I HISTORY OF ART VOL. I. LONDON : PRINTED BY Sl'OTTlSWOODE AND CO., NEVV-STKEET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STKEET HISTORY OF ART: IKG' RY DR. WILHELM LUBKE I'KOFESSOR OF THE HISTORY OF ART. TRANSLATED BY F. E. BUNNETT. IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. L SECOND EDITION. LONDON : SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE. 1869. Digitized by the Internet Arcliive in 2015 Iittps://arcliive.org/details/liistoryofart01lubk PREFACE. The increase of interest shown in works of sculpture and paint- ing during the last twenty years may be perceived by various favourable symptoms. This interest is not merely shown by delight in beauty of form, but it is combined with that deeper attraction towards historical knowledge which pervades our time. After Kugler, in his ' Handbook to Art History,' had for the first time traversed the whole grand field of art, and represented it in distinct outline, and Schnaase, in his ' History of the Plastic Arts/ had profoundly investigated and cleverly displayed the connection of artistic creations with the innermost life of nations and epochs, the desire for acquaintance with this historical pro- gress of the arts was awakened in cultivated circles, and at the same time the conviction gained ground that the enjoyment of a work of art was materially increased by the understanding of its historical existence. In the meanwhile, inquiry extended over all branches and epochs of the history of art, and such an amount of facts were brought out of darkness and oblivion, that even those who took active interest in the matter were dazzled by the infinity of the material. The scientific works on art history necessarily in- creased in extent, as from year to year there appeared a grow- ing accumulation of material. A comparison of the third edition of Kuo-ler's ' Handbook ' with the first is at once an evidence of this. In the same measure, however, the cultivated classes who vi Preface.' do not make such studies the vocation of their life, find their advance in this attractive pursuit impeded, owing to the bulky work through w^hich they must wade. For many years I had, therefore, cherished the idea of at- tempting a history of sculpture and painting, which should only aim at a simple delineation of the essential and grand features of the course of their development. I wished to write a book which should prepare for the study of the more comprehensive works of Kugler and Schnaase, and at the same time should offer to those who had not sufficient leisure for a deeper ex- amination, the principal facts of the history of art in a condensed and yet attractive form. The result of this idea was the ' Out- lines of the History of Art' My main object in the work was to help the cultivated reader to a deeper understanding of art and its productions, to afford him a survey of the whole course of development, and to give him an outline of the historical progress of art ; but at the same time to lay the principal stress throughout on her un- changeable laws of beauty, and thus to place in full light the various points in the development of art, while the intermediate stages of transition and preparation should be only generally alluded to. But my aim especially was to show the inner spiritual connection, in the artistic creations of the various epochs, from the time of the Egyptian pyramids up to our own day, and to discover in them the grand ideas of the advance of the human race in civilisation. A lengthy residence in Italy afforded me the desired opportunity of completing my own studies, and furnished me with abundant additions to my work. In subsequent editions, I have endeavoured to leave the text as far as possible untouched, but in every respect to make every desirable improvement. Whatever later investigations and my own continued studies have proved to be erroneous or Preface. vii insufficient has been altered and improved. In many parts I have found occasion to make large additions. I may especially mention the recent discoveries in Assyrian as well as in Hebrew- Phoenician art, the chapters on the monuments of Asia Minor and Indian architecture, as well as the observations on the art of the Japanese. The mediaeval epoch has received much new light from Street s excellent work on Spain, and Italian painting from Crowe and Cavalcaselle. I may thus venture to indulge the hope that my object to spread a taste for art history, and a delight in works of art among ever-widening circles, may be realised. I have aimed throughout my work at rendering intelligible the intellectual life of nations as it is reflected in the creations of the plastic arts. Who could doubt that this study is a necessary part of general history, and an important branch in the history of civilisa- tion ? The Fourth Edition has been also carefully revised by me, and enriched with the results of my own recent investigations, and with those of others. I have altered nothing in the text, but have rather endeavoured to preserve that freshness which is alone to be obtained by the expression of personal observations. As my descriptions are based almost everywhere upon autopsy, I have not wished to efface the stamp of it, imparting, as it does, an independent value to such representations. The additions to the new edition are nevertheless not incon- siderable. In the introduction I have added much upon the vessels and ornaments of the earliest epochs of culture, in which we can trace the germs of so many of the ornaments of later times. Classic art has a section rich in illustrations upon ancient artistic handicraft. A clear view is thus obtained of the important influence of art upon life generally. The early Christian art of the East has been essentially remodelled from Count M. de viii Preface, Vogue s work upon Syria. Much has also been obtained with regard to Hans Holbein from A. Woltmann's recent able work. Renaissance architecture, and especially the entire concluding chapter upon the art of the present day, have received consider- able addition and extension. Among the numerous illustrations added — and which now exceed 400 — I may mention the relief from Eleusis, taken from a plaster cast ; the female figure from the Parthenon, and the Satyr after Praxiteles, both from photographs ; the Head of Roxana by Soddoma, and Holbein's Solothumes Madonna. With regard to the latter master, various points of his life, especially the year of his birth and his residence at Augsburg, have formed the subject of controversy between A. Woltmann and H. Grimm. The latter has questioned the inscription on the altar-piece of the Augsburg Gallery, and I have also felt some hesitation on the subject. Having, however, a short time ago, investigated the inscription myself, and found it perfectly free from suspicion, I can no longer share Grimm's doubt, but must agree with Woltmann. The altar of St. Sebastian, also, I can now only ascribe to the young Hans Holbein ; and though it must ever remain an evidence of remarkably early proficiency, that a young man of twenty years of age should be able to pro- duce such a work, we have only to call to mind Raphael's Sposalizio, and Correggio's Madonna, which testify similar precocity. WiLHELM LUBKE. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. INTRODUCTION. Origin and Early Beginnings of Art FIRST BOOK. THE ANCIENT ART OF THE EAST. Chapter L EGYPTIAN ART. 1. Land and People . . . . . -13 2. The Architecture of the Egyptians . . , • i? 3. The Plastic Art of the Egyptians . . . .28 Chapter II. THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA. A. Babylon and Nineveh . . . . . -39 B. Persia and Media . . . . . -52 Chapter III. THE ART OF WESTERN ASIA. A. Phcenicians and Hebrews . . . . .62 B. The Races of Asia Minor . . . . .66 Chapter IV. THE ART OF EASTERN ASIA. A. India — 1. Land and People . . . . . -73 2. The Architecture of the Indians . . . .76 3. The Plastic Art of the Indians . . . . .83 b. Branches of Indian Art — 1. Cashmere . . . . . . -87 2. Nepaul, Java, and Pegu . . . . .88 3. China and Japan . . . . . .90 pa(;e I X Contents of the First Volume. SECOND BOOK. CLASSIC ART. Chapter I. GREEK ART. 1. Land and People . 2. Greek Architecture — a. The System b. Epochs and Monumental Works First Epoch . Second Epoch Third Epoch . 3. Greek Plastic Art — a. Subject and Form b. Epochs and Monuments First Epoch . Second Epoch Third Epoch Fourth Epoch c. Coins and Cut Stones . 4. Greek Painting — a. Nature and Importance b. Historical Development c. Vase-painting . Chapter II. ETRUSCAN ART Chapter III. ROMAN ART. 1. Character of the Romans . 2. Roman Architecture — a. The System .... b. Monuments .... 3. Sculpture among the Romans 4. Painting among the Romans Supplement. Ancient Artistic Handicraft 97 103 116 116 120 128 133 141 142 152 175 184 190 192 194 200 2"D4 219 224 242 263 THIRD BOOK. THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Chapter I. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. 1. Origin and Importance .... 2. Early Christian Architecture — a. Roman Monuments b. Monuments of Ravenna c. Monuments in the East and in Byzantium d. Monuments in the North 3. Early Christian Sculpture and Painting 275 276 286 290 302 305 Contents of the First Volume. xi Chapter II. THE ART OF ISLAM. PAGE 1. Character and Artistic Feeling of the Arabians . . -331 2. The Architecture of Islam . . . . . -334 3. The Monuments — a. Egypt and Sicily . . . . . '339 b. Spain ........ 343 c. Turkey, Persia, and India . . . . -351 4. Supplement. Oriental-Christian Art — a. Armenia and Georgia . . . . . '355 b. Russia . . . . . . . . 356 Chapter III. THE ROMANESQUE STYLE. 1. Character of the Romanesque Epoch . . . -359 2. Romanesque Architecture — a. The System .... ... 362 b. Extension — Germany . . . . . " . . 383 Italy . . . . . . . .403 France . . . . . . -415 England ....... 423 Scandinavia . . . . . . .426 Spain ........ 428 3. Romanesque Sculpture and Painting — a. Subject and Form . . . . . • 43i b. Historical Development — Lands on this Side the Alps . . . . -436 Italy ........ 457 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE FIRST VOLUME, NO. PAGE NO. I. Celtic Monument .... 2 ^6 X a,ictcc \JL i: cxocuuilb • , 57 2, Ancient Greek Grave 3 67- J-yCldllo ilUlIl ACloCUUllb • r-C 5^ 3- Teokalli of Guatusco 5 Rock Fagade of Royal Tombs in 4- Casa de las Monjas at Uxmal 0 Persia .... 58 5- Head of Tiaguanaco in Relief from Persepolis . 59 6. Vessels of the Bi'onze period . I 40. Relief from Persepolis . 60 7- Ornaments of the Bronze period AT Coin representing the Astarte Shr ne 8. Sphinx and Pyramid of Gizeh *9 at Paphos .... 65 9- Tomb of Beni-Hassan . 20 42. Tomb of Tantalus . ^0 DO lO. Capital of Beni-Hassan . 2 1 43- Tomb of Midas 69 II. Restored view of an Egyptian Temple 22 44. Rock Tomb at Myra 70 12. Details of an Egyptian Temple 22 45' Tomb at Kyanea-Jaghu . 71 13- Statue and Obelisk 22 4.6 Capital of the Column at Bhitari 77 14. Temple of Chensu at Karnak 23 47. From the Column at Allahabad 77 15- Capital at Karnak .... 25 48. Thu paramaj a- Dagop 78 16. Capital at Karnak .... 25 49. Cave of Karli 80 17- Temple at Elephantine . 27 50- Cave of Elephanta 81 18. Capital at Denderah 27 51- Capital at Ellora . 82 19. Egyptian Heads in Relief 31 52. Pillar at Ellora 82 20. Relief at Karnak .... 34 53. Pagoda of Mahamalaipur 83 21. Relief at Luksor .... 37 54. Relief from Kailasa at Ellora . 86 22. Ground-plan of the Northwest Palace 55- Temple of Payach . 88 at Nimroud .... 42 56. Temple of Boro Budor . 89 23- Ornament from Kujjundschik . 43 57. Chinese Temple . 91 24. Details of Assyrian Palaces . 43 58. Lion Gate at Mycenae . loi 25- Details of Assyrian Palaces 44 59- Details from the Treasure House of 26. Fortress from an Assyrian Relief . 45 Atreus .... 102 27. Assyrian Temple .... 46 60. Ground-plan of the Temple of 28. Relief at Kujjundschik . 47 Theseus at Athens 104 29. Assyrian Rulers . . 48 61. Section of the great Temple at 30. Assyrian Court Officials 49 Psestum . , . . 106 31- Lion Hunt. Relief at Nimroud 49 62. From the Temple of Theseus at 32. Head from Khorsabad . 50 Athens .... 107 33. Portal at Khorsabad 51 63. Ante-capita] from the Temple at 34- Tomb of Cyrus .... 54 Theseus .... 109 35- Relief of Cyrus . . ... 54 64. From the Athene Temple at Pricne 1 1 1 xiv List of Illustrations in the First Volume, NO. PAGE 65. From the Erechtheium at Athens . 114 66. From the Monument of Lysicrates . 115 67. Ground-plan of the Temple of Po- seidon at P^stum . . .118 68. View of the Temple of Theseus . 121 69. From the Parthenon . . .123 70. Ground-plan of Propylsea at Athens . 1 24 71. View of the Erechtheium , -125 72. Acropolis at Athens . . .127 73. Tomb of Theron at Agrigentum . 131 74. Capital from the Apollo Temple at Miletus . . . . -132 75. Metope at Selinus .... 143 76. Apollo of Tenea . . . -145 77. From the Harpy Monument at Xanthus 147 78. Statues from the Temple at ^Egina 148 79. Disk-thrower . . . • 151 80. Bust of Jupiter from Otricoli . . 157 81. Relief from Eleusis . . .160 82. From the Frieze of the Theseus Temple ..... i6i 83. Figure from the Parthenon . .162 84. Theseus from the Parthenon . .163 85. Metope from the Parthenon . .165 86. From the Frieze of the Parthenon . 166 87. From the Frieze of the Parthenon . 167 88. From the Frieze of the Parthenon . 1 68 89. Venus of Melos , . . ,169 90. Caryatide from the Erechtheium . 170 91. From the Temple of Nike Ap- teros . . . . . .170 92. Juno Ludovisi . . -173 93. From the Frieze of the Temple of Phigalia 1 74 94. Satyr after Praxiteles , . • 1 79 95. From the Breastwall of the Temple of Nike , . , . , 180 96. HeadofNiobe .... 181 97. Apoxyomenos after Lysippus . .184 98. Statue of Sophocles . . , 184 99. Group of Laocoon . . . .186 ICQ. The Dying Gaul . . . .189 101. Specimens of Greek Coins . . 190 102. Wall-painting at Paestum . .199 103. Dodwell Vase at Miinchen . ,201 104. Greek Vases of the earliest Style , 201 105. Vases in the rich and beautiful Style 202 106. From the Fa5ade of a Tomb at Norchia ..... 207 107. Tomb Facade at Castellaccio . 208 108. Statue of an Orator at Florence , 210 109. Etruscan Tomb Relief . . . 212 NO. no. Etruscan Wall Painting PAGE 213 Ill, Etruscan Mirrors . , , , 214 112, Corinthian Capital 221 113. Composite Capital 221 114. Doric Order among the Romans , 222 115. Corinthian Cornice, Arch of Titus 222 116, From the Vesta Temple at Tivoli . 225 117. Section of the Pantheon 227 118. Temple at Pola .... 229 119. Section of the House of Pansa 230 120. Hall in the House of Sallust . 231 121, Section of the Colosseum 232 122. Arch of Constantine 235 123, Bridge of Alcantara 235 124, Porta Nigra at Treves . 237 125, From Diocletian's Palace 240 126. Porte d'Arroux at Autun 241 127. Tomb Fa9ade at Petra . 243 128, Caryatide of the Vatican 245 129. Apollo Belvedere 245 130. The Reposing Nile 247 131. Roman Figures in Togas 249 132. Pudicitia from the Vatican . 250 133 Marble Statue of Augustus . 251 134. Busts of Roman Emperors . 252 135. Relief from Trajan's Pillar . 254 136. From Trajan's Pillar . 255 137. Relief from the Base of the Column of Antoninus Pius 256 138. Relief from the Arch of Constan- 256 139- Sarcophagus from the Capitoline Museum . . , . . 259 140. Wall Painting from Pompeii 261 141. Genre-picture from Pompeii . 262 142. Greek Prize Vases 265 143- Greek Amphorae and Craters 265 144. Greek drinking horns . 266 145- Roman marble vessels , 267 146. Antique candelabra 268 147- Antique gold ornaments 269 148. Roman armour , , . . 270 149. Interior of S. Paolo at Rome 284 150, Former basilica of St. Peter's at Rome , . , , . 284 151- Baptistry of the Lateran 286 152, Capital at Ravenna 287 153- Interior of S, Vitale at Ravenna . 289 154- Group of buildings from Djebel Riha 293 155- Capital from the Church of St. Sophia . . . , . 296 156. Ground-plan of the Church of St. Sophia 298 List of Illustrations in the First Volume. xv NO. PAGE 157. Facade of the Church to the Virgin at Constantinople . . .301 158. Minster at Aix-la-Chapelle . . 303 159. Wall Painting from the Catacombs of S. Calixtus . . . .309 160. Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus . 311 161. From the sarcophagus in S. Am- brogio at Milan . . . • 3 1 1 162. Ivory tablet at Salerno . .312 163. From the Catacombs of S. Agnese 313 164. Mosaic in S. Cosma e Damiano in Rome 319 165. Mosaic from the Church of St. Sophia 323 166. Emperor Lotharius; Miniature . 326 167. King David. Miniature . . 328 168. Mosque Amru at Cairo . . 335 169. Mosque at Tabriz . . . 335 170. Niche at Tarragona . . . 336 171. From the Kuba at Palermo . -337 1 72. Portal at Iconium . . . 338 173. Arcades of the Mosque Amru at Cairo ..... 340 174. From the Mosque Ibn Tulun at Cairo 341 175. Ground-plan of the Zisa at Pa- lermo ..... 342 1 76. Ground-plan of the Mosque at Cor- dova 344 177. Section of the Mosque at Cor- dova 345 178. Giralda at Seville . . . 345 179. Ground-plan of the Alhambra . 347 180. Capital from the Alhambra . . 349 181. Edge of arch in the Alhambra . 349 182. Portico of Generalife . . . 350 183. Portal of the Mosque at Ispahan . 353 184. Mausoleum at Bedjapur . . 355 185. Cathedral of Ani . . . -357 186. Church at Moscow . . . 359 187. Church of Monreale. Ground-plan 363 188. S. Godehard at Hildesheim. Ground-plan .... 363 189. Cathedral at Gurk. Ground-plan . 363 190. Church at Huysburg. Section . 366 191. From the Cathedral at Modena . 366 192. Base of Column from Parenzo . 368 193. Cubic Capital from Gurk . . 369 194. Capitals of the Church at Hor- pacz 369 195. Circular Arch Frieze of the Church at Wiener-Neustadt . . . 370 196. Church at Schwarz-Rheindorf . 371 197. Cathedral at Worms . . . 374 NO. PAGE 198. Baptistry at Parma. Ground-plan 377 199. Baptistry at Asti. Ground-plan . 377 200. Capital from Heiligenkreuz . . 380 201. Portal at Heilsbronn . , .381 202. Church of St. Michael at Hildes- heim. Interior .... 384 203. Cathedral at Treves. West side . 386 204. Cathedral at Spires. Interior . 388 205. Gross S. Martin at Cologne. Ex- terior . . . . '391 206. Cathedral at Limburg . . . 392 207. Cloister at Konigslutter . . 394 208. Cloister at Zurich . . . 396 209. Church at Trebitsch. Section . 398 210. Portal of S. Jak .... 400 211. Monastery Church at Jericho. Ex- terior ..... 401 212. S. Micchele in Lucca . . . 406 213. Baptistry at Florence. Interior . 407 214. Apsis of the Cathedral at Palermo 409 215. S. Marco at Venice . . .412 216. Cathedral of Modena. Fagade . 414 217. S. Sernin at Toulouse. Interior . 417 218. Notre-Dame du Port at Clermont. Section 418 219. S. Front at Perigueux. Interior . 420 220. S. Etienne at Caen. Exterior . 422 221. Arcade from the Church at Walt- ham ...... 423 222. Peterborough Cathedral. Ground- plan 424 223. Peterborough Cathedral. Section 424 224. Church at Borgund . . . 427 225. Portal of the Church at Tind . 428 226. Tower of the Church at Toro . 430 227. Cloister of S. Pablo at Barce- lona ...... 431 228. Ivoi-y Relief at Paris . , . 438 229. Relief on a Hunting-horn at Prague 439 230. Relief on a Baptismal Basin in S. Barthelemy at Liege . , -441 231. Chandeher in the Cathedral at Pi-ague 442 232. Relief from the Church at Gro- ningen . . . . , 444 233. Relief from the Church at Wech- selburg 444 234. Statute from the Cathedral at Chartres 446 235. From the Altar at Kloster-Neu- burg 449 236. Miniature from the MS. of Werner of Tegernsee . . . • 45 1 xvi List of Illustrations in the First Volume, NO. PAGE 237. Miniature from the MS. of the Eneid . . . . , 452 238. Wall-painting from S. Savin , 454 239. Wall-painting from Schwarz- Rheindorf . . . - 455 240. From the ceiling in S. Michael at Hildesheim .... 456 NO. PAGE 241. Relief from Aquileja . . , 459 242. Relief from Nicola Pisano's pulpit at Pisa 460 243. From Ciambue's Madonna picture 464 244. From Duccio's picture in the Ca- thedral at Siena . . . 465 THE INTRODUCTION. ORIGIN AND EARLY BEGINNINGS OF ART. The intricate complexity of things around us impels man to seek a knowledge of the spiritual laws which affect their internal connection. Only by the assurance of the deep necessity for such a connection can he calmly and clearly survey the appa- rent arbitrariness of the separate parts, and perceive, in the successive phases of life afforded by the history of mankind, a progressive development of the ideas and spiritual matter underlying them. If anywhere indispensable, it is especially so in the realm of art, as in its works the character of nations and centuries is sensibly manifested. The question, therefore, of the origin of Art is one that affects us closely. This origin, however, is not so easy to point out, because everywhere, although often obliterated by the productions of later civilisation, it took place in a similar manner, as may be seen even at the present day among nations yet in an immature condition. The period of this origin is, therefore, just as uncer- tain as the place. One nation dates the birth of its art a thousand years ago, another is looking for it still to come. Only so much is certain, that in the first stirrings of an impulse VOL. I. B OUTLINES OF HISTORY OF ART 2 History of A rt. to art, under all zones and at all times, there is a remarkable harmony to be observed. It is the original universal language of mankind, the traces of which meet us in the islands of the Southern Ocean, as on the shores of the Mississippi, among the old Celts and Scandinavians, as among the heroes of Homer and in the interior of Asia ; only this language never passes beyond its first stammering utterance. Man lies still too much in the fetters of surrounding nature, he ventures still too little beyond her immediate conditions, for him to rise to the por- trayal of images of individual freedom. Hence these primitive works ever bear rather the impress of a general necessity of nature, than the stamp of creations resulting from mental con- sciousness. The further man advances, in the course of time, on the path of progress, the clearer stand out the differences of individual minds, and the richer is the abundance of peculiar and manifold character. The simplest primitive form, produced by the awakening im- pulse to art, is the artificially raised hillock (tumulus) which marks the burying-place of a fallen hero, or a mighty block of stone erected by the joint effort of many hands, rough as the mountain yields it or some primeval flood has left it. Here, man's work is scarcely distinguishable from the casual formations of nature ; the inner associations alone which man connects with it give it a significance. The numerous combinations of such blocks of stone — circles of rocks and grottoes, rude table-like altars, such as we constantly meet with (Fig. i) — scarcely rise above the lowest , stage. Yet even here, by the extension of such designs, or by the colossal size of the stones, and the unusual character of their positions and combinations, their aspect begins to leave a spiritual impression on the mind. The awful sense of something mys- terious, mighty — aye, even fearful — seizes us with similar feelings Fig. Celtic Monument. First Appearance of Connection and Proportion. 3 to that by whch the foreboding of Divinity declares itself among- people yet in a natural and undeveloped state. Here, too, we first perceive a striving after connection and proportion, after composition and a certain harmony. Two mighty blocks of stone are erected, and a third is placed as a raised slab upon them. A number of such combinations are arranged in a circle, or in many extensive circles, and the central point of the monument stands out significantly. Thus it is with the famous stone circle (Stonehenge) at Salisbury. Double rows of raised stones con- duct to the place of worship, as at the great monument at Fig. 2. Ancient Greek grave. Abury. The tombs also are formed in a similar manner, many of such combinations being joined close together. Indeed, advancing a step further on the same stage of art, we find an inclination to fixed monumental construction, the tombs, enclosed beneath hillocks of rock or earth, being rendered secure by gradually inclining the layers of stone piled one upon another, so that at last a kind of vault arises. Other tombs have been so formed in a more simple manner, by making two stone slabs rest obliquely against each other, like the rafters of a roof (Fig. 2.) B 2 V 4 History of Art. We may regard the ancient monuments of America as a further stage in the progress of art/ Although these, in their highest perfection, do not occur till the period of our own middle ages, they still mark a primitive stage of artistic creation, such as other nations had probably passed through in ancient times. The monuments of Peru, evidences of the once mighty kingdom of the Incas, still have a decided character of their own. The remains of the mighty road, which stretched for miles through the country, boldly victorious over the most extraordinary difficulties of soil, astonish modern travellers. Other remains testify a predilection for terraces, and a use of the so-called Cyclopean stonework, peculiar to other primitive nations — that is, of walls, consisting of irregularly formed blocks of stone fitted carefully together, and the interstices filled with smaller pieces. The openings for the door exhibit a gradual pyramidal contraction, arising from the projecting masses. In Mexico and Central America, especially under the rule of the warlike and powerful Aztecs, art reaches the utmost height to which the mind of the primitive races of America could attain. The stone remains of a people, so highly developed to a certain extent, afford even now striking proofs of their incapability to produce a purer culture. We find among them the old monu- mental figure, original in every zone, fashioned with a fixed form, and assuming the character of a pyramid rising in con- tinual terraces. Vast courtyards enclosed in walls, and the dwellings of the priests standing in connection with them, formed a complicate temple building, such as that of Teocalli. (Fig- 3-) Broad steps led to the height of the platform, where captured foes were slaughtered to the horrible war-god Huitztilopochtli. Numerous monuments of this kind are to be found at Xochicalco, Papantla, Guatusco, Tehuantepec, and other places. From these works, more or less important remains of which have been preserved, we at once perceive the primitive deve- ^ Cf. Denkmdler d. Kinist, PI. 2 & 3. J. D. v. Braunschweig iiber die alt- amerikanischen Denkmaler, Berlin, 1840. Lord Kingsborougli, Antiquities of Mexico. Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central A7ne7'ica. Primitive Development of Decoration. 5 lopment of a second impulse, of a feeling for ornament and decoration, which ever speedily follows the awakened desire for monumental memorials. Two things here serve to excite the creative fancy : — in the first place, the original technical forms, by which drapery, tent-cloth, tapestry, and curtains are wont to be represented by the earliest pastoral tribes ; secondly, the imitation of vegetable and animal life. The ornaments of the first kind are generally richer and more tasteful in device, and Fig. 3. Teocalli of Guatusco. are more neatly executed ; they abundantly exhibit — e. g. in that riband-like twist which occurs among all nations — ideas of an artistic kind, such as have been bestowed on the human race as a common heritage. They are early applied to works of architecture, at first indeed in luxuriant overloading, without distinctness, rule, or systematic arrangement ; so that not unfre- quently they cover the whole surface like tapestry, and conceal the construction. Many of the later Mexican monuments, espe- cially that at Uxmal, are conspicuous for this. (Fig. 4.) Hand in hand with these primitive attempts at monumental buildings, we find the first weak efforts at artistic creations. Impelled by the needs of his limited perceptions, man, as soon as the working of higher powers has manifested itself to him, aspires to erect for himself a monument, with which he links the 6 History of Art. Fig. 4. Casa de las Monjas at Uxmal. adoration of Deity. At first he is satisfied with a rude monu- mental column, the mighty form of which he regards as a symbol of the mysterious and supreme Being. Thus architecture and the plastic art proceed from the same cradle. By degrees, however, man seeks to obtain a more definite image of his Deity ;,he invests it with his own features, only, partly from lack of skill, and partly from a vague yearning after the mighty and the vast, he distorts it into strange and sometimes monstrous forms. Re- markable instances of this also are to be found in the monuments of America,^ such as the colossal head of Tiagua- naco at Lake Titicaca in Peru, repre- sented in Fig. 5. No less important as evidences of the old artistic impulses of mankind are the vessels and imple- 1 Cf. Denkm d. Kunst. Plate 3. Fig. 5. Head of Tiaguanaco. The Bronze Period. 7 ments which are found in the tombs in Northern, Central, and Western Europe. The earhest of these belong to an epoch lying beyond all historical record, when the preparation of metals was unknown ; and hence their poor vessels were laboriously fashioned out of rough blackish clay, and their implements and weapons out of flint. Art has no share in the meagre productions of this Stone period. The stamp of vessels and implements, however, as- sumed another form at the appearance of that higher culture which is designated as the Brojize period. Here, too, there is no link with historical tradition ; but, in the numerous remains brought to light in Scandinavia, Great Britain, Germany, France, Fig. 6. Vessels of the Bronze period. and Switzerland, we catch glimpses of a more advanced stage of civilisation than can justly be designated Celtic. Mingled with the former implements of stone, we find weapons and implements of bronze, conspicuous for elegance of form and ornament. Together with the earthen vessels, there are metal utensils, expressive in outline, and adorned with engraved or stamped ornament (Fig. 6) ; some evidently cooking pans or dishes, as a, c, and and some, as b and e, richly decorated golden vessels, designed for festive occasions. Their ornaments consist of spiral, winding, or cir- cular lines, arranged in concentric rings, or surrounding the vessel like a frieze. The same mode of decoration, in still richer 8 History of A rt. variety, is exhibited in the bronze ornaments, specimens of which may be seen in Fig. 7. It is sometimes to be found in those of gold, but rarely in those of silver. From the pins of different kinds (k, /, n), the brooches, clasps, buckles {u, v, w, x) with which the mantle or over- Fig. 7. Ornaments of the Bronze period. garment was fastened, the simple finger rings (r, s), the head- dresses {c, d, e), to the diadems {a, b), necklace and bracelets {f, g, h, 0), with their spiral coils or hoop-like forms {g, p), all are executed with a taste for nicety of form which appears closely related to artistic feeling. No fixed dates have as yet been assigned either to the stone or the bronze period. So much, however, seems certain, that the knowledge of the preparation of metals was first imparted to the people of Western Europe by the Phoenicians, until, as is Limited Knowledge as to Use of Metals. 9 testified by numerous forms and foundries that have been dis- covered, they made the art their own. In the East, on the other hand, historical intimations as to the Hmits of both periods are not lacking. Thus Joshua was commanded to make knives of flints, to * roll away the reproach of Egypt ' from the children of Israel after their long wanderings in the desert. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, employed a stone for the same use in circumcising her son. At the end of the period of the Judges, about 1080 b.c, it is written (i Samuel xiii. 19), ' There was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel : for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock.' If a race living at that time in immediate contact with the Phoenicians was still unacquainted with the preparation of metals, it may be con- cluded that the use of metals did not reach the nations dwelling in the remote west until much later. Such early attempts, made in all quarters of the world, mark everywhere the artistic striving of all nations. The mysterious impulse to art is felt by all as soon as they attain to a certain point of civilisation, and the longing is awakened within them to ' give a sensible expression to their vague forebodings, or to leave behind a lasting testimony, a monument of their own existence. How, in the various groups of nations, mental capacity, outward circumstances, the nature of the country, and the propelling influence of human progress have brought this artistic impulse to manifold development, to gradual germination, growth, and glorious prime, will be shown in the History of Art. FIRST BOOK. THE ANCIENT ART OF THE EAST. CHAPTER I. EGYPTIAN ART. I. LAND AND PEOPLE. On the banks of the Nile we meet with the earliest traces of artistic work. As a higher state of civilisation is generally dis- played in valleys watered by rivers, we find this especially and conspicuously the case here. Without the Nile, Egypt would be as inhospitable a desert as any of the other adjacent parts of Africa. Flowing down from the lofty mountains of Abyssinia, the river rises annually with the utmost regularity, swollen with the mass of waters in the tropical rainy season, covering the narrow rock-enclosed valley with its floods, at the subsiding of which an extraordinary fruitful alluvial soil is left behind. This state of things, even in ancient times, was the source of prosperity and of a higher degree of civilisation. The wonderful stream compelled the inhabitants not merely to build protecting dykes and embankments, but it also early called for the arrangement of canals, by which its blessings might be regulated and universally dispensed. It even gave an impetus to science, as the regular return and subsidence of the waters soon became a subject of observation, and, with the help of astronomical examination, a matter of learned computation. Indeed, the whole life, depen- dent as it was on the river, acquired a distinct fashion, a fixed rule and order, so that a spirit of strict conformity to law was early peculiar to the Egyptians. Without doubt, however, the natural disposition of this remarkable people contained the germs which, under the helpful influence of outward circumstances, unfolded in such a charac- teristic manner. We may suppose that in the pre-historical ages, the people of the Pharaohs passed into the rich valley of the 1 4 History of A rt. Nile from their dwellings in Anterior Asia, crossing the Isthmus of Suez, that bridge of nations over which, through thousands of years, the races of Asia and Egypt streamed to and fro, both for war and peace. We may suppose that they partly subjugated the aborigines, and partly supplanted them, and laid the foundation of the Egyptian nation with their peculiar development of civili- sation. The character of this people was utterly separate and isolated; and just as strangely as the native river is distinguished from all other rivers of the world by the fact that in its whole course through Egypt — a land the length of which is equal to that of Great Britain — it receives no single tributary, not even the smallest, so did the ancient Egyptians reject with proud reserve all intermingling with foreign elements. Thus the land lay, like one long oasis, protected by its rocky walls, and surrounded by the sandy tracts of the desert ; and thus the people, like some oasis of civilisation, towered with fullness of vigour above the surrounding races, who were inferior to them in culture and in development. • The form of government, in which Egyptian life was moulded with marvellous stedfastness for thousands of years, was that common to the whole East — namely, despotism. But the severe, temperate, sensible turn of mind peculiar to the Egyptians pre- served their life from the voluptuous unrestrained character of Asiatic despotism, and directed their mind to useful and energetic work. The Pharaohs certainly ruled with unlimited power, and so high was their position above the whole people, even above the two privileged classes of priest and soldier, that they shared divine adoration, and were identified with the gods of the land. There was, however, an extremely complicated web of legal and ceremonial arrangements, which fettered the power of the ruler, and had to be respected by him. Next to the ruler, the priestly caste enjoyed considerable influence. The priests were the guardians of science, especially of geometric and astronomical knowledge, which they knew how to envelope with a veil of mystery ; they were the superintendents and wardens of the temple, the watchers over religious worship and religious views. Religious Notions of the Egyptia^is. 15 With regard to these latter, they were deeply rooted in a polytheistic system, the forms of which, for the most part, were only symbols of events and circumstances belonging to the peculiar nature of the country. Something of abstract ideas may have lain at the foundation of these views, yet they were linked in a remarkable manner with somewhat rude conceptions. This may be imputed to the fact that the gods were fashioned, after the divinely-esteemed Pharaohs, in human form ; but to the upper and nobler parts, especially to the head, a distinct animal form was given, differing in the different gods ; for most animals, noxious as well as innoxious, received divine adoration, and were embalmed like human beings at their death. This custom also is closely connected with the religious notions of the Egyptians. They believed, though rather in a sensual than a spiritual manner, in a perpetual existence after death, and they regarded themselves as living for ever. Hence their extraordinary care for the dead, their extreme reverence for tombs, treating the abodes of the departed with far more importance and solemnity than the dwellings of the living, which were only raised to meet temporary necessities, and were just as easily destroyed. All this invests the character of the ancient Egyptians with a serious and significant trait, stamping the whole being with fixed rules, and with strict order, self-possession, and equanimity. By dress, mode of life, and manners, no less than by language and by the figurative, significant, but clumsy hieroglyphic writing, so peculiar to themselves, they were distinguished from other races, and felt themselves, in their proud self-consciousness, so far superior to all other nations that they avoided even peaceful contact with them, and strictly prohibited all strangers from entering the sacred kingdom of the Pharaohs. The beginning of the political life of Egypt is lost in the impenetrable obscurity of remote antiquity. But as early as the fourth century, B.C., the oldest Egyptian kingdom consisted of the lower part of the land of which Memphis was the capital. Even at that time, magnificent dykes and waterworks were con- structed, and the pyramids were erected, their founders, the i6 History of Art. Pharaohs Chufu, Schafra, and Mencheres (called by Herodotus Cheops, Chefren, and Mycerinus), belonging to the fourth Mane- thonic dynasty. The ruling family had probably migrated from Anterior Asia, and had become mingled with the aborigines of the country. Besides the pyramids of Memphis, the rocky tombs belonging to them testify to the activity of art in that earliest epoch of the ' ancient kingdom.' A second flourishing period began with the twelfth dynasty, towards the end of the third century b. c. At this time it is proved that we first meet with the form of a memorial column in the obelisk erected at Helio- polis by King Sesurtesen I. Similar monuments at once prevail over a large extent of country, an evidence of the restlessly advancing and increasing power of the Pharaohs. The tombs of Beni-Hassan in Central Egypt exhibit the style of this epoch in its grandest significance. But about the year 2000 B.C., conquerors from Anterior Asia, under the name of the Hyksos, break upon the land, and drive back the power of the Pharaohs to Upper Egypt. This interregnum lasted about 600 years, until about 1400 B.C., when the interlopers were beaten and expelled by King Sethos I. The * new kingdom ' now rose to the height of prosperity, its central point being Thebes with its hundred gates. The eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, with their mighty rulers, especially the great Rhamses II., Miamun (the Sesostris of the Greeks), witnessed the golden age of Egyptian civilisation, as the still splendid temples and monuments abun- dantly testify. Imperceptibly, however, probably resulting from Asiatic contiguity, an over-refinement of culture crept in, and broke the old strength of the nation. The wise Psammetichus attempted another regeneration by the help of fresh mercenaries, about the year 650 B.C. ; but this lasted but a short time, for under his immediate successors Egypt became a prey to the Persians. So indestructible, nevertheless, was the national tena- city of the people, that in the monuments of a late period, even under Greek or Roman rule, the foreign conquerors adhered to the native forms of art, consecrated as they were by the tradition of centuries^ The Architecture of the Egyptians, 17 2. