A short history of art
by Julia B. De Forest
1916
CONTEXTS
PACK
PRIMITIVE ART ........ 1
EGYPTIAN ART ........ 7
THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA ...... 23
PERSIAN ART ........ 33
ART OF EASTERN ASIA ....... 39
ART OF WESTERN ASIA ...... 52
GREEK ART ........ 57
GREEK SCULPTURE ....... 81
GREEK PAINTING ....... Qi
ETRUSCAN ART . . . . . . . .100
ROMAN ART . . . . . . . 101
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE ...... 107
ROMAN Sc ULPTURE . . . . . . .122
ROMAN PAINTING ....... 127
EARLY CHRISTIAN ART . . . . . .130
CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE . . . . . .135
ROMAN CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE . . . . .136
BY/ANTINE ARCHITECTURE . . . . . .113
BYZANTINE PAINTING AND MOSAICS . . . .151
MOHAMMEDAN ART . . . . . . .156
ROMANESQUE ART . . . . . . I(j8
EARLY CHRISTIAN, BYZANTINE, AND ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE . . . . . . . . .178
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE . . . . . .181
GOTHIC SCULPTURE IN THE NORTH .... 198
MEDIAEVAL SCULPTURE IN ITALY (1200-1 100) . . . 207
MEDI/KVAL PAINTING ....... 213
/THE RENAISSANCE ....... 221
v RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE . . . . .231
^ RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE ...... 239
v' HIGH-RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE IN ITALY . . . 217
v
vi CONTENTS
PAC.R
EARLY-RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE IN THE NORTH
RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE IN GERMANY .... 259
THE LATE-RENAISSANCE SCHOOL OF SCULPTURE IN EUROPE 261
^RENAISSANCE PAINTING ...... 266 -
THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY .... 270
PAINTING IN NORTH ITALY ...... 276
EARLY-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN VENICE . . . 284
HIGH-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN ITALY .... 291
HIGH-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN VENICE . . . 305
v POST-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN ITALY .... 314
PAINTING IN THE NORTH ...... 327
EARLY-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS . 330 SECOND NETHERLANDISH^ FLEMISH PERIOD . . .341
THIRD NETHERLANDISH, FLEMISH PERIOD . . . 317
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY PAINTING IN HOLLAND . . 355
EARLY-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN GERMANY . . . 376
THE HIGH RENAISSANCE OF GERMANY .... 385
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY PAINTING IN SPAIN . . . 392
PRE-RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN FRANCE . . . .415
PAINTING OF THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE . . . 422
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY PAINTING IN FRANCE . . 429
FRENCH PAINTING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . . 439
ARCHITECTURE IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH
CENTURIES ........ 448
BRITISH PAINTING OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES ....... 463
EARLY BRITISH LANDSCAPE PAINTING . . . 481
CLASSICAL REVIVAL IN FRANCE ..... 490
CLASSICAL SCULPTURE LATE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY
NINETEENTH CENTURIES ...... 5()l
FRENCH ROMANTIC SCHOOL OF PAINTING . . .514
FRENCH SCHOOL OF POETIC LANDSCAPE . 521
BRITISH HISTORICAL AND GENRE PAINTING . . . 538
NATURALISTIC MOTIVE IN FRENCH PAINTING . . . 548
THE PRE-RAPHAELITE MOVEMENT . 560
PAINTING IN GERMANY . . . 574
IMPRESSIONISM IN FRENCH PAINTING 584
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
ARCHITECTURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . . . 597
FRENCH SCULPTURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . . 619
BRITISH SCULPTURE ....... 6o2
MODERN SCULPTURE IN AMERICA ..... 6;>9
BEGINNINGS OF PAINTING IN AMERICA .... 6;>3
PAINTING IN AMERICA HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL . . 66()
DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN AMERICA . . 6(>()
SUMMARY OF MODERN PAINTING ..... 673
PAINTING IN AMERICA- SUPPLEMENTARY SUMMARY . . 708
FRENCH PAINTING SUPPLEMENTARY SUMMARY . . 726
INDEX 739
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
" EVENING," accompanying figure " Dawn," on the Tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence ........ Frontispiece
I'AGK
THE SPHINX Thebes: representing the God Armachis . 9
RESTORED TEMPLE OF KAHNAK . . . . . . 10
EGYPTIAN PAINTING: Hunting Scene . . . . 13
CONCAVO-CONVEX RELIEF: Temple of Kalabsheh in Upper
Egypt 11
RAMESES THE GREAT Abu Simbel 19
THE PALACE OF SARGON AT KHORSABAD: Conjectural Reconstruct ion after Perrot ...... 20
ASSYRIAN WINGED LION British Museum 25
ASSYRIAN: Hunt of Assur-boni-pat ..... 26
SIVA Caves of Elephanta 43
THE TEMPLE OF MADURA ....... 44
THE PORCELAIN PAGODA 19
THE DAIBOUDHS OF KAMAKOURA Japan .... 50
P.ESTTM Ruins of the Temple of Neptune ... 59
THE PARTHENON ......... 60
SOUTH PORCH OF THE EUECHTHEION Athens ... 67
LYSICRATES MONUMENT ........ 68
THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS (Restored) .... 75
FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE 76
EASTERN PEDIMENT OF THE PARTHENON Britisli Museum 79
THE VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE Louvre .... 80
VENUS OF MILO Louvre 83
DISCOBOLUS British Museum ...... 84
VENUS DE MEDICI Cleomenes. Uffizi Gallery ... 87
APOLLO BELVEDERE Vatican ...... 88
THE LAOCOON Vatican 91
ix
x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE DYING GAUL Capitoline, Rome . PORTRAIT FROM FAYOUM COLLECTION Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y . 95
PORTRAIT FROM FAYOUM COLLECTION Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y . 96
BASE OF TROJAN'S COLUMN . . 105
THE PANTHEON Rome .... .106
THE COLOSSEUM Rome .... .113
ARCH OF CONSTANTINK Rome ... .lit
AUGUSTUS CESAR Rome .... .119
MARCUS AURELIUS Rome .120
POMPEIIAN WALL-PAINTING 125
VICTORY OF ALEXANDER Neapolitan Museum . . .126 INTERIOR OF "ST. PAUL, WITHOUT THE WALLS" Rome . 141 THE MOSQUE OF SANTA-SOFIA . . ... 1 12
INTERIOR OF ST. SOPHIA . . . . . . .147
ST. MARK'S Venice . . . . . . . .148
VASSILI-BLAGENNOI Moscow . . . . . .157
CATHEDRAL OF CORDOVA 158
COURT OF THE LIONS Alhambra . . . . . .161
ROOM OF THE Two SISTERS Alhambra . . . .162
THE TAJ MAHAL 165
NOTRE DAME Paris 166
THE CATHEDRAL OF AMIENS 183
CHARTRES CATHEDRAL . . 184
RIIEIMS CATHEDRAL 189
THE TOWN HALL OF LOUVAIN 190
THE CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS .195
THE CATHEDRAL OF LINCOLN .196
THE CATHEDRAL OF SIENA 201
YORK MINSTER: West Front 202
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL: South Transept, West Side of Porch 205
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL: Statues on Portal 206
CHARTRES CATHEDRAL: South Porch; Central Doorway . 211
MADONNA AND CHILD Cimabue 212
THE ENTOMBMENT Giotto 219
FLIGHT INTO EGYPT Fra Angelico. Florence Academy . 220
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi
PAGE
THE DUOMO Florence ........ 225
CAMPANILE Giotto. Florence ...... 226
STROZZI PALACE Florence 229
ST. PETER'S CATHEDRAL AND PART OF THE VATICAN Rome 230
THE VENDRAMIN Calergi 235
PORTE JEAN GOUJON Louvre 236
BRONZE DOORS Ghiberti. Baptistery, Florence . .241
ST. GEORGE Donatello. Florence ..... 2-12 CHILD MUSICIANS L. della Robbia. Opera del Duomo,
Florence . 243
STATUE OF BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONI Verrocchio. Venice 244
PERSEUS Cellini. Loggia Dei Lanzi, Florence . . 249
MOSES Michelangelo. S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome . . 250 TOMB OF L. DE MEDICI Michelangelo. San Lorenzo,
Florence 251
TOMB OF ST. SEBALD Vischer. Nuremberg Cathedral . 252
KING ARTHUR Vischer. Innsbruck 255
CHEMINEE HENRI II. Germain Pilon. Louvre . . 256 THE FLYING MERCURY John of Bologna. Bargello, Florence 261
FOUNTAIN OF TREVI Bernini. Rome ..... 262
THE ANNUNCIATION Fra Lippo Lippi .... 267
THE BIRTH OF VENUS Botticelli 268
THE NATIVITY Botticelli 273
PARNASSUS Mantegna 274
PAVIA ALTAR-PIECE Pcrugino. National Gallery . . 279
MADONNA AND FOUR SAINTS Perugino .... 280 MIRACLE OF THE HOLY CROSS Gentile Bellini. Venice
Academy 281
MADONNA OF THE Two TREES Giovanni Bellini. Venice
Academy 282
THE DOGE LOREDANO Giovanni Bellini .... 287
THE ENGLISH AMBASSADORS Carpaccio .... 288
THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA Carpaccio .... 289
MONNA LISA L. da Vinci 290
THE LAST SUPPER L. da Vinci. Monastery S. Maria Delle
Grazi, Milan 297
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ST. ANNE L. da Vinci .298
THE COLUMBINE Luini ... 299 CREATION OF ADAM Michelangelo. Sistine Chapel of the
Vatican, Rome .... . 300
MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN Raphael. The Brcra . . 307
LA BELLE JARDINIERE Raphael . . . 308
ST. CECILIA Raphael ... . 309
MADONNA Di SAN FRANCESCO Andrea del Sarto. Ufli/i . 310 LA NOTTE Correggio ..... .315
THE CONCERT Giorgione . . .316
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN Titian .... 317
BACCHUS AND ARIADNE Titian . . . . . .318
PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN Titian. Venice Academy . 323
LAVINIA VECELLI WITH FRUIT Titian .... 32i
RAPE OF EUROPA Veronese ....... 325
BACCHUS AND ARIADNE Tintoretto ..... 326
THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB Van Eyck . . . .331
THE ANGEL MUSICIANS -Van Fyck 332
THE MAN WITH THE PINKS Van Eyck .... 337 CHRIST AS KING OF HEAVEN Memling. Antwerp . . 338 CHRIST PRESENTED TO THE PEOPLE Van Leyden. Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y 313
THE CRUCIFIXION Rubens ....... 344
HELENA FOURMENT Rubens 3-15
CHILDREN WITH GARLAND Rubens. Munich . . . 316
CHARLES I. Van Dyck 351
VIRGIN OF THE PARTRIDGES Van Dyck. The Hermitage . 352
THE RUSTIC WEDDING Teniers the Younger . . . 353
HILLE BOBBE Frans Hals ....... 354
THE LAUGHING CAVALIER Frans Hals .... 357
THE YOUNG MOTHER Gerard Don ..... 358
THE BUTTERY Pieter de Hooch 359
GIRL READING A LETTER Jan Vermeer van Delft . . 360
THE PARROT CAGE Jan Steen. Rijks Museum . . . 365
DORDRECHT J. Van Goyen. Rijks Museum . . . 366
THE AVENUE OF MIDDELHARNIS Hobbema . . . 367
JEWISH BURYING-GROUND Jacob Ruisdael . 368
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
PAGE
THE BULL Paul Potter 371
THE NIGHT WATCH Rembrandt ...... 372
THE SYNDICS Rembrandt 373
ELIZABETH BAS Rembrandt 374
ADORATION OF THE MAGI Diirer 383
H. HOLZSCHUHER Diirer ....... 384
THE AMBASSADORS Holbein. National Gallery . . . 389
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS Ribera . . . 390 APOTHEOSIS OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Zurbaran. Seville
Museum .......... 393
ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY Murillo .... 396
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Murillo .... 397
THE SURRENDER OF BREDA Velasquez .... 398
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS Velasquez . . . 403
FORGE OF VULCAN Velasquez ...... 404
MAID OF HONOUR Velasquez ...... 405
LA MAYA Goya -106
CHRIST IN THE ARMS OF THE FATHER El Greco . . . -Ill THE VIRGIN AND INFANT JESUS Fouquct. Antwerp
Museum 412
PORTRAIT OF A BOY Francois Clouet . . . . 417
DIANA Jean Goujon. Louvre . . . . . .418
CARDINAL RICHELIEU P. de Champaigne . . . .419
GALLERY OF BATTLES Versailles 420
MARIE MARGUERITE LAMBERT DE THORIGNY De Largil-
liere 425
FAIRIES AND NYMPHS Poussin. Metropolitan Museum of
Art, N. Y 426
THE LANDING OF CLEOPATRA AT TARSUS Claude Lorrain.
