no longer restricting it to de-
tails, to the partial, but directing it to the complete. Athens was
most active in this advance, as is evident from several ancient works
closely related to that of the woman mounting the chariot. The
progress is illustrated by the statue of Athene found upon the north-
ern side of the Athenian Acropolis. A strict treatment of details,
like the aigis, the folds of the garments, the hair, etc., is united to a
considerable understanding of the forms of the body and the func-
tions of the limbs, which are sharply and perhaps a little hardly
modelled ; while the work has in great measure freed itself from the
exactions of conventional symmetry, so markedly exemplified by
the sitting statues of Miletos and the Apollo of Tenea. The figure
of Hermes bearing a calf, found in Athens, is a somewhat similar
work ; its head and hair are hard even to ugliness, but decided abil-
ity is shown in the formation of the back and hams, and in the truth
to nature of the calf, held by the legs and pressed close to the neck.
The progress is not less plain in the bronze statuette of Apollo in
the Louvre, nearly one meter high, with the Greek inscription " to
Athene from the tithes;" provided, indeed, that the period of its
origin is certain, and the work does not belong to the extensive
group of archaistic imitations.
The reliefs from the beginning of the fifth century are similar in
character. That upon a marble fountain-drum from Corinth repre-
sents the meeting of Heracles and Hebe ; it still preserves the sil-
houette-like outline, the small parallel folds and general ornamental
style of the drapery, and the stepping of both feet flatly upon the
soles ; while the unschooled endeavor and evident embarrassment of
the artist does not give an unpleasing expression of awkwardness to
the figures, which have a certain dignity and grace, especially re-
markable in the garments and in the action of the extremities. Here
is attained at last that strict and completed style which has cast off all
loose uncertainty, and has adopted a conventional form for accesso-
ries in order to secure the harmonious execution of the whole. This
is also noticeable upon a relief discovered in Thasos, now in the
Louvre, which, when compared with the before-mentioned Corinthi-
an relief, and with the monument of the Harpies, displays the influ-
19
290
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
ence of the neighboring coasts of northern Asia Minor, together with
a certain picturesqueness of conception pecuHar to northern Greece.
A beautiful stele, found in Orchomenos, the work of Alxenor, an ar-
tist from Naxos, instead of giving to the portrait figure the stiff po-
sition of parade, formerly universal, rep-
resents it with crossed legs, lazily lean-
1^^___^^ ing upon a gnarled stick. The archaic
"""•',/ \ .,r7=^'1t meagreness is, however, still to be seen
L dCn^^k jj^ |.j^g fQj.j^ Qj- ^j^g hand, and in the folds
of the cloak {Fig. 197). The stele from
the Borgia collection, at present in Na-
ples, resembles it in general style. All
n E!^^ \^^^y^\ w\ ^^^ merits and defects of the period are
■S^B^ /^^««^U ' m to be seen also in a number of terra-
cotta reliefs from Melos, not to mention
some small figures in clay and bronze,
for the most part superficially executed,
the clumsiness of which may be ascribed
to the maker's individual want of abil-
ity.
The growth of art in Asia Minor,
Sicily, and Lower Italy, in so far as these
lands were Hellenic, does not appear to
have kept equal pace with that of Greece
proper; yet the intercourse, during the
last decades of the sixth century, was so
active that they could not remain far
behind. The most remarkable examples
of the sculptures of this class, perhaps
of a little later date than the Attic works
described, are the metope reliefs from the
Fig. 197.— Stele by Alxenor, found in Middle Temple of the Eastern Plateau
Orchomenos. ^
at Selinous, representing the gigantoma-
chia, as preserved in scanty fragments. Although the crudeness of
outline and modelling in the bodies of the fallen giants in many
respects recalls the older metopes of the corresponding temple of
the acropolis, the draperies of the goddesses, on the other hand, show
ARCHAISTIC WORK.
291
a skill exceeding in truth and beauty many of the archaic works of
Greece itself. The one remaining head of a giant, wounded and out-
stretched in death {Fig. 198), shows, in spite of the antique hardness in
the form of the face and treatment of the hair, an expression which
could have resulted only from the intelligent study of nature. A
relief from Aricia, now in Palma, upon the island of Mallorca, repre-
senting the murder of iCgisthos by Orestes, is known only through
insufficient representations ; it shows weakness in composition and
inequality in rendering, the garments be-
ing sensibly inferior to the treatment of
the nude.
Before mentioning by name those ar-
tists who carried art beyond this stage of
development, another class of monuments,
numerically very important, should be con-
sidered. It is well known that in all ages
antiquity has had a certain charm, either
as appearing strange and interesting in
comparison with existing circumstances,
or from religious associations. When a
devotional figure, with which many leg-
c.ids have become associated, as is the
case to-day with the altar-pieces of our
churches, was particularly reverenced on
account of its antiquity, there was a de-
sire to preserve its primitive type, even
from recognized improvements. Hence
arose an imitation of the original work,
called archaistic in contradistinction from the archaic, or really
old. This imitative style became fashionable in later times ; while
an amateur with the means of the Emperor Augustus was able to
acquire an original Boupalos or Athenis, other lovers of the antique
were obliged to content themselves with copies, or with works
conventionalized after the manner of the early masters. These
products are not always to be distinguished from the truly archa-
ic, as is also the case with some modern imitations; but usually some
conventional, technical, or circumstantial oversight or anachronism
Fig. 198. — Head from a Metope
of the Middle Temple upon the
Eastern Plateau of Selinous.
292
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
furnishes an easy criterion. There, can be no doubt, for example,
concerning the age of a work of sculpture in which a Roman Co-
rinthian temple stands in the background, as upon a well-known
relief representing Victory filling a cup for Apollo Kitharoidos, who
is followed by Artemis and
Leto. In other cases the
head, hands, or feet, — the ex-
pression or gesture, — or the
step, which in ancient works
characteristically rests upon
both soles, — betray a much
later period than the hard or,
regular folds of the drapery,
as is the case with the Arte-
mis at Naples. {Fig. 199.)
Sometimes the accessories
are of a later style, as in
the ten scenes from the Gi-
gantomachia upon the bor-
der of the garment of Athene
in Dresden ; or, finally, the
drapery upon one figure of
a group is strictly antique,
while that of the others is
free, as upon a tripod of the
same museum, — not to men-
tion other less important in-
consistencies.
An established conven-
tionalism,— that contentment
with the mere handiwork of
acquired forms which existed
Fig. I99.-Archaistic Artemis from Pompeii. ^^^ centuries in the lands of
the Nile and Tigris, — was not possible in the early art of progres-
sive Greece. Upon the foundation of the artistic ability already
attained at this period, various local schools and individual sculp-
tors rose to a higher level, and effected an advance, partly by
THE SCHOOL OF MGINA. 293
opening new channels for the artistic industry of all Hellas, partly
hy purs«iu{j paths which remained peculiar to themselves. Athens
and ,/Egina are especially prominent in this activity ; but, notwith-
standing many scholarly researches, the history of art is not able to
distinguish with certainty between the works of the two cities, an
Attic example analogous to the chief work of the island being
wanting for instructive comparison. The chief difference between
the two may have been that the former school had a less strict and
trained execution than the latter, with more grace of form and nobil-
ity of bearing. Gallon and Onatas were prominent artists of iEgina,
the latter seeming to have been the more celebrated. On account
of the hardness of their work, both were considered inferior to Cala-
mis. Onatas is particularly interesting from our knowledge of two
of his chief sculptures — extensive dedicatory offerings to Olympia
and Delphi, one of which represented the Greeks before Troy, cast-
ing lots to determine upon an opponent for Hector, and the other
the combat over the fallen King of the Tapygians, Opis. The sub-
jects of these works, especially the latter, and the peculiarity em-
phasized by Pausanias that the heroes before Troy were repre-
sented armed only with helmet, spear, and shield, probably to give
scope for the display of the artist's skill in the treatment of the
nude, remind us of the two well-preserved groups from the gables
of the Temple of Athene at JEgina, which, in point of style, must
have been closely allied to those of Onatas. These priceless mar-
bles were discovered in 181 1, and the next year, by a chain of fortu-
nate circumstances, came into the possession of Louis I., then Crown-
prince of Bavaria. Ten of the remaining statues belong to the west-
em gable, and five to the eastern ; the greater part of the former
group is thus preserved, and, as the scenes in both gables are almost
entirely alike, their general arrangement may be restored with rea-
sonable certainty. That over the chief front represents the strug-
gle for a fallen hero, probably Oicles in the contest of Heracles and
the iEginetan Telamon with Laomedon of Troy. In the rear tym-
panon the scene is the recovery of the body of Achilles or of Patro-
clos. Subjects so closely allied could lead to no great difference of
composition, at most to such slight variations as the characterization
of Heracles in the /irst group or of Paris in the second, if this latter
294
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
be considered an episode in which that hero took part. In both ga-
bles the fallen warrior lay at the feet of the protecting Athene {Fig.
200), while on each side, symmetrically disposed, a combatant of
Fig. 200. — Central Figures of the Western Gable, Temple of Athene upon ^gina.
either party endeavors to seize the body and drag it forth from the
fray. Above these stooping figures warriors threaten each other
with lances ; but it is not certain whether there were two or four
THE itGINETAN MARBLES. 295
of these actively engaged. The latter number has been recently as-
sumed from numerous fragmentary remains, which, if appertaining
to the group at all, it is impossible otherwise to locate ; the refuta-
tion of this theory of Lange, which has been attempted by Julius,
does not terminate the vexed question. These warriors were fol-
lowed, according to Brunn's arrangement, by two kneeling lance-
bearers, perhaps protecting the two archers in similar position with
their shields. One of the archers is shown by a leathern cuirass and
the so-called Phrygian cap to be an Oriental, perhaps Paris. With
the exception of Heracles in the eastern gable, who is characterized
by his lion's skin, none of the other combatants are personally dis-
tinguishable. The corners of the triangle are filled by two fallen
warriors. The whole group is thus composed with strict reference
to symmetrical correspondence, and to the conditions imposed by
the gable ; all attempt to attain relative action and realism is aban-
doned, and the impression of a pantomine is inevitable. The out-
lines of the bodies, their position and action, are correct even to the
minutest details, and show a certainty of form and a technical per-
fection, which, in the absence of all support for the bodies, or for the
extreme thinness of the shields, is truly astonishing. The figures
of the eastern gable appear particularly perfect, and are apparently
the works of later sculptors, less limited, in point of style and artis-
tic ability, than the master, or masters, of the western group. If in
the latter, as before remarked, it is natural to think of Onatas, the
former is correspondingly attributable to Calliteles, the son, scholar,
and assistant of Onatas, who worked in great measure like his fa-
ther, but also under the progressive influence of a younger genera-
tion. In remarkable contrast to the excellent and, in formal char-
acterization, almost faultless, anatomical treatment of the bodies,
two things appear particularly important as indicating the limits of
the artistic ability of the time — namely, all the heads and the two
statues of the deity Athene. The former are without ideal beauty
or expression, for which the sculptor evidently felt himself incapa-
ble. He therefore carved the features according to a certain for-
mula, and the apparent smile, resulting from the mouth being drawn
outward and the comers of the eyelids extended, is to be regarded
as a meaningless reminiscence of the older style. The eyes are too
296 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
protruding and the chin too pointed and small, defects of the earlier
practice, not as yet entirely overcome. The Athene shows how ob-
stinately the devotional images were denied the advances made in
other sculptures, so that the traditional and hallowed type might be
preserved, as much as possible, from change. While for the other
statues the artist had before his eyes the living combatants of the
palaistra, his model for this was the sacred image standing within
the temple. The evident contrast between the stiff bearing and
archaic garments of the Athene and the rest of the group is thus
more naturally explained than by the view that, in the artist's con-
ception, the goddess did not need any real action, that a slight lift-
ing of the shield, as a divine " thus far and no farther," was suffi-
cient to show her supernatural power and to protect the fallen. The
awkward turn of the feet, which was owing less to the limitations of
space than to the reminiscence of an antique devotional image, might
the more safely be ventured, because it could not be seen at all from
below. That the sculptor, however, in his loving devotion to his
work, took small advantage of this last consideration, is clear from
the fact that the bodies are as carefully finished upon the back as
upon the front, although one half of this labor could never have
been appreciated from the first installation of the figures until
their discovery among the overthrown ruins and their reception
in the Munich Glyptothek. The effect of the whole was essential-
ly heightened by the bronze accessories, such as lances, belts with
swords, bows, arrows, a Gorgoneion and serpents upon the aigis of
Athene, etc. ; and even more by the intense red, blue, and other col-
ors upon the helmets and waving crests, shields, and borders of
the garments, sandals, and leather- work, as well as by the tint-
ing of the hair, eyes, and lips — all which painting was probably in
strict harmony with the neighboring architectural members, which
were doubtless treated with similar pigments. Of other statues of
archaic stamp only one has proved to be contemporaneous with, and
of the same school as, the gable sculptures of JEgina. — namely, the
so-called Strangford youth in the British Museum. The work is
more closely allied to the statues of the western than to those of
the later eastern gable of the temple ; but, notwithstanding a mark-
ed similarity in the treatment of the torso, the formation of the feat-
ONATAS.
297
ures differs so distinctly that the figure can hardly be ascribed to the
same master. When Pausanias says of Onatas that, although be-
longing to iCgina, he still does not rank him below any contempo-
raneous sculptor of Attica, this summary praise speaks less directly
for the individuality of Onatas than for the decided relative position
of the two schools. It shows that in general the style of yEgina was
esteemed inferior. It may be concluded that there were at least
three Athenian sculptors of this time who surpassed the artists of
Fig. 201. — Harmodios and Aristogeiton. (Copies in Naples.)
the gable groups of the temple upon iEgina, namely, Hegias (He-
gesias), Critios, and Nesiotes, not to mention the somewhat older
Endoios, Antenor, and Amphicrates. Literary notices of their works
do not convey any valuable information ; but Friedrichs has discov-
ered in the sculptures of the Museum of Naples which hitherto had
passed under the name of the Gladiators, copies from one of the best
works of Critios and Nesiotes. {^Fig. 201.) They represent Har-
modios and Aristogeiton, the assassins of the tyrant Hipparchos, — a
298
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
group recognized by an Attic tetradrachm, by the relief ornament-
ing a marble seat at Athens, and by a weaker reproduction now in
the Giardino Boboli at Florence. As copies of this kind do not al-
low definite conclusions concerning the style of celebrated monu-
ments, we must regard in them only
the general composition. They suf
fice, however, to show that the fig-
ures, which are of a free and bold ac-
tion, cannot be referred to the Monu-
ment of Antenor, built as early as 509
B.C. Besides the schools of ./Egina
and Athens, there were at this period
sculptural workshops of good repute
in Sikyon,Argos, Corinth, and Thebes.
As early as the time of the Cretan
Daidalidae Dipoinos and Skyllis, Sik-
yon was one of the chief cities of ar-
tistic industry ; and at the beginning
of the fifth century two celebrated
brothers, Canachos and Aristocles,
stood at the head of a local school
which lasted for seven generations.
The chief work of Canachos, the co-
lossal Apollo of the Branchidae sanct-
uary in Miletos, holding a movable,
probably automatic, stag in the out-
stretched right hand, is known only
by representations upon coins, and by
a bronze statuette in the British Mu-
seum {Fig. 202) ; the latter ."shows that
the master was but little removed
from the archaic hardness of earlier
times, though endeavoring to attain
greater power and nobility of form, particularly in the head and
features. Another colossal Apollo by Canachos in Thebes differed
from the figure in Miletos in being made of wood. The chrysele-
phantine Aphrodite in Sikyon, represented with the polos upon the
Fig. 202. — Apollo after Canachos.
(British Museum.)
THE SCHOOL OF ARGOS.— CALAMIS. 299
head and with poppy flower and apples in the hands, must have
been particularly archaic in conception. Two other works, more re-
moved from hieratic influences and limitations, were probably of a
less restricted style: namely, the Muse with the Syrinx, executed
with two others by the master's brother, Aristocles, and the Young
Racers.
The school of Argos is celebrated by one great name, immedi-
ately connected with the highest development of art, Ageladas, the
contemporary of the masters of iCgina, Athens, and Sikyon previ-
ously mentioned. From the silence of ancient authors in regard to
this master's style, little information can be given concerning it ; it is
only known that the Muse with the Barbiton, his many figures of
Zeus and Heracles, various statues of victors, quadrigas, and groups
of votive offerings in Delphi, were of bronze. Ageladas was the
teacher of three of the greatest sculptors of Greece — Myron,^PQly;
cleitos^and Pheidjas; and he must, if on this account alone, be rank-
ed above his contemporaries. The history of art would receive but
little furtherance by a detailed consideration of the other Argive
sculptors, Aristomedon, Glaucos, and Dionysios; of the Corinthi-
ans, Diyllos, Amyclaios, and Chionis ; of the Thebans, Aristomedos,
Socrates, and others; of Gallon of Elis; or of the Spartan Gitiades.
Prominent as these must have been, they appear rather to have
demonstrated the vigor of their schools, and the influence of those
of i£gina and Athens, than by individual gifts to have raised them-
selves above the academic art of their time. As masters of per-
sonal importance, in whom the progress made by their own genius
far exceeded their early training, may be mentioned three younger
sculptors : Calamis, probably of Athens ; Pythagoras of Rhegion,
in Magna Graecia ; and Myron of Eleutherae, on the borders of Boe-
otia. Calamis worked chiefly in devotional figures, and in these
could not entirely throw off" the hieratic limitations in regard to po-
sition and treatment of details. He was accounted somewhat less
hard in style than Canachos or Gallon, but inferior to Myron in truth-
fulness to nature. This master seems to have made little advance
in the modelling of the body as a whole, though Lucian praises
the rhythmical position of the feet and the beauty of the joints
of his Sosandra; but in the representation of the head he sue-
30O
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
ceeded in making decided progress when compared with the artists
of the gable groups of JEgina.. In this respect his Alcmene must
have been highly important ; but chief among the works of Calamis
was the Sosandra, probably an Aphrodite, which became proverbial
on account of its grace and beauty. Lucian, when comparing the
most distinguished examples among all the works of art to illustrate
perfect beauty, did this with the significant words, " Calamis may
ornament our ideal with chaste modesty, and its smile may be hon-
orable and unconscious as that of Sosandra." In view of this judg-
ment, it is plain that the stiff, ugly heads of the ^Eginetan marbles
are not to be imputed to the works of Calamis ; that the graceful and
beautiful formation of the features was one of the chief improve-
ments effected by him. The limitations of his art are indicated by
another notice. Pliny relates that Calamis was unsurpassed in his
representations of horses ; but Praxiteles removed a charioteer from
one of the older quadrigas, and created another in its place, " that
the men of Calamis might not appear inferior to his animals." His
charioteer must consequently have contrasted unfavorably with the
horses and disturbed the harmony of the whole ; this need by no
means be considered as contradictory to the accounts of the beauty
of his devotional images, for the charming grace which distinguished
the quiet figures of deities and heroes was to be exchanged in the
charioteer for an athletic life, corresponding, in position and action,
to the exciting situation, and such representations evidently were
beyond the powers of the otherwise able master. Examples authen-
tically referable to Calamis do not exist, though the statue of Apollo
upon the Omphalos, found in Athens, shows at once the archaic lim-
itations and the advancing mastery which may be ascribed to this
period of Greek sculpture ; while the so-called Vesta, now in the pos-
session of Torlonia, may have preserved reminiscences of the Sosan-
dra. Both these works are evidently the products of artists who did
not conceive the gods as merely graceful and pleasing, but as strict
and serious beings. Statues of Apollo by Calamis are known to have
been brought from the Kerameicos in Athens, and from a city upon
the shores of the Pontes, to the Roman capitol ; but this can hardly
be adduced as an argument in favor of the authenticity of the figure
upon the Omphalos.
PYTHAGORAS. 5OI
To those very points in which Calamis failed, the two other ar-
tists named devoted themselves with signal success. The works of
Pythagoras of Rhegion, who limited himself to bronze as a material,
while Calamis worked in marble, gold, and ivory, betray no connec-
tion with those of the latter in regard to subjects, for the greater
number were statues of victors and representations of heroes in
somewhat genre-like conception. Of the former, Pausanias and Pliny
praise the Enthymos as one of the most excellent among the forest
of images dedicated at Olympia: of the latter, the limping Philoctetes
was celebrated by many epigrams, as causing the observer to himself
feel the pain of the wounded foot. To attain such an expression, it
is not sufficient to characterize the suffering in the affected limb
alone, but the pain must be evident in the entire body, in bearing as
well as in step ; in the continued tension of all the muscles, and in the
one-sided strain upon the sound leg. The Philoctetes illustrates an
otherwise incomprehensible account of the master's ability. Dioge-
nes of Laerte says that Pythagoras, of all sculptors, first regarded
rhythm and symmetry. This unity of motion or rhythm, with the
equipoise or symmetry which alone lends a feeling of security and
harmonious perfection to the different members of figures under ex-
citement, is that which made the work so effective. The same prin-
ciples must have distinguished the statues of victors, which were ap-
parently intended rather as examples of the various modes of com-
bat, or the preparations therefor, than as individual portraits. The
chief merit of this master appears, according to this, to have consist-
ed in the organic truthfulness to nature of his figures, and this is by
no means contradicted by the rather trivial judgment of Pliny that
Pythagoras was the first to indicate sinews and veins, and to more
carefully model the hair ; for increased anatomical correctness came
naturally with the organic action and realism of these works.
In this expression of the movement by every part of the body
exercised, Pythagoras was still surpassed by Myron. A founder of
metal, like the former, he acquired his fame chiefly as a maker of the
statues of victors, although, with acknowledged versatility, he ex-
ecuted numerous images of deities and heroes. Two of the first
were highly celebrated — the Runner Ladas and the Discos-thrower ;
both of them belonging to that class of works which illustrated the
302
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
nature of the game itself. For Ladas was shown at the moment
when, after overstrained effort, he had reached the goal, and there,
as victor, had fallen dead : according to the expression of an epi-
gram upon the work, it was as if the last breath from the empty
lungs were passing his
lips. For such a creation
even the most perfect
position of running, and
indication of relative ac-
tion in trunk and arms,
were not sufficient ; the
great point lay in the
panting breast and the
open mouth and nos-
trils: the last effort of the
lungs must have been
wonderfully shown. An-
other epigram speaks of
the " breather" not of
the runner, Ladas. That
this marvellous repre-
sentation of concen-
trated action was not to
the disadvantage of the
outer members is shown
by the other victor be-
fore mentioned, the dis-
cos-thrower, the fame of
which is demonstrated
not only by the praise
of Lucian, but by the
Fig. 203.— Marble Copy of the Discos-thrower by Myron, numerous COpics made
(In the Palazzo Massimi alle Colonne in Rome.) j • , • ., ■.»
dunng antiquity. Many
of the latter have been preserved, marbles of the size of the original,
and bronze statuettes, giving evidence of the fascinating action in
the swing of the discos ; the athletic body of the youth bending for-
ward to gain greater impetus ; the toes of one foot clinging to the
MYRON. 303
ground, those of the other slid along its surface ; and everything
prepared for the fling which is instantly to follow. "And yet the
best-preserved copy, that in the Palazzo Massimi {Fi^. 203), must
certainly be in every respect inferior to the original. A mytholog-
ical genre-group by Myron appears from existing copies to have
been equally eflfective : it illustrated the legend of the flute, invented
and cast away with a curse by Athene, and found by the unfortunate
Marsyas. Statues in the Lateran and British Museum show the
Satyr starting back in surprise, the momentary action of desire and
fear being seized and expressed with as consummate mastery as
were the athletic movements of the runner and the discos-thrower.
It was this same spirit of life that caused Myron's cow to be so cel-
ebrated in antiquity that no less than thirty-six epigrams have been
handed down concerning it. Petronius, in praising this master, says
that, in representing animals, Myron seemed to enclose the very
breath of life in the bronze ; and when Pliny says that he multiplied
nature, he can have no other meaning than that the artist attained
so life-like an effect that his works appeared rather to have grown
than to have been an artistic creation.
The schools of iEgina, Athens, Sikyon, Argos, Rhegion, and the
other cities where art had chiefly centred, flourished during the
Persian wars — that greatest period of Greece, from 490 to 450 B.C.,
when Myron, the scholar of Ageladas, was still young. The une-
qualled grandeur of this age, which resulted in the splendid culmina-
tion of all Hellenic life, must have furthered art, all the more as the
devastation of the war, and the subsequent enrichment of the vic-
tors, offered full opportunity and means for monumental activity.
What influence this had upon architectural industry has been de-
scribed in a foregoing section, and it may be easily understood that
sculpture went hand-in-hand with this ; the larger temples needed
their images of the gods, their gable groups, metope reliefs, and
friezes, as also their complement of sculptural votive offerings,
prompted by the gratitude of the victors. Athens, more than any
other place in Greece, found occasion and means for these works,
having been laid waste in 480 and 479 B.C. by Xerxes and Mardo-
nios as no other large city of Greece had been. By means of the
taxes levied upon the confederated states after the siege of Mycale,
304 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
its possessions were greater than those of all the other Hellenic re-
publics together. Athens therefore saw the most perfect flower of
Grecian architecture come forth from the ashes of the Persian catas-
trophe, and by its side appeared the grandest creations of sculpture.
Yet neither of these arose like magic from the wasted ground ; it
was necessary that the nation should first take breath, should recov-
er from the almost supernatural exertions made during the war, and
provide for defence and shelter by the building of fortifications and
dwellings. It was not until after this that they could devote them-
selves to great monumental undertakings, the perfect completion of
which required more than one generation, and sculptured ornamen-
tation was thus still further postponed. The older masters hitherto
considered had little or no part in the chief works of this period.
The mind of Themistocles was so practical, and so much directed
towards fortifications, that he could have little thought for occupy-
ing the artists with monumental sculpture. His successor, Kimon,
son of Miltiades, began to build anew the places of worship, but did
not go so far as to institute sculptural ornament, at least in its chief
constituent, statuary. This first ripened to perfection in the reign
of Pericles, and a favorable fate ordained that, just at this time, when
it was needed as never before, a genius appeared under whose guid-
ance the most complete development was attained. This greatest
of sculptors was Pheidias, the son of Charmides, an Athenian by
birth. When a boy of ten years, he had seen his countrymen, un-
der Miltiades, go forth to Marathon, and, as a youth, had shared in
the rejoicing over the glorious victory of Salamis. At that time,
having probably left the school of Hegias, his first teacher, he turn-
ed towards Ageladas the Argive, who may have come to Athens in
order that, in the rebuilding of the city, he might employ his art
in works which have remained unknown to us. When Pericles
entered upon his much celebrated presidency (444 B.C.), Pheidias,
already advanced in years, enjoyed a fame so great throughout all
Greece that, as soon as Pericles had installed him at the head of the
entire monumental work of Athens, artists of distinguished rank
placed themselves, without envy, under his lead. With only the
scanty and scattered literary notices that we possess, it is impossi-
ble, from the works of this master, to illustrate his life before the
PHEIDIAS.
305
time of Pericles, these being not only imperfectly known, but con-
nected with but few chronological facts. Chief among his produc-
tions is to be mentioned a group in bronze consecrated at Delphi
by the Athenians under Kimon, from a tithe of the booty taken at
Marathon. It represented Miltiades between Athene and Apollo,
surrounded by the ancestral heroes of the ten Attic Phylae. In ar-
tistic respects nothing more is known of this than of the statue of
a youth crowning himself with the victor's band in Olympia ; of a
wounded Amazon, a work prepared for
a competition in which Pheidias was
surpassed by Polycleitos ; of a marble
Hermes in Thebes ; or of three draped
statues of Aphrodite, one of which,
that in Elis, was chryselephantine, the
other two having been of marble. The
artist employed his powers mostly in
a higher province — in figures of Athene
and of Zeus. Six of the former are
more or less known ; the most celebrat-
ed was the bronze Athene of Lemnos
upon the Acropolis of Athens, so called
because dedicated by Attic colonists
from that place, and distinguished by
the name of " the beautiful ;" a second
was the colossal statue, likewise of
bronze, standing between the Erech-
theion and the Propylaea, whose hel-
met-crest and lance -point gleamed
above the roof of the Parthenon, twenty metres high, and was vis-
ible(^t sea as far as the promontory of Sunion. The shield stand-
ing upon the ground — and perhaps a later creation — was orna-
mented by Mys, after a design by Parrhasios, with an embossed
centauromachia. Not to speak of the Athene Areia at Plataea, a
colossal wooden figure with garments of gold, the nude parts being
of marble, we come finally to the incomparable chryselephantine
figure in the Parthenon at Athens, in which the type of Athene
was forever firmly established. Some few accounts — a marble stat-
20
Fig. 204. — Statuette of the Athene
Parthenos, Athens.
306 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
uette lately found in Athens {Fig. 204), a miserably careless imita-
tion ; and also a poor copy in marble of the shield, discovered soon
after, in the British Museum {Fig. 205)— render it possible to under-
stand the composition in its chief outlines. Standing erect, the
head slightly inclined forward, clothed with the sleeveless chiton
and the aegis, the helmet decorated with the sphinx, she supported
Fig. 205. — Fragment in the British Museum, imitated from the Shield of the Athene Par-
thenos.
her left arm upon the shield, at the same time holding the lance,
which leaned against her shoulder and bore the serpent of Erichtho-
nios, coiling upward ; the right arm, outstretched, carried a figure of
Victory, two metres in height, which, turned towards the goddess,
offered her a wreath of gold. The base of the statue, and even the
rims of the thick-soled sandals, were ornamented with reliefs. The
golden shield showed, within, the gigantomachia, and, without, the
PHEIDIAS. 307
battle of the Amazons, concerning which we have further information
from the discovery above mentioned. The fatal portrait of the ar-
tist himself may be plainly recognized in the strongly individualized
features of a bald-headed man with the battle-axe in his uplifted
hands, prominent because of his almost entire nakedness among the
completely equipped youths. This portrait caused the merciless
persecution of the sculptor and his patrons, after the charge of
embezzling the gold upon the garments of the Athene had been
proved groundless by the removal and weighing of the metal, this
figure gave opportunity for complaint of sacrilege, and the artist
was forced to pass the remainder of his life in a prison. The
Athene Parthenos was surpassed by the colossal statue of the Pan-
hellenic Zeus in Olympia, likewise chryselephantine, which exhibit-
ed the highest triumph of Pheidias. The god, with a green enam-
elled olive-wreath crowning his golden locks, and in garments bright-
ly bordered with gold, was seated upon a magnificent throne, the
legs of which were ornamented with figures of Victory in two
rows, and the arms with sphinxes, while the back was terminated
with groups of Horae and Charites, the steps, cross-bars, sheathing-
boards, etc., of the support being decorated with many other sculpt-
ures in the round and in relief. In his right hand, turning towards
him, was a Victory, and in his left a sceptre, tipped with the eagle,
formed from a combination of many metals. This figure was majes-
tic, with an expression mild, yet so powerful that a gesture would
seem sufficient to make earth and heaven tremble. The artist had
made this double expression his aim, guided in his creation by the
lines of Homer where he portrays the God of gods nodding in assent
to Thetis, who begs for the glorification of her son Achilles:
" He said, and nodded with his s'.iadowy brows,
Wav'd on th' immortal head th' ambrosial locks.
And all Olympos trembled at his nod."
That Pheidias attained his ideal was unanimously attested by his
own time, and by the later world so long as it had opportunity to
see this wonderful production. Even divinity itself must have ap-
proved, since, according to the beautiful legend, as the master, at the
perfecting of his work, prayed for a sign of favor from heaven, a
stroke of lightning entered the temple and fell upon the floor in
308 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
a spot which was marked in later times as sacred. A feeling per-
vaded all antiquity that the Olympian Zeus of Pheidias was the
grandest and most divine of all works of art, which not to have seen
was a misfortune to be lamented, and the sight of which lifted from
the soul its cares and sorrows. Instead, therefore, of dwelling upon
the praises given by the ancients to the details, we should seek
rather to understand the principal traits which justified this opinion,
and which were characteristic of the master. The archaic constraint
prevalent in works of Ageladas and Calamis had been overcome ;
but the combination of all previous results, and a nearly absolute
correctness of form, united to an ideal beauty quite beyond any real
experience, could not have been the chief causes of this admiration.
These were, indeed, important, especially in view of the enormous
difficulties presented by the chryselephantine process — in the work-
ing of gold-plate ; in the preparation, shaving, and uniting of the
ivory, so unpliant to the chisel, and, finally, in securing it to the
wooden form. But the essential and characteristic merit lay in the
bodily incarnation of a grand and truly godlike ideal, employing
the human form only as a word through which the elevated thought
found expression. The artist had set before himself the most ex-
alted aim — namely, to present to the eyes of the world the highest
conception of divinity as seen in Athene, the goddess of the mind,
and in Zeus, the king of gods. Hence the large number of Athenes
executed by Pheidias, and the Aphrodite Urania, the great " heaven-
ly " goddess, the feminine principle of the universe ; hence, also, the
fewer representations of masculine or heroic forms, or of subordi-
nate deities, in which this master might be excelled — as by Poly-
cleitos in his Amazon — because they did not accord with his nature,
or contain within themselves that ideal greatness which he wished
to unfold. Although the two chryselephantine colossal statues, not-
withstanding the perishable nature of their construction, were com-
paratively long preserved — being in existence at the end of the
fourth century A.D. — still, there are no copies which show more
than their general composition. The marble statuette of Athene
{Fig. 204) has already been mentioned ; in regard to the Olympian
Zeus, a copy upon a coin of Hadrian, which shows the usual care-
lessness and weakness {Fig. 206), has in later times been justly pre-
PHEIDIAS.
309
ferred to the mask of Zeus from Otricoli, formerly considered a copy
after Pheidias. Though the classical notices frequently give the
only information concerning the masterpieces of Pheidias, numer-
ous original remains from his workshop still exist. We cannot ad-
duce as examples the glorious metopes and frieze of the so-called
Theseion in Athens, perfect as appear these representations of the
deeds of Heracles and Theseus upon the former, and of the battle
of the Centaurs and Titans upon the latter ; for as it is not known
when this temple was dedicated, it cannot be shown that its orna-
ments were executed in the period which came under the artistic
direction of Pheidias. Nor can we attribute to this school the sculpt-
Fig. 206. — Coins of Elis, One third enlarged.
ures of the Erechtheion, which were not completed until 408 — the
beautiful caryatides of the portico, or the remnants of relief from
the frieze, preserved, unfortunately, only in scanty fragments. Thes
figures, indeed, instead of being carved from the blocks of the frieze
itself, were formed piecewise of Pentilic marble, and fastened upon
a dark ground of Eleusinian stone, probably for the effect of color.
As little may we cite the better-preserved reliefs upon the frieze
and balustrade of the small temple of Wingless Victory before the
Propylaea, which, from their great likeness to the sculptures upon
the mausoleum of Halicarnassus, seem rather to belong to the fol-
lowing period. Overbeck thinks it probable that the frieze has
reference to the battle at Plataea ; and the balustrade, according to
3IO HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
Kekule, may have something to do with the return of Alkibiades.
In judging the Pheidian school, the Parthenon offers, however, abun-
dant material in the three kinds of sculpture — round statues, high
and low relief; although the unhappy bombardment of Athens by
the Venetians in 1687, when the bursting of a bomb in the beauti-
ful temple, then used as a powder-magazine, and the succeeding
explosion, destroyed more than half the work. The last two cent-
uries also have not passed without leaving their mark ; so that
Lord Elgin's robbery may, after all, have proved an advantage, the
greater part of the sculptures having been protected and rendered
accessible, since the beginning of this century, in the halls of the
British Museum. It is particularly unfortunate that the gable
groups have suffered most ; for the perfection of these chief works
must have appeared of the greatest importance to the artist, and
these colossal statues would have given the best exposition of his
ability. Before the catastrophe above mentioned, however, these
were badly injured in consequence of the Temple of Athene Par-
thenos having been transformed into the Church of Maria Par-
thenos, and later into a mosque, the destruction appearing also to
have been aided by the wilful malice of Christian and Moslem
fanatics. They were still further reduced after the explosion by the
unsuccessful attempt of the Venetians to carry off as trophy a mar-
ble chariot and horses. The few notes of Pausanias upon the sub-
jects of the gable groups, the drawings of a French artist, Carrey
(taken not long before the bombardment), and the remains preserved
in the British Museum are sufficient to convey a conception of the
general composition. The eastern gable represented the birth of
Athene ; not the unfortunate, artificial scene where the goddess
springs, ready equipped, from the head of Zeus, as frequently shown
in pictures upon vases and bronze mirrors, but the moment after,
when she appears before the deities of Olympos. The entire cen-
tral part of the group including the highest deities, the chief feat-
ure of the composition, is lost ; the rest is in greater part preserved.
As the scene was in Olympos, Helios and Selene, with their quad-
rigas, were fittingly chosen as the limits of the composition ; the
former rising from the sea, in the left angle of the gable, the latter
sinking in the right ; night disappearing before the dawn. The ad-
THE PARTHENON. 3II
joining statues, though much mutilated, have been preserved. Next
to Helios was Dionysos, resting upon his tiger's skin ; with two sitting
female figures, Demeter and Persephone {Fig. 207), to whom hastens
Iris, announcing the birth of Athene. Upon the other side, next
to Selene, lay Aphrodite in the lap of Peitho {Fig. 208) ; and then
Hestia, to whom Hermes, as the other messenger, brings the glad
tidings: these latter sculptures were almost entirely destroyed in
Fig. 207. — From the Eastern Gable of the Parthenon. Demeter and Persephone.
the time of Carrey. Nike — Victory — remaining only as a torso, ap-
pears to have followed with Ares, advancing towards the middle of
the gable bringing greetings to the newly bom goddess. All the
rest was destroyed before 1680 A.D., and the principal figures of the
composition are consequently unknown ; but it is probable that be-
tween the Victory and Athene stood Hephaistos, recoiling after
having delivered the blow upon the head of Zeus. Athene stood
beside her father, but it is not certain whether the latter was ex-
312 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
actly in the centre of the gable, or whether the two figures were
equally removed from it. If this last were the case, which is per-
haps probable, the division of the space would require still another
deity upon the right side. The remaining gods of Olympos, Posei-
don, Artemis, and Apollo, were probably arranged in this order be-
tween Zeus and Iris. The group of the western gable represented
the contest of Athene and Poseidon for the Attic land. The com-
position is reasonably certain, though the middle figures have here
also disappeared. The two chief deities, standing at either side of
Fig. 208.— From the Eastern Gable of the Parthenon. Aphrodite and Peitho.
the olive-tree in the centre, turn towards their chariots, that of
Athene being driven by Victory, that of Poseidon by Amphitrite ;
horses were harnessed to both, that of Poseidon not having been
drawn by dolphins or hippocamps, as formerly supposed. The con-
sciousness of victory was expressed by the bearing of Athene and
of her steeds, while the bowed head of Poseidon acknowledged his
defeat : the exclusion of the salt waves of the sea from the bloom-
ing meadows and groves watered by the Kephissos. The angles of
the gable beyond the chariots were occupied by the retinue of the
contestants, and by local deities ; the accurate determination of
THE PARTHENON. 313
these is impossible, though upon the side of Athene may have been
grouped the representatives of the Athenian continent, and upon
that of Poseidon those of the sea and the islands ; while the figure
of Kephissos is supposed to have filled the extreme corner at the
left, and Ilissos with Callirrhoe that of the right. The scene was
laid in Attica ; and, as the earthly locality was to be clearly charac-
terized and populated, it was advisable not to introduce again all
the Olympian deities of the eastern gable. It is probable that
during antiquity the landscape seen from this chief front of the
Acropolis was famous for many local myths no longer familiar to
the scholar, in ignorance of which an adequate explanation is im-
possible. The compositions alone give evidence of the grandeur
and elevation of the master who produced and arranged them, in a
truthfulness to nature at once ornamental and unconstrained. The
remains, with great simplicity and breadth of detail, show a force
and majesty which raise them above all known works of sculpt-
ure. In their loving and perfect modelling of the nude and of the
drapery, in their freedom from affectation of motive or of rendering,
and in their utter lack of any striving after meretricious effects, they
appear rather the creations of magic than the labored carvings of
men.