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE EGYPTIANS.^ The earliest monuments in the world are the pyramids of Memphis. They rise aloft like gigantic landmarks of history, witnesses of an age which stretches out into an almost fabulous antiquity. They designate the epoch at which a higher civili- sation first took root on the earth, and thus at the same time they become the commencement of historical life and of monu- mental creations. There is no longer, any doubt that the earliest of these monuments may be dated at least in the beginning of the third century. They testify, however, by the marvellous technical skill used in moving the weighty masses of building, and in that shown by the work of the chisel, that they are the concentrated results of long-tested architectural labour. The severe primitive form, devoid of all ornament, marks at once the artistic striving of a mighty primeval period. With an immense mass of building, computed in the largest pyramid at more than seventy-four millions of cubic feet, they enclose beneath their crys- tal-formed height a small sepulchre, containing the sarcophagus of the ruler. Narrow oblique passages, the openings to which are concealed by a coating of granite covering the whole exterior, lead into the tomb within. The most various and ingenious precautions in the construction secure the roof of these chambers against the immense pressure of the mass above. Either the mighty stone-beams of the roof are supported like rafters against each other, or, in order to remove the weight, spaces are left above the chamber between horizontal layers of stone. The building of the pyramids, as may be still perceived by several works left unfinished, was made after the plan of a terrace-like gradated structure, diminishing as it rose ; while the interstices were filled up in a reverse manner, beginning from the top, and forming the regular sloping pyramidal figure. The material for ^ Cf. Denkm. Kimst. Plates 4 & 5. Description de VEgypte^ &^c, Paris, 1820. 'Rostllxva^ I Monu?neHti delP Egitto e delia Nubia. Pisa, 1834. R. 'Le^gsms, Den kj?t. aus Aegypten und Aethiopien. Berlin, 1849. Gau. Denkm. von Nubien, Stuttgart and Paris, 1822. VOL. L C i8 History of Art. these mighty buildings consists in some instances of freestone, and in others of bricks. The most primitive architectural works in Egypt were formed most probably, like those of Mesopo- tamia, of the latter material, the preparation of which was more- over the severe and compulsory service of the Israelites. The desire for the highest monumental stamp of building, however, led the Egyptians early to make use of the rich strata of every kind which the mountain ranges offered on both sides of the Nile. In the pyramids, too, we find the use of stone already in such a high stage of perfection that we may argue long practice in it. The three largest pyramids are in the neighbourhood of Cairo, near the village of Gizeh ; and, from their inscriptions, they owe their origin to the kings Chufu, Schafra, and Mencheres. That of Schafra appears to be the oldest; at its base it measured originally more than 700 feet square, with a height of above 400 feet. Still more colossal is the height of the pyramid of Chufu, which originally covered a square base of 764 feet, having a height of 480 feet. It contains the unusual number of three tombs, the lowest of which is buried deep in the rocky stone of the foundation. Considerably less in extent is the pyramid of Mencheres, which only measures 354 feet square, and 218 feet high, but it far surpasses both the preceding ones in beautiful and careful execution. The sepulchre still contained the sarcopha- gus of the king, but in its transport the latter was subsequently lost off the coast of Spain. On the east side of each pyramid there is a small shrine, probably designed for funeral obsequies. Although only ruined remains are left of these structures, there exists in the neighbourhood of these three gigantic buildings a no less gigantic work of sculpture, which manifests in a similar manner a striving after grand effect; namely, the sphinx colossus, standing in front of the group of pyramids, a mighty lion's body with a human head. (Fig. 8.) This work of sculpture, which is almost completely covered over widi the sand of the desert, is 65 feet high, and more than 140 feet long, and is entirely ex- cavated out of a natural rocky elevation of the soil — an astonish- The Architecture of the Egyptians. 19 ing evidence of unsurpassable skill in the use of the chisel, and a manifestation of power in accomplishing such a task as is only shown by a servile people under despotic government. Connected with the pyramids there are some extensive private tombs ; and in the midst of these immeasurable and uniform burial-grounds rise those gigantic royal tombs, just as the Pha- raohs themselves rose above the mass of the subject people. Fig. 8. Sphinx and Pyramid of Gizeh. These private tombs are more or less deeply hewn out of the natural rock. They begin with a small sanctuary, intended for funeral rites, and from this an inclined passage leads down into the sepulchre itself Besides numerous metaphorical representations, the interior is constantly decorated with architectural ornaments, imitating in gay colours a wooden trellis-work. The threshold of the entrance also distinctly bears the appearance of a wooden construction, for there is constantly a round trunk-like beam uniting the two doorposts ; and even the ceilings of the apart- ments are repeatedly made in imitation of pieces of wood fastened together. Where the size of the apartments has ren- dered support necessary, this has been introduced in the form of square pillars, which are united either by a rectangular architrave or by circular beams ; a riband-like astragal surrounds the walls, which are crowned with a projecting concave abacus, a form which, we shall see, passed also into Persian art. Both c 2 20 History of Art, of these forms prevail through the whole duration of Egyptian art. The ceilings of these tombs are often completely arched with Nile tiles ; column-building does not seem to occur in this epoch. A second golden age of the ancient kingdom, falling perhaps somewhere at the end of the third century B.C., and comprising the twelfth dynasty, is marked in the first place by the mighty obelisk of King Sesurtesen I. at Heliopolis. In this work, equally characteristic as it is of the Egyptian mode of thought, the plain pillar takes its place as a fixed geometric figure, ris- ing upwards as a monolithic mass of quadratic base, gradually diminishing, and ending with a pyramidal point. To this period Fig. 9. Tomb of Beni-Ha:>ocin. we may also assign the tombs of Beni-Hassan in Central Egypt (Fig. 9), at the entrance-halls of which, as well as in the interior, for the first time, it seems, a regular and finished colonnade appears. We see here how the square pillar gave place to the octagonal, and then to the hexagonal, the latter having circular concave flutings, in order better to mark the narrow sides. Above the architrave, which connects the columns, there is a moulding designed in imitation of cross-pieces of timber. The column is connected with the ground by means of a circular disk ; it is separated from the architrave by a large projecting square plinth. Besides this form of column we here meet with The ArcJiitecture of the Egyptians. another, evidently fashioned in imitation of vegetable forms. (Fig. lo.) The shaft, which is sharply indented at the foot, seems composed of four united plant stalks, fastened together at the upper narrowed end by a band several times wound round them. Above these bands — the neck of the column — rises the capital, also in four divisions, in the form of a closed lotus-flower, and crowned with a square plinth. These new devices concluded the range of Egyptian architecture, and all the innumerable works of subsequent brilliant pe- riods only succeeded in developing more richly, Fig. lo. Capital of and in fashioning: with g^reater variety, the oripfinal Beni-Hassan. . ^> ^5 ^ ' i=> designs. When, after the expulsion of the Hyksos, the new kingdom rose with greater power and splendour, owing to the increased national self-reliance of the Egyptians, Thebes became the centre of rule ; and here for centuries the proud ambition of the Pha- raohs found satisfaction in the execution of the most magnificent monuments. Far beyond the lower country — indeed, deep into Asia, and up the Nile into conquered Nubia and Abyssinia — the tokens of the dominion of the Pharaohs were displayed in mighty works. The epoch of the highest development extends from the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasty, from the sixteenth to the end of the thirteenth century B.C. In this period especially, the system of Egyptian architecture was fully completed, an ever- recurring form for the design of the temples was obtained, and all the members of the building were transformed into an har- monious and characteristic effect. Upon extensive brick terraces, raised high above the flat banks of the stream, the Egyptian temple stood, a stricdy secluded building. (Fig. ii.) Strong surrounding walls, rising in pyramidal form, and crowned with the overshadowing fluted cornice, invest the whole with a serious and mysterious character. No opening for windows, no colonnade interrupts the mono- tonous flatness, which is covered, as with a gigantic tapestry, with 2 2 History of Art. variegated and mysterious hieroglyphics, representations of the gods and the rulers. On the short side of the vast paral- lelogram, on that turned towards the river bank, stands the narrow lofty entrance, between two tower-like structures, rising Fig. Restored View of an Egj'ptian Temple. high above all the rest of the building. (Fig. 12, a^j In front of these structures, hollows are made for the insertion of great masts (Fig. 12, e,f\ which on festive occasions were surmounted by pendent flags. The entrance gate, like these Pylons and the surrounding walls, is crowned with the same lofty cornice Fig. 12. Details of an Egyptian Temple. Fig. 13. Statue and Obelisk. (Fig. 12, b, c)y which plays so great a part in Egyptian architec- ture. Extensive double rows of colossal sphinxes or rams often lead to the entrance, which is sometimes guarded by obelisks or gigantic statues of rulers. (Fig. 13.) The Architecture of the Egyptians. 23 Entering through the narrow portal, we find ourselves in a forecourt under the open sky, enclosed all round, or on three sides, with stone-covered corridors, which are attached to the surrounding walls, and open towards the court with colonnades. (Fig. 14.) This forecourt is never lacking in Egyptian temples ; it is even sometimes, in more important buildings, repeated after a second pair of Pylon structures. A hall, often no less in Fig. 14. Longitudinal Section and Ground-plan of the Temple of Chensu at Karnak. extent, is attached to it, and the mighty stone ceiling of this hall rests on columns placed in rows. The two middle rows, corresponding with the longitudinal axis of the building, consist of stronger and higher columns, and therefore support a higher ceiling ; so that a loftier central nave is formed, the side walls of which supply the apartment with light through broad and for- merly latticed openings. To this hall, which is no less necessary a part of an Egyptian temple, the inner part of the sanctuary is attached by means of smaller or larger apartments and halls, the innermost point of which forms the narrow, low, and mys- 24 History of Art. teriously gloomy cella. Here in mysterious darkness was en- throned the form of the God. Little that is certain is as yet known with regard to the end and importance of the separate apartments ; probably the inner courts were only accessible to the priests and to the initiated, who there solemnised the worship of the gods, whilst the adoring multitude may have possibly filled the vast forecourts. In all the apartments, like the outer walls, the ceilings, pillars, and walls are covered with metaphorical representations, the varied and splendid colours of which, and their wonderful symbolic designs, increase to the utmost the strong impression made by the buildings themselves. The remains of the ' hundred-gated ' Thebes, mighty even in their ruin, are scattered to a vast extent on both banks of the river, and have been designated after the modern villages esta- blished among the rubbish of the decayed city. The temples seem to belong especially to the eastern bank, the point, according to Egyptian notions, of dawn and life. Among them, the Temple of Karnak stands forth as the largest and most important, the sacred palladium of the kingdom. Founded by Sesurtesen I., in the time of the ' ancient kingdom,' it received under the rulers of the later kingdom constant additions and improve- ments, so that, with a breadth of 330 feet, it extended in length more than 1 1 30 feet. Through the mighty Pylon structure in front, to the gate of which a double row of colossal ram sphinxes led, a spacious forecourt was reached, 320 feet broad and 270 feet deep, and lined on both sides with a row of columns. In a remarkable manner, and contrary to rule in the structure of an Egyptian temple, the northern outer wall was broken by a smaller sanctuary, added at a later period, about 200 feet long by 80 feet wide. Passingf from the forecourt throug^h a still more colossal Pylon entrance, the most mighty colummed hall in the world was reached, built by Sethos I. and his successors during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries b. c. Its stone ceiling is supported by 134 columns, the middle twelve of which, larger and taller than the rest, enclose a loftier central nave. These central columns rise to a height of 66 feet, whilst the smaller The Architectitre of the Egyptians. 25 ones are only 40 feet high. This one immense hall, with its area of 52,480 square feet, is like a magnificent cathedral. A third Pylon entrance, to which an open court on the south side is attached, led to two granite obelisks erected by Thutmes I., and behind these to a fourth Pylon structure, at which the true sanc- tuary begins. Here in labyrinthine complexity are open and covered courts, chambers, chapel-like apartments, and columned halls, connected by corridors and galleries, strangely intermingled ; so that nowhere so plainly as in this gigantic monument do we see the conglomerated system of enclosure that prevails in Egyptian architecture. Significant colossal figures are often placed against the walls, combined with projecting pillars ; all the surfaces are covered with richly painted imagery, in which sym- bolic subjects and religious ceremonies alternate with historical representations of royal heroic deeds. The inner chambers were chiefly built by Thutmes III. and his sister. Characteristic architectural details are here also principally displayed in the columns, for which there were fixed forms, of the grandest effect, and fully corresponding with the powerful impression of the whole. Thus in the columned hall, the smaller columns have the closed Lotus capital, already seen at Beni- Hassan (Fig. 15) ; but the direct imitation of the natural growth of the plant is set aside, the capital is developed, like the stem, 26 History of Art. into a compact concentrated mass, the surface of which is decorated with gay hieroglyphics. But in the larger columns of the two central rows a new form of capital appears (Fig. 1 6), which follows out the idea of an opened Lotus calyx, and thus introduces a new artistic form for architectural skill. In order that the widely projecting edge of the architrave might not be encumbered and interfered with, the small square plinth was retained, as in the other capitals. Among other buildings belonging to this group is the great Temple of Luxor, which is connected with the former by an avenue of colossal sphinxes ; and also the so-called sepulchre of Osymandyas, a. temple really erected by Rhamses the Great, one of the finest monuments in Egypt. -Further on the western banks are the important remains of a temple at Medinet-Habu ; and there is also a temple in a northerly direction at Kurna, which, however, irregular in design and without a Pylon structure, opens in front with a portico of ten columns. It bears an inscription with the date of Sethos I. The powerful impression made by all these ruins is yet increased by two colossal kingly figures, which formerly belonged to a temple now entirely destroyed. The most northern of these is the famous statue of Memnon. According to their inscription, they owe their origin to King Amenhotep III., and represent his mother and consort. There are besides, on the western side, extensive rocky tombs, in which the rulers of the Theban dynasty are buried with their families. In narrow desolate mountain defiles, where the burning sun destroys every trace of life, these tombs of the Theban necropolis lie, first those of the queens (Biban e' Sultanat), and then those of the kings (Biban el moluk) of the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasty. A dark shaft leads from a forecourt into the depth of the rock, and opens into a large hall, the ceiling of which rests on pillars ; and from the splendour of its wall-paintings it bears the name of ' the golden.' Here stood the sarcophagus of the king, and the richly painted representations on the walls relate to his destiny after death. Other important monuments meet us further south, especially in Nubia. Many of these sanctuaries The Architecture of the Egyptu tans. 27 exhibit an essentially different form, the design being more simple, and their cella being surrounded with a corridor of Fig. 17. Temple at Elephantine. pillars, as is the case with the temple built by Amenhotep III. on the isle Elephantine. (Fig. 17.) Important tombs are to be found in the caves of Girscheh, Derri, and Ipsambul, the latter having a lofty facade of rock, richly chiselled, the principal ornament of which consists in immense colossal statues of Rhamses the Great. The caves of Girscheh, on the other hand, are built with an open fore- court and stately Pylon structure. Many smaller works, such as the enclosure for sacred animals, Typhonia and other things, also lie in the neighbourhood of the chief temple. The later epochs of Egyptian architecture exhibit in their works generally less grandeur of design ; but this is compensated by a richer and more varied handling of the architectural members. It is especially in the capitals of columns that the idea of the opened Fig. 18. Capital of Denderah. ■28 Histoiy of Art. calyx appears in the most abundant variations. In addition to these rich forms, we find one that is entirely fanciful and sym- bolic, that of the four heads of the goddess Hathor, on the top of which a cube-like structure, fashioned like a small temple, receives the entablature. (Fig. i8.) The most important of these later designs are those of the temple on the island of Philae, erected under the Ptolemies ; the magnificent temple at Edfu, and the ruins at Esneh ; and, lastly, the splendid temple at Denderah, founded by Queen Cleopatra. The pyramidal form repeatedly occurs in this later period, as the monuments in the island of Meroe testify ; yet these works are built in smaller diniensions, and in a more perpendicular and slender form, with small forecourts or Pylonic buildings in connection with them. 3. THE PLASTIC ART OF THE EGYPTIANS. For three thousand years sculpture, the true companion of architecture, has ever produced among the Egyptians an abund- ance of monuments, in no wise inferior to the grandeur of their architectural works.^ But just as the architectural forms, if we set aside certain peculiarities of treatment; essentially remain the same throughout that immeasurable period, affording us a picture, only possible in the East, of an activity ever in motion combined with stiff monotonous style devoid of deeper organic develop- ment, so is it also with the plastic art. Whatever finer distinc- tions in the conception of forms, the ingenuity of more modern research may have discovered, the indwelling idea, the range of view, the proportion of plastic industry — aye, even the types and subjects of representation — ever remain the same for thousands of years, fixed and unchangeable as the nature of the Nile valley. The ground for this remarkable fact can only be traced in the position which the plastic art occupied among the Egyp- tians. This position may thus be briefly designated, that sculp- ture and painting, whether used in decorating the immense walls 1 Cf. Denkm. d, Kunst. Plate 6. _ The Plastic Art of the Egyptians. 29 and columns, and ceilings, with figures and reliefs, or whether they reared their colossal forms in front of the entrances, against the pillars of the forecourts, or in the interior of the sanctuary, in every case they stood exclusively in the service of archi- tecture. It is true that in all places this has been the primitive condition of the plastic arts ; and even among the Greeks sculp- ture had at first to conform to the laws of architecture. Still, wherever a free development of the individual mind made its w^ay among the people, and the plastic works began to be inspired by their songs and odes, the chains were soon burst asunder, and the works of sculpture, resting on their own strength, stood apart from the creations of architecture in a beauty of their own. That this spirit of the free development of the individual was lacking among the Egyptians, that, in true Oriental subjection, they blindly followed one despotic will, is the deeper reason why the plastic art could not rise in this people from its depen- dent position. By this the boundary is defined which characte- rises the Oriental turn of mind in general, which fetters all their artistic productions to the inexorable laws of architecture, and stifles in the germ all individual intellectual life. In the same manner, although with national modifications, we shall find this the case with all the other races of the East. In this respect it is certainly a remarkable trait that Egyptian sculpture aims decidedly at portraiture in its oldest works, in the remains left us of the early period of the old kingdom of Memphis. This is also to be seen in the remarkable priestly figures in the Louvre at Paris, and in the small and great statue of a scribe in the same collection. If in such remote antiquity we see a conscious artistic striving after individual characterisa- tion, we might have supposed that a free and vigorous plastic art must have developed itself ; but, far from this, the genius of Egyptian art reached only to the conception of the casual and the external. Wherever a deeper spiritual sense begins to lie beneath the features, wherever the living expression of sub- jective feeling and. of individual mind was to be expressed in the lineaments, the insurmountable barrier arose. Hence, in History of Art. spite of portraiture, there is the endless repetition of the same kingly figure ; hence in the sphinx avenues, as in the pillared halls, there is the monotonous return of the same statues, with the same fixed typical expression, the same imperious bearing, the same symbolic attributes — so that the human form, like the animal, is held fettered by the general conception of the species, the one in no way superior to the other either in expression or in the marks of distinctly stamped individual being. This strict uniformity affects the entire bearing in all statues : in the sitting figures, according to Oriental etiquette, the feet are placed equally side by side ; the upper part of the body maintains a strictly solemn position, the head directed forwards with a fixed gaze ; and, as if to crown the apathetic repose of the whole, both arms, with their flat outstretched hands, fit close to the body and waist as if moulded out of one cast. The same absolute repose is preserved by the standing figures constantly placed on the front of pillars — the same fixed look, legs closely joined, and arms crossed over the breast, not as the Caryatides and Atlantas of Greek art, with the strained energy of support, but in Oriental passiveness leaning against the architectural members. Still these mighty figures, which Egyptian art loved to fashion in colossal size, are just as diverse from the dreamily tender or wild fantastic figures of the Indians as they are from the strong, compact, and somewhat coarsely-inclined creations of Assyrian art. Egyptian sculpture presents to our view a sinewy, slender, and elastic race of beings. Breast and shoulders are without roundness, broad and powerful ; the arms long, sinewy, and muscular ; the body with slender hips and legs, inclining rather to thinness than stoutness, and everywhere exhibiting in the clearly expressed play of muscles the capacity of a people accustomed to work and to endurance. The heads (Fig. 19), in spite of their predilection for portraiture, have a decided national stamp of unmistakeable Semitic descent. The form of the skull is flat ; and this, joined to the extremely low and receding brow, gives the idea of a deficiency of imaginative feeling. The small oval and obliquely placed eyes suggest acuteness and cunning. The nose. The Plastic Art of the Egyptians. 3^ coming out from between the broad prominent cheekbones, with the bridge sHghtly curved, is brought into close union with the projecting lower parts of the face, which, from the voluptuous lips and the corners of the mouth draw^n upwards, bear an Fig. 19. Egyptian Heads in Relief. expression of sensual ease. We perceive even in the national physiognomy that this people was predetermined rather for the real representation of intellectual life than for higher ideal creations. The physical structure is throughout treated scientifically. The firm build of the whole, the meaning and movement of the limbs, is clearly comprehended ; the drapery for the most part is limited only to an apron, the hair is completely concealed by a cap, which in the rulers was combined with the simple or double crown or a fantastic headdress composed of symbolic attributes. The beard also was ingeniously wound round in a similar manner, and curiously bent into the form of a hook. It was indisputably of importance, for the conception of the human form, that the climate and the custom of the country prescribed only scanty clothing ; and even the fuller, richer drapery, such as the wall-paintings abundantly exhibit, was formed of light trans- parent material. Thus the constant contemplation of the human form must have made the artist sufficiently acquainted with it. 32 History of Art, Nevertheless, to put this knowledge into practice was only allowed under strict limitation, as even in the earliest period a fixed canon, in strict arithmetical proportion, was recognised for the forms of the body, and accurate adherence to this was enjoined by the law. This canon, it is true, was exchanged for another at a later period, when greater slenderness of proportion was desired ; and even this had under the Ptolemies to give way to a third. Yet in all these changes we perceive the varying taste of the period, often affected, as it is, by outward influences, whilst still, even throughout thousands of years, the strictly prescribed rule fettered all free movement, and closed the way to indepen- dent artistic works. The merit of the sculptor was limited to the execution ; and even this, from uniform assiduity and skill, was degraded into mere handicraft. It never occurs to any to inquire after the author of this or that colossal work, as the everlasting sameness of the repetitions, necessitated by the idea of one fixed model, suggests rather the hand of the manu- facturer than that of the independent artist. This also arises from the astonishing certainty and unwearied care with which the hardest material, granite and basalt, is worked with the same minute fidelity, whether in works of colossal size or of the smallest dimensions — a fidelity shown with ever equal accu- racy in the countless hieroglyphic writings on columns, pillars, obelisks, pedestals, walls, and sarcophagi. But that Egyptian art, especially in its colossal figures, does homage to the import- ance of the gods and the god-descended rulers is partly to be explained by the colossal size of the buildings, and partly by the want of real intellectual life, which instinctively seeks to compensate by outward extent what it lacks in inner value. Figures from 20 to 30 feet high are not unusual in sphinx and ram sculptures, in pillar statues, and in seated Pharaohs. The six standing colossal forms on the facade of the smaller stone monuments at Ipsambul measure 35 feet ; the four sitting statues of the great Rhamses in the principal temple there are more than 60 feet high ; Memnon, with its gigantic companions among the ruins of Medinet-Habu, is 70 feet high ; and the The Plastic A r/ of the Egyptians. 33 famous sphinx at the pyramids of Memphis measures a length of 142 feet. Colossal and numerous as these works of sculpture are, they are still far surpassed in extent by the boundless abundance of reliefs exhibited on all the walls of the temples, palaces, and tombs. In their infinite variety, embracing all forms of existence, in their animated and lifelike reality, they supply the deficiencies of the detached figures, and form, as it were, a reverse side to their solemn seriousness. Their object is entirely that of a chro- nicle-like and faithful historical narrative, a detailed account of the whole life of the Egyptians. Even in the earliest tombs of the old kingdom, thus about 3000 years B.C., the simple labours of agriculture and cattle-breeding, the relations and affairs of varied private life, are faithfully and fully depicted. The types, the mode of expression, the laws of plastic art, were also already established for this kind of representation, and were confirmed by long use. At a later period, on the gigantic walls of the Theban monuments and of the other memorials of the brilliant epoch of the new kingdom, we see plainly represented on the tombs all the incidents of private life, work, and employments of various kinds, recreations and games, such as are still in practice amongst us, cheerful social doings and festive entertainments, as well as religious ceremonies, sacrifices, and other solemn acts, burials, and even the destiny of the soul. On others we find, and this especially on the walls of temples and palaces, the events in the life of the ruler — solemn political acts and animated hunts ; peaceful incidents and warlike enterprises ; mighty hosts, in which the king, colossal in height, and towering above every- thing else, both men and cities, rushes along in his battle-chariot over the bodies of his fallen foes (Fig. 20), laying low whole armies w^th his weapon ; — or in sea encounters sinking fleets of vessels full of armed men ; and then at length seizing a kneeling people by their common hair, and hurling his battle-axe for the fatal stroke. Again, we meet with troops of conquered enemies arranged in rows over each other, and brought before the en- throned despot to render humble homage ; and in these reliefs VOL. I. D 34 J^stojy of Art. the various races are unmistakably designated by the charac- teristic conception of their physiognomy and costume. In all these representations an accurate and chronicle-like report, an intelligible memorial of reality, is always aimed at ; only a symbolic trait may be perceived in the fact that the form of the king Fig. 20. Relief at Karnak. Sethos I. surpasses all others in size. But this, too, is another evidence of how Egyptian art, wherever it attempts to express intellectual importance, is compelled to have recourse to conventionally symbolic and purely external means. That a deeper spiritual principle is lacking in Egyptian art, as in all Oriental, is to be felt also in the arrangement of these works. There is no idea of a composition in a higher sense. The representations are either arranged one over another in monotonous repetition, or in more animated inci- dents there is a confused jumble of figures. That in some in- stances regard is paid to the allotted space, and that the action delineated is often with great skill adapted to this space, is a matter of course in such an extensive exercise of the art ; but generally the representations cover the vast surface without any architectural principle of arrangement, and an insipid naturalism prevails which checks a higher law of arrangement. But in another respect also the animated representations of life The Plastic Art of the Egyptians. 35 do not pass beyond the level of those severely solemn statues. The passive repose of the latter arises, in truth, from the want of individual and intellectual life ; the varied action of the former rests entirely on outward physical activity. No special intellectual principle, no life of thought, is expressed in their countenances. They cannot tell us anything which goes beyond the sphere of simple practical doings, and thus nothing but the fixed monotony of Oriental matters is recorded even in their most lively action. Hence, in the course of centuries, they portray to us the life of the nation, variously remodelled according to circumstances, but no inner development of thought nor of artistic feeling. Although the representations may be richer and more animated, although, after the zenith of pros- perity reached by the new kingdom, a declension of power is evident, and a weaker expression is perceptible ; and again, under the new regime a fresher life makes its way, and this also gradually again degenerates — still all this cannot be regarded, in a deeper sense, as a phase in the development of art, for this only takes place when a new idea struggles into light in a new mode of expression. This leads us to the technical treatment of Egyptian sculp- ture. Although there is no lack of true relief sculptures, especially in the interior of the buildings, yet by far the greater number of the representations are executed in a manner espe- cially peculiar to the Egyptians, called by French writers bas- reliefs e7i creux, and by the Greeks koilanaglyphs. The figures do not completely stand out from the surface of the wall, and they have only a faint glimmer of plastic life from the ground round them being more hollowed out, and the sculpture painted with very decided colours, especially with red, blue, green, yellow, and black. These figures are indeed in their effect scarcely superior to those of wall-paintings, and they impart to the whole surface of the wall the appearance of richly embroidered gaudy tapestry ; but the preservation of the splen- did colours, owing to their solid preparation and the favour- able climate, is especially marvellous. This defective plastic D 2 36 History of modelling, and the slight hollow of the relief, correspond sur- prisingly with the little intellectual depth of these works, and with their lack of distinct character. The latter is so much the case in Egyptian sculpture, that there is even an absence of all distinction of age or sex ; and the thousands of figures, with a fixed uniform smile and stereotyped features, leave in the mind of the spectator one general idea. Much more successful, on the other hand, is Egyptian art in the representation of the animal creation, \'/hose lower and more sensual characteristics are finely conceived, and reproduced with living truthfulness to nature. This flatness of relief is connected with other peculiarities of representation, which are typically adhered to through all the epochs of Egyptian art. The figures are conceived with breast and arms turned frontways, and with advancing feet and head in profile. That this mode of position gave the figures a some- what twisted appearance cannot have escaped the Egyptians with their keen observation of nature ; and, indeed, instances are not lacking in which, although with small result, the profile position has been endeavoured to be consistently carried out. In fact, it was the slight depth of the relief which led to this conventional position, as in such limited space the perspective foreshortening of the separate parts was unable to be accom- plished. How this conceived form was introduced into the art of Central Asia, although the art advanced to a more powerful modelling of reliefs, we shall see later. Besides these representations in relief, in many places, and, it appears, especially in rocky tombs, wall-painting is employed to a great extent. Thus the tombs of Beni-Hassan are adorned with numerous paintings relating to private life, and the royal tombs at Thebes are decorated in the most varied manner with detailed representations. The conception and style of these works call to mind the execution of the relief sculpture, although the feeling for modelling and rounding of forms appears still weaker in them than in the reliefs. The strong and decided outlines are simply filled with the necessary local colour, The Plastic Art of the Egyptians. 