Louvre 427
EMBARKATION FOR CYTHERA Watteau. Louvre . . 428
FETE CHAMPETRE Pater. Louvre 433
A HUNT PICNIC Carle Van Loo. Louvre .... 434
CHILDREN AT PLAY Laneret. National Gallery . . 435
JOSEPH II. OF AUSTRIA Francois Hubert Drouais . . 436
PASTORAL SUBJECT Boucher. Louvre .... 441
MADAME LOUISE Nattier. Versailles . 442
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE BLESSING Chardin. Louvre . . . 443
THE BROKEN JUG Greuze. Louvre ... . 444 PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU: Salon of Louis XIII. , or
"Oval Salon" 449
LE PAVILLON RICHELIEU Louvre . . . 450
THE PANTHEON Paris 4/51
THE LUXEMBOURG PALACE France ..... 452
ST. PAUL'S: West Front Sir Christopher Wren. London 457
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH New York ...... 458
FANEUIL HALL Boston ....... 459
OLD STATE HOUSE Boston 460
MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE Hogarth ...... 46'5
LAVINIA FENTON, as Polly Peaclmm Hogarth . . . 466
NELLY O'BRIEN -Reynolds 4(J7
LADY COCKBURN AND CHILDREN Reynolds. National
Gallery 468
THE MARKET-CART Gainsborough 473
THE BLUE BOY Gainsborough 474
LADY HAMILTON Ronmey. National Portrait Gallery . 475
MRS. SIDDONS Lawrence 476
MRS. CAMPBELL OF BALLIEMORE Henry Raeburn . . 479
THE STORM Richard Wilson 480
HAUTBOIS COMMON John (Old) Croine .... 483
THE HAY WAIN John Constable 484
THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE Turner 487
THE SABINES David. Louvre 488
THE ABDUCTION OF PSYCHE Prud'hon. Louvre . . 493
EYLAU Gros. Louvre 494
PORTRAIT OF MME. DE VAUCAY Ingres .... 499
PAULINE BUONAPARTE Canova 500
LION OF LUCERNE Thorwaldsen 505
MICHAEL AND SATAN Flaxman. South Kensington Museum 506
THE GREEK SLAVE Hiram Powers. Corcoran Art Gallery 511 ORPHEUS Thomas Crawford. Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston 512
THE RAFT OF THE MEDUSA Gericault. Louvre . .517
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
XV
PAG K
THE CRUSADERS TAKE CONSTANTINOPLE, April 12,, 1201
Delacroix. Louvre . . . . . . . .518
EDGE OF THE FOREST Rousseau 528
THE BIG OAK Dupre 52-1
BATHERS Diaz. Louvre 525
RIVER PISE Daubigny, 187k Metropolitan Museum of
Art, X. V 526
MORNING Corot 531
RETURNING HOME Troyon. Louvre 532
THE GLEANERS Millet 533
THE MAN WITH THE HOE Millet. Louvre . . . 531 YOUTH ON THE PROW AND PLEASURE AT THE HELM
William Elty 539
MIDDAY MEAL George Morland 510
THE LAST IN William Mulready, R. A 515
UNCLE TOBY AND WIDOW W \DMAN Charles Robert Leslie 5 Hi
WHERE THE DEER MEET Courbet. Louvre . . . 519
HAY-MAKERS Bastien-Lepage. Luxembourg . . . 550
PAY DAY Leon August Lhermitte. Luxembourg . . 553
BRETON DANCE Lucien Simon ...... 551
ON THE BENCH -Jules Adler 557
SKIRMISH WITH COSSACKS Detaille. Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y 558
THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS Holman Hunt . . . 5(j3
BEATA BEATRIX Rossetti 5(jl
THE MIRROR OF VENUS Burne-Jones 569
HOPE George Frederick Watts 570
THE DREAM AFTER THE BALL Hans Makart. Metropolitan Museum of Art, X. Y. ..... 579
ELEANOR DUSE AND MARIA LENBACH Lenbach . . . 580
THE GOOD BOCK Manet. Paris 585
DANSEUSE ETOILE Degas ....... 586
LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE Renoir. Luxembourg . . 589
VIEW ON THE SEINE Monet 590
THE MODEL Henri Edouard Cross ..... 595
STAIRCASE OF OPERA HOUSED Paris 596
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT London ..... 599
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE BUILDING Alois Hausmnn,
Arch. Budapest . . . 600 THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE London
THE NEW RATHAUS IN MUNICH Bavaria . 602 THE CAPITOL Washington
THE CITY HALL Mangin. New York . . . 608
TRINITY CHURCH Upjohn. New York . 609 TRINITY CHURCH Richardson. Boston . .610 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY Chicago . . . . . .615
METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING New York . . . 61 6 WOOLWORTII BUILDING New York . . . . .617
BUST OF FRANCOIS ARAGO David d'Angers . . . 618 LION AND SERPENT Barye. Tuileries . . . .621
WALKING LION Barye. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
N. Y 622
JOHN THE BAPTIST Paul Dubois ... . . 623 GENIUS GUARDING THE SOUL OF THE TOMB Saint Mar-
ceaux .......... 621
GROUP OF THE DANCE Carpeaux 627
JOAN OF ARC Emmanuel Fremiet . . . . .628
LE PENSEUR A. Rodin 629
JOHN THE BAPTIST A. Rodin 630
THE ARCHER Thornycroft 633
THE SINGER Onslow Ford 63-1
THE SHAW MEMORIAL Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Boston 637 BACCHANTE Frederick Macmonnies. Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y 638
MOURNING VICTORY Daniel C. French. Concord, Mass. . 6ll STATUE OF CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL Herbert
Adams. Cleveland Court House 612
MONUMENT TO CAPTAIN BUCKLY O'NEILL Solon H.
Borglum. Prescott, Arizona 613
THE SIGNING OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE TREATY, FOR
THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL Karl Bitter. St. Louis . 611
THE SUN Vow H. A. MacNeil . . . . 617
APPEAL TO THE GREAT SPIRIT Cyrus E. Dallin . . 6 18
ABRAHAM LINCOLN Gutzon Borglum 649
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
PAGE
Two NATURES OF MAX George Grey Barnard. Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y. . . . . . 650
GEORGE WASHINGTON Gilbert Stuart. Boston Museum . 655 IN THE WOODS Asher Brown Durand. Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y. 656
OXBOW Thomas Cole. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
N. Y (>(>;<
THE ASCENSION John I. a Farge ...... 66 1
PORTRAIT OF His MOTHER Whistler ..... 66<)
CARMENCITA Sargent 670
THE BASHFUL LOVER Israels. Metropolitan Museum of
Art, N. Y 677
LANDSCAPE AND SHEEP Mauve 678
SAPPHO Alma-Tadema . . . . . . 681
THE HAMMER MAN Meunier ...... 682
MLLE. LUCIENNE BRKVAL AS CARMEN* Ignaeio Xuloaga . (>})!
PLOUGHING IN THE KNGADINE- Segantini .... 6<)2
A PORTRAIT T. C. Goteh ....... (jArt, X. Y 721
IDLE Horns Julian Alden Weir. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, N. Y
LUNETTE, Minnesota State Capitol Kenyon Cox
SAINTE GENEVIEVE MARKED WITH THE DIVINE SEAL
Puvis de Chavannes 721
DECORATION Maurice Denis 727
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL Cazin 728
FAMILY SCENE Carriere. Luxembourg . . . .7^1 PORTRAIT Cezanne 732
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
PRIMITIVE ART
IT used to be customary to divide the stages of primitive civilisation into the Hough Stone Age, the Polished Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. But such division lias been abandoned, because these Ages are not found to have been occurring at the same time in different parts of the world. For example, when the white man reached the continent of America he found the Indians still in the Stone Age. The best that can be said of the division is that it marks the stages of development among certain people, in certain countries.
The Art of every people grew, firstly, out of its necessities of making a living, and, secondly, in response to its beliefs and ideals. It needed tools to help it to till the soil, vessels to hold its food and drink, weapons to kill game and to make war on its enemies. It began by using some product of nature a sharp-pointed stone, for example. By degrees it learned to shape the rude product so as to fit it better to the required purpose. Later it discovered how to mingle certain products of nature and by the action of fire or otherwise to manufacture a material; as in the case of bronze. The metal was soft and easily beaten into shape, though as easily bent and broken in use. Accordingly, the ingenuity of man devised the harder and more reliable material of iron. Meanwhile, he had learned how to model in clay vessels of daily utility, baking them first in the sun and later in ovens.
The individuals who made these various discoveries and developed them must have been held in high honour by the rest of the people. They were creators ; in their way, gods.
2 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
Such was the beginning of the artist. He was 'he inventor and the maker; and by degrees another maker, a poet for that is the meaning of the title " poet " arose and made the poems and sagas of the people. And there were other makers or artists who invented the art of weaving.
Further, it was only a question of time before men eeased to be satisfied with the utility of the objects made. They began to display their pride in their art and their joy of work in decorating the objects, with raised ornaments or incised ornaments, or with colour. The designs were of two kinds: representations, at first crude, of objects of nature; and invented designs, often suggested by the interlace of weaving, or by the repetitions of forms in nature, such as the growth of leaves upon a stalk.
Meanwhile, as man developed he became more and more desirous that all memory of him should not perish utterly from the earth. He began to raise monumental structures; temples to the honour of his gods; tombs to his own belief in a future life, and fine palaces to the glorification of the rulers in this life. Thus Architecture was born ; and in the decoration of it Sculpture and Painting reached higher possibilities of grandeur, while at the same time the importance of vessels employed in these buildings gave an impetus to the various Arts of Craftsmanship.
Here we have in brief the rudimentary evolution of Art out of the Life of Man. For Art is not a thin<- separated
O i
from Life or merely a phase of it, as is too often supposed to-day. It is the product of the very instinct of Life itself, working naturally in the primitive mind of man, and constantly growing finer as the mind of a people advances in civilisation. If some people in our day have no instinct for Art, it is simply because they are not as civilised as the civilisation in which they happen to find themselves. Their instinct has been blunted ; they are, in this respect, inferior
PRIMITIVE ART 3
to the primitive man. Nature has been distorted by sophistication.
Sources of Knowledge
We arc dependent for our actual knowledge of primitive development chiefly upon the remains of monumental struc-
,,
,
- 6
8
% &\ /ff D
% % V / /
^ ff ^
PLAN OF STONEHEXGE
Concentric Circles and Centre Stone, Presumably an Altar
tures and the objects which have been buried in them. The latter include implements of war and chase and objects of ceremonial use and of everv-day utility. Foremost in interest and beauty are the treasures of the art of the potter, the discovery of which, especially in the deserts of central Asia, has been one of the greatest triumphs of modern archseological research.
The simplest form of primitive monumental structures was the mound or tumulus, which survives in varied styles in different parts of the world. There are many in North
4 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
America, which served as burial-places for one or more persons, and seem to have been intended to be or to have become the centres of the religious and ceremonial life of the people. Often, as in the case of the Altun-Oba sepulchre, near Ketsch, Crimea, they contain a sepulchral chamber, entered by a passageway. These were formed of large stones, firmly joined together; while the exterior of the mound was also
THE TEOCALLI OF GUATUSCO Pyramidal and Constructed of Cut Stone
held in place by a continuous layer of stones, which formed a facing to the earth.
Next appears the structure, built without the aid of earth, of upright monoliths, surmounted by a huge stone. They consisted either of a few uprights, supporting a flat stone in the .manner of a gigantic table, or of more elaborate structures, like that of Stonehenge in England, where the monoliths were arranged in concentric circles and topped by a continuous circle of stones. These of various size and degrees of elaboration are found in Scandinavia, England,
PRIMITIVE ART 5
Ireland, North Germany ; and also in India, Asia Minor, Egypt, the north coast of Africa, and the region around the Atlas Mountains.
The general design of these is based on the principle of posts and lintels ; but sometimes, as at Delos, the horizontal top stone is replaced by two, supporting each other at an angle, thus forming the rudimentary arch.
The further stage comes when cut and polished stone is substituted for the unhewn monoliths. Central America,
VESSELS OF THE BRONZE PERIOD
/.Cooking Vessels; <(, l>, d, e, Vessels for Food Richly Ornamented with Incised or Raised Patterns; There is diversity of opinion between scholars as to the date of the accession of Menes, the first Egyptian king whose name we kno\v. Some believe that the dynasties mentioned by Manetho succeeded one another; others, that they were contemporaneous in different parts of the country. A table is given on p. 2i2, in which the important authorities for the chronology are noted, and the great monuments of Egyptian art are named in connection with the dynasties to which they are ascribed.
The religious belief of the Egyptian was rooted in a polytheistic system, the forms of which were, for the most part, only symbols of events and circumstances connected with the peculiar nature of the country. Thus the gods were represented in the form of the Pharaoh, who was himself esteemed a god and worshipped after death ; but to the upper part of the figure, and especially to the head, was given the form of a distinct animal or bird.