The glorious and celebrated frieze, or, to speak more correctly,
zophoros, surrounded the entire cella. It is preserved in nearly four
fifths of its entire length, the chief part of the remains being in
the British Museum. It is evident that but little, if any, of this
extensive decorative work could have been executed by the hand
of Pheidias himself; but the grand design may be assumed to
have been his, and the carving was certainly done under his super-
vision. The scene represented is the festive Pan-Athenaic proces-
sions, an imposing consecration of elaborate gifts to the guardian
deity, and probably also a division of prizes to the victors in the
various hippie, gymnastic, and musical games. The movement of
the train commences upon the southwestern corner of the cella, and
advances thence to the east, the entrance side of the temple. It is
thus naturally divided into two parts, one of which occupies the
western and northern, the other the southern side of the cella;
these are united above the pronaos, where the double procession is
3H
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
shown as having arrived at the temenos before the temple ; a
priest and priestess, with the persons directly employed in the sacri-
fice, are preparing themselves for the sacred act — the former by lay-
ing aside his upper garment, which he gives to the youth standing
beside him, the latter by taking a folding-seat from a female ser-
vant. {Fig- 209.) Between this central group and the remainder
of the divided procession several deities, turned from the former
figures, are watching the approach of the train. At the left sits
Zeus, enthroned, beside the veiled Hera ; these are followed by the
Winged Victory, Ares clasping his right knee with both hands. De-
meter with the torch, and Dionysos, who rests his right arm care-
Fig. 209. — Fragment from the P^ieze of the Parthenon Cella.
lessly upon the shoulder of Hermes. Upon the right, next to the
high priest, was naturally the place of Athene, and upon her left
hand are still traces of the fallen ^Egis ; beside her was Hephaistos,
leaning upon his knotted stick ; then, looking towards him, Apollo,
and further Peitho, Aphrodite, and Eros, the latter carrying a shade
for the sun. The gods sit comfortably as spectators who feel them-
selves to be invisible. The first figures of the train, the leaders, have
already attained their destination, and stand quietly conversing, sup-
ported upon their wands. In the succeeding women and virgins,
who bear vases, cups, cooling -vessels, braziers for incense, and bas-
kets— a wonderful train of perfectly beautiful forms — the advance
TIIL rANATHENAlC FRIEZE. 315
decreases in movement as they approach the centre. Upon the two
long sides follow herds of animals for sacrifice ; the cows, proceed-
ing quietly, scarcely need guidance, while the bulls are more or less
restless, reminding one, in their forcible and momentary action, of
the life-like works of Myron. After them follows the music of the
procession — players upon the flute and lyre and the festive chorus;
then begins the long line of chariots and of horses with their riders,
which fill the greater part of the zophoros upon the longer sides and
all of that over the epinaos. The beauty and truth in the action
of these figures are unsurpassed ; the most manifold variation of po-
sition is combined with perfect adaptation to the peculiar style of
low-relief, and the wisest reference to the fitting of the composition
within the space defined by the architectural lines. While upon the
eastern front the procession had arrived at its destination, on the
western the scene was still at the place of assemblage and marshal-
ling. Here the horses are bridled and arranged in ranks ; but the
groups of men and youths stand in disorder, some hastily arming them-
selves, others binding their sandals or adjusting iheir mantles. Every
action and gesture is simple and full of meaning; they never mar the
unity of the whole nor interfere with the neighboring figures. The
nude forms and the drapery are most carefully and equally execut-
ed throughout ; the accessories are forcibly, though less elaborately,
indicated. When the ceremonial reliefs of Assyria or Persia are
compared with the frieze of the Parthenon, it becomes strikingly
evident that the magnificence of personal accoutrements and inani-
mate objects which was so painfully and minutely detailed by the
Asiatic sculptor, and elevated even above his schematic representa-
tions of deities and human beings, was as nothing to the Greek ar-
tist in comparison with the intellectual and physical beauty to
which the great Hellenic race gave their chief interest.
The third group of Parthenon sculptures, the ornaments of the
metopes, must least have harmonized with the nature of Pheidias.
The architectural framework must have become a hindrance and a
fetter, and the problem how to fill ninety-two square tablets of ex-
actly the same size with similar representations must indeed have
appeared a thankless task. These reliefs are in greater part lost, or
so mutilated as to be unintelligible ; but as far as can be judged by
3i6
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
the scanty remains, the subject of the metopes upon the eastern side
was the gigantomachia, that of both long sides principally the Cen-
tauromachia, while that of the western side was either the battle of
the Amazons or of the Persians. In contrast to the low-relief of
the frieze, these, originally colored, were — on account of the condi-
tions of light — worked in such high-relief as even, in some parts, to
be freed from the ground. The variation of subjects bearing so
strong a resemblance is wonderful, especially in the struggling Cen-
taurs and Greeks, where but little scope in the victory of one or the
other combatant was
possible : these are in-
terrupted by the rape
of virgins and other
scenes not surely to be
determined. Natural-
ly, this desperate task
would not have been
completed without
some few artistic in-
equalities, repetitions,
and far-fetched mod-
ifications, especially as
much of the execu-
tion must necessarily
have been submitted
to inferior sculptors;
but some of the met-
ope reliefs appear, in
Fig. 210.— From the Eastern Gable of the Great Temple
of Zeus, Olympia.
point of composition within the given space, and in grand, char-
acteristic drawing, scarcely less admirable than the frieze of the
cella. From all these works the spirit of the school of Pheidias is
manifest in its imposing majesty and ideal simplicity ; at times, also,
traces of the forcible action of Myron may be observed.
These extensive productions of the school and workshop of
Pheidias cannot be directly attributed to any of the known scholars
and assistants of the master, many of whom attained individual ce-
lebrity. In the first raiik of these should be mentioned Ago£acrito«"
THE PUPILS OF PHEIDIAS.
317
of Paros, the favorite pupil of Pheidias, whose works were so per-
fect that the ancients were frequently in doubt to which of these
sculptors they should be ascribed ; it is possible, however, that this
doubt may have arisen from the predominant impression left upon
some of the statues by the guidance and assistance of the master.
The chief creations of Agoracritos were two Athenes, a Zeus, and
notably the colossal figure of Nemesis at Rhamnous, supposed to
have developed from the
unsuccessful Aphrodite pre-
pared for the competition
with Alcamenes. Another
scholar and assistant of
Pheidias was Colotes of Pa-
ros, a sculptor who appears
to have restricted himself to
the chryselephantine proc-
ess, and who is especially
noted for the part taken by
him in the execution of the
great Olympian Zeus. Oth-
er works in gold and ivory
by Colotes were the Athene
upon the Acropolis of Elis,
an Asclepios erected in the
vicinity, and the sacred table
in the great Temple of Zeus,
for the division of prizes af-
ter the Olympic games, the
sides of which were orna-
mented with reliefs.
Alcamenes of Athens, or Lemnos, and Paionios of Mende have
hitherto been considered as chief among the scholars of Pheidias;
but the recent excavations at Olympia have done much to refute
this opinion, unless, as is very possible, Pausanias makes a mistake
(v. 10) in assigning to Alcamenes the sculptures in the front gable
of the Temple of Zeus, instead of the acroteria above them, which
alone is mentioned in an inscription as his work. No one can de-
Fig. 211. — From the Western Gable of the Great
Temple of Zeus, Olympia.
3i8 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
tect in the discovered fragments of these gable sculptures, more
numerous than those of the Parthenon, the slightest dependence
upon the art of Pheidias, which they appear to precede in point of
development. The group of the eastern front, ascribed by Pausanias
to Paionios, represented the instant before the chariot race of Oi-
nomaos and Pelops {Fig. 210) ; that of the western the struggle of the
Lapithse and Centaurs at the wedding of Peirithoos. {Figs. 211 and
212.) The character of these works seems rather to connect them
with the school of Calamis than with that of Pheidias, this being es-
pecially the case with the met-
opes. {Fig. 213.) The ques-
tion will hardly be decided un-
til authenticated sculptures by
Calamis, or remains of the ga-
ble groups of the temple at
Delphi, which were the produc-
tion of his scholars Praxias and
Androsthenes of Athens, have
become known to science. In
the meantime, it is impossible
to disprove the hypothesis of
Brunn, who sees in those of
Olympia examples of an art
peculiar to Northern Greece, re-
markable for its picturesque re-
Fig. 2i2.-Head of Apollo, from the Western ^lig^ ^^^ ]a^,]^ of artistic and
Gable of the Great Temple of Zeus, Olympia.
ideal conventionalization. It is
only certain that these groups are far inferior to those of the Par-
thenon, and, indeed, to those produced by any workshop of Athens
after the time of Pheidias. Even if the questionable account of
Pausanias prove to be true, it is certain that a judgment of the ar-
tistic style of Alcamenes and Paionios cannot be formed upon these
decorative sculptures alone. Works of the stage of development
shown by the western gable of Olympia could not have ranked with
the bronze Pentathlos of the former artist, which was known in an-
tiquity by the predicate " exemplary ;" nor could an Aphrodite of
Alcamenes have been preferred to a statue by Agoracritos, which
OLYMPIA.
3«9
had been retouched by Pheidias himself. The extensive employ-
ment of Alcamenes in Athens among the greatest successors of
Pheidias and Myron would have been impossible had not his works
been far higher in every respect than those attributed to him among
the recent discoveries in Olympia, in view of which it is inconceiva-
ble how Pausanias could speak of Alcamenes and Pheidias almost as
equals. The same argument applies to Paionios, of whose works a
fortunate illustration has been provided by one of the most impor-
Fig. 213. — Metope from the Cella of the Great Temple of Olympia. Atlas, Heracles, and
the Nymph of the Hesperides.
tant discoveries made in the Altis, the Victory {Fig. 214), authenti-
cated by an inscription upon the high triangular pedestal. This
figure does indeed recall the spirit and methods of the Pheidian
sculpture, and differs greatly from the remains of the eastern gable,
as may readily be seen by comparison oi Figs. 210 and 214. This
contrast is only to be explained by a gigantic and almost inconceiv-
able progress, or by the assumption that they were the works of dif-
ferent artists and periods.
320
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
If the Attic artists of this age be likened to planets revolving
about the Pheidian sun, there were not wanting stars of the second
magnitude, belonging to other systems and moving in other cir-
cles. Especially prominent
among these latter was the
direct and indirect school
of Myron, an artist so pro-
nounced in his wonderful
naturalism that his style
could not be extinguished
even by the dominating
idealism of Pheidias. Lyk-
ios, son of Myron, appears,
from two celebrated works,
to have followed closely in
the footsteps of his father.
These were the statues upon
the Acropolis of Athens rep-
resenting two boys, one of
whom bore a basin for holy-
water, while the other blew
the coals in a censer into
a lively glow. The latter
reminds one of Myron's
Breathing Ladas ; in this, as
in the Runner, the quicken-
ed breath was the essential
thing, and was not' confined
alone to the swollen cheeks,
but must have been evident
in the breast and body. The
figure bearing the font was
a zealous choir -boy, pant-
ing under a too heavy bur-
den ; and this also recalls the Ladas. Still another statue, the Pan-
cratiast Autolicos, claimed by Urlich for Lykios, seems to have re-
sembled the Discos-thrower of Myron. That Lykios did not confine
Fig. 214. — Victory of Paionios, from Olympia.
PHIGALEA.
321
himself to such genre-like specialties is shown by groups like the Ar-
gonauts, and by the votive offering of the citizens of Apollonia at
Olympia, a truly grand composition representing Zeus deciding the
result of the strife between Memnon and Achilles, according to the
yCthiopis of Arctinos. In connection with Lykios may be men-
tioned Styppax of Cyprus, whose masterpiece, the Splanchnoptes —
the entrail-roaster, a man fanning a fire — recalls in turn the choir-
boy blowing the coals. Similar to the Dying Ladas, though less di-
rectly connected than these last examples, was the mortally wound-
ed warrior of Cresilas, in which, according to classical accounts, the
last moments of life could be measured ; his wounded Amazon also
appears to have been more in the style of Myron and Pythagoras
Fig. 215. — From the Frieze of the Temple of Phigalia.
than of Pheidias. No works by the immediate followers of Myron
now remain, nor any attested copy ; still there can be little hesita-
tion in ascribing to this school an important achievement, not per-
haps belonging to it so fully as do the architectural sculptures of
the Parthenon to the workshop of Pheidias, yet having more in com-
mon with the school of Myron than with that of any previous mas-
ter. This is the frieze of the Temple of Apollo at Phigalea — now in
the British Museum — the architectural position of which has already
been defined. The temple is said to have been built under the di-
rection of an Athenian architect ; it is probable, therefore, that Attic
sculptors were employed for its ornamentation, especially as the
sculptures betray no trace of the Argive influence which prevailed
21
322 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
elsewhere in the Peloponnesos, and which will be further treated
below. Though the subjects were Attic, as battles of Amazons and
Centaurs, they cannot be likened to the school of Pheidias, for,
instead of the passionless grandeur and ideal simplicity which char-
acterized the sculptures of the Parthenon, there is in them a vehe-
mence and excitement known at this period only in the works influ-
enced by Myron. It is not strange that this excessively passion-
ate action should sometimes be wanting in beauty ; the power of
execution at command in the remote city among the Arcadian moun-
tains was not of the first rank, and the guidance of a master, like
him who directed the sculptural work of the Parthenon, was wanting.
Two artists of this period were entirely independent, proceeding
in degenerate directions ; first, Callimachos, noted as an artisan in
metal-work, who executed the rich and elegant lamp of the Erech-
theion, and was said to have originated the Corinthian capital ; but
who, as a sculptor, carried a refined delicacy and formal perfection
even to an extreme. This won for him the cognomen of Catatexi-
technos — the unreasonably careful. Callimachos did not, like Apel-
les, know when to withdraw his hand from his work, which agrees
with Pliny's judgment concerning him, that, by over-exactness in ex-
ecution, all grace was lost. A still more questionable tendency is
shown by Demetrios of Alopeke, in Attica, the first realist. Pre-em-
inently a sculptor of portraits, he affected striking characteristics at
the expense of beauty, and made it his specialty to represent the
likenesses of decrepit men and women. A priestess sixty-four years
old, and an aged Corinthian field-officer, Pelichos — " a bald-head with
a pot-belly, tangled and flying beard, and veins projecting roundly
under the withered skin," according to the description of Lucian —
must have been so far from ideal and refreshing beauty that it would
seem rather to have been the aim of the artist to illustrate age as its
destroyer. Thus, in comparison with Pheidias and Myron, Deme-
trios resembled Thersites among the heroes of Troy.
Argos deserves the second place as the site of the artistic indus-
try of this period, which had then been greatly advanced by Poly-
cleitos of Sikyon, a fourth scholar of Ageladas, and somewhat young-
er contemporary of Pheidias, but in a direction different from that of
the Attic school. Myron had characterized intense and momentary
POLYCLEITOS. 323
animal life, Pheidias that of absolutely ideal and divine being. Poly-
cleitos chose as his aim the artistic representation of the highest hu-
man beauty — a positive type of bodily perfection. The Doryphoros,
known in antiquity as the masterpiece of the latter, and celebrated
Fig. 216. — Copy of the Doryphoros in the Museum of Napl«s.
as a canon, was a youth in a quiet position, bearing a lance ; it was
considered the embodiment of perfect form, the master himself hav-
ing written a treatise upon the proportions of the human figure in
illustration of this statue. It is not improbable that Polycleitos, in
this work, desired to. set a pattern before his numerous scholars ; that
324 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
he was himself too dependent upon this academical tendency may
be judged from the slightly disparaging words of Pliny that " his
works were almost as if taken from one model." According to the
intention of the artist and to the general conviction of his time, the
Doryphoros represented absolute perfection of the human body ; and
this left the master but little scope for the varying of his model, if
he would not prove untrue to that beauty which Cicero has praised
so highly in all his works. The so-called Apoxyomenos — an athlete
scraping himself with a strigil — similar in subject to the statue of
Lysippos {Fig. 229), was also a figure placed in the quiet attitude of
parade, if not, like the Doryphoros, with an academic purpose. A
third work, the so-called Diadoumenos, a boy binding his head with a
fillet^ — sometimes considered as a companion piece to the Doryphoros
— appears to have shown a more youthful and less athletic develop-
ment of form. It is not strange that archaeologists have taken great
pains to identify, among the numberless works of Roman sculptors,
imitations of these two canonical figures, the existence of which was
naturally assumed from the great celebrity of the Greek originals.
The scholars Friederichs, Schwabe, Michaelis, Helbig, Kekule, and
Benndorf have accordingly discovered six repetitions of the Dory-
phoros, preserved in Cassel, Naples, Florence, the Vatican, and the
Villa Medici ; while several other statues in Dresden, the Louvre,
the Vatican, and the Villa Albani have been recognized as varia-
tions differing more or less from this type {Fig. 216). In like man-
ner, copies of the Diadoumenos have been found in Madrid, in two
marbles of the British Museum, in a bronze statuette of the Na-
tional Library of Paris, and in a relief of the Vatican : all of which
are allied in point of conception and artistic character. Still it is in-
explicable how these thick-set and muscular forms could be spoken
of by Pliny as viriliter puer and as molliter juvenis^ or by Lucian as
graceful dancers ; though it is possible that, in these academical stud-
ies, the canonical perfection of form decided by Polycleitos was not
so well embodied as in the bronze Idolino of the Florentine Muse-
um. The question is far from settled, and it should not be forgotten
that eminent authorities doubt this origin, Conze imputing them
rather to the school of Cresilas, while Petersen even maintains the
type to have been a Roman invention.
POLYCLEITOS.
325
An Amazon in a quiet pose gave Polycleitos an opportunity for
portraying a female form of muscular development, yet of typical
beauty. It is not difficult to believe
that this statue was adjudged even
supjerior to the similar productions
of Pheidias, Cresilas, and Phradmon,
which could hardly have been the
case if the subject treated had been
a deity or a figure of momentary
action. {Fig. 2 1 7.) The artist could
even better follow his academic aim
in the two Canephorae — basket -
bearers — whose quiet pose and want
of inner expression were so well suit-
ed to display an outward, formal
beauty and correctness of modelling.
But the Astragalizontes — the boy
throwing dice of knuckle -bones —
which, according to Pliny, was the
most perfect work of art in Greece,
should not be imagined in an excit-
ed, striking situation, or as a street
scene conceived with a truthfulness
to nature characteristic of Murillo,
but as representing the consumma-
tion of boyish beauty.
When Quintilian says that Poly-
cleitos elevated the human figure
above what is seen in nature, and
yet, contrary to Pheidias in his stat-
ues of the deities, had not attained
to the majesty of the gods, this sig-
nifies that he had not so fully rep-
resented the divine nature. His de- ^'S" 2^7.-Amazon, after Polycleitos.
votional images are few and without especial fame, with excep-
tion of the colossal chrj'selephantine Hera in the temple between
Argos and Mykenae. The goddess, seated upon a throne, was draped
326 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
in garments of gold, with only the head and arms bare ; the sceptre
in her right hand was crowned with the cuckoo, symbol of conjugal
fidelity, and in her left was a pomegranate ; at her side stood Hebe,
the work of Naukydes, the master's best assistant. As the Pheidian
head of Zeus has been recognized in the mask of Otricoli, so the
splendid colossal mask of the Ludovisi Juno {Fig. 219) has been re-
ferred to an original by Polycleitos. But it is probable that the
head of Hera, in the museum at Naples {Fig. 218) came nearer to this
Fig. 218.— Head of Hera, in Naples.
Fig. 219. — So-called Juno Ludovisi, in
Rome.
original (Brunn). Though it be asserted that all the heads of Zeus
may be referred to the complete and established type of Pheidias,
the ideal of Polycleitos, by no means divine, renders it doubtful
whether his Hera acquired a similar position among the succeeding
representations of that goddess.
The effort after perfection of form sufficed to make the master of
Argos a pre-eminent teacher ; yet none of his many direct scholars,
with the exception perhaps of the before-mentioned Naukydes, ac-
POLYCLEITOS. 327
quired such fame as the associates of Pheidias, perhaps on account
of this very schooling and discipline, the rigid constraint of a canon
fettering the wings of artistic individuality. We are not able to
judge how far this tendency was furthered during the short period
of Theban ascendency by the somewhat later branch of the Theban
school, although, among many others, the Theban artists Hypato-
doros and Aristogeiton were of considerable importance. The groups
consecrated at Delphi about 380 B.C. were of particular interest;
they represented the advance of the Seven against Thebes, and the
successful repetition of the invasion by the sons of those warriors.
It was not until Lysippos, an indirect scholar of Polycleitos, in his
desire to represent men as they should be, had raised himself en-
tirely above the canon of his master, who aimed to show them as
they are, that another artist of the first rank appeared. Examples
from the workshop of Polycleitos still e.xist, though unfortunately
scarcely recognizable in the mutilated fragments of sculpture from
the Temple of Hera, discovered by Rangabe and Bursian in 1854 —
works which were doubtless executed under the direct guidance of
the Argive master, as those of the Parthenon were under that of
Pheidias.
The influence of Attica and Argos not only prevailed in Greece
proper, but made itself felt even in the most remote colonies. The
Zeus upon one of the metopes of the southern temple on the east-
em plateau of Selinous {Fig. 220) may have been developed from
the figures of Zeus by Ageladas, and suggests the sculptures of the
Olympian temple which was completed about the same time. This
metope represents Zeus fascinated by Hera upon Mount Ida (II.
xiv. 300), and the artist, in his figure of the god, has surpassed his
former efforts, but the Hera is harder and more antique. The other
well-preserved metopes of this temple — one of which shows a Hera-
cles in strife with Amazons, and the other Actaion lacerated by dogs
— though not without provincial weakness, have an unmistakable
affinity to those of the Theseion. These were nearly contemporane-
ous, but an entire generation later there appeared at Messene, in
the most remote part of the Peloponnesos, the sculptor Damophon,
an artist decidedly of the Pheidian style, on account of which he
was called to restore the Olympian statue, already warped and dis-
328 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
jointed. Although a sculptor of ability, it would seem that he did
not entirely withstand the current of a new direction in art ; besides
the statues in the Pheidian circle of divinities, others were ascribed
to him, of a nature similar to those cultivated by preference during
the succeeding period of Attic sculpture. The progressive force in-
Fig. 220. — Metope of the Southern Temple upon the Eastern Plateau of Selinous.
herent in the people and in the art of Greece did not rest until the
highest point had everywhere been reached. This impulse after-
wards led to excess and decadence, permitting no lasting enjoyment
of the previous gains. The art of Polycleitos prevailed somewhat
longer in the Peloponnesos, the Dorians being by nature conserva-
SELINOUS.
329
tive, but in Attica the new elements early obtained a sway which
could not but essentially change the character of all Hellenic
sculpture. The frieze upon the Temple of the Wingless Victory in
Athens, and the some-
what coarser one within
the naos of Phigalea, be-
gan already to give evi-
dence of an inclination
towards the pathetic and
passionate ; the sculpt-
ures also upon the bal-
ustrade of the Athenian
temple, executed prob-
ably about 390 to 380
B.C., appear to be the
unmistakable forerun-
ners of a new style. The
Athenian Kephisodotos
the elder stood, so to
speak, upon the thresh-
old of this transforma-
tion. His position in
the history of art is as-
sured by the fortunate
discovery of a copy of
his Efrene with Ploutos,
now in the Glyptothek
at Munich {Fi^. 221).
This work combined the
tendencies of the new
Attic style with those
of Pheidias. Though
the noble simplicity and
grandeur, the earnestness and strictness, of the earlier period still
remained, there had already dawned an expression of deeper feel-
ing, and of a more spiritual life.
The representation, as Friederichs says, of the deep interchange
Fig. 221. — Eirene and Ploutos, after Kephisodotos.
330
HELLA S.— SC ULPTU RE.
of affection between mother and child, as shown in the Eirene
of Kephisodotos, united with much of the hardness of the older
works, culminated in two masters — the Parian Scopas and the
Athenian Praxiteles, the latter possibly the son of Kephisodotos.
Their productions were so nearly related that, even in antiquity, it
was doubtful whether a work of celebrity should be ascribed to one
or to the other. The chief creations of both were statues of the
deities, both worked in marble, choos-
ing this material not by chance, but
from the nature of their subjects.
With the exception of such colossal
figures, of a highly monumental char-
acter, as the chryselephantine statues
of Zeus and Athene Parthenos by
Pheidias, and the Hera by Polycleitos,
the delicate beauty of soft and trans-
parent stone was best fitted for the
images of deities enshrined within the
temple ; bronze, on the contrary, is
peculiarly suited to statues of victors
and athletes intended for outdoor ex-
posure. It was on this account that
it had been so largely employed by
Myron and Polycleitos.
The Raging Bacchante, designated
by epigrams and descriptions as the
most celebrated work of Scopas, was
one of the first masterpieces of antiqui-
Fig. 222.— ApolloKitharoidos. (Vatican.)
ty. The head was thrown back in an
ecstasy of passion, the hair loosened, and the long garment fluttering
in the wind ; thus did the Mainad appear rushing to the heights of
Kithairon, holding in her hands the kid rent in her fury. If the
rhetor Kallistratos was, as he says, speechless at sight of the coun-
tenance, admiring particularly the expression of a soul stung into
madness, we can well believe that passion itself was embodied in
this work. The excitement was more moderate in the Apollo of the
Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, brought by Augustus to the Pala-
SCOPAS. 331
tine, playing the lyre and singing with lyric inspiration. It is not
improbable that the motive of the Apollo in the Vatican, with the
long flowing garments {Fig. 222), may be referred to this original.
The entire bearing more closely resembles that of the figures of the
children of Niobe. We can hardly think without enthusiasm of the
Bithynian Achilles group, placed in later times in the Temple of
Neptune, near the Circus Flaminius in Rome, which, according to
Pliny, would have made the
master celebrated even though
he had created nothing else
during his lifetime. It repre-
sented Achilles upon the island
of Leuke after his death, and
his reception among the deities,
and displayed, besides Thetis
and Poseidon, numerous fantas-
tic creatures of the sea. Some
idea of these last may be gained
from a magnificent frieze found
in the vicinity of the Temple
of Neptune, and now in the
Glyptothek at Munich. But it
cannot belong to this group,
and, in its main features, has
no close relations with it.
Delicate beauty and warmth
of feeling must be ascribed to
the works of Scopas, otherwise F'g> 223- — Central Figure of the Niobids. (Flor-
Pliny could not have placed the ^^^^'^
Aphrodite found in the Temple of Mars, near the Circus Flaminius,
above that of Praxiteles. Nor can we imagine the groups at Megara —
Eros, Himeros, and Pothos (Love, Yearning, and Desire) — described
by Pausanias ; or Aphrodite, with her priestly lover Phaethon ; or
Pothos, in Samothrace, to have been without these traits. The group
of Leto with the nurse Ortygia carrying the children, Apollo and Ar-
temis, as the personification of a mother's joy and pride, must have
been full of deep meaning. It is evident, from the long list of his
332
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
works, that his power was many-sided: his peculiar style is best
exemplified in a grand composition, the group of the Niobids,
though Pliny is in doubt whether it should be ascribed to Scopas
or to Praxiteles. The original of this no longer exists, and even the
very unequally executed pieces — to be found chiefly in the Uffizi
at Florence, and in various repetitions in different museums — are
not complete ; still even thus they betray the greatness and indi-
viduality of this won-
derful work. Niobe,
wife of King Amphion
of Thebes, and mother
of fourteen children, in
a boastful spirit, inher-
ited from her father
Tantalos, compared her-
self with Leto, who had
only two, and ordered
sacrifices to be made to
herself rather than to
that goddess. For this
she was terribly chas-
tised by Apollo and
Artemis, her children
being all slain before
her eyes by the aveng-
ing arrows of the two
deities. She herself, try-
ing in vain to protect
her youngest daughter,
pressing against her, makes an attempt to draw her mantle over
her head to hide the expression of despairing woe which, accord-
ing to the legend, in a few moments turned her to stone. The
figure, in its royal nobility and motherly despair, yet so free from
contortion, has wonderful effect. {Figs. 223 and 224.) The children,
already wounded and hurrying towards her, show pain, fear, and
need of help in different degrees, but with that dignity and fine
control which render it a tragedy in the highest sense. The vari-
Fig. 224. — Head of Niobe.
scoPAS. 333
ous struggles of feeling in the beautiful young faces ; the excited
wrestling with an invisible, unconquerable, relentless power, in every
gesture, and in every motion of the swaying garments ; the plaintive
character of the lines throughout the whole composition, entirely
opposed to the vertical tendency of the statuesque, arid especially
of the architectural art ; the wavy flow which distinguishes it from
the group at iCgina, and even from the quiet action of the figures
in the gables of the Parthenon — are all so peculiar to this pathetic
school, and so characteristic of its productions, that the Niobe will
ever be considered the greatest example of its style.
In a study of the artistic character of Scopas, we must content our-
selves, for the most part, with a few copies, and some not very full
accounts. Still, original remains from his hand are not altogether
wanting. We have seen that he was engaged in the sculptural or-
namentation upon the eastern side of the Mausoleum of Halicar-
nassos; while upon the south and north sides his younger associ-
ates were employed — Timotheos, Bryaxis, and Leochares, the latter
known to us by a copy in the Vatican of his Ganymede Carried Away
by the Eagle of Zeus. But the greater part of the recognizable re-
liefs upon the frieze, the most important group of which represents
the so often recurring battle of the Amazons, notwithstanding the
wonderful beauty and pathos of the action, peculiar to the sculptured
art of this period, is the work of artisans, and certainly not by the
hand of a master of the first rank. {Fig. 225.) Among the numer-
ous fragments of the statues found in the English excavations of
1856, which, from analogy with the mausoleums of the Roman em-
perors, may have stood between the columns, one at least, a well-
preserved torso, probably of Zeus, found upon the eastern side, has
been ascribed to Scopas. The others are, unfortunately, too much
mutilated to allow of any reliable judgment, as the varying views of
different authorities testify. At all events, these decorative works
cannot be ranked with the more celebrated examples of this master.
An acquaintance with the art of Scopas is extended by the study
of his younger and still more important contemporary Praxiteles.
The masterpieces of this artist are similar in character, and betray
all the preference of the former for the ideal beauty of youth. Not
less than five statues of Aphrodite by Praxiteles are known to have
334
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
existed, among which the famous statue at Cnidos was regarded as
one of the wonders of the world, and was ranked with the Olympian
Zeus, It was so highly prized among lovers of art that King Nico-
medes of Bithynia,for instance, in vain offered to the people of Cnidos
the entire amount of their State debt in exchange for it. The brow,
the moist glowing eyes, and soft smile of the slightly parted lips are
described as wonderful ; the whole figure being so executed as to
cause the marble to be forgotten and the goddess of love to appear
a reality. Coins of Cnidos show the figure to have been entirely
nude, the left hand holding her drapery, partly lying upon a v^se,
Fig. 225. — Fragment of the Frieze from the Mausoleum of Halicamassos.
and the right shielding herself in modesty. The best in this style
among the numerous remaining statues were the Braschi Aphrodite,
now in the Glyptothek at Munich, and that of the Vatican, which is,
however, inferior in execution, and is, unfortunately, disfigured in
the lower part by hard, modern drapery. Next to that of Cnidos in
nobility and beauty must have been a draped Aphrodite from Cos,
provided the people of that place had any understanding of art ; for,
when the choice between the two was offered them by the artist,
they gave the preference to this. Of the three others, less known,
the Thespian was placed next to the statue of Phryne, as contrasting
divine with human beauty. To Praxiteles were ascribed, also, at
PRAXITELES. 335
least two representations of Eros — blooming, youthful figures, of
which the most celebrated seems to have been the Thespian or Boe-
otian one, which was installed between the Phryne and the Aphro-
dite. Epigrams and accounts describing the god as wounding not
with the arrow, but the eye, appear to relate to this figure ; for the
second statue from Parion, in Mysia, according to the coins, showed
the god unarmed, and with head uplifted.
A tender and almost effeminate character was exhibited in these
beautiful figures of youth, similar to which were the Sauroctonos —
the lizard-killer — the best copy of which is in the Louvre; the
dreamily reposing Satyr,
of which there are copies
in various museums; and
the smiling, sentimental
Dionysos with the doe-
skin,leaning upon the thyr-
sos. Great depth of suf-
fering and sorrow is the
fundamental feature of two
groups, one representing
the rape of Proserpine, the
other her delivery by De-
meter to the lower world,
to which she returned after
every harvest, as a symbol
of the following fruitless
season. This last was as pathetic an illustration of a sorely tested
mother as could be found in any other work of Praxiteles. The
mild Demeter was not less frequently presented by this master than
was Aphrodite.
That greatest of all modern discoveries, the Hermes with the in-
fant Djonysos, found in the Heraion at Olympia {Figs. 227 and 228),
has proved the error of imputing to all the works of Praxiteles a del-
icate gracefulness verging upon weakness, which had arisen from the
study of the only examples hitherto known — the copies of the Sauroc-
tonos, the Satyr, and the Aphrodite. The manly force of this statue,
in character midway between the conceptions of Pheidias and Lysip-
Fig. 226. — Head of Eros. (Vatican.)
33«
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
pos, is, indeed, so surprising that some scholars hav /en been in-
cHned to assume a second sculptor by the name of Praxiteles, there
being no reason to doubt the direct testimony of Pausanias as to the
authorship of this work. The beauty of this torso exceeds that of all
other antique statues known;
the expression of the head con-
veys that intense sympathy be-
tween the loving protector and
the child which must have char-
acterized the work of Kephis-
odotos referred to above. It is
possible that the Hermes was
the product of an earlier period
of the sculptor's development,
more closely related to the
tendency and ideals of Pheidi-
an art. When it is consider-
ed that this torso is the only
surely authenticated original
production of any great mas-
ter of Greek sculpture — for it
is by no means certain that the
gable groups of the Parthenon
are by the haiid of Pheidias
himself — there is no need for
further discussion of the fun-
damental importance of this
most fortunate discovery.
Notwithstanding the aston-
ishing many-sided genius and
productivity of Praxiteles, near-
ly all the Olympian deities ap-
pearing in the half hundred of
his works, it must still be acknowledged that, besides his pathetic
tendency, he particularly affected that province in which the figures
of maidens or youths gave opportunity for the devc' "nent of the
greatest charms. His works portray a sensual lovelines. . tinguished
Fig. 227. — Hermes with the Infant Dionysos
(From the Heraion at Olympia.)
PRAXITELES. -
alike from that hard and abstract beauty, that outward perfectly,
of form sought and attained by Polycleitos, and from that elevated,
godlike being ideally embodied by Pheidias in his Zeus and his
Athene. Neither entirely human, as with Polycleitos, nor divine, as
with Pheidias. this emotional loveliness seemed created for the world
of gods, but little raised above the sight and experience of men;
Fig. 228.— Head of the Hermes of Praxiteles.
and this type appears to have been as well established by Prax-
iteles as that of the higher deities by Pheidias. Its examples are
the Aphrodite and Eros, the youthful Dionysos with his train, the
Demeter, and the Eleusinian circle.
However important the school of these two masters of pathos
may have been, but few among the numerous names that have been
preserved became prominent. The chief exceptions are the above-
22
238 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
mentioned assistants of Scopas upon the mausoleum, and the two
sons of Praxiteles, Kephisodotos the younger, and Timarchos. Two
of the greatest works of statuary, however, may be ascribed to their
most vigorous scholars — the Venus of Melos in the Louvre {Fig. 229)
and the so-called Ilioneus in the Glyptothek at Munich. If the
doubtful inscription of the artist
upon the former be credited, which,
in characters of the first century
B.C., designated it as the produc-
tion of I Ale I xandros, son of Me-
nides of Antioch upon the Me-
ander, but which, together with the
corresponding part of the plinth,
has disappeared, we should possess
in this work an inexplicable anach-
ronism, a creation of the highest
rank in art produced during a pe-
riod of decided decadence. As,
however, through this loss, this as-
sumption cannot be verified, science
must proceed to judge it by its style
alone. Its grandeur and dignity,
in contrast to the immodest co-
quetry of later works ; the fulness
of the flesh in this body of ever-
blooming youth, in comparison
with their attenuated grace ; the
mild softness of the surface be-
side the cold polish of the other
figures of Aphrodite — would place
this statue between the period of
highest perfection at the time of
Praxiteles, and that of the Roman reproductions. The reference
of the Venus of Melos to the school of Praxiteles has found a
justification not to be undervalued in the discovery of the Hermes
at Olympia, this figure of manly youth forming as complete a pen-
dant to the maidenly Venus as could be imagined. In artistic char-
Fig. 229. — Venus of Melos. (Louvre.)
THE VENUS OF MELOS. 330
acter this is far more nearly related to the Hermes than is any
other statue of Aphrodite, not excepting the undoubted Roman
reproduction of that of Cnidos. At any rate, it is clearly an
Hellenic original, not belonging to the period of later Hellenistic
art.
Unfortunately, no explanation of this statue hitherto advanced
has been entirely satisfactory. The two arms are wanting, and the
fallen drapery covering the lower limbs has hidden from us the
only accessory evidence — namely, the object upon which the lifted
left leg is supported ; so that even the name of Venus is not to be
applied with the usual certainty. The Roman types of Victory, also
half nude, with the same garments and position, and with the shield
upon which the conquest is inscribed, suggest an Aphrodite-Victory
analogous to the Attic Athene-Victory. The restorations all pre-
sent points of difficulty; among them may be mentioned that com-
monly received, where the goddess contemplates herself in the shield
of Ares, supported by the analogy of a statue mentioned by Pausa-
nias (ii. 5), an interpretation equally applicable to the Venus of Capua,
now in Naples ; that also of Wiesler, with the lance in the uplifted
left hand ; and the combination of the goddess in a group with Ares
by Quatrem^re de Quincy.
It is even less easy to find a reliable explanation of the beautiful
torso in the Glyptothek at Munich, formerly held, falsely, to be
Ilioneus among the Niobids, and even believed to be an original.
As the Venus of Melos is an illustration of ripened womanly beauty,
the entirely nude, cowering figure, without head or arms, represents
the perfection of youth : and the position suggests a subject equal
in pathetic import to that of the children of Niobe.
As the works of Scopas and Praxiteles frequently found their
way to the islands of the ^Egean Sea, and as the former, at least, had
certainly dwelt for some time in Asia Minor, the influence of these
two masters appears to have extended eastward, and their style to
have had decided sway even longer there than in Greece proper.
The farthest outlying examples are presented by the fragmentary
statues of the Nereids from the Monument of Xanthos, to which
they have given the name.
At that period, even in Athens, some highly esteemed artists
340 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
not only partially followed their own ways, but in these surpassed
the former masters, and pursued aims which did not become gen-
erally prevalent until the middle of the fourth century, and then
in quite other localities. These were Silanion of Athens and Eu-
phranor of the Isthmos. The first devoted himself chiefly to por-
traits and representations of victors, and was so especially successful
in the former as to make them a real embodiment of personal char-
acter ; as, for instance, the portrait of the passionate sculptor Apol-
lodoros was made to appear a personification of sudden rage. Sila-
nion distinguished himself from Praxiteles in the subjects of his art, in
which he had much in common with Lysippos. Euphranor was also,
perhaps in a still greater degree, a painter, and, in the coarser pow-
er of his creations, was opposed to the delicate style of Praxiteles,
showing more affinity with Lysippos, so far, at least, as we can judge
of his sculptures by the accounts of his paintings.
Similar to the transitional position between Pheidias and Sco-
pas, held by the elder Kephisodotos, was the position taken by these
two sculptors between the art of Scopas and Praxiteles and that
of Lysippos, for whom the studies and innovations in the canons
of human proportions prepared the way. Though self-taught, for
as a youth he had been a hand-worker in brass, and from this had
raised himself to the position of an artist, he was still not without
connection with the schools, since he took as his model the Dory-
phoros of Polycleitos, the academic pattern mentioned above, and
' also worked in bronze, the material most favored by Polycleitos and
the artists of the Peloponnesos. He cannot, however, be called a
direct scholar of Polycleitos, whose canon he corrected and even
replaced by a new one, better adapted to the artistic aims of the
younger masters. The model of Polycleitos was the human body,
but Lysippos felt that he must set his ideal of humanity higher than
in the average of real examples, because he considered these, in
comparison with the perfect figure, to be degenerate and dwarfed.