37 without an attempt at sculptured effect by finer toning or shading. Here, too, we find the strictest fetters of style ; and during the whole duration of Egyptian art no higher stage of development is attained. While we have learned to regard the whole vast sphere of human circumstances, and the events of public and private life, as the true subject of plastic art among the Egyptians, there is, on the other hand, no lack of representations of a symbolic religious purport. But it is just these which evidence most of all the lack of a higher ideal feeling. Fig. 2 1. Relief. Rhamses III, between Thot and Horus. Luxor. In order to indicate the different gods of the country, re- course is had to outward symbols ; the gods, fashioned in human form, bear the heads of animals, which serve at the same time as the hieroglyphic sign of their names. Thus, Thot receives the head of the ibis, Rhe that of the hawk, Anubis is represented with a dog's head, and Ammon with a ram's ; among the god- desses, Hathor bears the head of a cow, and Neith that of a lioness. The incapacity for the embodiment of spiritual ideas, and for the expression of individual character, could not be more strikingly manifested than by- this mode of strange sym- 38 History of Art. bolic representation, arising from moderate powers of reflection. Although the combination of such heterogeneous elements, con- sidered purely externally, is not accomplished without skill and understanding of form, still the fact remains ever of the same serious importance, that, in the representation of the idea of deity, the lower forms of animals are employed for the seat of the higher mental faculties. More agreeable is that riddle of the sphinx, familiar to Egyptian art, in which a lion's body is added to a human head, a creation the grand character and mystically significant effect of which cannot be denied. CHAPTER II. THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIA. A. BABYLON AND NINEVEH. Westward from the Indus, there stretches a vast extent of country, which in the earHest ages formed the central point of an important civilisation. In contrast to the other regions of Asia, the overwhelming redundancy of nature here appears moderated ; there is no lack, indeed, of fruitful districts, but between them extend inhospitable desert wastes, and man, instead of being surrounded with a luxuriously productive nature, is impelled to active exertion in order to bring under subjection the opposing powers of nature. The position of these vast regions, which extend from the Indus to the Eu- phrates, has from the ages of antiquity subjected their people to constant changes ; and as the climate early induced a spirit of energy and an independent mode of life, an historical life, full of rapid change and rich in agitating catastrophes, was developed, while the supreme dominion over these naturally connected lands fell sometimes to one and sometimes to another of the races settled there. The oldest seat of culture in these regions is to be found in Mesopotamia, the land lying between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Here also, as in Egypt, the progress of civilisation was affected by mighty streams, which, in spite of certain differences, still present many analogies with those of the Nile valley. As the Euphrates flows in a far higher bed, and is more rich in waters than the deeper-lying and arrow-like Tigris, the whole level land is exposed to inundations in the spring, when the snows melt on the mountains of Armenia. These inundations 40 History of Art. early led the ingenious people to design magnificent dams and dykes, and a system of canals. While man was thus compelled to rule the powers of nature, and render them serviceable in order that he might gain from them the conditions for a pros- perous existence, the impulse for trade was awakened, the ac- tivity of the intellect was promoted, and a strong and energetic spirit was developed. Under these influences, even in the earliest ages, powerful kingdoms with mighty capitals, with a highly advanced civilisation and extensive commerce, rose on the banks of the Euphrates. Even the books of the Old Testament sketch in grand, short, impressive touches an image of the power and splendour of ancient Babylon, whose fabulous towers convey a notion of gigantic undertakings, imposing even to the nations of that period. The religion of these people seems, in harmony with these works, to have been practical and sensible rather than fantastic and poetic, and interests of temporal power and material gain were those which prepon- derated most in their partly warlike and partly commercial character. The mention made by the ancients of the buildings of Babylon tells of works of colossal extent and of grand simplicity of design ; thus, for instance, the Temple of Baal, which, pyramidal in form, rose in eight gradated stories upon a basis of 600 feet square, surpassing even the giant pyramids of Egypt. Similar in grandeur of structure were the walls surrounding the immense city, and the two royal palaces, and the Tamous wonder of the hanging gardens of Semiramis. Nothing is left of these mighty monuments, and only a row of shapeless heaps of rubbish, half choked with sand, and covered in spring with luxurious vegeta- tion, marks in the neighbourhood of the village Hillah, on both sides of the Euphrates, the place where once stood the proud mistress of the nations. This state of things is to be explained by the material which the Babylonians were obliged to use, owing to the utter lack of stone in a land formed by alluvial deposit. All buildings were made of tiles which had been dried in the sun, asphaltum serving as mortar. The mighty elevation A rt of Central Asia. Babylon and Nineveh. 41 of Birs-i-Nimrud, which is supposed to be the Temple of Belus, that of MudscheHbe, and the so-called El Kasr, which appears to be identical with the new palace of Nebuchadnezzar, are the most important remains. The marks upon all the brickwork discovered refer to this king, and therefore indicate the period about 600 B.C. Among works of sculpture, a colossal granite lion has been discovered, which was probably placed as a portal guard. To a still more remote antiquity do the remains of a gradated pyramid appear to belong, which are to be found at Mugeir in the Lower Euphrates district. They form a parallelogram of 133 by 198 feet, and the interior substance of baked tiles was covered with a facing of brick, which, with its slightly projecting pillars, had a kind of architectural construction. These ruins are re- garded as the remains of a temple in the primeval city of Ur or Hur, which was built, about 2200 b.c, by King Uruk. Still more important are the ruins of an oblong palace-like building at Wurka, forty miles south of Bagdad, since they afford an instance of apparently very ancient wall-decoration. Small wedges of burnt clay are pressed upon the plaster, and these, by being glazed over with various colours, form a tapestry-like pattern. Thus the famous tapestry-weaving of Babylon became a model for architectural wall-decoration. More important remains have been brought to light in recent times by the excavations at Mosul on the Upper Tigris. Heaps of remains of similar material stretch along the eastern bank of the river for about ten miles, and these are supposed, with much probability, to be the ruins of Nineveh.^ The excavations, first undertaken by the French Consul Botta, and then by Layard, have at least revealed the design and artistic decoration of these mighty buildings. They are all raised on brick terraces, thirty or forty feet high, and crowned with stone parapets. The ^ Cf. Botta et Flandin, Monument de Ninivc. Paris, 1849. Layard, The Monu- vient of Nhieveh. London, 1849. Ders., Nineveh and its Remains. Ders., A Popular Account of Discoveries of Nineveh. Ders., Fresh Discoveries., &^c. London, 1853. Vaux, Nineveh and PersepoUs. G. Rawlinson, The Five great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World. 2 vols, London, 1862. 42 History of Aj^t. buildings are placed on the vast platform in manifold and appa- rently irregular arrangement round an open court. They are for the most part long, narrow, corridor-like apartments and halls ; the principal apartment being sometimes 1 50 feet long, by only thirty or forty feet wide, enclosed with walls of excessive thick- ness. (Fig. 22.) Few traces are to be found of the way in which the apartments were roofed, and there are equally few re- mains of independent sup- ports such as columns or pillars. The ceiling may therefore have been formed by wooden beams placed across the breadth of the chamber, the small dimen- sion of which is thus ex- plained. In other respects, also, this architecture seems to lack a free development of organic members, as no instance is to be found of a strict architectural arrangement of the whole mass. On the contrary, the Assyrians conceived their wall-surfaces as large enclosing tapestries, and covered them accordingly with a number of representations in relief These sculptures are executed upon strong alabaster plates, measuring as much as twelve feet square, and these plates are then fastened on the walls in several rows, one above another. The spaces left empty were often decorated with burnt and glazed plates of clay, ornamented with various designs. The floor was also paved with similar plates ; and in the ornaments here used we perceive most strikingly a definite direction taken in architectural decoration. (Fig. 23.) There is often a highly elegant and tasteful arrange- ment of forms, the idea being evidently closely to imitate the ancient and highly developed art of weaving. Strict vegetable forms, palm-branches, open and closed lotus- blossoms form the most important element of this decoration. Certain representa- Art of Central Asia. Babylon and Nineveh. 43 tions in relief seem to indicate the further advance to a super- structure ; wherever we see buildings rising terrace-like in several Fig. 23. Ornament of Kujjundschik. stories, each story is crowned with a gallery opening with small colonnades. (Fig. 24, The columns have a remarkable con- Fig. 24. Details of Assyrian Palaces. struction of capital, in which two pairs of volutes, the one above the other (cf Fig. 24, ^), are the main element. A great increase 44 History of Art. of effect is produced at the portals, which are enclosed on both sides with gigantic winged bulls having human heads. The gates themselves were, according to ancient records, formed of brass, which, in connection with other allusions to golden images of gods, altars, and such like, leads us to infer a predilection Fig. 25. Details of Assyrian Palaces. for the use of brilliant metals, and the technical skill resulting from it. We have no idea of the external appearance of these buildings but from that afforded by the representations in relief Rising in gradated terraces (Figs. 28 and 24, a, d), they obtain light and air through the colonnades introduced at the upper end. Fig. 24, e, affords a view of the granite breast-wall of the lower building with its deeply fluted cornice. The surfaces of the walls are either smooth, or broken by decorated pilasters and hollowed vertical stripes. (Fig. 24, a, and Fig. 28.) The whole is fre- quently finished with battlements, which are sometimes cut in a step-like form. (Fig. 24, c, d.) That the flat roofs of the lower terraces often contained small pleasure-grounds, with plantations of palms and cedars, may be gathered from many sculptures, such as Fig. 24, a, b. We are involuntarily reminded by them of what the ancients told of the ' hanging gardens ' of Semiramis. The columns met with on these reliefs are, as a rule, limited to a small number, for free supports have been no where discovered A rt of Central Asia. Babylon and Nineveh. 45 in the large apartments. The basis of the columns consists of a circular torus, sometimes resting on the back of the figure of an advancing lion. The capitals do not adhere merely to the volute form, but they exhibit also the more slender calyx, co- vered with upright leaves. Fig. 25 affords a view of the rich arrangement of Assyrian ornament. It contains, under a, a representation in relief of a tent-like building, the light tent-roof of which is supported on slender and probably wooden posts with volute capitals. Fig. 26. Fortress, from an Assyrian Relief. That the arch was already known to the Assyrians, is proved both by relief representations and from the remains actually discovered. But this form of construction was only made use of in subordinate apartments of small extent, and was considered of no account in the formation of larger designs. Brick arches of six feet wide have been discovered in the drains beneath the palaces of Nimrod, and these not merely executed in the semi- circular, but in the pointed style. The separate stones in these arches are accurately prepared in a wedge-like form. On the reliefs we often meet with circular portals, especially in buildings designed for fortification. (Fig. 26.) These have recently re- ceived monumental verification through the discoveries of the French Consul Place, for he found at Khorsabad a city gate. 46 History of Art. consisting of two circular arched entrances from twelve to fifteen feet wide. The archivolt is ornamented, tapestry-like, with blue glazed tiles and yellow reliefs, and rests on pillars from which come forth figures of gigantic bulls. We possess no view of the temple buildings of the Assyrians, although smaller chapel-like shrines, with a porch supported by columns, appear repeatedly on the reliefs. If we may venture to refer another representation (Fig. 27) to Assyrian locality, temples with gabled roofs were also known to the Assyrians, with facades of wonderful horizontal wall-pilasters, decorated with suspended shields. The pediment is covered over with a tapestry-like pattern, thoroughly in the style of Babylonian-Assyrian art. The ridge is crowned with a kind of Fig. 27. Representation of an Assyrian Tenlple. lance-head. In front of the temple stand two caldrons on feet, which recall to mind the vessels for purification in the Temple at Jerusalem. The main group of buildings at present known includes the monuments of Nimrud, where many grand edifices, designated the north-west, south-west, and central palaces, are to be found close together. Further up the river stands the palace of Kuj- jundschik, and still further north that of Khorsabad. Respecting the age and origin of these monuments. Major Rawlinson has given important information by means of the partial decipher- ment of the cuneiform inscriptions which cover the walls. That Art of Ceiiti^al Asia. Babylon and Nineveh. 47 whole ranges of building must have been standing before the destruction of Nineveh, which took place in the year 606 B.C., by the united powers of Babylon and Media, is self-evident. The oldest building is the north-west palace of Nimrud, the inscrip- tions on which bear the royal names of Sardanapalus, not the notorious ruler of that name, but one of an earlier date. The erection probably occurred in the ninth or, if not, in the tenth century B.C. The central palace was founded by Temen-bar, the son of Sardanapalus. In the eighth century a new dynasty began, and King Salmanassar built the palace of Khorsabad, his successor Sanherib that of Kujjundschik, and his son Esarhaddon Fig. 2S. Relief at Kujjundschik. the south-west palace of Nimrud. In this building epoch, com- prising about 500 years, the aim of Assyrian art seems, both in general and in detail, to have remained essentially the same, without betraying a germ of higher advance or of organic de - velopment ; and it is only the style of the plastic decorations which allow us to perceive certain modifications in their mode of work, in spite of a strictly circumscribed circle of ideas. 48 History of Art. With regard to the sculpture of these nations/ rich material lies before us from the different epochs of Assyrian art, especially in the numerous reliefs come to light among the ruins of Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Kujjundschik. The works of Nimrud and Kuj- jundschik are in London, in the British Museum, and those of Khorsabad in Paris, in the Museum of the Louvre. These re- mains consist for the most part of reliefs, and only with rare excep- tions does sculpture seem to have advanced to statuary. As it was among the Egyptians, so here also the plastic arts are chiefly applied to the delineation of actual life. In harmony with the Fig. 29. Assyrian Rulers. intention of the chambers to be decorated, they indulge princi- pally in representations of the life and deeds of the rulers. They make no effort after thought and feeling, their aim is alone the simple conception of the simple relations of actual existence. We see the king, in the heavy richly adorned dress of the country (Fig. 29), with long closely flowing garments, on his head the royal tiara, slowly moving along, or enthroned on some tastefully ornamented seat surrounded by a numerous retinue. (Fig. 29.) Solemn seriousness and stately dignity characterise such scenes. ' Cf. Den km. der Kimst. Plate 6. A. Art of Ce?itral Asia. Babylon and Nineveh. 49 Other and more animated representations of the chase and war alternate with them. On his Hght chariot the king, accompanied Fig. 30. Assyrian Court Officials. by his charioteer, is hunting a pair of hons (Fig. 31) ; another time, a couple of bulls. Whilst one animal falls bleeding under the horses' hoofs, the other, furious with rage, attacks his pursuer in the back, who, quickly turning round, aims at him the fatal weapon. In another place, we see warlike undertakings — castles Fig. 31. Lion Hunt. Relief at Nimrud. besieged and destroyed with mighty battering rams ; fording of rivers, in which the king and his chariot are transported across on a ferry, and warriors and horses^ the former aided by floating bladders, are endeavouring to reach the opposite shore. All these incidents are depicted with fresh life, and with great VOL. 1. E 50 History of Art. distinctness and fidelity. We perceive everywhere an intelligent clear mind aiming at the simple grasping of the reality. The arrangement, too, although frequently recurring — the same com- position being always repeated for the same subject — often exhibits surprising traits of natural life and keen observation. With this strong feeling for reality, we find combined a distinct perfec- tion of form. The relief style appears already freely and inde- pendently developed, with sufficient gradation in its moulding : the forms are firmly and distinctly designed, the figures stout and inclined to Oriental obesity ; the countenance has the charac- teristic traits of the Semitic race — the strongly -curved nose, the large eye with its expressive arched brow, voluptuous lips and full chin, generally in the men enveloped in a long beard, which, like the hair, expresses the natural curl by uniform rows of conventionally arranged ringlets. (Fig. 32.) Similarly, also, in the lions and bulls, the hair of the mane and the tuft of the tail are executed ; while in all other things the animals are con- ceived with unusual life and naturalness, and exhibit a clear understanding of form. The fresh naturalness of these works, the certain uniform execution, the intelHgent clear mind they evidence, call forth a lively interest, both in the manner in which they extricated them- selves from the ban of conventional laws, and in the ingenuousness with which they accom- modated themselves to them. Still more decided is the manner in which Fig. 32. Assyrian Head. i T ^* 1 • n '^ ' symbolic conventional influences prevail in certain figures, which belong to the mythological ideas of the Assyrians. These appear principally to be priestly figures, to whom, by the addition of a mighty pair of wings, and sometimes of an eagle's head instead of the human one, a character of mysterious and imposing dignity is given. Still more solemn and significant is the effect of the figures of colossal portal guards, in which, on the contrary, a bearded human head is placed upon an animal's body, with bull's feet, a bull's body, and Art of Central Asia. Babylo7i and Nineveh. 51 mighty wings. (Fig. 33.) These strange creations, which stand out in strong reHef on both sides of the portals, with the front part of their bodies wholly separate from the surface of the wall, evidence at the same time how thoroughly an intelligent re- Fig. 33. Portal at Khorsabad. flection goes hand in hand with this fantastic symbolism. Each of these wonderful animals has, for instance, five feet — that is, three fore feet — so that both from the side and in front no foot may be missed. We may impute it to considerations of a similar kind when, in hunting or battle scenes (cf , Fig. 31), the string of the bow is not brought across the face of the archer, as correct- ness to nature would require, but behind it. Most of the reliefs are executed in delicate white alabaster, some of them in a brilliant yellow limestone ; and, as is to be seen from many traces left, they were painted in strong colours. No essential progress is to be remarked in the works of different epochs. As the sphere of representation was esta- blished from the beginning, and ever continues unchanged in the national mind, so is it also with the character of their treatment of form. The stamp of greater power and hardness, especially the strict regard given to the development of muscles, is all that distinguishes the earlier works — those, for instance, of the north- west palace at Nimrud — from the softer, smoother^ but also weaker productions of a later period. Still, in the later reliefs at Kujjundschik, we perceive an attempt to enrich the simple sphere of representations by variety of life and greater animation E 2 52 History of A rt. of delineation. In this direction certainly we cannot deny a purely outward advance in the plastic art of Assyria, even though ultimately, from the one-sided realistic character of their percep- tive powers, it never rose beyond a neat genre painting. Eleva- tion into an ideal sphere has ever been denied to this art, because, one-sidedly realistic, it had to serve the material tendencies of despotism. ^ — - B. PERSIA AND MEDIA. The outward destinies as well as the intellectual views, and consequently the art-creations, of all the races of Central Asia constantly, as we have before observed, intermingle with each other. Thus, in the Medes and Persians we become acquainted with the races who, first subjugated by the Assyrians, rise sub- sequently to be the inheritors of the power and mental tendencies of their former rulers. It was the Medes, settled in the moun- tain valleys and fruitful plains of the declivities south of the Caspian Sea, who broke the power of the Assyrians, until they were themselves subdued by the victorious Persians. Both races belonged to the Arian stock, the so-called Zend people. Their religion, as we gather it from Zoroaster's dogmas, inclined to a dualistic principle of wise moral views. The kingdom of light, or of Ormudz^ — that of goodness, purity, and holiness — is placed in opposition to the kingdom of Ahriman, that of darkness or of evil. The spirit of light is symbolically worshipped in the sacred fire, but he is actually glorified in the striving of man after the pure and the noble. These views, which are combined with a simple contemplation of - nature, reveal to us the practically intelligent and morally enlightened character of the national mind. Here, as among the Assyrians and Babylonians, we find a distinct system of the w^orld, in which the moral powers are strictly and definitely sundered, and man is placed with free consciousness between the contrast of good and bad. Corre- sponding with this disposition of the mind, we fmd the fashion of their artistic works. The inclination to energetic action leads Art of Central Asia. Persia and Media. 53 here also to preponderating emphasis being given to worldly power and dominion, though certainly not without reference to the divine, both by symbol and inscription. Among the monu- ments exclusively dedicated to religious aims, the simple stone fire-altars on the mountain summits seem most worthy of mention. As regards time, the Medes take precedence, but, as regards the number of existing monuments, the Persians have the superiority ; and this all the more, as hitherto no remains of Median art have been discovered. We must endeavour to fill up the gap as far as we can by means of the records of the ancients. Thus we learn that the Median palace at Ecbatana rose terrace-like in seven stories, and that the surrounding walls were gorgeous with various colours, and even with gold and silver. Many representations on the reliefs of Nimrud and Khorsabad afford us an idea of this building, and the terrace- like arrangement of structure betrays striking affinity with that discovered in Babylon and Nineveh. The traces of this ancient Ecbatana, which must not be confounded with one of a later date, the present Hamadan, are considered to be proved to be Takt-i-Suleiman, westward from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Under the great Cyrus (559-529 B.C.) the Persians^ obtained ascendancy over the effeminate Medes, extended their dominion with wonderful rapidity, and spreading their conquering hosts over the whole of Central and Anterior Asia, entered Egypt victoriously under Cambyses, and established one of the most powerful empires — an empire, nevertheless, to be shattered by Grecian power, and to succumb completely to the bold mind of Alexander the Great (330 B.C.). The monumental activity of the Persians, important remains of which have come down to us, embraces about two centuries, and may be considered, both ^ Cf. Denkm. d. Kujtsf. Plate 7. Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, &^c. London. Coste et Flandin, Voyage en Perse, &^c. Paris, 5 vols. Texier, Description de TArmenie, de la Perse, &^c. Paris, 1852. Cf. also Brugsch, Reise durch Per si en 2. vols. 8vo. 54 History of A rt. as regards time and character, as the last echo of Central Asiatic art in the lands of Mesopotamia. The residences of the ' great king,' as the Greeks called the Persian rulers, were at Babylon, which was incorporated with the mighty empire at Susa, the Schusch of the present day, where important heaps of ruins are still waiting for research at Ecbatana, the before-mentioned Hamadan of the present day, and at Pasargada, in the neighbourhood of Murghab. Polybius tells us of the palace at Ecbatana, that the columns and beams were made of cedar and cypress wood, and were covered, like the exterior of the roof, with gold and silver plates. In this we may perceive the characteristic tokens of the architecture of Central Asia, such as we find also in the lands of the Euphrates. More important still are the monuments that have been preserved in various principal parts of the true Persian lands, in the regions which lie between the great salt deserts of the interior and the steep inhospitable shore of the Persian Gulf, and in the rich sloping and mountainous terrace-land, with the rich valleys of Schiras, Murghab, and Merdascht. Among the oldest and the most important of the Persian monuments we may number the remains of the ancient royal Fig. 34. Tomb of Cyrus. residence at Pasargada, in the neighbourhood of the present Murghab. Foremost of all, attention is drawn to the remarkable building which, according to the ancients, was known as the tomb of Cyrus, and, according to others, as that of a later prince of the Art of Central Asia. Persia and Media. 55 same name. Popular tradition calls it the grave of the mother of Solomon (Meschhed-i-Mader-i-Suleiman). We perceive here how the Persians, when they suddenly passed from their simple patriarchal mountain life to the dominion of a great empire in a high state of civilisation, endeavoured to combine into a whole in their monumental creations the various forms elsewhere in use. The tomb of Cyrus, built of mighty blocks of sparkling white and highly polished marble, rises on seven terrace-like steps as a small gable-roofed house, the form of which, as well as the management of the material, might be traced to the already highly developed art of Greek Asia Minor. Even the appear- ance of the few details points to such an influence, especially that of the cornice round the roof, as well as of the pillars surrounding the building, and now for the most part destroyed. The gradated pyramid, on the other hand, is evidently a form familiar to Central Asia, and frequently noticed by us in the lands watered by the Eu- phrates. The magnificent gold decora- tions and the rich tapestries which adorned the interior have vanished, like the remains of the great conqueror, who found here his last resting-place, after a life full of action. But his portrait is preserved, singularly enough, upon one Fig. 35. Relief of Cyrus. ^ of the pillars of the palace, lymg m rums near, and is thus designated by a cuneiform inscription of the period, ' I am Cyrus, the king, the Achamenide ! ' An Egyptian headdress and two mighty pairs of wings seem to be a characte- ristic symbol of the ruler. (Fig. 35.) To the later period of the empire's prosperity, under Darius and Xerxes, until 467 B.C., we may assign the magnificent remains which mark the royal residence called by the Greeks Persepolis, which lie somewhat southward towards Schiras, in the plain of Merdascht. According to ancient records and the 56 History of A rt. design of the monuments, the old royal palace, into which Alex- ander with his own hand hurled the firebrand, seems to have been the residence of the Persian sovereigns only at certain periods. The main building is called by the people Tschihil- minar, i.e. the forty columns, or Takht-i-Dschemschid (the throne of Dschemschid). On the mountain ridge, which commands the vast plain, rises a magnificent structure of terraces, the plateau of which is gained by means of a double marble staircase of more than a hundred gently ascending steps. Splendid proces- sions, which cover the sides of the steps in long series of reliefs, point to the former intention of the mighty structure. Arrived at the platform, also covered with slabs of marble, the ruins of a magnificent double portal are reached, with four stone pillars, and as many slender marble columns between them. On the front surface of the pillars we again find the colossal winged bulls of Assyrian art. A second double staircase leads to the upper terrace, which, almost square and of great extent, is strewn over with ruined shafts of columns, shattered capitals, and a confused mass of rubbish. On the front part of the terrace, near the principal staircase, rises a square of thirty-six broken marble columns, surrounded on three sides with entrances of twelve columns in two rows. This whole vast structure seems to have served as a splendid porch to the principal palace. Behind it rise the remains of the former palace on higher terraces, with similar steps. Ruins of the magnificent apartments, with count- less marble columns and splendid entrances, and vestiges of abundant fountains, cover the entire height. The names of Darius and Xerxes, which are to be found in the numerous cuneiform inscriptions of the ruins, mark the epoch of their origin. The style of these splendid buildings plainly shows a mixture of many foreign elements into a new and peculiar whole. The terrace-like pyramidal design is of Babylonic-Assyrian origin, transformed, however, here into a more cheerful effect, and aiming at breadth and freedom. The introduction of marble columns may be assigned to Greek influence. The form of the A rt of Central Asia. Persia and Media. 57 columns, with their high bases (Fig. 37, ^ and c), the slender elegantly formed shafts, with their deep flutings, point to Ionic- Greek models ; the capitals alone show, it seems, a design peculiar to Persia. They are either formed of two foreparts of bulls or unicorns (Fig. 37, and d), or they consist of an upright and an inverted cup (Fig. 37, c), the former decorated with strings of beads, the latter with hanging petals, and the whole crowned with double perpendicularly-placed volutes, which betray a strangely fantastic adoption of Ionic forms, and thus contain the Fig. 36. Ruins of the Palace of Persepolis. elements of a subsequent decorative period. Other forms, again, pointing to Egyptian influences, are to be found in the crowning of the portals (Fig. 37, the principal of which exhibits the high Egyptian corona, with three rows of upright leaves covered with a heavy slab. No ruins are to be discovered of the walls themselves, a proof that these, like the Assyrian buildings, con- sisted of light bricks. Equally few vestiges are to be found of the ceiling and upper building. There is, therefore, no doubt that here, as in the palaces of Nineveh, wood was used for the ceilings, richly inlaid probably with choice metals. The marble- columned halls, moreover, can only have supported a wooden ceiling, as the columns, sixty feet in height, have a diameter of scarcely four feet, and an intervening space of thirty feet. Even 58 History of AiH the form of the capitals infers a sHghter construction of the upper building. W e gain further information regarding Persian architecture from the great fa9ades of stone which mark the ancient royal Fig. 37. Details of Persian Architecture. tombs in the neighbourhood of Merdascht. While the funeral vault lies inaccessible in the interior, the outer surface of the steep rock is decorated with fa9ades covered with inscriptions in Fig. 38. Rock-fagade of Royal Tombs in Persia. relief ; and in the centre of these facades is a seeming door, with the characteristic high corona, while the half pillars of their lower story exhibit capitals of unicorns as at Tschilminar. Art of Central Asia. Persia and Media. 59 Double cross-beams project between the animals, supporting an entablature, which, in its threefold construction and in the rows of strongly dentated ornament, recalls to mind the Ionic- Greek style. (Fig. 38.) This lower building supports a fan- tastic throne-like structure, on which stands the figure of the king in relief, sacrificing before a fire-altar. Like the Assyrian buildings, we find the Persian also rich in plastic ornament, and equally adopting the style of Nineveh in its later weaker manner ; in this respect therefore marking the conclusion — the last vibration, as it were — of the ancient art of Central Asia. On the other hand, the subject^ of the representa- tions is new and truly Persian, and affords a clear conception of how the national ideas of the people, when they attempted to Fig. 39. Relief from Persepolis. express them in sculpture, were obliged to make use of the forms of an art already elsewhere developed. Although the numerous sculptures in relief which cover the sides of the steps in the palace of Persepolis (Fig. 39) also aim at the glorification of the kingly dignity, they do not, like the Assyrian, enter into the chronicle-like representation of distinct historical events, but depict in a general manner the splendour of the royal household — the bands of armed bodyguard, the richly adorned retinue, the 1 Cf. Deftkin. der Kunst, Plate 8. 6o History of A rt. solemn trains of deputies from subject races, bringing the product of their land as tribute — bulls, rams, horses, and camels, as well as costly vessels and implements. On one portal column, the king is represented in a richly falling Median garment, with short curled hair, and long flowing beard, with the Median cap and long sceptre ; behind him advance servants with sunshades and fans of peacocks' feathers, and over him hovers the fantastic form of his guardian spirit, the Feroher. Another time we see the king in solemn repose, sitting on his throne with the sceptre in his hand, and behind him one of his retinue. (Fig. 40.) The power Fig. 40. Relief from Persepolis. of the king is also glorified in a significant and symbolic manner, when, with true Oriental calmness, he seizes by the horn the fantastic unicorn-like winged monster, which attacks him with rapid movement and furious gesture, and which he kills with a well-aimed blow ; or when a mighty lion, probably the symbol of kingly strength, furiously rends asunder the rearing unicorn. Besides the fabulous figure of the unicorn, which strangely forms the corner ornaments in the altar-like structures of the facades of the rock-tombs, we again meet, as we have seen on the portal pillars,, with gigantic winged bulls with human A rt of Central A sia. Persia and Media. 6 1 heads, such as the old palaces of Assyria exhibit. In all these traits we perceive the inclination to an ideal thoughtful concep- tion, which certainly substitutes a more calm, ceremonious, and solemn dignity in the place of the lively movement and energetic action shown by the Assyrian sculptures; but which, nevertheless, within its own limits often yields an attractive richness of ideas and pleasing variety in the representation of the same funda- mental form. This is effected also by a style in many respects freer, though, on the other hand, it is materially inferior to the earlier Assyrian works in freshness of expression, in distinctness of character, and in strength of form. The representations of animals alone, especially the battle scenes, unencumbered as they are with the solemn ceremonial of the court, breathe a life full of expression and action, and afford a remarkable contrast to the quiet bearing of the human figures. Only one instance has hitherto been known of historical representations in Persian sculp- ture — namely, the reliefs on a high steep rocky wall at Bisutun, the Baghistan of the present day, south-west of Hamadan, in which the victory of Darius ovej a number of rebels is repre^ sented in great reliefs. The colossal figure of the king, accom- panied by two armed body-guards, has his foot placed on an enemy writhing on the ground, and seems looking angrily at a troop of nine men marching forwards in a line, who, wearing a different attire, and fastened together by a rope round the neck, with their hands bound behind, are awaiting their verdict. Above, amid lengthy cuneiform inscriptions, hovers the Feroher of the king. Persian art, therefore, though not without elements peculiar to itself, combines the results of the art-efforts of Central Asia into a splendid whole, and presents, more strikingly than any other in the sphere of ancient life, an image of conscious and premature eclecticism. Nevertheless, even though here also, as we have seen, independent national elements were not lacking, having already reached the climax of a rich civilisation, still they possessed no longer the energy for a vigorous and radical blend- ing of all that had elsewhere been borrowed, into one truly homo- eeneous and united result CHAPTER III. THE ART OF WESTERN ASIA. A. PHOENICIANS AND HEBREWS. On the narrow range of coast with which the Asiatic continent is open to the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians were dwelHng even in the second century b. c. ;^ a people of Semitic origin, who, in their early voyages along the shores of this inland sea, founded colonies and emporiums of trade in Greece and in the adjacent isles, in Sicily, and on the coast of Africa and Spain ; and advanced indeed beyond the limits of this circle — limits too narrow for their spirit of enterprise — into the Atlantic Ocean towards the shores of Britain.. It was no yearning for conquest and political organisation that formed the leading element in these bold voyages, it was a desire alone for trade and gain. This made the Phoenicians the disseminators of the civilisation of Western Asia. Their famous cities, Tyre and Sidon, situated in the middle between the East and the West, were the central points of the commerce of the world, the emporiums of the rich products of civilisation of the entire Asiatic continent. Phoenician civilisation was essentially mercantile and indus- trial. We find the men of Sidon early in possession of the secret of purple dye and the manufacture of glass, and eagerly engaged in the casting of metals, as well as in the ingenious working of the nobler sort. Much, especially weaving, they learned from the Babylonians ; from whom they also acquired ^ F. C. '^loN^x'S,^ Das Phdiiizische Alterthu7n. Berlin, 1849. E. Gerhard, Ueber die Kiinst der Phonizier^ in the writings of the Academy of Science. Berhn, 1846. Also the splendid work lately begun by E. Renan upon the Phoenician remains. Also De Saulcy's work, Voyage an four de la Mer Morte. Paris, 1853. Art of Westejm Asia. Phoenicians and Hebrews. 