Each temple was dedicated to a triad of gods, the father, the mother, and the son; and different triads were worshipped in different places. At Thebes, Ammon, and at Memphis, Phtah was looked upon as the father of gods and men. Only
a 2
a
EGYPTIAN ART 11
Osiris, the god of the world of departed spirits, was honoured in all parts of the country, every devout Egyptian speaking of the dead as " in Osiris." The transmigration of souls was one of the chief features of belief, and embalming the dead was a religious duty.
The Egyptians believed in a perpetual existence after death, and in the separate life of the spirit ; and, further, in a double, or more spiritual body the " Ka," for whose sake the earthly body must be preserved against the time when the " Ka " might seek its own earthly home. Hence their extraordinary care for the dead and their systematic reverence for tombs.
The ancient cities of Egypt are " heaps " : and we have only one example of palace architecture, that of Kameses III. at Medinct-Abu. The land, however, is rich in ruins of tombs and temples. There are three distinct varieties of tombs : the first and most important are Pyramids.
Pyramids
It is said that the step-shaped Pyramid of Sakkarah is more ancient than the Pyramids of Gizeh, which are situated in one of the necropoli or burial-places of the ancient city of Memphis. Before studying the construction of the largest Pyramid, we must settle it in our minds that it is but a gigantic tomb among many hundreds of smaller tombs of the same description. It was to the others what Cheops was to his subjects; for Egyptian art, in architecture as in sculpture, expressed power and superiority by size.
The surroundings of the Pyramids are desert sands, dismantled brick walls, human bones bleaching in the sun, and desolation, which tell us we arc in the region of the dead. Near the eastern faade of each Pyramid was a temple, probably for funeral rites. The world-renowned Sphinx, a figure sixty-five feet high, cut from the solid rock, and representing
12 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
the god Armachis, is about nine hundred feet southeast of the Pyramid of Cheops, and is older than the Pyramid itself. The Great Pyramid (Cheops), which will serve as an example of all the rest, was built in steps, and then covered with a smooth casing from the top down. This casing has disappeared. The entrance to the Pyramid was originally con-
SECTION OF GREAT PYRAMID Showing Sepulchral Chambers and Stone Built Passages
cealed, and an intricate system of passages was devised to deceive those who might attempt to rob the dead.
As typical examples of the second variety of tombs, we may take those of Beni-Hassan. There are tw T o parts to these tombs : first, an outer construction of one or more rooms, either built or excavated in the rock. These were used as places of assembly for the relatives of the deceased. Second, a well opening in the floor of one of these rooms, and leading
KCYi'TIAN I'AIXTIXC;
Hunting scene. .Mingling of naturalistic and conventionalism. The nobility of tie chief figure is suggested by the smallness of the attendants.
CONCAVO-CONVEX RELIEF Temple of Kalabsheh in Upper Egypt (the ancient Talrnis).
EGYPTIAN ART 15
into an undecorated subterranean chamber where the mummy was deposited. The entrance to this well was closed up after the mummy had been put in its place.
The third class of tombs includes those of the kings of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth dynasties. They were marked by no visible buildings, and the entrances were carefully concealed. They consisted of a series of chambers excavated in the mountain side. When a king ascended the throne he began to construct his tomb. At his death the work ceased abruptly, as we see from unfinished chambers and wall-paintings. Thus the length vof a king's reign determined the size of his tomb. In the earlier tombs, as those at Beni-Hassan, we have scenes from the life of the departed; in later ones, as those of the kings, strange symbolical pictures representing the judgment of the soul, arid its journeys in the lower world.
Temples
From the tombs we pass to the consideration of the temples and their accessories. A complete Egyptian temple was always surrounded by a high outer wall of crude bricks. From the gate of this wall an avenue of colossal statues or sphinxes led to the pylon towers which flanked the entrance to the open fore-court. Some temples had two pairs of pylons, and two fore-courts. The fore-court was usually enclosed by a colonnade. You next passed into a dark, columned hall, and from this again into the inner sanctuary, which was surrounded by a number of small chambers used for various ceremonial purposes. The columns of the temples were of great size. The capitals represented open or closed lotus-flowers. In later temples, as at Edfu, more complicated orders may be found, as the Osiride columns which had figures of Osiris in high relief on one side, as well as four-sided capitals with faces of the goddess Hathor.
16
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
CAPITAL AT KARNAK
EGYPTIAN COLUMNS
With Capitals of Conventionalised Open or Closed Lotus-Flowers
The columns, ceilings, friezes, and other parts of the temples, were coloured. Red, blue, green, and yellow were used ; and in many cases the colours retain their brilliancy to the present day. The walls of the temples and the columns were
EGYPTIAN ART
17
usually covered with low reliefs or intaglios. The subjects of these decorations related to the king who founded the temple. He is depicted adoring the gods, offering sacrifice, or victorious in battle. In later or Ptolemaic temples the subjects of the pictures in the different courts have distinct reference to the use of the courts. In the fore-court, for
RESTORED FRONT OF AX EGYPTIAX TEMPLE WITH PYI.OXS A XI) GATEWAY
instance, the king is being recognised by the gods. The most celebrated temple is the Great Temple at Karnak, and its columned or so-called hypostyle hall was one of the wonders of the world. The Temple of Denderah is in a more perfect state of preservation.
Obelisks, huge monoliths of granite, were often erected at the entrance of temples. Their form is supposed to symbolise the rays of the sun. They were decorated with hieroglyphics.
18 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
Sculpture and Painting
Sculpture and painting, like architecture, had their fixed types in Egypt; and, although some of the earliest statues seem to point to a degree of freedom of execution unknown in later times, they form the exception and not the rule. v Thc paintings in the tombs and temples were executed " a secco," that is, on a dry coat of plaster or stucco, and are to be distinguished from " fresco " paintings, or those executed while the plaster was wet. The colours were simple, and laid on without any attempt at shading. The bas-reliefs were often covered with a thin coat of stucco, and painted. They were sometimes bona-fide low reliefs, but ordinarily they were executed " en creux "; that is to say, the reliefs were sunk so that the highest parts were on a level with the surface of the wall. Perspective was ignored: objects were represented as on a map. The head and feet of figures were in profile, but the body and the eyes were in full view. We must not believe that this was done because the Egyptians lacked skill: a much more satisfactory reason for it is that the artist wished to tell more than he could if he depicted objects as they actually appeared from one point of view. In fact, the end and aim of Egyptian painting and sculpture was to commemorate and to decorate rather than to represen^
The statues of Memnon on the plain of Thebes, the only two left of an avenue of similar colossi, arc examples of a class of Egyptian figures that impress us by their vast size. There are many small portrait-statues of the kings. In these there is a stony individuality about the faces ; and, although the attitude is almost always the same, it is an attitude of solemn repose that seems to fit our ideal of a Pharaoh.
In sculpture, as in painting, the forms of the body are treated throughout with intelligence. The firm build of the Avholc, the meaning and the movement of the limbs, are clearly comprehended. The drapery for the most part is limited to
c "
<
PS 3
EGYPTIAN ART 21
an apron; even the fuller and richer draperies being of light, transparent material. The hair was concealed by a cap, and in the case of rulers was combined with the double crown of upper and lower Egypt, or by a fantastic head-dress composed of symbolic attributes. The beard was wound and bent into the semblance of a hook. The artist worked under a fixed canon of arithmetical proportions, enjoined by law, which for several thousand years was only varied slightly in
EGYPTIAN HEADS IX RELIEF
Eighteenth Dynasty; Showing Traces of Semitic Blood
response to the changing fashions, due to foreign influence. Hence he was unable to reach such highly wrought study of nature as the Greeks produced, beginning with the seventh century B.C.
Meanwhile, in contrast with the serious and formal character of the detached works of Egyptian sculpture was the abundance of reliefs exhibited on the walls of temples, palaces, and tombs. In their infinite variety, embracing all forms of existence and occupation, rendered with animated and lifelike reality, they represent a faithful historical narration of the whole life of the Egyptians.
CHART I. CHRONOLOGY AND ART IN EGYPT.
M ~ Marietta Bey. B = Bunscn. L- Lepsius. W =- Wilkinson.
M.
B.
L. W.
Ancient Empire.
B.C. 5004
B.C. 4400
B.C. 3892 B.C. 2601
Date of accession of Menes.
DYNASTIES
I. and II. Thiuite. | III. Memphite.
Possibly Pyramid of Sakkarah.
IV. Meinphite.
The Great Pyramids.
V. Meniphite.
Tombs
at Necropolis of Sakkarah, as Tib and
Phtah-hotep.
VI. Elephantine.
El Kab rocks, Necropolis at Abydos, and Zavv-
VII. and VIII. Meinphite.
yet el Ma'iiiii.
IX. and
X. Heracleopolitc.
M.
B.
L. W.
Middle Empire.
B.C. 3064
B.C. 2801
B.C. 2330 B.C. 2031
XI. Theban.
Necropolis at Thebes. Drah-abu'l Neggah.
XII. Tin-ban.
Tombs
of Beni-IIassan. Obelisk at Heliop-
XIII. Theban; XIV. Xoite.
olis.
XV., XVI., and XVII
Shepherds.
Traces
of Shepherds at San, the Tanis of the
Bible.
M.
B.
L. W.
New Empire.
B.C. 1703
B.C. 1038
B C. 1520
XVIII., XIX., and XX. Theban.
Karnak
enlarged. Deir-el- Bahari. Luxor.
Goornah. Raim-seum. Bab-el -Molouk.
Medinet-Abu. Tombs in Valley of West.
XXI. Tanite.
Temple
of Klions.
XXII. Bubastite.
Wall of Bubiistiies at Karnak.
XXIII. Tanite; XXIV. Saite.
XXV. Ethiopian.
Part of
south wall of Karnak. Small Temple
XXVI. Saite.
north of Karnak.
XXVII. I
ersian.
Rocks
of Hamamat near Keneh. Some build-
XXVIII. Suite; XXIX
Mcndesian.
ings
at Phi la,-.
XXX. Sebennyte; XXXI. Persian.
M.
B.
L. W.
B.C. 332
B.C. 332
B.C. 332 B.C. 332
XXXII. Macedonian.
Portal
at Ek-pliantiim. Granite Sanctuary at
Kan ak restored.
XXXIII. Greek.
Philffi.
Portal of Temple of Ebons. Deir-el-
Medineh. Edfu hypostyle hull at Ksneh.
Kom Ombos. Speos. Denderah. Erment.
XXXIV. Roman.
Restorations on existing monuments.
THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA
CHALDEAN, BABYLONIAN, AND ASSYRIAN
CENTRAL Asia, in connection with the study of art, is understood to be the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, comprised between the river Tigris on the east and the Euphrates on the west, before they join their streams and pass into the Persian Gulf. The natural conditions to some extent are similar to those of Egypt, and produced corresponding results in the character of the inhabitants. Thus the periodical inundations, especially of the Euphrates, developed resourcefulness and hardiness in the people, who, like the Egyptians, were skilled in engineering, while the priests, who formed a privileged caste supported by the government, were learned in the sciences and astronomical lore. On the other hand, unlike the Nile, these rivers afforded communication with the outside world. Moreover, the surrounding countries being broken up into spots of fertile land, separated by intervals of desert, the neighbouring people were migratory, adventurous, and aggressive. Accordingly, the rich plain of Mesopotamia was a marked point for the ambition of outside nations, and passed successively under the supremacy of different rulers, who, by the need of holding what they had against others, were obliged to keep themselves in a constant condition of vigour and alertness.
Thus the type of the figures represented in the sculpture differs from that of the Egyptians ; being characterised by muscular development and more energy of action ; while the occupation in which they are engaged is chiefly that of war or of the hunting of big game, such as lions and bulls.
Further, the absence of mountains affected the character
23
24 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
of the architecture. Stone was rarely used, the material being for the most part sun-dried bricks, which have crumbled into ruins, so that the great cities have become buried in heaps of debris. The most important of those which have been examined arc the ruins of Nimrud, Khorsabad, and
Kuyunjik.
It is not known whether the beginning of culture in this territory antedates that of Egypt ; but the first settlers were, perhaps, the inventors of the cuneiform or wedge-shaped system of writing upon tablets of baked clay. As early as 4000 B.C., or earlier, the territory was invaded by Semites. From 2300 B.C. the history of the country is intimately connected with that of the city of Babylon. Meanwhile, the Babylonians were subject to the frequent rivalry of their warlike neighbours, the t'halda>ans, who seem to have been of Semitic origin. Finally, in B.C. 900 began the assaults of the Assyrians, who streamed down from the mountain districts of Armenia, and took possession of upper and lower Mesopotamia. Their supremacy was wrested from them about B.C. 560 by the Persians.