Although he worked with reference to this view, still he developed
his types from the real appearances of nature ; and when asked by
the painter Eupompos of Sikyon for advice as to the best teacher,
he pointed to an assemblage of people. He wished to represent
man, however, not as he is, but as he should be, and employed
LYSIPPOS.
341
only those features which did not fall below the average determined
by Polycleitos. His ideal type of the human body became more
slender and larger, the size being especially apparent because the
head and extremities, which take their proportions from the whole,
were made smaller.
Lysippos, however, fol-
lowed the footsteps of Pol-
ycleitos in considering the
establishment of a canon
as the greatest essential in
art, and exercised his pow-
ers chiefly in the province
of humanity. His Apoxy-
omenos — the athlete scrap-
ing himself with the strig-
il, a marble copy of which
is in the Vatican — is the
most celebrated among his
statues of athletes and vic-
tors. {Fig- 230.) In this
he seems to have set forth
his new confession of faith,
in opposition to that of
Polycleitos. This aim must
have had the most impor-
tant influence upon por-
trait-sculpture, the chief
field of his activity. It is
clear from the accounts of
some likenesses of persons
long dead, or even legen-
JM-jjJt, TiMjyu, x^.j^~i, _ _^, .■._^^„„
dary, that he fully express- Fig. 23a— Marble Copy of the Apoxyomenos of Ly-
ed the character in the sippos. (in the Vatican.)
features, as in the ApoUodoros of Silanion, and did not aim at that
over-scrupulous reproduction of details and attention to circumstan-
tial matters which endeavor to attain a likeness by sharp observa-
tion of external things, unessential to the whole. This inferior style
342
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
of portraiture was pursued by Lysistratos, the brother of Lysippos,
who formed his figures after plaster casts from nature. Although
earlier portraits might have informed the sculptor in regard to the
true features of some historical personages, certainly this could not
have been the case with ^Esop, or the Seven Wise Men, for whose in-
dividuality and intellectual tendencies he was obliged to create a
characteristic type. In the portrait which he most frequently exe-
cuted, that of Alexander the Great, it was of especial importance to
illuminate the ugly and faulty formation of the monarch's face by
the expression of his powerful character, and to execute it so ap-
propriately that even the likeness was increased by such depth of
appreciation. The artist thus produced portraits of the conqueror
which differed as much, and as favorably, from the realistic and
chance appearance of the king as the historic illustration of a great
personage does from the knowledge of that individual in every-day
life. Alexander, accordingly, would be represented in sculpture by
no one except Lysippos, as he would be painted by none but
Apelles. Even that best-preserved portrait of Alexander, the bust
in the Capitol, does not suffice to make clear the whole conception
of Lysippos. How grand such monumental portraitures really
were may be gathered from the account of the group at Dium — af-
terwards transferred to the Portico of Octavia in Rome — illustrat-
ing a scene from the battle upon the Granicos, where twenty-five
warriors on horseback and nine on foot were grouped about the
king, to which many of the enemy may doubtless be added.
The work next in importance after this was the representation
of Heracles by this master. Not in the elevation of the ideal above
the human, but rather in the emphasizing of this latter quality, did
the Heracles of Lysippos stand in distinct opposition alike to the
merely human model of Polycleitos, to the superhuman and godlike
beings of Pheidias, and especially to the divinely charming beauty
of the Aphrodite and the Eros, as seen in the best creations of Sco-
pas and Praxiteles. The Heracles of Lysippos, the embodiment of
strength developed beyond human possibility, appeared colossal,
whether the absolute dimensions were really great — like the statue
from Tarention which represented him resting upon a basket after
the labor of cleansing the Augean stables — or whether in niiniature,
LYSIPPOS.
343
suitable for a table ornament — like the celebrated Epitrapezios, show-
ing the hero as a drinker. Copies, in part, still remain of the Labors
of Heracles, executed in twelve groups for Alyzia, in Acarnania.
They show the same type
that is reproduced in the
affected, overstrained stat-
ue of the later Athenian
artist Glycon — the so-
called Famese Hercules in
Naples. (Fi;^. 231.)
Besides these promi-
nent groups by Lysippos,
evidences of his creative
energy, the figures of the
deities appear to have been
few in number. That ex-
amples from the circle of
young and beautiful di-
vinities, which formed the
principal field for the art
of Praxiteles, should be
almost entirely wanting,
was to be expected, he
who had perfected the
type of Heracles natural-
ly preferring a powerful
figure. Four statues of
Zeus are mentioned.
Though the colossal size
of these seems to have
been a prominent feature
— the Zeus of Tarention Fig. 231. — Famese Hercules of Glycon. (In the Museum
• 1 . of Naples.)
measuring eighteen me- *^
tres in height — still they should not be considered as executed after
a conventional pattern, and consequently offering nothing worthy
of remark. In view of all that is known of Lysippos, it seems not
improbable that the Zeus of Otricoli {Fig. 232), formerly referred
344
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
to the Pheidian type, may be more nearly related to its modifica-
tion by Lysippos. The Helios upon the quadriga in Rhodes, be-
sides its human beauty, may possibly have been of great importance
in type and conception ; but this is not assured by the fact that
Nero prized it highly, and ordered it to be gilded. If it be added
that Lysippos worked more industriously and rapidly than any other
known sculptor — provided the account be true that the number of
his productions amounted to fifteen hundred — it cannot be supposed
that the time required for new conception and careful execution
would be given to them all.
The school of Lysippos was
not wanting in names of renown.
His most gifted son,Euthycrates,
appears to have equalled his fa-
ther in groups of portrait stat-
ues, like the Gathering of Riders
and a Hunt of Alexander in Thes-
pia ; while another son, Boidas,
awakens our interest from the
circumstance that the celebrated
Praying Boy, in the museum at
Berlin, may possibly be referred
to him. Chares of Lindos pro-
duced the greatest known work
of Greek sculpture in regard to
size — namely, the colossal statue
of the sun at Rhodes, over thir-
ty metres high. Pliny describes
it as already fallen and in ruins, therefore his words give us no infor-
mation as to the conception and style ; and the current account of
its having stood so high above the entrance to the harbor that ves-
sels sailed between the legs is a fabulous reminiscence of the figure
projected at Mount Athos by Deinocrates. Among the scholars of
Lysippos, Eutychides seems to have been the most independent ; the
goddess Anticheia, a copy of which is in the Vatican, was distinguished
by excellence in the motive, ease of position, and effective drapery ;
but, in its genre-like treatment, it excluded all thought of religious
Fig. 232. — Zeus of Otricoli. (Vatican.)
THE SCHOOL OF LYSIPPOS. 345
art, to which a certain strictness and dignity should pertain. This
goddess was seated with dignity, like a city itself, while another per-
sonification— the river-god — appeared " more flowing than water."
This marked significance in both cannot be ascribed to a happy
chance, but must be regarded as evidence of that highly developed
characterization by which the great Sikyonian master endeavored
to conceive the whole being and to embody it in his portraits and
representative figures. Among the nameless works from the school
of Lysippos, creations are to be found of the highest merit. The
originator of the Barberini Faun, now in the Glyptothek at Munich,
whoever he may have been, should be ranked among the greatest
masters of all times.
With Lysippos the development of art in its principal directions
was terminated. As Overbeck says, "the summit lies behind us; we
descend, and our way downwards may still lead through charming
landscapes; but the pure, clear ether soon ceases to surround us, and,
before the far-reaching glance, rises from the mist of centuries the
flat and endless desert, in the sands of which the stream of Grecian
art is quenched." Alexander himself was the patron of the last of
the seven great masters of sculpture ; with him ended the fresh di-
rectness of Hellenic creations, as well as the greatness of Greece it-
self. He and his successors built temples afterwards to be furnished,
as before, with statues of the deities and outwardly ornamented with
sculptures ; but they took their models from those earlier works
which, elevated to a typical and canonical importance, were not to
be surpassed, and employed themselves simply in reproducing. They
followed more willingly the easy path open to them because, in the
Alexandrian period, scepticism, empty formalism, and chilling in-
difference had already laid the ravaging axe to the Hellenic re-
ligion. With the spread of Hellenic power into the heart of Asia,
its art, like its polity, lost its individuality, becoming expansive in-
stead of intense, in decorative subjection to the requirements of ele-
gance and use. Losing its former independent nobility, sculpture
soon fell from the height which it had occupied for a century and a
half. Athens, Sikyon, and Argos, hitherto central points of de-
velopment, where art had brought forth its richest fruits as a model
for the entire Hellenic world, now became provincial cities of the
346
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
Fig. 233. — Boreas.
Macedonian kingdom, and lost their glory — some for a long period,
and others forever. Following the example of Lysippos, artists pre-
ferred wandering from court to court of Alexander's successors; and
in Alexandria, Antioch, Seleucia, in Nicomedia, Pergamon, Ambra-
kia, mostly new and elegant cities of royal residence, occupation
could not have been wanting, though the quantity of work may have
tended to hasten the decline. How extensive and extravagant were
the artistic requirements of the Diadochi, how excessive the incense
of flattery offered
them, is shown in
the description of
the luxurious works
of the Ptolemies
and of the Seleu-
cidae, and by the
three hundred stat-
ues erected to De-
metrius Phalereus
in Athens alone.
These last may
have been some-
what better than
the representation
of the winds upon
the clepsydra and
vane of Andronicos
Kyrrhestios {Figs.
233 and 234), but
even they must be
classed as mere artisan-work. Much was done in portrait-statuary
after the time of Alexander, who turned 'art in this direction ; and
the successive dynasties also encouraged it, as may easily be im-
agined. This is evident from the statues still preserved, from the
Ptolemaic cameos, and especially the coins of the Diadochi. The
heads of these kings have never been equalled, for fine and lifelike
characterization and modelling, in all the portrait coins and medal-
lions which have been struck down to the present time. {Fig- 235.)
Fig. 234. — Notos, From the Tower of the V^inds, Athens.
THE DIADOCHI.
347
Though a great deal was produced in the period of the Diado-
chi, and, in the Hne of portraiture, much that was good, still there
must have been truth in the saying of Pliny that "after the I2ist
Olympiad (290 B.C.) art ceased, and revived again only in the 1 56th
(150 B.C.)." It ceased, namely, in so far as it was made subservient
to courts and decoration ; but upon the soil of Greece itself, and
among the people, it grew, and strove after higher aims. The pro-
duction continued, but its artisan -like elaboration did not make
good the lost artistic originality. Men of vigorous talent followed
in the paths of Praxiteles and Lysippos, producing works which are
the ornaments of our antique collections ; but the character of repro-
ductions, clinging to their creations, robs them of the name of artist
in the full sense of the word. The scanty notices of Pliny are, in
Antiochas I. of Sjrria.
aSi to 36a.
PhnipV.oTMacedoo.
a>o to 178.
Fig. 335. — Coins of the DiadochL
Pen«tu of Macedoa
178 to 168.
general, correct ; but he omits to mention some exceptions which
represent a further development of sculpture, not quite unimportant,
though questionable in principle.
In two places, at the royal court of Pergamon and in the repub-
lic of Rhodes, productive art rose again to a certain independence
and originality. Pliny himself, in another place, says that " several
artists illustrated the battles of Attalos and Eumenes against the
Gauls ; namely, Isigonos, Phycomachos, Stratonicos, and Antigonos."
The great victory over these barbarians was fought in 229 B.C. by
Attalos, with which Eumenes, by a misunderstanding easily to be
explained, appears to have been connected. Attalos erected in his
capital a grand monument to his victory, and, not contenting him-
self with this, consecrated another upon the Acropolis at Athens,
348
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
perhaps in part a copy of that in Pergamon. Remnants of both
monuments still exist which give a comparatively good knowled'^e
of the artistic peculiarities of this school. The investigations upon
this site, now approaching completion, have unearthed hundreds of
fragments in high-relief, part of a gigantomachia originally forming
the decoration of an altar. The altar was surrounded by Ionic
colonnades, the high stereobate of which was ornamented with
sculptures in high-relief, the whole being elevated upon a gigantic
terrace, 38 m. long, and 34 m. broad. The frieze, representing the
gigantomachia, stands midway between the works of Lysippos and
Fig. 236. — The So-called Dying Gladiator. School of Pergamon.
the Laocoon, and forms the most extensive and important monu-
ment of sculpture remaining from the time of the Diadochi; it is
in many respects a parallel to that of the Mausoleum of Halicarnas-
sos which represents the decorative work of the school of Scopas
and Praxiteles. These works have now found their way to Berlin,
but a critical account of them will be possible only when they shall
have been made generally accessible by an official publication. The
statue of the so-called Dying Gladiator of the Capitol belonged to
the group in Pergamon already known {Fig. 236) ; as did the two
figures in the Villa Ludovisi, representing a Gaul who, to escape the
shame of slavery, has stabbed his wife, who sinks beside him, and is
PERGAMON. 3^^
about to thrust the sword into his own neck. In the so-called
Dying Gladiator, the rough hair growing low upon the neck, the
strongly marked indentation between the brow and the projecting
Northern nose, the beard shorn to the upper lip, the heavy cheek-
bones, the fleshy and somewhat clumsily formed body, the hard and
calloused skin upon the hands and feet, the twisted neckband, and
the curved battle-horn have long since shown the meaning of this
statue. In the group in the Ludovisi Villa, the same marble, a like
and peculiar treatment of the forms, with the same type of head,
leave no doubt that this also belonged to a large group represent-
ing a victory over the Gauls. From its style, it cannot be considered
as a Roman monument, particularly as some notices of the Athe-
nian Votive Offering of Attalos clearly identify it.
The most striking novelty in these monuments, and also in the
school of art at Pergamon, is the characteristic following-out of
ethnographical differences. Previously, when artists would distin<
guish barbarians, they were content to make the nationality clear by
costume and accessories ; but this could not suffice for Lysippos,
who had carried individual characterization to such a height in his
portrait-statues, and who probably, in his group of the battle upon
the Granicos, illustrated the peculiarities of the Persian race. In
groups of portrait-statues it was necessary to treat the action with
absolute truthfulness, thus leading the way to historic art. This is
perfected in the monument in question, the ideal battle scene being
based upon real details; it was not merely a strife among men, but
Greeks and Celts stood opposed, each nation with its marked feat-
ures and peculiarities, the barbarians distinguished not outwardly
alone, but by their natural wildness.
This is evident from a number of figures of the Athenian votive
offering of Attalos, still preserved ; our knowledge of their connec-
tion with the Dying Gladiator and the school of Pergamon is due
to Brunn. According to Pausanias, this votive offering consisted of
figures half the size of life, in four groups, showing the gigantoma-
chia, the combat of the Amazons, the battle of Marathon, and the
victory of Attalos. Figures exist from them all ; from the first, a
giant, dead and outstretched, is in the museum at Naples, as also one
of the second, a fallen Amazon ; from the third, a dead body clad in
350
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
breeches, and two nude Persians kneeling, are in Naples, the Vati-
can, and in the possession of Signor Castellani. From the fourth, a
kneeling figure, at Paris, and one kneeling and one falling backward,
at Venice, are unmistakable Gauls ; while a sitting figure, wounded,
also at Venice, and a youthful one, dead, at Naples, are probably
also of that race. Judging from these remains, the composition must
have included numerous figures, as the five existing Gauls — perhaps
also several more — bespeak a corresponding number at Pergamon,
and forty is the lowest that can be reckoned for the whole. Their
position was probably upon the steps of the monument, which pos-
sibly bore the statue of the founder. It must have stood near the
wall of the Acropolis, since it has been said that a figure from
the gigantomachia was thrown by a storm into the theatre which
stood at the foot of this fortress. That only the conquered are
found among the pieces preserved seems to be an evidence that
these remnants are from the original rather than from any copy,
because, aside from the ipn probability that so extensive a work
would have been copied in later times, the effect of the storm sug-
gests the thought that the erect statues of the victors would have
been less likely to last through so many centuries than the lying
and cowering figures, not so easily injured on account of their closer
connection with the base. Notwithstanding their relation in style
to the Capitoline statue and to the group in the Ludovisi Villa,
these are distinctly inferior and harder. Brunn is probably right in
his supposition that they are the work of scholars, and a contempo-
raneous reproduction from the studio of that master, who himself
executed the monument at Pergamon, the figures of which ranked in
merit with the Dying Gladiator. Many deficiencies may be account-
ed for by its reduction to half life-size ; its repetition at this scale,
for the Athenian votive offering, appearing to have satisfied the
king.
The work most nearly related to this, also in marble, and per-
fectly similar in conception, is a figure of the Marsyas group, the
celebrated Knife-sharpener in the Uflfizi at Florence. This is also a
representative of barbarism, probably a Scythian, the others having
been Gauls; but, artistically, this makes no difference. No originals
remain of the other figures in the group, of which the barbarian,
RHODES. 351
cowering upon the ground and sharpening the knife for the flaying
of Marsyas, probably formed no very important part. Another aim,
the careful anatomical treatment of the body, is ostentatiously dis-
played in the copies of this work now in Berlin and Florence. The
group suggests another locality, and forms a connecting medium be-
tween those two most important centres of art in that period, Per-
gamon and Rhodes.
Among the few republics of the time, the island of Rhodes was
able to rival the brilliant courts of kings, in regard to artistic treas-
ures, by its wealth of commerce and its political neutrality — the
latter being rendered possible, as nowhere else, by its situation and
importance. That the influence of Lysippos prevailed there is
clear from the fact that, after this master had sent thither his
Phoibos upon the quadriga, the Rhodian Chares went to learn of
him, and afterwards executed for his native city the above-mentioned
colossus. This was followed in the same place by a hundred other
colossal figures, which were probably related, in point of style, to the
works of Lysippos. The statement of Pliny that each, singly, would
have sufficed to make the place of its exposition famous is hardly
intelligible. Numerous names of artists, mostly of Rhodes, found
partly in inscriptions upon the bases, and partly mentioned by Pliny,
might here be mentioned.
The multiplied productions of colossal works, however, would not
suffice to give a very favorable idea of the state of art in Rhodes,
were it not for the preservation of two examples, prominent among
many, which were famous even in antiquity. These were the group
of the Laocoon, in the Vatican, and the so-called Farnese Bull, in
Naples. The first {Fig. 237), which Pliny, with extravagant praise,
calls the work of three Rhodians, Agesandros, Athanodoros, and
Polydoros, was found in 1 506 — not in one piece, as he describes it, but
in six — among the ruins of the house of Titus, in whose palace Pliny
says it was placed. It represents the priest Laocoon, who sinned
at the altar through love, and whom Apollo chastised by means of
two serpents. This expiation became tragic, from its having taken
place at the moment when Laocoon had resolved to save his native
city, Troy ; and also from the suffering of the children, innocent,
though born in sin. The serpents have encircled the three figures ;
352
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
the youngest is falling from the deadly sting ; the father, sinking
upon the altar after a desperate defence, is no longer able to protect
himself; while the elder son, not yet threatened with instant death.
Fig. 237. — Group of Laocoon and his Sons, by Agesandros, Athanodoros, and Polydoros.
(Vatican.)
but hopelessly entangled in the coils of the serpent, turns upon iiis
father a look of despairing horror.
This grand work, though from Pliny down to later times
THE LAOCOON. 353
esteemed beyond its real merit, still makes evident to us peculiari-
ties in the art of Rhodes which, in many respects, render it of inde-
pendent value. We find in it a choice of subject new in sculpture,
the technical and artistic difficulties of which appear almost insur-
mountable, so that it could only be treated by ability well trained
and long experienced. It gave opportunity to surpass all existing
productions in its display of artistic technical superiority. When
the body of the Laocoon is compared with the type of Heracles, it
cannot be doubted that the canon of Lysippos was followed ; but the
forms, which with him were developed from the living model, in
this, as in the Marsyas of Perp^amon, are taken from anatomical
studies, and are wanting in fulness of life : the overdetailed muscles
are too studied, distinct, and separated ; they are marble, and not
flesh. The composition would, in real life, be impracticable ; the
action is visibly so ordered that it never could be possible, and is
throughout developed with an aim towards the greatest effect. But
this effect is by no means merely formal, limited to the restless and
disquieting play of the lines of the limbs and trunks, and of the coils
of the serpents. It is in the highest degree pathetic. Thus this
element of the school of Praxiteles existed in this work, both the
leading characteristics of that master being here displayed with an
excessive ostentation. The pathos confronts us too exclusively, not
modified by any ethic principle. The work does not, therefore, have
the tragic power which lies in the descriptions of Sophocles, because,
in the group, only the effect is to be seen ; we have no hint as to the
cause. The pathetic blends far more with the pathological event
than with the ethical. The mastery of rendering, the composition,
the effect — everything is wonderful ; but it all lies in the realm of dis-
play : our admiration is given to the artist rather than to the work.
It cannot be denied that this effective treatment was the dominant
feature in the art of Rhodes; but it set technical mastery in the
foreground, to the neglect of absolute and intrinsic merit.
This applies equally to the second great work, the so-called Far-
nese Bull {Fig. 238), the creation of two artists from Tralles, Apollo-
nios and Tauriscos, who may have worked in Rhodes, as, according
to Pliny, the group was to be seen there before it was brought to
Rome under Augustus. This large group was found in the Baths
23
354 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
of Caracalla soon after the discovery of the Laocoon, and was trans-
ported to Naples, where it now stands in the Museo Nazionale. The
scene is probably taken from the Antiope, a tragedy of Euripides,
Fig. 238. — The Farnese Bull of Apollonios and Tauriscos. (In Naples.)
and an understanding of the story is necessary to its comprehension.
Antiope was the daughter of King Nycteus of Thebes ; he being
angry with her because of the love of Zeus, and incredulous' as to
the cause of her pregnancy, she fled to Mount Kithairon, where she
THE FARNESE BULL. 355
bore the twins Zethos and Amphion. Having given these to the
care of a shepherd, she was received by King Epopeus of Sikyon ;
but Lycos, the brother and successor of Nycteus, carried on the
hateful persecution, even to the extent of making war against her
protector. Sikyon was destroyed, and Antiope returned as a slave
to Thebes, where the ill-treatment of Dirke, wife of Lycos, obliged
her to fly once more to the mountains. There, at a festival of Bac-
chus, she was found again by her persecutor, and, for her flight, was
given the terrible punishment of being dragged to death by a bull.
Zethos and Amphion were ready to execute the command when a
recognition took place, and a just vengeance brought the fate in-
tended for Antiope upon the head of Dirke. This moment forms
the imposing scene of the group. The raging bull is only with diffi-
culty held by the avenging sons ; Dirke, a most beautiful woman,
praying in vain for grace, clasps the knee of one while the other is
ready to throw around her the noose by which she is to be dragged
over the rough ground of Kithairon. The passion of the avenging
sons, and the fear of Dirke, make the work highly pathetic and im-
pressive ; but it is not so really tragic as the Laocoon, because the
motive of the evidently brutal deed, though not entirely neglected,
as in the former, is still not entirely comprehensible. Antiope, the
heroine of the tragedy, is indeed present. But she is not brought
into the action, and stands, in fact, behind the principal characters.
She is therefore hardly more than a lay figure, expressing nothing.
It might perhaps have been better to omit Antiope altogether, and
to leave the action without any motive at all. The figure has, how-
ever, an interest of its own, being in an excellent state of preserva-
tion, while the others have suffered by restoration and by retouch-
ing. The composition, with its numerous figures, admirably executed,
has a picturesque effect which is somewhat new in the history of
Greek sculpture. This is enhanced by the accessories of the story,
the rocky ground, and many local details symbolical of the occasion.
Besides a fine large dog, really belonging to the group, there are a
chaplet and a basket, a disproportionately small boy ornamented
with a wreath, and, still more inferior in size, two lions seizing a bull
and a norse. There are also two boars coming out from a grotto,
a lioness, a stag, a hind, a ram, an eagle with a snake, and a falcon
356 HELLAa— SCtJLPTURE.
over a dead bird ; even turtles, snakes, and snails are represented.
The mastery over the technical and artistic difficulties in this work
is scarcely less admirable than in the Laocoon, and it gives the same
impression of a successful piece of bravura, astonishing and quite
fascinating for its novelty, boldness, and versatile power. The age,
indeed, satiated with the best products of various schools, demanded
the stimulus of an excessive appeal to superficial sources of interest.
The group of the Marsyas is attributed to artists of Pergamon, and
Fig. 239. — The Wrestlers. (In the Uffizi, Florence.)
the Wrestlers in the Uffizi at Florence (Fig. 239) may, with greater
certainty, be ascribed to those of Rhodes.
Before we pass to the last active period of Hellenic art, one other
work, preserved from this age, the Apollo Belvedere of the Vatican
{Fig. 240), still claims our consideration. Though without the name
of the artist, or of the place of its origin, and not, perhaps, to be
classed directly with the greatest productions of Pergamon and
Rhodes, it is yet not unworthy to rank by their side. It is, like the
Laocoon, one of the best-known statues among the existing treasures
THE APOLLO BELVEDERE. 357
of antiquity, and scarcely needs a minute description. The splendid
triumphant head looking into the distance, the slender figure, as fine
in modelling as it is noble, the pleasing grace of the light step,
assure for it an admiration, the more universal as these beauties —
the combined result of the schools of Lysippos and of Praxiteles —
are just those which are the
most generally recognized.
It is not an original work,
in the full sense of the word,
but an early Roman copy
from the bronze, and seems
to bear a closer relation to
it than does the lately dis-
covered head which is now
in the museum at Basle.
This latter has lost the char-
acteristic features of the
bronze style, and from the
greater freedom of its treat-
ment may be called a trans-
lation into marble, in dis-
tinction from the copy in
the Vatican. Another re-
production of this work re-
cently made known by Ste-
phani, a bronze statuette in
the Strogonofi" collection, at
St. Petersburg, has given an
additional explanation of the
action in which the god was
represented. In the marble
the left hand was wanting,
and in the restoration this was supplied with a bow ; but in the
Strogonofi" Apollo remains are still to be seen of the aegis, held in the
hand, with which the deity drove back the Greeks, as described by Ho-
mer, II. XV. 306. If the far-shooter be thus changed into the aegis-
bearer, the shaking of the aegis symbolizing the storm, a plain refer-
Fig. 240. — Apollo Belvedere. (In the Vatican.)
358 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
ence may be found to the original motive of the work. When the
Gauls threatened Delphi in 279 B.C., the defence of the Greeks was
effectively assisted by a terrible storm, which threw the barbarians
into a fearful panic, and which was regarded by the Greeks as caused
by the personal intervention of Apollo, Athene, and Artemis. This
might well have had an effect upon art similar to that of the victory
of Attalos over the Gauls in Asia Minor. The vEtolians, indeed,
proposed to erect at Delphi a votive offering, with figures of field-
officers and of the three gods, while a statue of Apollo was erected
in Patrae from a similar reason. In view of this, Overbeck has ven-
tured to combine the Apollo Belvedere, the Artemis of Versailles
{Fig. 241), and the striding Athene of the Capitoline Museum into one
group, to which ideal union the unsimilarity of the workmanship,
and even of the scale of the three statues, is not so much opposed
— since these are all copies that have come down to us from differ-
ent times — as is the movement of the Apollo, the middle figure,
towards the right. This difficulty might be met by changing the
positions, so that Athene should stand at the right and Artemis at
the left, whereby the action of the figures might be from, rather than
towards, each other, Artemis being turned decidedly more towards
the front. If, however, this work originated in consequence of the
victory in 279 B.C., it shows that a generation before the time of
Attalos, at least in Greece proper, although attention had already
been devoted to momentary action, art nevertheless still stood upon
an ideal height, and could still delineate gods worthy of admiration.
These artistic efforts do not, on the whole, refute the opinion of
Pliny that art ceased from the 121st to the 156th Olympiad — that
is, from 300 to 1 50 B.C. The chief localities of its activity, Perga-
mon and Rhodes, may be considered only as asylums found by the
higher sculpture after it had lost all foothold in its native home.
But when he says it took a new flight at the close of that period,
we must acknowledge that the result was not of that kind which
could charm us as it did the Roman narrator. As Brunn remarks,
the date of Pliny agrees with that period when Hellenic art attained
a decided mastery in Rome. Scarcely any evidences of the monu-
mental art of Greece were to be recognized in Rome before the con-
quest of Syracuse in 212 B.C. After this time the Roman triumphs
THE DELPHI SCULPTURES. jjg
brought forth, one after another, an almost oppressive number of
productions, so that the art of the Greek colonies, and of Greece
itself, overflowed Rome in a broad stream. Not to mention the
Fig. 241. — Artemis of Versailles.
plundering of Capua, Tarention, and numerous Grecian cities in
Lower Italy, we have an example in the triumphs of Quintius Fla-
minius, the conqueror of Kynoskephalae, 197 B.C., when the transpor-
360 HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
tation of the statues lasted an entire day. The booty taken from
Western Greece by M. Fulvius Nobilior, in 189 B.C., also contained
not less than five hundred and fifteen statues. These extensive
plunderings were at least equalled by the triumphs of L. Cornelius
Scipio, the victor over Antiochos ; of ^milius Paulus, conqueror of
Perseus ; of Metellus Macedonicus, and of the destroyer of Corinth,
Mummius, who has become proverbial for his barbarous robberies.
It was not strange that at last a living art followed the triumphal
chariot of Roman victories. Metellus employed many Grecian
artists in the erection and ornamentation of his new buildings in
Rome.
The scene of artistic industry thus became changed, and Rome,
a foreign city, became the central point — first of possession, and
afterwards of artistic activity. It might therefore be questioned
whether what follows were not better suited to the chapter upon
Rome ; but it must be considered that the Romans were, from our
present point of view, only wealthy collectors and patrons of art,
and that the artists employed were still Grecian, and of the Hellenic
school. This was not altered by their working in Rome, or even by
their learning from the numberless productions accumulated there.
Roman grandeur was long contented with artistic booty for the
ornamenting of its forums, temples, and public buildings ; the im-
mense wealth of the empire and proconsulate giving opportunity
for procuring celebrated works by force, by purchase, or as honorary
gifts. This brought forth dilettanteism, which led to the study of
art, and to a zeal for collecting which made every new acquisition
an additional incentive to covetousness. Study choked that impulse
which, in a degenerate way, had endeavored to outdo what had been
done by masters of the best period, and, accounting their method to
be exclusively good, turned art back by a sort of reaction upon those
earlier paths. The passion for collecting was not limited to the
works ready at hand, but would have restorations and imitations by
contemporary artists, made in the spirit of the originals. It could
not have been otherwise than that art, after having exhausted the
originals, and attained its aims in all directions, should react upon
itself; but doubtless the circumstances of Rome had an essential in-
fluence upon the manner in which this took place, and greatly fur-
GREEK ART IN ROME. 361
thered this renaissance — to use a somewhat unsuitable term which,
in its restricted sense, has been adopted for the far more original
awakening of art at the close of the Middle Ages.
In the desire to enliven the different phases of artistic develop-
ment, it was natural not to return to first principles, but rather to
take those creations which lay near at hand, and try to find in them
the way to improvement. The period under consideration, up to
©^^
Fig. 242. — Borghese Gladiator of Agasias. (In the Louvre.)
the commencement of the empire, offers examples of every stage of
development, the dates of which can only here and there be given ;
but it seems that the way for an Hellenic renaissance was, during
this period, partially opened.
Agasias of Ephesos appears as successor to the master of the
Laocoon and of the Farnese Bull. The celebrated Borghese Gladi-
ator in the Louvre, which represents a warrior in fictitious battle
with a horseman, may be referred to the school of Rhodes. {Fig-
362
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE.
242.) As the statue did not belong to a group, but was independent,
we see in it nothing but a show figure, in which the artist only
sought for a position where he might outdo all that had gone be-
fore, and give opportunity to parade his technical mastery and his
anatomical knowledge. That the work should be placed in this
time, and not in the best period of the Rhodian school, is plain from
the later character of the writing in the artist's inscription, from the
inferior understanding of the mutual relations of the muscles, and
particularly from the insignifi-
cance of the idea, and the entire
lack of the pathetic, all which ele-
ments lent to the works of Rhodes
an especial value.
As examples from Rhodes and
Pergamon not only lay near at
hand for the artists of Asia Minor,
but were germane to their civiliza-
tion, so the numerous Attic mas-
ters of this period looked to the
time of perfection in Attica and
Sikyon. The tenets of the school
of Lysippos still held sway there,
and what splendid fruit it bore,
even at this time, notwithstanding
the retrogression from its earlier
overvalued merit, is shown by the
much admired torso, now in the
Vatican Belvedere, by Apollonios,
son of Nestor of Athens. {Fig-
243.) This must certainly have
been a sitting Heracles, a motive repeatedly treated by Lysippos,
though no restoration of it has yet been decidedly successful. The
most probable is the latest by Petersen, which represents him as play-
ing the kithara. The somewhat later statue by Glycon of Athens,
the Heracles, who stands leaning upon his club {Fig. 231), though
approaching somewhat in conception to a work of Lysippos, is far
inferior. With this may be mentioned a still poorer repetition, the
Heracles of the Pitti Palace in Florence, through a false inscription
ascribed to Lysinpos.
Fig. 243. — Belvedere Torso, by Apollonios.
(In the Vatican.)
THE VENUS DE' MEDICI. 363
Besides Apollonios, who was distinguished also by his youthful
satyr and an Apollo, which are too little known for a more minute
description, the school of Scopas and Praxiteles was followed by the
son of Apollodoros of Athens, Cleomenes, the sculptor of the Venus
de' Medici. When compared with the divine figure of the Venus of
Melos, though pleasing, it appears degenerate. The godlike beauty
which we impute to the Cnidian Aphrodite, and find in the Venus
of Melos, is lost by the continual emphasis of sensuous effects, not-
withstanding all the mastery and delicate feeling for beauty. With
the exception of the Braschi Venus at Munich and the Venus of
the Capitol, which are more nearly related to that of Cnidos, nearly
all the nude figures of Venus in the various museums belong to the
same circle and stage of development, even when they betray later
work. The masters by no means appear to have been mere copy-
ists ; but the works of Praxiteles were altered, to suit the taste of the
times, by artists in whom individuality was not quite extinct.
The school of Pheidias, with its high ideal, of which the age in
question had little understanding, could never have become popular
in the same degree. Rome possessed but few works of this master
which could have served as examples, and those not the most im-
portant. Still, reminiscences of the best Attic style were not wanting,
especially in those figures of the gods the type of which had been
established by Pheidias, as in the statues of Zeus and Athene. The
chryselephantine Zeus, by Polycles and Dionysios, in Metellus's
Temple of Jupiter, as also the Capitoline of the same material by
Apollonios, may justly be referred to the Olympian original ; the
former at least with the more certainty, when it is considered that
the sons of Polycles — Timocles and Timarchides — copied the sculpt-
ures upon a shield of the Parthenos for an Athene, designed for
Elateia in Phokis. It is possible — and this may, perhaps, be still fur-
ther established by Brunn, who has pointed out this connection — that
the Pallas in the Villa Ludovisi, by Antiochos of Athens, which has
been estimated below its worth, may be a reproduction of the Par-
thenos, modified and perhaps formed from memory. The treatment
of the garments, and the whole position of this otherwise ill-executed
figure, remind us of the chryselephantine works, and possess some-
thing of the dignity and nobility of the better period.
3^4
HELLAS.— SCULPTURE,
At a time when Cicero could say that in his opinion " the works
of Polycleitos were perfectly beautiful" the master from Argos must
have come into fashion. The artistic representative of this stage of
appreciative development was Pasiteles, who worked in the time of
Pompey, and whose important school has left traces of this influence
in examples that have been preserved. The pathetic tendency
was not entirely to be
avoided, and, though not
so evident in the academ-
ic male figure of the Villa
Albani, which bears the
name of Stephanos, the
scholar of Pasiteles, is yet
undeniable in the groups
of Orestes and Electra
in Naples, and of Orestes
and Pylades in the Lou-
vre. This trait is still
more marked in a work
of Menelaos, the scholar
of Stephanos, the beauti-
ful and celebrated group
in the Villa Ludovisi
{Fig. 244), designated by
Winckelmann and Welck-
er as Electra and Orestes ;
by Jahn, as Merope and
Cresphontes ; by Keku-
le, as Deianeira and Hyl-
Fig. 244.— Group by Menelaos, (In the Villa Ludovisi.) los ; and by Schulze and
Burckhardt, as Penelope
and Telemachos. Though the artist has here made concessions to
more recent influences, they did not give the work an eclectic char-
acter, as asserted by KekuM, but rather displayed a somewhat
archaistic conception, and the short proportions of Polycleitos, long
since abandoned for the canon of Lysippos. On the other hand, the
remark of Kekule appears just, that the characters do not seem con-
THE IMITATIVE SCHOOL.
365
ceived and modelled after nature, but rather as seen through the
medium of the tragedy of Euripides.
When the reproductions had run through the entire circle of
styles from the best period of art, the archaic was at last brought
forward. It is known that Augustus ornamented his buildings, par-
ticularly the gable of the Palatine Temple of Apollo, with sculptures
of the masters from Chios, Boupalos and Athenis, and that he also
carried away from Tegea
the Athene of the old At-
tic Endoios. Archaic irt,
always possessing a charm
for devotional images
which was doubled in a
time of such satiety, came
thus into fashion. A large
number of archaistic works
appeared, imitated after
the antique, as has already
been mentioned. They
not seldom betray the in-
fluence of single figures
from larger compositions
in relief, as in the instance
of the Amphora of the
Athenian Sosibios in the
Louvre.
The more or less free
reproductiveness of this
period, which we have to
thank for a large propor-
Fig. 245. — Capitoline Centaur of Aristeas and Papias.
(Capitoline Museum.)
tion of the contents of our museums, naturally came to a conclusion
in that unbridled mixture of style which combined in the same re-
lief, not only the various aims of dififerent schools, but their well-
known motives, as is the case with the relief of the Salpion upon the
font of Gaeta. There was very little originality, and that was limited
to genre, particularly to the idyllic, as in the play of Cupids, the best
of which might be referred to old models. It is not known whether
366 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
this was the case with the lioness of Arkesilaos, in the possession of
Varro, which, according to PHny's description, bound by Cupids, was
drinking from a horn, with mittens upon the paws to render them
harmless. Models for this may be sought in the paintings of Alex-
andria. It is certain that the centaurs, bound and worried by Cupids,
the best examples of which are preserved in the Louvre, the Vati-
can, the Doria Palace, and the Capitoline Museum, with that of Aris-
teas and Papias from Aphrodisias, are imitations of bronze originals.
{Fig. 245.)
Hellenic architecture and sculpture, from their unsurpassed per-
fection, require a more comprehensive treatment than that accorded
to those arts in any other ancient nation. This is especially the case
with sculpture, because, in Greece, the demands of its nature were
more completely fulfilled by the Greeks than has ever happened, at
any time, with any other people ; while Grecian architecture, not-
withstanding its wonderful monumental perfection, did not deal with
all the possibilities of the art. Both, however, demand our attention
in a greater degree than does Hellenic painting. Architecture has
left great masses of ruins, and sculpture numerous collections of
antique treasures ; but of Grecian painting there are no remains : its
history is accordingly a history rather of artists than of art. If this
necessitates for painting a more limited treatment, we must not
therefore conclude that its development was, in reality, inferior to
that of its sister arts, since, in fact, it fully equalled that of architect-
ure and sculpture. This has often been unjustly doubted, but it
would be fully evident were nothing more known than the almost
measureless fame of the first masters.