63 the knowledge of weights and measures, and imparted it to the nations of the West. All the artistic articles of luxury mentioned in Homer, originate as a rule from * the men of Sidon.' On the other hand, higher artistic \^'orks, peculiar to themselves, seem to have been unknown to this truly com- mercial people. It is true they were famous for their skill in architecture, and even the magnificent buildings of the neigh- bouring Hebrews were executed by Phoenician architects ; still they seem to have had no independent and more highly deve- loped form, as the mention of wooden and brazen columns, ceilings panelled with cedar wood, and the decoration of the walls with a splendid glittering gold, may be traced entirely to Babylonish influence. The few works which can with proof, or with probability, be assigned to Phoenician origin consist for the most part of mighty embankments or dykes, such as those on the island of Arvad (Aradus), opposite the Syrian coast, and on some parts of the African coast. But wherever temple- remains are still standing — as on the islands of Gozzo and Malta (the so-called Giganteia), which, however, have recently been justly denied to Phoenician antiquity, and in Cyprus the remains of the ancient shrine to Venus — we ever see an inartistic primi- tive rudeness of design, which at best, from rich metal orna- ment alone, could receive a higher stamp suitable to the Oriental character. Still more rude and truly barbarously frightful are the few remains to be found of works of sculpture — idols and the like. The records of the ancients respecting the image of the god Moloch, who had either the form of a bull or of a bull-headed man, prove that, in the personification of the ideas of deity by means of the plastic arts, the Phoenicians held similar views to the Egyptians and the races of Central Asia. The colossal sarcophagi also, now in Paris, at the Louvre, prove that the Phoenicians were ever dependent upon the art of the surrounding nations. For the form is throughout Egyptian and mummy-like ; and in the one, most probably the oldest, which is ascribed to King Esmunazar of Sidon, and was found at Sayda, the features arc thoroughly Egyptian in character, 64 History of Art. only barbarized, flattened, and unnaturally broad. The other remains discovered at Sidon, Byblos, and Tortosa retain the Egyptian form, but give a Greek stamp to the features. On a Phoenician monumental column in the same collection (the Musee of Napoleon III.) there is a sleeping sphinx with the Pschent, the Egyptian royal crown ; on another, two-winged lion-like animals with birds' heads are represented stretching out a claw towards a vase placed between them— an idea which recalls to mind the monuments of Nineveh. Still less is to be said of the art of the Hebrews. Entirely dependent on the Phoenicians, as we have seen, in architecture, they were withheld from the representation of the Deity in this art by their monotheistic religion and the strict law of Moses. On the other hand, we know that the gold plates which covered the interior of Solomon's temple were adorned with rich repre- sentations of flowers and palm trees, and also with cherub figures. Moreover, cherubim, carved in cedar- wood and over- laid with gold, shut out the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. Even in the forms of these cherubs, which are repre- sented in the Holy Scriptures as human bodies with four wings, two of w^hich covered the body, we perceive undoubtedly Persian ideas, and are involuntarily reminded of the relief of Cyrus. (Fig. 35.) The structure of the Temple of Jerusalem, which has given occasion to much learned dispute, may be left to archaeological discussion. As regards its artistic form, we cannot presume to have arrived at distinct ideas respecting its construction and the impression it aflbrded. The division into forecourts, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies, awakens indeed a general remi- niscence of Egyptian temples ; but neither their extent, nor the variety of their chambers, nor the repeated use of the colonnade, is to be traced in the Temple of Solomon. The two famous brazen pillars of Jachin and Boaz, with which the skilful worker Hiram of Tyre adorned the porch, would furnish points by which to estimate the style, if their description in the books of the Old Testament were not wrapt in such obscurity, that it is Art of Western Asia. Phoenicians and Hebrews. 65 hopeless to attempt to compare it with any known form of Oriental antiquity. They possess greatest affinity perhaps with ^ the pillars of Persepolis, while the propor- tions of shaft and capital accord more with Egyptian architecture. That the placing of such pillars at the temple porch was usual among the Phoenicians, is evidenced by some Cyprian coins (Fig. 41) represent- ing the famous Venus (Astarte) shrine at Paphos. We there see on each side of the porch an isolated pillar, bearing close comparison with the pillars at the temple of Jerusalem. Remains of the vast sub- structures with which Solomon enlarged the mountain of Moriah, in order to procure sufficient foundation for the temple, are to be recognised in the immense stonework in the south-eastern corner. By some, indeed, the antiquity of this stonework, twenty-eight feet in length, is denied, and the erection of these parts is ascribed to the later building of King Herod. Lastly, we may mention the numerous tombs which are to be found in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Yet these also only partly belong to the old Jewish period. There are rock- hewn sepulchres with numerous hollows for the reception of bodies, similar rocky chambers to that in which, according to the Gospels, the body of Christ was laid. Such tombs have no artistic stamp of any kind, except that on some facades we find the Egyptian corona. Wherever the facades exhibit richer orna- ment, as on the so-called royal tombs, the tomb of Jacob, and those of the judges, it is always the perfect forms of Greek art to which recourse was had. The same forms appear on the in- sulated tombs — that, for instance, of Zacharias and of Absalom — which stand out from the rock as detached buildings, decorated with Ionic pillars. A pyramidal or conical structure rises above the Egyptian corona to crown the whole building. Here, there- fore, we find the Oriental tumulus combined with the decorative element of classic architecture ; a proof that we have to do with works of the late period of Hellenistic art. Only in a few finely VOL. I. F Fig, 41. Coin from the Temple ' of Astarte at Paphos. 66 History of Art. and clearly cut ornaments, in imitation of the leafy style peculiar to Palestine, do we see a national element, as it appears, inter- mingled. From what has been said, it becomes sufficiently evident that the Jews, lacking an independent taste for art, borrowed their architectural forms in an eclectic manner from the nations dwelling around them. B. THE RACES OF ASIA MINOR. Jutting out towards the west from the mighty continent of Asia is a peninsula-like territory, which, enclosed by the Black Sea, the y-Egean, and the Mediterranean, stretches out with its indented coast towards the country of European Greece. The much-exposed coast, rich with harbours, and surrounded by numerous fruitful islands, is just as much in harmony with the West as the much-divided land, intersected with mountain chains, luxuriant lowlands, and various smaller valleys, is a contrast to the cultivated territories of the East, with their larger and more compact masses. Only the interior is a high, bare, un- fruitful mountain plateau, which inclines towards the coast in wooded slopes and meadow land. The delightful climate, soft- ened by the sea and the mountains, the favourable coast with its many inlets, must have early been an allurement to colonisation, so that on the edge of the coast and on the islands, Semitic, Arian, Thracian, and Grecian races had settled, and had reached an advanced stage of civilisation. The much-divided formation of the interior must also have led to an independent characteri- sation of a number of smaller races, who, although allied in origin, habits, language, and religion, developed various differ- ences. Thus we find even in Homer an infinite number of races crowded together on a territory in nowise extensive : we find the Alizonians with their wealth of silver, the Chalybians skilled in the preparation of ores, the combat-loving Mysians, the Dardanians and Trojans, the horse-breaking Maonians, the Lycians, Phrygians, and others. A rt of W estern Asia. The Races of Asia Minor. 67 From this chaotic mass of races, some chief tribes soon became prominent, and gained preponderating importance in the development of civiHsation. We must for a time leave unnoticed the colonies of Greeks settled on the western coasts, in order that we may consider them later with their European brethren. Of the true races of Asia Minor, we must especially notice the Phrygians, Lydians, and Lycians. The former inhabited the central woody highlands of the country, bounded on the west by the Lydians, who were settled in the territory watered by the winding Meander ; the Lycians had established themselves on the south coast. Among these races, the Lydians had risen to increasing power and more exclusive importance since the reign of their King Gyges (about 700 B.C.), who carried on victorious contests with the neighbouring states. Through his successors Ardys, Sadyattes, and Alyattes, they gained dominion over the whole of Asia Minor, and under Croesus they even brought the Greek colonies under subjection. About 550, how- ever, the Lydian power came to an end, when Cyrus advanced victoriously, took the splendid capital Sardis, and incorporated the country with the great Persian empire. The monuments, which belong to the early ages of Asia Minor,^ consist chiefly of tombs, which are to be found in con- siderable number and varied structure, from the simple form of the tumulus to the richer and characteristically developed build- ing. The earliest and most primitive of these works are to be met with in Lydia, for the most part in the form of tomb- mounds, rising conically, and often of considerable dimensions, upon a circular substructure. In the centre of the building a quadrangular vault is hewn out of the solid rock, and the ceiling is formed by stones placed horizontally over each other. On the north coast of the Gulf of Smyrna a great number of such tumuli are preserved; the largest among them is the so-called tomb of Tantalus, the lower diameter of which is about 200 feet. (Fig. 42.) Similar tomb-mounds, some of them also of great 1 Cf. Texier, Description de VAsie Mineure. 3 vols. Paris, 1849. F 2 68 History of Art. extent, are to be found in the neighbourhood of ancient Sardis, among them three of prominent importance, which are supposed to be the tombs of the kings Alyattes, Gyges, and Ardys. Fig. 42. Tomb of Tantalus in Lydia. In contrast to these grand primitive insulated buildings, the monuments of Phrygia appear, with characteristic difference, as rock sepulchres, with artistically sculptured facades. If in these structures we find an accordance with the rock-sepulchre facades of the Persians, still this in nowise refers to the manner of artistic execution. Far rather do the Phrygian monuments exhibit, in every respect, an especial mode of treatment, not to be compared with other works. The facades, which are of consider- able extent, are fashioned in the form of a gabled front, so that a gently rising gable-end is given to the quadrangular panel. But there is no idea anywhere of a definite architectural form or arrangement. These remarkable facades might be compared with great tapestries stretched in a vast frame. The frames are decorated with rhomboidal ornaments, while a winding pattern covers the whole surface of the interior. The gable also is usually edged with lines crossing and forming diamonds. No part in the whole facade stands out with strong effect of shadow, no powerful profile asserts the rights of masonry. Tapestries and light wooden framework are evidently the models on which they were constructed. Below, in the centre, is an opening by which the sepulchre is entered. Characteristic prevalence is Aid of Western Asia. The Races of Asia Miitor. 69 always given to the volute form, two volutes crowning the point of the gable. This form, which we also meet with in Persepolis and Nimrud, we may therefore reasonably regard as specifically belonging to Western Asia. Conspicuous among these monu- ments, both for size and age, is the so-called tomb of Midas at Dogan-lu, about thirty-six feet broad by forty feet high, and covered with ancient Phrygian inscriptions. (Pig. 43.) Fig. 43. Tomb of Midas. Another form, again, and a new stage of development, is exhibited in the monuments of Lycia. Here, too, the rock structure is used by preference, though in a very different manner. There are two principal forms in which the native tombs are executed. Either the tomb is chiselled out of the mass of rock as an independent monolith, which, in the form of a sarcophagus, represents a wooden construction with all the marks of conscious imitation ; or the sepulchre, as is also fre- quently the case, is placed in the rock, upon which a fa(;ade is chiselled, exhibiting still more decidedly the appearance of a 70 History of A rt. wooden building. A complete scaffolding of ground joists, posts, framework, and cross-beams shows all the minutiae of truss- work, in careful and true imitation, so that one might - imagine it a log-house transformed to stone. (Fig. 44.) The upper part is formed either horizontally, or, as in the Phrygian tombs, with a gently rising gabled roof, yet not, as these, in expres- sionless unbroken flatness, but with a strongly project- ing cornice, characteristically decorated with a row of cross pieces of timber. The principal places in which such monuments are dis- covered are Phellos, Anti- phellus, Myra, Xanthus, Tel- missus, and others. Besides these structures there are many other works in Lycia, which also exhibit the rock facade as the fundamental idea of the monument, but in a manner essentially different, and evi- dently based on Greek influence. Here the GreekTonic column is used, and a distinctly Greek form is given to the upper parts, the entablature and the gabled roof This is done in two ways — either the facade is chiselled on the rock in strong relief, after the usual manner ; or a portico-like entrance is formed with detached columns. As a rule, there are two columns, though occasionally only one, placed between two strong corner pillars. The forms are decidedly Hellenic-Ionic : the capital with the volutes, the base with the circular projecting and receding members, the tapering column, chiefly without fluting, the entablature in two parts, crowned with a dentated cornice, and the gable finished at the point and end with a rough simple acroterial structure. Monu- ments such as these are to be found at Telmissus, Antiphellus, Fig. 44. Rock- tomb at Myra. Art of Western Asia. The Races of Asia Mijior. 71 Myra, Kyanea-Jaghu, and other places. (Fig. 45.) Besides these decided Hellenic forms, there are traces of Persian archi- tecture to be found in various works, such as the strongly effective crowning of the door by a fluting decorated with leaves on a facade at Limyra. Lastly, in a monument at Xanthus, now in the British Museum in London, there is a completely finished detached building. Based on a quadrangular substructure, it Fig. 45. Tomb at Kyanea-Jaghu. rose like a temple cella in the style of Ionic architecture. At first it was supposed to be the tomb of Harpagus ; it has now from its sculptured ornament received the name of the Nereid monument. Its origin may be dated about 370 B.C. As regards the date of the monuments of Asia Minor we may expect further information from the decipherment of the inscriptions ; in the meanwhile, the character of the reliefs sculp- tured on them must be the standard by which to determine their 72 Histoiy of Art. age. The earliest works are undoubtedly those primitive tomb- mounds of Lydia, which may reach as far back as the period of Gyges and Alyattes (seventh century B.C.). After them, as witnesses of the sixth century, follow the Phrygian monuments with their naive and playful style ; while the Lycian tombs, with their imitation of wood or the decidedly Hellenic forms, belong to the fifth and even to the third century. The plastic art of Asia Minor, when not bearing the Hellenic stamp, has hitherto only come to our knowledge in scanty isolated remains. The most remarkable and most ancient works are the rock sculptures of the former city of Pterium in Galatia, near the village of Boghaz-Koei, reliefs rudely and plainly executed, representing two processions of men meeting each other, and by the costume they are probably intended as embassies from two different nations. A marble seat at the same place has lion figures on both sides, after the fashion of Assyrian works. Still more distinctly is Ninevese ornament recalled to mind by the fantastic colossal figures on a portal near the village of Uejuk, figures composed of a bird's body, with lion's paws, and a human head. On the other hand, the relief of a lion tearing asunder a bull, on the gable of a tomb facade at Myra, distinctly suggests a Persian model. Thus the ancient art of Asia Minor exhibits the same circum- stances as those which have exercised a deciding influence upon the political destiny of the country ; lacking a fixed central attraction, the various elements have been scattered, and the less an energetic predisposition to the higher development of art was innate in the different races, the easier must these races have yielded to the influence of the powerful neighbouring nations, who had such a decided effect also upon their political condi- tion. CHAPTER IV. THE ART OF EASTERN ASIA. A. INDIA. I. LAND AND PEOPLE. From the Himalaya, the highest mountain range in the world, covering with its vast glaciers an extent of country equal to the length of Scandinavia, there slopes down in grand terraces a land, which, projecting southwards in a compact mass, stretches its tapering point far into the Indian Ocean. This great peninsula, which from its northern boundary to its most southern headland, Cape Comorin, occupies an extent as great as that from the shores of the Baltic to the south cape of Greece, is predestinated by its natural position for an exclusive civilisation. Separated from the northern countries by the rocky walls of the Himalaya, and enclosed towards west and east by the mighty streams of the Indus and Brahmaputra, the immense territory of Anterior India is compressed into a mass of territories, only divided by a rich network of rivers. Among these, the most important is the sacred stream of the Ganges, which, with its tributary, the Djumna, rushes down from the ice-fields of the Himalaya, and flowing in one united stream from Allahabad, empties its waters in a hundred mouths in the Bay of Bengal. As everywhere in the earliest history of mankind a higher development of civilisation has followed the course of mighty streams, so also is it here. The ancient glory of the Hindoo empire first flourished in the land enclosed by the Ganges and Djumna, the consecrated Duab; here, even in the twelfth century B.C., stood the magnificent capitals of the Brahminical rulers, Hastinapuras, Indraprastas, and Madura; and further downwards 74 History of A rt, on the Ganges, Palibotra, giant cities, whose circumference, wealth, and splendour were extolled in old Indian epic verse. No wonder, when the nature of the land in the earliest ages pro- duced, as it were, of itself a life of rare abundance and splendour. No country in the world displays such luxuriance of productive power, combining, in the northern parts alone, Hindostan Proper, the phenomena of all zones, from the hard ice and scanty moss of the glacier world, to the exuberant wild growth and majestic palms of the tropics. Under the glowing sun of the tropics the moist soil yields a fertility not to be imagined, producing for man in lavish abundance all the necessities of life, but also stupefying and entangling the mind irretrievably with the over- whelming force of its productive power. It was not possible but that the wonderful and the over- whelming life of nature should captivate the mind of man, infinitely exciting his active imagination, filling it with the most brilliant images, and stamping his existence with the character of calm steadfastness and luxurious enjoyment. With this was blended a deep study of the secrets of natural life, an enthu- siastic devotion to the surrounding country, and an inclination to subtile speculations. The old poems of the people, with their high poetic charm, exhibit the former ; indeed, the feeling of tender enthusiasm, such as we find in Kalidasa's Sacontala, betrays a deep and hearty appreciation of nature, foreign to the other nations of antiquity. But just as the natural life of India appears full of rude change and sudden transition, so is it also in the moral world. Side by side with gentle enthusiasm we meet with unbridled excess ; tender love of nature is contrasted with a hardness of feeling, which finds its striking expression in the caste-divisions of the people. This state of things was evidently the result of great historical revolutions, which probably are connected with the conquest of the land by Caucasian tribes penetrating westward in ancient times. Not merely the unmis- takable difference of races, the strict separation of the subordi- nate from the ruling castes of priest and soldier, but also the contempt, strengthened by religious maxims, under which the The Art of Eastern Asia. India. 75 former groaned, infer the relation of subjugated people to their conquerors. The Caucasian origin of the latter is partly war- ranted by physical structure, and partly by their language, the Sanskrit ; they form the most eastern branch of the mighty Indo-Germanic race, extending over the whole of Southern and Central Europe. That original disposition, however, only acquires a charac- teristic stamp by the peculiarities of climate and the unceasing sympathies between mind and nature, is shown especially in the Hindoos ; for so all-powerfully is the influence of nature manifested in them, that the people have never been able to attain to that healthy self-consciousness which is essential to all historical development ; and however deep the processes of development through which they have passed, they have never overstepped the limits of an outward existence that rests only upon an unchangeable state of things. But in the place of this impulse to historical development, there early appears a tendency to the deepening of the spiritual life, to the thoughtful and the speculative. Thus their development finds its consummation exclusively on a religious ground. In contrast to the ancient fantastic polytheistic belief of Brahminism, which, by its spiritless formula, its mechanical hypocrisy and depressing creed of an everlasting migration of souls, had corrupted to the utmost the national mind of the Hindoo people, there arose in Buddhaism a purified, more human, more heartfelt system of ideas. Buddha's appearance occurs between 600 and 540 years b. c. ; and with him begins in India a more elevated, and more deeply excited mental life. About 250 B.C., Buddhaism under King A^oka obtained the supremacy over Brahminism, w^hich again, after the lapse of some centuries, advanced with victorious step, and drove back the doctrines of Buddha to China and the eastern isles, where three hundred millions still belong to this belief With the victorious rise of Buddhaism, monumental artistic creations seem to have begun in India. So far as inquiry has yet penetrated, there is nothing to confirm the former supposi- tion of the extreme antiquity of the Indian monuments. The 76 History of A rt. splendid descriptions of palaces and temples in the old epics Mahabarata and Ramayana, which are cited in proof of the great antiquity of Indian architecture, may be considered as a subsequent insertion caused by a much later state of culture. The historical course of Indian art seems, therefore, really to commence with Buddhaism, and in the very first epoch to have assumed a distinct form in magnificent monuments. This form was subsequently adopted by Brahminism, and, aided by more luxurious wealth and more brilliant imagination, produced w^on- derful results. Even when India, in its weakness, submitted to the powerful inroads of the Mohammedans, when the old Brah- minical cities vanished to make room for the new capitals of the conquerors, still the Hindoo people retained, with their ancient religion, their native style of architecture ; and later, in modern times, this architecture experienced a revival, which, in strange fancy and bombastic overloading, was in nowise behind that of the earlier ages. 2. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE INDIANS.^ The extensive territory of India, the superficial area of which is equal to that of the whole of Europe, with the exception of Russia, is covered throughout its various districts, in Hindostan Proper as well as in the peninsula of the Deccan, in the rocky mountains of the Ghauts as well as on the coasts of Coromandel, in the highlands of Central India as well as in Ceylon and the other islands, in Afghanistan as well as in Cashmere, with an aston- ishing number of monuments, the common type of which, though with manifold change of form, is affected by the two great Indian systems of religion. Whatever Indian buildings we find in this inexhaustible world of monuments belong exclusively to re- ligious purposes, and prove anew how entirely Indian life was rooted within this circle of ideas. The earliest known works ' Cf. Denkm. der Kunst. Plates 9 and 10. Langles, Monumens Aiicicns et Modej'iies de VHindojistaii. 2 vols. Paris, 182 1. A. CviViXv\r\'^\-A.vf\^ The Bhilsa Topes. London, 1852. J. Fergusson, Handbook of Ai'chiieclure. Vol. I. London, 1855. Daniell, Excavations of El/ora, The Art of Eastern Asia. India. 11 are some mighty cohimns, which King A9oka erected to the honour of Buddhaism about 250 B.C., in the Ganges district, near Allahabad, Delhi, and other places. They are all of the same construction, above forty feet high, with a base of more than ten feet in circumference, rising in a taper- ing form, and terminating in a capital of a curved shape with hanging leaves (Fig. 46), on which Fig. 46. Capital of the Column at Bhitari. the figure of a lion rests as a Fig. 47. From the Columns at Allahabad. symbol of Buddha. The form of the capital, and still more the flower decoration round the neck of the column (Fig. 47), point most remarkably to the influence of Western Asia — that is, the Babylonic-Assyrian — which might certainly have resulted from Alex- ander s march of conquest, and prove to all appearance the sur- prising fact, that Indian monu- mental architecture began with forms borrowed from other nations. If this, however, be the case, still in the earlier Indian civilisation, of which we certainly have but few traces, distinct national forms of art must have been already developed, and these Buddhaism immediately transformed into monumental im- portance. The ceremonies of these religious systems required especially two principal forms of monumental designs — that of the Stupa or Tope, tomb-mounds, in which were preserved the relics of Buddha and his foremost disciples and adherents ; and that of the Vihara, which served as general dwelling-places for the monk-like living priests. In these forms also, a strict dependance upon the conditions of surrounding nature is again manifested. The Tope is nothing but a simple tumulus, the most primitive form of monument we know of, for the most part a half-conical elevation upon a terrace-like substructure, often scarcely to be distinguished from a natural hill. These buildings, erected in regular squares of very different sizes, contain a small chamber 78 Histoiy of Art. for the relics to be preserved. Hence they also bear the name Dagop, i.e. the hiding-place of the body. Frequently the im- pulse to higher architectural arrangement is to be found in this original form — the terraces are fashioned with considerable cir- cumference and height, the circular building is furnished with cornices and ornamental work, the whole is often surrounded with slender columns, to which is added a stone enclosure with stately portals. King A^oka is said to have built no less than 84,000 of such stupas in the cities of his empire, and in these are distributed the relics of Buddha — a statement which, with some legendary exaggeration, confirms the fact of great activity in building. More definite are the reports respecting the build- Fig. 48. Thuparamaya-Dagop. ings erected by King Duschtagamani in Ceylon, about 150 B.C. The Mahastupa, i.e. the great Stupa, founded by him, and which is believed to be the Ruanwelli-Dagop, reaches even now, in spite of its partial destruction, to a height of 140 feet, based upon a mighty granite terrace of 500 feet broad. Especially expressive inform is the so-called Thuparamaya-Dagop (Fig. 48), in the neighbourhood of the ancient capital Anurajapura ; it is only 45 feet high, but is surrounded with many circles of slender The A rt of Eastern A sia. India. 79 reed-like pillars. Smaller in design are the Topes of the Central Indian group at Bhilsa, altogether consisting of about thirty monuments of various size, among the most important of which are the two Topes of Sanchi. The larger, about 56 feet high by a lower diameter of 1 20 feet, rises cupola-like in several off-sets, surrounded by a stone enclosure opening with four handsome sculptured portals. The framework round is formed by pilasters, the upper part of the portals is finished with curiously carved stone beams, and the portals themselves are evidently imitations of wood construction. The primitive tumulus appears here also in various decorated forms ; never- theless, the capitals of the slender columns which mark the entrance to the principal portals suggest, in their accordance with the columns of A^oka, the early epoch of Buddhist art. The Viharas are of an essentially different character. As Buddha had given the example of secluded hermit life, his followers repaired to the mountains for pious contemplation, and made their dwellings in the hollows of the rock. These caves were soon artistically enlarged into those vast excavations in which the wondrous charm of Indian architecture principally rests. Besides these Viharas, with their monastic cell-like caves, there were other structures of a similar kind, the so-called Chaitja, which, recurring in almost regular form, appear to have been temples. The rock, in most of these, is hewn out into an oblong rectangular cave, forming a semicircle on the side opposite to the entrance. Two rows of pillars or columns, connected by an architrave, serve to support the tunnel-vaulted roof of the broad central nave. At the semicircular end of the building, in striking resemblance with the plan of Christian basilicas, there rises a Dagop, exhibiting in a niche the colossal image of the divinely honoured Buddha. Otherwise, as a rule, these build- ings, in harmony with the essence of Buddhaism, disdain all rich decoration. Among the caves of this kind, that of Karli may be mentioned as one of the earliest. (Fig- 49-) Others are to be found on the island Salsette, at Bang in Central India, and in many other places, mingled with Brahminical works. 8o History of Art. Brahminism, indeed, soon vied with Buddhaism in the struc- ture of these temple-caves, and endeavoured, by variety in the combination of courts, and by exuberant and fanciful decoration, to surpass the Buddhist caves/ Splendid monuments of this kind are to be found in the island Elephanta near Bombay : the interior of the principal cave is shown in Fig. 50. The most magnificent works, however, are to be seen in the neighbourhood Fig. 49. Cave of Karli. Ground-plan and Section. of Ellora, where the mighty masses of the granite mountains have been hewn out in a semicircle a mile in circumference. The temples here often extend in two stories over each other ; indeed, the whole rocky ceiling is sometimes burst asunder, so that open temple-courts are formed in the interior of the moun- tains, and in the centre of these the principal shrine, with its chapels and its cella, are left standing like a monolithic mass of rock skilfully excavated. The most splendid monument is the Kailasa Cave at Ellora, conspicuous both for its extent and for its lavish abundance of plastic ornament. The whole surface is covered, in fantastic irregularity, with the strange creations of ^ Denkm. der Kunst. Plate 9. The A rt of Eastern A sia. India. 8 1 Brahminical symbolism — forms of men and animals in wild com- plexity and disorder, Atlantes-like figures apparently supporting the entablature, lions, elephants, and curiously fashioned mixed beings, all this motley life being chiselled with servile assiduity of execution. The truly architectural members, also, especially the free supports which have to bear the weight of the rocky ceiling, are formed in most capricious and varied manner by the fantastic taste of Indian art. As the whole cave, by the direct Fig. 50. Cave of Elephanta. appropriation of the natural rock, is dependent upon the local conditions in all its forms, perfect freedom of design is apparent in all its details.^ Only certain characteristic features in the structure of the pillars recur tolerably often — a quadrangular base, with a swelling column, curved in outline, rising above it, and ending with a projecting capital of an extremely bulging form. The connection of the pillars is effected by strong archi- traves, and a console-like member, in imitation of wood, is placed generally between the capital and the entablature. (Figs. 51 and 52.) In the Buddhist caves alone the pillars are more sim.ply constructed, with an octagonal base. Besides these buildings, which in countless number and wonderful splendour are spread over the mountains of the VOL. I. * Denhn. der Kiinst. Plate 9. G 82 History of A rt. Deccan and the numerous islands, Brahminism has also pro- duced a multitude of no less magnificent detached buildings. We refer to the temple structures, the so-called Pagodas — exten- sive groups of buildings, surrounded with vast walls interspersed with stately gates and towers, being for the most part several courts with greater and lesser temples, chapels, and other shrines, Fig. 52> Pillar at Ellora. basins for holy washings, colonnades, galleries, and gigantic courts for pilgrims (Tschultris). In all these buildings, the form of the tope again asserts itself as especially congenial to the national mind, so that gates, towers, and other prominent members are fashioned in this style. Only in the extent and bulk of these complex buildings, attention is paid to increase of effect, the respective parts often rise to a considerable height, in a pyramidal form, many lower stories with carved roofs being placed upon each other, and ending at last by a dome-like figure terminating in a point. Magnificent buildings of this kind- are especially to be met with in the southern districts of the Deccan — as, for instance, the mighty Pagoda of Chillambrum, with its four splendid portals, the Pagoda of Mahamalaipur, on the coast of Koromandel (Fig. 53), and the famous Pagoda of Juggernaut, built in the year 1 198 a.d., and others. The A rt of Eastern A si a. India. 83 A separate group is formed by the buildings of the Jainas, a sect between Brahminism and Buddhaism, whose splendid but more recent monuments are especially to be met with in Mysore and Guzerat. Extensive courts with arched halls and numerous chapels, and especially the constant introductions of cupola-like vaulted roofs, distinguish these buildings, which are conspicuous for their fantastic ornament. Many splendid temples rise on Mount Abu ; others are situated at Chandravati ; and there is a peculiarly extensive and magnificent one at Sadree. In all these works there is abundance of rich fantastic ornament ; and, although in more slender proportions, there is the same freedom in the treatment of the architec- tural members. Thus in all kinds of Indian architec- ture, throughout thousands of years, the mode of expression is ever the same ; instead of simple definite forms, there is a chaos of wild lines and figures, in nothing inferior to the intoxicating luxuriance, the mighty power of production, and the overwhelming variety of the life of Indian nature, and almost eclipsing the wonders of that nature by wonders still more bold. Fig. 53- Pagoda of Mahamalaipur. 3. THE PLASTIC ART OF THE INDIANS. Religious ideas were not less influential upon the develop- ment of the plastic arts ^ among the Indians than they were upon architecture. Buddhaism, enjoining as it did a more simple, stricter, life in contrast to the polytheism of the Brahmins, was 1 Denhn. der Kunst. Plate 1 1. G 2 84 History of Ai't. originally, in conformity with this ascetic bias, averse to sculp- tured representations, only excepting that of the form of Buddha, enthroned in the shrine of the temple cella, or hewn by itself in a rocky niche, such as the statues of Buddha, 120 feet in height, in the rocky wall at Bamiyan, in the extreme west of India. The spirit of profound reflection and earnest contem- plation is expressed in these figures with grave simplicity. It is remarkable, moreover, that the oldest monuments of Bud- dhaism exhibit an attempt at historical sculpture. Thus, for instance, on the portal of the great tope of Sanchi, there are scenes of battles and sieges in relief, betraying a certain degree of life-like character and naive freshness of conception in a chronicle-like style of representation. Historical feeling, how- ever, was so little natural to the Indian that these scanty attempts, witnesses as they are of the victorious advance of Buddhaism, and of a mental life, in consequence, elevated and influenced by outward circumstances, appear tolerably isolated. Brahminism, with its fantastic worship and its strangely extra- vagant ideas, so entirely swayed the national mind, that even Buddhaism soon lost its original purity, and mingled its doc- trines with the various fanciful creations of Brahminical worship. As, however, the gods of the Hindoos blend one into another vaguely and in many forms, if we look at them from the Indian Trinity (Trimurti), formed by the old national chief divinity Brahma, with Siwa and Vischnu, if we reckon the thirteen lesser divinities, and the countless demons and gods of the Indian Olympus, so also in plastic art the conception of these incon- ceivable forms advances with uncertain steps. The mysterious and mystical effect of the temple-cave was to be increased by sculptured representations of no less solemn a character. The feeling of the people, however, did not create these sacred images from distinct conceptions, nor from pure human notions, but from dreamy fantastic ideas, and from mystical speculations. Art is here not merely the handmaid of religion, but the hand- maid of a worship which finds approach to the idea of God in symbols of a monstrous kind. Wherever, therefore, the forms The Art of Eastern Asia. India. 