Temples
The most important buildings of the Assyrian and Chaldean period were temples of pyramidal form, built of sundried or baked bricks. They were constructed of upright stories decreasing in size towards the top, and from three to seven in number. The ornamentation consisted of buttresses, half-columns, shallow recesses, or patterns in terracotta cones. Neither cornice, capital, base, nor diminution of shaft is to be discovered. Arches are employed in narrow doorways, but not as a decorative feature. It is believed that a vaulting of brick or gypsum plaster was used i some larcre chambers. The inhabitants displayed great in carving gems and in weaving different fabrics, while 1
X i
c > r
y. ~ ~
ASSYRIAN: HUNT OF ASSUR-BOXI-PAT
THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA 27
remains of the glazed pottery which have been discovered are among the most beautiful examples known.
The government of the Assyrians was monarchical ; but they had a written code of laws, and the absolute power of the king was moderated by the advice of his counsellors and the officers who were placed over the different departments of state. The king was commander-in- chief of the army, supreme judge, and high-priest of Assur, the god " who created himself." The priests were a privileged class, supported by the temple revenues. A portion of the spoils of war belonged to them. They studied astrology, and practised the arts of divination. Their sabbaths were their most interesting religious feasts. These days were observed in a way that calls to mind Jewish regulations. We may add that this is not the only point of similarity between Jewish and Assyrian manners, customs, and legislation. A special interest, however, attaches to their palaces and cities, for they were for the most part built by the kings whose names are familiar to us in the wars of Israel ; and the discoveries that have been made in the various excavations have been of such a nature as to confirm the truth of the Bible records.
In the chart on p. 32 we have a list of the important buildings, and we shall mention particularly only the ruins of
9
the palace of Khorsabad, the most perfect yet uncovered.
Ruins of Khorsabad
Khorsabad is situated about fifteen miles north of Nineveh. The city is nearly an English mile square. Its gates have been discovered: they were in pairs, one entrance for chariots, the other for foot-passengers. The palace is built so that the entrance is protected by the city.
The river Tigris flowed in front of Kuyunjik and Nimrud, and protected them ; and at Khorsabad there is an insignificant brook, the Kausser, which was probably dammed up
28 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
so as to make a lake in front of the palace, which was built upon an artificial terrace. This terrace was 650 feet by 30 feet, the cubic contents 12,675,000 feet. It was faced with stone. There were in the palace itself thirty courts, around
ASSYRIAN WALL-PAINTING
Enamelled Tiles
which were grouped two hundred and ten separate rooms, halls, and galleries. The women's apartments were carefully secluded. The walls of the principal rooms were wainscoted with alabaster slabs carved in relief. Other
THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA 29
rooms were decorated with paintings. The upper story of the palace was of wood. The portals were guarded by huge symbolic figures of winged bulls. On the palace terrace are the ruins of the only authentic Assyrian temple yet discovered : it was a pyramid of seven diminishing stages, four of which remain. They were probably painted different colours, and dedicated to the seven planets.
So little is known of the state of painting in Assyria, that it is hardly worth while to touch upon the subject at all. Traces of colour are visible in the bas-reliefs, and a few fragments of wall-paintings show that the art was not unknown ; but we are ignorant regarding the perfection which it had attained.
Sculpture
The sculpture of Assyria, however, is a field for the study of which we have the most ample materials. It resembles the Egyptian in certain prominent characteristics. It is conventional. The artist strives to represent the " actual, and the historically true," not the picturesque. " Unless in the case of a few mythic figures connected with the religion of the country, there is nothing in the Assyrian basreliefs which is not from nature. The imitation is always laborious, and often most accurate and exact. The laws of representation, as we understand them, are sometimes departed from, but it is always to impress the spectator with ideas in accordance with truth. Thus the colossal bulls and lions are represented with five legs, that they may be seen from every point of view with four; the ladders are placed edgewise against the walls of besieged towns, to show that they are ladders and not mere poles ; walls of cities are made disproportionally small, but it is done, like Raphael's boat, to bring them within the picture, which would otherwise be a less complete representation of the actual fact. The care-
30 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
ful finish, the minute detail, the elaboration of every hair in a beard, and every stitch in the embroidery of a dress, illustrate strongly the spirit of faithfulness and honesty which pervades the sculptures, and gives them so great a portion of their value. In conception, in grace, in freedom and correctness of outline, they fall undoubtedly far behind the inimitable productions of the Greeks ; but they have a grandeur, a dignity, a boldness, a strength, and an appearance of life, which render them even intrinsically valuable as works of art; and, considering the time at which they were produced, must excite our surprise and admiration." Herodotus, by G. RAWLIXSON, vol. i., pp. 4<95-i97, first ed.
The bas-reliefs represent the life of the king in war and in peace. In battle he is seen with the Ferolier or bird over his head, symbolising the protecting care of the deity. The kings of Assyria had a park stocked with wild animals supplied by the tributes and presents of subject peoples. Some of the finest sculptures are those where the king is hunting these animals. The spirited appearance of the horses, the power with which the lions are represented, impress every observer. It is interesting to note the decadence of the spirit of the hunt as represented in the later period of Assyrian art. The lions arc carried to the spot, and let out of cages, rather than started in the open. Indeed, we may detect even in sculpture the incipient signs of a decaying empire, which in less than fifty years crumbles to pieces.
Wall Surfaces
The Assyrians treated their wall surfaces as vast tapestries, covering them with a number of representations in relief. These were executed upon thick alabaster slabs, measuring as much as twelve feet square, fastened on the walls in rows
THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA 31
one above the other. The walls in part, as well a.s the pavements, were decorated with baked tiles, ornamented with designs in enamelled colours, of which the favourites were yellow, blue, green, and black. The motives of the designs included palm leaves and open and closed lotus-flowers.
CHART II. CHRONOLOGY AND ART ix CHALD^EA AND ASSYRIA.
BABYLONISH OH
CIIALD/EAN EMPIRE
B.C. .'34-1230.
Temple of Bowariyeh at Wurka, part of Mugheyr
Temple. Birs Nimnid, restored by Nebuchadnezzar probably
on ancient plan. Mujelibe, probably base of Temple
of Belli*.
ASSYRIAN EMPIRE
1st Period. B.C. 1230-909.
ASSYRIAN EMPIRE
2d Period. B.C. 909-745.
ASSHUR-BANII'AL.
B.C. 8S4-850.
SHALMANESER II.,
HIS SON. B.C. 850-823.
ASSYRIAN EMPIRE
3d Period. B.C. 745-647.
TlGLATH PlLESER IV.
B.C. 745-727.
SARGON.
721-704.
SENNACHERIB. B.C. 705-081.
ESARHADDON. B.C. 681-CG7.
ASSHUR-BANIPAL OR
SAUDANAPALUS.
B.C. 607-617.
Northwest palace of Nimnid. Nimrud supposed to be ancient Calah.
Central palace of Nimrud. Black obelisk, Nimrud.
Central palace of Nimrud rebuilt, and southeast palace built.
Khorsabad. Kuyunjik.
Southwest palace of Nimnid. Central palace. Kuyunjik.
CHART III. CHRONOLOGY AND ART IN PERSIA.
1. EARLY PERSIAN ACH.F.MENID.-E. B.C. 55S to B.C. 331. Cyrus to 5."8 Cambyees .... 558-529 Darius .... 521 480
Founds Passargadte Builds at Pas-sargaclae .
. B.C. 580 525
521
Xerxes .... 486-405 Artaxerxes II. Mnemon . 405-359 Alexander at Arbela . . 331
2. ARSACID.E. B.C. 250-A.D. 226.
3. SASSANIDJE. A.D. 226-A.D. 641.
Halls at Perpepolis and Susa Repairs Persepolis and Susa
465 405
PERSIAN ART
UNDER Cyrus the Great (559-529 13. c.) the Persians obtained ascendency over the effeminate Medes and spread their conquering hosts throughout the whole of Central and Western Asia. Their building activity, which lasted about two hundred years, may be regarded as the last echo of Central Asiatic art in the lands of Mesopotamia.
Both Medes and Persians belong to the Aryan race, and the family known as Indo-European. Their civilisation seems to have begun in the fifteenth century u.c., in Bactria; and the only knowledge that we have of it is gained from the study of the earliest portions of the Zendic writings. Their religion was based on the doctrines of Zoroaster, and seems to have consisted chiefly in the worship of one all-wise and supreme god, Ahura Mazda. About the middle of the ninth century B.C., the Medes settled in that tract of country which bears their name, and were brought into contact with Assyrian civilisation.
We can trace its influence in both Median and Persian arts. In sculpture it seems to have predominated ; but architecture, which must have been developed previous to any intercourse with Assyria, in spite of many points of similarity, bears the stamp of original fancy and genius.
Following the plan which we have already adopted, we shall refer readers to the chart for a chronological list of Persian ruins, and confine our attention to the most celebrated, i.e., the ruins of Perscpolis.
They arc situated upon a vast platform ; its greatest length fifteen hundred feet, its greatest breadth nine hundred and fifty feet. The stones used are very large, some of them from forty-nine to fifty-five feet long, and from six and a
33
34 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
third to nine and four-fifths feet broad. This platform is composed of three distinct terraces, at different heights above the level of the plain. The southern is twenty-three feet, the northern thirty-five feet, and the central forty-five feet high. A magnificent staircase leads from the plain to the platform, and smaller staircases connect the terraces. The ascent is very gradual, the rise of the steps not more than four inches.
" The arrangement of these stairs is peculiar; none of them
RUINS OF THE PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS Compare Platform and Approaches with Those at Khorsabad
being at right angles to the buildings they approach, but all being double, apparently to permit of processions passing the throne, situated in the porches at their summit, without interruption, and without altering the line of march."
There arc five important and distinct buildings upon the platform ; four on the central terrace.
These buildings are the palaces of Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes III., the " Hall of Audience," and the " Eastern Edifice."
PERSIAN ART
35
Type of Building
The type of all the buildings is very much the same. A square hall with a roof supported by four, sixteen, thirty-six, or a hundred pillars, is surrounded by smaller rooms or corridors and porticos. The stairs that lead up to the palace of Xerxes are decorated with bas-reliefs. The doors are
DETAILS OF PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE
Marble Columns the Bases and SJiafts Reflecting Egyptian and GreekIonic Influences; the Capitals Persian and Designed to Support the Timber-beams of the Roof
guarded by huge bulls strikingly like those of Assyria. It is interesting to notice that at Persepolis we have several examples of those buildings mentioned in the Bible as " gates." These were not the entrance to a city, but buildings where business was transacted. In some such " gate " Abraham bought his field, and Mordecai sat at Susa. The " gate " attached to the palace of Xerxes has two public entrances guarded by bulls, and one entrance leading to the palace. The roof is supported by four columns.
36 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
The palace of Darius lias been restored by Mr. Fergusson from the tomb known as that of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustam. " This tomb," he says, " is an exact reproduction, not only of the architectural features of the palace, but on the same scale, and in every respect so similar, that it seems impossible to doubt but that the one was intended as a literal copy of the other. Assuming it to be so, we learn what kind of a cornice rested on the double-bull capitals." FERGUSSON, Hist. Arch,, p. 176, vol. i.
The most magnificent of the square halls is the Hall of Xerxes. The bases of seventy-two columns still remain in place. It has been said that " in linear horizontal dimensions the only edifice of the Middle Ages that comes up to it is the Milan Cathedral, which covers 107,800 feet, and (taken all in all) is perhaps the building that resembles it most in style and in the general character of the effect it must have produced on the spectator."
The Great Hall of Audience is the last work we shall mention, and is in many respects the most remarkable on the whole platform. Its ruins consist of four groups of pillars sixty-four feet high. They bear capitals of half-gryphons or half-bulls back to back. The slender shafts are ornamented with varying richness. The bell-shaped bases of the columns are decorated with two or three rows of pendent lotus-leaves. Very little doubt can exist respecting the fact that the roofs were of wood, the form of the capital is so evidently adapted to support the ends of the beams. Much controversy exists regarding the material of which the walls of this audience-chamber were constructed. We cannot enter into the details of the matter here ; but we may say that the heat of the Persian summer suggests the likelihood of an arrangement of hangings such as is described in Esther i. 5, 6. In such a summer palace the beauties of art must have been enhanced by the blue sky, green prairies,
PERSIAN ART
37
and distant mountains of Klmrdistan, seen through the spaces between the hangings.
RELIEF PORTRAIT OF CYRUS
Note the Head-dress, Egyptian in Character, and the Wings, Symbolic
of Power
Sculpture
The remains of Persian sculpture arc much less complete than the Assyrian, which have been well preserved under the
38 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
crumbled bricks that buried them; while the Persian sculptures, on the contrary, have suffered much from exposure
RELIEF FROM PERSEPOLIS
Glorifying the King, Who is Represented in a Median Cap and Flowing Median Draperies
to the weather. The subjects and their treatment bear a close affinity to Assyrian ; but a style of higher relief seems to have been adopted in many cases.