The course of development of Grecian painting is by no means
so obvious as that of sculpture : we have no sure date of its begin-
ning, but it is at least equally remote. Conze shows painting to
have been even the most primitive, it having existed among the
aborigines in the decoration of pottery and terra-cotta. The notes of
Pliny upon the matter (xxxv. 15) appear to be hardly more than a
supplementary reconstruction of a conjectured state of development,
garnished vaguely with the names of ancient artists. The first stages,
the employment of a simple tone in the filling of outline figures with
THE EARLY MASTERS. 367
a color of brick-dust, called monochromatic painting, had long since
been mastered by the neighboring peoples — the Mesopotamians,
Phoenicians, and Egyptians, who were acquainted also with the use
of bright colors. This work must early have been known to the
Greeks through imported articles — Homer mentioning vessels and
fabrics — even though they could not apply it to the productions of
their own land. Monochromatic painting upon pottery, familiar to
the primitive lonians, seems to have originated upon the Syro-PhcE-
nician coasts. A faint reminiscence of the ancient, widely extended
employment of color may be found in Pliny, who designates an
Egyptian, bearing the Greek name of Philocles, as the discoverer of
linear painting. Works of this kind, however, were purely decora-
tive, like the older Greek vase-paintings {Figs. 187 and 191), and of
great similarity; it seems unnecessary to offer conjectures as to the
source whence this impulse came. Of still less significance are the
names of artists which have been fabulously attached to the various
inventions, such as Cleanthes, Aridikes, and Ecphantos, of Corinth ;
Telephanes and Craton, of Sikyon ; and Saurias, of Samos. Unless,
from the fact that several are mentioned as dwelling in Corinth
and Sikyon, it may be concluded that decorative painting probably
• flourished in those cities before the sixtieth Olympiad (530 B.C.).
What Pliny says of Eumaros of Athens does not justify the suppo-
sition of any considerable progress, although, in figures, he distin-
guished between male and female, expressed in some slight degree
age and characteristic peculiarities, and, at least, made an end to
that crudeness which found satisfaction in writing names over forms
otherwise precisely alike. Greater progress was made by his suc-
cessor, Kimon of Cleonae — 500 to 480 B.C. — who improved the for-
mer sack-like garments {Fig. 191) by folds, and gave a more detailed
drawing to the nude, placing the eye in a profile head also in profile,
instead of making it look towards the front, as in the figure men-
tioned above. With him began truthfulness to nature, and correct-
ness of drawing, at a time when sculpture in -^gina, Athens. Sikyon.
and Argos was preparing for that highest perfection attained after-
wards by Pheidias.
After the Persian war, through two generations, the progress of
painting was proportionate to its former backwardness, until it at-
368 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
tained a height little short of that reached by sculpture. The first
master worthy of mention — and likewise one of the greatest artists we
know — demands particular attention, from having been the founder
of painting as an art. Polygnotos of Thasos (475 to 455 B.C.), the
son of Aglaophon, who also is mentioned as a painter, executed the
greater number of his works in Athens, where he was much respected
by Kimon. Of the pictures in the Stoa Poikile, painted under his
direction, at least the Conquest of Troy, and the Council of Princes
sitting in judgment upon the sacrilege committed by Ajax against
Cassandra, were by his hand. The Battle of the Amazons was by
Micon, the Battle of Marathon by Panainos and Micon ; the fourth,
perhaps the latest, was the Battle between the Athenians and Lace-
daemonians near Oinoe : the artist is not known. Polygnotos worked,
together with Micon, upon other Athenian frescos, scenes from the
lives of heroes in the Temple of Theseus. In the Temple of the
Dioscuri he painted the Rape of the Daughters of Leukippos, next
to which was the Return of the Argonauts, by Micon. In the Pina-
cotheca of the Propylaea was a series of representations, among which
Brunn has recognized as companion pieces Diomedes Robbing Phi-
loctetes of his Bow, and Odysseus Seizing the Palladion ; the Murder
of yEgisthos by Orestes, and the Sacrifice of Polyxena ; Odysseus
Appearing before Nausicaa and her Companions, and Achilles among
the Daughters of Lycomedes. Of the other works by this master
may be mentioned those at Thespeia and Plataia ; that in the Temple
of Athene at the latter place represented Odysseus attacking the
suitors. The best of all the creations of Polygnotos, the paintings in
the Lesche of the Cnidians at Delphi, illustrating the conquest of
Ilion and the nether world, are so minutely described by Pausanias
(x. 25-31) that they furnish the most important material for an un-
derstanding of his art.
We should hardly be able justly to estimate this master were it
not for the descriptions of Pausanias ; for the other classic authors,
with some exceptions in Aristotle, deal only with secondary matters.
In regard to his coloring, Cicero, in his " Four Colors," says nothing,
speaking only of his drawing, while Quintilian merely wonders how,
in his time, there could still be admirers of such primitive painting.
It was merely a coloring without light and shade, a simple treat-
POLYGNOTOS. 369
ment by local tones of surfaces within outlines. That these tones
were not unbroken, as upon the Nile and Tigris, but finely graded
and everywhere characteristic, we learn from the special mention
of the doves, of the shaded coloring of the fish in the Acheron,
of the blackish -blue color of the corpse - devouring Eurynomos,
and of the gray of the shipwrecked Ajax. The red cheeks of
Cassandra, admired by Lucian, give evidence of several colors within
the same outline. But though Cicero praises the drawing, the
little which is intelligible in Pliny's account of the master tends the
other way. Still, it must be acknowledged that more is implied by
the motive of the Olympian Jupiter, by the encomium upon Cas-
sandra's eyebrows by Lucian, and by the exaggerated expression of
an epigram — " in the lids of Polyxena lay the whole Trojan war " —
than the petty peculiarities with which Pliny invests the painter
would lead us to expect. iClian praises the strict carefulness and
fineness of the outline drawing, the expression, and the garments.
But the most remarkable testimony concerning this master is that
of Aristotle, who describes his figures as surpassing nature ; while
artists like Dionysios contented themselves with equalling it, and
others, like Pauson, were content to remain below it. Elsewhere he
calls him the painter of ethics — that is, of character — in a grand
style which the works of Zeuxis failed to attain. Combining this
judgment with that of MX\zx\, who ascribes grandeur to Polygnotos,
we may conclude that this artist drew in a broad and ideal style.
That to this were united an epic clearness and liveliness of treatment,
not only in the single figures and groups, but in the entire composi-
tion, is fully evident from the description which Pausanias gives of
the paintings in the Lesche. In short, correctness, richness, and
grandeur of composition must be accounted the chief merits of Po-
lygnotos— merits to which none of his successors attained, though
they may have far surpassed him in execution, as painters in a more
restricted sense. Less painter than artist, he pursued, in his wall
decorations, a thoroughly monumental direction, which after his
time, through change of aim, was neglected.
The most celebrated companions of Polygnotos, but, as .^lian re-
marks, not equalling him in greatness, were Micon of Athens, whose
name has already been mentioned, and Panainos, a cousin of Phei-
24
370 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
dias, who, besides the battle of Marathon in the Poikile, executed the
paintings upon the throne of the Pheidian Zeus in Olympia. Dio-
nysios of Colophon and Pauson have already been spoken of. The
first seems to have carried out the strict carefulness of his model,
Polygnotos, to a degree which was naturally unfavorable alike to
grace and to greatness of style. Pauson, though accounted an
artist by Aristotle, may be compared to Buffalmacco, scorned and
derided, among the companions of Giotto ; not fitted for produc-
tions of a grand style, he did not attempt them, and his nude paint-
ings, without ethical significance, were harmful to young observers.
Among the other distinguished masters of this time, Calliphon
appears most nearly to have followed in the footsteps of Polygnotos ;
but his brother Aristophon, who brought painting upon panels into
general use, pursued technical methods opposed to this school. The
style of Polygnotos was also abandoned by the Samian Agathar-
chos, a self-instructed decorator and scene-painter who, in an essay
upon scenographic painting, established principles upon which, after
his time, this art was further developed. In scene-painting the in-
dispensable aim after illusory appearances must have led to the ob-
servation and imitation of the effect of more or less light — that is to
say, of paler or deeper shades in the local color — and thus have
brought painting to a point of development not hitherto attained
by any nation of antiquity.
The important advance indicated by Agatharchos in scenography
was made in the painting of figures by Apollodoros of Athens.
The accounts of him are few, and in part incomprehensible ; but Plu-
tarch says plainly that he discovered the mixing of colors and the
variation of shade upon them, and Pliny calls him the first master
of illusion. Strictly speaking, he was not the sole author of the in-
novation, since Agatharchos went before him ; and if he received the
cognomen of skiagraphos — painter in light and shade — it must be
understood that the word skiagraphia was used to signify scenog-
raphy. But he was, at all events, the first to apply these principles
to figure-painting, developing a treatment quite different from that
employed in the architectural painting so extensively in use for
the stage. The important result of this innovation may well be
' imagined, and it is not strange that the ground thus gained should
ZEUXIS.
37«
have been promplly occupied by other masters of the art, who rap-
idly brought painting to a perfection almost equal to that of sculpt-
ure.
These were Zeuxis of Heraclea, in Lower Italy, and Parrhasios of
Ephesos. The teachers of the former are not of importance ; the im-
pulse through which Zeuxis became one of the most brilliant gen-
iuses of Greece not having been given by these, but rather by Apol-
lodoros, who is not mentioned among them. His fame was at
its height during the Peloponnesian war, and in the following ten
years; so that we can easily understand why Zeuxis did not es-
tablish himself in Athens, where Polygnotos and Apollodoros had
raised painting to an art, but, after many wanderings, found an
asylum in Ephesos. His works, in contrast to the wall-paintings
of Polygnotos, were chiefly upon panels, as, according to Pliny, we
may suppose those of Apollodoros to have been. Among those of
Zeuxis, the Olympos was exceptional in regard to subject ; of the
deities, Zeus is particularly celebrated. The only other representa-
tions of the deities we find are the Rose-crowned Eros, and Apollo
Chastising Marsyas. Neither Pan, nor Heracles Strangling the Ser-
pents in his Infancy, can be reckoned in this category. The Trojan
legends appear in three of his more celebrated pictures — Helen in
Crotona, the Weeping Menelaos Bringing his Brother the Offering
for the Dead, and Penelope, ** in whom propriety itself is embodied."
If we may connect with the Odyssey, the Storm at Sea, in which
Boreas and Triton are mentioned, it will form a fourth. In his ath-
letes he seems to have intended to establish a canon for painting,
as Polycleitos had done for sculpture. Two others, the Family of
Centaurs, and the Boy bearing Grapes, are genre pictures.
It is not by chance that we have the fullest accounts of Zeuxis ;
his aim not being so high as that of Polygnotos, he took his motives
from other fields more favorable to the new methods. Historic
painting, the foundation of that higher kind of monumental art which
gives grand representations of character, was forsaken ; as Aristotle
expresses it, the works of Zeuxis were wanting in ethic significance.
Excessive striving after illusion, after the semblance of reality, brings
forward outward and momentary appearances, supplanting the in-
wardly essential and lasting. Penelope seems to speak, and yet we
372
HELLAS.— PAINTING.
know not in what situation she is delineated; the weeping of Mene-
laos certainly does not give his character ; and as little does the
merry play of the Centaurs with their young, so charmingly de-
scribed by Lucian, represent the mythological nature of these mon-
sters. Still less can we rank the Helen of Zeuxis, in conception,
upon a level with the female figures in the Conquest of Troy by
Polygnotos, since we know that Zeuxis chose as models the love-
liest virgins of Crotona ; that is to say, sought after perfect outward
female beauty in truthfulness to nature, but not after that breadth
and grandeur expressed in the brow of Cassandra, or which spoke
in the glance of Polyxena.
If, at times, Zeuxis took a higher flight, he still differed from the
epic character of Polygnotos in his tendency to dramatic effect,
which, according to its nature, is transient. This is shown, for ex-
ample, by the celebrated play of countenance in the Family of Cen-
taurs, the weeping of Menelaos, the horror of Alcmene and Amphit-
ryon at sight of the serpents encircling the young Heracles, and by
the actors as well as spectators in the chastisement of Marsyas:
these are all scenes which, with slight modification, might be shown
in dramatic action upon the stage. With Zeuxis, contrary to Polyg-
notos, the subject was of less importance than the manner of pre-
senting it, the what less than the how ; in short, the composition,
in which the picturesque sufficed, was subordinate to the painting.
The master himself was displeased when the novelty of the subject,
in his family of Centaurs, caused the technical finish to be overlook-
ed. The expression of Pliny was therefore a just one, that Zeuxis
had given great glory to the brush. The judgment of Quintilian
that Zeuxis originated the correct application of light and shade is
not to be disputed, in so far as this refers to the consequent achieve-
ment of expression. The degree of perfection he attained in illu-
sive effects, by chiaroscuro, reflections, and the like, is illustrated by
the anecdote of the boy with grapes, so deceptive that the birds
flew towards them ; at the same time, the limitation is shown, as the
artist himself acknowledged, in that the illusion had not succeeded
in making the boy capable of frightening the birds. It was be-
cause of the painter's power in this realism that his contemporaries
regarded him with almost boundless admiration. His fame was ex-
PARRHASIOS. 373
cecded only by his vanity. In later years he presented his pictures
as gifts, because it was impossible to recompense them with money ;
he appeared at Olympia clothed with a garment upon which his
name was embroidered in golden letters. The history of Greek
sculpture has no parallel to such conceits.
Zeuxis himself, notwithstanding his pride, was forced to acknowl-
edge that he was excelled by his contemporary Parrhasios of Ephe-
sos, who, in regard to style, was akin to him in many respects. In
subject the works of Parrhasios may be divided like those of Zeuxis.
The deities were seldom chosen ; his Dionysios with Arete was not
one of his most celebrated productions, and his Hermes was really a
portrait of the artist himself. Among the heroes represented were
Prometheus, Heracles, Meleager, Perseus, and Theseus. The greater
part of his productioq^ refer to the Trojan epics, as the Assumed
Madness of Odysseus, the Healing of Telephos, the Strife of Ajax
with Odysseus for the Armor of Achilles, Philoctetes upon Lemnos,
and iEneas. The others are the Demos of Athens, and portraits like
the comedian Philiscos, the Archigallos, a ship-captain, a Thracian
nurse with a child ; and, finally, pictures like the priest with a temple-
boy, two boys, two heavily "armed warriors, and lewd genre paint-
ings, closing with the celebrated " curtain " of the master. In many
respects these betray a relationship to Zeuxis, and yet much that is
independent. There are numerous characteristic heads illustrative
of temperament, and other psychological subjects, among the fore-
most of which should be named the Demos, who, according to Pliny,
was shown as changeable, angry, unjust, inconstant ; also as exorable,
kind, compassionate, boastful, sublime, low, undisciplined, and fickle.
This would be so impossible in a single head, without making it a
chaotic, incomprehensible caricature, that the author has no hesita-
tion in describing the painting as a group, in each figure of which
one of the characteristics named was expressed. That representing
the assumed madness of Odysseus must have had great psychologi-
cal meaning, as also the Prometheus, Philoctetes upon Lemnos, and
the Telephos. Parrhasios had by these works placed himself above
Zeuxis through more correct and careful drawing, and a marked
technical progress in the art. Pliny says that, according to the judg-
ment of artists, Parrhasios had reached the highest perfection in the
374
HELLAS.— PAINTING.
representation of figures ; that previously painters had succeeded
in giving only to the outlines of the figure a truthful appearance
and action, but that the edges of color should be so rounded that
one might be led to imagine the continuation of the body upon the
other side, suggesting what could not be seen. This may be con-
ceived to mean that, by attention to chiaroscuro and reflections, the
illusive effect was increased from that of a relief to that of a figure
in the round, whereby figures first appeared to free themselves from
the background ; that, for instance, he made clear to the observer
the distinction between a globe, only one side of which is seen, and
a hemisphere affixed to a plane. The illusion consequently became
more perfect, the capacity for motion being thus brought into the
•' outstepping " figures. The grapes of Zeuxis did not need this
power of action to tempt the birds as did the boy in order to
frighten them. The curtain of Parrhasios possessed this capacity
for movement, with thq freeing of the objects from the background,
and could therefore deceive even Zeuxis himself, who thought it
possible really to withdraw it from the panel.
If his proud rival Zeuxis bowed before this skill, it cannot be
thought strange that such a result should have moved Parrhasios to
outdo his competitor in arrogance also. Among other follies, he pro-
claimed himself a descendant of Apollo ; as King of Art he was
crowned with a diadem and golden wreath, and donned the purple
mantle of royalty. By adopting the cognomen of Habrodiaitos, or
high-liver, he brought upon himself the nickname of Rhabdodiai-
tos, or brush-man. Parrhasios also was surpassed by a younger con-
temporary, though, as it appears, only in a single instance. Timan-
thes of Kythnos won the victory in a competition — the Strife of
Ajax and Odysseus for the Armor of Achilles. Pliny gives prefer-
ence to the latter, because his compositions were so arranged that
more might be perceived in them than at first sight appeared. There
was withal a deeper motive than Zeuxis and Parrhasios had shown ;
this was evident in the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, in which every de-
gree of suffering was presented : Calchas being sad, Odysseus pain-
fully moved, Ajax crying aloud, Menelaos in an ecstasy of grief ; but,
as the expression of anguish could not be carried beyond that of
the latter, the father, Agamemnon, was shown hiding his face. The
PAMPHILOS. 375
murder of Palamedes, perhaps, gave scope for the same depth of
motive. A small genre picture was conceived in a more jesting tone,
representing a sleeping Cyclops, and a satyr measuring the length
of the giant's thumb with a thyrsos, thus adding a living scale of
comparative dimensions. The hero of Timanthes and the athlete of
Zeuxis were equally celebrated among Grecian paintings as ideals
of manly form.
It would seem that Timanthes passed the latter part of his life
in Sikyon. The art of painting found a home in Ephesos during
the Peloponnesian war, but did not connect itself with any school,
and returned to Greece after the close of that disastrous conflict.
Athens could not at once recover the commanding position it had
held under Polygnotos and Apollodoros; but artistic activity, with
its increasing requirements, was concentrated in Sikyon and Thebes,
where flourishing academies were established with different aims.
Eupompos appeared about this time in the former city, as the
founder of an important school, but, with the exception of a few
superficial notices, we know nothing of him. His pupil, Pamphilos
of Amphipolis or Nicopolis, flourishing from 390 to 360 B.C., was
at the head of this school. His works are little known, having been
described only by Pliny, so scantily and unintelligibly that one may
be taken for a family picture, another as the appearance of Leuco-
thea to Odysseus after the shipwreck near the island of the Phaea-
cians, and a third possibly as the victory of the Athenians at Phlious.
Pliny is more to the point when he relates that Pamphilos consid-
ered education in science, particularly in mathematics and geometry,
indispensable to artistic work. As he thought drawing an essential
part of cultivation, he exerted himself, with good result, to have it
taught in the higher schools. He believed that from this alone
could proceed a rational conception of art grounded upon science, in
which the mutual relations of teacher and scholar should be consid-
ered; and that Sikyon was the place best adapted to this purpose.
At a somewhat earlier period Polycleitos had established a canon
for sculpture by his system of proportions. Pamphilos, following
in the footsteps of Eupompos, now took the same position in respect
to Greek painting, with, perhaps, even greater success. He was pre-
eminently a teacher, and, as such, appears to have striven after cor-
376 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
rectness in composition, drawing, and painting, to the disadvantage,
it may be, of freedom in artistic development. But this aim, which
won for the school of Sikyon the name of Chrestographia (correct
drawing), operating upon the pupil from the beginning to the close
of his scholarship, must have been serviceable both in laying a
foundation and in purifying and restraining. It certainly was for
the advantage of Apelles to have finished his studies in this school,
which must indeed have had a salutary influence upon the general
development of Grecian painting. The element of degeneracy in
the tone of Zeuxis and Parrhasios was long held in restraint among
their followers by the academic authority of Sikyon. Pamphilos
turned his attention chiefly towards correctness of execution in de-
tails, and, following Polycleitos, towards the human figure. His pu-
pil Melanthios was a master of composition ; this, however, in ac-
cordance with the whole character of the school, seems to have con-
sisted less in the choice of scenic situation and action than in a
formal distribution and balance of the grouping.
Pausias, a fellow-pupil of Melanthios, distinguished himself from
this somewhat doctrinal art by greater freedom of creation. The sub-
jects of his works show this by their individuality, as, for instance, the
Boy, painted in a day, the Girl Binding a Wreath, Methe Drinking
from a Glass, and a flower piece, which, from the descriptions, appears
to have resembled our still-life pictures. His Sacrifice of a Bull dis-
played a new mastery ; the animal, foreshortened from the front, as
Pliny remarks, showed his entire length. Pausias was the first to
win fame in encaustic painting, although its technical processes had
for some time been known. Of this it is only certain that the colors,
mixed with wax, were melted by a rod of metal, and thus affixed to
the ground. This process, because of the more brilliant, transparent,
and deeper hue given by the wax, was as far superior to the former
distemper as our own more convenient oil-painting is to every other
method. That such peculiarities of subject and treatment did not
lead the master to renounce the artistic earnestness of the school of
Sikyon is shown in the direction imparted to his pupils. The works
of the most celebrated among these, Nicophanes, were extremely
labored ; but, from the predominant brown, hard in color. Aristolaos,
the son of Pausias, was rigid and academical.
ARISTIDES. 377
During this period a second school of painting, not less promi-
nent, flourished in Thebes, and, after the hastily acquired importance
of this city had as rapidly declined, was transferred to Athens. At
its head was Nicomachos — 360 B.C. — son and pupil of the other-
wise unknown artist, Aristiaeos. Eight of his pictures are men-
tioned ; but, though he was accounted one of the greatest masters,
we have little information in regard to the painter himself. As con-
trasted with the quiet, stately works of the Sikyonians, we may con-
clude, from the subjects, that there was greater excitement and ac-
tion in those of Nicomachos, among which are mentioned the Rape
of Proserpine, Victory Ascending with a Quadriga, and Bacchantins
Surprised by Satyrs. His unsurpassed rapidity in painting was
praiseworthy only because united to great talents, with an unusual
and masterly sureness of hand. The character of his pupil Aristides
is more intelligible, and more important. If ever there was a painter
whose subjects alone sufficed to give an idea of his chief aim, it was
Aristides. One of his most celebrated works was the Conquest of
a City : a wounded mother, lying upon the ground, sees her infant
creeping towards her breast, and visibly betrays the fear that, when
the milk fails, the child will take the blood. Another, a woman who,
" for love of her brother, gives herself up to death." A third, accord-
ing to Pliny most highly prized, represented a sick man. In these,
and in one more, perhaps also to be ascribed to Aristides, the Her-
acles Suffering from the Poisoned Garment of Deianeira, a funda-
mental tone of great pathos is unmistakable. In the praying man,
whose voice one almost seemed to hear, and in the old man teach-
ing a boy to play upon the harp, the predominant expression of feel-
ing was unmistakable. The latter reminds us of that beautiful Pom-
peian wall-painting of the Centaur Cheiron instructing the boy
Achilles. Pliny distinctly says that Aristides aimed at the pathetic,
by which is meant the expression of tender as well as painful and
passionate emotions. In this master, therefore, may be recognized
one whose aims were similar to those of Scopas and Praxiteles.
Euphranor, a pupil of Aristides — 360 to 330 B.C. — was a remark-
able phenomenon in the domain of art. Few, either in sculpture or
in painting, have been so many-sided, and yet, though standing in
the first rank, the insufficient accounts of his pictures that have come
378 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
down to us prevent our forming any positive judgment about them.
A certain indication, however, lies in the remark of the artist him-
self, that the Theseus of Parrhasios looked as if fed upon roses ; his
own, on the contrary, as though nourished by the flesh of oxen.
This comparison must have included two points, color and drawing ;
the likeness to roses would have been inapt if Parrhasios had not
failed in depth of flesh-tint ; on the other hand, besides the healthy
color, the strong nourishment suggested by the Theseus of Euphra-
nor proved an energetic development of muscles. It was probably
a somewhat massive figure, characteristic of Euphranor, and, with
certain limitations, reminding us of the Heracles of Lysippos. It
may be understood, from the noble expression of the Theseus, how
Euphranor brought his heroes to a typical perfection. In a similar
sense he had raised his Poseidon to such power that there remained
no further means at his command for surpassing it in his conception
of Zeus, The remark of Euphranor expressed not only the differ-
ence, and his own superiority to Parrhasios, but suggested a certain
relationship in subject and aim, both masters having painted the
Theseus, and the Assumed Madness of Odysseus.
The Isthmian Euphranor had changed the scene of his labors,
and, at the same time, the centre of the entire school, to Athens,
which continued to be the artistic metropolis for his scholars and
successors. Among the latter, Nikias is especially celebrated — 340
to 300 B.C. He devoted his attention chiefly to feminine beauty,
somewhat influenced, perhaps, by his older contemporary Praxiteles,
in connection with whom he is mentioned. His taste was for ex-
tensive compositions, surprising for their novelty of conception, and,
like Parrhasios, he endeavored to give roundness to his figures. The
lack in the Theban-Attic school of that individuality which existed
in the Sikyonian was completely overcome by Euphranor, and gave
place to a more universal aim. He and Nikias were artists whose
tone came less from their school than from their own personal con-
victions. They early learned to understand technical and artistic
acquisitions of all kinds, and to carry them forward independently.
We may conceive them as holding the same loose relations towards
their teachers which existed betweefi the Sikyonian master Pam-
philos and their contemporary Apellcs.
APELLES. ^yg
Apelles was destined to bear away the palm from all his prede-
cessors and successors. Although three cities — Colophon, Ephesos,
and Cos — claimed the honor of calling him their own, it is reasonably
certain that the first was the place of his birth, the second that
where his labors commenced, and the third may not improbably
have been that of his death. The Ephesian Euphoros is named as
his first teacher, but his fame dates from the time when he left the
academy of Pamphilos for that of Sikyon. Perhaps the fact that
Pamphilos was a Macedonian by birth may have paved the way
for Apelles to the royal court at Pella, whence he appears to have
returned to Ephesos among the followers of Alexander the Great.
He seems never to have founded a permanent school ; at least, we
gather from classical notices that he worked transiently at Athens,
Corinth, Rhodes, and even in Alexandria. We learn also that he
outlived, by a considerable time, his great patron Alexander, His
works are to be divided into three groups — paintings of gods and
heroes, allegories, and portraits; these were also sometimes com-
bined. At the head of the first group stands the Aphrodite Anady-
omene, one of the most celebrated pictures of antiquity. It was
transferred to Augustus for the remission of one hundred talents of
taxes ; by him carried to Rome and placed in Caesar's Temple of
Venus, where it became so much injured — thus obtaining the sobri-
quet Monocmenon, one-legged — that Nero had it taken away and
replaced by a copy. She was represented as the " sea-born," nude,
and pressing with her hands her dripping hair. Far from being an
ideal figure, it was rather patterned after the celebrated courtesans
of the time, two of whom are named — Pancaste, or Pancaspe, the
paramour of Alexander, who afterwards presented her to the artist
himself; and Cratine, or Phryne, mistress of Apelles, who may have
been the more direct model for the Venus, as, at the festival of Posei-
don at Eleusis, she bathed, naked, in the sea before the eyes of the
assemblage. A second Aphrodite, in which Apelles hoped to sur-
pass the first, remained unfinished at his death. Of these represen-
tations the first was certainly without any devotional or even ethic
character; but the Artemis, in the Sacrifice of the Virgins, was some-
thing more than a genre piece with a mythological motive ; and his
heroes, who, according to Pliny, challenged nature itself, were more
than mere stately oortraits.
38o HELLAS— PAINTING.
The Heracles may be regarded as a study. Charis and Tyche
were allegories, the latter having been represented sitting " because
happiness does not stand fast." The most celebrated of them all,
Calumny, is minutely described by Lucian. It portrayed a man,
whose inclination to credit evil reports was characterized by large
ears, sitting between two women. Ignorance and Mistrust, and re-
ceiving Calumny, a magnificent woman excited with passion, pre-
ceded by Envy ; she drags in a youth by the hair, who vainly, with
hands uplifted, calls the gods to witness. Behind the train advances
Repentance, a mourning female figure in black, looking back with
pain and shame upon the tardy appearance of Truth. Similar in
character is the picture of the chained war demon, belonging partly
to the group of portraits. A third allegory, of little intrinsic worth,
is set forth with great artistic ability — Bronte, Astrape, and Kerauno-
bolia — thunder, with the flash and stroke of lightning.
Among the portraits, allegorical in nature, was the famous pict-
ure in which Alexander, with lightning in his right hand, was rep-
resented as Jupiter. The monarch himself was so well pleased
with this that he said there were two Alexanders — one the uncon-
quered son of Philip, the other the inimitable creation of Apelles.
But little is known of the king's portraits, whether equestrian, in
triumphal chariots, or surrounded by deities and allegorical figures ;
nor of those of Philip and his generals, of the tragic actor Gor-
gosthenes of Habron, nor of that of the artist himself.
If Apelles be scrutinized more closely in order to make clear the
chief characteristics by which he won such brilliant renown, it will
be found that it was not in composition. In this, as in treatment of
perspective, he gave precedence to his fellow-pupils Melanthios and
Asclepiodoros. That he was aware of this weakness, and avoided
occasion for manifesting it, is shown by the fact that most of his
paintings contained few figures. When more appeared, instead of
being picturesquely grouped and treated, they were ranged in rows,
almost like reliefs, better suited to the allegorical subjects so preva-
lent with Apelles, and so common in his time, than to mythological
and historical representations. Though allegory may, in great meas-
ure, be unfavorable to true art, because, as Winckelmann says, it
forces the painter " to tint his brush with reason," still that of Apel-
Al'ELLES. 381
les has lately been too much depreciated. The Calumny has been
pronounced an error of fancy, rough symbolism, and an inharmo-
nious assemblage of persons and personifications. But these were
the legitimate materials of the artist, and he succeeded, at least, in
the representation of character and in truthfulness of drawing. The
lightning group was something more than a piece of technical bra-
vura. Who would prize the picture less because thunder and light-
ning were represented instead of Zeus, a deity who would have been
attempted by no painter of antiquity, or, indeed, of later times?
Though his motive may have been purely intellectual, the painter re-
mained the same, whether he portrayed a Cassandra or a Diabole —
whether he more or less displayed his astounding mastery. Apelles
will be more rightly judged if he be treated as a painter rather than
an artist ; as such we recognize in him a technical and many-sided
perfection. Different accounts speak of him as rapid and sure in
drawing, his lines being not only correct, but in the highest degree
characteristic. The maxim of Apelles " No day without a line " —
that is, without exercise in drawing — has become a proverb, if not
quite in its original sense. Through this incessant practice his hand
acquired such sureness that it followed the will implicitly, and made
possible even the hair-splitting execution related in an anecdote
which has been unjustly discredited by critics. Apelles entered one
day the workshop of Protogenes, in the absence of the latter, and
made known his visit by drawing a line upon a tablet at hand with
such swing and surety, such purity and smoothness, that the Rho-
dian master, upon his return, recognized the hand of Apelles. In
order to show himself equal, Protogenes split the line by a second
one in a different color, but acknowledged himself defeated when
Apelles divided this through its entire length by a third. An evi-
dence of the sharpness and certainty of his characterization with
simple lines is given in the story of a servant who had injured him,
and whom Apelles, though he had seen him only once, so sketched
with charcoal upon the wall that the likeness was recognized by
King Ptolemy after the first strokes. It will readily be understood
that such capacity must have fitted the artist especially for portrait-
ure; and his portraits attained such striking likeness and truthfulness
that a physiognomist assumed to be able, by them, to discern not
282 HELLAS.— PAIN TING.
only the exact age of the subject, but even the time of his future
death. No further testimony is needed than the Anadyomene to
prove that his works were perfect in correctness and expression as
well as in beauty.
The employment of color had fully kept pace with this match-
less drawing, though Apelles seems to have been limited to painting
in distemper, without the use of encaustic. The softened glazings
are particularly mentioned, which made the unbroken light all the
more brilliant. In the portrait of Alexander, the hand, outstretched
with the lightning, appeared to stand quite out from the panel, a re-
sult perhaps equally owing to masterly foreshortening in the draw-
ing. The beauty of his color was noted, and especially its vigor;
the fame of the Aphrodite cannot be understood without the former,
nor that of the Alexander and the Lightning without the latter.
This many-sided, technical perfectness, unattained before Apelles,
and in which Pliny says that he excelled all other painters together,
may have had its germ in the school of Pamphilos, as the Sikyonians
devoted especial attention to artistic execution. To these eminent
qualities, however, were added the intrinsic merits of the master him-
self, upon which he laid the greatest stress, and which he ascribed to
that charm understood by the Greeks in the word charts. That
this was chiefly to be found in the just measure of completeness was
explained by Apelles when he declared himself to have been sur-
passed by Protogenes in all but the knowledge of the right moment
to lay aside the brush, without which this charm, through overmuch
care, is lost.
By this technical mastery, clearness of characterization and grace,
Apelles so delighted all who saw his works that, according to the
numerous anecdotes that illustrate his position, he was the most
popular artist of all antiquity. In face of such authority, it would
be unjust to see in him, as some have done, the beginnings of the
decline of art. Though his artistic efforts may not have equalled
those of Polygnotos, because he could more easily satisfy the ethical
demands of his time, still it must be acknowledged that, as a paint-
er, he surpassed him as far as, in sculpture, Praxiteles surpassed Cal-
amis and the other predecessors of Pheidias. But in Pheidias a high
ideal was united to an absolute perfection of execution which, in
PROTOGENES. 383
painting, Polygnotos was far from having attained. " In the history
of painting," says Brunn, ** each of these two fields has its separate
point of greatest elevation ; the fame, therefore, which, in sculpture,
undoubtedly raised Pheidias above all others, appeared, in painting,
divided between Polygnotos and Apclles."
Protogenes of Caunos, or rather, with reference to his work, of
Rhodes, was a rival of Apelles. He seems to have been self-taught,
or, at least, to have been the pupil of an entirely obscure master.
The admiration of Apelles for Protogenes was so great that he ex-
pressed a desire to buy up his works and publish them as his own ;
but numerous anecdotes show that Apelles was in the way of bestow-
ing his flattery upon every great and celebrated man. Protogenes
is said to have painted over his lalysos four times, the better to se-
cure it from destruction, so that, on the peeling of the outer layer
of pigment, the surface below might present the same color. But
this can only be a foolish legend, invented to illustrate his extreme
care. Similar tales of a later time reported him to have worked
upon the lalysos seven or eleven years, and to have fed upon noth-
ing but lupines, for fear that luxury might blunt the acuteness of his
senses. Perhaps this means that the painter's genius was not recog-
nized until late in life, up to which time he had lived in great pov-
erty. Of his picture in the Propylaea at Athens, representing Para-
los and Hammonias — personifications of Athenian ships — there is an
equally idle story that he did not paint the ships themselves be-
cause, until his fifteenth year, he had earned his bread as a ship-
painter.
In Protogenes we may conceive a perfection such as only the
most unwearied care could attain. This perfection was neither in
the ideas nor in the composition ; for the subjects of his pictures,
known to us as heroic or historical portraits, or, at most, as groups
of few persons without action, were in themselves far less important
than those of Apelles. But the illusive effect must have been com-
plete if, as Petronius says, one could not look even at the sketches
without a feeling of awe on account of their truthfulness to nature.
This carefulness extended even to the smallest accessories, like the
wonder of the partridge at the reclining satyr, and the foam on the
mouth of the dog in the lalysos ; an effect which, it is said, was at
384 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
last accomplished by the pressure — not the throwing — of a sponge.
Yet the wearisomeness of this perfection was not to be denied, and
here, in the eyes of Apelles, lay the weakness of this master.
The relations of Apelles with another rival, the Egyptian An-
tiphilos, were not so friendly. The great celebrity of this painter
rested upon a peculiarity directly contrary to that of Protogenes,
designated by Quintilian as facility ; that is, a freshness and genial
security of conception and treatment in everything which his brush
touched. His range of subjects exceeded that of Protogenes, or
even of Apelles ; for he painted with equal excellence pictures of
the deities, mythological scenes, portraits, genre pieces, such as the
Wool-comber and the Boy Blowing the Fire ; and even caricatures,
such as that of Gryllos, with a face reminding one of the significance
of his own name — the Porker ; whence it comes that all caricatures
were, in antiquity, called Grylli, That he was fond of startling
effects of light is evident from the Boy Blowing the Fire, the glow
of which was reflected upon his face ; also from his renowned satyr
Aposcopeuon — the Gazer — whose glance the shielding hand seemed
at once to intensify and to conceal.
Action, according to Brunn, also belongs to the group of artists
contemporary with Apelles. His importance can be measured only
by the esteem of antiquity, and by the minute descriptions of one
of his pictures. This represented the marriage of Alexander and
Roxana : the latter, sitting modestly upon a couch, is served by Cu-
pids, who take the veil from her head and loosen her sandals. The
king, accompanied by Hephaistion as attendant, with torches, is led
towards the bride by an Eros ; two more, panting under the weight
of the shaft, bear the lance of the conqueror, while others carry by
the handles a shield ; and one Cupid, who has crept into a coat of
mail, seems, from his hiding-place, to lie in wait for those about to
pass. It is not strange that this composition, so charming in the de-
scription of Lucian, should have led modern painters to attempt to
reproduce it ; as in the frescos of Raphael in the Borghese Gallery,
and those of Razzi in the Farnesina.
Among other masters of the time of Alexander were the Athe-
nian Asclepiodoros, of whom we know little more than that Apelles
gave him the preference in composition ; and Theon of Samos, whose
ANTll'HILOS.— AETION. 385
works degenerated into an attempt to secure a theatrical rather than
a natural effect. Besides tragic scenes, like the murder of his moth-
er by Orestes, and the blinding of the singer Thamyris, this is shown
in the heavily armed warrior called by Quintilian his masterpiece — a
man in the violence of attack with a drawn sword. To increase the
theatrical effect, this picture was exhibited by the artist accompa-
nied with the flourish of trumpets. If we here bear in mind the so-
called Borghese warrior of Agasias — that sculptural cousin of the
Hoplite — we cannot mistake the spirit of a time which, after the in-
ner significance had perished, clung entirely to the external, and, re-
nouncing truthfulness in composition, which here would have de-
manded a group, was satisfied with a theatrical sham. The farthest
remove from the conceptions of Polygnotos had now been reached.
Hellenism, by which is meant the civilization of the period after
Alexander, when the Grecian kingdom had become cosmopolitan,
satisfied its artistic requirements by a repetition of what the previ-
ous centuries had produced. The attempt was made, in sculpture
and in painting, to combine results already won, generally in a shal-
low eclecticism. Of the numerous painters in that decorative period
few names have been handed down. The most was accomplished
by the masters of Sikyon where the tradition of the energetic school
of Pamphilos was not yet lost. Protogenes in Rhodes, and An-
tiphilos in Egypt, also had some followers who were not quite with-
out fame. Timomachos of Byzantion, at least, was equal to his
great predecessors of the time of Alexander. His Medea was pur-
chased by Caesar for eighty talents, and his other works are not less
praised ; among them one, perhaps historical, showing two men in
conversation, and the Gorgo, may be connected with an event related
by Herodotos (v. 51). If, as we are told, there was a Medea repre-
sented before the murder of her children, in a struggle between ha-
tred of her husband and motherly love — a subject treated in a Pom-
peian wall-painting in the museum at Naples; an Ajax, after his
fury, meditating suicide ; and an Iphigeneia in Tauris, perhaps rec-
ognizing her brother, we may conclude that Timomachos had re-
turned to the pathetic element, and that he united with it, so far as
possible, the technical perfection of the Alexandrian period. It is
possible that the painter stood in the same artistic relation to the
25
386 HELLAS.— PAINTING.
sculptors Pasiteles, Stephanos, and Menelaos as did Theon to Aga-
sias.
After Parrhasios, side by side with the grander style had devel-
oped a species of cabinet-painting which seems to have been de-
voted especially to obscene subjects (Pornographia). Already in
the time of Alexander, pictures of a small size were much in favor ;
besides the Egyptian Antiphilos already mentioned as celebrated in
this direction, Callicles and Calates worked in it exclusively, and
Peiraeicos had great fame as a painter of this kind. His subjects
were not of a lewd nature, but were taken from the lower ranks of
life, such as booths of barbers and cobblers, donkeys, eatables, etc. ;
by which one is reminded of the genre pieces and still-life paintings
of the Netherlands. Pornographia was thus changed to Rhopo-
graphia, painting of small wares. In later times the term employed
for obscene painting seems to have been Rhyparographia.