85 of the .gods, or the history of their wonderful destiny, were to be portrayed, wherever deep and mysterious awe of the unap- proachable was to be manifested, the accessories were only out- wardly symbolic, and the vague attempt at effect is produced by heaps of wings, heads, arms and legs, or quaint combinations of animal and human bodies. These representations are, for the most part, chiselled in strong projecting rdief on the outside of the topes and pagodas, or in the interior upon the pillars, cornices, and in niches in the wall. The figures of Brahminical mythology, of mythical heroic legends, are here combined with free fantastic creations : there are everywhere symbolic allusions, profound speculations, effusions of a rich exuberant imagination ; but rarely the representation in distinct touches of the simple circumstances of daily life, and never, it seems, of historical events. The style of these sculp- tures, which exhibits certain changes, it is true, in the course of centuries, advancing from stricter exactness to greater freedom of action, and at length to wild exaggeration, bears notwith- standing a uniform stamp of character throughout every epoch. A higher law of artistic arrangement, of simple composition, is not looked for when a chaotic world of unbridled fancy presents itself for plastic representation. In sculptures abounding in figures, there is, therefore, for the most part, that motley con- fusion which marks the Indian turn of mind, and this, to a greater extent, the more lively and animated the events to be depicted ; we find it thus in the sculptures of Mahamalaipur, where peculiarly dramatic scenes are exhibited in extensive reliefs — such as the Six-armed Durga, the consort of the mighty Siwa, who is surrounded by a crowd of fighting and fallen, and is rushing forward mounted on a lion to destroy a gigantic bull- headed demon. Whenever, on the other hand, a state of calm existence is to be depicted in stronger touches and more simple groups, there Indian art often displays a tenderly attractive grace, a delicate sense of nature, and a naweti of feeling, which remind us of the most beautiful passages of the Sacontala. Most especially does Indian plastic art succeed in the expres- 86 History of Art. sion of womanly grace ; and even in the conception of male figures there is a touch of this womanly softness. Certainly, almost without exception, there is a lack of energetic life, of a firm contexture of bone and muscle ; they are beings more created for dreamy brooding and soft enjoyments than for a vigorous grasping of life in thought and action. In harmony with this, we find full swelling luxurious softness in the lines and forms, and easy careless- ness of attitude. Splendid examples of this tendency are to be seen, especially in the Kailasa at Ellora (Fig. 54), in the principal cave at Elephanta, and other places. Painting also appeared early in extensive wall decorations, as in the caves of Ajunta and Baug, where great processions with elephants and the figure of Buddha, battle scenes and hunts, are represented in the liveliest colours — red, blue, white, and brown. The figures of the animals especially are freely executed, and with a life-like adherence to nature. At a later period, Indian art turned its chief attention to miniature-painting, and works of this kind are often to be met with in European libraries and collections. The old symbolic range of ideas open to Indian art thus shows itself to be exhausted, and only to endure in the cold form of tradition. Wherever, on the other hand, repre- sentations from actual life, especially scenes of an idyllic kind appear, the conventional mode of execution is broken through by a sweet poetic feeling, full of great tenderness and grace. Fig. 54. Relief of Kailasa at Ellora. Art of Eastern Asia. Braitches of Indian Art. 87 B. BRANCHES OF INDIAN ART. I. CASHMERE. So mighty a system of civilisation as the Indian must neces- sarily exercise lasting influence on surrounding nations ; and thus we find that, with the religious ideas of the Hindoos, their mode of art also extended north and south over the continent and the great groups of islands around. Still, there is sufficient freedom of taste to cause various remodellings of form at different points, and in effecting these many national conditions and outward influences concur. One remarkable branch of Indian art is to be found in the extreme north-west, in the mountainous country of Cashmere, famous for its fertility and beauty, shut in as it is between two chains of snowy heights. The numerous monuments of the country belong to the period of the highest prosperity and diffusion of the Brahminical worship. The sacred buildings are, for the most part, detached temples, stately in design, with extensive courts surrounded by walls. As in India itself, the form of the edifice in its projecting parts is based on that of the tope, though not without decided remodelling, thus evidencing a peculiarly different turn of mind. The principal element consists, on the one side, of a distinct imitation of wooden constructions, and on the other of Hellenic forms, probably introduced through the Bactro-Scythian lands. While the latter are evident in the formation of the socles, bases, and mouldings, and in the bar- barised application of the system of antique columns and beams, the former is to be traced in the general form and in the funda- mental elements of the structure. The sacred buildings, either of greater or smaller dimensions, rise upon a quadrangular socle- like substructure, the walls being composed of a rather confused system of columns, perpendicular niches, and gables. The whole is terminated by a roof rising pyramidal-like in several offsets ; 88 History of Art. and the straight lines of this roof, in contrast to the full swelling form of the monuments of Hindostan, call to mind most deci- dedly the effect of wooden constructions. A temple such as this is to be seen at Payach (Fig. 55), a small building, but interesting from its charac- teristic formation. A larger temple, with adjoining build- ings, court, and walls, is to be found at Martand, and several, partly destroyed, at Avantipur. Plastic art also has been em- ployed in these monuments, but without attaining to any special importance. 2. NEPAL, JAVA, AND PEGU. The other lands of this extensive region of civilisation are chiefly, or even exclusively, under the influence of Buddhist ideas. Among them we may name, in the first place, the moun- tainous country of Nepal, lying in the north of Hindostan, and stretching away close under the loftiest snow peaks of the Himalaya. Here the Buddhist Dagop is developed into a vast detached building, combining, amid much fantastic decoration, the rich and varied forms of Indian architecture, with bold tower- lik^ slenderness. Especially the temple, which we shall here designate exclusively as Chaitja, presents a splendid instance of this form, v/ith its richly decorated substructure, wall-niches, and slender-pointed cupolas. Still more ornamented, and inclining towards the Chinese style of architecture, are the cloister-like Viharas. The most conspicuous monument of this class seems to be the great temple of the capital Kathmandu. The sculp- tures, with which these monuments are richly decorated, exhibit a mannered imitation of the Buddhist sculptures of Hindostan. Fig. 55. Temple of Payach. Art of Eastern Asia. Branches of Indian Art. 89 The Nepalese evince especial skill up to the present day in the working of various metals. In the monuments of the island of Java, which belong to the later period of Indian art, Buddhist and Brahminical forms are frequently combined into a grand and richly developed whole, which, with all its fantastic ornament, attains to an imposing dignity of effect. The circular form of the Dagop is con- stantly employed to crown the mass of the exterior, the walls of which are composed of a rich system of niches. Among a great number of splendid buildings, the temple of Boro Budor stands Fig. 56. Temple of Boro Budor. foremost for magnificence and extent. (Fig. 56.) The principal temple is a mighty structure 526 feet wide, rising, terrace-like in six stories, to a height of 116 feet, each offset having niches containing sitting statues of Buddha and an aiched roof, and the whole being crowned with a number of cupolas, in the centre of which an immense Dagop towers above all. Plastic art also in Java follows in its peculiarly rich detail the model of the Indian, in common with which it exhibits a fondness for fantastic device, and an especially graceful tenderness of form. The sphere 90 History of Art. of representation is composed of Buddhist and Brahminical elements, and the material employed is not only stone, but metal, which is worked with skill by the Javanese artisan. A third group, again following more exclusively Buddhist traditions, is formed by the monuments of Pegu, the region at the back of India, watered by the Irawaddi. Here, too, we find the Dagop again as the primitive form, but, for the most part, massive in structure, and of mighty dimensions. Yet here a new variation appears, in an octagonal building, tapering into a slender point, rising from a broad substructure. Splendid colours and rich gold ornament, besides colossal bronze statues, for the moulding of which Peguan art was distinguished, increase the fantastic grandeur of these buildings. The best known monuments are the temples of Rangun, Pegu, and Kommodu, the latter being about 300 feet high. 3. CHINA AND JAPAN. Chinese art, so far as it was employed for religious objects, likewise received its impulse from Buddhism, which began to spread through the vast empire about the year 50 a.d., and gradually acquired exclusive sway. As, however, the character of this soberly intelligent and practically wise people, with their preponderating attention to worldly aims and gains, is diametri- cally opposite to the fantastic poetic mind of the Indians, we find the forms of art considerably modified, the breath of deep syriibolism and grand seriousness effaced, and in its place an effort after well-arranged elegance and varied ornament. Here, too, only still more decidedly than in other Indian architecture, there is a preponderance of wooden construction, or the idea of it is, at any rate, perceptible everywhere. In the Chinese temples there is an unmistakable adherence to the Dagop form, although very radically altered. (Fig. 57.) Most of the small buildings diminish in size at every story, so that each succeeding story recedes behind the concave roof of the former. A gallery of brightly varnished wooden pillars, Art of Easter 71 Asia. Branches of Indian Art. 91 often filled up with gilt trellis-work, surrounds the lower floor. Curiously twisted carved work, especially fabulous dragons, stand out from the projecting rafters ; and numerous little bells, suspended at every point, complete the childishly playful cha- racter of these buildings. The slender tower also, so great a favourite with the Chinese, the so-called Tha, which rises in many stories to a tapering point, and is similarly formed and decorated, may be regarded as an offspring, though a remote one, of the Indian tope. The most famous of these towers is the porcelain tower at Nanking, rising above 200 feet high in nine stories. Brilliant ornaments of plates of porcelain, gaudy painting, and rich gilding mark this building, as well as most others of a similar character. A far grander and more serious feeling is exhibited in those buildings of the Chinese adapted to useful purposes, and most of which belong to their early epoch of civilisation — thus the extensive canals, the bold bridges, and the famous wall, which extended about 400 miles, with a height and breadth of 25 feet, fortified by numerous bastions of defence, which was built, about 200 B.C., for the protection of the northern barriers of the empire. 92 History of Art. In the plastic arts of the Chinese we find a quaint extra- vagance in rehgious representations, combined with a certain intelHgent conception of hfe and nature, which, in their paintings especially, is united with an unusually accurate, but tedious and uniform, style, thereby causing the utter loss of that characteristic of art — activity of imagination. We thus touch closely on the boundary line of art, and gladly resign the entire field to the investigator of civilisation and the collector of curiosities. The art of the Japanese is essentially linked with that of the Chinese, and, like them, it delights in introducing a fantasti- cally decorated wooden style into architecture. They, too, never arrived at a higher architectural feeling, as may be seen in the form of their vessels and implements. Thus the cabinet-work, wonderfully executed in a technical point of view, the toilet cases, work-tables, etageres, and drawers, possess the strange peculiarity of never being symmetrical in the arrangement of the sliding drawers, and the inlaid ornament obstinately avoids all regularity of design. The vessels of bronze also, the perfume cases, glasses, and candlesticks, exhibit ugly forms of every kind, covered at the same time with fantastic devices. Many of these vessels assume the form of distorted monsters or goblin-like creatures, the Japanese imagination, like the Chinese, constantly passing over into the grotesque. It is only where a naive naturalism asserts itself in these works that a keen observation of nature and lively conception is apparent. Thus in those bronze lights, which are formed of a slender heron-like water bird, standing on the broad back of a tortoise, and holding a water plant in its beak, the opened blossom holds the candle. For drawing and painting, the Japanese people seem to possess an especial gift ; but here, too, the driest realism prevails, pro- ducing, it is true, excellent things in the imitation of given forms of nature, but never showing an effort after the expression of an idea, nor a breath of true artistic feeling. This is felt also in their independent paintings, as, for example, in the skilfully executed bright pictures with which the red or black varnished trays or similar vessels are decorated. Here also we see an aversion to Art of Eastern Asia. Branches of Indian Art. 93 a proportionate division of space, from the fact that, in order to display as great a surface as possible of unsurpassably fine varnish, the representations are placed in one corner without any architectural counterbalance. In writing and drawing books, in compendiums and other works of instruction, we see landscapes, animals, especially scientific representations of fishes and birds, reproduced with the most accurate observation and most exact characterisation. Other books of the same kind in splendid coloured prints depict the elegant life of the fashionable world of Japan ; and, again, others in more homely representation portray in wood-cuts the doings of the people, the motley confusion in the streets of populous cities, feats of conjurors and athletes, merrymakings in the open air, and similar scenes. In these pro- ductions the vigorous precision of drawing, often falling into caricature, and delighting to show its power in bold foreshorten- ings, claims admiration, no less than the keen distinctness of expression, and the full meaning given to the gestures and movements of the body. Beauty, indeed, is utterly alien to this mode of art ; and if the imagination be excited, it manifests itself only in fantastic distortions, crazy productions of a mind revelling in the hideous and the grotesque. Thus this art, like that of the Chinese, revolves incessantly in a circle between unimaginative naturalism and monstrous fantastic delineation. We have reached the end of our considerations of the art of the East. Extensive undertakings and brilliant proofs of a most energetic striving after art have passed before our view ; and in this mighty world there was no lack of the characteristic impress of various races, who strove to exhibit their peculiar ideal of beauty. But that which gives all Oriental art the stamp of strict local restraint and one-sided national limitation, is the preponderant power with which outward circumstances fetter the inward life, the constraining sway of a mighty nature which entangles the mind and chains it down. As therefore, in its stately existence, the East ever remained on the lower stage of 94 History of AiH. a strongly hierarchical despotism, as any higher independent progress was not to be thought of, so its art also was kept circumscribed by cold symbols, and was compelled to rest satisfied with the outward facts of life, or to embody in fantastic extrava- gance the ideas of a grotesque mysticism. Thus it could not attain to a true inner development or any positive history. A further cause for this state of things was the slavish dependance in which sculpture and painting were held by architecture, for these arts can alone freely unfold in independent growth when the deep inner significance of them individually is acknowledged. Important therefore, as the productions of Oriental art are in themselves, they can yet lay but small claim to an absolute and universal significance. In this respect this art, though the growth of ages, ever remained a child, obliged to have recourse to outward symbols instead of intellectual means of expression. SECOND BOOK. » CLASSIC ART. CHAPTER 1. GREEK ART. I. LAND AND PEOPLE. In the vast regions of the East, we have found forms of civiHsa- tion which, chiefly affected by the course of mighty rivers, have struck us as strange from their enduring stabihty and unchange- ableness. The first step we take in entering the European con- tinent, brings us into a new world full of activity and fresh historic life, in which we at onCe are sensible of a homelike feeling. The Greeks first afford us the picture of personal inner development, and of a national life unfolding with free conscious- ness. If those Oriental nations in their narrow limited civilisation are only of interest for historical examination, the Greeks, on the other hand, reached an absolute height of culture, presenting a model worthy of admiration for all ages, and an inexhaustible fountain head for all higher effort. Although thoroughly national, their whole mental life was so elevated, so filled with universal human significance, that it constitutes the indestructi- ble basis for the development of all future ages, and in the everlasting struggle of the beautiful and the true with anta- gonistic principles, Greece, like an Athene Promachus, has vic- toriously preceded all champions of these nobler qualities. But when we consider that the Greek race was only a branch of that great family of Asia, from which the Indians and Persians were descended, that this affinity of race is proved unanswerably by the testimony of language, the question suggests itself, wherefore it was that just this branch which we know under the name of the Greeks, could rise so wonderfully high above those nations VOL. I. H 98 History of Aid. of similar origin. In order to explain this, we must take an accurate glance at the nature of the country. Separated from the northern regions by mighty chains of mountains, the territory of the Hellenists stretches out, as the most southern point of Europe, towards the African and Asiatic continents, closely connected with the latter by the numerous islands of the Egean Sea. Small as the land is in extent, its soil nevertheless displays a wealth and variety of form, such as is possessed by scarcely another country in the world. Inter- sected on all sides by numerous mountains, which ramify in various directions and project far into the sea with their head- lands, the country gains a great number of independent terri- tories, separated from each other by those lofty ridges, and open to the sea with broad and deep inlets. This infinitely rich division of the soil at once suggests that here, if anywhere, a scope was given for an analogous development of human exist- ence. If we add to this, that nature, far from tropical super- abundance, was here softened to the mildness, it is true, of a southern climate, but of one moderated by sea and mountain air; that the soil, partly stony and unyielding, heaped its fruits into the lap of man, not without work and labour ; if w^e bear this in mind, we shall comprehend how a people dwelling for centuries in these regions, must, by the very combination of such circum- stances, gradually develope in the manner we have seen exem- plified in the Greeks. When in the days of old the forefathers of the Hellenists, probably advancing across the straits of the Bosphorus, spread over the land, they brought with them the civilisation of the East in language, manners, and religion. But once having reached the new theatre of their activity, the European nature of the country asserted itself in them, and, after a long series of progressive stages of development, facilitated their attainment to that height at which they appear before us as a new people, thoroughly independent and peculiar. These circumstances, which are unmistakably proved as the result of all antiquarian investigation, have been frequently over- looked ; and thus the most various and erroneous hypotheses Greek A rt. Land and People. 99 have arisen with regard to their art. It has been thought ne- cessary either to deny all connection between the Greeks and the East, or — and this especially recently — ^to regard the Greeks as servile imitators, at any rate as disciples, of the Egyptians and Asiatics, as from superficial observation a number of Greek forms of art were to be traced direct to Egypt or Anterior Asia. So cer- tainly, however, as the Greeks have independently developed the genius of their language from the common basis of the primeval stock, so certainly as in their religious ideas the wild and fantastic conceptions of God prevalent in the East have been transformed to such pure and distinct notions that the original fundamental idea common to all only gleams faintly through — just so certainly in their forms of art, so far as our historical knowledge can pene- trate, each characteristic trait is generically Hellenic. Only in certain forms, belonging to Greek antiquity, do we trace the influence of Oriental art, transmitted to the forefathers of the Hellenists by the trading Phoenicians. This is the case in the capitals of the columns and in certain ornamental details of the Ionic style, which seem to come from Babylonic- Assyrian models. We find this also especially in the earliest Greek paint- ings on vases, where the mannered style of animal forms and the fantastic figures harmonise most with the works of Babylon and Assyria. The earliest epoch of Grecian history exhibits therefore a degree of culture which decidedly manifests an Oriental colouring, although with distinct transformations. We find the country in the possession of various families, who exercise their dominion in a patriarchal manner. Yet the people do not seem subject to them with Oriental subservience, but a council of their elders is convened for deliberation and decision. Warlike undertakings, such as the Argonautic expedition and the campaign against Troy, point to the Oriental world ; and even the peaceful rela- tions of civilised life suggest a close connection with the East. When Homer mentions costly and splendid materials, excellent woven stuff, or ingenious metal w^ork, these always proceed from Phoenician or ' Sidonian men and whatever evident traces of H 2 lOO History of Art. that period have come down to us, reveal to us the prevalence of an Oriental sense of form. Even the later Greeks, who were sun- dered by a mighty revolution from that earlier state of things, appear to regard the works of that period as somewhat foreign to themselves, and were wont to designate them as Pelasgian.' Much too as has been conjectured and disputed in learned in- vestigations as to the origin and importance of the old population of Greece, the Pelasgians, so much seems to be certain, that the form of culture designated by their name spread uniformly in Greece, Italy, and in the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. We shall refer to it again in our examination of early Italian art. The artistic works which have been preserved in Greece exhibit that mighty habit of thought, inclining to monumental productions, which belongs to all primitive epochs of art. For the most part they are the remains of fortresses belonging to that heroic age, rising threateningly over the plain upon steep precipitous rocky heights.^ The walls, which are of immense thickness, are formed of irregular polygonous blocks, carefully fitted together without mortar, and producing an extremely firm structure of stone, betraying at a later epoch an approach to the regular freestone building. Considerable remains of this kind are to be found at Argos, Tiryns, Mycenae, and other places. Frequently passages and galleries opening towards the outside are connected with them, arched over with the primitive con- struction of transverse layers of stone. This kind of roofing is immensely employed at entrances, as at Amphissa and Phigalia ; whilst at other gates the sloping side walls are terminated by a mighty stone beam, over which, however, a triangular opening is left free for the architrave of the door. The most important instance of this kind is the principal gate of the Acropolis at Mycenae, -important from the famous relief placed above the principal beam. (Fig. 58.) Upon the immense limestone plinth, ten feet high, which fills the triangle, there rises in the centre, upon a substructure, a pillar in token of ^ Q^. Dcnkm. der Kunst. Plate 12. W. Gell, IValls of Ancient Gi'eece. Greek Art. Land and People. lor Apollo, and on both sides in strong relief stand two lions, erect, with their fore-feet resting on the pedestal. The heads, unfor- tunately destroyed, were probably turned sidewards to suit the nature of the space. The style of these earliest European sculptures approaches mostly to that of the old Assyrian works ; the natural forms are not unskilfully grasped in their essential elements, and with this is combined a strict regard to the architectural design, especially conspicuous in an in- genious adaptation to the space. The architectural forms also of the columns and their base seem to suggest the influence of Anterior Asia. Still more distinctly does this affinity appear in another famous monument of Greece, likewise belonging to the old capital of Mycenae — namely, a building generally considered to be the treasure-house of Atreus, but in truth, without doubt, a funeral vault. It is a circular subterranean apartment, about 48 feet in diameter and as many in height, surrounded by circular stone layers, placed in such a manner that the section bears the form of a pointed arch. A square apartment, hewn out of the rock, is attached to the north side, possibly intended for a vault, while in the large principal space the rich treasures of the ruling family were preserved. A brilliant coating of metal plates appears to have formerly covered the lower parts. If we connect with this the descriptions of the royal palaces, in which Homer loves to indulge, where the walls, thresholds, doors, and pillars glittered with brass and precious metals, the relation to the customs and art of Anterior Asia becomes still more evident. Also the peculiar remains of architectural decoration, and the fragments of two half-columns at the entrance of the treasure- house, seem from their luxuriously tender form, and from the playful character of the ornament (Fig. 59), likewise to betray an Fig. 58. From the Lion-gate at Mycena;, I02 History of A rt. Oriental influence. The spiral and undulatory decorations at once remind us of the ornaments on the earliest bronze vessels which we found among the Celtic races. (Cf Figs. 6 and 7.) At what period this peculiar mode of art was developed in Greece can scarcely be more accurately determined. Possibly Fig- 59- Details fronj the Treasure-house of Atreus. it was at its prime towards the close of the twelfth century before Christ, for with tolerable certainty the end of the earlier period of civilisation may be dated about the year 1000. About this time, that remarkable revolution occurred, which completely overturned all the relations of Greece, and henceforth laid the foundation of that pure and beautiful art which we designate as truly Greek. The impetus to this revolution was given by the powerful race of the Dorians, who broke over Hellas from the northern mountains, conquered the Peloponnesus, and founded a Doric state there. Besides these, the lonians likewise stand out among the Greek races in a high state of culture ; and it is the contrast between these two races, so radically diverse though dwelling on a common national soil, that invests Greek life with its wonderful depth, its rich value, and its stamp of perfection. In opposition to the reserved, self-dependent Dorians, warlike by preference, and tenaciously adhering to tradition in state and habits, appeared the versatile, much-gifted lonians, endowed with Strange susceptibility for impressions of every kind. In eager emu- lation they both endeavoured to develope their peculiar natures, to extend their influence and power, and by numerous colonies to spread Greek culture over Asia Minor and the islands, over Southern Italy (Graecia Magna), and Sicily. Even on the distant Greek Art. A^xhitecture. 103 shores of Southern France, a colony of Grecian hfe arose at the beginning of this epoch in Massilia (the Marseilles of the present day). It is in this very difference, in this individual variety of Greek life, that we see the contrast to the East ; and still more keenly does this contrast appear when, in the course of their development, we perceive the infinite depth and power of their advancing civilisation. That all this was alone possible on the soil of a free state is obvious ; and in this respect it is the repub- lican constitutions of Greece, differently organised as they are in the different races, either fixed aristocratic permanence, as in the Dorians, or decided democratic advance, as in the Ionic Athenians — it is these free constitutions which form a basis for the high mental development of the Hellenists, and which in the prime of their prosperity come forth victorious as the higher principle from the struggle with Asiatic despotism. We proffer these suggestions as a scanty framework for the rich picture of artistic progress which we are now about to unroll, for to enter more deeply into the wealth and abundance of the advance of Greek civilisation, would demand not a chapter, but a volume. 2. GREEK ARCHITECTURE, a. TJic System} While among the despotically ruled nations of the East, the art of architecture was chiefly displayed in the palaces of the rulers, while even among the forefathers of the Greeks in Pelasgic ages, the royal fortresses formed in all likelihood, as far as Homer's descriptions and the existing remains testify, the most important subject of artistic work, at the founding of the free states of Greece the importance of such egotistic aims receded, and the highest ideas alone, the one object of the state, received the right of artistic development. Hence in the temple alone the art of architecture unfolded itself ; other public buildings serving the general good borrowed their artistic character from 1 See C. Botticher, Die Tektonik der Hellenen. 2 vols. Potsdam, 1844. I04 H istory of Art. the temple structure. On the other hand, in the pahny days of Greece, the design and decoration of private dwelHngs was utterly insignificant. The temple rose upon a substructure of several steps in a sacred court, surrounded by high walls. It was strongly enclosed and as distinctly organised as a plastic work. While the Oriental nations sought to give expression to their vague yearn- ings after the sublime in the massive character and confusing size of their buildings, the Greeks attained the impression of dignity and solemn elevation by moderate extent, simple purity, and harmonious organisation. While in the one we are con- stantly reminded of the expression of slavish feeling, of stiff formulas and gloomy religious views ; in the other we find the \m • m m m \ 1 1 • m 1 1 mm WM m 1 t 1 • -r m \m # Fig. 6o. Ground-plan of the Temple of Theseus in Attica. lofty grace of free consciousness, the independent feeling of manly dignity, the cheerful sense of a noble worship, expressed in the entire form of their glorious marble temples. The primi- tive form (Fig. 6o) is, with few variations, always the same — a distinctly organised plan. It exhibits a rectangle, about twice as long as it is wide, with a colonnade all round, or at all events on the front narrow side (the eastern), where the entrance is, over which the gabled marble roof rests on a purely constructed and richly ornamented entablature. Adhering to this general primitive form, two different species of temple may be pointed out, varying according to the purpose for which they are designed. The true temples for worship enclosed the sacred image of the god, and were only regarded Greek Art. Architechtre. as his abode. In front of their entrance was the altar of burnt- offering, on which sacrifices were offered to the god with the gates open, in the presence of the assembled people ; while the interior might only be entered by those who desired to place offerings on the small altar within, or to bring votive gifts to the temple. Prior to this, however, every one who entered was obliged to be sprinkled with holy water from the vessel in the fore-court. The other species of temple was the festive or agonal temple, which contained a splendid image of the god, but no image for worship, and in the interior of which probably took place the coronation of the victor in the public games which were consecrated to the god. As a moderate space sufficed for both these purposes, the primitive form of the temple was adhered to in its moderate dimensions, with its fore-court (Pronaos), its cella (also simply Naos), and its rear court (Posti- cum, to which occasionally the Opisthodome was added as a special court). Where, however, a more spacious building was necessary, two rows of columns were placed in the interior, supporting an upper gallery with a second row of columns (Fig. 6i), the central space being left bare of roof, in order to supply the temple with light, so that this portion of the building was open to the sky. Such temples were called Hypaethral temples. According to the style of the external colonnade, the temple surrounded with pillars was designated a Periptery, that furnished with a front portico a Prostyle, that provided with a court both at the front and the back, Amphiprostyle, and that the portico of which was formed with pillars between the pro- jecting side walls (Antae) was styled an Antaetemple. If there were two complete colonnades surrounding the whole building, it was called a Dipteral. In the organisation of the architectural framework, the following leading characteristics were unalterably observed. The colonnade, surrounding the temple in greater or less extent, represented a combined supporting power, and at the same time that which afforded access. By the base the independent existence of the separate columns was designed, the stem covered with channelled flutings, and rising vertically, first io6 History of Art. with a convex extension of its circumference (Entasis), and then strongly contracting, expressed in the most Hvely manner no passive bearing, but an energetic active support. The capital brought vividly to view the conflict between support and burden. Above the capitals, the mighty beams of the architrave (Epistyle) were united with a broad band, on which rested the frieze, with its sculptured designs. Above this again projected the over- Fig. 6i. Transverse Section of the Great Temple at Paestum. hanging plinth of the principal cornice, after this the stone beam work of the ceiling, the interstices of which were filled by thinner slabs of stone. On the narrow sides of the oblong building, bordered by a similar cornice and roof gutter, there rose the pediment, with its groups of statues ; and, lastly, on the front edge of the roof, both at the corners and in the middle, there stood smaller sculptures or marble palm-trees, while at the sides the rain water was ejected from lions' heads, and the cornice above was crowned with palm-shaped tiles. In all the noblest works, the roof, like the rest of the building, was executed in marble, and was gracefully finished at its point by an ornamental ridge. The important distinction, as regards construction, between this Greek architecture and the mode of building hitherto con- sidered, rests in the organic formation of the stone ceiling and the pediment. But Greek architecture did not remain satisfied with this superiority in construction alone. For the first time, it Greek Art. Architecture. 107 devised a series of forms of art, which definitely expressed, with much ingenuity, the nature and significance of the separate mem- bers, and produced altogether such a perfect network of manifold allusions, that both form and meaning com- bined to achieve a complete artistic or- ganisation. So rich, however, is the genius of this incomparable people, that in their architectural forms there appear two con- ceptions thoroughly independent of each other, though resting on a common basis, which, known as the Doric and Ionic styles, correspond most closely with the character of these two principal races. As, however, in Attica, the Ionic and Doric elements of civilisation are harmoniously intermingled, in like manner Ionic archi- tecture acquires a special modification in the Attic- Ionic style ; and, lastly, the Cor- inthian style is added as an after-fruit of graceful luxuriance. Passing on to the examination of this rich artistic life, we must begin with the Fig. 62. Doric Order. From the £)oric Stvlc. (Fio". 62.) Temple of Theseus in Athens. J ' \ <=>* *"/ Strict compactness and simple regu- larity mark the Doric building in its construction and form. The absolute sway which the general here exercised over the particular, requiring, in the life of the state, the com- plete subordination of the individual man to the conditions of the community, is obviously expressed in the form of the columns. The Dorians give no foot to each separate column, the upper plinth of the substructure serves as a common basis for the whole row of columns. In the shaft we per- ceive in the strong swelling and tapering of the form a token of aspiring and supporting power, and this also in the flutings, which generally surround the stem in twenty (at times only sixteen) slight grooves, the sharp edges of which touch each io8 History of Art. other. Everything tells of an energetically striving and sup- porting power concentrated inwards ; there is nothing left of the round surface. Short and strong, the shaft usually only reaches a height of about of the diameter of its base, and the interval between the pillars is on an average of the diameter. An indentation at the upper end, sometimes ornamentally diver- sified, precedes the point at which the capital begins. Several strongly cut rings connect the latter with the shaft, allowing the lower member of the capital, the so-called echinus, to rise with a strongly projecting and then receding outline. It is covered with a quadratic plinth (Abacus), which affords a suffi- cient base for the architrave, and completes the transition from the round vertical supporting form to the rectangular, hori- zontal, and reposing. The architrave then follows, receding to the supporting columns, and composed of separate mighty blocks, terminated above by a small projecting slab. On the latter, at distinct intervals, smaller slabs are placed over the centre of each column and over the space between them, and from these six little blocks are suspended. These are intended to designate the places at which short rectangular pillars rise above the architrave to support the roof ; these pillars have two complete flutings on the flat surface, and two half flutings at the corners, and hence bear the name of Triglyphs, Between them, in nearly square panels, are the Metopes, which were originally open, and were used as windows, but were subse- quently regularly covered with stone tablets, generally orna- mented with reliefs. These metopes and triglyphs form the frieze. This fixed division of the frieze and the strict relation of its different parts to the position of the pillars gave to Doric archi- tecture its conciseness in plan and construction. We at once perceive from the design, that it was originally calculated for the simple primitive form of the temple, with its pillared front (Antae) ; for wherever peripteral buildings were intended, a difficulty must have arisen in the corner pillar, if the triglyph, according to rule, were to be placed on the centre of each pillar. Hence in Greek A rt. A rchitectttre. 