ART OF EASTERN ASIA
EAST INDIAN ART
THE introduction of Eastern Asiatic Art at this point of our story involves a violation of chronological sequence. Meanwhile, it no less violates chronology to postpone its consideration until after we have traced the course of Western art. For two reasons, therefore, it is convenient to consider it here. Firstly, the Indian race is a branch of the IndoGermanic family, to which the races of Europe mainly belong. Secondly, until some fifty years ago, Indian civilisation, as well as that of the Chinese and Japanese, was a sealed book to the Occidental nations ; while the Oriental ideals and modes of expression arc so different to our own, that the art of the East, though it may have been created in comparatively recent times, still seems remote from Western consciousness.
The ancient glory of the Hindu empire first flourished in the land enclosed by the two sacred rivers, Ganges and Jumna, where even in the twelfth century B.C. stood magnificent cities, under the sway of Brahminical rulers. Between 600 and 5-10 B.C. appeared Buddha, who preached a purer, more human, and comforting religion than that involved in the old polytheistic belief of Brahminism. About 250 B.C. Buddhism, under King Asoka, obtained supremacy over the old faith, though the latter some centuries later reasserted its power, driving out the adherents of Buddhism, who sought refuge in China, Japan, and the Malayan islands.
With the triumph of Buddhism in India, the monumental art creations seem to have begun. King Asoka is said to
39
40 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
have erected 84,000 buildings, in which were distributed the relics of Buddha. The earliest form of those topes or dagobas" was that of a mound, containing a small chamber. It was raised upon a circular platform, which, like the structure itself, was built of solid brickwork, coated
THUPAIIAMAYA-DAGOBA
Note the Cupola-like Building and the Stone Column-posts
on the outside with dressed stones. Sometimes these buildings presented a series of cupola-like forms, diminishing in size, and had four handsome portals, with slender columns and lintels, the design of which was based on an older form of wooden construction. Further, the whole was often surrounded by a circle of stone column-posts, slender like reeds, and surmounted by a capital.
A second characteristic form of Buddhistic architecture appears in the Viharas. Buddha had set the example of the
ART OF EASTERN ASIA
41
contemplative life, and his followers returned to caves for meditation. Soon the natural hollows became transformed into regular underground chambers, the ceilings of which were hewn smooth and supported by pillars wrought out of tho living rock. Some of these, such as the " Cave of Karli,"
CAVE OF KARLI. SECTION AND GROUND-PLAN
Note the Resemblance of the Latter to that of the Roman Basilica, Type of Early Christian Church
bore a remarkable resemblance in their plan to the Christian Basilica, having even an apse at one end, in which rested a statue of Buddha.
By degrees the adherents of Brahminism began to vie with the Buddhists in the creation of rock-temples ; but theirs, as may be seen in the Cave of Elephanta, are distinguished by greater elaboration of plan and more exuberance of ornament.
42 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
Further, both religions inspired a development of the tope, which took the form of pagoda-temples.
Sculpture
Sculpture was at first influenced by the severe simplicity of the Buddhistic faith, and mainly confined to statues of Buddha in contemplation. But Brahminisrn continued to hold the imagination of the masses and gradually affected Buddhism and the hitter's expression in art. The sculptured bas-reliefs became occupied with representative subjects, treated naturalistically, and with increasing violence of gesture and composition, while the polytheistic belief of Brahminism encouraged the fashioning of weirdly fantastical and horrible forms both in the interior and on the outside of the temples and tombs.
Painting
Painting at an early period was adopted for wall decorations ; processions, battle and hunting scenes, and the figure of Buddha being represented in lively colours, particularly red, blue, white, and brown. They were executed with freedom and naturalistic skill. At a later period the Indian artists were occupied with miniature painting. By this time symbolism had hardened into a conventional tradition; yet, where the subjects are drawn from actual life, conventionality yields to a poetic feeling, full of tenderness and grace.
The first Hindu style of architecture is called the Dravidian style.
Temples
Hindu temples had four parts. The temple proper, corresponding to the cella of Greek architecture, contained the shrine for the sacred image. It was square in plan, with a pyramidal roof of several stories. This was called the
THE TKMI'LK OF MADURA Buddhist example of surpassing richness and beauty.
ART OF EASTERN ASIA 45
Vimana. The Mantapa, or porch, formed the entrance to the cell. The Gopuras, or gate-pyramids, were the chief features of the quadrangular enclosures. The Choultries were pillared halls. Most of the temples had tanks or wells of water connected with them.
The Ramisseram is one of the finest temples in the Dravidian style. Its outer wall was twenty feet high, and it had four stone gopuras. The most remarkable features of the temple were the long corridors in the columned hall. The height of these corridors was about thirty feet, the width from twenty to thirty feet. They were seven hundred feet long, a hundred feet longer than St. Peter's in Rome. The side corridors are the finest, because they were comparatively free from the debased figure-sculpture which detracts a little from the effect of the central corridors.
Civil architecture in the Dravidian style was a late growth and was the result of Mohammedan influence.
The second Hindu style, or Chalukyan style, is less known than any of the other varieties of Hindu architecture. Chalukyan temples had peculiar star-shaped ground-plans.
The third Hindu style is the Northern, or Indo-Aryan.
The outlines of the pyramidal spires and pinnacles of the temples were curvilinear. The towers were not divided into stories, and there were neither pillars nor pilasters.
We shall select the great Temple of Bhuvaneswar to illustrate this style. It was built 617 to 657 A.D. Its length was three hundred feet, its breadth from sixty to seventyfive feet. Its chief feature was a solid plain square stone tower, a hundred and eighty feet high, which curved slightly towards the top. Every stone in the tower had a pattern carved on it. The monotony of the building was thus relieved without breaking the outline.
In Central and Northern India we find some interesting monuments of civil architecture, such as tombs and palaces.
-16 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
One of the most magnificent of the palaces is that of Gwalior, erected by Man Sing 1-186-1 51 6, three hundred feet by one hundred and sixty feet externally. On the east side, this palace is a hundred feet high ; and, built as it is upon a rock, it has two underground stories that look out over the country.
In Cashmere we find an interesting group of temples (600 A.D. to 1200 A.D.). The sloping roofs of Cashmere temples, broken by dormer windows like tho.se of media-val buildings in Europe, are modelled after wooden forms. The roofs of the porches and doorways have the same sloping lines as the main roof's. The shafts of the columns have a curious likeness to Greek Doric forms. The typical example of Cashmere architecture is the Temple of Marttand, five miles east of Islamabad, the ancient capital of the valley. Its beauty is due, in a great measure, to its situation.
" It stands well on an elevated plateau, from which a most extensive view is obtained over a great part of the valley. No tree or house interferes with its solitary grandeur; and its ruins shaken down apparently by an earthquake lie scattered as they fell, and are unobscured by vegetation, nor are they vulgarised by any modern accretions. Add to this the mystery that hangs over their origin, and a Western impress on its details unusual in the Kast, but which calls back the memory of familiar forms, and suggests thoughts that throw a veil of poetry over its history more than sufficient to excite admiration in the most prosaic spectators." FERGUSSON.
Its plan is interesting, from its resemblance to the plan of the Temple of the Jews. The dimensions of the court that encloses the cclla arc two hundred and twenty feet by a hundred and forty-two feet. The interior of this court was probably filled with water, and stepping-stones led from the entrance-gate to the cclla. The reason for erecting temples in water was, that they might be more directly under " the pro-
ART OF EASTERN ASIA 4*7
tection of the Nagas, or human-bodied and snake-tailed gods, who were jealously worshipped for ages throughout Cashmere."
The monuments in Nepal are comparatively modern, none earlier than the fourteenth century. The Nepalese temples are in many stories, divided from each other by sloping roofs.
In Farther India, in Burmah, the monastic system of Buddhism flourishes at the present day. There are a number of stone pagodas there, but the monasteries are built of wood.
Siamese architecture had many local peculiarities, which we cannot notice here.
Chinese Art
Chinese art, so far as it was employed for religious purposes, was inspired by Buddhism, which began to spread through the country about 50 A.D. Thp temples were usually of the pagoda type, but of wood construction ; the lowest gallery being formed of highly painted posts, often filled in with gilded fret-work, while the projections of the beams in the second stories were embellished with fantastically twisted carvings, in which the symbol of the dragon prevailed, and numberless bells were suspended over the whole. Another favourite architectural form was the " Tha," a slender tower, rising through many stories, and tapering to a point. The most famous was the porcelain tower of Nanking, destroyed in the Taiping rebellion of 1850. Further are to be noted the triumphal gateways, called Pal-Lu, placed in the streets and forming a single or threefold passageway.
As early as the twelfth century of our era there existed a great school of Chinese painting. It treated both landscape and the figure in a symbolical spirit, and with a noble
48 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
grandeur of feeling and technique. This disappeared after The Manchu conquest of 1640, and was succeeded by genre painting, characterised by lively naturalness of represent!
tion and delightful colour qualities. Meanwhile the inventive genius of the race continued to express itself in enamels, metal-work, textiles, embroidery, and, particularly, in porce-
EXAMPLE OF CHINESE PAL-LU Or Triumphal Gateway in Honour of Sonic Distinguished Citizen
lains and potteries, in which last the Chinese have excelled all other nations.
Japanese Art
The arts of the Japanese were derived originally from China, but received from this versatile and artistic people a native character. Their temples were of wood, richly adorned with lacquer and gilding, and carved work of exquisite imagination and craftsmanship. And, as in the
x *
^ r
- r
ART OF EASTERN ASIA 51
Chinese buildings, the roof and ceiling were treated as of emphatic importance in the design. The colour instinct of the Japanese differed from that of the Chinese. While the latter excelled in the harmonies of positive hues of red, white, blue, dark green, light green, and yellow, the former have preferred the secondary colours, and show a marked tendency toward golden browns, dark reds, black, and exquisite tones of grey. Both nations used gold with a wonderful reserve of tone, which harmonised the other colours.
The painting of Japan was the product of successive schools, preserving the tradition of some great master and, though fertilised by constantly renewed observation of nature, restrained by the severest laws of design. The motive is not naturalistic, but symbolical or interpretative, and, as in the case of China, the finest examples arc the earlier ones. They are executed on silk or paper, kept rolled and stored away, to be occasionally brought forth and displayed upon the wall for separate and intimate enjoyment. In some cases they are mounted on screens. The later work, especially that of Hokusai, exhibits a more vivid delight in the actualities of life, and, accordingly, has been most popular in Europe and America. It is since 1865 that the knowledge of Japanese art has penetrated the Occident. Its influence has been immense, particularly in the way of composition and colour; encouraging a taste for subtle harmonies and flat treatment of colour, and supplying " Impressionism " with an apparently unstudied kind of composition, adapted to momentary and fugitive effects.
ART OF WESTERN ASIA
WK now return to the chronological sequence, which was interrupted by the consideration of Eastern Asiatic Art.
The traveller who has pointed out to him the sites of Tyre and Sidon on the .Mediterranean coast of Syria finds it difficult to realise that they were once the central points of the commerce of the world.
The Phoenicians, who founded them, were of Semitic origin, and emphatically a nation of merchants. They excelled in the casting of metals and the manufacture of glass. They possessed the secret of a beautiful purple dye, and were skilled in the execution of gold and silver embroidery.
Their spirit of commercial enterprise induced them to found colonies in Greece and the neighbouring islands, in Sicily, Africa, and Spain ; and they were the medium through which the civilisation and art of Central and Eastern Asia were imported into Europe.
What we read of their architecture reminds us of the buildings of Assyiia and Persia, with their wooden and brazen columns, their ceilings panelled with cedar, and their Avails covered with gold.
The only distinctively Phoenician form in architecture that we know of is that represented in the accompanying illustration of a tomb from Amrith.
It is built in cylinders, decreasing in size towards the top, which is shaped like a dome.
Great as is the interest which centres around the results of recent explorations in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, the discoveries have not been of a nature to enlighten us concerning the art of the Hebrews. Some of the original courses of stone in Solomon's Temple, and a few tombs which
52
ART OF WESTERN ASIA
53
belong to late Jewish or Roman times, afford very little basis for restorations of Jewish buildings. The description of Solomon's Temple in the Bible reminds us of Egyptian temples ; but, for the present at least, the student of art can
TOMB AT AMRITH (RESTORED). FROM RENAX
Note the Rude-cut Half-figures of Lions, Primitive in Character, and the Dentated Frieze and Stepped Embattlements Above, Very Usual Designs in Central and Western Asia
form no accurate idea of its appearance. (Sec FERGUSSON, p. 191, vol. i. ) Painting and sculpture were forbidden among the Jews.
The only important artistic remains left by the early inhabitants of Asia Minor are tombs. For our present purposes these may be classified under three heads :
ROCK-CUT TOMBS AT MYRA
ART OF WESTERN ASIA
55
(1) Those of Lydia arc the most primitive.
In Phrygia we find many rock-cut tombs with a carved in imitation of tapestry. (3) In Lycia the rock tombs seem to be modelled after wooden buildings.
The few remains that we have of early sculpture in Asia
SO-CALLED TOMB OF MIDAS
36 Feet Broad; 40 Feet High. Note Plaster Decoration and also Arrangement of the Lintel Stones to Support the Rock
Minor are insignificant. Their style, if they can be said to possess one, is a combination of the styles of Egypt and of Persia.