This trivial painting naturally continued to be prevalent in the
periods of the Diadochi and the Romans, since art, when reduced
to mere decoration, cultivated by preference graceful and lively sub-
jects. It was extended even to the floors, for which mosaic had
been used as early as the time of the royal court of Pergamon. If
the decoration of walls is based upon tapestry, as Semper has made
evident, this h especially the case with colored floors. The effect of
mosaic, in which form painting now took possession of the pavement,
differed little from that of weaving and embroidery. Sosos was con-
sidered as the oldest and most celebrated master of this process, per-
haps because he first carried it beyond simple patterns. He repre-
sented, in the so-called " unswept hall " at Pergamon, remnants of
food, fruit-rinds, etc., as if scattered upon the floor; also a dove
drinking from a shell. The celebrity of these works makes it nat-
ural that several repetitions of the dove should have been found.
It seems, however, that the practice of this art was not in extensive
use before the time of the Roman empire, when it spread over all
the floors, as painting did over all the walls. The mosaics in the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which are composed of rough pebbles,
may, however, be even more ancient than the works of Sosos in Per-
gamon.
Fig. 246. — The Campana Tomb at VciL
ETRURIA.
AT the time when Hellenic influence had developed to its fullest
extent in Magna Graecia, the Etruscans had long passed their
highest point of perfection. Roman tradition gives no little signifi-
cance to their civilization, in its artistic as well as- in its political
aspects, though it was far less grand and brilliant than that of their
neighbors in the south of the Italian peninsula. But as Rome rose,
Etruria fell ; and in the time of the Peloponnesian war it had but a
shadow of its former dominant position in Italy.
Whether this people were related to the ancient Greeks, or
merely mixed with the Pelasgic and Hellenic element through emi-
gration from the western coasts of Greece, it is certain that the older
culture of the nation shows a great resemblance to that of the coun-
tries beyond the Adriatic. This may have been owing partly to
common Oriental prototypes, and to native imitation of these, and
partly to the fact that certain primitive results of civilization, under
like material premises, naturally assume a more or less similar form
without any real historical connection.
The method of building the Etruscan walls is particularly a case
in point. The resemblance of these to the most ancient fortifica-
388
ETRURIA.— ARCHITECTURE.
tions of Greece makes possible, though it does not estabhsh, an inti-
mate communication between the two races, to which also the use
of Greek letters for the strange Etruscan language certainly points.
The so-called Cyclopean jointing, however, presents itself in every
civilized land where rock is found which naturally breaks in polyg-
onal forms. So also square-stone masonry early appears wherever
the material, quarried without difficulty in rectangular forms, favors
this more satisfactory method. Besides both these varieties, the
Etruscans made use of
bricks, as shown by the
foundations of the walls
of Veii, which above-
ground are mainly built
of cut stone. These
are at least as ancient
as the time of the la-
ter kings.
Some of the remain-
mg ruins of Etruria,
and of Central Italy —
for the peculiar civiliza-
tion of that region is
nut strictly confined to
the limits of the Etrus-
can language — show in
the building of gates a
new technical element.
It has been seen how
the Greeks in vain sought a substitute for the arch, to them an in-
admissible, if not an unattainable, feature ; and exhausted every
conceivable method of horizontal stone -laying in order to cover
their gateways. Similar evasive attempts are not wanting in Etru-
ria; the Cyclopean walls, especially, present portal constructions
similar to those of Mykenae. But through the perfection of stone-
cutting, and building with rectangular blocks, the ceiling of the pas-
sage by means of the arch was early attained. That this step was
taken before the invasion of the Gauls is shown by the still remain-
Fig. 247. — Gate of Falerii.
THE ARCH. 389
ing Gate of Falerii (Fig. 247), which city, as is well known, lost its
importance under Camillus. It is not certain whence the people of
Central Italy attained their knowledge of the arch. Though it had
been familiar to the Assyrians as early as the ninth century B.C.,
it is possible that they made this important discovery independently,
perhaps somewhat later than the Mesopotamians. The vault of the
Cloaca Maxima in Rome dates from the sixth century B.C., but it
shows, even at this early period, a perfection which gives evidence
of long previous use. Canal-building was one of the first conditions
Fig. 248. — Canal of the Marta.
of existence on the western coast of Central Italy, where the drain-
age of the swamps — the neglect of which, since the Middle Ages, has
reduced the once populous Maremma to a pestilential desert — the
discharge of the mountain lakes, which otherwise overflow from time
to time, desolating the lower country, and the regulation of the river-
courses, alone made possible the settlement of a people and the found-
ing of flourishing cities west of the Apennines. It is therefore not
improbable that the great canal discovered by Dennis, which once
drained the swampy Valley of the Marta, preceded the Cloaca Maxi-
ma, and, indeed, antedated the Roman period altogether. {Fig. 248.)
390 ETRURIA.— ARCHITECTURE.
The enormous stones employed in its construction, and its great
extent, display, even in this primitive age, that marked inclination
for works of general usefulness which distinguished the people of
Italy above all others of antiquity.
Of the long-forgotten cities, discovered in the present century by
their walls, little else remains than extensive cemeteries, which, as re-
peatedly happens among the ruined places of the earth, have out-
lasted by more than two thousand years the dwellings of the living.
The streets and buildings of these settlements, already in ruins under
the Romans, have disappeared almost without a trace ; while the
monuments of the dead are so well preserved as frequently to give
information concerning even the domestic architecture of their
builders. By far the greater number of the tombs were tumuli,
conical hills of earth, which generally, as in Lydia, were elevated
upon a low cylinder and reveted by an outer course of stone. These
have now almost all been reduced to the appearance of natural
mounds. Their dimensions in some instances are almost as great as
those of the smaller Egyptian pyramids. The base of the monu-
ment at Poggio Gajella, near Chiusi, formerly falsely held to be the
tomb of Porsena, measures 256 m. in its circumference, while that
at Monteroni, between Rome and Civita Vecchia, is 195 m. These
gigantic foundations at times bore several cones. This appears to
have been the case with the so-called tomb of Cucumella at Vulci,
where two tall tower-like elevations still remain, which doubtless
served as substructures for the terminating piers. The cippus may
be imagined to have been analogous to the upper members of the
tombs in Lydia, or, perhaps, to have resembled a pear-shaped capi-
tal, like the fragment found near the ruins of the so-called tomb of
Pythagoras, or the imitations upon terra-cotta reliefs — similar to the
cone which so generally terminated Roman tholos roofs. When
several cones were placed upon one base, the angle of elevation was
made steeper, as may probably have been the case with the tomb
of Porsena at Clusium, the description of which is given by Pliny
(xxxvi. 3) after Varro. If the tombs called those of the Horatii and
Curiatii at Albano, which display m^any Etruscan reminiscences, be
compared with this account, it is possible to present a restoration of
the structure, correct in at least its principal aspects. Upon the
TUMULI.
391
comers of the triply stepped, diminishing substructure stood twelve
cones, the thirteenth being in the centre of the upper terrace. {Fig.
249.)
The fundamental idea of the Etruscan tombs was not alone the
creation of a monument which, covering the remains and protecting
them from desecration, should plainly mark the place of interment,
but the survivors sought, at the
same time, to provide a room in
which the dead might dwell in a
manner corresponding to their cir-
cumstances during life. This con-
ception was foreign to the Greeks,
who seldom employed burial cham-
bers of great size ; but it was
prevalent among the Egyptians,
Persians, Lycians, and other na-
tions of antiquity, though not by
them carried out so logically as
by the Etruscans, who usually
placed the bodies upon stone
benches, shaped like a bed, as if
sleeping. Sarcophagi, when exist-
ing at all, appear to have been
added upon further use of the
sepulchre. It is thus, for instance,
with the tomb of Veii — of which
Fig. 246, at the head of this sec-
tion, gives an inner view — with
the tomb called that of Regulini-
Galassi at Caere, and with numer-
ous other sepulchres discovered in
various cemeteries, notably of Southern Etruria. There, however,
the chambers have mostly proved to have been plundered in former
centuries.
The dwelling-rooms represented are as diverse as those of the
living must naturally have been. No great width of these spaces
was possible, because of the imposed weight of the tumulus ; and the
Fig. 249. — Restored Plan and Elevation
of the Tomb of Porsena.
392
ETRURIA.— ARCHITECTURE.
apartments consequently became narrow passages, ceiled by stone lin-
tels, by blocks leaning against each other as a gable, or by the grad-
ual approach of the horizontal courses by the projection of each over
that beneath it. Examples of all these methods are provided by
the tombs of Alsium, the present Monteroni ; and the before-men-
tioned Regulini-Galassi tomb of Caere, the present Cervetri. The
latter, so called after its discoverers, has furnished numerous treas-
ures to the Etruscan Museum of the Vatican ; it consisted of a cor-
ridor separated by a wall into compartments, with rock-cut lateral
chambers of oval plan.
When the burial-chamber was a grotto — that is to say, was wholly
excavated from the native rock — a greater width could be obtained.
The ceiling was then carved, either to the outline of a low vault,
as in the Campana
tomb at Veii, or, more
commonly, in imita-
tion of the beams of
a wooden ceiling. In
the latter case vari-
ous forms appear; for
small inner chambers
a simple horizontal
ceiling sufficed, and a
simple cross-timbering, overlaid with boards, was chosen as a pattern.
The spacious vestibules frequently have an inclined roof, when ridge-
beams, rafters, and the slats laid upon them are carefully and truth-
fully imitated. {Fig. 250.) A noteworthy example at Corneto {Fig.
255) shows in its outer room a plain imitation of the Italian atrium,
or court, of the kind termed by Vitruvius cavcedia displuviata. It is
roofed by four main beams, laid diagonally and inclined outward,
which support the framework of a middle orifice for light and air,
and shed the water without instead of within. From this instance
it appears that the fundamental idea of the chief sepulchral chamber
was the atrium, which was the common gathering-place of the Italian
house, as was the peristyle of the Greek ; while the inner chambers
represented the various rooms.
This imitation of an Etruscan dwelling — a remarkable counter-
Fig. 250. — Ceiling of a Tomb at Cervetri.
TOMBS.
393
■/AtdMrjllldtMUl'/'>l'//////Mf,
part, in architectural respects, to the copies of the ejcterior of wood-
en houses in the Lycian rock-cut tombs — was further carried out by
a corresponding ornamentation of the rooms. The couches hewn
from the rock, upon which the bodies rested, were at times a close
imitation of cushions and pillows ; the supports beneath were sculpt-
ured like bedsteads,while
stone easy - chairs and ijO^^^
footstools stood near to
increase the apparent
comfort. The apertures
in the wall which sepa-
rates the two spaces are
reproductions of the
framework of doors and
windows, (/w^. 2 5 1.) The
sides of the chambers
are stuccoed with plas-
ter of Paris, and cover-
ed with cheerful paint-
ings, illustrating feasts,
dances, sacred festivals,
and games. Every con-
ceivable variety of house-
hold utensils hang upon
the walls or stand lean-
ing against them, with
gp-eat numbers of the
well-known painted vases
and other works of pot-
tery. These objects,
when not provided in
reality, are imitated in stucco-relief and brilliantly painted, as in a
tomb at Cervetri {Fig. 252), where walls and piers are covered with
the representations of familiar household articles and weapons.
Although the tumuli were the more common funeral monu-
ments, there were parts of Etruria, among the Apennines, where the
limited extent of the level ground offered no spacious cemetery for
Fig. 251. — Plan and Section of a Tomb at Cervetri.
394
ETRURI A.— ARCHITECTURE.
the mounds, and where rocky mountains and abrupt cliffs led to a
different form of sepulchre. A facade was cut upon the background
provided by nature, where the appearance of a dwelling could be
imitated with little expenditure of labor. The most numerous ex-
amples of these fronts are in the cemeteries of Castel d'Asso, near
Viterbo. The forms are plain, and not particularly characteristic ; a
blind niche, the only architectural feature of the lower surface, was
substituted for a door, the real entrance being through an insignifi-
Fig. 252. — Interior of a Tomb at Cervetri.
cant shaft beneath the earth ; and the facade was terminated by a
complicated cornice — a confused mass of roundlets, cyma-mouldings,
and rectangular bands, almost without projection. A stairway was
often cut upon one or both sides of the tomb, leading to a platform
or to other sepulchres situated upon a higher level.
More remarkable than these monuments at Castel d'Asso are the
rock-cut fa9ades of Norchia, to the west of Viterbo, upon which are
imitated the fronts of temples. The four columns or pilasters, now
destroyed, were placed wide apart, according to the proportions of
ROCK-CUT TOMBS. 395
the Tuscan order. The entablature consists of a narrow epistyle and
a frieze decorated with clumsy triglyphs, or rather diglyphs, with
pointed trunnels under the regula, above which follows a weak cor-
nice with dentils. The gable is still more peculiar. Its outer ends
curl into a volute, with a Gorgoneion in its centre, which originally
served as a base for the acroteria ; the triangle is filled with reliefs.
The whole front gives the impression of a barbarous mixture of in-
digenous elements with Grecian forms, ill understood and roughly
rendered. {Fig. 253.)
These remains are interesting, but elements seem to have crept
in which could not originally have belonged to the Etruscan style,
and the fa9ades of Norchia can hence be deemed of but secondary
Fig. 253.— Temple Tomb at Norchia.
importance in the study of the temple structures. The plan of these
was quite different from that of the Doric temple. Instead of the
length being at least double the width of the front, as in Greece,
the breadth was here to the length as five to six. The cella did not
form a centre around which stood the columns, but it entirely oc-
cupied the rear half of the area, while the front remained open as a
columned porch. Three cellas, with the images of nearly related
deities, were usually grouped together, the middle one being the
largest, and also of the greatest hieratic importance. In some in-
stances rows of columns were ranged upon the two long sides of a
cella ; but the rear wall was always bare. All artistic effect was
here abandoned, and the building was, on this account, often so
3g6 ETRURIA.— ARCHITECTURE.
placed as to abut immediately against an enclosing rampart, or
against a natural cliff.
The plan and general arrangement were thus entirely different
from those of the Greek temple. But the same thing is by no means
to be said in regard to the architectural details and members of the
building. The Etruscan column was closely allied to the Doric, and
greatly resembled it, in spite of some marked variations arising from
the lingering influence of the original timbered construction, and the
inferior perception of artistic proportions. The Etruscan shaft, in
contrast to the Doric, had a base consisting of a circular plinth and
a tore, both of equal height. The capital was formed of three parts,
equally high, of which the two upper, the echinos and abacus, were
similar to the Doric. The third beneath — the necking of the col-
umn— which, in the Greek prototype, was divided from the shaft
only by slight incisions or an apophyge, was in this separated by a
roundlet ; what in Greek architecture was based upon technical ne-
cessities, in Etruria became an unmeaning decoration. The shaft,
apparently not channelled, rose in a lightness akin to the Ionic, ta-
pering to three quarters of its lower diameter, and reached a height
of seven diameters. The unusually wide distance between the col-
umns— seven times the lower diameter of the shaft — in contrast to
that in the intercolumniation of the Doric style, which rarely equalled
two diameters, had its origin in the light wooden beams, which did
not require such frequent and powerful supports as did the stone
epistyle of the Greeks,
The entablature consisted of wooden epistyle beams placed one
over another, fastened together by iron clamps, in at least two
courses. From the text of Vitruvius — from whom the entire de-
scription must be taken, since, on account of the wooden beams,
there are no remains of Etruscan temples — we cannot learn whether
these smooth layers took the place of both architrave and frieze, or
whether the upper member resembled the Doric frieze with tri-
glyphs. From a remark of this writer, the former appears more
probable, as many epistyle timbers being fastened one above an-
other as the size of the building seemed to require ; moreover, not-
withstanding the Hellenic influence, triglyphs were not always intro-
duced into the Roman Tuscan order. The arrangement of the roof
TEMPLES. 397
rafters was doubtless such that their support upon the beams of the
epistyle beneath was hidden, and perhaps rendered more solid by
mortising or dovetailing. Upon the longer sides the roof project-
ed considerably, fully one quarter of the height of the columns. By
this means the size of the gable was decidedly increased. These ga-
bles may have been decorated with sculptural ornament in the tym-
panon, of clay or bronze, and with acroteria, as may be gathered
from several notices, as well as from the rock-tombs of Norchia.
Concerning these decorations Vitruvius is silent ; but they could not
have altered the heavy, low, and clumsy character of which he com-
plains, and which is apparent in the restorations that have been made
Fig. 254. — Elevation of the Etruscan Temple according to Vitruvius.
according to his theory. {Fig. 254.) The Etruscan temple could not
become really monumental so long as it retained the wooden con-
struction in its most essential constituents, and this seems never to
have been given up in the entablature, even when the direct Grecian
influence first made itself felt among the Romans. How this ulti-
mately changed the fundamental architectural forms pf Central Italy
will be explained in the section upon Roman building, which united
the traditions of Etruscan and Hellenic art.
One of the chief features of the Etruscan or primitive Italian
dwelling - house, the inner court, has already been mentioned in
the consideration of the tombs. As in Hellenic architecture, so
398 ETRURI A.— ARCHITECTURE.
here this formed the central point, the chief space of the dwelling,
around which were grouped the ceiled chambers, subordinate in di-
mensions and in importance. As the court was intended to be the
chief gathering-place, a partial covering could not have sufficed in
these northern Apennines, as did the Grecian peristyle ; for contin-
ued rain, snow, and piercing winter frost were not so rare here as in
the lands upon the Kephissos and Meander. The central aperture
was diminished, and the effect of storms or cold more completely
excluded. The Italian atrium, or cavaedium, acquired thus a form
Fig. 255. — Tomb at Corneto.
essentially different from the Grecian court. If the aperture open
to the sky were reduced to a small orifice for light and air, only
large enough to carry off the smoke from the hearth and provide
sufficient illumination, columnar supports would not be needed, the
rafters being inclined outward, and framed into the square of the
opening, as is conspicuously the case in the tomb at Corneto {Fig.
255), and as is also described by Vitruvius (vi. 3). Vertical props ob-
structing the space would be the less necessary, inasmuch as the di-
mensions of the court were small, on account of the lower tempera-
UWKLIJNGS. 3QQ
turc of the region. The Italian court thus differed from that of
Greece by an entire absence of columns, as well as by the outward in-
clination of the roof. The latter peculiarity had the advantage that,
notwithstanding the restriction of the central aperture, more light
was admitted, the slanting rays of the sun falling high upon the
walls ; while, on the other hand, the interior of the house was free
from the objectionable rain-drip, and, by covering the orifice in bad
weather or at night, could be entirely isolated and protected. A re-
markable copy of a roof upon an Etruscan clay sarcophagus {Fig, 256)
shows the outward aspects of the dwellings of Central Italy, as the
tomb at Cometo {Fig. 255) does the interior. The roof of the atrium,
rising like a clere-story, inclined outward, while the covering of the
chambers surrounding this space carried the drip still farther from
the central aperture. The
practical sense of the Italians
was thus expressed, as op-
posed to the more cheerful
and elevated ideals of form
among the Greeks. These
constructive advantages were
attained, however, at the cost
of that artistic, or at least
tasteful, development of the
whole which was characteristic ^'^ 256.-Etruscan Sarcophagus.
of the Greeks, even when striving mainly after public usefulness or
private comfort.
The remaining monuments of Etruria are almost entirely limited
to tombs, among which it is not possible to recognize progressive
stages of architectural design. Still it is evident that examples like
the Regulini-Galassi tomb of Caere, which shows a most primitive
covering of the chambers, and that of Alsium, or the Campana tomb
at Veii, must belong to an earlier period than do those sepulchres in
which the imitation of a dwelling-house, particularly in regard to the
roof-timbering, shows an advanced intelligence and great technical
skill. This skill is equally evident in the decorative members: pilas-
ters before the piers, the carvings of the coffin-benches, and utensils
upon the walls, with Hellenic features of a late and advanced period.
400 ETRURIA.— SCULPTURE.
A further division of Etruscan monuments into chronological periods
is not possible ; it is only to be concluded that the most primitive
are less ancient than has usually been supposed, and are probably to
be referred to the seventh century B.C., while the later and more
perfected tombs may date from 250 to 150 B.C.
The numerous sculptural productions of Etruria may be better
grouped. They are preserved in the Gregorian Museum of the Vat-
ican, the British Museum, the earlier Campana collection in the
Louvre, and special collections in various towns in Tuscany, partic-
ularly at Perugia, Others are scattered among the many museums
of Europe. As the practical character of the Italians might lead us
to expect, the greater part of these works consist of utensils and im-
plements ; those which bear the stamp of the greatest antiquity be-
longing almost exclusively to this class. The earliest period may be
called the decorative, in which art was employed only for the orna-
mentation of useful articles. The most ancient specimens of this
handiwork are those in the British Museum, found in the Grotto
deir Iside of Vulci, and those in the Gregorian Museum of the Vat-
ican, from the Regulini - Galassi tomb at Caere. The material is
gold, silver, and bronze — occasionally amber and ivory; the objects
are ornaments, such as breastplates, ear-rings, bracelets of gold wire
and thinly beaten gold ; also golden and amber necklaces, .silver
bowls, candelabra, kettles, tripods, couches, censers, and shields of
bronze. All these are evident imitations of imported wares. The
beaten figures of the breast ornaments remind one of the vessels ex-
cavated at Nineveh, Cyprus, and Mykenae ; the decorations of the
silver bowls are more like the discoveries in Cyprus and Phoenicia ;
the bulb-like candelabra are similar to the Cyprian bronze utensils,
and also to the seven-armed candlestick of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Having already designated the vessels of Nineveh and those of My-
kenae as of Phoenician workmanship, and the Egyptianized ivory-
ware found upon the Tigris as having been brought into Meso-
potamia by the Phoenicians as an article of trade, there can be no
hesitation in referring the objects discovered in Etruria to the same
origin. The beaten work in sheet-metal was among the best-exe-
cuted productions of the Phoenicians, and among their most impor-
METAL-WORK- 4OI
tant articles of commerce; and intercourse between the Phoenicians
and the Etruscans is known to have been active. Through this cur-
rent of trade must also have come the vials and alabasters with
Egyptian hieroglyphics and symbols ; the gilded bronze birds with
the pshent upon their heads, like those from the Grotto dell' Iside ;
and the beetle-shaped bodies of clay, like the scarabaeus, found in dif-
ferent places, for the Etruscans had no direct intercourse with Egypt.
It is possible, however, that some of the objects which bear the char-
acteristic forms of those countries are to be regarded as Etruscan
manufactures, adhering closely to the imported patterns.
The era next following is distinguished as being emancipated
from the earlier dependence upon the East, the Asiatic influence
being gradually replaced by that of Hellas. Here may be mention-
ed the half-mythical report that, about 650 B.C., the Corinthian ar-
tists Eucheir, Diopos, and Eugrammos — whose names, as personifi-
cation of handiwork in art, give little confidence — emigrated to Italy
and there introduced sculpture. Though this may be taken to indi-
cate an active artistic impulse, it cannot alone explain the great and
decided advance that we find. In Southern Etruria monumental
sculpture must early have attained a certain importance, since Tar-
quinius Priscus ordered from Vulca, or Vulcanius of Veii, a statue
of the Capitolirte Jupiter, and a quadriga for the gable ridge of his
temple. The material for such colossal works was terra-cotta with a
painting, perhaps monochromatic ; at least, the nude parts of the
image of Jupiter were repeatedly tinted with a red color. The
roughness of such conventionalized work can hardly be conceived ;
the trunk, in a sitting figure, was not detailed ; the extremities, on
the contrary, had all the ugliness of realism ; the head was sharply
individualized, verging upon portraiture. As the oldest example of
this treatment of the head may be mentioned the bust found in the
Grotto deir Iside at Vulci {Fig. 257), which shows, at the same time,
that the germ of that specific Etruscan motive — the conception of
the individual, to the neglect of the general or ideal — existed
even in the period of dependence upon Asiatic influence. This char-
acteristic Etruscan formation of the head, though in a less artistic
and more superficial style, is also shown in the so-called canopi of
Chiusi — ^jugs with portrait heads upon the lids. These are distantly
26
402
ETRURIA.— SCULPTURE.
related to the Egyptian jars of the kind, but show scarcely a trace
of the early conventional influence of ideal Greek sculpture ; the
heads, of extreme rudeness, are yet sharp and hard in modelling;
coarse caricatures of the round skull and low, retreating forehead,
which yet betray a certain observation of nature.
Greek influence is first apparent, though still overbalanced by
native individualization and realistic elements, in a somewhat later
sarcophagus of terra-cotta, found in Caere, now one of the chief treas-
ures of the Campana collection in the Louvre, i^Fig. 258.) The sar-
v'ophagus itself shows a draped couch with technical and ornamental
Fig. 257.— Bust from the Grotto dell' Iside in Vulci.
details similar to those found upon the furniture of Assyrian, Xan-
thian, and ancient Greek reliefs, and particularly upon archaic vase-
paintings. A man and woman of life-size, leaning with their left
elbows upon leathern cushions, form the lid. If, at first sight, this
group has a somewhat frightful and repellent character, not felt in
the most shocking distortions of primitive art, the cause lies in its pro-
saic realism, strikingly heightened by color. Notwithstanding many
failures in point of detail, the effect of life was given by the artist with-
out additions or idealizations. Rather inclined to caricature — that
is, to the exaggeration of individual characteristics — the Etruscan
TERRA-COTTA. 4O3
artist sensibly failed in the reproduction of the head, because want-
ing in that training in fundamental correctness, through the canon-
ical formation of a true type, which preceded the Grecian perfection.
The representation of the individual, instead of being the first aim,
should have been left to the last, and it was on this account that the
skulls were deformed by various peculiar defects, while the eyes and
mouth were drawn upward in a manner that is natural only to the
Mongolian race. The same is true in regard to the terra-cotta reliefs
of this period, in which the striving after action and naturalness of
appearance caused an excessive restlessness in all the motions of the
Fig. 258. — Sarcophagus of Terra-cotta from Caere. (Louvre.)
dislocated arms and hands, particularly evident in the ivory reliefs
upon a number of caskets.
Sculpture in marble at this period, about 550 to 300 B.C., was less
developed ; single archaic reliefs in this material — of which South-
ern Etruria offers but few — appear flat, and entirely under the influ-
ence of painting. The inadequacy of the artistic ability of this time
is shown, for example, in a relief of Chiusi, representing the lamenta-
tion for the dead, where expression of sorrow is combined with cari-
catured individual features, very rude in drawing and form. {Ft^.2i,g.)
The bronze-work, which is closely connected with the terra-cotta
work, was of greater importance, and betrays a more decided and
404
ETRURIA.— SCULPTURE.
enduring Phoenician influence than do the terra-cotta statues. This
is shown in the beaten bronzes, thin phites of which were used to
overlay wooden forms. The most important example, the remains
of a chariot found at Perugia, is preserved in the Glyptothek and
Antiquarium at Munich. The representations of a sea-horse, a wom-
an with fins, sphinxes, and a man who holds or strangles two lions,
give evidence rather of Oriental than of Hellenic prototypes. The
uncertainty in form and proportions, the ungainliness of the figures,
and the awkwardness of the entire composition are in no wise com-
pensated by the careful execution of the finely engraved details to
be seen only upon close inspection. A tripod, found at the same
Fig. 259. — Etruscan Relief.
time in Perugia, also now in Munich, shows a certain advance. Its
three sides have representations of Hercules, and the Italian Juno
Sospita, with the so-called Boeotian shield and pointed shoes, in
somewhat higher beaten reliefs, very carefully engraved. This tri-
pod is distinguished from the preceding examples as being the work
of a more skilful artist, but differs little, or perhaps not at all, in
point of age. The upper part of this vessel, now lacking, was most-
ly of bronze casting ; the borders of the seat and the ends of the
shafts upon the Perugian chariot wdre decorated with statuettes of
solid metal ; but these, as well as the handles upon utensils, seem to
have been mere artisan work, not unlike the ornaments upon the
BRONZE.
405
handles, the furniture, chariots, etc., shown by the reliefs of Nine-
veh.
Works in bronze of considerable size must have been numerous
at that period, as, in 260 B.C.Volsinii alone was in possession of two
thousand bronze statues ; but only a single example remains of well-
attested Etruscan origin, the Capitoline Wo\( {Fi^. 260); probably
the same which, soon after 300 B.C., was consecrated in Rome un-
der the Ruminal fig-tree. It is a hollow cast, which, with great hard-
ness and carefulness of treatment, gives the well-understood charac-
ter of this animal excellently, almost to the point of caricature. It
well illustrates the peculiarities of Etruscan art above described, in-
asmuch as it sacrifices to realism all artistic beauty. The chimera
Fig. 260.— Capitoline Wolf.
of Arezzo in Florence, and a griffin in Leyden, are similar in style ;
but, notwithstanding their Etruscan inscriptions, it is doubtful
whether they are of Tuscan workmanship.
Here should be mentioned the bronze utensils ornamented by
drawings — s^r a Jitt'^part'icularly the mirrors, generally in the form
of plates, one side of which had a polished surface, while the other
was engraved. The handles upon these either represented figures
like caryatides, or, more commonly, ended in a deer's head. Toilet
cistas, a further variety of these works, were of cylindrical form,
usually with the claws of animals for feet, and a group of human
figures upon the cover as a handle ; but these, on account of their
engravings, should rather be considered in the section upon paint-
406 ■ ETRURIA.— SCULPTURE.
ing, and are mentioned here merely because of the accompanying
castings. Only a small part of them belongs to the archaic period.
About 300 B.C. the art of Etruria appears to have reached its
highest point of independence and perfection, which, in sculpture, is
illustrated by the terra-cotta sarcophagus of Caere in the Louvre,
and by the Capitoline Wolf. The old ignorance of proportions had
disappeared, and a tolerable correctness was attained ; the realistic
tendency no longer struggled with unpliant forms, as in the former
period, when it might have been likened to the lisping and stammer-
ing of children. Yet the Etruscan artists never succeeded in har-
monious combinations, or in mastery and surety of form. The
stream of Grecian art, long restrained, or, so far as possible, turned
aside, at length overcame all obstacles. Up to this time the taste
of the Etruscans for the archaic and the archaistic, aided by the im-
portations of that character, had given to their art an antiquity of
aspect in form and in painting far beyond its true age. But when
political Etruria ceased to exist, as its walls were destroyed at the
opening of the cities by the Romans, Grecian art, of the period of
the Diadochi, entered from the coasts of Magna Graecia.
This is first noticeable in the sculptured lids of the sarcophagi of
this Hellenistic period. That of Caere, mentioned above, was exe-
cuted in almost entire independence of the influence of Greece : a
copy was made directly from life, with a prosaic realism which, with-
out restraint or culture, and with no feeling for the beautiful, was
still fascinating from its naturalness. In later times this unpoetical
sobriety and truthfulness to individual peculiarities still existed ; but
they were affected by Hellenic forms and formulas, which, being with-
out organic unity or intrinsic significance, and void of capacity for
development, were merely an exterior varnish. This period is most
clearly represented by the lids of three sarcophagi carved in alabas-
ter and a soft -stone. Of these, one bears a reclining image with five
statues in the full round at the head and feet {Fig. 261); the two
others, from Vulci, represent a man and. woman upon the marriage
bed, wrought in high-relief. The portraiture of the chief personages
is by no means limited to the heads. Apart from the accessories,
chosen from the purely human sphere of daily existence, the posi-
tion and modelling of the nude portions of the body were evidently
SARCOPHAGI. 407
taken from living models. The secondary figures and the drapery
show a decided Grecian influence, in visible contrast to the inherent
realism. Organic connection and unity of style are wanting, and
this want leaves it to be regretted that Greek forms should ever
have found admission into Etruria, for by them the native tendency
towards the realistic was checked, while the originality sacrificed was
not compensated by a merely external Greek formalism, never essen-
tially understood.
This condition of things is most strikingly exemplified by the
reliefs upon the two sarcophagi of Vulci, the lids of which have been
Fig. 261. — Etruscan Stone Sarcophagus.
referred to above. Upon the front of one is shown a wedding pro-
cession, and upon the end a funeral chariot drawn by mules, with
the married pair seated under a canopy. In the arrangement and
drapery they somewhat resemble Grecian sculptures, but the heads,
especially of the important figures, are portraits, with traits of real-^
istic coarseness in all the nude parts. Even in subject, as Brunn re-
marks, this naturalism is apparent. While the Greeks would have
chosen to represent a mythological wedding like that of Heracles,
Peleus, or Cadmus, and the Romans would have illustrated the bridal
pair — in a conception more theological than mythological — by Vic-
tor>\ Juno, and Venus, with the Graces in their train, the Etruscans
408 ETRURIA.— SCULPTURE.
show the marriage in a literal manner, the united pair being followed
by servants, with couch, sun-shade, wash-basin, crook, horn, flutes,
and harp. In the reliefs upon the other sarcophagus the subjects
selected offered no opportunity for purely Etruscan motives ; bat-
tles of the Amazons, and heroic encounters of naked youths, on foot
and upon horse, gave no scope to realistic treatment. They conse-
quently appear almost entirely Greek, but clumsy and superficial,
justifying, by the slavishness of their imitation and the weakness of
their composition, the suggestion of Brunn, that the Etruscan artists
not only made use of Hellenic designs as a kind of pattern-book,
but, when they would illustrate some scene for which they had no
complete guide, combined separate groups from different examples.
In the steer seized by lions, and the horse lacerated by griffins, upon
the small sides of the same sarcophagus, may be recognized not only
Oriental conceptions, but an Asiatic treatment.
The terra-cotta sculptures of this period show the same Hellenic
tendency, with the same superficiality and relation to the late Greek
degeneracy. Examples of this are to be found in the antefixes of a
sarcophagus from Vulci, and some fine urns belonging particularly
to Northern Etruria — Volterra, Clusium, and Perugia — which appear
in tufa and travertine, and represent the latest period — 150 to 100
B.C. Grecian legendary scenes have been observed upon earlier
works, and afterwards they became more general ; but a certain pref-
erence for particular and better known fables is evident, and native
additions are easily recognized.
Not to speak of later examples in bronze, and the engraved draw-
ings upon cistas and mirrors, which will be treated of below, the
most important statue is the so-called Mars from Todi, now in the
Vatican museum. According to its inscription, it is Umbrian, but it
is properly to be considered here, because for the too limited term
Etruscan art might well be substituted Italian, or at least Central
Italian. Vigorous in all its details, and betraying throughout the
later Hellenic style, the Mars is yet stiff, heavy, and without organic
understanding. Similar to it are other figures of warriors ; but the
Boy with the Duck, in the museum at Leyden, in spite of the stiff
and hard features, would, perhaps, not, be recognized as Etruscan at
all, were it not for the inscription upon his right leg, and the bulla
STATUES. 409
upon his neck-band. The life-like statue of an orator in Florence
might, in like manner, pass for Roman, were there not something in
the head, and in the lame position of the legs, particularly hard and
commonplace, a quality which, in the Roman works of this kind, is
always tempered by some degree of heroic conception. The differ-
ence is less evident because the primitive art of the Romans and
Etruscans was much the same, and the Greek influence the same in
both, though this was earlier and more active in Rome.
The painting of Etruria naturally followed a process of develop-
ment similar to that of the sculpture. In the earliest times it ap-
pears that painting was rare in comparison with the decorative
works of beaten metal plate, and that the little there was followed
Phoenician and Egyptian models, in so far, at least, as may be judged
from the few utensils which have been found in the so-called Grotto
deir Iside in Vulci. These are ornamented partly with painting,
partly with colored enamel. This decorative and dependent period
lasted at least until the beginning of the sixth century ; and the
Oriental tendency towards decoration was by no means lost with its
transition into the independent monumental and realistic style, as is
proved by the pictures of the Campana tomb at Veii, with their
attenuated animal figures. But the obtrusive archaistic ornament
upon the human figures began already to show the native realistic
tendency, which obtained complete mastery in the two tombs of
Corneto, called the Tomba del Morto, and Tomba delle Inscrizioni,
of about the same date. A painting upon slabs of terra-cotta from
Caere {Fig. 262) is perhaps still older. In the former examples,
though known to be antique, the treatment was more archaistic than
archaic, and the monstrous decorative style of Asia was apparent,
like that upon ancient vase-paintings. But in the Caere slabs the
fundamental principle was realistic imitation of the life. The influ-
ence of Hellenic art, increasing because of the importation of Greek
vases, is first evident upon a number of clay figures from Caere.
There is little unity in the subjects: they appear to be devotional
and ceremonial rather than mythological, the demoniacal and funereal
elements predominating. The colors are sombre, with no decided
blue, red, or green : only brown, yellow, reddish brown, gray, and
4IO
ETRURIA.— PAINTING.
black were employed upon a white ground. No trace of shading is
perceptible, and the drawing, with exception of the outline, is lim-
ited to the indication of the almond-shaped eyes, and to slight sug-
gestions of the knees, elbows, and nails. The forms are heavy and
without dignity, the motions stiff, and the step as though climbing,
with the arms thrown violently upward, as if running in the greatest
haste. Still, they give evidence of great observation of nature, with
the avoidance of a systematic uniformity in drawing, motion, and
gesture ; but the imitation is hardly successful, though in the reclin-
ing figures, for which a living model was most easily obtained, there
Fig. 262. — Painting from Caere.
is a certain degree of truthfulness. In the picture from Caere the
many-colored altar, with its peculiar top reminding one of the pro-
files of Castel d' Asso, is very characteristic. The wall-paintings in
the older tombs of Corneto, already mentioned, are somewhat more
advanced in regard to understanding of form and truthfulness in
the expression of the heads ; also in the soles of the feet being no
longer so flatly set. At the same time, Grecian influence is very dis-
tinctly visible. One of these, the Tomba del Morto, represents a
death-bed and its surroundings, with a group of dancers and drink-
ers ; the other, the Tomba delle Inscrizioni, shows racing, boxing,
wrestling, and preparations for a feast. A third sepulchre at Corneto,
TOMBS.
411
the so-called Tomba del Barone, is, perhaps, still further developed,
with the strictness of the archaic Hellenic vase-painting. Youthful
riders, men and women with bowls, and finely modelled garments
are separated by small trees.
This archaic hardness was again modified in the next later group
of four tombs : the Grotto delle Bighe, the Grotto del Citharedo,
the Grotto Marzi, or del Triclinio, and the Grotto Querciola, mostly
named from some chief motive of the representation within. The
garments allow the outlines of the figure to be seen : the forms have
become more slender, the position of the limbs, step, and action more
correct ; while the color, from the use of red and green, is brighter.
Although the archaic tendency still prevails, as may be seen from
the more marked Hellenic influence, a decided effort to develop the
native realism is evident in the contemporary paintings from Chiusi,
of the Tomba Ciaja, the Tomba di 1833, and the Tomba Francois.
These certainly do not show the fine modulation and clearness of
the Corneto paintings, but, instead, a greater variety, originality, and
truth. In the Tomba di 1833, for example, the eye appears drawn
in profile. These works are the perfection of the second period, the
time of independent realistic development, dating from the fifth to
the fourth century B.C.
The last phase of Etruscan painting, when the Hellenic influence
predominated as largely as in the sculptural works of the third and
second centuries B.C., commenced with the extensive adoption of
the Greek myths, previously but seldom employed. This epoch is
illustrated by coins, occasionally found in tombs, which still show
the native naturalistic traits, and a certain quaint sobriety not over-
come by the exaggeration of gesture. The effect is far more pict-
uresque than that of the older works, from a very moderate but
still appreciative use of light and shade. The close of the period
is marked by a novelty of subject, the introduction of Italian legends,
such as the half-historical personifications of Mastarna (or Servius
TuUius) and Caelius Vibenna. The art, which, more or less substan-
tially, outlived the independence of its narrow home, thus acquired
a Roman character.
Numerous and varied products testify to the Etruscan industry
412 ETRURIA.— PAINTING.
in artistic manufactures ; the bronze utensils in the tombs, with
sgraffiti, or engraved drawings, bore the same historical relation to
ancient paintings that copper-plate engraving does to the modern.