109 this case, it was moved quite into the angle, and the inequahty was diminished by a smaller interval occurring between the columns. Finally, above the frieze, the plinth of the corona or geison projected considerably, and on its lower surface in rhythmical harmony with each metope and triglyph were placed obliquely projecting blocks, the so-called Mutule, giving it the idea of free suspension. On the lower surface of the mutule were three rows of six droplike ornaments similar to those on the abacus of the architrave. From the angles of the corona, a second similar cornice rose obliquely, only without mutule and drops, in order to enclose the pediment or tympanum. Above the roof cornice, in a waving curve, rose the water-pipe (Sima), with its lion's head. The pediment was finished with plates of stone, and from its groups of statues formed an orna- ment corresponding with the design of the building. If to these forms we add that of the antae — that is, the facade — which, from the structure of the capital, approached the nature of an independent support, while from its rectilinear form and narrow architrave, with its painted strip of ornament (Fig. 63), it became a part of the surrounding- wall, we shall have depicted the essential elements of the Doric building. We have, however, still to add that the plastic ornament of the temple was essentially increased by the employment of rich painting, the so-called polychromatic art.^ While in opposition to the former supposition of the perfect colourlessness of the Greek temple, opinion has recently fallen into the other extreme, and sought to prove a thorough painting of the whole, calm investigation has gradually arrived at the conviction, after careful attention to the few traces left on monuments, that in the marble • Cf. Denkm. der Kunst. Plate 15. And F. Kugler's Schrift iiber die ant ike Polychroime. I lO History of A rt. temples, only the upper parts exhibited coloured ornament ; that the pillars, walls, and architrave sparkled in the unbroken lustre of the brilliant marble ; that on the architrave, at the most, there were only golden inscriptions and gilded shields hung up as monuments of victory, and that it was alone on the frieze and ceiling that the colouring began. This was executed in distinct strong colours, chiefly blue and red, the triglyphs generally blue, the metopes and pediment in a rich brownish red, contrasting effectively with the marble sculptures, also partially painted. The abacus-like members were ornamented with a painted winding pattern ; those of an undulating form were designed with leaves ; the ceiling of the portico was decorated with red and gold stars on a blue ground ; and rich gilding and painting adorned the ornamental members of the roof. The Ionic style exhibits an essentially different mode of execution. Its mild, tender, and more delicate forms contrast with the strong, manly, and even austere manner of the Doric. The strict compactness ever to be found in Doric architecture gives way here to a freer and more versatile system ; it imparts a greater independence to the separate members, characterises them as such by an abundance of significant designs, and intro- duces, instead of strict Doric simplicity, the sweet but more capricious play of its graceful forms. Even in the column we readily perceive the essentially different style of Ionic architec- ture. It was marked out as an independent member by a basis of its own. (Fig. 64.) A quadratic plinth first formed the slab, on which the circular members of the basis rested. These members consisted at the lower end of two contracted flutings, connected with each other by fine hoop-like members, as well as with the plinth and the upper part. The latter is formed by a strongly projecting ovolo (Torus), from which the shaft rises with a slight contraction (Cymatum). The shaft is far more slender than in the Doric pillar, being from 8^ to 9^ of the diameter of its base, and in a corresponding manner the interval between the columns is increased to two of its diameter, giving it in consequence the stamp of a lighter and more slender system of Greek A rt. A rchitecture. 1 1 1 T n 1 architecture. The number of the flutings amounts to twenty-four, which are separated from each other by a narrow strip, 'a por- tion of the periphery of the column ; they are at the same time hollowed deeper and are more perfecdy round ; they also termi- nate both above and below in a circular form, leaving the beginning and end of the pillar unfluted. The most original part of the whole is the form of the capital. It is true that, like the Doric, it has an echinus, only rounder in profile and less projecting, characterised by the so-called ovum orna- ments, and united to the shaft by a band carved in beads ; but over the echinus, instead of the simple abacus, a double pulvinated member extends, projecting on both sides, and ending in a spiral whorl with strongly twisted volutes. For closely united, the ribbed edges curl round the hollowed surface of the flutings, and end in the centre with an eye often ornamented with a rosette ; while on both sides, filling up the angles of the vo- lute, a graceful little branch appears in front of the receding echinus. This device is, how- ever only to be found on the front and back sides ; on the two others, we see only the pulvinated member, which, twisted round by a band, is contracted in the centre, and displays the echinus with the string of beads. The upper termination of the capital is formed by a thin quadratic plinth, undulatino- Fig. 64. Ionic Order. From the Temple of Athene at Priene. 112 History of Ai^t. in outline and ornamented with a pattern of leaves. Any explanation of this capital, graceful and beautiful as it is original, must ever be inefficient ; and it is just in this remarkable form that the effort to apprehend the creations of Greek art by mere calculations of the reason shows itself insufficient. As we have found the volute, this main characteristic member of the Ionic capital, frequently in the art of Anterior Asia, the supposi- tion will not appear too venturesome, if we perceive in it an idea cominon to the art of the whole of Anterior Asia ; an idea which, indeed, reached the height of its perfection through the Ionic Greeks, and received by them a worthy and suitable application. And certainly it cannot be called accidental that Ionic Greek architecture should have found its thorough development on the continent of Asia Minor ; but in the downwards inclined curve, a more passive yielding to the pressure of the entablature is expressed, and this forms a distinguishing difference to the stiff Doric style. The same richer and more varied development of forms is to be observed in all the other members. Thus the architrave exhibits none of the heavy undivided massiveness of the Doric, but, although consisting in its whole height of one single stone, it is apparently, from the effect of shade, composed of three (or sometimes of two) layers projecting over each other; it terminates also in a string of beads and leaf ornaments, which is added as a crowning member to point out the perfect independence of this part likewise. A still more decided transformation is seen in the frieze, for, instead of the strict division of triglyph and metope, we find an uninterrupted frieze composed of upright blocks of stone, which, extending the whole length as a zoophorus (figure-bearer), is covered with compositions in relief. This also is terminated with a leaf decoration and the usual bead ornament. Above it, the plinth of the corona, as in the Doric style, projects with a strong effect of shade ; but the Doric mutule are changed in the Ionic order into a series of cube-like projections occurring at close intervals, the so-called tooth-like ornament, producing the same characteristic of free suspension, only in a different Greek A rt. A rchitecture. manner to the mutule. Pediment and roof are essentially like the Doric, only the sima, which is spirally twisted, assumes a curved form, which in the language of art is designated by the expression ' ogee.' (Cf. Fig. 64.) Having drawn attention to the weak point in the Doric style, rendered perceptible as it is in the difficult arrangement of the corner triglyph, we ought just as little to conceal the weak point in Ionic architecture. This displays itself in the form of the capital ; it is not fitted for every position like the Doric, which is equally developed on all sides, but is only suited for the simple portico. In peripteral designs the capital of the corner pillar must, according to the regular arrangement, turn its facade to the front, and therefore its side view would present an insufferable dissonance with the capitals of the adjoining side. This was remedied as much as possible by an expedient — namely, by giving the capital two facades touching each other, while the volutes, which met at the angle, formed — perhaps not symmetrically — a projecting curve. From this ingenious expedient it seems therefore established, both as regards the Ionic and Doric style, that the form of the periptery was not added to the more simple designs until a more recent period. In Attica, in consequence of the intermingling of Doric influence, the Ionic style experienced a modification, which has been appropriately designated as Attic. (Fig. 65.) In the first place the base of the column is deprived of its particular plinth ; instead of it, however, the double contraction is transformed into a simple one, which is united with the common support by means of a strong circular ovolo. Thus the Attic base was formed of a sharply contracted fluting between two ovolos ; yet in this limited space the law of the tapering of the pillar shaft was expressed, as it were, on a small scale, for the lower ovolo pro- jected further, and was more strongly formed than the upper. The shaft of the pillar was essentially the same as in the pure Ionic style, only it presented less slender proportions ; and the capital also expresses a more energetic life by the greater projec- VOL. I. I 114 History of A 7't. V 1^ 1 W \\\ III Hi M 111. U > ' HI. lit II. HI IM III \\\ \\\ ,li ill II, 11 1 .« i; tion of its powerfully formed volutes. The upper structure has the same main forms in the Attic works as in the Ionian, only the frieze appears considerably higher, and the corona is without the dentated ornament ; instead of which the projecting plinth is strongly undercut along its whole length, so that the edge in front overhangs the crowning member of the frieze. (Cf. Fig. 65.) In general both the Attic and the Ionic style display their more lively variety in an abundance of terminating and crowning members, projecting in different undulating pro- file, and richly decorated with chiselled leaf orna- ment. That this charac- teristic is to be found in some Attic works only in painted leaves, again proves a greater inclina- tion to the simplicity of Doric ornament. Espe- cially graceful is the de- corative fancy of the Ionic style as displayed on the antse and walls, which have generally a capital consist- ing of a plinth and several undulating members, and below this display a broad border consisting of upright flowers and small branches. Both • in Ionic and Attic works, in the same proportion as plastic deco- ration preponderates, coloured ornament seems to decline. Fig. 65. Attic-Tonic Style. From the Erechtheium at Athens. Greek A rt. A rchitecture. V-^ w 1 TTTTT : — ... 1 Lastly, we have to mention the Corinthian order, which, how- ever, cannot be regarded as an independent style like the Doric and Ionic, but is only to be considered as a playful variety of both, arising at a later period. While the essential elements of the entire building were bor- rowed from the Ionic style, a new and original form was devised for the capital ; and it seems a significant fact that the sculptor Callimachus is considered to be its author; — for this fact expresses that it was regarded as a creation produced by artistic reflec- tion, and which arose from combinations made at the sculptor's will. Yet there were Corinthian capitals pre- vious to the time of Callima- chus, and therefore we must interpret the statement by inferring that it was he who brought the capital to its state of finished perfection. The general characteristic of this style is the slender cup- like form of the whole. (Fig. 66.) It is decorated with several rows of leaves, placed upright and curved outward- ly, with the point slightly curled over. The elegant, richly articulated, and deli- cately dentated leaf of the acanthus is generally employed for the leaves ; yet more simple reed-like leaves are also used. The further development of this form led, however, soon to a I 2 1 Fig. 66. From the Monument of Lysikrates at Athens. ii6 History of Art. richer composition. The lower part of the capital is formed also here by two rows of eight acanthus leaves rising one above the other. From these, on each of the four sides of the capital, rise two double branches. The inner smaller branches bend together towards the centre, where they meet in spiral whorls, bearing a palm-like flower ; the outer and stronger branches, on the con- trary, rise towards the upper angle, supporting the somewhat arched plinth of the abacus upon their curved back. (Cf. Fig. 66.) By these corner volutes, the transition from the circular to the quadratic form is effected in a manner as ingenious as it is full of plastic life, and the capital, by this equal completion of every side, regains those more general advantages which distinguish the Doric but which are lost in the Ionic column. A greater mag- nificence of execution, a truer characterisation produced by the adoption of vegetable life, united to its more free applicability to all positions of architectural organisation, have procured an extraordinary popularity for this style in modern times. b. Epochs and Mo7itime7ital Works} In what manner the Greeks gradually developed their archi- tectural system from insignificant beginnings to the perfect form in which we find it, must ever remain a matter veiled in impene- trable obscurity. What stages must have been passed over, before the pure and beautiful form of the Hellenic temple took the place of the primitive buildings of Pelasgian antiquity, may be rather surmised than authenticated. So much is certain from an expression in Pausanias, that, as early as 650 B.C., the two Greek styles, the Doric and Ionic, were practised side by side with perfectly equal appreciation. Both in design and construc- tion, even the oldest of the works still existing display a consis- tent maturity of system, and it is only in the more delicate fashioning of the members that we perceive, in the whole series of monumental works, certain gradations which may be taken as marks of the various stages of development. ^ Cf. Denkm. dei' Kunst. Plates 12, 13, 14, 14 A., 15, Gailhabaud's Denkm. de?' Baukunst. Greek Art. Architecture. 117 THE FIRST EPOCH may be dated from about the time of Solon to the Persian wars. Greece was still in all its simple original power. The different states had formed themselves in strict independence, and rejoiced in an active development of material and intellectual life, which was displayed in Athens, especially under the rule of the Pisistratidae, by splendid artistic undertakings, by the fostering of the poetic art, and by care in collecting the Homeric works. The architec- tural remains of this epoch, though not considerable in number, are stern, antique, and even clumsy. This was especially the case in the Doric works of Sicily and Lower Italy, where this ruder mode of workmanship prevailed for a still longer period, prolonging the epoch about half a century, owing to local cir- cumstances and to the less delicate material employed. In Sicily itself there are extensive remains of more than twenty temples in the Doric style, many of them testifying to works of colossal design.^ The ground-plan of the temple is, almost without ex- ception, the peripteral, and this with an almost pseudo-dipteral position of the colonnade ; the cella is long and narrow, and is always furnished with a tolerably extensive porch. The detail of the building is marked by heavy rude proportions ; the pillars appear short, swelling rapidly and then decidedly tapering ; the entablatures are massive and weighty; the capitals unusually projecting ; and the echinus generally designed in a curved and prominent profile. The material is a coarse-grained limestone with a delicate stucco coating over it, and there are many traces of polychromatic painting. At Selinus, there are the remains of six peripteral temples, standing near each other by threes, the one group being in the town, the other on the castle hill. Among the former, the northernmost, stated to be a sanctuary of Jupiter, is distinguished by its mighty proportions, being 161 feet broad by 367 feet long, with eight pillars by seventeen, placed in a peripteral manner. ' Cf. Duca di Serradifalco, Le Antichita della Sicilia. 5 vols. Palermo, 1834. Hittorf et Zanth, Architecture de la Sicile. Fol. Paris. 1 1 8 History of A r/. The central temple on the castle hill, though less in dimension, being 75 feet broad by 205 feet long, with six pillars by seventeen, therefore of considerable length, is rendered especially important by the extremely ancient reliefs on its metope. The so-called Temple of Jupiter at Agrigentum presents an unusual ground- plan. Like its rival at Selinus, it is of considerable extent, 164 feet broad by 345 feet long ; but it is surrounded, as a pseudo- periptery, only with half-pillars, which are attached to a wall : besides which, it strangely deviates from the ordinary rule by the unequal arrangement of seven half-pillars in front to fourteen on the long side. Atlantes figures of colossal proportion and antique sternness support the roof in the interior, instead of detached columns. At Segesta (^gesta), also, there is still standing the colonnade and gable of a stately peripteral temple, never wholly completed. The pillars have not yet been fluted, and they must Fig. 67. Ground-plan of the Temple of Poseidon at Psestum. in their unfinished state have survived the ruin of the temple. Towards the end of the fifth century, Greek civilisation in Sicily suffered from the inroads of the conquering Carthaginians ; and thus we know that the two colossal temples of Jupiter at Selinus and Agrigentum were not wholly completed at the period of the taking of the cities by the Punic armies — the one in the year 409 B.C., and the other 405 B.C. Similar to the Sicilian monuments, we find the temple of Poseidon at Paestum in Lower Italy, one of the best preserved and finest remains of antiquity.^ ^^Z- ^7-) Massive in dimen- sions, being 81 feet broad by 193 feet long, the building rises * Cf. Delagardette, Les Rinnes de Pastmn. Fol. Paris, 1 799. Greek Art. Architecture. 119 in solemn solitude on the site of the formerly flourishing city of Posidonia (the city of Poseidon). Probably belonging to the same period as the above-named Sicilian temples, it has an unusually pure and normal ground-plan, a peripteral court of six pillars by fourteen, and a long cella with pronaos and posticum. That which, however, invests this temple with the utmost impor- tance, as regards ancient Hellenic architecture, is the happy cir- cumstance of the complete preservation of the whole interior colon- nade, which supported the roof and marked the hypaethral plan. Two rows of seven columns divide the cella into a broad central nave and two small side naves. The former was without a roof, in hypaethral form, and the upper columns of the galleries which were to support the outer wings of the roofs are still to be seen. (Cf Fig. 61.) The two flights of steps, also, by which the gallery was reached, are still existing. The remains in Greece itself are more trifling, although here also there is no lack of important architectural undertakings be- longing to the period. Thus, in the time of the Pisistratidse, the shrine of Apollo at Delphi was splendidly restored, after the earlier temple had been destroyed by fire ; and likewise, under Pisistra'tus, the Temple of Jupiter at Athens was built, though its completion was not effected till the time of the Roman emperors. This temple was dipteral in structure, and of considerable dimensions, being 171 feet broad by 354 feet long. At the same period, the earlier Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens was also erected, the subsequent destruction of which by the Persians led to its brilliant restoration under Pericles. The only remains preserved on Greek soil are those of a temple at Corinth, con- sisting of seven Doric pillars of heavy proportions, probably the ruins of a shrine of Pallas : the building was executed in lime- stone, with an excellent stucco coating over it. Still fewer remains of that early period are exhibited by Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, the temples being pardy de- stroyed by earthquakes, and pardy supplanted by subsequent erections. Yet we know of considerable architectural works constructed here since the middle of the sixth century ; among I20 History of Art. others the famous temple of Hera at Samos, a work executed by the masters Rhoecus and Theodorus, in the ruins of which the base of a column has been found displaying the most primi- tive idea of the Ionic form ; and, above all, that much-extolled wonder of the ancient world, the marble temple of -Artemis at Ephesus, a dipteral building of colossal dimensions, 225 feet broad by 425 feet long, subsequently destroyed by Herostratus' notorious mania, and again rebuilt by the architects of Alexander the Great. Its columns were sixty feet high, and each architrave beam about thirty feet long, so that especial precaution and care must have been necessary in conveying the mighty blocks of marble to the place assigned them. Among the most remark- able remains of ancient art, we must reckon the ruins of the Temple of Assos, in the province of Troas, on the coast of Asia Minor. Here stood a Doric temple, broad and heavy in form; with compact pillars and projecting capitals, executed in common black calcareous tufa. No trace has been found of a frieze ; the architrave, on the other hand, is covered with sculptures of a primitive style showing affinity with the East. THE SECOND EPOCH extends from about the period of the Persian wars to that of the Macedonian supremacy (about 470-338 B.C.). The spirited rise to arms, by which Greece repelled the threatening superiority of the Asiatic barbarians, and victoriously defended her endan- gered liberty, developed in various ways the national life of the Greeks, and raised Athens especially, which, like her protecting tutelar goddess Pallas Athene, had become the leader of Hellenic culture, to the height of the richest and most wonderful civilisa- tion that the world has ever seen. It is true, through the Pelo- ponnesian war, kindled as it was by the jealous differences between Sparta and Athens, the incomparable harmony of Greek life speedily sank from its admired elevation ; yet the greatness of Hellenic life, although no longer in calm bright dignity, but often clouded by passions, long continued in its beauty; and it was architecture peculiarly which in this epoch discarded the last Greek Art. Architecture. I 2 I remnants of a rude heavy antique tendency, and created its most marvellous works in noble grace and bright purity. Henceforth Greece, especially Athens and the country under its jurisdiction, forms the central point of the entire progress of civilisation,' and consequently of architectural creations.^ The transition from the earlier severer style is best shown in the temple at ^gina, which seems to have been built, immediately after the Persian wars, in honour of Pallas Athene. It is a periptery in the Doric style, with inner rows of columns for an Fig. 68. View of the Temple of Theseus. hypaethral structure, and with famous groups of statues on the pediments, which are of much importance in the consideration of plastic art. While this work is built of inferior material — sand- stone with a coating of stucco, only the roof and sculptures being formed of marble — in the architectural works that follow, the most excellent material of white marble is combined with noble and harmonious form, claiming the highest perfection and rendering perfection possible. Most prominent among these stands the ^ J. Stuart and N. Revett, The Antiquities of Athens. 5 vols. London, 1762. The Unedited Atitiquities of Attica^ by the Society of Dilettanti. Fol. Lond. 122 History of Art. Temple of Theseus at Athens, erected under Cimon, and one of the noblest works of Attic-Doric art. (Fig. 68.) Moderate in dimensions, 45 feet broad by 104 feet long, it displays a periptery of six pillars by thirteen. The forms here breathe forth the purest harmony, the noblest softness and grace; the columns are slender and further apart than in the Sicilian buildings ; the echinus of the capitals exhibits a full moderately projecting profile ; and the other members of the upper part of the building harmonise with these proportions in delicate rhythmic feeling. Added to all this, -the building, which was built of Pehtelicum marble, is in excellent preservation, and contains superior plastic ornament, consisting of a representation in relief on the Pronaos, besides the metope reliefs on the fa9ade. Nearly contempora- neous with this beautiful monument of art are two works of extremely moderate dimensions, exhibiting to us the Ionic style in Attic conception, executed in a manner still thoroughly plain and unassuming. One of these is the now ruined Temple of Ilissus, the other, probably of a somewhat later date, is the Temple of Nike Apteros (the wingless goddess of victory), erected at the entrance to the Acropolis. Both exhibit a small cella with a prostyle of four pillars as a portico, and an opistho- dome. The most magnificent structures arose, a short time subse- quently, while Pericles had the direction of public affairs, and Athens possessed undisputed headship both in the state and in civilisation. The Parthenon was the first of those shrines of the Acropolis destroyed by the Persians, the splendid restoration of which was accomplished, after sixteen years of labour, in the year 438. This magnificent temple to the goddess of the city was erected by the masters Ictinus and Callicrates, and was adorned by Phidias and his pupils with rich and splendid sculp- tures. It was Phidias, also, who at the same time created the colossal gold and ivory image of the goddess for her temple. The plan of the building, now only existing in two ruined parts, was that of an hypaethral periptery of considerable dimensions, 10 1 feet broad by 227 feet long, with eight pillars by seventeen, measuring Gi^eek Art. Architecture. 9 34 feet in height, and 6 feet at the diameter of their base. The Doric style here reaches a still greater grace and lightness than even in the Temple of Theseus, and the whole structure of the detail testifies to a no less delicate and elastic life in the members. Certain elements, such as the string of beads above the triglyph frieze, betray a touch of Ionic style. Passing through the Pronaos, a cella was reached of sixty-three feet broad by ninety-eight feet long, divi- ded into three naves by two rows of pillars ; and above these, undoubtedly, as in the temple at Paestum, there was a gallery with a second story of columns. Attached to the back of the cella, accessible from the Posticum, there was a special Opisthodome, in which probably the state treasures were preserved. The rich sculptured ornament of the splendid building evidences at the same time its importance as a festive tem- ple of the goddess. Contests of giants and similar mythical scenes filled the metopes ; grand groups of statues in both pediments depicted the birth of Athene and her con- test with Poseidon ; and, lastly, in the in- terior of the peristyle, an unbroken frieze of masterly reliefs extended round the building, representing the ceremony of the festive procession at the great Panathenaea. In indestructible beauty the temple, trans- formed into a church to the Virgin, had defied the storms of time, when, in the seventeenth century, in a war between the Venetians and the Turks, the former under Count Konigsmark threw a bomb upon the marble roof of the Parthenon, sundering the wondrous structure into two ruined halves. No less famous was the magnificent gate of the Propylaea, which was also erected under Pericles, by the architect Mnesicles, Fig. 69. From the Parthenon. 124 History of A rt. at the west entrance to the Acropolis, between the years 436 and 431. Built with equal grace and equal nobleness of proportion, it displays at the same time the Doric and Ionic style harmoni- ously combined. The gate, which has a breadth of fifty-eight feet, is designed as a porch of considerable depth, with five openings. (Fig. 70.) A deep court, divided into three naves by six pillars placed in pairs, forms the entrance, which leads from without to five other entrances, designed in gradated height and width. Towards the in- terior of the citadel a less deep court, a kind of posti- cum, corresponds with that in front, and opens like it with six strong Doric pillars. Upon these a complete Doric entablature with a marble pediment is placed, both at the outer and inner facade. Thus the forms of the temple structure are here admitted, but at the same time with suitable transformation, arising from the especial object of the building — as, for instance, the considerable width of the central gate required two metopes over the space between central columns. Attached to each side of the front, as projecting wings, there were smaller buildings, opening with Doric colonnades into the enclosed cen- tral court, but presenting their closed side walls at both angles to any approach from without. Thus in this building the idea of fortress-like defence, as well as of festive welcome, was equally expressed. Especially admirable, however, was the rich ceiling of the great three-naved court, both on account of the bold extent of its beams and the magnificent execution of the spaces between the modillions, which were brilliant with gold and colours. The Ionic form of the columns in the interior also corresponded with this festive cheerful character, while the two Fig. 70. Ground-plan of the Propylaea. Greek Art. Architecture. rows of columns on the outside, together with the rest of the exterior of the building, exhibited the seriousness and dignity of the Doric style. On the other hand, we find the perfect splendour and lofty grace of the Attic-Ionic style in the third magnificent building of the Acropolis, the temple for the true worship of Athene, the so-called Erechtheium.^ This building comprised many different shrines in several connected courts, and contained not merely the sacred image of the goddess, the tombs of the old heroes of the land, the shrine of the nymph Pandrosus and of Cecrops, but also a number of highly esteemed divine tokens. This temple also had been destroyed by the Persians ; but after the death of Fig. 71. North-west View of the Erechtheium. Pericles, its rebuilding was commenced, and recently discovered inscriptions testify that it was not wholly completed in the year 409 B.C. The task of meeting the manifold conditions prescribed by the rules of worship is here perfectly fulfilled. (Fig. 71.) The main building extends in moderate dimensions (thirty-seven feet broad by seventy-three feet long) from east to west, ter- minating in the east with a splendid porch furnished with six Ionic pillars, and in the west with a wall, the upper part of * Cf. Inwood, The Erechtheioii at Athens. Fol. London, 1827. F. von Ouast, Das Erechtheion zu Athen^ &^c. Berlin, 1840. History of Art. which was marked by an upper story, having six half-pillars with windows between them. Even this part of the design was opposed to the regular ground-plan of the Greek temple. But on the north side of the western half of the temple there was a stately and unusually magnificent porch of six pillars, four of which stood in front, and two at the sides, which were of consid- erable depth, all the details here being much more rich and splendid than in the eastern porch. Passing through a great door, the elegant framework and corona of which is still in pre- servation, the western part of the main building was reached ; and proceeding in a diagonal direction, a second smaller porch was arrived at, built in corresponding design on the south side. Not satisfied with the richness of fancy already displayed in the two first-named porticoes, the architect here had recourse to the noble human form in the place of columns, and six stately Athenian maidens were placed upon the high parapet, supporting the elegant Ionic ceiling of the porch, like Caryatidae. (Cf. Fig. 90.) In what manner all these various courts were used, and for what they were designed, is a matter of constant dispute among archaeologists, owing to the sad destruction of the whole of the interior. The opinion generally received, with some degree of probability, is, that the eastern half of the main temple was separated by a wall from the western building, the true temple of Athene ; that a second partition wall, with an open row of columns, parallel with the first wall, extended from the north to the south porch; and that, at all events, the Pandroseium lay in the western part. These investigations are rendered still more difficult by the fact that the building was erected on sloping ground, so that the eastern porch, and the whole south side, lie considerably higher than all the rest. Apart from these obscu- rities, however, the pure artistic beauty of the work beams forth all the more clearly. The Attic- Ionic style here reaches a luxuriance and richness of decoration that carries it beyond its peculiar character of sober elegance. Even the bases of the columns are variously developed from one common plan, and the ovolos are covered with horizontal flutings and wicker work in Greek Art. Architecture. 127 relief. A splendid advance of the Ionic principle is displayed in the capitals, the pulvinated members being arranged in double rows, one above another, and rolled together in the richest spiral involution ; the sculptured echinus is decorated with a band of wicker-work, and at the upper end of the shaft of the pillar, the neck is carved with rich ornaments of palms and branches. (Cf Fig. 65.) The other parts are also decorated Fig. 72. The Acropolis of Athens, in its restored State. with similar magnificence, especially the capitals of the antae and the walls. In order to give an idea of the perfection with which the Greeks understood how to execute an extensive complex build- ing with the utmost artistic effect, we have inserted a view of the Acropolis of Athens at Fig. 72. A broad winding way in the midst of a flight of steps leads up to the splendid gate of the Propylaea, the open colonnades of which are enclosed by the side walls of the two wings. On the right, boldly enthroned on 128 History of A^H. the rocky declivity, stands the elegant Temple of Nike, while over the roof of the central building towers the brazen colossal statue of Athene, executed by Phidias. The festive temple of the goddess, the Parthenon, rises with its forest of pillars and its richly sculptured pediment further to the right, above the walls of the fortification ; while in the background to the left a part of the west front of the Erechtheium, with its northern portico, is visible. The whole forms an architectural picture, exhibiting to us in every line the glory of Athens at this period of her grandeur. In other places, also — for instance, in Attica and the northern parts of the Peloponnesus — the new and brilliant advance made by Athens in the art of architecture must have exercised a decided influence upon the fashioning of monumental works. Thus we know that Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon, built the splendid Temple of Demeter at Eleusis, to which subse- quently other magnificent buildings were added : the remains also of the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus, and the traces that have been discovered of the famous Temple of Jupiter at Olympia, all point to the influence of the Athenian school of architecture. Further, we know that the Temple of Apollo at Bass^, near Phigalia in Arcadia, which is still partly preserved, and which was also distinguished for its sculptured friezes, was built after the design of Ictinus. His works display a remark- able combination of the two styles, the exterior being executed in the noble Doric mode of Attica, while the two rows of columns in the interior, which support the roof of the hypaethral building, follow the Ionic form. THE THIRD EPOCH, which lasts till the decline of Grecian liberty, exhibits archi- tecture, it is true, still in varied activity, but no longer adhering to the pure tendency of the former age. Influenced by the political circumstances which brought Greece under the dominion of the Macedonians, there arose a striving after attractive effect, and even after a piquancy in art ; and owing to the various Greek Art. Architeciure, 129 relations with Asia, entered into by Alexander the Great, Oriental luxuriance and sensuality found their way into Hellenic culture. Architecture now displayed its greatest munificence in the design of theatres (as in the cities of Asia Minor), in splendid palaces for the new capitals (as in Alexandria), and in the luxurious improvement of the private buildings, which had been before simple and modest. It was especially employed in massive designs for grand complex works, and even for entire cities, in executing which undoubtedly a general harmony of effect was aimed at. The Doric style was almost wholly lost sight of, or was only preserved in feeble construction. On the other hand, the Corinthian style, with its magnificent decoration, asserts itself as the true child of this period. The transition to this period is marked by the Temple of Athene Alea at Tegea, erected by the sculptor Scopas previous to the year 350 B.C., and famed among the ancients as the largest and most splendid temple of the Peloponnesus, Its importance consisted in the fact that the three orders of architecture were equally employed in it, the peristyle being built in the Ionic order, while the lower row of columns in the interior belonged to the Doric, and the upper row to the Corinthian style. Among other temples in Greece, we must also mention the Doric Temple of Jupiter and Nemea in the Peloponnesus, and the extensive architectural designs which were added to the shrine of Eleusis, chiefly comprising an inner and outer propylaeum, the latter designed and executed in strict accordance with the central building of the famous Athenian Propylaea. In Athens itself, there are especially some smaller monuments of another kind, in which the graceful elegance and decorative beauty of this later style are attractively exhibited. Foremost among these are some choragic monuments— memorials erected by private per- sons in honour of a victory obtained by them in the leading of a chorus in a public musical contest. It was necessary here to obtain a support for the tripod received as the reward of victor)^, and which, in true Grecian spirit, was again publicly placed as a consecrated gift. For this purpose, either a column was used^ VOL. I. K I30 History of Art. the capital of which supported the tripod, or a more extensive substructure was formed for it. The richest and most beautiful of these monuments is that of Lysicrates, erected in honour of a victory obtained in the year 334 e.g. (Cf Fig. 66.) Raised on a quadratic substructure, surrounded with elegant Corinthian half columns, it exhibits a slender circular building, terminating with a gracefully sculptured frieze and rich cornice, and covered with a spherical marble block of 5 feet in diameter. On the top of this monument, which is 34 feet high, and formed of noble Pentelican marble, there rises a rich marble column, adorned with acanthus leaves and branches, like some marvellous flower with its broad corolla, destined to receive and support the tripod. More simple in its character is the monument of Thrasyllus erected in the year 320, a structure of elegant pillars and entablature, forming an entrance to a rocky cave, and bearing the tripod on its plat- form. Among these, we may, lastly, reckon the so-called tower of the winds, or the clock of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, also known under the strange designation of Diogenes' lantern. Executed like the others in marble, it is an octangular tower-like building, with two porticos supported by columns in pairs, of simple Corin- thian form. In the interior, there were contrivances for a water- clock, and outside we find engraved the lines of a dial-plate. On the pyramidal roof there rose, moreover, a revolving brazen Triton, which indicated the direction of the wind, while with his staff he pointed to one of the figures of the eight winds repre- sented in strong reliefs on the frieze of the building. This interesting monument is, at the same time, a plain evidence of the intelligent and imaginative manner in which the Greeks understood how to elevate into artistic beauty even the more ordinary necessities of life. An aqueduct belonging to it is curiously formed in arcades, which, however, are each cut out of one marble block. The true art of the keystone, and of the arch depending upon it, does not seem, according to all appearance, to have been known to the Greeks. The western colonies of Greece have fewer remains to show of monuments belonging to this later period, yet among the Greek A rt. A rchitecture. \ 3 1 Sicilian works we may mention, above all, a remarkable tomb at Agrigentum, designated, without foundation, the tomb of Theron. (Fig. 73.) Quadratic in design, and rising in tapering profile, the small tower-like building is interesting from the mixture of different styles in its decoration ; the superstructure having Ionic half columns at the angles, which support a Doric entabla- ture, with a triglyphic frieze. Also we may here mention the Fig. 73. The so-called Tomb of Theron at Agrigentum. so-called temple of Demeter at Paestum, a periptery of small dimensions, which, in the treatment of its details, evidences plainly the gradual decay of the understanding of the Doric form. A series of splendid monuments, only unfortunately most of them are in a deplorable state of natural decay, are spread over Asia Minor/ In these the Ionic style attains its utmost richness and magnificence. Thus there is, for instance, the Temple of Athene at Priene, built by Pytheos about the year 340 B.C., and consecrated by Alexander the Great ; it is a periptery of six columns by eleven, 64 feet broad by 1 16 feet long, and is a pecu- ' Ionian Antiquities^ by the Society of Dilettanti. 