Whether art in Asia Minor would have developed any originality or not, it is difficult to say ; for, when Greek col-
56 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
onies established themselves there, Greek ideas extinguished whatever life there may have been in the indigenous art of the country. Most of the architectural and sculptural remains that have been discovered belong to one or other of the periods of Greek art.
GREEK ART
THE kinship of the Greek race with that of the Persians and Indians is proved by the testimony of language; but history is silent us to when and how the branch of the IndoEuropean family reached the country afterwards known as Greece. The Greeks themselves called their progenitors Pelasgi, and spoke of them as barbarians. Their civilisation was Oriental in character, and probably touched its highest point of development at the time of the Trojan war.
Meanwhile the geographical nature of the country exercised an influence upon the character of the race. Greece is not only cut up into separate divisions by mountain barriers, but also has a seaboard that is very extensive in comparison with the actual area of the country. Meanwhile it is continued in an archipelago of islands which lie luxuriantly in the sunny sea. Thus the people of the mainland combined the energies of mountaineers and of sea-going folk, and at the same time, through the isolation of the small divisions of the country, became strongly individualised and attached to their respective communities. Meanwhile, the islanders, no less active upon the sea, were distinguished by their love of case and luxury.
At some time subsequent to the Trojan war, a hardy tribe or branch of these people, known as Dorians, descended from the mountains in the north and conquered the Peloponnesus. They continued to be the rivals of the lonians, who had occupied the southern part of the peninsula and the adjacent islands. Out of this rivalry grew an amalgamation of characteristics which reached their highest development in Attica, and its capital, the city of Athens. For it is a mark of Greek civilisation that it was based
57
58 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
upon the commercial principle, and readied its highest expression in centres of organised city life.
There was nothing awful in the Greek religion : the gods and goddesses were men and women, differing from the men and women of Athens only in the possession of greater beauty and keener intellect.
Given such circumstances and such a race, and the product was classic art, that carefully rounded system which never undertook what it could not perform, and which, if it described a smaller circle than has been attempted by art in other times, described one which could be completed by the mind and the hands of men.
Greek architecture well deserves the name which lias been applied to it. It is an order ; an intelligent, logical working-out of the principles of construction involved in the use of the post and lintel. The post is the upright, the lintel the horizontal support; in other words, the post is the column, the lintel the entablature.
The Orders
There are three important members in the entablature of a Greek order, the architrave or principal beam, which rests directly upon the capitals of the columns; the frieze or ornamental band; and the projecting cornice, which protects the frieze and architrave, as the capital protects the column from the inclemencies of the weather. The column is also divided into three parts, the base, which is an expansion of the shaft, having the same relation to it that the foot has to the human figure ; the shaft or upright support ; and the capital or bearer, which has been likened to a hand spread out to receive the weight of the architrave. The pediment or gable is the triangular space at either end of a building between the cornice of the entablature and the cornice of the sloping roof.
GREEK ART
61
There are three varieties of columns and entablature, the Doric, invented and most frequently used by the Dorians :
Temple at Corinth
Parthenon at Athens
DORIC ORDER
Temple at Delos
the Ionic, named after the lonians; and the Corinthian, a more elaborate style of later date. These are called the three orders of Greek architecture. We shall now proceed
62 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
to note the points of resemblance and difference between them.
Doric
The Doric is the simplest of the three. The shaft has no independent base, and rests directly upon the stylobate or floor of the building. In order to emphasize the column as a vertical support, and to give variety in the effect of light and shade upon it, the shaft is cut in channels or flutes varyin^ from sixteen to twenty in number. The decrease in the
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size of the column towards the top is not effected by a straight line, but by a curve called the entasis. This is a curve outwards one-eighth of the height of the column, and thence a curve inwards to the capital. Several fillets or narrow bands, and a cavetto or concave moulding, separate the echinus, or lower member of the capital, from the abacus or square block upon which the architrave rests. The Doric architrave is plain, without ornament of any kind. The frieze is divided into triglyphs and metopes. The metopes were originally open spaces, and the power of support was concentrated in the triglyphs, short rectangular blocks with two flutings on the flat surface, and two half-flutings at the angles. A triglyph was placed over each column and in the middle of the space between ; and the vertical flutings gave it the appearance of greater strength, and served to point out its place in the construction. If you will glance a moment at the illustration of the Doric order, you will see that if the corner triglyph were placed as usual over the middle of the column, and the frieze were filled out with a half-metope, it would give us the impression that the corner of the building was very insecure. Suppose the metopes to be open spaces, this apparent weakness would be a real one. To avoid this difficulty the triglyph was moved to the extreme corner of the frieze; and, in order that the space between it and its next
GREEK ART 63
neighbour might more nearly correspond with the spacing of the other metopes, the interval between the corner column and the one next it was slightly decreased. The little " drops " of stone which were placed above and below the triglyphs under the mutules were called guttas. The cornice projected over the frieze, and was finished by the cyma recta, or gutter from which the water was carried off through carved lions' heads. Acroteria were the pedestals at the apex and lower angles of the pediment, on which palm-shaped ornaments or small statues of men or animals were placed. " They offered," says Rosengarten, " an aesthetic contrast to the sliding effect which would otherwise have been produced by the oblique lines of the pediment."
Ionic
The Ionic order is lighter and more graceful than the Doric. The height of the column is from eight and a half to nine times the diameter of its base, while the best Doric was only about five and a half times its diameter. The columns are farther apart, being separated by two diameters in place of one and a half, as in the Doric. A greater appearance of lightness was given by increasing the number of flutings which divided the surface of the column. These are twenty-four in number. They are deeper than in the Doric order, and are separated from each other by a fillet or narrow band. They arc finished above and below with a circular ending. The Ionic column has an independent base ; the most common form is the so-called Attic base, which consists of two tori or convex mouldings and a cavetto or concave. In our example we have a more complicated form in which there are several cavctti, and the tori are cut in a series of annulets or rings.
The diminution of the shaft is less than in the Doric order. An ovolo (a convex moulding), richly decorated,
64 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
takes the place of the Doric echinus. It was partly hidden by the cushion-like scroll which .surmounted it, and which was finished on either side by strongly projecting whorls or
IONIC ORDER
From the Temple of Pallas Athene, at Priene (Caria)
CAPITAL AND ENTABLATURE
From the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates at Athens
volutes. The Ionic column was not adapted to be used at a corner, as it did not look well in profile. To avoid this difficulty, the volutes of corner columns were sometimes made
GREEK ART
65
ATTIC- IOXIC STYLE From the Erechtheum at Athens
to meet diagonally at both sides. (See corner column of Erechtheum. )
A moulded band separated the whorled abacus from the architrave, which was divided into several layers, or fascia', projecting slightly one above the other.
The frieze is not divided into blocks as in the Doric order, hut consists of a continuous line of ornament. The cornice is constructed of a series of bands and mouldings, each one projecting above the other, and is terminated by the richly carved cyma recta. The square tooth-like ornaments on the cornice are the so-called dentils.
Corinthian
The Corinthian differs from the Ionic and Doric chiefly in the form of the capital.
* * * v. v, c* ,/ 1 L> en
Its proportions, however, are more slender than the Ionic, as the height of the column is sometimes ten times its diam-
66 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
etcr. The base mentioned in connection with the Ionic order as the Attic base is usually employed.
Much more space is devoted to the capital in the Corinthian order than in either of the others.
Its shape is that of an expanded calyx, and the decorations upon it are borrowed from the vegetable kingdom. Just above the astragal, a narrow moulding encircling the column, two rows of leaves spring up. There are eight leaves in each row, and the leaves of the second row spring from the interstices of the first. Stems and buds curl up from among the leaves, and form a scroll at each side, and a volute at each angle of the capital. There are many varieties of the Corinthian capitals, but our illustration will serve as a specimen of them all. The most common decoration is the conventionalised leaf of the acanthus, a species of thistle. The Corinthian entablature differs from the Ionic only in its ornamental details.
We shall now consider the different classes of Greek buildings, referring students to the chart for a chronological arrangement of the existing remains. We shall direct attention first to the temple.
Temples
Its earliest and simplest form in Greece was the tcmpliim in antis, where columns were introduced to form a portico between the projecting walls of the eel la. The prostyle was a temple in which the corner columns of the portico were detached from the cclla walls. The peripteral temple was entirely surrounded by a colonnade; the double peripteral had a double colonnade. In the pseudo or false-dipteral, space was left for a second row of columns, but the columns themselves were omitted.
We must distinguish between the three stages of the
LYSICRATES MONUMENT
The purpose of this and other Choragic Monuments was to support the tripod which had been gained in the musical contest and dedicated by the individual to the glory of the community.
GREEK ART
69
archaic, the transition, and the perfect Doric temple. The first of these is the peripteral temple of Poseidon at Pagstum.
GROUND-PLANS
Prostyles
Double Templum in Antis
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Peripteral
The proportions of the columns are heavy and massive, the diminution of the shaft is very great, and the height of the entablature is equal to about half the height of the column.
70
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
The temple was an hypsethral temple; that is, the cella was lighted by an open space in the roof.
The temple of Theseus, built to contain the remains of that hero brought to Athens eight hundred years after his death, belongs to the transition style. The columns arc of more slender proportions. This building is in an excellent state of preservation. The temple of Athene Parthcnos towers above the other buildings of the Acropolis at Athens.
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GROUND-PLAN OF DOUBLE PERIPTERAL
It was built under the direction of Pericles by the architects Ictinus and Calibrates, 448-438 B.C. This temple was built upon a base of stone-work, and is both peripteral and amphiprostylus. There are eight columns at each end, and seventeen on each side. We must bear in mind that, in reckoning the columns, the corner column is counted twice. The proportions are those of the best epoch of Doric.
Proportions
The height of the columns at this period varied from five and a half to six diameters. The upper diameter of the
GREEK ART 71
column equalled about five-sixths of the lower, and the height of the entablature and pediment was about one-third the height of the column. In its decadence the proportions of the Doric order were slender even to effeminacy. Steps led up to the pronaos, which had a six-columned portico. Here the offerings to the goddess were kept behind iron railings, where they could be seen, but not approached. The cella proper was entered by a large door, and was divided into three aisles by two rows of columns, nine in each row. According to some authorities it was hypaethral, and the central nave was not roofed over. The celebrated gold and ivory statue of Athene stood in this nave. In the opisthodomus, the third division of the cella, treasures and documents were kept. The sculptures which decorated the temple we shall study later.
Erechtheum
As an example of an odd form of Greek temple, showing that when there was any reason for deviating from the usual plan, Greek architects did not consider themselves bound by conventionalities, we may instance the Erechtheum, another one of the buildings on the Acropolis at Athens. It is a double temple in the Attic-Ionic style, and is dedicated to Athene Polias and Poseidon Erechtheus, the two gods who, according to ancient legend, contended for the patronage of Attica.
The main building consists of a long cella running east and west. A portico of six Ionic columns leads to the shrine consecrated to Athene Polias. A solid wall of masonry separates this from the western cella of Poseidon. A portico on the north, supported by six Ionic columns, leads into a narrow corridor, from which the shrine of Poseidon is entered by three doors with a short ascent of steps.
The western fa9ade was adorned with a row of columns and windows, an unusual feature in Greek temples. At the
72 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
southern end of the corridor was a small portico inaccessible from without. Its entablature was supported by six caryatides, figures of maidens, sometimes used in Greek architecture in place of columns, but only when there was a light weight to be carried. The sacred olive-tree, which Athene gave to Athens, was kept in this enclosure, which was called the Pandroscum. The salt well and the dents of Poseidon's trident were to be found in his sanctuary.
From the temple we turn to the temple-enclosures with their entrances. The Lion Gate of the Acropolis at Mycenae belongs to the archaic period of Greek art, and is celebrated on account of the relief from which it takes its name, and which is one of the few sculptures of the time now extant.
Acropolis
By far the most splendid of these portal-erections is that of the Acropolis, or citadel, of Athens. Indeed, it has acquired an almost exclusive right to the name of Propylaea.
It was erected 437132 B.C.; its architect was Mnesicles, and it cost two thousand and twelve talents. A broad flight of marble steps led up to a portico fifty-eight feet wide, supported by six Doric columns. Five entrances corresponded to tin? spaces between the columns, while a paved marble road with grooves cut for the wheels of the chariots broke the line of the marble staircase, and passed through the middle entrance, which was broader tha'n the others. The interior of the Propylsea was divided into three naves by six 'Ionic columns. Steps led up into a kind of posticum with six Doric columns and an entablature and pediment similar to those of the portico. Two wings of the propvlfea present blank walls to the front, so as not to attract attention from the central building. They had porticos which opened upon the flight of steps. The northern wing contained the cele-
GREEK ART 73
brated paintings by Polygnotos from subjects out of the Iliad and Odyssey, and was called the Pinakothek.