Of the thousand hand -mirrors known, only a few belong to the
earlier period ; but in the subjects of the more developed archaic
examples, Greek character predominates. The frequently recurring
representations of Bacchus and Eros and of the Judgment of Paris
remind one of the festival and morning toilets ; Ariadne and the
female deities suggest womanly customs. A great portion of the
Greek mythology is illustrated upon the mirrors of the third period,
which show extreme Hellenic influence. Most of these productions
are naturally mere handiwork, and artistically valueless ; but single
specimens, from their extraordinary beauty, might pass for Grecian
work did not the inscriptions and accessories, specifically Etruscan,
like the bullae, prevent this assumption. For example, the unequal-
led mirror, in which Semele embraces the youthful Dionysos in so
charming a manner, represents the heroine in such noble proportions
that it may, without hesitation, be reckoned among the most beau-
tiful results of artistic industry. Similar in character are the en-
graved cistas, cylindrical toilet - cases, which illustrated Grecian
myths, like those of Perseus and Prometheus, the Judgment of Paris,
and the rites over the body of Patroclos, in a careful manner and
with vigorous drawing, but not without the hardness peculiar to
Etruscan composition. Italian myths also appear, like that of^neas;
and Latin inscriptions, as those upon the magnificent cista of Fico-
roni, ornamented with illustrations of the legend of the Argonauts,
show that this process of engraving was also employed with success
by the early Romans.
A consideration of Etruscan art is important, because, without it,
an understanding of Roman art is not possible, at least in the fields
of architecture and sculpture. Up to a certain point of time, Roman
art was entirely developed from Etruscan art, or, perhaps, went hand
in hand with it, as will be more particularly shown in the following
section. The subject should be more closfely investigated, especially
in the province of painting, with the hope that, from analogous illus-
trations, much which still remains dark in primitive Hellenic art
may also be made clear.
Fig. 263. — Janus Quai
Boarium.
ROME.
IT has been remarked in the preceding section that the term
" Etruscan art " admits, in many respects, of no definite restric-
tion. The southern boundaries of the country between the Po and
the Gulf of Tarention had early been colonized by the Greeks, but
its artistic industry was, in the primitive historical ages, chiefly in
the hands of the Etruscans, and their name alone has on this account
been applied to the architecture, sculpture, and painting of all Cen-
tral Italy. But neighboring races, notably the Umbrians, Latins,
and Sabines, also took part in the development of this artistic civili-
zation— advancing, in great measure, from common starting-points,
and with like results. The migrations and commerce of the nations
inhabiting the Italian peninsula were not less extended and active
than were those of the people occupying the Peloponnesos and the
islands of the yEgean Sea : the relations to the Orient, through the
414
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
medium of Phoenician traders, were much the same in both cases,
and it is not strange that similar phases of advance are noticeable,
though restricted in rapidity and degree, among tribes dwelling in
the regions more remote from the sea.
Between the Tiber and Garigliano, as well as between the Arno
and Tiber, there exist extensive remains of Cyclopean masonry, as
well as walls of hewn and squared stones. The former were pre-
dominant in the mountainous interior, as at Alatrium, Arpinum,
Aurunca, Cora, Cures, Ecetrae, Ferentinum, MeduUia, Norba, Prae-
Fig. 264. — Gate of the Walls of Norba,
neste, Signia, Sora, Tibur, Verulae, etc. ; the latter in the low rolling
land between the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea, as at .^sernia,
Antium, Ardea, Aricia, Aufidena, Lavinium, Politorium or Apiolae,
Satricum, Scaptia, Tellenae, Tusculum, and Rome. They frequently
occur in contemporary workg, as, for example, in the well-preserved
polygonal ruins of Norba and Signia (the present Norma and Segni)
and the horizontal courses of the Servian fortification, both of which
constructions date from the period of the later kings. The age of
these works can usually be roughly estimated : the Cyclopean walls
of Olevano, of enormous unhewn boulders, like the fortifications of
EARLV WALLS.
415
Tiryns. are evidently of greater antiquity than the carefully fitted
polygonal masonry of Norba and Signia {Fig: 264), where the separ-
ate stones are tooled to plane faces and sides ; while the irregular
horizontal courses of unequal thickness, which form the older Latin
ramparts, precede, in point of time, the exactly jointed blocks of the
Servian walls of Rome. A more exact classification or chronological
determination is not possible.
Among all the remains of primitive walls in Italy, those of Rome
are naturally the most interesting. It unfortunately cannot be defi-
nitely proved that a part of a rampart upon the western corner of
the Palatine, exca-
vated thirty years ago
from the rubbish and
brick revetment of the
imperial period, ap-
pertained to the for-
tifications which sur-
rounded the city of
Romulus. But this
masonr)', though not
perhaps attributable
to the eighth century,
is certainly of an early
age of Roman history.
It is formed of oblong
stones, exactly hewn,
and laid in courses of
■■,W^^^S^.s
:^--m'm»'^wrty^^i
\um' iH3u:--i^ jgjiSffsp^-
ia^ 'f-Jlik. fega[.--^i'^g.uM:'''''ai ^iM"'^l
'9m\'i^mmmw\m:m^wmm
r . il^-WFesxT^
Fig. 265. — Remains of the Servian Wall upon the Aventine.
stretchers and headers, without the use of mortar, the careful joint-
ing showing a high degree of technical perfection. The better-
authenticated remains of the circuit wall of Servius Tullius are simi-
lar in character. They have been best preserved upon the southern
slope of the Aventine, east of the Via di S. Prisca, where they attain
a height of 10 m., with a length of 30 m. {-Fig. 265.) The arrange-
ment of the jointing, however, is not so well considered as that in
the former example, the vertical interstices of adjoining courses
being frequently continuous.
The passage formed a small vestibule or chamber in the thick-
4l6 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
ness of the wall, which required inner and outer portals, like those
of the Temple of Janus upon the Velabrum, which, long after the
ruin of the Servian fortifications, and even down to the time of the
empire, were sacredly preserved as relics. A similar arrangement
existed in Etruria even more frequently than in the Latin cities.
The Roman gates were so doubled as to form two passages side
by side — one for entrance, the other for exit ; a comparatively narrow
opening could thus provide ample space for those moving only in
the same direction. It is not certainly known how these Roman
gates were covered. The oldest vestiges of masonry in Latium show
no traces of vaulting, while other means of accomplishing the con-
nection have been preserved almost intact, such as the heavy lintels
upon vertical or inclined jambs, as at Segni, Circello, Alatri, and
Olevano ; or the gradual projection of the horizontal courses beyond
those beneath them, as at Arpino. The primitive houses for springs,
and the so-called Mamertine Prison, show that vaulting was not
practised in Rome or the neighboring Latin cities during the early
ages ; the Prison, probably built in the time of Servius Tullius, ap-
pears to have been somewhat similar in construction to the Greek
tholos. A further example of this kind is the chamber for a foun-
tain in Tusculum, where the stone slabs of the ceiling lean so as to
form a sort of continuous gable.
Rome owed more to the last fifty years of its hated kings than
to the two following centuries. From the royal period dates one
of the most important monuments of vaulted construction, the
Cloaca Maxima of Rome, built in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus,
and probably under the direction of engineers from his native Etru-
ria. To this gigantic work, admired even in the time of the magnifi-
cent Roman empire, is undoubtedly owing the preservation of the
Eternal City, which it has secured from the swamping that has be-
fallen its neighboring plains. Its quarried stones are still visible be-
neath the later brick arches in the vicinity of S. Giorgio in Velabro.
{Fig. 266.) The building of drains naturally led to extensive works
upon the banks of the river, which protected the thickly populated
city ; it was forgotten that, in earlier ages, it had often been necessary
to traverse the Velabrum in boats, and that the spring freshets had
extended a sheet of water between the Palatine and Capitoline hills.
VAULTING. 417
All these structures were emphatically works of engineering;
the building of walls, gateways, drains, and vaulted roofs presented
nothing to elevate them into independent and artistic monuments
of architecture. Among the Roman temples of this period only two
appear to have been of importance for the history of art — the na-
tional shrine of Diana upon the Aventine, and the Temple of Jupi-
ter Capitolinus ; both built by the last three kings, Tarquinius Pris-
cus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus. The first of these
structures has been compared to the Artemesion at Ephesos, the
national sanctuary of the lonians ; but it would be wrong to draw
from this a conclusion in regard to the style of the Latin temple of
Fig. 266. — Cloaca Maxima.
the same goddess, which was most probably Tuscan, as that of the
Temple of Jupiter is knownto have been, from descriptions given by
ancient writers as well as from the recent excavations of Jordan. Ac-
cording to Dionysios of Halicarnassos, the substructure of this latter
building — eight hundred Roman feet in circumference — was only fif-
teen feet greater in length than in width ; these dimensions agree
well with the proportion of five to six given by Vitruvius for the
temple architecture of the Etruscans. The cella of the Capitoline
temple was divided into three aediculae, another peculiarity assigned
by the Roman writer to the sacred edifices of Etruria ; it had three
ranges of columns, of six each, before the cella, which provided a
portico equal in depth to half the entire length of the building. The
27
4i8 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
ornamentation, which will be treated more fully in the section upon
Roman sculpture, was wholly the work of the Etruscans. This race
had, indeed, settled in Rome between the Capitol and the Palatine,
where the name of Vicus Tuscus preserved, until late historical
times, the memory of their settlement and of the considerable part
taken by them in the peopling of ancient Rome. It is even stated
by Pliny (xxxv. 12,45, and 154) that, for seventeen years after the
expulsion of the kings — namely, until the building of the Temple of
Ceres upon the Circus — all the sanctuaries of Rome were Etruscan ;
that is to say, were not only built in the Tuscan style, which might
more properly be called the ancient Italian, but were erected by
Etruscan artificers, or, at least, under the direction of Etruscan ar-
tists.
Even the Temple of Ceres appears to have been Tuscan in gen-
eral disposition, its cella having been triply divided and its interco-
lumniations excessively great, as may be seen by the remains of a
later restoration still existing in S. Maria in Cosmedin. In this tem-
ple, however, the influence of Greek architecture, introduced through
the Hellenic colonies of Magna Graecia, had already begun to gain
ground in the arrangement and the details, though the ancient Ital-
ian traditions were too deeply rooted to permit it essentially to al-
ter the original distribution. The structure remained nearly square,
being equally divided between the portico and the cella. This is
illustrated by the Temple of Concord, erected by Camillus upon the
Forum at the foot of the Capitol in 367 B.C. The limited area, de-
fined by the neighboring buildings and by the steep slope of the
hill against which it stood, prevented even later restorations from
elongating its plan. The extended oblong of the Hellenic temple
was naturally adopted, in place of the heavy proportions of the Tus-
can temples, as soon as the execution of the entablature in stone
rendered the excessively wide intercolumniations impossible, and
placed insurmountable difficulties in the way of the broad front.
Still, the Etruscan or ancient Italian division of the building was re-
tained, inasmuch as the columns were usually restricted to a pronaos
of great depth, such as is shown by the ruins of four temples in the
Forum Romanum. The Roman prostylos, as Vitruvius terms a
temple thus planned, may be regarded as the first compromise ef-
TEMPLES.
419
fectcd between the ancient Italian and the Hellenic disposition.
{Figs. 267 and 27 1 .)
The early Italian manner of abutting the undeveloped back of
the building upon the circuit wall of the temenos, or against a cliff,
seems to have long remained in practice ; but, in cases where this
was impossible, the bare sides and rear of the cella appeared intoler-
able when compared with the outstanding wings of the Greek perip-
teros. Although, in some instances, the prostylos plan was adopted
in later ages, as in the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina {Fig. 268)
in the Forum, where the enclosing walls of the cella are treated with
Fig. 267. — Temple of
Fortuna Virilis.
Fig. 268.— Temple of An-
toninus and Faustina.
pilasters, this was only in cases where the sanctuary was so crowded
by adjoining buildings that little else than the portico could be seen.
In completely isolated structures the desire of approaching the pe-
ripteral effect led to the application of engaged columns to the side
and rear walls of the cella, thus attaining, in the so-called prostylos
pseudoperipteros, the highest stage of that development of sacred
architecture which was peculiar to Rome. The purely peripteral
form was naturally adopted in later times, primitive cellas being en-
closed by outstanding ranges of columns ; but two fundamental pe-
culiarities were always retained : the pronaos always formed a deep
portico, and the naos always remained a spacious hall, the peripteral
420 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
columns being fitted to it, and made of subordinate importance. The
dimensions of the cella were thus not restricted by the pteroma, as
was the case in the temples of Greece, and especially in those of
Sicily; for the chief difference between the architectural tenden-
cies of the Greeks and the Romans was that the former devoted
their attention almost exclusively to the perfection of external ap-
pearance, creating monuments of unequalled beauty, while the latter
held material usefulness to be of the first importance, assigning to
technical excellence a second place, and to artistic design but a
third, thus creating imposing interiors admirably adapted to their
purposes.
The details of their architecture were with the Romans purely
1 —I decorative and applied. The Doric style,
I J which had predominated in Lower Italy
and Sicily, and must have offered the most
numerous models near at hand, was never-
theless least employed. It would be diffi-
cult to decide whether this is to be ascribed
to the similarity of the Tuscan and Doric
styles, and their derivation from a com-
mon prototype, or to the development of
— I the two manners of building in different
— ^ directions ; certain it is that the channelled
Fig. 269.— Engaged Tuscan Col- 1 j j ^u t^ •
umn from the Flavian Amphi- shatt was not employed, and the Doric en-
theatre, tablature appeared only in an attenuated
and purely ornamental imitation, above the wide intercolumnia-
tions of the ancient Italian facade. The Tuscan {Fig. 269) became
somewhat higher in proportion to its diameter, and was slightly
altered in detail. The epistyle was diminished to a narrow band,
and, in the smaller temples, was usually carved from one stone with
the frieze of triglyphs, thus destroying the separate importance of
these two members. The diminutive triglyphs were frequently in-
creased in number above the intercolumniations ; the chamferings
were terminated above by a straight line, while the guttae were
lengthened and had a more marked conical form. The proportion-
ally small metopes were either entirely without sculptured orna-
ment, or were provided with rosettes, disks, and the heads of oxen ;
THE TUSCAN ORDER.
421
which last were introduced as a reminiscence of the barbaric custom,
prevalent in early times, of affixing the skulls of the sacrificed ani-
mals to the wooden entablature. The corona was usually not in-
clined like this member in the Doric cornice; the mutules lost their
gutta, and became simplified to plain consoles, i^ig- 270.) In some
instances Ionic elements were introduced into the Doric entablature,
as in the sarcophagus — now in the Vatican — of L. Com. Scipio Bar-
bat us, who was consul in 298 B.C., where an Ionic cornice surmounts
^'ife^T-*;*®'^'
B'li-.': 31^.4 If
Fig. 270. — Temple at Cori.
the frieze of triglyphs, and Ionic spirals decorate the lid. The
Theatre of Marcellus displays a similar combination ; and, in other
cases, Doric forms are entirely supplanted by simplified Ionic mem-
bers.
Towards the end of the third century B.C. the Ionic style was
generally introduced ; yet, according to the nature of Roman archi-
tecture, which did but borrow external features from foreign nations,
itself supplying the general disposition and constructive forms, it
422 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
became nothing more than a decorative adjunct : the Grecian style
became a Roman order. Attic Ionic influences were naturally more
prevalent than those of Asia Minor. This was particularly fortunate,
because a canon of mathematical rules early took the place of inde-
pendent development, hardening the forms into formulas. This me-
chanical method of design was favored by the extended application
of engaged columns and pilasters which did not require the com-
plete execution of the elaborate capital, while, in the decoration of
Fig. 271. — Temple of Fortuna Virilis.
colossal buildings of several stories, the distance from the eye ren-
dered a simplification of the Ionic helices natural, as well as more
suitable to the coarse and porous stone employed by the Roman
builders. {Fig. 271.) The complicated, corner capital of the Ionic
style could not, however, be avoided upon the free-standing columns
of the temple fronts, and the execution of this member must have
been exceedingly troublesome to artisans accustomed to work every-
thing after one model. It is therefore to be regarded as a direct
THE IONIC ORDER. 423
consequence of the Roman architectural system that a variety of the
Ionic capitals appeared in later times which omitted the rolls and
displayed the spirals upon all four sides. This form, as exemplified
by the Temple of Saturn upon the Clivus Capitolinus, seems to have
arisen by repeating the two outer sides of the corner capital upon
those remaining. The entablature was of great simplicity, perhaps
because the comparatively rare employment of this order left it un-
developed.
Before the Roman had decided upon the practical but inartistic
repetition of the volutes upon all four sides — by which the nature of
the Ionic capital was destroyed, and the spiral treated in the early
Asiatic manner as mere ornament — the Corinthian capital had come
into general and popular use. It has already been explained, in the
section upon Hellenic architecture, that the Corinthian capital at-
tained no typical form in its native country, and could not be ranked
with the Doric and Ionic styles, being a mere variety of the Ionic
capital without any individual formation of the shaft and entabla-
ture. The Corinthian columns of the uncompleted Temple of the
Olympian Zeus at Athens, which Sulla transported to Rome about
the year 84 B.C. for the rebuilding of the Temple of Jupiter Capito-
linus, were, if not the first in Rome, at least those which were in later
times taken by Roman architects as typical examples of their style.
The Roman architect justly preferred the Corinthian capital because
of its capacity for more varied application, without that fatal diffi-
culty at the corners inherent in the Ionic style, and because of its
rich effect, even when less carefully and delicately detailed. The
preference for the Corinthian may be justifiable, but that form of
Composite capital into which it developed, by a multiplication of its
ornaments and the addition of four spirals upon the corners, must
be regarded as a debasement. {Fig- 273.) The fact should not be
overlooked that this arrangement of acanthus around a concave
kernel best solves the problem of the capital as a mediating mem-
ber between the vertical support and the horizontal entablature, as
well as between the circular plan of the shaft and the rectangle of
the epistyle. {Fig. 272.)
The leaves and tendrils of the capital were at last introduced into
the entablature, which thereby assumed a peculiar character, and per-
424
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
mitted the Romans, for whom the forms of Hellenic architecture
were nothing more than a decorative mask, to place the Corinthian,
as an independent order, by the side of the Ionic and the Tuscan or
Doric. As the Corinthian base had been formed by a combination
of the Ionic and Attic mouldings, the consoles of the cornice result-
ed from a fusion of Ionic dentils and Doric mutules. The simplicity
and slight projection of the dentils did not suffice for the require-
ments of florid Roman architecture; the horizontal mutules without
guttae, characteristic of the later Tuscan style, consequently took
their place, supported by the spiral brackets which had been al-
ready employed as the parotides beneath the cornices over Ionic
doorways. A richly foliated ornamentation fully harmonized these
Fig. 272. — Corinthian Capital
from the Pantheon.
Fig. 273. — Composite Capital.
new members with the acanthus capital, and gave to the entire cor-
nice an independent importance and a certain lavish elegance, soon,
however, debased by the extravagance of the decorators. Continued
increase of ornament resulted in a want of attention to the gen-
eral composition — a loss which the multiplication of the details could
ill supply, especially as they were without even formal beauty.
The sacred buildings of the Romans have been considered thus
at length because offering the best opportunity for a characteriza-
tion of the orders ; yet the significance of their national architecture
is not to be found in the temples, but rather in their structures for
public utility and comfort. In these the technical naturally far ex-
ceeded the artistic element, and it is consequently in points of con-
struction that the great advances of the Romans appear. In these
SEWERS. 425
methods they were almost wholly independent, and were by far the
most important people of antiquity. Masonry of brick and hewn
stones early attained great extent and perfection, furthered by the ex-
cellent materials at hand — the hard Tiburtine and Travertine lime-
stones, the tufa so easily carved, the unequalled clay for bricks, and
the famous volcanic sand and pozzuolana which, when combined with
lime, harden to the firmest stone. Vaulting was generally introduced
as early as the time of the kings, the walls and ceiling forming an un-
interrupted mass of homogeneous materials ; the vertical and hori-
zontal members, support and covering, being blended together with-
out marked transition. Before this system of construction was in-
vented the spacious and monumental development of protected
rooms had been possible only under great limitations; without it
these chief ends of Roman architecture could not have been at-
tained.
The building of barrel vaults with hewn stones, as observed in
the Cloaca Maxima, was attended with certain difficulties : the great
weight of the masonry permitted a moderately large span only
when immense and cumbrous buttresses were provided. This objec-
tion was, in a great degree, obviated by the employment of bricks,
but the size of the spaces covered was limited by the necessity of
heavy supporting-walls at the sides. The full scope of vaulted con-
struction was not recognized until the introduction, by the Romans,
of the intersecting or cross vaults, or the so-called groined arch. This
replaced the two side walls previously necessary to support the bar-
rel vault, by piers upon the four corners, at the same time opening
the covered space on all four sides. The way was thus prepared for
an indefinite series of such quadrangular compartments, or bays, cov-
ering a continuous space. A third development of this principle,
the hemispherical vault or cupola, was of more restricted application,
having been employed only for circular buildings, or, when bisected,
for apses, or semicircular. additions to the plans of rectangular tem-
ples and halls. The date of the first appearance of the cross-vault
can hardly have been earlier than the second century B.C.
The first secular buildings which attained monumental impor-
tance were undoubtedly those erected for public usefulness, like the
extensive covered canals so requisite to the very existence of Rome.
426
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
On the one hand, it was necessary, by means of gigantic sewers, to
drain the low land, which was not only full of springs, but was peri-
odically flooded by the Tiber ; on the other, to provide the metrop-
olis with good water by aqueducts extending to great distances.
Still, it was not until the year 312 B.C., more than two centuries
after the building of the Cloaca Maxima, that the first work of this
kind, the Aqua Appia, was completed, si-
multaneously with the first great military
road, by the famous censor Appius Claudius
Caecus. This entirely subterranean aque-
duct, eight Roman miles long, was followed,
down to the time of Diocletian, by no less
than thirteen similar constructions of in-
creased dimensions and magnificence. {Fig.
274.) Almost all extended to the moun-
tains which surround the Campagna, even
reaching a length of forty-two Roman miles.
They provided so great a quantity of excel-
lent water that one third part of it would
have been more than sufficient for the real
necessities of the city. Stupendous arches
raised the conduits high above the ground,
while valleys and ravines were spanned by
mighty works of engineering, even rivalling
the bridges upon the great military roads.
The greater part of the water thus obtained
was used for the baths, which were increased
Fig. 274.-Section of the Aqua ""^er the emperors to a measureless luxury,
Marcia, Tepula, and Julia, and provided the chief means by which
near the Porta San Lorenzo. , , , , 1 ^ 1 r r ^i
these rulers purchased the favor of the pop-
ulace. There were in Rome no less than eight hundred and fifty-
six private baths open to the use of every citizen for a certain
price, besides the great imperial structures which were free to the
public. The first founder of these free baths was Agrippa, in 25
B.C., who appears to have followed, in their general arrangement,
the type of a Greek gymnasion. The bodily exercises of early
times, by which the military power of the State had been trained,
AQUEDUCTS. 427
were succeeded under the empire by a luxurious care for physical
well-being ; gymnastic drill appeared unnecessary to the sovereigns
of all the known world, while the bath and the toilet became more
and more important. Thus, in the Roman baths, the spaces for
serious athletic contests, which had formed the principal part of
the Greek gymnasion, were wholly subordinated to the depart-
ments for indolent luxury and light amusements. The primitive
M n I I i i I I j^
Fig. 275. — Section of the Pantheon, in its Present Condition.
bathing- chambers were enlarged to magnificent halls, which of-
fered the greatest scope for the development of that interior archi-
tecture which was cultivated with such great success by the Romans.
This grandeur is evident in the imposing rotunda still remaining
from the Baths of Agrippa, the remarkable circular structure which,
because of its beauty, was transformed by Agrippa himself into a
temple — the Pantheon — by the addition of Corinthian columns.
{Figs. 275 and 276.) The building, not having been originally
428
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
planned for an isolated position, is wholly undeveloped upon the
exterior, but its massive construction and harmonious proportions
have merited the admiration accorded to it in all ages. From the
existing remains it cannot be surely determined whether the Baths
of Nero, Titus, Trajan, and Commodus, which followed the great
creation of Agrippa, surpassed it in dimensions and magnificence ;
but it is certain that this was the case with the enormous structure.^
Fig. 276. — Section of the Pantheon. Restoration by Adler,
of Caracalla and of Diocletian, as the entire plan of the former, with
parts of the mosaic pavements, still remains ; while the main hall of
the latter, in almost perfect preservation, forms the chief part of the
Church of S. Maria degli Angeli. The principal structure was usu-
ally surrounded by an extensive enclosure, which, in the case of the
Baths of Caracalla {Fig. 277), was formed upon the front {a) by a
Series of separate cabinets. Upon the sides were segmental projec-
tions, or exedras {b), with various chambers {c), probably intended
BAIIIS. 429
for intellectual entertainments, such as rhetorical and poetical dis-
sertations, etc. ; while the rectangle was closed by a one-sided sta-
dion, with spaces for gymnastic purposes (</), and a reservoir for
water {e). The central building provided upon either side enormous
halls for games, preparatory to the ablutions (^, /), between them
(», k, I) the spaces for the cold, tepid, and hot baths ; while the ad-
WilliniliWIllllWllllllllWllipillllllll^
Fig. 277. — Plan of the Baths of Caracalla.
joining smaller chambers served as rooms for dressing and the mani-
fold processes of the toilet. Between this chief structure and the
enclosure race-cour?es and promenades, with fountains and beds of
flowers, added the charms of nature to the magnificence of architect-
ute/ ^The public Baths of Alexander Severus, Decius, and Constan-
tihe appear to have been less extended ; but these were far surpassed
430
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
in size by the constructions of Diocletian, which could accommodate
three thousand bathers. The Roman buildings for the circus, the
theatres, and amphitheatres were of scarcely less importance. The
extreme simplicity of the Circus Maximus recalls the early Greek
hippodrome ; the slopes of the Palatine and Aventine served as a
s'ation for the spectators, while the level ground in the valley be-
tween formed the arena. It was not until 327 B. C. that the barriers
(carceres) were architecturally embellished, and even the rebuilding of
the whole by Caesar was limited to the erection of the lower stories
of the auditorium in stone. The wooden superstructure was not re-
Fig. 278. — Chief Hall of the Baths of Caracalla.
placed by a more permanent and monumental construction until the
time of Domitian and Trajan. The general plan was adopted from
the Greek model, the peculiarities of the Roman arrangement being
a low division wall, or spina, the position of the barriers, and the
moat which surrounded the arena {euripis), intended to protect the
lower tiers of spectators during the combats of v/ild beasts. The
spina, connecting the two turning-posts {met<;e), was ornamented with
memorial columns, altars, aediculas, statues, obelisks, and the like ;
it did not follow a direction precisely parallel to the side seats, but
allowed a considerably broader space upon the right than upon the
left, so that the many chariots here crowded together early in the
r\
CIRCUSES. 43 J
race might not be too greatly impeded. That all the competitors
might have an equally favorable position when
brought into line, it was necessary that the
starting-points should be arranged in the seg-
ment of a circle, the centre of which was a lit-
tle to the right of the spina. This plan may
be recognized in the best -preserved Roman
circuses, as, for instance, in that at Bovillx, near
Albano, and that of Romulus, the son of Max-
entius, upon the Via Appia. (/^f^. 279.) The
Circus Maximus, like all the other structures of
its kind in Rome, has been entirely destroyed.
In the earlier periods of Roman history, the
theatre did not receive th(* recognition and
assistance of the government ; and the law in
force until the end of the republic, which per-
mitted no theatre with seats to be constructed
within the limits of the city, prevented any
monumental development in this direction.
Dramatic representations, however, were not
to be suppressed after an acquaintance with
the Greek drama had once been formed.
Comedy was especially popular, and Roman
authors devoted their attention to it with suc-
cess. But these plays were performed only
upon festival days, and were undertaken by ^
individuals. The creation of the improvised
stage, for transient usage, thus fell to the lot
of those politicians whose desire it was to win
the favor of the populace. In the latter days
of the republic structures were reared which
equalled the extravagant magnificence of the
Diadochi ; the aedile M. Scaurus, for instance,
erected a gigantic theatre, to stand only a few „, , . ^.
.^^ ^ ^ Fig. 279.— Plan of the Circus
days, which provided seats for no less than of Romulus.
eighty thousand spectators, the stage being
ornamented by three hundred and sixty marble columns and thtee
432
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
thousand bronze statues. This boundless waste was brought to an
end through the building of the first stone theatre in Rome, by Pom-
pey, who, notwithstanding his great political power, could succeed in
silencing the objections made by the conservative party against this
innovation only by the pretence that the stone seats were the steps
of a temple, which he erected upon the summit of the cavea. This
first permanent structure was succeeded during the reign of Augustus
by two other theatres, those of Marcellus and of Balbus ; the first
could seat but a quarter as many spectators as did the theatre of
Pompey — namely, twenty thousand — while that of Balbus provided
places for only eleven thousand six hundred. In later imperial times
Fig. 280. — Scheme of the Roman Theatre, according to Vitruvius.
even this capacity was found too great. The theatre lost much of its
attraction after the Roman people had once seen blood flow in the
arena. Yet in all the Roman empire there was scarcely a city of im-
portance where a stone theatre was not erected during the reign of
Augustus ; even small towns like Tusculum, where the remains are
particularly well preserved, boasted of these monuments. The char-
acteristic differences between the Roman theatre and the Greek, its
prototype, were that the orchestra did not exceed a semicircle, the
front of the stage (A A) being so advanced as to form its diameter,
which thus brought the actors nearer to the spectators. {Fig. 280.)
The open half of the circle was not, as in Greece, reserved for the
THEATRES.
433
evolutions of the chorus, but was occupied by the senators and the
higher classes of citizens, who brought thither their own seats. The
auditorium, which, with the orchestra, had been restricted to a semi-
circle, assumed a peculiar form upon the exterior, the entire build-
ing standing in a plain, and only rarely, as in Tusculum, occupying a
natural slope. With the introduction of vaulting, massive founda-
tions of masonry were ren-
dered unnecessary. Barrel
vaults were placed one above
another, terminating upon
the exterior in a series of
arcades, the decorative feat-
ures of Roman architecture
being usually so applied that
the lower story displayed
engaged Tuscan columns,
the second Ionic, and the
third Corinthian pilasters,
with their respective entab-
latures. This treatment of
the exterior is shown in the
best preservation by the re-
maining amphitheatres; but
vestiges of theatres may still
be seen sufficient to serve
as illustrations, like that of
Marcellus {Fig. 281), and
those at Orange in Southern
France, at Aspendos in Asia
Minor, etc.
Imposing as the architectural appearance of the Roman theatre
was, magnificently and suitably as it was planned, it could never
attain great national, and consequently historical, importance, be-
cause tragedy was never popular and comedy never political. The
warlike and bloody scenes presented by the mortal combats of glad-
iators and wild beasts had a far greater attraction for a people who,
by nature, felt more reverence for Mars than for the Muses. It was
28
Fig. 281. — Theatre of Marcellus, Rome.
434
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
long, however, before these exhibitions were provided with especial
arenas. After the introduction of the gladiatorial contests by Mar-
Fig. 282. — Plan of the Flavian Amphitheatre.
cus and Decius Brutus, in 264 B.C., upon the occasion of funeral
games, the prisoners of war had fought together upon the Forum ;
AMPHITHEATRES.
435
and the slau^litcr ot powerful animals, inaugurated under Metellus by
the killing of elephants taken from the Carthaginians in 252 B.C.,
and continued under yEmilius Paullus by the sacrifice of deserters to
beasts of prey, had taken place in the Circus. But this could not
have been well suited to the purpose, as its limited width was im-
peded by the spina, and its side barriers could not have offered suffi-
cient protection to the spectators from the desperate attempts of the
JoMOi
Fig. 283. — Section of the Auditorium of the Flavian Amphitheatre.
infuriated animals to escape. As early as 59 B.C., Caius Curio had
surprised the Roman people with two wooden theatres, built back
to back, and arranged so as to turn bodily upon their axes after the
conclusion of the scenic performances, so that the two auditories
faced one another, and left between them an arena for the succeed-
ing combats of gladiators. It is not certain whether this was the
original of the amphitheatre, or whether the oval plan arose from
436 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
simply giving broader proportions to that form of stadion, like the
one at Aphrodisias in Caria, which was terminated by a semicircle
at each end. But it is scarcely to be doubted that the wooden
Theatrum Venatorium of Caesar had the disposition which was re-
peated, with but few alterations, in the stone amphitheatre of Sta-
tilius Taurus, built during the reign of Augustus, and in those of
wood erected by Augustus, Tiberius, and Nero, By the time of the
Flavians it was recognized that no gift was so acceptable to the
Roman populace as the provision of a magnificent place fitted for
these inhuman games, and thus arose that most gigantic edifice of
all ages — the Colosseum. {Figs. 282 and 283.) Even provincial
towns like Reggio, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Albanum, Tusculum,
Sutri, Pola, Verona, Nismes, Treves, Constantine, etc., were provided
with edifices of this kind, fully as important in proportion to the
number of their inhabitants.
The mausoleums and monuments erected in honor of prominent
citizens constitute an important class in the architectural history
of Rome. In early times a tumulus form, similar to that of the
Etruscan tombs, seems to have predominated. The older monu-
ments in the vicinity of Rome were thus constructed. A tumulus,
the lower cylinder of which appears to have been elevated upon
a square substructure decorated with Tuscan pilasters, may be as-
sumed to have existed above the remarkable sepulchral labyrinth
of the Scipios, outside the Porta Appia, and within the present
Porta S. Sebastiano. In course of time the circular drum of masonry
increased, while the original cone was diminished to a pointed roof;
the magnificent tombs of Caecilia Metella, the wife of Crassus, and of
the Plautii upon the Via Appia and Via Tiburtina, show it as already
preponderating. The tumulus of Augustus upon the Via Flaminia,
at present within the Porta del Popolo, displays a cylinder of 24 m.
in diameter, decorated by thirteen niches once provided with statues ;
while the cone of earth above, which was archaistic agreeably to the
affectation of Augustus, was planted with cyprus-trees and termi-
nated by a colossal image of the imperial builder. Even more
gigantic was the mausoleum built by Hadrian, the lower portion of
which now forms the substructure of the Castle of S. Angelo. It
was once surmounted by a second smaller cylinder bearing a conical
TOMBS, 437
roof. When the area at disposal was too limited for the adoption
of so extended a base, the monument rose, like a tower, to a great
height, in successive stories of decreasing dimensions, with or with-
out columns, as in the fine example of St. Remy in Southern France.
The endless rows of tombs upon the Via Appia vary from simple
piers and subterranean burial-chambers (called columbaria, from the
thousands of niches for funeral urns resembling the nests of doves')
to colossal mausoleums. The remains of bulwarks prove that many
of these elevations were utilized for mediaeval fortresses. Even for-
eign forms were employed ; the so-called Tomb of the Horatii at
Albano resembles that of Porsena, while the Egyptian pyramid is re-
produced in the mausoleum of C. Cestius near the Porta di S. Paolo.
The conformation of the land presented but little opportunity for
the execution of rock-cut tombs with a front carved in the cliff; but
one remarkable example has been preserved upon the Lake of Al-
bano, called, from the twelve fasces introduced in its decoration, the
Tomb of the Consuls. In the mountainous provinces of the East
these sepulchres were more common, as, for instance, in Petra, where
numbers of fa9ades hewn in the rock, with a kind of decorative
temple-like architecture, betray magnificence rather than good taste.
{Fig. 284.).
The monuments commemorative of individuals do not, as in
Greece, deserve to be treated in the section upon sculpture ; in
Rome the architectural pedestal was more important than the stat-
uesque carving, and, indeed, the image was frequently supplanted
altogether by inscriptions. Statues were often placed upon col-
umns. These were often provided with characteristic decorations —
as is the case with the prows of vessels upon the shaft of Duilius,
erected in 260 B.C. — and were often of gigantic dimensions, thus
withdrawing the figures upon their summits from close inspection.
The most sumptuous example of these monuments is presented by
Trajan's Column, the base of which contained the sarcophagus of
that emperor. The surface of the shaft was either covered with
reliefs of many figures which, like the interior staircase, ascended
spirally upward, as upon the Columns of Trajan and of Marcus Aure-
lius, or were merely treated with architectural forms like the granite
column of Antoninus Pius, the relief upon the pedestal of which is
438 ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
given below. {Fig. 304.) There are similar shafts, dating from the
Roman occupation, at Cussi in France, at Alexandria, Constanti-
nople, and Ancyra. In all these works the portrait was far exceeded
in importance by the monument; sculpture was rendered subordi-
nate to architecture. This was the case in a still greater degree
in the triumphal and commemorative arches. As the equestrian
statues and quadrigas have disappeared from all the works of this
Fig. 284. — Fa9ade and Section of a Rock-cut Tomb at Petra.
kind now preserved, it might easily be forgotten that these figures
were in reality the principal part of the composition, and the arches
beneath them little else than pedestals placed above the streets, and
consequently provided with passages. Festive portals constructed
of light timbers and decorated for gala-days doubtless afforded the
prototype for these works. Triumphal arches were comparatively
rare in the time of the republic, but very common under the em-
TRIUMPHAL ARCHES.
439
perors. They express the nature of Roman art better, perhaps, than
any other class of structures: the mass of masonry, encased in col-
umns and entablatures which were merely ornamental features with-
out constructive functions ; the reliefs of small figures crowded to-
gether as in a chronicle ; the numerous decorative statues above the
columns as well as upon the top; the extended inscriptions upon the
attic above the arches, which thus formed, in a more restricted sense,
the pedestal of the crowning group — these all express characteristic
Fig. 285. — Triumphal Arch of Titus.
tendencies, and present the best example of the solid but ostenta-
tious construction which predominated in Roman architecture, sub-
ordinating ideal beauty to the temporary purpose. Augustus, Tra-
jan, and Hadrian were the chief builders of these monuments, which
have remained in all the provinces of Rome : at Benevento, Ancona,
Rimini, Susa, and Aosta in Italy ; at St. Remy, Orange, Besangon,
Cavaillon, and Rheims in France ; at Alcantara, Merida, Bara, and
Caparra in Spain ; at Theveste and El Casr in Africa, etc. There are
440
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
four of these arches in Rome — two with a single passage (those of
Drusus and of Titus [Fi^. 285]), and two (those of Septimius Severus
[Fi^. 286] and of Constantine) with additional openings on either side.
The Arch of Constantine surpasses its known predecessors in beauty
of composition and proportion only because it was patterned after an
arch of Trajan, and even built with the same materials. This arch
is at once the memorial of one of the most important victories re-
Fig. 286. — Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus.
corded by history, the battle near the Milvian Bridge, and of that
unexampled poverty of artistic invention, or rather want of pro-
ductive energy, which characterized all Roman intellectual life after
the time of Constantine.
The so-called Janus portals were erected above the streets and
squares of Rome, much in the same manner as the triumphal arches.
They were commonly simple, like the three Jani upon the Forum
Romanum,but were increased at street-crossings to extensive quadri-
JANI. 441
frontes, or structures presenting the same face upon all four sides.
The former bore two-faced Jani upon their summits, the latter a
four-faced combination like that upon some figures of Hermes — an
image well adapted to represent the watcher over the crowded
thoroughfares. The Janus Quadrifrons upon the Forum Boarium
{Fig. 263) is, with exception of the attic, particularly well preserved ;
it was richly ornamented by the statues of deities, no less than
thirty-two niches being provided upon its walls.
The buildings which surrounded the public squares corresponded
in lavish magnificence to the altars, statues, dedicatory columns, and
triumphal arches. Broad colonnades with shops formed the enclos-
ure, interrupted by temples, and courts of justice, or curias, which
can have differed but little in external appearance from the sacred
edifices. Most important among these public buildings were the
basilicas, which, in name, purpose, and form, were derived from
Greek prototypes. As halls of justice and places for commercial
traffic, they may be regarded as covered extensions of the open
squares. Several of these buildings, erected during the imperial
epoch, are known by considerable remains, but they deviate so
greatly in disposition as to have no plan in common beyond that
of a hall surrounded by narrow aisles. The oldest Roman structure
of this kind, the Basilica Porcia built by Cato in 185 B.C., was of an
oblong shape, abutting with one of its ends upon the Forum, while
the other was enlarged by a small exedra, or apse. {Figs. 287 and
288.) The chief space was surrounded upon all four sides by two-
storied aisles, the central hall, however, not rising above them, as in
the Christian basilica, this being difficult of construction because of
the slightness of the shafts, and not necessary for the introduction
of light. A portico with a flat roof was erected above the entrance,
enlivening the bare and extended front wall. Thus the Basilica
Porcia did not differ in principle from the early Christian church,
and the similarity appears also in the other basilicas of the Roman
republic, all of which had their front upon the smaller side. In the
courts of the imperial epoch, however, this primitive type was treated
with great freedom, and nothing remained of the original arrange-
ment but a large central hall surrounded by a double passage of ar-
cades upon piers, without columns and without an apse. The nor-
442
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
mal basilica, described by Vitruvius, with two-storied side aisles,
faced with its greatest length upon the public square, and had
an apse ; the basilica at Fanum, built by the Roman writer, was
similarly arranged upon the facade, but a clere-story supported upon
gigantic columns rose above the lateral passages. These passages
Fig. 287. — Section.
Fig. 288. — Plan of tht Primitive Roman Basilica. Restoration by Reber.
opened, from the end opposite the entrance, into an adjoining tem-
ple, the pronaos of which served as the tribune of the forensic court.
The basilica at Pompeii, of which the narrow side was the front, had
no apse, while the Basilica Ulpia had great exedras upon both ends,
with the entrance portal upon the Idnger side. The Basilica of
Maxentius {Fig. 289), which was completed by Constantine, was an
BASILICAS.
443
exception in every respect, being entirely vaulted, and having two
apses upon adjoining sides opposite to the two chief entrances. The
whole formed one of the most remarkable and important halls of
antiquity, with the consideration of which the history of Roman
architecture may well be terminated. The original type of the
basilica was wholly neglected by later architects, who treated the
444
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
problem of a forensic hall without restrictions, utilizing the acci-
dental formations of the ground, while endeavoring to combine
suitability and the display of ingenious constructions with magnifi-
cent novelties of their own invention.
The Roman dwelling-house was, in the earliest ages, identical
with that of Etruria, and, indeed, of all Central Italy. Although re-
lated to Hellenic prototypes, the peculiarly Italian atrium, without
Fig. 290. — Section.
Pig. 291. — Plan of the House of Pansa in Pompeii.
columnar supports for the roof, remained in use even after the gen-
eral introduction of the Greek peristyle. At Pompeii a combination
of these two varieties of court is met with, the front space being a
simple atrium, and that further within a peristyle. Each enclosure
was surrounded by chambers. {Figs. 290 and 291.) The mosaic and
painted decoration of the floors and walls will be treated in a later
section. The small chambers were lighted only through doors open-
ing from the inner courts, and did not share in the architectural im-
DWELLING-HOUSES.
445
portance assigned to the larger halls, which, in the last years of the
republic and in the imperial period, transformed the houses of the
wealthy into veritable palaces. With the luxury of the table, the
magnificence of the dining-room was increased ; and, with the grow-
ing taste for literature and art, extensive libraries and galleries of
pictures became prominent features. Many of the forms adopted
for this palatial architecture appear to have been derived from the
later Greeks ; the designation of halls, as those of Egypt and of
Kyzicos, employed by Vitruvius, pointing to the sovereignties of
the Diadochi. This enlargement of extensive rooms by columns was,
1 1 1 HtiTTiYlriTTrrrri-n
Fig. 292. — Flavian Palace.
A. Tablinum ; B. Lavarium ; C. Basilica ; D. Atrium ; E. Dining-hall (CEcus) ; F. Nymphaeum.
however, in a great degree supplanted by vaulting, in which case
the columns were introduced merely as decorative members. Much
attention was devoted to a lavish enrichment of these rooms, the
shafts being colored marble monoliths, the lacunae of the vaulted
ceilings overlaid with bronze or richly gilded, and the capitals being
sometimes formed of solid metal. One of the halls in these palatial
residences, the private basilica, though it may not have been univer-
sal, deserves especial consideration because of its great importance in
later times. Such courts of justice are mentioned by writers of the
Augustan age as forming part of the dwellings of men of condition,
" Decause in their houses councils were held upon public and private
446
ROME.— ARCHITECTURE.
matters, and civil cases decided." These halls were naturally mod-
elled in a great degree after the public basilicas upon the forums,
such as the Porcian, ^milian, Sempronian, and Opimian basilicas,
which had been built during the republic ; but they appear, when
compared with the primitive type of the Roman basilica, to have dif-
fered fundamentally in two respects. In the first place, the hall, be-
ing surrounded by the chambers of the dwelling, could not be provid-
ed with windows like the free-standing, forensic basilicas, and a clere-
story rising above the adjoining rooms was consequently adopted.
Fig. 293. — Court of the Palace of Diocletian at Spalatro.
This rendered necessary a second modification. To impose a heavy
wall of masonry, besides the timbered ceiling and roof, upon a double
story of columns must have seemed inadmissible to the Roman
taste for substantial con-struction. The aisles upon the front and
rear were consequently given up, the columns and galleries remain-
ing upon the sides only, the massive masonry of the enclosure thus
receiving the thrust of the clere-story wall, and greatly increasing its
stability. {Fig- 292.) This loss of continuity could have been of
no great disadvantage in the private basilica, as it did not serve, like
the free-standing public structures, for traffic and promenades, as
PRIVATE BASILICAS.
447
well as for sessions of justice. The galleries over the side aisles were
frequently omitted, and it appears to have been in these halls that
the connection of columns by arches, in the place of lintels, was first
introduced. Such archivolts are first known by examples built
during the reign of Diocletian, as at Spalatro (Fijf. 293) ; but they
soon came into general usage, their practical advantages outweigh-
ing the want of aesthetic fitness inherent in such curved entabla-
tures. It was from these private basilicas that the first Christian
Fig. 294. — Fragment of the Cista Praenestina.
churches were architecturally developed. The believers had assem-
bled, during the imperial ages, in the houses of wealthy converts ;
and as these halls of justice had been used for religious services dur-
ing times of persecution, it is not strange that, after the recognition
of Christianity by the Roman government, their arrangement and
even their name should have been retained.
'In Roman architecture were found great intelligence in the solu-
448
ROM E.— SC U LPTU RE.
cion of the constructive problems involved in the enclosing of large
spaces, great independence in the development of technical perfec-
tion, and a masterly conformity to the purpose of the structure ; but
Roman sculpture, although of very extended application, had less in-
dependence and significance. The Romans, originally too practical
to provide a place for the beautiful beside the useful, first gave de-
cided admission to this art when the political growth of the world's
metropolis had reached the acme of its power ; and even then they
transferred the question of sculpture to foreign artists in their em-
ploy. In the earlier republican period, their practice of this art was
scarcely worthy of mention ; in the time of the kings, or, at least,
until the year 170 of the city, sculpture seems not to have existed
in Rome, or only to have been employed in the ornamentation of
utensils like the Cista Praenestina {Fig. 294)
with Phoenician-Etruscan anthemions and
figures of animals riveted on. If these
may be considered rather as a direct im-
portation from Etruria and the neighbor-
ing Grecian and Phcenician colonies than
as their own work, it may be said that
the Romans of this period had no im-
ages of the gods.
The first work of statuary which ap-
pears to have been exhibited in Rome was
by an Etruscan, Volcanius, or Volca, from Veii. This was the colossal
Jupiter sitting upon a throne, ordered by Tarquinius Priscus for the
Capitoline Temple. Formed of terra-cotta, the face colored red, and
wearing upon the head a chaplet of oak-leaves — originally, perhaps,
of bronze, but afterwards of gold — it appears, with the exception of
the head, to have been but slightly modelled, as it was covered with
an embroidered garment. A Hercules within, and the quadriga upon
the gable of the same temple, both also of terra-cotta, are ascribed
to this artist. The chariot was, in 296 B.C., replaced by a bronze,
which ninety years later was gilded.
Even from the beginning the tone of Roman sculpture was af-
fected by Grecian as well as by Etrustan influences. The image in
the Temple of Diana built by Servius TulHus upon the Aventine
Fig. 295. — Janus Bifrons upon an
Ancient Roman Coin.
THE ETRUSCAN ELEMENT. 44^
was a xoanun — a rude puppet of wood imitated from the Artemis
of Massalia (Marseilles) — a work after the manner of the Ephesian
Artemis, and consequently still undeveloped, and, at the best, Dai-
dalian. Two generations later a more advanced Hellenic style ob-
tained, when, in 493 B.C., two Greeks of Lower Italy, Gorgasos and
Damophilos, decorated the Temple of Ceres with paintings and fig-
ures of terra-cotta. Eight years later, these were followed by the
three divinities of the temple — Ceres, Liber, and Libera — which were
the first bronze statues in Rome. But, at the same time with the
work of the Grecian artists, and as if to prevent a decided Hellenic
preponderance, the wooden image of Juno Regina was brought from
Veii to Rome ; and this cannot have been without effect upon the
figures of Fortuna Muliebris, consecrated four or five years later, in
487 or 486 B.C. In the epoch next following, rife with civil wars
and misfortunes of every kind, the pursuit of art seems to have lan-
guished, and its necessities to have been met chiefly by booty from
the conquered cities of Etruria, though many of the subjects were
Roman, like the Janus Geminus, copies of which have been pre-
served upon coins. {Fig. 295.) Of this period are the Vertumnus
and the Lavinian Penates, and especially the first portrait statues
of heroes like those of the Ephesian Hermodorus, the interpreter
among the lawgivers of the Decemvirate, in 450 B.C. ; of Ahala and
L. Minucius, as protectors from usurpation, in 439 B.C. ; and of the
four ambassadors murdered by the Fidenates, in 438 B.C.
Art first became more active when, at the close of the Samnite
war, in 288 B.C., the Roman authority began to make itself felt in
the Grecian towns of Lower Italy. Then originated the rich sculpt-
ured ornaments of the Forum — the statues in honor of Maenius, Ca-
millus, Tremulus, and Duilius, and also of the Greeks Pythagoras
and Alkibiades, commanded by the oracle ; further, as shown by
Detlefsen to be probable, portraits of the Sibyls, and of Attus Na-
vius, Horatius Codes, M. Scaevola, and Porsena, falsely attributed
to earlier times. The Capitol was decorated by statues of the seven
kings, and of Tatius and Brutus ; and the Via Sacra, besides those of
Romulus and Tatius, with an equestrian statue of Cloelia. Nothing
remains of these works, which were almost exclusively of bronze, and
only one sacred figure gives any illustration of their technicalities
45P
ROME.— SCULPTURE.
and style — the Wolf— now preserved in the Capitol. Although the
two sucking children are lost, it is probably the one consecrated by
Ogulnius under the Ruminal fig-tree, in 295 B.C. {Fig. 260.) With-
out doubt, the characteristics of this period were more Italian, or,
according to the usual term, Etruscan, than Greek ; and, in consid-
ering the sculptures generally, the predominant influence in the por-
trait-statues may be ascribed to the
Etruscans, and, in those of a devo-
tional character, to the Greeks, since it
was from the Greeks that the Romans
chiefly borrowed this type.
Two other works preserved from
the third century B.C., and designated
in the inscription as by Roman artists,
show plainly the conflict of the two
tendencies. The first of these is the
celebrated Cista of Ficoroni, made in
Rome, with the inscription of Novius
Plautius engraved in the ancient char-
acter, found near Palestrina(the ancient
Praeneste), and now in the Kircherian
Museum in Rome. Its chief feature,
an episode from the legend of the Ar-
gonauts, represented in sgraffito upon
the vessel, is so purely Greek that it
might be regarded as imported ware
were it not for the accessories — the
bulla, bracelet, and shoes — which point
to Italy, perhaps to Lower Italy. Ac-
Fig. 296.-Statue of Isis. (Museum wording to Mommsen, Plautius was
ot Naples.) ^^
from Campania. The handle and feet,
on the contrary, are entirely Etruscan, and exhibit quite a different
tendency. Though the name of the artist and the dedicatory
inscription are placed upon the handle, they cannot relate to these
castings, which are of quite ordinary manufacture, but rather to
the engraving, Plautius having obtained the vessel ready-made in
Rome, where he worked. The second of these works, nearly con-
THE GREEK INFLUENCE.
451
temporary with the other, is a small head of Medusa, in high-relief,
with the artist's name upon it, C. Ovius, from the Tribus Aufentina.
In this the two factors. Grecian and ancient Italian, which formerly
stood side by side, appear to blend, and thus to perfect what must
be designated as the specifically Roman style.
But at the close of the second Punic war, about 200 B.C., began
the extensive importation of statues, first from the Grecian cities of
Italy, afterwards from Greece proper. It has been related how
Rome, in 150 B.C., became the central point of Grecian activity in
art, and the seat of that renaissance which followed the past stages
of Hellenic artistic development in reversed succession. As the Ro-
man deities had become
throughout almost iden-
tical with those of the
Greeks, and as the stat-
uary that ornamented
the squares, streets, gar-
dens, baths, fountains,
houses, and villas were
either Grecian spoil or
copied from celebrated
Hellenic originals, there
remained for the pecul-
iarly Roman art, as it
had arisen from the
combination of Etrus-
can and Hellenic elements, only a comparatively small field.
The Grecian stamp was given, so far as might be, even to
those deities, such as Juno Lanuvina, who, on account of their de-
cided individuality, could not be exchanged with those of the Greeks,
nor with the gods borrowed from the Oriental mythology. This did
not, indeed, flourish in the West until the late times of Hellenism,
two centuries B.C., and appeared, for the most part, still later in
Rome, as shown by the worship of Isis, and the frequent statues of
that goddess {Fig. 296) and of Harpocrates, and by the Persian homage
to Mithras, with its sacrifice of bulls. {Fig. 297.) It was the same
with the uncommonly numerous Roman personifications and al-
Fig. 297. — Relief of Mithras. (In the Louvre.)
452
ROME.— SCULPTURE.
legories, the individual type of which was, as a rule, quite common-
place and without expression, the intention of the artist being rec-
ognizable only by attributes. A draped female figure, such as
the Flora or Pudicitia, might be a Concordia, Constantia, or Fides ;
a Pax, Libertas, or Securitas; a Virtus, Justitia, or .^^quitas; a
Salus, Pietas, or Annona — ac-
cording to what was placed in
the hand, upon the head, or at
the feet ; the age, garments, or
position being rarely taken into
consideration. With the male
representations the difference in
regard to nudity and manner of
clothing {Figs. 298 and 299) was
•greater, and the interchange of
related deities facilitated, as in
the use of Hermes for Bonus
Eventus. In personifications
the character, garments, and at-
tributes were doubtless more
marked. To the most celebrated
works of this kind belong the
figures of the fourteen nations
conquered by Pompey in the
Porticus ad Nationes. These
were executed by Coponius, the
only distinguished sculptor cer-
tainly known with a Roman
name. We may, perhaps, con-
sider these as analogous to the
Germania Devicta (Thusnelda)
Fig. 298. — Vertumnus (Silvanus).
(In Berlin.)
in Florence, but probably, after the manner of representations of
Asiatic cities upon the base of Puteolani, they were more varied and
less cold than the mere allegories of abstract ideas. Generally, in
carrying out these conceptions, individuality of characterization in
the figure or the action was not attempted, a certain common cor«
rectness, grace, and superficial beauty being held to suffice.
rOKTKAlTURE.
453
In portraiture, the Roman sculpture developed far more speciality
and meaning. The early tendency of ancient Italian art towards the
individual has already been described, and it may easily be under-
stood that, in the line of portraiture, this had an important influence,
even after Hellenic art had completely established itself upon the
Tiber. In this province it best served its purpose. Still, it is evi-
dent that the vacant, external individualization peculiar to the prim-
itive works of Etruria and Rome, such as the wax masks of their
ancestors, required improvement by greater expression of life and
character, for which Lysippos, in portrait-sculpture, had so decided-
ly opened the way. By the combination of these two elements,
the portraits became the most successful works of Roman sculpture.
The Hellenic tendency to idealize pre-
vailed in those statues which presented
the person heroically — as Achilles, for
instance — or were rendered divine by
attributes of Zeus, or Apollo, Juno,
Ceres, Venus, and others. The figure
was then usually nude, and was only
so far imitated from life as to give to
the head the true features, with a cer-
tain transfiguration. This treatment,
exemplified in many of the statues of
Antinous, had prevailed in Hellenic
art since the time of Lysippos, the
great master of portrait-sculpture. The native Italian tendency,
on the contrary, had sway in the so-called "iconic" statues; in
those, namely, in which the personal and human character was car-
ried out. In these the clothing was given with more detail and
significance ; as, for example, in the figures of the emperors wearing
the toga {statucB togatce), or the presidents of the senate. Others are
represented as high-priests, with the drapery drawn over the back
of the head; others {statues thoracatce) as field-officers, in coats of
mail, as, among many examples, in the celebrated Augustus of the
Vatican, found, in 1863, before the Porta del Popolo. {Fig. 300.) In
these the action generally chosen seems to have been that of ad-
dress to the senate or to the army. Equestrian statues belonged
Fig. 299. — Relief of Bonus Eventus.
(British Museum.)
454
ROME.— SCULPTURE.
chiefly to the t/wracat(Z, though, they appear also in conception Hke
Achilles, nude, or clothed only with the himation. As they were
all of bronze, few remain ; so that the Marcus Aurelius upon the
Capitoline, notwithstand-
ing its hardness and other
faults, is the most cele-
brated, and has become
the standard for countless
modern statues. The fig-
ures upon chariots, on the
contrary, and especially
those which ornamented
the triumphal arches,
were, for the most part,
togatce. The mention of
triumphal groups with six
pairs of horses, or of ele-
phants, shows to what ex-
treme of tastelessness Ro-
man art had become de-
based in the time of the
emperors. The better
works of this class are
most suitably represented
by the four bronze horses,
falsely ascribed to Lysip-
pos, which were brought
by the Venetians from
Constantinople in 1204,
and which have been
placed over the portal of
St. Mark's Church in Ven-
ice. Iconic female stat-
ues are distinguished by
careful imitation of garments falling in rich folds, and, even in the
early times, by exaggerated head-dresses, which gave them the ap-
pearance of fashion-plates. Noble ladies, sitting comfortably, and
Fig. 300. — Statue of Augustus. (In the Vatican.)
STATUES. 455
with dignity, in arm-chairs, arc among the most successful of Roman
works. Yet there is in all these portrait-statues, especially in the
usual 6ratorical gestures, a typical character as little to be mistaken
as is the softening influence of Hellenic idealism in most of the
heads. Without injuring the individuality, it increases the beauty
Fig. 301. — Equestrian Statue of Nonius Balbus, Jun. (Sculptor unknown.)
and heroic elevation of the entire figure. Not unfrequently, how-
ever, instead of inner significance, we find merely richness of drapery
and detailed accessories, particularly in reliefs upon coats of mail, etc.
The same combination of native Italian tendency with Hellenic
enlightenment, found in portrait -sculpture, is shown in the reliefs
456 ROiME.— SCULPTURE.
which thereby became specifically Roman. These appear to have
been very numerous, as it pleased this people to leave few vacant
surfaces upon their monuments, which were not only ornamented,
but literally covered with reliefs and inscriptions. Thus sculpture
became as much a written chronicle as a decoration. In limited
spaces, such as pedestals and capitals, and the key-stones of arches,
it became merely ornamental ; the subjects of the ornamentation, in
keeping with the style, being chiefly allegorical, such as Victories bear-
ing trophies, the Seasons, etc. Upon large surfaces sculpture com-
pletely took the nature of chronicles and inscriptions, and thus were
developed the truly Roman historical reliefs in connection with in-
scriptions.
These, in accordance with the Italian view of art in general,
rested almost entirely upon a realistic foundation. Mythology dis-
appeared, and allegory alone still exercised a small influence ; as, for
example, the Genius of Immortality bearing upward a deified em-
peror, Roma with the triumphal quadriga. Victory upon a shield
perpetuating the memory of conquest ; while personifications of cities
or rivers, and even of swamps, indicated the locality of the action, or
Jupiter Pluvius signified the coming of the saving rain. After the
Antonines, the events are related with simple truth to nature, as
a mere chronicle, without any idealization at all. The subjects of
Roman reliefs are distinguished from the Grecian only by the
Greeks having substituted, whenever possible, mythological for hu-
man or common events ; and there was no less difference in the ar-
tistic treatment. The Greek never lost sight of that conventional
law in sculptural reliefs by which the figures are conceived in a situ-
ation to give the most pleasing outline. The whole procession of
persons, one behind the other, excluding all effect of foreshortening
and perspective, was displayed upon a surface, and developed, so far
as the figure would permit, in harmonious unity, and, whether repre-
sented sitting on horseback, or on foo.t, occupying the same space in
regard to height and in regard to the depth of relief. It resulted
that the design was arranged in reference to two planes only — the
original surface of the stone, which disappeared with the work (ex-
cept in the highest points), and the common background. Roman
sculpture, on the other hand, freed itself from all such laws of style.
ALLEGORY. 457
The profile position no longer predominated, and the figures in the
mutilated remnants, where the details are lost, appear like formless
masses, which, in the Hellenic system, would have been impossible.
The outline loses its significance, and the figures are arranged with
such disregard of the surface upon which they are placed that they
rather resemble portions of statues. The projection from the back-
ground also varies, many parts, particularly the head and arms,
standing entirely disengaged. In the arrangement of several figures,
one behind another, against a landscape or architectural background,
an attempt was made to distinguish the forms in front from those
behind by higher or lower relief, with something of the effect of per-
spective. {Fig. 302.) From this ensued a confusion of lines and a
want of clearness, atmospheric effect not assisting in sculpture, as in
painting, to separate the farther object from the nearer, and thus to
define the distance. This crowding was still more objectionable
when, besides being grouped one behind another, the figures were
placed one over another, representing the scene as if from a bird's-
eye view.
It thus happened that Roman sculpture in relief was character-
ized rather by a realistic and picturesque tendency than by well-
conventionalized composition. But the forms remained Hellenic,
at least so far as the circumstances represented in Grecian examples
would permit. When, however, a river was to be represented, for
which the Greeks always placed a local deity as symbol, or when the
besieging of towns, castles, or bridges was given, the Romans ap-
proached more nearly to the conception of Oriental nations. As
the subject was of more importance than the composition, the deed
than the artistic illustration, a certain common and formal correct-
ness sufficed — an artistic handwriting, so to speak, which might be
easily read. Their work might be termed an unconscious translation
from the Assyrian or Egyptian into the Roman language.
It does not appear that the sculpture of historical reliefs was de-
veloped much before the time of the Empire ; at least, not more of
these remain than of the Roman portrait - statues that can be im-
puted to a more remote period. Historic sculpture was best ex-
hibited in triumphal monuments. To this class belong the two
world-renowned columns of Trajan and of Marcus Aurelius. With
ROME.— SCULPTURE.
458
more than five thousand figures and over two hundred scenes, they
are among the most magnificent sculptural representations of all
be
times. Upon these ascending spiral reliefs are unrolled the chronicles
of the Dacian and Marcomannic wars. The main events are recog-
nizable throughout, and the barbaric tribes may be distinguished by
HISTORICAL RELIEFS. ^^g
their costumes, arms, and physiognomy; so that if written history
were wanting, the reliefs upon Trajan's Column would be an impor-
tant source of information in regard to the biography of this em-
peror and Roman imperial history. Vigorous in treatment and
skilful in drawing as it must be admitted that they are, still their
artistic value, from want of style in composition, is very small.
Fig. 303. — Relief of Trajan, from the Arch of Constantine in Rome.
The oblong tablets of relief upon the triumphal arches occupy a
somewhat more favorable position, because the frame led to a more
formal, and the duplication to a more harmonious, composition.
The reliefs upon the Arch of Titus, particularly those on the sides
of the two large passages, notwithstanding the ignorance which they
betray, are of far higher importance in art ; and the same may be
460
ROME.— SCULPTURE.
said of the reliefs upon the monuments of Hadrian and Trajan.
{Fig. 303.) How far the graces of form and order, inherited from
the Greeks and hitherto prevalent, had disappeared even in the time
of the Antonines, and given place to a formal and vacant hardness,
is shown by the relief upon the pedestal of the lost statue of An-
toninus Pius. {Fig- 304.) This represents the apotheosis of An-
toninus and Faustina, who appear seated upon the back of a stiff,
Fig. 304. — Relief upon the Pedestal of the Column of Antoninus Pius.
floating Genius of Immortality, in the weakest of compositions,
while cold and all-controlling Allegory places by the side of Roma
a personification of the Campus Martins, recognizable by the attri-
bute of the obelisk which was erected there by Augustus.
Roman sculpture reached its highest point under Hadrian. This
emperor filled all spaces with sculpture, as Trajan covered them with
inscriptions commemorating his restorations, acquiring thus, in later
times, the nickname of the " Lichen." Even the golden house of
PORTRAITURE. 46 1
Nero was, in this respect, surpassed by the Villa of Hadrian at
Tibur, where it pleased him to reproduce all the wonderful works of
architecture and of sculpture which he had noticed in his extended
travels through the Roman world. After the death of Hadrian,
however, who, as an enthusiastic admirer of Greek art, naturally
directed the artistic industry of his time to the best possible repro-
ductions of the highest products of Hellenic art, the Romans began
to follow the works of the later ages. The lower they placed their
aim, and the farther they were removed from the original source of
inspiration the more rapid was their decline.
Ideal art degenerated into increasing formalism, carelessness,
weakness of sentiment, and shallowness, though still retaining much
that was good, because the originals, though copied and recopied,
still dated back to the best periods. Portraiture naturally retained
more independence ; but this also would have been stifled by the
enormous requirements, even if the declining art had possessed fresh
vigor. To understand this excessive demand, it is only necessary to
bear in mind the rapid succession of emperors after Antoninus, with
the consequent changing of imperial statues in all the cities of the
Roman empire. With the Antonines expired the ideal element in
sculptural portraits ; and prosaic realism, as it had existed in ancient
Italian art, obtained exclusive mastery. Anxious struggles after ex-
ternal likeness in small and inartistic details, like wrinkles, and ab-
normities such as the curly and frizzled hair of the Antonines, and
of L. Verus, with locks like porous pumice-stone, took the place of
the lost ideal — remarkable examples, which failed to preserve the
lifelike expression. Within a century art had altogether lost the
capacity for characterization, even in portraiture; and the numerous
busts of the later empire can hardly be distinguished one from
another. They are mostly portraits of emperors, empresses, and
princes, whose heads are stiffened and hardened into a common
type. Previously, with a change of the sovereign, they had altered
the heads of the Achilleic and iconic imperial statues ; but it now
sufficed merely to vary the inscription, and, at most, the accessories.
But it was not difficult to change the face also, since it pleased them,
in making busts, to combine marbles of different hues, so as to real-
ize the local colors. Thus the mask was of simple white, the hair
462 ROME.— SCULPTURE.
of dark marble, the garments of red, green, and gray marble or gran-
ite, and even the band for the forehead and the clasp for the toga
were of a suitable hue. In the heads of ladies this disagreeable
polychromy had the advantage that, upon the portrait of the same
sovereign, not only the mask, but the wig, could be altered, which,
according to the fashion of the day, might be blond, red, or dark,
with any desired mode of dressing the hair.
Carving in relief, after the Antonines, suffered a similar decline.
The sculptures upon the Column of Marcus Aurelius, in comparison
with those of Trajan's Column, notwithstanding their unmistakable
dependence upon the older example, show the want of energy, of
appreciation of form, of variety, and of technical ability which char- "
acterizes the loss of creative power, and the mere reproduction of
models. The reliefs of the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, once upon the
Corso at Rome, now in the palace of the Capitol, betray the same
vacuity of expression and hardness of form, in comparison with the
illustrations from the life of Trajan upon the Arch of Constantine ;
even when compared with the sculptures upon the pedestal of the
Column of Antoninus Pius, a decline is visible from the time of the
older to the younger Antoninus. But even these are superior to
the reliefs upon the Arch of Septimius Severus, erected in 201 B.C.,
which, in the main parts, have a fourfold division, in order to gain
space for the utmost possible number of representations. From
the nature of the design, the spiral reliefs upon the columns of Tra-
jan and of Marcus Aurelius exhibited such parallel rows, one above
another ; but here the same method is employed upon a plane sur-
face, although it crowds the subject to such an extent that the fig-
ures become insignificant and, at a little distance, indistinct. In
these four lines are given scenes of war, not, apparently, so much to
celebrate combat and victory in general as to register especial facts,
battles fought with various weapons, sieges, capitulations, and the
transport of booty. Though many of the details were vigorous, the
forms in general tolerably correct, and thq technical ability consider-
able, yet the composition appears barbaric, the grouping awkward,
and the filling of the given space, the composition, and the artistic
construction altogether unfortunate.
After Septimius Severus, statuesque art degenerated into mere
THE DECLINE. 463
stone-cutting ; the portraits are unrecognizable, the reliefs without
expression or effect, except, as in Egyptian art, from the number of
figures and accessories. In religious sculptures, finally reduced to
bungling artisan work, the last spark of Hellenic tradition died out
in continued weak copies. In historical reliefs the impulse to create
perished with the artistic ability. When large monumental con-
structions were required, the material was frequently drawn from
the works of former emperors ; and even in triumphal memorials,
like the Arch of Constantine, there was
no hesitation in inserting reliefs unmis-
takably celebrating the deeds of Trajan,
or installing statues connected with his
conquests upon the Danube, the builders
contenting themselves with filling out what
was lacking, as in the case of the Victories
upon the pedestals of the columns {Fig.
305), and the narrow frieze of reliefs over
the side passages. The figures err greatly
in proportions : dumpy, formless, and awk-
ward, appearing incapable of motion, they
already exemplify that perfect rigidity
which, in the following centuries, was to
hold sculpture in bondage. Even where
the nature of the representations permit-
ted the influence of the old models, the
decline of technical ability is striking, as ^. ,^. , , . .
■' ° Fig. 305. — Victory, from the Arch
may be seen by comparing these figures of Constantine.
with the Victories upon the pedestals of
the Arch of Septimius Severus, which, though superficial, are not
without a certain style. The folds, for example, look like the holes
and lines of the wood -worm; they are simple stripes cut into the
garment, without movement or purpose, hard, rough, and hasty, as
is the entire treatment.
If in Roman art the province of architecture is the most impor-
tant, and that of sculpture the most richly represented, that of paint-
ing is the most charming. In this, as in sculpture, the decorative
464 ROME.— PAINTING.
character predominated. Traces of that monumental art which
creates for itself, and for its own sake, are found only in works of
the earlier time, and even then in few and isolated instances.
Even more than sculpture, painting appears dependent and imitative,
vacillating in the first five centuries between the influence of ancient
Italy and of Greece ; later, in close subjection to the latter, as devel-
oped in the Hellenistic period after Alexander.
The earliest notice of monumental painting in Rome relates to
the decoration of the temples of Ceres, Liber, and Libera by the
Greek artists of Lower Italy, Gorgasos and Damophilos, in 493 B.C.,
of which mention has already been made. Although they made use
of four colors, their method was that of the time before Polygnotos,
and their work was little distinguished from the older painting upon
vases, such as those of Ergotimos and Clitias in Florence, the sur-
faces within the outlines being treated in color, without gradation
of light or shade. It may therefore be concluded that, in the two
chief temples of the last period of the kings, colored ornament,
whether upon the plaster itself, or upon a revetment of terra-cotta
slabs, as in the tomb at Caere {Fig. 262), was as little wanting as in
the temples and tombs of Etruria. It may be judged that in Rome
this was specifically Etruscan, since Pliny refers to the ornamenta-
tion of the Temple of Ceres only because in this Grecian artists first
appear to have taken part, while before " everything in the Roman
temple had been Etruscan." Much as we may be inclined to regard
the primitive art of Etruria as dependent upon that of Greece, the
difference must have been considerable ; and the Grecian wall-paint-
ings in the Temple of Ceres must have been held in great estimation,
since, according to Pliny, they were protected when the temple was
restored, being removed from the walls with great care, framed upon
tablets, and replaced.
It can scarcely be doubted that these wall-paintings opened the
way to Hellenic influence, although a guild of Etruscan artists for a
long time worked by the side of the Greeks in Rome, for purposes
of ordinary decoration. If, according to Pliny, " art came early to
be honored in Rome," and even patricians did not hesitate to devote
themselves to it, it would seem that 'this must have been brought
about through Grecian methods. Fabius Pictor, whose wall-paint-
PANEL-PICTURES. 465
ings, according to Dionysios of Halicarnassos, were carefully drawn,
of a fresh, agreeable color, and composed in a grand historical style,
acquired his sobriquet and his great fame by his paintings in the
Temple of Salus, executed in the year 304 B.C. His rank in regard
to drawing may be exemplified by the wonderful sgraffiti of the
Cista of Novius Plautius in Rome, although the latter, having flour-
ished half a century later, may take a somewhat higher rank. The
paintings of the tragic poet Pacuvius, from 220 to 130 B.C., were
still more advanced. Among these a picture, probably upon a
panel, in the Temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium, was very
celebrated ; and it may be assumed that, in order to obtain renown,
the artist adopted with success the technical refinements of the
period of the Diadochi. The aged artist, before his death, must
have witnessed the extensive robberies which brought to the me-
tropolis, besides the sculptural Works, the most distinguished pict-
ures of Greece, it having happened in his prime that the Athenian
painter and philosopher Metrodoros was called to Rome by M.m\\-
ius Paulus — as a philosopher to educate his children, and as an artist
to illustrate his triumphs. Metrodoros, who, in his artistic and
scholarly versatility, had written a book upon architecture, gave
assistance even in the construction of triumphal arches. Still, .^mil-
ius Paulus may well have wished to glorify his deeds by historical
paintings, as had been customary with the conquerors for a century.
In 293 B.C., M. Valerius Maximus Messala had placed a battle-scene
in the Curia Hostilia, illustrating his victory over the Carthaginians
and Hiero of Syracuse — an example which was followed by L. Scipio,
in 190 B.C., with a representation of his success at Magnesia over
Antiochus of Syria. These, however, must be regarded less as works
of art than as realistic delineations of the events, analogous to the
Roman historical reliefs in the time of the Empire ; at least, great
importance was given to details in the picture representing the Con-
quest of Carthage which L. Hostilius Mancinus, in 146 B.C., exhib-
ited upon the Forum and explained to the people, and which es-
pecially showed the Roman preparations for a siege. Such works,
the background of which was probably treated more or less as a
landscape, like the topographical representations of earlier antiquity,
must have been similar in conception and composition to the As-
30
466
ROME.— PAINTING.
Syrian reliefs that represent battles and sieges, and to the pictures
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of the Christian era.
In the notices of these panel-paintings there are no names of
artists to assist in their classification ;
but it may be concluded that Metro-
doros was encouraged in this work, and
Serapion, in lOO B.C., really distin-
guished himself in such historical
scenes. The artists of importance in
the last century of the republic, like
Sopolis, Dionysios, and their pupil An-
'■ tiochus Gabinius, found themselves
; forced into portraiture ; the specialty
j of laia, or Laia, of Kyzicos was the
; painting of women upon ivory, and
; Arellius portrayed his mistresses as
; goddesses. But in the beginning of
: the empire, tablet-painting seems to
i have been entirely abandoned, being
I supplanted by a new decorative ten-
i dency which again, in quite an unmon-
^ umental manner, led back to mural
: painting.
It is clear from the term " Pina-
o cotheca," applied to certain halls in
f the city palaces, that the eagerness
for collecting among the Roman em-
perors and nobles extended as well to
the paintings of Greece as to the stat-
ues. In sculpture copies were substi-
tuted when originals were wanting,
but this seems to have been rarely the
case with panel - paintings. As the
statues were employed for decoration,
originality in these was not so important ; but with paintings pre-
served in cabinets, genuineness was more imperative. Painting
upon panels, however, became less frequent when pictures came to
WALL-PAINTING. • ^g^
be imitated upon the wall itself and brought into harmony with the
remainder of the mural ornamentation, as, according to Hclbig,
was customary, particularly in Alexandria, even in the time of the
Diadochi. This is shown, not only by the new discoveries among
the buildings of Tiberius upon the Palatine, but also in the frescos
of those subterranean baths of Titus which may be regarded as part
of the ruins of the Golden House of Nero. {Fig.yyS.) Ornaments,
garlands, and architectural de-
signs divide the walls into
many spaces, within which
groups or single figures {Fig.
307), often dancing or float-
ing, are placed directly against
a ground of intense color,
sometimes black — the paint-
ings of Campania showing un-
surpassed lightness and charm
in the lines, {Fig. 308.)
Sometimes they are orna-
mented with imitations of
framed panel-pictures, most-
ly containing mythological
groups, and scenes in small
genre. To these was gener-
ally given a background of
landscape, so that the figures
represented were little more
than picturesque accessories ;
and this custom seems to have
led, perhaps even in the Hel-
lenistic period, to true landscape - painting. {Fig. 309.) Accord-
ing to Pliny, Ludius, or Studius, introduced this style in the time of
Augustus, of which, besides those of Campania, the frieze decorations
of the newly discovered house of Tiberius upon the Palatine give
the best representations, and form an illustrated commentary upon
the descriptions of the works of Ludius. These are characterized
as showing " villas and halls, artificial gardens, hedges, woods, hills.
Fig. 307. — Ceres. Pompeian Wall-painting.
468 ' ROME.— PAINTING.
water-basins, tombs, rivers, shores, in as great a variety as could be
desired ;" besides " figures sitting at ease, mariners, and those who,
(riding upon donkeys or in wagons, look after their farms; fishermen,
snarers of birds, hunters, and vine-dressers ; also swampy pas.sages
before beautiful villas, and women borne by men who stagger under
the burden, and other witty things of this nature ; finally, views of
seaports, everything charming and suitable ;" that is to say, of a cer-
tain facility and shallowness. The aim was to give an open and
cheerful effect, and this could be attained without correct and nat-
uralistic method or unity of idea ; on the contrary a fantastic un-
• Kig. 308. — Wall-painting from Herculaneum.
reality, and even impossibility, was its chief charm, like the painting
upon Japanese lacquered wares.
The case was similar with architectural ornamentation, another
branch of Roman decorative painting, generally known under the
name of the Pompeian style. {Fig. 310.) Even in the time of
Augustus, Vitruvius complains of a blind seeking after scenic effect,
which, in disdain of all constructive laws, and in a manner quite im-
possible, piled heavy gables and upper stories upon reed-like col-
umns of no supporting power. His blame, however, seems unjus-
tifiable. That architectural painting which aims at illusion should
be condemned as worthless ; but this is not the case with that which,
POMPEII. 469
after the analogy of conventional landscape-painting, renounces all
-^cmblancc of reality and assiduously avoids all illusion. Spaces may
be apparently extended by an architectural painting which, not de-
Fig. 309. — Landscape-painring from Pompeii.
ceptively, but poetically, opens the narrow walls of small rooms, and
carries the eye dreamily through a wide perspective. Hence the
fresh and by no means realistic colors, which, tapestry-like, are not
intended to deceive, but to ornament and please. They bear wit-
470
ROME.— PAINTING.
ness to the deep feeling for polychromy, inherited from Hellenic, or
at least Hellenistic, predecessors, which was characteristic of the Ro-
mans even after their decline. What delight must there have been
in a work so extended, and yet free from all slavish copying ! Not
only AmuHus, who, by compulsion, painted the Golden House of
Nero, and was celebrated by Pliny for his valuable and finely colored
pictures, but countless other artists were everywhere busily em-
Fig. 310.— v^all-painting of Decorative Architecture, Pompeii,
ployed in covering the walls with paintings and ornaments— a work
now intrusted to common decorators. In the time of Nero the
activity in ornamental painting, judged by the discoveries among
the ruined cities of Campania, must have been greater than has
ever been known at any other period.
In the consideration of Hellenic painting, mention has been
made of the origin of floor-decorations in mosaic by Sosos at the
MUNAICS, Ay I
royal court of Pergamon. By this is only meant mosaic painting
with illusory effects, as practised by him ; imitations of tapestry
patterns and merely ornamental mosaic-work must have been older.