We have no ruins of Greek dwelling-houses or palaces, and can judge of them only from descriptions. It is highly probable that the Pelasgians, with their Oriental tastes, built many palaces; and in some cases the treasure-houses which are supposed to have belonged to them remain. The most interesting of these is the so-called Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae. It contains a large chamber, forty-eight feet six inches in diameter. The roof is built of courses of stone, each one projecting beyond the next lowest until one stone caps the whole. The decorative details are quite interesting, and arc evidently of Asiatic origin.
Tombs
Greek tombs are very numerous, but arc not so important as in some other countries, where they are the chief monuments of art. Earth mounds and rock tombs belonging to the early periods of Greek art arc found in Asia Minor, in the Greek islands, and in Greece itself.
The stelai, " narrow, slender slabs of stone, gently tapering towards the top, with the name of the deceased upon them," are the most common form of monuments for the dead throughout Greece.
Among the more elaborate tombs, the most splendid is the tomb of Mausolus, one of the wonders of the world. It was erected to the memory of her husband by Queen Artemisia.
Theatres
The ruins of the Greek theatres date from the fourth century B.C. They are thus a century later than the classic period of the Drama, but are presumed to follow closely the plan which was then in use. The most important feature
74 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
was the circular space, technically called the " orchestra," in which the play was performed. It was on the level of the ground, formed originally of earth trodden or beaten hard, and contained only one fixture. This was the altar of the god, Dionysos, raised upon a small square platform, which occupied the centre of the circle. The latter represented the stage, on which both the principals and the chorus played their parts. The chorus stood or moved around the altar, while the principal mingled with them on the level ground or made his speech from the altar's platform, according to the requirements of the dialogue. After the chorus had made their entrance, they continued on the stage until the conclusion of the play. Meanwhile the principals appeared and disappeared as the action of the piece demanded. To accommodate them when they were " off stage," a hut or screen of skins or woodwork was created, which served them as a dressing- or retiring-room. This was technically called the " skene," and was the original of what we call scenery to-day. It was erected outside of the circle, on the side opposite to the spectators. The latter grouped themselves around the remaining three-quarters of the circle. Originally they probably stood upon the ground ; but later seats were provided for the more important of the spectators. In time these seats were made permanent and built in concentric tiers; the slope of a hill, where it existed, being taken advantage of to form a foundation for the rise of the seats. Gradually, as the theatres became permanent structures, the " skene " was elaborated into a simple architectural screen, furnished with a centre door for the entrance and exit of the principals, and with side doors through which the procession of the chorus entered and left the orchestra.
This plan and design remained substantially the same through the whole period of the Greek drama. The Romans, however, when they based their drama on that of the
o > as ^
GREEK ART 77
Greeks, deviated in important particulars from the plan of the Greek theatre. The drama had lost all religious significance, so that an altar was no longer needed. It had also dispensed with the chorus, wherefore the orchestra was abandoned as a stage and filled with seats, occupied by distinguished spectators. To enable them to sec, as they sat on the level floor, the stage was raised, sometimes as much as ten feet. It extended across between the ends of the horseshoe, formed by the tiers of the seats, and was backed by an architectural screen, the design of which tended to become increasingly elaborate. But this background was a permanent fixture, in which respect it differed essentially from our modern use of scenery, prepared for a special play, and changed in the course of its performance. This innovation was not introduced until many centuries after the Roman time.
Choragic monuments were erected to hold the tripod or three-legged stool, the prize given to the victor in a musical contest. They were often very beautiful.
General Characteristics
In conclusion we may make a few remarks upon some of the general characteristics of Greek architecture. The building material was stone ; and although wood was employed for roofs, or in portions of the interior, the construction was not in any way influenced by its use.
There is no doubt that polychromatic decoration was employed by Greek architects, but there is difference of opinion in regard to where and how it was applied.
Greek buildings impress us not by their size, but by the beauty of their outlines and the harmony of their proportions. It is now a well-known fact that every line in the Parthenon is a section of a circle ; but the curves are so delicate as to have remained unnoticed for centuries. There
78 A SHOUT HISTORY OF ART
is, perhaps, no better tribute to the merits of Greek art than this very circumstance that we are conscious of the beautiful without seeing the processes by which ii is produced. The prominent lines in Greek architecture were hori/ontal and not vertical. Principles, not rules, governed the architect, as we see from the variations which he made from commonly received plans where circumstances required it.
Above all, Greek architecture was an organic whole, and not an amalgamation of borrowed elements. It attempted to express nothing by means of symbolism. All its forms were simple and easily understood, and appealed, therefore, not only to the man born and bred a Greek in the days of. Pericles, but to all nations and all time.
TIIK VICTORY OF SAMOTIIKACE
Drapery more florid than in the earlier Victory of Paeonius, which also has no wings.
GREEK SCULPTURE
THE first plastic works of Greece were undoubtedly marked with a strong Oriental impress. They were the creations of the artisan rather than of the artist, and consisted of sumptuous decorations applied to armour, household utensils, and the like. The description of Achilles' shield in the Iliad gives us an idea of the splendour of this kind of work. The first representations of the gods were symbolic, a stone or a piece of wood ; and the earliest complete images were of wood. These wooden idols were very rude, but were considered specially sacred, even in later times. They were supplied with elaborate wardrobes, and were dressed and washed by regular attendants. Metal statues and clay images of the gods were introduced towards the close of the archaic period of Greek art.
The Cesnola marbles now in the Metropolitan Museum form a link between Oriental and Greek art, and are of great value on this account.
According to Miiller, the custom of making statues of athletes began about the fifty-eighth Olympiad ; and it is clearly apparent that life was infused into art through the study of nature necessary for the production of these semi-portrait statues. The sculptures from the Temple of .Egina now in Munich afford an excellent opportunity for verifying the truth of this statement.
In the beginning of the next period of art, we have two leading schools in Greece, Athens and Argos, and two artists whom we may look upon as the advance-guard of the Phidian style. These are Calamis and Pythagoras. We will not touch upon their works, but will pass on to those
81
82 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
of Phidias, who superintended the public buildings that were erected during the administration of Pericles.
Phidias
Judging from the praises of his contemporaries, his forte lay in the production of chryselephantine or gold-and-ivory statues. None of these statues are now in existence.
One of Athene stood in the cella of the Parthenon : it was thirty-eight feet high. The goddess was erect : the delicate folds of the tunic, or chiton, contrasted with the heavier folds of the gold pcplus, or veil, which could be removed at will. On the a'gis, or breastplate, was a golden Gorgon's head. The face and hands were of ivory. In her left hand the goddess held a. spear, and in her outstretched right hand a figure of Victory six feet high.
On the base of the statue the battles with the Amazons and the birth of Pandora were carved in relief.
The most celebrated works of this period, and those which we can study most carefully because we have them in a most perfect state of preservation, are the sculptures from the Parthenon, the work of Phidias and of his pupils.
Parthenon Frieze
The cella of the Parthenon was surrounded by a frieze five hundred and twenty-four feet long, on which the great PanAthenaic procession was represented in relief. The festival of this goddess took place every four years. It terminated in a procession, in which all the^ people took part. The object of the procession was to convey in solemn state to the temple of Athene Polias the peplus, or sacred veil, upon which some mythological subject had been embroidered in the Propylaea by virgins chosen from the best families in Athens. The veil was probably placed on the knees of the goddess.
I.OUVBE
VKXTS ()!' .MII.O
Probably belongs to second century 15. ('., that of the Samothrace
Victory, but the grand dignity of the figure recalls the
great period preceding Praxiteles.
BRITISH MUSEUM
BY 3IYROX
DISCOBOLUS
Period just preceding Phidias, characterized by closest observation of life and suggestion of action.
GREEK SCULPTURE 85
On the western side of the cella we have the procession forming. Some are mounting their horses, some seem to be waiting for friends, others are holding back their impatient steeds. On the northern and southern sides we have two streams of the procession: on the north, horsemen, victors of the games, in chariots with drivers, and representatives of the alien residents in Attica, who were obliged to bear sunshades, chairs, vases, saucers, pitchers, etc., to remind them of their dependent position ; on the south we have again horsemen and chariots, led by the presiding magistrates of Athens, with deputations from the colonies bringing cattle sent to be sacrificed on the occasion. On the eastern pediment are the twelve gods, virgins carrying gifts, and the chief magistrates who marshal the two streams of the procession. In the centre a priest receives the sacred peplus from the hands of a boy.
The reins of the horses, staffs, and other accessories now missing, were of metal; and the hair and draperies were gilded and coloured.
In these reliefs we see that the archaic stiffness that characterised earlier works has vanished. The exaggerations and angles in the muscular development have been softened, but not to the point of effeminacy. The drapery is extremely graceful, and not so elaborate as in earlier times ; while a similar change may be seen in the arrangement of the hair. Above all, expression takes the place of the blank smile of more archaic faces.
Pediments
The fragments of the sculptures of the eastern pediment seem to mark it as the masterpiece and crowning feature of the whole. The birth of Athene was the subject, and the attention of the attendant deities was fixed on that one central point. Lloyd speaks of the wonderful effect of
o
86 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
space suggested by the declining chariot of the moon-goddess in one angle of the pediment, while the- horses of the sungod rise from the sea in the opposite angle, an effect which he thinks must have been heightened by varying degrees of interest and excitement displayed by the gods, increasing in intensity with their proximity to the central figure. The news of the new birth on Olympus reaches the extremities of the firmament as a vague and indistinct rumour. The attitudes of the Fates and Seasons, which are pendants in the extreme ends of the pediments, bear out this theory.
The statues of the western pediment are in a less perfect state of preservation than those at the eastern end. Athene, as the tutelary goddess of Athens, is staying the inundation which Poseidon would bring upon the land.
Waves, and groups of marine deities, occupy the space behind Poseidon, who draws back at the command of the goddess. On the other side we have the chariot of Athene, Erechtheus, Cccrops, the ancestor of the Athenians, and other figures, who join in rejoicing that the land has been preserved from the desolation of the sea. The metopes represent combats with centaurs.
Phidias may be said to have revealed the gods anew to the Greeks in the types which he created. The Venus dc Milo is a reproduction of one of these. In it we have a pure and elevated ideal of the goddess of love.
Jupiter Olympus, as represented in the gold-and-ivory statue made for the great temple of Olympia, was another of these types. We can probably form some idea of it from the impression of an existing coin of Elis. The Greeks looked upon it as a misfortune not to have seen this statue before death ; for in seeing it they saw Zeus, the omnipotent ruler and the benefactor of men, face to face.
We are tempted to close this account of the Phidian period
CT.EOMEXES
U1TI/I C.AI.I.KRY
VENUS DE MEDICI
Example of decline, when sculpture had lost its high spirit of abstraction and the type has been individualized.
VATICAN
APOLLO BELVEDERE
The hands arc poor, modern restorations. A bronze statuette, discovered near Janina, corresponds to the pose and gesture of this one, but shows the left hand holding a head of Medusa, not a bow.
GREEK SCULPTURE 89
of sculpture with a quotation from North's " Plutarch," given in Lloyd's " Age of Pericles " :
" For this cause therefore the works of Pericles . . . are more wonderful because they were perfectly made in so short a time, and have continued so long a season. For every one of those that were finished up at that time, seemed then to be very ancient touching the beauty thereof; and yet for the grace and continuance of the same it looketh at this day as if it were but newly done and finished, there is such a certain kind of flourishing freshness in it, which telleth that the injury of time cannot impair the sight thereof; as if every of those foresaid works had some living spirit in it, to make it seem young and fresh, and a soul that lived ever which kept them in their good continuing state." NORTH'S Plutarch, p. 165.
Colour
Colour was frequently applied to sculpture ; not, however, to increase its resemblance to life, but solely for decorative purposes. Thus, for example, the hair was occasionally gilded. Sometimes the whole of the draperies were painted ; in other cases only the borders, and the latter were often enriched with metal or precious stones.
Polycletus
Athens, as we have said, was not the only centre of Greek sculpture at this time. The school at Argos reached its highest point during the same period, under Polycletus. His colossal statue of Hera, which has been preserved only in the doubtful excellence of a copy, was said by some to have rivalled the works of Phidias.
He carried the representation of athletes to great perfection, and one of his statues was looked upon as a canon of proportions for the human figure,
90 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
Scopas; Praxiteles; Lysippus
At the close of the Poloponncsian war there was a revival of sculpture under Scopas and Praxiteles. Their works were characterised by increased softness and delicacy of outline, great sweetness of expression, and almost too much finish in details.
The naturalistic tendencies of the Argive school under Lysippus present a stronger contrast to the idealism of the Attic school than in the time of Phidias.
After the Macedonian conquest in Persia, art again revived; but it was no longer associated with freedom and the state, but existed to gratify luxurious rulers, and to add its charms to the splendour of court life.
Schools of Rhodes and Pergamos
The most influential schools were at Rhodes and Pergamos. The character of the works of the time was theatrical ; and pathos was expressed to an extent almost inadmissible in marble, certainly inadmissible according to the Phidian ideal. The Laocoon group is one of the most characteristic and well-known works of the school of Rhodes. Laocoon was a priest of Apollo, and was destroyed at the altar with his two sons by serpents sent from the gods to punish his blasphemy. The central figure of the father expresses the most intense mental and physical agony, as he struggles in the coils of the serpents, and sees his two sons inextricably entangled by the venomous beasts.
The figures of the sons arc subordinated in size to the central figure. Some portions of the sons have been restored.
The greatest works of the school at Pergamos now in existence are the so-called Gigantomachia, reliefs representing the battles between the gods and the giants, recently excavated at Pergamos, and now in the museum at Berlin. Of the famous compositions of battles between Attalus and
TIIH I.AOCOOX
Of the Rhodian School, after the death of Alexander the Great. It
represents theatrical sensation rather than truly
drama tie emotion.
-a
GREEK SCULPTURE 93
Eumcnos and the Gauls, there are but a few single figures now in existence, of which the so-called Dying Gladiator, at Rome, is one.
The Famese Bull, now in the Naples Museum, is another work of the Rhodian school.
During the Macedonian period, portrait-statues, glorifying the different kings by representing them as deities, exercised the skill of the greatest artists.
GREEK PAINTING
THE Greek authors speak enthusiastically of their painters. Cleanthes is .said to have made the first silhouettes. Polygnotus, a native of the island of Thasos, decorated a wall in Athens with a representation of the battles of the Athenians and Lacedaemonians. After the Peloponnesian war painting deserted Attica and flourished in the Ionian cities of Asia Minor; Zeuxis and Parrhasius being the chief masters of this period. ^At the end of the fourth century B.C. Apelles was the favourite painter of Alexander the Great. A few relics of this epoch were discovered in the sepulchral chambers at Pa-stum, and are now in the Naples Museum. A very remarkable collection, comprising seventy-eight portraits, male and female, painted upon mummy cases, was found near Kerki in the 1'ayoum province of Egypt. They became the property of M. Th. Graff of Vienna; and a few examples have been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Greeks also thoroughly explored and developed the principles of polychrome decoration in connection with architecture and sculpture. Meanwhile the most complete record of their achievements in painting is to be traced in the great number of decorated vases which have survived, while all but a few examples of pictures and mural decorations have perished. Though the vase-painting was done by craftsmen rather than artists, it is to be presumed that the development of the latter is in a measure reflected.
Vase-Painting
There are two archaic styles of Greek vase-paintings. In the earliest there are no traces of Oriental influence: figures
94
TIIK ."METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, N. Y.
PORTRAIT FROM FAYOUM COLLECTION
Painted on a inuininy case.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, N. Y.
PORTRAIT FROM FAYOUM COLLECTION
From a mummy case.
GREEK PAINTING
97
are rudely represented in profile, black or brown on yellow ground. These vases are fair examples of that process of
Examples of the Late Period; Less Choice in Form and More Elaborate in Ornament. Covered with Polished Black, on which the Details Stand Out in the Red Clay or Sometimes in White or Yellow Tones
painting called sldagraphy, which was said to have originated in drawing from shadows.
The next step in advance was the pencilling of lines on the black figures, and it was probably in this style of outline painting that Polygnotus excelled. From these we pass to
98 A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
vases where the groundwork was painted black, and the figures left in the original red, and then lined in black. In these " red-figured " vases we can trace the advance of painting in attempts to produce illusion.
The compositions of scenes on the vases of this late period are stiff; in the plate we have two rows of figures, the upper row supposed to be behind the lower, but this circumstance is not indicated by any attempt at perspective. Many of the figures were personifications of the powers of nature. About 65 B.C. the manufacture of painted vases ceases. " The art," says Woltmann, " had lasted long enough to give us a faithful reflection, if only with the imperfections proper to a humble industry, of the graphic arts of Greece in the several phases of their history.' 1
CHART IV GREEK ART.
CHRONOLOGY. 1st. Archaic Period.
2d. Period of Greek 1
Art, j.
From Solon, 580 B.C.,
to Persian Wars, 4GO
B.C.
3d. From Pericles to Alexander. 460-366 B.C.
4th. From Alexander to
Destruction of Corinth.
336-146 B.C.
ARCHITECTURE.
Treasury of Atreus at Mycense. Remains of Ancient Troy.(?)
jEgina. Temple of Minerva.
Pcestum (Italy). Temple of Poseidon. Perip. and hypaethral. Doric. Temple of Demeter. Perip.
Doric.
A stoa and an inferior temple. Syracuse. Temple of Athena
in Ortygia.
Selinus. 3 Temples on the
Acropolis. Hexast. Perip.
f Temple of Theseus. Athens.
Perip. Doric. Parthenon. Perip. Doric. Propylaea. Doric and Ionic. Erechtiieum. Double temple.
Ionic. Great Temple at Eleusis.
Doric. Temple of Nemesis at Rham-
nus. Doric.
Temple of Pallas at Sunium. I Doric.
("Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Temple of Apollo at Phe-
galia. Doric and Ionic. a Temple of Athena Elea at | Tegea. Ionic, Doric, and
Corinthian. Temple of Zeus at Nemea.
Doric. Didymsean at Miletus. Ionic
and Corinthian. Temple of Pallas Polias at
Priene. Ionic.
Temple of Dioiiysius at Teos. Temple of Apollo at Delos.
Doric.
Temple of Zeus Olympus. Temples at Selinus. f Building of Alexandria and
Antioch. Mausoleum of Carian Queen
Artemisia. - Temple of Apollo at Daphne. Temple of Olympian Zeus at
Syracuse.
Monument of Andronicus Cyrrhestes.
SCULPTURE. Lion Gate at Mycense.
Pediment Sculptures from Temple of -52gina; now at Munich.
Metopes from Selinus. Statue of Didyniujan Apollo.
Sculpture from Parthenon greater part in London. So-called Elgin Marbles.
Frieze and Metopes from Temple of Theseus.
Fragments of Metopes from Temple of Zeus at Olympia Labours of Hercules.
Frieze of Temple of Apollo at Phegalia, Centaurs and Amazons, British Museum.
Metopes from Selinus.
Sculptures from Harpy Monument at Zanthus.
LaocoOn. Farnese Bull.
Dying Gladiator and Statues of Gauls.
Pergamos Marbles.
ETRUSCAN ART
THE Etruscans are supposed to have been related to the primitive inhabitants of Greece. They established themselves at an early period in the central part of Italy ; and from the sites of their towns, which were such as could be easily defended, we may infer that they supplanted the previous inhabitants. Their cast of mind was practical and gloomy. Their religion, judging from the tomb paintings, was a dualism, good and evil spirits contending for the souls of the dead. In Etruscan architecture we find Greek forms imperfectly understood, as, for example, the triglyphs. The most important elements in the architecture of this ancient people are the arch and vault. The arch was known to the Assyrians ; but the Etruscans were the first to use it extensively, and the Romans, as we shall see, borrowed it from them.
Architecture
The only important architectural works of Etruscan times that remain arc city-walls and tombs. The latter arc very interesting and numerous. Some of them are mounds of earth and stone, with a foundation of masonry ; others are cut in the rock, and have Egyptian-looking pillars to support the roof. The paintings found in many of these tombs are extremely interesting.
Sculpture
The earliest Etruscan sculptures have a marked likeness to Egyptian work. The outlines are square, and the figures without action. The drapery fits the body closely, the feet are joined together, and the eyes are wide open. In the
100
H
X S
t
i-3 3
OJ
< 5
!^ tc
x -
s
102
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
later period of Etruscan art, Greek influence preponderates over the native style.
The Etruscans excelled in bronze-work, and executed vast numbers of statues in this material. We can form some idea of the extent to which they carried this art, when we
WALL-PAIXTIXG IN ETRUSCAN SEPULCHRE
Scenes Represent Hunting, Banquets, Festivals, Etc., the Figures Being Drawn in Outline and Filled in with Bright Colour
are told that the Romans are said to have taken two thousand bronze statues from Volsinium after its capture.
Painting
Painting was a favourite art with the Etruscans. The walls of their tombs were usually covered with coloured outline sketches. The subjects of these paintings were scenes from every-day life, such as dances, hunts, banquets, repre-
ETRUSCAN ART 103
sentations of the worship of the dead, of funeral ceremonies, or of the condition of the soul after death.
The importance of Etruscan wall-paintings in the history of classic painting is very great. For, whereas our knowledge of Greek painting is nearly limited to the pictures on vases, in Etruscan tombs we can trace the progress of the art from the archaic style through its different phases until it disappears in Grax-o-Roman work. In the illustration we have a painting from an Etruscan tomb in which Greek influence is quite perceptible. The upper row of figures represents a luxurious feast ; in the lower row we have a boarhunt in a wood. The wood is indicated by a few sparse trees.
The picture is taken from the Grotto della Querciola, one of the tombs at Corneto.
Metal Work
The Etruscans were also celebrated for their small metal works, candelabra, jewelry, armour, and vases. Many of their vases can with difficulty be distinguished from Greek work. These lesser productions were much prized in foreign lands, even in Greece ; and it is probable that Etruscan art degenerated to a mere trade during the latter part of its existence. The art of working in metal was highly developed in the East, and it was introduced into the West through the medium of the Phoenician traders. Probably the imitation of Oriental decorative work first created a taste for Eastern forms in Europe.
ROMAN ART
WHEN we pass from Greece to Rome, we find ourselves in a totally different atmosphere. The individual is merged in the state, and the relations of life are studied from a purely practical standpoint. The Greek was a diplomat: the Roman was a citizen, a soldier, and a legislator. The Greeks were inventors : the Romans were conquerors and constructors. Greek culture spread over the whole world; but Roman conquest, Roman laws, and Roman civilisation paved the way for it.
The gods of Rome were not idealised men and women as in Greece : they were the " rulers of human affairs, and the prototypes of human virtues." Their will was not ascertained through the ambiguous utterances of oracles : it was a decisive " yes " or " no," revealed by signs in the heavens, and interpreted by augural science.
Whatever the Greeks borrowed became thoroughly incorporated in the body of Greek life. The Romans had the wisdom to appropriate what was good in the institutions of the nations they conquered; but, while they made it their own in one sense, it never lost its original character, so that Roman laws, Roman religion, and Roman life form, as it were, a long and splendid triumphal procession, bearing spoils from the nations that one by one acknowledged the power of Roman arms, and sought the privileges of Roman citizenship.
104
BASE OF TKOJAVS C'OM'MN Note the lintel of the door.
S c
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
AMONG the Greeks the outward form revealed the internal structure of a building. Their architectural decorations, like the drapery of their statues, served to show off to better advantage the grace or strength of that which they concealed. The Romans took the prominent features of their construction from the Etruscans, i.e., the arch and vault, and, adding to them the Greek column and entablature, produced a system of architecture that, in spite of all its magnificence, never became an organic whole. The Romans had neither the desire nor the ingenuity to conceal their plagiarism. Practical good sense and executive ability are everywhere shown in the construction of their buildings ; but, as a rule, we have to look for these merits under a mass of magnificent but sometimes inappropriate decoration, a splendid but ill-fitting garment that gives the casual observer no adequate conception of the use or beauty of the forms which it covers.
We shall now say a word in regard to the three orders of columns and entablature which the Romans borrowed from the Greeks, and to which they added two of their own, the Tuscan and the Composite.
Tuscan
The so-called Tuscan, or Roman Doric, is in reality only a modification of the Greek Doric. The shaft in this order is plain, the column has an independent base, and in the frieze a triglyph is placed over the middle of the corner column with a half-metope beyond it, showing that the practical Roman mind failed to grasp the principles which
107
108
A SHORT HISTORY OF ART
COMPOSITE CAPITAL ROMAN CORINTHIAN CAPITAL
.
V I
CORINTHIAN CORNICE FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS
ROMAN DORIC ORDER
had actuated Greek architects in their deviation from the laws of symmetry in the arrangement of their frieze.
Roman Ionic
The principles upon which the beauty of the Ionic order depended were not much better understood by the Romans
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 109
than those of the Doric, and the volutes of the capital were often transformed into meaningless whorls.
Corinthian
With the richer decorations of the Corinthian order, however, the Romans were more in sympathy, although even here they do not seem to have grasped the thought underlying the whole; i.e., the derivation of the ornament from plantforms.
They used heavy Ionic volutes in place of the tendrilshaped whorls of the Greek Corinthian. It must be said, however, that, if they lost thereby the unity of the decoration, this loss is made good by a decided gain in the appearance of strength.
Composite
The Composite, as its name indicates, is not an original order : it is a combination of the upper part of the Ionic and the lower part of the Corinthian capital. In some cases it can with difficulty be distinguished from the Corinthian.
An arch, says the dictionary, is " a curved structure open below and closed above." The wedge-shaped s