His drinking-doves in the " unswept hall" appear to have continued
a favorite subject, judging from three well-known imitations; one
of which, found upon the Aventine, now in the Museum of the
Lateran, bears the inscription of the artist Heraclitos. Though the
names of other w^orkers in mosaic are known, they as little deserve
mention here as do the numerous vase-painters, their mosaic being
almost wholly a technical process ; its very laboriousness rendered
a truly artistic activity almost impossible. Unfortunately, no name
is attached to the most important work of this kind, over four
meters long and two wide, apparently representing an Alexandrian
battle-scene. This is also the best-preserved historical painting of
antiquity, but it is related rather to the Grecian types than to rhe
Roman battle-pieces above mentioned. The greater part of the
well-known mosaics, being from Herculaneum and Pompeii, may be
referred to the time of Nero ; but those of Praeneste with the Egyp-
tianized conventional landscapes may date back to the time of
Sulla, while the extensive example with figures of athletes from the
Baths of Caracalla — now in the Lateran — belongs to the time of
that emperor. Many others, however, especially those discovered in
the distant provinces, are of later times. Vigorous as are some of
the representations of landscapes and of animals among them, it iS
not to be denied that, as Semper says, mosaic oversteps its boundary
in going beyond the patterns of woven tapestry, and trying to make
us forget that it is outstretched like a level floor upon which we
would walk without hindrance.
" It would be difficult, connectedly, to pursue the history of an-
cient painting later than the eruption of Vesuvius, which, in the
year 79 A.D., by a wonderful fortune, preserved for the later world
the artistic treasures of three cities of Campania — Herculaneum,
Pompeii, and Stabiae — and, at the same time, cost the life of Pliny,
whom we have to thank for the greatest completeness of written
description." Thus Brunn rightly concludes his " History of the
Grecian Painters," for the works of succeeding generations, even
when names of artists are attached, do not deserve to be called art.
472 ROME.— PAINTING.
being nothing more than hasty and crude decorations ; such, for
example, are the servants* rooms in the Vigna Nussiner, upon the
southern slope of the Palatine, which, in recent times, have acquired
some celebrity by the careless scratches of the slaves found upon
their walls. The most important illustrations that have been pre-
served of the shallowness and roughness of this lingering art are in
the tombs ; and with these in painting, with the basilica in architect-
ure, and the sarcophagi in sculpture, the boundaries of the antique
and of the Christian era flow into each other, and are scarcely distin-
guishable. When Christianity arose from the sepulchre, it allied it-
self in monumental art to that stage of debasement which painting
had reached in the heathen and the Christian catacombs of the
fourth century ; indeed, art continued still to decline through ages,
until the Northern races and the life of the common people breathed
into it the spirit of a new life.
GLOSSARY.
It has been the translator's endeavor to avoid technical terms wherevet
this was possible without detracting from exactness of expression. Of those
which it has proved necessary to introduce into the present History, it is in-
tended in this glossary to define neither words in common usage, like basili-
ca, battlement, column, etc., nor those designations of infrequent occurrence
which should be interpreted whenever employed, like the Greek and Latin
names of the many divisions of the ancient theatre, bath, and gymnasion. A
few of the former — as, for instance, the too often interchanged channel, Jiute,
and rAr</— have, however, been given for the sake of discrimination. In these
cases, and in the case of some other words which are often employed in
senses too widely extended to allow of their being used without qualifica-
tion in careful architectural descriptions, it has been attempted lo make some
advance towards precision of usage.
Ab'acns (Gr. al^l^ -okoc, Lat aiax and
aSa4iij, a slab. Possibly in its architectural
signification from /Sairrdsw, to lift up, to bear).
The plinth which forms the upper part of the
capital — supporting the entablature by bear-
ing the lower surface of the epistyle beam.
The abacus is the crowning member of the
capital, as the capital is of the column. In
the Doric style it is thick and of square plan,
in the Corinthian order thin and curved upon
the sides.
Acrote'rion, pi. acroteria (Gr. from ojcpoc,
outermost). The ornaments, such as statues
or anthemion shields, placed upon the angles
of the gable — whether of the outer corners or
of the apex. The term is also applied to the
pedestals of these ornaments.
Ag'onal, adj. (from Gr. dywv, festive gath-
ering, especially an assembly met to see games;
also the place of contest itself). Pertaining
to a festive destination. The word ag07ies is
used for the arena itself by Grote. (For the
hypothetical distinction between agonal tem-
ples and those consecrated alone to the wor-
ship of a deity, introduced by Boetticher, see
p. 214.)
Ag'ora (Gr. an assemblage of the people ;
hence, the place where such meetings were
commonly held). A public square or market-
place. Synonymous with the more familiar
Latin _^rww,
Aiiiphipro8ty'lo8) adj. amphip'rostyle
(from Gr. «/i0i, on both sides; 7rpr),in front
of; and oTvXof, column). A term applied to
a temple having a columned portico at the
rear (epinaos), as well as at the front (pro-
naos), but without lateral columns.
An'nalet (Lat annulus, or, according to the
best manuscripts, a/»«/«j, ring, terminated by
Ital. diminutive). A small fillet encircling
the base of the Doric echinos. The number
of annulets is commonly three.
An'ta^ pi. antae (Lat.). Terminations simi-
lar to pilasters upon the ends of the lateral
walls of the cella, in pronaos and epinaos.
Though a corresponding member, the anta is
in form but little allied to the column, because
its individual function is so different.
An'teflx (from Lat. atite, before, zndjixus,
fixed). An upright ornament like a small
shield, placed above the corona when the
gutter is omitted, to hide the end of the joint-
ing tile ridge.
Anthe'mion (Gr. patterned with flowers,
from av9kM, to blossom). The so-called pal-
metto or honeysuckle ornament, employed on
474
GLOSSARY.
acroteria and antefixes, and also as a contin-
uous decoration on bands, gutters, etc., and
the necking of some Ionic capitals.
In an'tis (Lat.). The simplest variety of
temple plan, so called by Vitruvius because
the pronaos or portico is formed by the pro-
jection of the side walls, terminated by antae,
between which stand columns.
Apoph'yge (Gr. escape ; from aitd, from,
and (pEvyat, to flee. In its technical employ-
ment, of the same significance as the Fr. con^e
and Ger. AbUmf). The hollow, or scotia, be-
neath the Doric echinos, the juncture between
shaft and capital, occurring in archaic exam-
ples of the style, and relinquished with its ad-
vance.
Ar'ris (Lat. arista, beard of an ear of grain,
bone of a fish. Old Fr. areste). The sharp
edge formed by two surfaces meeting at an
exterior angle. Particularly the ridge be-
tween the hollows of Doric channellings.
As'tragal (Gr. aarpdyaXaQ, knuckle-bone,
one of the vertebrae of the neck, the bone of
the ankle-joint). A roundlet moulding carved
into the form of beads ; employed on the
Ionic capital, and to separate the projecting
faces of the epistyle and coffering beams.
At'laSjpl. Atlan'tes (Gr.the fabled upholder
of the heavens). Figures of male human be-
ings, generally of colossal size, carved either
in the full or half round, and employed in the
place of columns or pilasters to support an
entablature.
A'trium (Lat; from Gr. ai'0|Oia, open sky?).
The chief space of the Roman dwelling-house ;
an inner court usually surrounded by col-
umns.
At'tica (from Gr. arriKOQ, pertaining to
Attica). The upright portion of a building
above the main cornice.
Bar'biton (Gr.). An ancient Greek musi-
cal instrument of many strings, resembling a
lyre.
Caryat'id, pi. caryat'ides (Gr. pi. priestesses
of Artemis at Caryae in Laconia,the connec-
tion of which with the architectural support
has not as yet been satisfactorily explained).
Figures of female human beings employed in
the place of columns to support an entabla-
ture.
Celia (Lat. ; from cdare, to hide). All that
portion of the temple structure within the
walls. The term cella is comprehensive, in-
cluding pronaos, naos, and, if such there be,
opisthodomos and epinaos.
Chaill'fer (Fr. chamfrein, Old Engl, chan-
fer). A slope or small splay formed by cut-
ting off the edges of an angle.
C'han'uel (a modification of canal, from
Lat. canna, reed). A curved furrow, immedi-
ately adjoining its repetition, and separated
from it only by an arris, as in the Doric column.
Chorag'iC (Gr. ^^opayncof or yo^jyyiKix;, from
Xopoi;, chorus, and dyw, to lead). Pertaining
to, or in honor of, a choregos, /'. e. one who
superintended a musical or theatrical enter-
tainment among the Greeks, and provided a
chorus at his own expense.
Chryselephan'tine (Gr. xP^^^^'^^vrivoq,
from xpvabq, gold, and tke^ag, ivory). A kind
of sculpture in gold and ivory overlaying a
wooden kernel — the drapery and ornaments
being of the former, the exposed flesh of the
latter, material.
Clere'-story (Fr. dair-etage, claire-voie,
from dair, light). That portion of a central
aisle which is so raised above the surround-
ing parts of the building as to permit the
illumination of the interior through windows
in its side walls.
Coilaiiaglyph'ic (from Gr. xrotXoc, hollow,
and yXvfri, carving). That species of carving
in relief in which no part of the figure repre-
sented projects beyond the surrounding plane,
the relief being effected by deeply incising
the outlines.
Cor'nice (Gr. Kopbtvig, Lat. coronis, ter-
minating curved line ; flourish with the pen
at the end of a book). The uppermost di-
vision of the entablature — the representative
of the roof— consisting of projecting mouldings
and blocks, usually divisible into bed-mould-
ing, corona, and gutter. Hence, in general
usage, any moulded projection which crowns
and terminates the part upon which it is em-
ployed.
Coro'na (Lat. crown). The chief member
of the cornice, directly beneath the gutter, by
its great projection and rectilinear faces form-
ing the drip.
Crepido'ma (Gr. from Kptjnig -iSog, boot).
The entir? foundation of the temple, includ-
ing the stereobate, the stylobate, and the re-
maining steps.
Cy'ma (Gr. wave). A moulding composed
of two distinct curves. The Doric cyma is
commonly called the beak-moulding, the Les-
bian cyma the cyma reversa.
GLOSSARY.
475
1)60 'til (I>at. denticulus, from dens^ tifntis,
tooth). Small rectangular blocks in the bed-
moulding ol a cornice, originally representing
the ends of the slats which formed the ceiling.
Diad'ochi (Gr. successors, from lialixofiai,
to receive from another), a term applied to the
successors of Alexander.
IMiiiina'Uon. In architectural usage, the
continued contraction of the diameter of the
shaft as it ascends.
IHp't«ro8, adj. dip'teral (from Gr. ^I'c. dou-
ble, and wrtpoy, wing). That variety of a tem-
ple plan which h.is two ranges of columns
entirely surrounding the cella.
Uro'mos (Gr. course). A road ; particu-
larly applied to the entrance-passages to sub-
terranean treasure-houses.
Erhl'nM, pl. echi'ni (Gr. hedgehog, so call-
ed from the resemblance of the member to
the shell of the sea-urchin). The curved and
projecting moulding which supports the aba-
cus in the Doric capital.
£ir?-and-dart moulding:* Term applied
to the well-known carving of the roundel
common in the Ionic style.
ElupaiM'tic(Gr. ifnraurriKi); from iv, in, and
waiut, to Stamp). Stamped and embossed
work of metal ; also sheets of metal applied
or inlaid.
Entabiatnre (Lai. intabulamentum ; from
tabula, board, table). In the Greek styles the
whole of the structure above the columns, ex-
cepting the gable. The entablature consists
of three members : the epistyle, or architrave,
joining the columns and taking the place of
the wall ; the frieze, standing before, and in
the Doric style imitating, the ceiling and its
beams ; and the terminal cornice, the rep-
resentative of the ends of the roof rafters.
Ell'tasis(Gr. ; from evrcivbi.to bend a bow).
The swelling of the column towards its mid-
dle, the object of which is to counteract an
optical delusion causing the diminished shaft,
when formed with absolutely straight lines, to
appear hollowed in the centre.
Epina'OS (formed by analogy with pro-
naos ; from Gr. iiri, after, behind, and vaoQ,
naos). The open vestibule behind the
naos.
Ep'lstyle (Gr. iiriarvXiov ; from tn-i, after,
upon, and <rrvXoc, column). The lower mem-
ber of the entablature, the representative of
the wall, consisting, as the name imports, of
beams laid horizontally upon the capitals of
the columns. The epistyle is commonly
spoken of by its Roman name, architrave.
Yn&clnC:' (LAt./nscina; fromy^jrtj, bundle).
A bundle of long, thin sticks employed in
military engineering for filling ditches, rais-
ing parapets, etc.
Hl'let (Vx./iUt, thread ; from Ijit. filum).
A ribbon ; a narrow, flat band used in the
separation of one moulding from another.
Especially the ridge between the flutes of
the Ionic shaft
Flute. In architectural usage, a curved
and usually semicircular furrow, separated
from its repetition by a narrow flllet, as in
the Ionic column. So called from its similar-
ity to the musical instrument.
Frieze (lia\. /reggio, adorned ?). The sec-
ond member of the entablature. When en-
riched by carvings of men or animals in relief,
as is common in the Ionic style, and as occurs
upon the cella wall of the Doric Parthenon,
the frieze is in classic architecture called
tophoros.
Gar'goyle (J^T.gargmiilU ; horn gargouilUr,
to dabble, to paddle). A carved waterspout
projecting from the gutter.
Gjmna'sion (Gr. ; from yvuvoq, naked).
Originally an open space, but in later times
extensive courts and buildings, devoted to
mental as well ar. bodily instruction and ex-
ercises.
i
! He'lix, pi. hel'ices (Gr. anything twisted or
I spiral ; from iXitraw, to turn around). A spiral,
particularly the volutes of the Ionic capital
and the corner leaves and tendrils of the Co-
J rinthian.
' Hexasty'los, adj. hex'astyle (from Gr. IIK,
six, and (ttvXoc, column). A building, particu-
larly a temple, upon the front of which are
six columns.
Hip'podrome(Gr.i7r7ro5/9o/toc; from iVTroc,
horse, and Spofiog, way). A course prepared
for the races of horses and chariots.
Hypae'thron, adj. hypae'thral ( Lat, Aypa-
thrus ; from Gr. vtto, under, and a{Qr\p, clear
sky). Term applied to a temple supposed
by some writers on Greek architecture to
have been lighted from above, by an orifice
through roof and ceiling.
Hyper'oon (Gr.). The upper stories of a
house ; particularly the galleries above the
side-aisles in the interior of the Greek temple.
476
GLOSSARY.
Hyp'ostyle (Gr. viroffrvXov; from vvo, un-
der, and (TTvXog, column). A space, with or
without lateral enclosure, the ceiling of which
rests upon columns.
Inci'sion. In architectural usage, the deep
groove which separates the necking of the
column from the upper drum of the shaft be-
neath. At times repeated to emphasize this
separation.
Intercolnmnia'tion (from Lat. inter, be-
tween, and columna, column). The open
space between two columns, measured at the
base. The measures are often taken from
centre to centre of the columns.
LaCU'na, pl. lacuna (Lat. ; from Gr. Xqkoq,
pit, originally anything hollow). A sunken
panel in the under surface of any constructive
feature, particularly of a horizontal ceiling.
Log'^ia (Ital. ; from Lat. locus, place). A
covered space enclosed by walls, but with
one or, in exceptional instances, two sides
entirely open to the air.
Lychni'tes (Gr. \vxvirr)Q XiOoQ ; from Xvx-
vof, light). A variety of fine-grained marble
from the island of Paros, probably so called
because quarried by torchlight.
Met'ope (Gr.; from fierd, between, and omj,
opening). Originally the orifice between the
beam-ends of the Doric ceiling ; hence, in
later times, the stones which were employed
to close these openings. The nearly square
slabs between the triglyphs.
Monop'teros (from Gr. fiovog, alone, single,
and irrepov, wing). A circular structure of
outstanding columns, commonly without a
cella enclosed by walls.
Mu'tllle (Lat. nitdulus). A projection upon
the soffit of the Doric corona, which originally
marked the position of the rafter-ends be-
neath the sheathing.
Na'OS (Gr.). The innermost chamber of
the Greek temple.
Neck'ing. In architectural usage, the
space, if such be separated, between the top
of the shaft and the projecting members of the
capital. In the Doric style, for instance, the
continuation of the channellings above the in-
cision or incisions to the annulets of the echi-
nos, incl uding the hy pophyge, when this occurs.
Octosty'loS; adj. oc'tostyle (from Gr. ojcrw,
eight, and orvXoq, column). A building, par-
ticularly a temple, upon the front of which
are eight columns.
Odei'on(Gr.; from y^^, song). A hall, simi-
lar to a modern theatre, devoted to the pro-
duction of the lyric works of poets and mu-
sicians.
Ogive' (Fr.). The pointed arch.
Opisthod'omos (Gr. from oTTiaOi, behind,
and Sofiog, house). An enclosed chamber in
a temple, entered from the epinaos, common-
ly employed to contain the treasure of the
temple or of the state.
Palais'tra (Gr. ; from TraXaiorZ/c, wrestler).
A building or enclosure devoted to wrestling,
boxing, and kindred gymnastic exercises ;
commonly, also, containing baths.
Perip'teros,adj.perip'teral (Gr.; fromTrepi,
around, and TTTtpov, wing). A temple entire-
ly surrounded by columns.
Per'istylCj noun and adj. (from Gr. inpi,
around, and trnXog, column). A term applied
to a secular building, or a court, which is en-
tirely or for the greater part surrounded by
a colonnade.
Pise (Fr. ; irompiser, to build with stamped
clay). A species of tenacious clayey earth,
employed for walls and pavement by being
rammed down.
Plintll (Lat. plinthus, from Gr. itXIivQoq,
tile). Any rectangular and projecting mem-
ber of considerable size. A narrow and long
plinth is a fillet.
Po'ros (Gr.). A light, coarse tufa-limestone
almost exclusively employed during the earli-
est ages of Greek architecture.
Prona'OS (Gr. ; from trpo, before, and vaoq).
The open vestibule before the naos.
Propylae'on, pl.propylae'a(Gr. ; from irpo,
before, and tti^Xj;, gate). The portal structure
before the entrance to a Greek temenos.
Prosty'los, adj. pro'style (from Gr. izpo, be-
fore, and (STvXog, column). That variety of
temple plan in which the projecting wall and
pilasters of the temple in antis have been
transformed to corner columns, thus altering
the pronaos from a loggia to an open portico.
Pseudodip'teros (pseudo from Gr. xpevSrii;,
false ; dipteros, see above). A temple planned
upon the dipteral arrangement, in which the
inner rank of columns surrounding the cella
is wandng.
Pseudoperip'teros (pseudo from Gr. xf/w-
Si}Q, false ; peripteros, see above). A temple
GLOSSARY,
477
in which the columns surrounding the cella
are engaged upon a continuous enclosure
wall, as HI the great temple of Acragas (Agri-
gentum).
Ptoro'ma (Gr. ; from wrtpov, wing). The
passage surrounding the cella of a peripteral
temple.
l*jion(Gr. ; from iri'-Xi;, gate). The towers
of truncated pyramidal form on either side of
the gateways of Egyptian temples.
Qairk. In architectural usage, a moulding
formed by a sharp turn in a continuous line.
Iteed. In architectural tisage, a small
convex moulding applied to a regular surface
and frequently repeated. The term is com-
monly employed for the ornamentation of col-
umns by reversed channels or flutes.
Refr'nls (Lat. any straight piece of wood, a
ruler). The short band, corresponding to the
triglyph, beneath the taenia moulding which
crowns the epistyle ; the listel. Originally de-
termined by the slat of wood which strength-
ened the wall-plate at the point of its perfora-
tion by the trunnels.
Reret'nieut) vb. to revete (Fr. revetment,
from revftir, to clothe). A facing of metal,
stone, or wood encasing a kernel — usually of
some less firm or sightly material.
Ronnd'el, dim. roundlet A moulding of
semicircular profile.
Scamil'lns (Lat little bench, foot-stool). A
slight projection, cut by means of a joggle,
upon a constructive feature in such a man-
ner as to prevent its adjacent edges from
touching and possibly chipping those of the
next block. A scamillus thus creates the in-
cision between the upper drum of the shaft
and the necking of the Doric capital,
and is also occasionally inserted between
the top of the abacus and the sofiit of the
epistyle.
Sco'tia (Gr. darkness). A hollow curved
moulding, so called from the deep line of
shadow which it casts.
Soc'Ie (Lat. socculus, dim. of souus, low
shoe, slipper). The low, plain foundation of
a pedestal or building.
Soffit {\\.2t\. sqffiita : from Lat. j«^^<fr^, to
fasten beneath). The under side of any part
of a building, particularly of lintels, epistyles,
and coronas.
Sphjreraton (Gr. ; from a^vpa, hammer,
\ and »Xai'>»'(D, to drive). Metal-work beaten to
the shape of a carved kernel by a hammer.
Spi'na (Lat. ; from Gr. amvoi:, lean, thin).
The barrier dividing the race-course longi-
tudinally into two tracks.
Nta'diou (Gr. ; from artiSiog, standing firm).
A race-course of fixed dimensions, whence a
measure of length, 600 Greek feet.
Ste'Ie (Gr.). An upright stone employed
as a monument.
Ste'reobate (Gr.<rrtpfo/3arjjc; from anpioQ,
firm, solid, and /idffjf, base). The substruct-
ure of rough masonry beneath a temple.
Sto'a (Gr.). An extended colonnade, usu-
ally adjoining a public place, and affording
protection against the heat of the sun.
Sty'Iobate (Gr. (rri)Xo/3ar»jc ; from otvXoq,
column, and ^aara^uj, to light up, support).
The uppermost step of the peripteros, which
forms a continuous base beneath the col-
Tffi'llia (Gr. ribbon). The continuous fil-
let which crowns the epistyle, representative
of the wall-plate of the original timbered Doric
construction.
Ta'lus (Lat. ankle). The slope or angle of
inclination of the sides of a wall.
Taraxip'pos (Gr. adj. frightening the
horses). An altar upon the turning-point of
the Greek race-course.
Tel'amon (Gr. bearer). In architectural
usage of the same significance as Atlas, which
see above.
Teili'eiios (Gr. ; from rifivw, to cut, to draw
a line). A piece of land marked off from com-
mon usages and dedicated to a deity. The
sacred enclosure around the temple.
Tetrasty'los, adj. tet'rastyle (from Gr.
rirpa, four, and aTvXoQ, column). A build-
ing, particularly a temple, upon the front of
which are four columns.
Thal'amos (Gr.). Term applied by Homer
to inner rooms or chambers, especially those
of women. In the usage of Xenophon u
store-room.
Tho'los (Gr.). A chamber of circular plan,
generally subterranean, approaching in inte-
rior form that of a pointed vault.
Tore (Lat. /^us, swelling, protuberance).
A large roundel moulding.
Trac'ery. A patterning of thin bars,
usually of stone, in a window or other open-
ing.
Tri'glyph (Gr. rpiyXv^og ; from rpi, three,
478
GLOSSARY.
and y\v<j>r}, carving, because of the three slats
originally chamfered). The most prominent
member of the Doric frieze, originally signifi-
cant of the ends of the ceiling beams. A
rectangular tablet slightly projecting beyond
the face of the metopes, with which it alter-
nates, and emphasized by vertical grooves
and chamfers.
Truil'nel (allied etymologically to tree-nail
and trunnion). A wooden pin or peg. Carv-
ed in stone beneath the regulas and mutules
of the Doric entablature, the trunnels mark
the position of these primitive constructive
features. In form they are commonly the
frustum of a cone.
Tym'paiion (Gr. drum). The triangular
space enclosed by the inclined mouldings of
the gable and the horizontal cornice of the
entablature beneath.
Vela'rinm (Lat). The great curtain, oi
awning, extended above the auditories
of the Roman theatre and amphitheatre
to protect the spectators from the sun and
rain.
Volute' (Lat. voluta ; from volvere, to roll).
A spiral scroll. The term is particularly em-
ployed for such features in the Ionic and
Corinthian capitals.
Xo'anon^ pl. xoana (Gr. ; from S«w, to work
in wood by scraping). A rude and primitive
image carved in wood ; particularly antique
statues of the deities.
Zoph'oros (Gr. ; from Z,mov, being, figure,
and ^tpw, to bear). A continuous frieze,
sculptured in relief with the forms of human
beings and animals.
INDEX.
(The names of places are in common print, those of artists in italics.)
Abou-Roash, 12.
Abouserc, 3, li.
AboQ-Sharein, 50-52, 54.
Ackermof, 28a
Ackercuf, 50.
Acragas, 219, 220, 222, 253.
/Egina, 222, 224, 282, 293-
296, 298, 303.
^sernia, 414.
AetioH, 384.
Agasias, 36 1, 362.
Agatkarchos, 370.
AgelaJas, 299, 304.
Agesandros, 351.
Agtaophon', 368.
Agoracritos, 3 1 6, 3 1 7.
Agrae, 257.
Aprigentuin. See Acragas.
Aizanis, 26a
Alabanda, 260.
Alatrium (Alatri), 414, 416.
Albanum (Albano), 390, 436,
437-
Alcamenes, 317-319.
Alcantara, 439.
Alexandria, 256, 261, 346,
438-
Alexaudros, 338.
Algiers, 185.
Alopeke, 322.
Alsium, 399.
Alxenor, 290.
Alyzia, 343.
Ambrakia, 281, 346.
AmphicraUs, 297.
Amphipolis, 375.
Amphissa, 279.
Amran-ibn-Ali, 57.
Amrith, 133, 135-137, 141,
149.
Amulius, 470.
Amyclae, 179, 184, 276, 277.
Amyclaios, 299.
Ancona, 439.
Ancyra, 438.
Aiidrostheiies, 318.
Angelion, 286.
Antaradus, 133.
Antenor, 297, 298.
AntigoHos, 347.
Antioch, 261, 346.
Antiochos, 363.
Antiothos Gabinius, ^f>f>.
Antiphillos, 166, 168.
Antiphilos, 384, 386.
Antium, 414.
Aosta, 439.
ApelUs, 379-382.
Aphrodisias, 240, 257, 366,
436-
Apiolae, 414.
Apollodoros, sculptor, 360 ;
painter, 370.
Apollonios, 353, 362, 363.
Aradus, 133.
Arbola, 62.
Ardea,4i4.
Archias, 262.
Archimedes, 262.
Arellius, 466.
Argos, 186, 276, 281, 282,
298, 299, 303.
Aricia, 291, 414.
Aridikes, 367.
Aristeas, 366.
Aristiaos, yj"].
Art slides, 377.
AristocUs, 287, 298, 299.
Aristogeiton, 327.
Aristolaos, 376.
Aristomedon, 299.
Aristomedos, 299.
Ariitophon, 370.
Arkesilaos, 366.
Arpinum, 414.
Arrhachion, 289.
Asclepiodoros, 380, 384.
Asoka, 132.
Aspendos, 433.
Assos, 216, 286, 288.
Assur, 62.
Athanadoros, 351.
Athenis, 280, 281, 291, 365.
Athens, 191, 221-227, 241-
245, 248, 249, 253, 260,
276, 289, 293, 298, 303,
346. 377. 378.
Aufidena, 414.
Aurunca, 414.
Babil, 58.
Babylon, 50, 53, 58, 59, 81, 82.
Bagdad, 57.
Balaneia, 133.
Baphio, 184.
Bara, 439.
Bassae, 227, 236, 241, 247,-
249.
Bathycles, 277.
Benihassan, 14-18.
Besan9on, 439.
Beyrout, 133.
Biban-el-Moluk, 22.
Bi-Sueton, 128.
Boghaz-kieni, 173.
Boidas, 344.
Bolymnos, 199.
Bors-Nimrud, 57-59.
Borsippa, 55-57-
Boulac, 41.
Boutades, 278.
Boupalos, 281, 291, 365.
Bovillae, 431.
^;jajr/>, 251,333.
Byblus, 133, 148.
Byrsa, 162.
Cadacchio, 216.
Ca-dimirra, 53.
Caere, 391, 392, 406, 409.
Cairo, 4.
Calah, 61,62.
Calamis, 293, 299, 301, 318.
Calates, 386.
Callides, 386.
Callimachos, 246, 322, 386.
Calliphon, 370.
Calliteles, 295.
48o
Callon, 286, 293, 299.
Calydon, 191.
Cattachos, 286, 298.
Caparra, 439.
Capua, 339, 359.
Carnac, 24-28.
Carnek, 133.
Carpentras, 439.
Carthage, 139, 159, 162.
Casr, 57.
Castel d' Asso, 394.
'Caunos, 383.
Cavaillon, 439.
Cervetri, 392, 394.
C^rtr^J, 344, 351.
Chartnides, 304.
Chersiphron, 238.
Chionis, 299.
Chios, 279-281.
Chiusi, 390, 401, 403, 411.
Circello, 416.
Cirta, 253.
Claros, 240.
Cleanl/ies, 367.
Clearckos, 282.
Cleomenes, 363.
Cleonae, 281, 367.
Clitias, 277, 464.
Clusium, 390, 408.
Cnidos, 239, 248, 260, 334.
Cochonie, 3.
Colophon, 240.
Colotes, 317.
Constantina, 253, 436.
Constantinople, 438.
Coponius, 452.
Cora, 414.
Corfu, 216.
Corinth, 218, 278, 289, 298,
299.
Corkyra. See Corfu.
Corneto, 392, 398.
Corsabad, 60, 66, 73, 76, 78,
79, 280.
Cos, 334.
Cossuiius, 249.
Coyundjic, 60, 61, 66, 68, 70,
74-76, 78.
Craton, 367.
Crest las, 321.
Crete, 160, 170, 266.
Critios, 297.
Ctesiphon, 58, 131.
Cures, 414.
Cussi, 438, 439.
Cyprus, 96, 139, 150, 159,
162,267,321.
Dactyla, 266.
Daidalos, 267, 268.
Damophilos, 449, 464.
Damophon, 327.
Daphnis, 238.
Darabgerd, 118.
Dashour, 3, 10, 11.
INDEX.
Deinocrates, 261, 344.
Delos, 191, 193, 229, 260, 280.
Detnetrios, 322.
Dionysios, 299, 363, 370, 466.
Diopos,6p\.
Dipoinos, 281, 282, 298.
Dium, 342.
Diyllos, 299.
Dodona, 192.
Dontas, 282.
Donycleidas, 282.
Dur-Sargina, 60.
Ecetrae, 414.
Ecpharitos, 367.
Elateia, 363.
El-Cab, 30.
El -Casr, 439.
Eleusis, 228.
Eleutherae, 299.
Elis, 222, 254, 299.
Eudoios, 297, 365.
Enhydra, 133.
Ephesos, 237, 256, 279, 361,
371.375-
Epidauros, 186, 260.
Erbil, 62.
Erech, 50.
Ergotimos, 277, 464.
Euboea, 193.
Eucheir, 401.
Eugrammos, 401.
Euniaros, 367.
Eupalamos, 267.
Euphranor, 340, 377, 378.
Eupompos, 375.
Euthycrates, 344.
Etitychides, 344.
Eyuk, 173.
Fabius Pic for, 464.
Falerii, 388, 389.
Fanuni, 442.
Fayoum, 4, 34, 35.
Ferentinum, 414.
Firuz-Abad, 1 18, 131.
Florence, 227.
Gabr-Hiram, 133.
Gineh, 141.
Girsheh, 30.
Gitiades, 299.
Gizeh, 3, 4-6, 13, 17, 42.
Glanum, 253.
Glaucos, 279, 299.
Glycon, 343, 362.
Gorgasos, 449, 464.
Goshen, 143.
Gozo, 163.
Halicarnassos, 250-252.
Haram-el-Sherif, 147.
Hegias, 297, 304.
Hegylos, 282.
Heraclea, 371.
Heraclitos, 471.
Herculaneum, 436, 471.
Hermogenes, 240.
Hierapolis, 256.
Hillah, 57.
Hit, 49.
Hovara, 12.
Huram, 148.
Hypatodoros, 327.
laia, 466.
Icmalios, 269.
Ictinos, 2.if^.
Illahoun, 12.
IllecUs, 238.
Isogonos, 347.
Istakr, 100.
Ithaca, 177, 178, 184.
Jebeil, 133, 136, 138.
Jerusalem, 139, 147-157.
Junijunia, 57.
Kalwadha, 50.
Kenchreae, 186.
Kephisodotos: the elder, 329;
the younger, 338.
Kileh-Shergat, 75.
Kivion, "^(yj.
Kisr - Sargon. 57, 60, 62-66,
73. 79, 152-
Kiutahija, 171.
Kypselos, 276.
Kyrene, 185.
Kythnos, 374.
Kyzicos, 261.
Lacedaemonia, 282.
Laconia, 187.
Laia, 466.
Laodikeia, 260.
Latium, 416.
Laviniuni,4i4.
Lemnos, 305, 3 1 7.
Leochares,2^\,ll\,lll.
Lessa, 187.
Libon, 222.
Lindos, 344.
Lisht, 12.
Ludius, 467.
Luxor, 24, 25.
Lykios, 320.
Lysippos, 341, 345, 450, 453.
Lysistratos, 342.
Magnesia, 240, 272, 277.
Malta, 163.
Mantinea, 243, 260.
Marathus, 133, 135.
Marseilles. See Massalia.
Mashnaka, 135, 141, 142, 150.
Massalia, 449.
Medinet-Abou, 25, 34.
Medinet-el-Fayoum, 24,
Medullia, 414.
Megalopolis, 260.
Megara, 287.
MelitHlhios, 376, 38a
Melas, 28a
Melus, 260.
Memphis. 3, 5, 12, 43.
Mendc, 317.
Metulaos, 364.
Mcnidi, 179, 183.
Merida, 439.
Meroc, 12.
Mesaene, 327, 357.
Metagenes, 238.
Metapontion, 216, 217.
AfftroJoros, 465, 466.
Meydoun, 10, 12.
MickiiiJfs, 280.
MUon, 368, 369.
Miletos, 238, 247, 285, 288,
298.
MMuicUs, 226.
Moeris, la
Muriah, 147.
Mosul, 59, 60.
Mt. Barkal, 12.
Ml Ucha, 193, 194.
Mudjelibch, 57, 58, 83.
Mugheir, 50, 52, 54, So.
Murgab, 100, 119.
Mykenae, 179-185, 188, 189,
192, 198, 273-27*5, 280.
Mylassa, 250.
Myra, 165, 167, 260.
Myron, 299, 301, 303, 320.
Mys, 305.
Naksh-i-Rustam, 120, 121.
Naxos, 288, 290.
Nebbi-Jonas, 61.
Nemea, 211.
NesioUs, 297.
Nkomachos, 377.
Nicomedia, 346.
ATicophanes, 376.
Nitopolis, 375.
Niffer, 50.
Nikias, 378.
Nimrud, 57-60, 66, 67, 69, 71,
75.77.78,85,87.
Nineveh, 53, 59, 61, 62, 80,
84,95.140.
Nipur, 50, 53.
Norba, 414,415.
Norchia, 394-397.
Norma, 4^
Navius Plautius, 45a
Nubia, 12, 40.
Nus, 14.
Olevano, 414, 416.
Olympia, 209, 222, 223, 258,
276, 278, 282, 307, 308, 317,
319.335.336,386.
Otiatas, 293, 295, 297.
Orange, 433, 439.
INDEX-
Orchomenos, 179, 184, 287,
288.
Ortygia, 218, 221.
Otncoli, 309.
OrrMj, 451.
Pacwius, 465.
Paestum, 206, 223, 229, 255.
Paionios, architect, 238.
Paiotiios, sculptor, 317, 319.
Palamaon, 268.
Palestrina, 450.
Pal ma, 291.
Paltus, 133.
Pamfhilos, 375, 382.
Panaittos, 368, 369.
Paphos, 160.
Papias, 366.
Paros, 317.
Parrhasios, 305, 371, 373, 374-
Pasargadae, 100, 103, i is, 120,
123-
PasiuUs,\6^
Patara, 260.
Pausias, 376.
Pauson, 370.
Peirtricos, 386.
Pergamon, 261, 346-350, 353,
356, 358, 362.
Persepolis, 100-102, 107, 117,
120, 122, 123.
Perugia, 286, 400, 404.
Pessinus, 240.
Petra, 437, 438.
Pharsalos, 179.
Pheidias, 225, 299, 304-322.
Phellos, 167.
Pheneos, 185.
Phigalia, 190, 227, 287, 321.
PhilaE,30,47, 105,135.
Phileas, 279.
Philocles, 367.
Phokis, 363.
Phycomachos, 347.
Piraios, 255.
Plataia, 305, 368.
Pola, 436.
Politorium, 414.
Polycleitos, 299, 323, 328. "
Polydes, 363.
Poly dor OS, 351.
Polygnotos, 254, 368-370, 383.
Pompeii, 436, 442, 444, 468,
471.
Praeneste, 414, 450, 471.
Praxias, 318.
Praxiteles, 300, 330, 332-336,
338, 340.
Priene, 238.
Protogenes, 383, 384.
Pythagoras, 299, 30 1.
/^M/<7J-, 238, 251.
Redesie, 30.
Reggio, 436.
481
Reson, 62.
Rhamnous, 228, 330.
Rhegion, 282, 299, 301, 303.
Rheims, 438.
Rhodes, 267, 344, 351, 353,
356, 358, 362, 363-
Rhotcos, 279.
Rimini, 439.
Ruad, 133, 148.
Saccara, 9.
Saida, 133, 138, 141, 149.
Saint- Remi, 253, 437, 439.
Samos, 141, 190, 238, 260, 280.
Sarbistan, 131, 171.
Sardinia, 163.
Sardis, 174.
Satricum, 414.
Satyros, 251.
Sauiet-el-Meytin, 16.
Saurias, 367.
Scaptia, 414.
5V^aj, 251, 330-333.
Scythopolis, 148.
Segesta, 211, 222, 259, 26a
Segni, 414, 416.
Seid-el-Ar, 172.
Selamiyeh, 62.
Seleucia, 58, 131,346.
Selinous, 216, 218, 222, 283,
288, 290, 327.
Serapion, 466.
Serpul-Zohab, 121.
Side, 260.
Sidon, 133, 138.
Signia,4i4,4i5.
Sikyon, 243, 276, 281, 282,
298, 299, 303, 322, 340,
375-378.
Silanion, 340, 341.
Siloam, 152.
Silsilis, 30.
Sipylos, 1 73, 272.
Sivrihissar, 171.
Skyllis, 251, 330-333-
Smilis, 282.
Smyrna, 173.
Socrates, 299.
Soleb, 27.
Sopolis, 466.
Sora, 414.
Sosibios, 365.
Sosos, 386, 470.
Spalatro, 447.
Sparta, 183, 255, 260, 282,
287, 299.
Stabiae, 471.
Stephanos, 364.
Stoura, 193.
Stratonicos, 347,
Studius, 467.
Styppax, 321.
Sunion, 228.
Sur, 133, 138.
Sura, 50.
3>
482
Susa, Italy, 439.
Susa, Persia, 100.
Sutri, 436.
Syracuse, 217, 260, 262.
Tak-i-Gero, 132.
Tarention, 242, 243, 249.
Tauriscos, 353.
Tauromenium, 260.
Tectaios, 286.
Telchince, 266.
Telecles, 260, 279.
Telenae, 414.
Telephanes, 367.
Telmissos, 260,
Tel-Sifr, 50.
Tenea, 267, 287, 288.
Teos, 240.
Thabarieh, 146.
Thasos, 289, 368.
Thebes, Egypt, 22, 47.
Thebes, Greece, 191,
299. 375. 377-
INDEX.
Theocles, 282.
'Theodoras, 238, 260, 279, 280.
Theon, 386.
Thera, 287, 288.
Thespeia, 368.
Thessalonica, 255.
Theveste, 439.
Thoricos, 254.
Tibur, 414.
Timanthes, 374, 375.
Timarchides, 363.
Timarchos, 338.
Timocles, 363.
Timomachos, 385.
Timotheos, 251, 333.
Tiryns, 187, 188, 192.
Todi, 408.
Tortosa, 133.
Tourah, 11.
Tralles, 353.
Treves, 436.
Troezen, 199.
Troy, 185, 191, 267, 268.
Tusculum, 414, 433, 436.
Tyndaris, 260.
Tyre, 133, 138, 140.
Um-el-Auamid,i33, 138, 145.
Ur, 48, 50, 53, 80.
Veii, 388, 391, 401, 448.
Velabro, 416.
Venice, 450.
Verulae, 414.
Viterbo, 394.
Vole a ( Vulcaniiis), 401, 448.
Volsinii, 405.
Volterra, 408.
Vulci, 390, 401, 406, 407.
Warka, 50, 52, 54, 80.
Xanthos, 167, 170, 252, 288,
339-
Xenaios, 261.
Zeuxis, 371-374-
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