3 vols. Fol. London. Texier, Desc7'iption de l^Asie Mineicre, &^c. 3 vols. Fol. Paris. K 2 132 History of Art. liarly soft yet noble example of the Ionic style. (Cf Fig. 64.) The most splendid work, however, of this group is the famous Temple of the Didymaean Apollo at Miletus, a mighty hypaethral dipteral of ten pillars by twenty-one, 164 feet broad, and 303 feet long. Besides some remains of Ionic columns belonging to the peristyle, the ruins are preserved of the perfect Corinthian capital of one of the half columns at the entrance, as well as some capitals of re- markably beautiful form (Fig. 74), and a splendid sculptured frieze from the interior wall, representing a grifhn with a lyre, and beau- tiful winding branches. To this period also, lastly, belong the Temple of Bacchus at Teos, built by Hermogenes towards the end Fig. 74. Capital from the Apollo Temple at Miletus. of the fourth century, an Ionic periptery of eight pillars in front ; the magnificent Temple of Artemis at Magnesia, built by the same master, a pseudo-dipteral 98 feet in breadth and 2 16 feet in length ; the Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias, constructed on a similar plan, with eight pillars by thirteen ; and, Jastly, the Temple of Jupiter at Aizani, also a pseudo-dipteral 68 feet broad and 1 14 feet long, wdth eight pillars by fifteen, which, in their excessive slenderness of form, attain a height equal to ten of their diameters. One of the most admired architectural works of this period is the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus,^ the colossal tomb erected by Queen Artemisia to her husband Mausolus, which combined, like the before-mentioned Nereid monument at Xanthus, the old Oriental design with the elegant forms of Greek art. Above a rectangular » C. T. Newton, A History of Discoveries at Haiicaniassus, Otidus, ajtd Bran- chidce. London, 1862. Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 133 substructure, which contained the tomb, rose an Ionic temple cella, surrounded with nine pillars by eleven, and decorated with a splendid frieze. The roof formed, in true Oriental fashion, a gradated pyramid, the levelled topstone of which was crowned with a colossal marble quadriga, in which was the statue of Mausolus. Considerable remains have been excavated of the rich sculptured ornaments in which the first masters of the age, such as Scopas and Leochares, emulated each other. The so- called tombs of Absalom and Zacharias at Jerusalem, mentioned in our remarks upon Hebrew art, may be considered as imitations of the Mausoleum upon a reduced scale. 3. GREEK PLASTIC ART, a. Subject and Form. The imagination of the Greeks was essentially plastic ; the art, therefore, in which they took precedence of all other nations, and will ever take precedence, was the plastic art. The impress of their temple architecture was thoroughly plastic, and even in their painting we shall have to acknowledge the influence of that art. We find the deeper ground for this phenomenon lying in the natural disposition of the Greek character, which presents a wonderful unity of mind and nature. No flaw in these two agents engendered either reflection or sentimentality ; harmo- niously blended, understanding and feeling found in each other alternately their complement, their check, and their stability. In healthful exuberance and power, body and mind co-operated with each other. The equal nurture of all innate powers and capacities belongs to the idea of a free-born Greek, and he only who had arrived at perfection in all artistic and gymnastic exercises, obtained the honourable designation of one ' noble and good.' But never was any one allowed to develope his power either for his own personal enjoyment or for the adorn- ment of his own existence, every man belonged wholly and entirely to the common public life, and only as regarded his country was individual power and talent valued. 134 History of Art. From these circumstances, plastic art received its definite character. Where the subject in himself was of so little import- ance, where the reference to general and clearly defined aims governed everything, artistic taste must have applied itself rather to the representation of outward events, than to the depicting of an inward mental condition. Where individual life in general receded behind the common interests of the state, plastic art must have devoted itself rather to the glorification of gods and heroes than of ordinary human beings, rather to the ideal events of legends than to the real doings of daily life. Even the histo- rical life of the nation, when, like some fresh spring, it forced its way into the creations of art, was transformed or idealised into the spirit of myth or legend. As the moral and political ideas of different races, or the general relat'ons of the country, were embodied in the forms of the gods, so did plastic art find in them its first and highest inducement to creative activity. Poetry had even preceded it in this, and in the immortal verse of Homer had first given fixed forms to the gods of Olympus and to the old legends of the Hellenic heroes. From this store of distinct and finished creations, later dramatic poetry drew its riches ; and even the idealistic philosophy of a Plato may be traced to it also. The nation held firm to these ideas and images as to a sanctuary, and only by reverential adherence to them could plastic art take possession of the same material. Hence, in the whole history of Hellenic life, we find this adherence to tradition, this per- petuity of the transmitted type, the essence of which was that inner substance which progressive stages of development only endeavoured to invest with a richer and more lifelike veil. Hence, Greek art originated with the images of the gods. Homer had glorified the national conceptions in his verse, and had represented the gods, in perfect human form, as acting and suffering, gracious or angry, endowed with all human passions. If the East had filled its mythology with gloomy and fearful legends, and profound fantastic subtleties, and therefore could only portray tfie forms of the gods by monstrous deformity of the general idea, in the clear pure myths of the Greeks all misty Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 135 immensity vanished, and man created the gods after his own image. Although at all times whole stages of child-like help- lessness had to be passed through, in which man only succeeded in forming a puppet-like idol, although in the earliest Greek divinities, much of the monstrous creations of the East is still preserved — as in the hundred-breasted Artemis of the Ephesians, or the four-armed Apollo of the Lacedaemonians — still the clear Greek mind soon discovered the right way of investing its gods with the sublimity and beauty of the human form. This way was the observation and apprehension of nature. The expres- sive beauty of that southern race assisted the instinct of the artificer, by sharpening and practising the eye in the contem- plation of beauty. Still more favourable were the free habits of the Hellenists, which allowed the body an unfettered deve- lopment, the life of the free-born citizen, which prevented the stunted growth arising from sedentary occupation ; and lastly, the gymnastics which early steeled the body, rendered it flexible, and allowed it to attain to an harmonious perfection. Thus the race itself became more beautiful, manly, and noble, and at the same time the public gymnasiums afforded artists an abundance of the most beautiful images of youthful physical power, dex- terity, and grace. But there was another circumstance also which accustomed the eye of the sculptor to beauty, and - this lay in the drapery which clung to the body in such noble expressive manner, that every form and movement was marked by the rich fall of the folds. Simple and natural in style, the Greek dress con- sisted of a longer or shorter under garment (the Chiton), put on like a sleeveless shirt and worn without a girdle, and a mantle- like upper garment (the Himation), which was only a large foursquare, thrown over the shoulder of the left arm, and drawn either above or below the right arm. Hence the ' cut ' of the dress did not rest with the tailor, but every man arranged his own garment, and the manner in which this was done, betrayed the character and formation of the wearer. While thus the life itself caused the artist to make the beau- 136 History of Art. tiful his own, and to impregnate with it all his ideas, the ideal origin of his art urged him to imbue it with importance. The stamp of powder in the figures of gods or heroes, could alone be given by grand and universal characteristics. All casual and arbitrary forms were therefore justly set aside, and attention was only given to the essential and accepted type. As Greek art aimed not so much at a delineation of the inner life, as of out- ward circumstances and actions, the importance of the body as a whole asserted itself, rather than that of the countenance with its peculiar expression of the disposition of the mind. Thus it was, that Hellenic plastic art had long understood how to represent the human body, both in repose and in violent action, while the head remained stiff and inanimate. But having reached a high point of development, the art of portraying physical beauty could not allow the harmony of any part of the work to be disturbed, and therefore it fashioned the character of the head, without ever investing it with the superior and dominant life which bursts out when art aims at representing the emotions of the mind and its moods and feelings. Even in the heads of Hellenic statues, in the ' Greek profile,' this fact is plainly expressed. The varied human countenance appears simplified into one fixed stamp. In the whole form of the face, one general character is decidedly expressed. The features follow each other with soft transitions, yet each is clearly formed and finished, and no part comes prominently forward at the expense of another. The organs of under- standing appear only in due proportion with those which express the faculty of sensual enjoyment; the brow is indeed by nature superior to the parts around the mouth, but this preponderance is not increased by an especially great development. Delicately arched, and rather low than high, rather narrow than broad, the brow passes almost as if in continuation into the marked and prominent nose, without any indentation in the profile, and so on into the lower parts of the face, thus expressing in the pregnant language of form, no contrast, but rather an harmonious combi- nation of mind and sensual feeling. The large straight-cut eye Greek A r/. Plastic A rt. 137 lies in its broad deep socket, betraying both in position and look a fixed conception of reality. The cheek softly arches sidewards* from its lower edge to the well-formed ear, and downwards to the chin, which projects with a strong curve, and, with the full but well-defined lips, exhibits energy and sensuality. The whole is formed into a fine oval, and is rendered perfect by a similarly well-proportioned skull. The entire outline of the head is refined, slender, and rather high than broad. Slight deviations from this form suffice to intimate the various differences in the characters represented, and to express the powerful and the tender, the manly and the feminine, blooming youth, maturity, or old age. Here, too, Greek art keeps within the limits of general types of character, without striving after individual traits. It is satisfied with the expression of the highest sovereign will and sovereign mind in Jupiter, with that of lofty womanly dignity in Hera, of heroic manly power in Hercules, of youthful beauty, either of a refined or luxurious character, in Apollo and Bacchus, of perfect grace in Aphrodite, of noble just wisdom in Pallas Athene, of maidenlike vigour in Artemis, of manly adroitness and cunning in Hermes, and other similar creations, in Avhom the round of human characters and qualities are typically esta- blished in broad lineaments, and serve as a general standard. Whatever lay beyond this, passed also beyond the power of Hellenic perception ; and it would have been perfectly incompa- tible with the Greek nature to represent individual character in the modern sense. It is true that portrait statues were frequent among the Greeks, but they were not intended to emphasise individual peculiarities, but to preserve the memory of the man in idealised features as that of an able and excellent being ; and this was decided by the fact that the state had decreed such an honorary statue as a reward. And here, again, the idea was expressed, that the individual man, in the best days of Greece, was in no case to live for himself, but was only an object for notice and representation in his relation to the community. The fundamental feature of Hellenic plastic art, namely, to produce only the ideal element universally accepted, perhaps 138 History of A rt. appears nowhere so strikingly as in the representations which 8eem predominantly to belong to a conception of nature, namely, the animal world. He who would ask what the kingdom of the ' irrational creature ' has to do with the ideal, need only be referred to Greek sculptures. They teach us how the ancient sculptors, even in this apparently subordinate sphere, by a grand conception of the essential elements, and by the exclusion of all that was merely accidental, produced works which transport, as it were, the laws of natural form into a higher medium, and thus invest their animal creations with an ability to appear among the gods and heroes of the Greek Olympus. But here, also, the necessary consistency followed : the law of nature w^as everywhere obliged to yield when it came into opposition with the principle of ideal art. Hence the animals were fashioned infinitely smaller than nature dictates, when the composition of the artistic whole required it, or when the subordinate importance of the animal was to be expressed ; thus, for instance, in the famous group of horsebreakers on the Monte Cavallo in Rome, and the incomparable frieze reliefs of the Parthenon, and many other places. Even fantastically devised combinations of human and atnimal forms are treated in a manner utterly opposed to Oriental conceptions. Among the Greeks they are regarded only as subordinate creatures, while in the East they serve to express the highest divine beings ; in this case the head and breast, as the nobler parts, are fashioned in human form, and the animal organisation is only left for the lower organs. In all this, we readily perceive the great contrast which distinguishes Hellenic plastic art from that of the East. Fan- tastic and naturalistic ideas appear side by side in the East, without being blended together ; the one we find in the embodi- ment of mythological conceptions, the other in the chronicle-like representation of royal life with its ceremonial, or in that of historical events, or of daily existence. All this is, however, only outwardly conceived, and amounts solely to accurate characterisation, and a faithful portrayal of events. Among Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 139 the Greeks, where imagination and understanding harmoniously intermingle, the two extremes lose their one-sidedness, and blend into a noble ideal perception, equally far removed from that fantastic art which thought to portray the divine by shapeless deformity, as from that homely prosaism which forebodes no deeper background to the appearances of actual life. And how could it have been otherwise, when in religious matters, the Orientals knew only the maxims of a priestly dogmatism, and in political affairs, the unlimited rule of their despot, as a subject for plastic representation, while among the Greeks the forms of the gods were created as ideal embodiments of their innermost nature by the same free national mind which gave its own impress to their political life, and thus in every artistic work produced, it celebrated its own glorification. Hence, therefore, the cheerful calm self-sufficiency, the quiet grandeur and freedom, with which creations of Hellenic art stand before us. This inward nature of the plastic art, is connected also with its formal development. Emanating from religious ideas, its seat of activity was especially in the temple. The divine image soon rose from the rude puppet-like idol, to the ideal form filled with mind and life. This transformation was perfected in the material, the variegated carved wooden image being supplanted by statues fashioned of gold and ivory. These costly colossal works consist of a wooden figure, upon which gold plates are laid for the drapery, and ivory for the naked parts. Of another kind are the acroliths, wooden images covered with plates of gold, the naked parts, the head, arms, and feet, being formed of marble. Soon, however, the wood was completely supplanted by noble white marble and bronze casts ; still a remembrance of the old variety of colour and material remained behind in the polychromatic decoration of the statues.^ To what amount this may have extended, can be scarcely determined with certainty, yet not merely the hem of the garments, but sometimes the ' Cf. the paper by F. Kiigler, Ueber die Polychromie der Griechischen Architektur und Sculpt ur^ new improved copy in the Klein en Schriften zur Kunstgeschichte. Vol. I. p. 265 et seq. History of Art. whole attire was coloured, and not merely weapons, diadems, and such-like appendages were rendered conspicuous by gilding, but even the hair was constantly gilded, and the pupil of the eye darkened. In the bronze statues, often the hem of the garment was adorned with ornaments of precious metal, the white of the eye was marked by silver, and the pupil by dark gems. Besides this, the temple required its plastic ornaments, and in its various members afforded rich occasion for sculptured decoration. The pediment contained groups of statues, in the management of which the difficulties of the space were ingeniously overcome ; the metopes in the Doric temples were adorned with sculptured representations, and wherever, as in the Ionic building, sufficient friezes presented themselves, they were used for larger connected compositions in relief While in the buildings in the East, architecture and sculpture intermingled without fixed limitation, the distinct construction of the Greek building provided that the plastic art should freely and inde- pendently insert its work suitably to the organisation of the whole. Thus plastic art became independent of the sway of architectural authority, and yet at the same time it was enclosed within the fixed framework of architecture, and was able in consequence to develope its laws in beautiful freedom, yet without capricious fancy. The first fundamental principle of this style was to represent the human body in noble repose or free activity, even to the expression of passionate emotion, and at the same time 'by the rhythm of the masses, and by a delicate adherence to symmetrical development, to bring out the har- mony of the architectural organisation. Thus everything con- spired to produce that just beauty which arises from the union of the freedom of individual life with the universal law of art. How this principle of Hellenic plastic art was gradually developed, and modified in the different epochs, will be shown in its historical review. Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 141 b. TJie Epochs and Monuments} As in architecture, so also in the plastic art of the Hellenists, a long course of development, numbering centuries in duration, is withdrawn from our examination. Only scanty remains afford us an inadequate idea of the primitive attempts, which must, however, have been already preceded by many stages. Even the Greeks themselves found it no longer possible to conceive the works belonging to an historical age, and tradition clothed the process of the gradual development of plastic art in the poetic garment of legend. These traditions tell of families of Telchines and Dactyli, undoubtedly companies of artisans, as their names imply, that of the one intimating the art of melting metals, and that of the other more generally inferring the exercise of works of skill. Upon them devolved the decoration of the earliest shrines, and the manufacture of idol gods ; and so mythically ancient have the latter often appeared to the Greeks themselves as to give rise to the legend that these old statues had fallen from' heaven. It is evident that in those early statues, art had not been yet awakened, that far rather it was left to the pious imagination of the faithful to worship the almost formless, varie- gated and inlaid wooden puppets, as symbols of the gods. The name of Daedalus is not alone the personification of the fact that the earliest idols of the gods in Greece were carved wooden images, but expressly in him we may date an important advance, as he is said to have opened the hitherto closed eyes of the statues, and to have given free action to the undivided legs, and to the arms, which hung down close by the side of the body. Only one single work is preserved belonging to the primitive period of Greek civilisation, and that is the mighty relief of two rampant lions over the main entrance of the old castle of 1 Denkm. der Kunst. Plates 16, 17, 18, 18 A, 19. Cf. K. O. Miiller, Handbiich der Archdologie der Kimst, 3rd edit, with additions by F. G. Welcker. Berlin, 1848. Also the copious Atlas : K. O. Miiller and C. Oesterley, Deiikmdler der alien Kitnst. 2 vols. Thorough investigations of the history of Greek plastic art are contained in the first vol. of the Geschichte der Griechischen Kiinstler, by H. Brunn, which also served as a basis of the Geschichte der Griechischen Plastik^ by J. Overbeck, and of parts in Liibke's Geschichte der Plastik. 142 Histoiy of Art. Mycenae, of which mention was made on p. 10 1. Besides this, there is a colossal image on a rocky wall of the mountain of Sipylus in Lydia, which is supposed to be the ancient figure in relief of a mourning Niobe, alluded to by Pausanias. The art of that heroic period meets us with greater distinctness and variety in the verse of Homer. We there find especial mention made of the working of precious metals, and vessels and imple- ments of every kind, pitchers, goblets, bowls, coats of mail, shoulder bolts, and shields, are decorated with rich figurative representations. The most famous work of this kind, the shield of Achilles, forged by Hephaestus himself, was entirely covered with metaphorical scenes of peaceful shepherd life, city doings, and contests of every kind. These representations belong to the same class of ideas as those exhibited by the reliefs of Assyrian art ; it is the conception of actual life in its breadth and fulness, already conspicuous in that art, which, here evidently still in connection with Eastern art, becomes a subject for plastic representation. While in Homer the most distinguished of these works are ascribed to the god himself, after the seventh century we meet with more definite historical records of various artistic under- takings, traceable to human authors. With these we shall begin THE FIRST EPOCH of Greek plastic art, so far as it can be historically authenticated. One of the most important works of this kind was the chest of Cypselus, dedicated by the Corinthian family of the Cypselides to the Hera-temple at Olympia ; it is a chest of cedar-wood, covered with carved figurative representations, and inlaid work of gold and ivory. The description given by Pausanias of this remarkable work shows an important advance in the subjects represented, compared with the scenes of actual life which mark the works of the Homeric period. Here for instance, in five rows, one above another, there w^ere scenes exemplifying old Hellenic legends and mythical tales ; thus exhibiting a depth and extension of artistic idea, and seeming to indicate an impor- Greek Art. Plastic Art. 143 tant revolution in general intellectual life. Another famous work also belongs to the same class, the throne of Apollo at Amyclae, in the territory of Lacedsemon, a work executed by Bathycles of Magnesia, who lived about 550 B.C. Here, too, the surface was covered with mythological representations ; the feet of the throne were formed of statues, and the whole work sup- ported an ancient bronze image of Apollo, ' of pillar-like appear- ance.' Technical skill was evidently also advancing, such as casting in bronze, which is imputed to Rhoecus and Theodorus, the architects of the Temple of Hera at Samos (p. 120). While these and other artist names indicate a lively activity in art on the coasts of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, there is no lack of records respecting a similar eager pursuit of art in Greece Proper. Here it seems to have been the Peloponnesus, and \ especially the ancient capitals of Argos and Sicyon, which formed the central point of artistic work. Two famous masters of Crete, Dipoenus and Scyllis, were active there, and laid the foundation of an influential school of art. Among their works not only were images of the gods executed, but also statues of heroes, often in large groups, in which, for the first time, marble was extensively used, as well as a composition of gold and ivory. Thus mental and technical progress mu- tually co-operated in this period of extreme activity towards the grand development of plastic art. Some of the monuments still pre- served, afford us a lively idea of what Greek art could achieve at this period. By far the earliest works are the re- markable sculptures of the temple at Assos, which are now in the Museum of the Louvre in Paris. They consist of shallow reliefs, executed in blackish calcareous tufa, in a style that calls to mind the Assyrian monu- ments. Covering the architrave in unbroken succession, they 144 History of A7^t. approach nearer Oriental than Greek art, even in their subjects — namely, contests between a lion and a bull, men at drinking bouts, fantastic devices such as the Sphinx, centaurs, and men with fishes' tails. Next follow the metope reliefs of the earliest temple at Selinus, now in the Museum at Palermo. Two only are in complete preservation ; nothing but fragments are left of a third, representing a chariot drawn by four horses. The two works extant represent Perseus, killing the Medusa in the presence of Athene, and Herakles, carrying away on his shoulders two Cercopes, hobgoblin-like demons. (Fig. 75.) The style of this representation is extraordinarily severe, almost horrible ; the Medusa is thoroughly distorted, the other figures are formless and heavy, the faces are mask-like and stiff, with large staring eyes, projecting and compressed lips, broad fore- head and prominent nose. Still more awkward is the distortion of the group of figures, whose upper part presents a front view, while the legs are seen in an advancing profile position, a pecu- liarity which also marks ancient Oriental art. Nevertheless, this remarkable work is not deficient in a just observation of life, and in a correct though somewhat exaggerated stamp of form ; indeed, in the due filling of the space allotted, and in a certain bold freedom in spite of all strict fetters of style, we cannot but perceive a lively artistic power of creation. Old traces of poly- chromatic work, red painting of the background and of the edge of the drapery, increase the primitive character of the work, the origin of which may be placed in the beginning of the sixth century. Other works of the same epoch, belonging to a similar stage of development and yet differing from these in the conception of the form of the body, belong to Greece Proper. These are chiefly marble statues, such as that of Apollo found in the island of Thera, and now placed in the Temple of Theseus at Athens, and a similar statue of Apollo at Tenea near Corinth, now in the Glyptothek at Munich. (Fig. 76.) In the slender form of the body, a decided contrast is here exhibited to the heavy compact- ness of the works at Selinus ; the limbs, although severe and Greek Art. Plastic Art. 145 rigid, are yet handled with deeper understanding and greater just- ness; on the other hand, there is the same mask-Hke smiHng lack of expression in the countenance, and the same awkwardness in allowing the soles of both advanc- ing feet to rest on the ground. In closer affinity to these works there are some Attic monuments be- longing to the same early period ; among them the statue in relief of Aristaeon, from its inscription the work of Aristocles, and now in the museum of the Temple of Theseus ; it exhibits the same quiet bearing, the same fettered step, the same conscien- tious execution, and combines with all this the ex- cellent filling up of the surface of the slender pillar. If in the monuments we have considered, the differences between the severe Doric art of Sicily and that of Hellas proper, softened as it was by Attic refinement, are plainly perceived, on the other hand some remarkable works in Asia Minor afford us a glance into the early development of the more luxuriously soft Ionic art. Mention must be made in the first place of the numerous remains in the island of Cyprus, which are now in Paris in the collection of the Louvre (Musee Napoleon III.), because in these the blending with Oriental art is most distinctly apparent. For, as the island from its position gave rise to the most different colonisation, Phoenician settlements existing side by side with Hellenic colonies, this circumstance is also reflected in its works of art. About a hundred heads and torsos of male statues, executed in a light tufa-like limestone, are to be seen in the Louvre. Many have a diadem of laurels, but all have the same antique and stiff type of form which the Apollo of Tenea exhibits. Some are represented as stepping forward, with arms closely attached to the body. The conventional treatment of the hair in parallel curls and ringlets is also familiar to us in the Apollo statue. Frequently the Egyptian apron appears, which must therefore have been the national costume of a part of the inhabitants. This seems also confirmed by the Cyprian VOL. I. L 146 History of Art. torso ^ in the Museum at Berlin, in whose attire Assyrian orna- ments and the Greek Medusa head are combined with Egyptian form. Similar constraint, with an outline, otherwise tolerably soft and undefined, is exhibited in the remarkable statue of Idalium in the Louvre, the drapery of which is formed by the Greek peplos with its conventional folds. To this class also belong the ten colossal marble statues of sitting figures of men and women, which formerly after the manner of the Egyptian sphinx avenues bordered the road from the harbour to the old Didymaean Apollo temple at Melitus ; these statues have been recently placed in the British Museum. With all their stiffness of bearing they exhibit remarkable softness and roundness of form, com- bined with heaviness of proportion, and an execution rather suggestive than sharply defined.^ Among the most important are the reliefs discovered at Xanthus in Syria, and now to be found in the British Museum ; they belong to the monument of the Harpies, a pillar-like me- morial, the upper edge of which is ornamented with a frieze of representations in relief Although indisputably foreign Oriental myths form the foundation of the subjects, yet the style of these marble works is old Greek in its softness. Our representa- tion of a small part of the composition (Fig. 77), which consists of twelve plates, exhibits the enthroned goddess of life, holding fruit and blossoms in her hand which three women are reve- rentially approaching, the first grasping her garments in an antique manner, and throwing back her veil ; the two others presenting offerings of flowers, pomegranates, and eggs. On two other sides, between similar scenes, there are figures of Harpies carrying off children. The elegant arrangement of the hair and drapery, which falls in parallel folds, the stiff smiling expression of the countenances, as well as the manner of ad- vancing, correspond thoroughly with the primitive character of this epoch. ' See in Qtx\\7\x^% Denkm. 7ind Forsch. (No. 169, 1863) Stark's careful description. 2 See Liibke's Gesch. der Plastik, p. 93. Cf. the illustrations in Newton's work on Halicarnassus, &c. Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 147 While this small selection of the works still in preservation which belong to this period, and are conceived with the same primitive restraint, makes us acquainted with the differences of style in the various localities where the art was exercised, this observation is confirmed by that which the ancient writers record respecting the various art schools of Greece at this period. I^'ig- 77' From the Harpies' Monument at Xanthus. Brit. Museum. Hellas and still more the Peloponnesus now stand in the fore- most rank. In Argos, we find the famous master Ageladas, actively engaged from about 515 to 455 B.C., famous for his bronze statues of gods and Olympic victors, and still more famous for his three great pupils, Phidias, Myron, and Polycletus, the brilliant constellation belonging to the highest epoch of Greek art. In Sicyon at the same time, there lived with his brother Aristocles, the founder of a lasting and able school, the still more famous Canachos, who executed the colossal statue of Apollo at Miletus, and who was a sculptor skilled not only in casting in bronze and in the use of gold and ivory, but also in works of wood. yEgina, then a commercial island as yet not subjugated, was rendered glorious by the two masters Gallon and Onatas, the latter especially known by several groups of bronze statues, and warlike scenes from heroic legends. Lastly, Athens possessed among other artists Hegias (or He- gesias) and Critios, of whose famous group of the tyranni- cides Harmodius and Aristogeiton we have a feeble imitation L 2 History of Art. shown even now by Greek coins. All that we know of these masters, whose works have perished, is limited to general inti- mations that their style was severe, hard, and antique ; and although certain distinctions are made between them, we cannot gain from these any clear idea of their essential characteristics. All the more important is it for us, that half a century ago the famous groups of statues from the temple of Athene at ^gina were discovered ; their origin may be placed with great probability between 500 and 480 B.C. ; they now belong to the treasures of the Glyptothek at Munich. The eleven figures of the west gable are in an almost perfect state of preservation, and of those on the east so much is left that here also the com- Fig. 78. Statues on the Western Pediment of Temple at TEgina. Munich. position can be ascertained even in detail. In both compart- ments, the subjects refer to the contests between the Greeks and Trojans, in both there is a dispute over the corpse of a fallen Greek, whom Pallas Athene herself takes under her protection by stepping between the combatants. In the centre of the pedi- ment, the goddess stands fully equipped with helmet and coat of mail and with spear and shield, covering a fallen body, to- wards which an enemy, bending forward, is stretching out his arms. (Fig. 78.) On both sides, in symmetrical arrangement, two warriors are hastening forward with uplifted spears, and Greek Art. Plastic Art. 149 these are followed by two kneeling figures, the one holding a bow and the other a lance ; the extreme angles of the pediment are filled by the prostrate figure of a wounded man. A similar arrange- ment, only differing in detail, and presenting other attitudes, is repeated in the other pediment. In the western side, the subject of dispute is the body of Achilles, which Ajax and other heroes are wresting from the Trojans, among whom we may recognise Paris by his Phrygian headdress and Asiatic attire ; in the eastern side, it is the body of Oikles, which Herakles and Telamon are defending against the Trojan Laomedon. As Paris is charac- terised in the one by his peculiar costume, so here also we recog- nise Herakles by the lion's skin. All the rest, with the exception of the goddess, are entirely naked, having only a helmet covering the short crisp hair. The figures are executed with the utmost knowledge and with masterly skill ; life and action are expressed with unsurpassable power in the strongly strained muscles and swelling veins. If these y^ginetan works pass a step beyond the Apollo of Tenea, they do so still more decidedly in the free energy with which the figures are executed in the most different positions, in passionate onset, kneeling down, falling, and bend- inp- forward. At the same time, a stricter and coarser ob- servance of nature, unsoftened by idealism, is exclusively pre- dominant ; the figures are rather athletic than heroic, and the artist has had in view rather physical vigour than beauty of form. The more perfectly, however, every movement is ex- pressed in the body, the more striking is the contrast of the stifif want of expression and the dull smile of the countenance. The same master who so well understood the law of the play of muscles in the whole body, had no comprehension of those emotions, which vibrate electrically in the countenance; hence the faces of his heroes reveal to us nothing of inner feelings, not even of the excitement of the contest. Lasdy, the figure of the goddess is thoroughly constrained ; and although it was certainly a legitimate aim to mark her as a powerful protecting deity by the mere solemnity of her appearance, yet the awkwardness of her position is an evidence of the strict rules by which art was History of Art. at that time fettered in the representation of the gods. On the other hand, the laws regarding the filHng up of the architectural space are excellently adhered to. To a somewhat later period, the metope reliefs belong, which are now in the museum at Palermo, and which originally orna- mented a more recent temple at Selinus. They represent various battle scenes, the tragic fate of Actseon, the meeting of Jupiter and Hera, and Hercules in contest with an Amazon. They evidence great energy of representation, freedom of composition, and, on the whole, an able understanding of the physical structure, which is executed in an extremely life-like manner. The type of head is a free development of those of the earlier works at Selinus ; a primitive antiquity of style is plainly expressed in the regularly curled hair, rigid lips, and heavy eyelids, yet the fresh and life- like expression of the heads is decidedly superior to the stiffness of those at ^gina. The material employed is a weather-worn calcareous tufa, the head, hands, and feet in the female figures being made of white marble. The other works belonging to this early period are, for the most part, not to be traced to any definite locality. In the later age of a more developed art, the antique style was accepted by preference for certain statues of the gods, and by the parallel folds of the drapery, the regularly curled hair and imitated severity of feature, the impression of those old works was endeavoured to be produced. Yet generally, from a certain graceful holding of the hands and the position of the feet, and sometimes even in apparently insignificant accessories, the later origin is to be perceived. Among these archaic works, we must mention the famous st-atue of Athene at Dresden, without head or arms, where the extremely lifelike battle scenes in relief on the front of the drapery give the lie to the stiff folds of the peplos ; also the delicately executed statue of Artemis at Naples,^ and the often-mentioned altar of the twelve gods at Paris and others. The transition to the following epoch, the period of art's highest prime, is formed by some masters, who are pointed out, it is true, as representatives of the ancients, but who, in more Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. delicate execution as well as in extension of the sphere of repre- sentation, approach the freest and highest stage of perfection. The first of these is Calamis of Athens, a highly versatile and productive artist. Images of gods, heroic female figures, horses with riders, and chariots with four horses, are mentioned among his creations ; he worked in marble, bronze, gold and ivory, and even some smaller chiselled productions by him are much esteemed. His horses are said to have been unsurpassable, his female figures noble in form, and thus a trait of more refined life may have distinguished his works from those of his predeces- sors. Almost contemporaneous with him, in the first half of the fifth century (about 470) lived Pythagoras of Rhegium, an artist of Grsecia Magna ; his lifelike and strongly developed works were formed exclusively of bronze, and among them his contests of heroes and his athletic statues of the victors are especially praised. Like him in his more naturalistic tendency, but of far greater im- portance, was Myron, whose chief works belong to Athens. He, too, preferred bronze to every other material, but in the subjects of his art he was far more varied than Pythagoras. His images of the gods, representations of heroes, and statues of athletic victors, have been much extolled ; among the latter, the runner Ladas has been highly praised, and also the no less admired disk-thrower ; many marble copies of which, above all the excellent one in the Massimi palace at Rome, testify to its skill. (Fig. 79.) We find in it the most acute observation of life, the justest conception of bold rapid movement, and the greatest freedom in the expression of the Fig. 79. Disk-thrower. History of Art. action. In addition to these, some figures of animals by this great master exhibit an inimitable truthfulness to life, and among these the famous cow has received universal admiration. With this last-named master, art had reached the highest freedom in the formation of the physical structure, had victori- ously overcome every difficulty in the representation of outward life, and was now sufficiently ripe to satisfy fully the demands of ideal conception. At this point begins the SECOND EPOCH, the period of that wonderful elevation of Hellenic life, which was ushered in by the glorious victory over the Persians, and only too speedily reached its termination in the Peloponnesian war, which was kindled by the jealousy of Sparta. Now, for the first time, in contrast to the barbarians, the national Hellenic mind rose to the highest consciousness of noble freedom and dignity. Athens concentrated within herself, as in a focus, the whole exuberance and many-sidedness of Greek life, and raised it into beautiful unity. Now, for the first time, the deepest thoughts of the Hellenic mind were embodied in sculpture, and the figures of the gods rose to that solemn sublimity which artistically embodied the idea of divinity in purely human form. This victory of a modern age over the ancient was effected by the power of Phidias, one of the most wonderful artist minds of all times. He was the son of Charmides, and was born at Athens about the year 500 b. c. At first he was to have been dedicated to painting, but he soon turned his attention to the plastic art, in which Hegias and Ageladas instructed him. The early beginnings of his creative work occurred at the time of Cimon's administration. He did not, however, reach the highest perfec- tion of his art until the rule of his great friend Pericles ; and this period embraces his mature manhood and the close of his life, which may be reckoned at about his sixty-eighth year. After having embodied in plastic art the highest ideas of the Hellenic mind, and become the admiration of his age, he was met in his Greek Art. Plastic Art. 153 old age by the fate of being shamefully accused by the enemies of Pericles ; and being condemned to imprisonment by the fickle people, he died soon after, probably of poison. We know far more of the works of his mind, which were the admiration of all antiquity, than we do of the outward circum- stances of his life. Many great works belong decidedly to the early epoch of his life, especially a group of bronze figures, the centre of which was formed by Miltiades, and which was placed at Delphi. Also a statue of Athene at Plataea, a wooden image covered with gold, the naked parts being formed of marble ; but above all, the colossal image of Athene, which stood on the Acropolis at Athens, and was visible to those approaching from afar on the open sea. The only copy of this work which we possess is that preserved on Attic coins ; unfortunately, however, the representation is so various, that we are left in doubt respecting many essential points. Sometimes the goddess is standing, with her shield in her right hand by her side, while the left grasps the lance ; another time her left arm is guarded with the shield, while she supports herself with her right arm resting on the lance. The latter position seems the most probable, as it affords ground for the designation of Pallas Promachus (champion), and the former more peaceful bearing meets us in another work by Phidias. The height of the statue with the pedestal cannot have amounted to much less than seventy feet. The works of Phidias assumed a higher and more extensive form in the magnificent undertakings with which Pericles enriched his native city. We know that in the noble buildings with which the powerful Athenian adorned the Acropolis, the most important post was assigned to the direction and influence of Phidias, and we may suppose that the grand design of these works was in a great measure due to his genius. Not merely had he, with the help of his pupils, to create the inexhaustibly rich plastic ornament of the Parthenon, the splendid festive Temple of Athens, but the celebrated statue of the goddess herself was consigned to him for execution. With regard to this latter, which utterly perished long before the temple, it was a statue of 154 History of Art. about forty feet high, composed of gold and ivory, covering a wooden form. Here, too, the virgin goddess was standing erect, not with shield raised as the vigorous champion of her people, but as a peaceful, protecting, and victory-giving divinity. A golden helmet covered her beautiful and earnest head, a coat of mail with the ivory Medusa head concealed her bosom, and a long flowing golden drapery enveloped the whole figure ; the shield was placed on the ground leaning against the lance as a token of peaceful repose ; a statue of Nike, six feet high, holding a golden chaplet, hovered over the outstretched hand of the goddess, as an ingenious allusion to the prizes of victory, which here in the presence of the goddess were presented by the magistrates of the city to the victors in the Panathenaean games. The splendour of the material was yet surpassed by the profusion of artistic ornament. The naked parts were formed of ivory, the eyes of sparkling precious stones, the drapery, hair, and weapons of gold. A sphinx adorned the centre of the helmet, and two griffins the sides. On the outside of the shield was a representation of contests with Amazons, and on the inside the war between the gods and the giants was chiselled ; and even the edge of the sandals was ornamented by the artist with combats of centaurs, while the base exhibited a representation in relief of the birth of Pandora. All this profusion, however, only served to increase still more the grand simplicity and quiet dignity of the whole figure. In it, Phidias portrayed for all ages the character of Athene, the serious goddess of wisdom, the mild protectress of Attica ; and the noblest of the statues of Athene which have come down to us, afford us even now a faint echo of this their much extolled prototype. Still more than in this statue, the austere maidenliness of the goddess was elevated into noble intellectual beauty in a figure of Athene, placed on the Acropolis by the Lemnians, so much so, that an old epigram instituted a comparison with the Aphrodite of Praxiteles at Cnidus, and Paris rebukes a drover that he did not award the prize to the Athene. The Athene of the Parthenon was completed and consecrated Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 155 in the year 437 B.C. It alone, together with the rich plastic ornaments of the temple, renders the master the first sculptor of all ages. Nevertheless, in the evening of his life he was yet to execute a work which, according to the verdict of all antiquity, eclipsed all other works, and was justly extolled as the highest creation of plastic art — namely, the colossal gold and ivory statue of Jupiter at Olympia. After the completion of his works on the Acropolis, Phidias was summoned to Elis with a band of his best pupils ; the state had an atelier built for him, which in later times was exhibited and taken care of with reverence : in the year 432, upon the completion of his work, he returned, laden with honours, to his native city. The father of the gods and of men was seated in the cella of his Olympic temple, on a splendid throne, his head encircled with a golden olive wreath ; in his right hand he held Nike, who bore a badge of victory in her hands, and a golden wreath on her head ; in his left hand rested the richly decorated sceptre. Here, too, an allusion to the Olympic games and the distribution of the rewards of victory was expressed by the presence of the goddess of victory. The upper part of the figure of the seated divinity was formed of polished ivory, the lower parts were concealed by a gold mantle richly ornamented with flowers and devices. Con- trasting with the sublime simplicity of the figure, the throne of the god was a work of the richest and most varied art, adorned with gold and precious stones, ebony, and ivory. Goddesses of victory, four above and two below, were placed at the foot of the throne, and the reliefs on the cross-rails represented the eight ancient modes of combat and the contests of Herakles and Theseus with the Amazons. Besides this, pillars placed between the feet supported the heavily burdened seat, and the lower termination was formed by bars on which the painter Panaenus had executed representations from the heroic legends. Sphinx figures and reliefs, portraying the fate of Niobe's children, were placed on the substructure of the throne, the back was carved with figures of the Charites and the Horse, on the footstool were golden lions and Amazon contests ; and. 156 History of A7^t. lastly, on the base itself there were reliefs depicting the figures of the gods. From this immeasurable exuberance of figures, in which the rich imagination of the master vied with the beauty of the execution, rose the form of the highest Hellenic divinity, great and solemn and wonderful in majesty. Phidias had repre- sented him as the kindly father of gods and men, but also as the mighty ruler in Olympus. As a model, those Homeric lines must have hovered before him, in which Jupiter graciously grants the request of Thetis : — He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows ; Shakes his ambrosial curls and gives the nod, The stamp of fate, and sanction of the god ; High Heaven with trembling the dread signal took, And all Olympus to the centre shook. For more than 800 years the statue of the god was enthroned uninjured in his temple, until both were destroyed by fire in the fifth century after Christ. Only in subsequent imitations has a faint image of the masterly work come down to us. The most beautiful of all is the colossal bust of Jupiter at Otricoli, which is preserved in the Vatican Museum. (Fig. 80.) The mighty locks raised in the centre, and falling down on both sides, the compressed forehead, with the bold arched brows, from under which the large eyes seem to glance forth over the whole universe, the broad and strongly projecting nose — • all . this powerfully expresses the energy and wisdom of the highest Hellenic god, whilst mild benevolence rests in the full parted lips, and the luxuriant beard and beautifully rounded cheeks betray sensual power and imperishable manly beauty. We have abundant testimony that all antiquity was enchanted with the sublime expression of the Jupiter of Phidias. All Greece made a pilgrimage to it, and every one who had seen it was pronounced happy. The highly cultivated Roman ^milius Paulus declared that the god himself seemed present to him ; others considered the sight of it a magic agency, that could make care and suffering forgotten ; and another Roman says, that Phidias in his Jupiter had added a fresh momentum to religion itself Most affectingly, however, is the unsurpassable character Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 157 of the work expressed in that beautiful legend, which tells how that Phidias, after the completion of his statue, when he stood thoughtfully contemplating his work, raised his hands in prayer to Jupiter, and implored a token whether his work was well pleasing to the god. Then suddenly, through an opening in the roof, a lightning flash glanced from the sky upon the temple floor, as an unmistakable sign of the perfect satisfaction of the Thunderer. Besides these principal works, there were several famous statues of Aphrodite executed by Phidias, above all a gold and ivory image at Elis. But here also it was not the grace that charms the senses, but it was the divine sublimity of Aphrodite Urania which he depicted. History of A rt. That Phidias' art lay pre-eminently in fashioning images of the gods, and that he gave bodily form to those whose nature was especially that of spiritual majesty, marks the fundamental character of his art, and the advance of his creations compared with all earlier works, as well as his superiority compared with all contemporary and later productions. Possessed of that unsur- passable masterly power in the representation of the physical form to which Greek art had attained by restless endeavour, shortly before his time, his lofty genius was called upon to apply these results to the embodiment of the highest ideas, and thus to invest art with the character of sublimity, as well as with the attributes of perfect beauty. Hence it is said of him, that he alone had seen images of the gods, and he alone had rendered them visible to others. Even in the story, that, in emulation with other masters, he formed an Amazon, and was defeated in the contest by his great contemporary Polycletus, we see a con- firmation of the ideal tendency of his art. But that his works realised the highest conceptions of the people, and embodied the ideal of the Hellenic conception of the divinity, is proved by the universal admiration of the ancient world. This sublimity of conception was combined in him with an inexhaustible exube- rance of creative fancy, an incomparable care in the completion of his work, and a masterly power in overcoming every difficulty, both in the technical execution and in the material. We shall estimate this more thoroughly when we come to the examination of the Parthenon sculptures. Before, however, we consider these, we must cast a glance at the pupils and associates who assisted the great master in his extensive undertakings. The most distinguished of these seems to have been Alca- menes, whom we can trace up to the year 402. He probably entered most into the ideal tendency of his master, as he also chiefly produced images of the gods. Besides a marble Aphro- dite-Urania in Athens, and two statues of Athene, one of which was placed as a consecrated gift in the Temple of Herakles at Thebes, after the expulsion of the thirty tyrants by Thrasybulus, he is also named as the author of a three-formed Hekate on the Greek A 7' t. Plastic Art. 159 antae of the southern wall at Athens. In addition to these he executed the statues of Ares and Hephaestus, Asclepius and Dionysius, and, lastly, that of Hera. Besides these he designed the group of statues for the west pediment of the temple at Olympia, representing the contrast between the centaurs and the Lapithae. Alcamenes shows himself, therefore, to have been a versatile and imaginative imitator of his master. Next to him, the most important of the pupils seems to have been Agoracritus, the especial favourite of Phidias, and, in all probability, his works were of a similar character with those of his master. Among the other numerous pupils we must distinguish Paeonius, who designed the group for the eastern pediment of the Temple of Jupiter at Olympia, representing the contest between Pelops and ^nomaos for the possession of the land of Elis, and Colotes, who is said to have had especial skill in the working of ivory and gold. In spite of all the records of the ancients, we should only have an indefinite idea of the height and perfection to which Attic art had attained at this glorious epoch, if, amid all the destruction that has taken place, a number of important sculp- tures belonging to the Athenian temples had not been preserved, by the discovery of which it becomes evident what was the nature of Phidias' sublime style, and how infinitely the Greek art of that period rises above all the splendid works of the subse- quent epochs, which in the past century were honoured as the prime of plastic art. If we bear in mind that all these works — beautiful and magnificent as they are — are yet ever to be re- garded in their execution as the productions of the workshop, we gain a faint idea of the wonderful and irrecoverably lost creations, in which the mind of the great master animated every stroke of the chisel. In the first place, let us briefly mention the noble marble relief (Fig. 81), which was discovered at Eleusis some years ago, and was brought to the Museum in Athens. It represents Demeter with the torch, and Cora with the sceptre, consecrating a youth standing between them, who has scarcely passed beyond i6o Histoiy of Art. boyhood. (Triptolemus or lacchus?) The noble style of the drapery, the solemn repose of the figures, and the beautiful dis- tribution in the space allotted, give this work great artistic value. Similar in conception to the frieze of the Parthenon, it yet in certain parts betrays slight traces of antique constraint, so that it belongs to the works which only stand on the threshold of this Fig. 8i. Relief rom Eleusis. period of artistic perfection. This period is first splendidly represented in the sculptures of the Temple of Theseus at Athens. The groups on the two pediments have been lost, but those of the eighteen metopes, which were ornamented with reliefs, are for the most part in a state of perfect preservation. Greek A rL Plastic A rt. i6i We also possess the friezes of the Pronaos and of the Opistho- dome. The metopes contain representations of the contests of Hercules and the deeds of Theseus, executed in strong relief, and exhibiting much passionate action, great truthfulness to nature in the figures, and at the same time excellent arrange- ment in the space allotted. The friezes of the porch and rear building, executed in less strong relief, likewise represent con- tests. In the Opisthodome (Fig. 82), the scene represented is the battle which Theseus, with his Athenians and the Lapithae, fought against the Centaurs, who ventured, with presumptuous insolence, to interrupt the wedding feast of Peirithoos. In the Pronaos we also find contests going on in the presence of the gods, Fig. 82. From the Frieze of the TSmple of Theseus. who are calmly looking on. Here, too, the greatest energy of action prevails in the representation of passionate contest, victory, and defeat. There is great boldness and freedom, and the com- position is full of idea and freshness. Compared with the ^ginetan groups, a complete victory is here exhibited over the severe constraint and symmetrical tautology of those earlier works. Everything is more flowing, free, and diverse, and the passion which so powerfully affects the bodies is also expressed with lifelike force in the energetic expression of the heads. While in so short a period we see such progress made in the development of Hellenic sculpture, we shall not be surprised to find a still higher, purer, and riper advance evidenced in the works of the Parthenon.^ We know that Phidias, with his pupils ' Denkm. d. K. Plate 17. VOL. I. iM l62 History of Art. and associates, called into life this world of plastic creations, and we may even suppose the hand of the master in the composition of the whole, and in the design of all the essential parts. Unfor- tunately, after the mighty destruction of the wonderful building by the Venetians in the year 1687, only a mass of broken frag- ments was left, no longer allowing a complete apprehension of Fig. 83. Female Figure from the Eastern Pediment of the Parthenon. London. the connection, or a conception of the original idea of the whole ; but enough is still existing for us to imagine its importance, and to enjoy its incomparable beauty. Only separate figures are preserved of the groups of statues belonging to the two pedi- ments ; but by a fortunate contingency, fifteen years previous to Greek Art. Plastic Art. 163 the destruction of the temple, the French artist Carrey was in Athens, and his drawings of the groups on the pediment, at that time in a perfect state of preservation, are in the Library at Paris. From these, and from the accounts of the ancients, we can gain a complete idea of the original designs. Both representations aim at the glorification of Athene. In the eastern pediment, over the entrance of the temple, her birth, or more justly the moment after birth, was depicted. Undoubt- edly, it was here for the first time that Athene appeared among the gods of Olympus. The whole central group has vanished, but the figures in the two angles are in a great measure pre- served. They exhibit on the one side Iris, and on the other Nike, who, as heavenly messengers, are bringing the divinities of the land the joyful tidings of the birth of their mistress. On the right there are three figures — two sitting, and the third resting on the lap of the middle one — probably the daughters of Cecrops, Pandrosos, Aglauros, and Herse (Fig. 83) ; on the left there are two corresponding figures, on whom a magnificent youth is resting, possibly Theseus. (Fig. 84.) While these remains are incom- parably placed within the space allotted, the artist has also admirably appro- priated the extreme angles. In the one we see Selene plunging with her chariot Fig. 84. Theseus, from the Eastern Pediment of the iutOthe Sea j while luthc Parthenon. London. Other, Helios is rising from the flood with his panting horses, a consolatory promise of the new and glorious day which is dawning upon the world at the birth of Athene. The greater part of all that is preserved of these figures was sent to England by Lord Elgin, and now forms the choicest of the treasures in the British Museum. Both the draped female figures and the naked body M 2 164 Histojy of Art. of the youthful hero exhibit a grandeur of conception, a nobih'ty of action, and an harmonious beauty, such as is unequalled by any other work in the whole range of art. The human body is conceived with the utmost truth, freedom, and beauty, but with a power and magnificence, so exalted above all reality, that it is illumined with the imperishable charm of divine ideality. The small remains of the western pediment are similar in character : in Carrey's time, as his drawings prove, it was in almost perfect preservation. It represented the disputes of Athene and Po- seidon for the sovereignty of Attica, or rather the moment after the decision. The ruler of the sea had with his mighty fist thrust the trident into the rocky soil, and had produced a salt spring on the summit of the Acropolis ; but Athene made the sacred olive tree shoot forth close by out of the hard rock, and thus, as the greater benefactress, had acquired the dominion of the land. The artist has chosen for his composition the mo- ment when the victorious goddess is on the point of entering her chariot, which stands at her side, amid the joyful acclamations of her waiting people ; while the defeated Poseidon, striding away in fury, turns towards the other side, where his consort is awaiting him with her retinue. In the extreme angles, the artist has placed the resting forms of a river god and a water nymph, to designate the Attic locality. The most important part preserved of this group, besides the body of the reposing river god, is the torso of Poseidon, a work which, in spite of its sad mutilation, brings before the eye, in every line, in every muscle, and in every vein, the mighty fury of the sea-convulsing god. A second and very extensive series of works of art is formed by the reliefs of the metopes, formerly amounting to ninety-two, thirty-one of which are still on the spot, one in the Louvre, seventeen in the British Museum — and even this small remnant are for the most part in a sad state of destruction. We shall, therefore, never arrive at the connection of idea which formed the basis of these works of sculpture. The metopes of the south side contain scenes from the battle with the Centaurs, one of the Greek A rt. Plastic Art. 165 most favourite subjects of Attic art. Like those of the Temple of Theseus, they are in strong high rehef, full of bold action and passionate exertion ; though this is for the most part softened by great beauty of form, and a masterly style of composition, which knows how to adapt itself with the utmost freedom to the strict conditions of the space. Although the best of these works are worthy of one of the first masters (Fig. 85), yet we meet with others in which the composition is fettered, the space is not sufficiently filled, and the figures are clumsy, and even stiff We may, therefore, suppose that in this extensive se- ries, greater independence was conceded to the vari- ous artists engaged in its Fig. 85. Metope from the Parthenon. execution. In addition to all this profusion, there was still the great frieze, which in an unbroken line surrounded the wall of the cella, and which in its length of 522 feet, more than 400 of which we still possess in good preservation, presents one of the most extensive frieze compositions in the world. The artist here expressed with the utmost beauty the signification of the temple, by depicting a festive procession, in which the assembled citizens of Athens were passing up to the citadel, at the close of the Panathenaea, in order to pay honour to the tutelar goddess by presenting her with a splendid attire woven by Attic maidens. In this procession all that was beautiful and excellent in Athens was united — the noble bloom of maidenhood, the fresh strength of youths trained in gymnastic exercise, and the solemn dignity of magistrates chosen by the people. A more beautiful oppor- tunity for displaying grace and magnificence in diversified abundance could not have been afforded to plastic art ; but the task could not have been fulfilled in a more perfect manner than i65 History of Art. we have here before us in the work of this master. The manner in which Phidias apprehended and executed this task — for only from him, and this even to the very detail, can this wonderful composition have proceeded — the marvellous unity of the fundamental idea lying at the foundation of all this rich life, is infinitely remote from the dull realism with which the art of the present day would conceive such subjects, and which is echoed in the opinion of those who perceive in the frieze ' nothing but the preliminary exercises of the separate choruses and divisions for the performance of Attic pageants.' This view has been most strikingly contradicted by the artist him- self, in the fact that he has represented on the east side over the entrance an assembly of enthroned gods, in whose presence Fig. 86. From the Frieze of the Parthenon. the giving of the peplon takes place. (Fig. 86.) The end of the procession has just reached the temple ; the group standing nearest to them, the archons and heralds, await, quietly conversing together, the end of the ceremony. They are fol- lowed on both sides by a train of Athenian maidens, singly or in groups, many of them with cans and other vessels in their hands. They are, as Overbeck says, ' charming, modest figures, in richly falling festive garmicnts, with a simple and serious air, as if absorbed in the festive ceremony.' The eye observes with heartfelt rapture the inexhaustible variety with which the same idea is varied in these simple figures. A charming contrast to these quiet groups is formed by the parts of the frieze on the south and north side, where the sacrificial animals^ splendid oxen and ramSj are represented as sometimes Gi'eek A rt. Plastic A rt. 167 quietly advancing, and sometimes violently struggling, with difficulty restrained by their powerful leaders. Then follow men and women, then bearers of sacrificial gifts— bread in shallow baskets and various fluids in cans — then flute players and musi- cians, followed by combatants in chariots with four splendid horses. The whole is concluded by prancing horsemen, the prime of the manly youth of Athens, nobly and freely depicted, and also in infinite variety. Lastly, on the west side, we find other youths just preparing for the procession, bridling their Fig. 87. From the Frieze of the Parthenon. mettlesome steeds, restraining the prancing ones, and trying those that have been subdued by skilful horsemanship. Thus the artist with great wisdom has combined the beginning, pro- gress, and end of the procession in one well-considered composi- tion ; and, instead of a wearisome epic uniformity, he has given his work the stamp of dramatic life, and has revealed in the figures of the gods the ideal intention of this festive pageantry ; and as this charming frieze beams with the imperishable beauty 168 History of Art. and majesty of the Athenian people, equally imperishably does it also reflect the art of their favourite Phidias. Never have the laws of relief representation been so delicately, so perfectly, so strictly, and yet so freely developed as in this work. The figures rise only in slight relief from the surface, and yet they appear in perfect truth to nature. They present every grade, from solemn repose to ardent action ; and yet there is a calm festivity, a breath of eternal cheerfulness and beauty diffused over them. Lastly, in the execution of each, there is a care and tenderness, such as only belongs to the noblest creations on Attic soil. Fig. 88. From the Frieze of the Parthenon. A remnant of the sublime style, developed under Phidias in the representations of the gods, is to be recognised in the marble Statue of Aphrodite of Melos, a figure larger than life, now in the Louvre. (Fig. 89.) Grandly serious, and almost severe, stands the goddess of love, not yet conceived, as in later repre- sentations, as a love-requiring woman. The simple drapery, resting on the hips, displays uncovered the grand forms of the upper part of the body, which, with all their beauty, have that mysteriously unapproachable feeling which is the genuine ex- pression of the divine* Greek Art. Plastic Art. 169 Somewhat later in date than the Parthenon sculptures appear the plastic decorations of the Erechtheium, the building of which was not completed till the close of the fifth century. Besides a frieze executed in Pentelican marble upon dark Eleusinian stone, the small fragments of which still in preser- Fig. 89. Venus of Melos. Louvre. vation reveal a feebler style than that of the Parthenon works, we must mention those six Caryatidae which support the roof of the side court of the temple, which is designated after them. (Fig. 90.) They represent noble Attic maidens of faultless beauty, enveloped in sofdy flowing drapery, bearing on their heads the light entablature of the ceiling, like the Canephoriae of the Panathenaean procession. Youthful grace and free life are most I70 History of Art. successfully blended in them with the serious repose and stern- ness of their architectural position. In better preservation are the friezes of the Temple of Nike Apteros, which depict a contest between the Greeks and Persians, in the presence of an assembly of the gods. Perfect in execution, rich and varied in composition, they breathe a passion- ate action, which already indicates the transi- tion to a period of art in which effect is more aimed at, and which finds its model in the frieze reliefs of the Temple of Theseus. (Fig. 91.) In these works we cannot but perceive a contrast to the calm majesty of the art of Phidias, the independent significance of which reminds us, perhaps, of the tendency of the Myronic school. Among the most distin- guished of the successors of this able master, we become acquainted with Cresilas, a copy of whose wounded Amazon is preserved in the Capitoline Museum ; also Callimachus, who occasionally went Fig. 90. Caryatide from the Erechtheium. Fig. 91. From the Frieze on the Temple of Nike Apteros. too far in the subtile elegance of his marble works, and was famous as the author of the Corinthian capital, and as the de- Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 1 7 1 signer of the artistic candelabra in the Erechtheium ; lastly, Demetrius, who stepped so far beyond the boundaries of true Hellenic art, that he devoted himself to a slavish imitation and to a soulless realism. In opposition to the Athenian schools, Polycletus, a some- what younger contemporary of Phidias, founded a second school of sculpture at Argos. Though likewise a pupil of Ageladas, his style developed itself in a totally different direction, so that he seems to keep the medium between Phidias and Myron. With the latter he assimilated in a feeling for delicate concep- tion and a loving perfection of nature, and in a striving after the representation of the pure beauty of the human form ; with the former he sympathised in the calm, cheerful repose of a nature contented in itself, elevating him even above the limits of his own mind into the region of the ideal. The costume especially in Polycletus' works tended to depict the perfect beauty of the human form in calm self-depend- ance. Hence he selected almost exclusively the youthful figure, trained by gymnastic exercise, as the object of his art ; and so great was his knowledge, so acute and pure his conceptions, that the name of ' the Canon ' was given to one of his most admired works, because in it the rules of normal youthful beauty seemed established once for all, while at the same time he explained them in a paper upon the pro- portions of the human frame. Scarcely less famous was his Diadumenos, a beautiful youth, wearing on his brow the badge of a victor, a statue with which we are acquainted from a copy in the Farnese Palace in Rome. He also executed an Apoxyo- menos — an athlete purifying himself with the scraping-iron from oil and dust — as well as five statues of Olympian victors. Even the celebrated Amazon, in which he outrivalled Phidias and other masters, inclines to the same style of art in its conception, which is that of a female character of an almost masculine nature. The style of these works of Polycletus is well pointed out in the remark of the ancients, that he was the first who represented statues resting on one foot, while the other was slightly drawn 172 History of Art, back. By this means alone could the character of graceful light- ness and easy security be fully produced. If the activity of this master had hitherto been fettered both in subject and material — all these works having been executed in bronze — he produced in his later years a work which, in material, idea, and artistic form, rivalled the two colossal gold and ivory statues of Phidias : we refer to the statue of Hera for the temple of this goddess in Argos, which was rebuilt after the fire in the year 423 B.C. The statue represents her sitting in mighty grandeur on her golden throne, wholly veiled in golden drapery, with the exception of her face and beautiful arms, and on her head is the diadem befitting the queen of the gods. The Horse and Charitae were represented in relief on the crown. In her right hand she held the sceptre, in her left the pomegranate, the token of her victory over Demeter, the second consort of Jupiter. Various other symbolic emblems were added ; and at her side stood her daughter Hebe, executed in gold and ivory by Naucydes, a pupil of the master. A copy in marble, the colossal head of Juno in the Villa Ludovisi in Rome, affords, perhaps, a lively idea of the sublimity of this work, in which Polycletus established for all ages the artistic type of the royal consort of Jupiter. (Fig. 92.) It is 'like a verse of Homer' is Goethe's enthusiastic exclamation at the sight of this thrilling work, the first view of which fills the spectator with reverential awe, and awakens the idea of unapproachable divine majesty. The features are severe and strong, the brow with its diadem crown is free and open, and its height is gracefully tempered by the softly flowing hair. The grand glance of the eye, the volup- tuous and yet sharply chiselled lips, and the strong rounded chin, proclaim the austere character of the goddess who could even sway the unrestrained will of Jupiter. The pupils of Polycletus followed the style of art exhibited in his before-mentioned Works. Among them, Naucydes stands foremost ; he executed the Hebe for the statue of Hera, and was also known as the author of a disk-thrower and several statues of victors; There is a marble statue in the Vatican, Greek A rt. Plastic A rt. 173 supposed to be a subsequent repetition of his disk-thrower, which, from the calm thoughtful bearing previous to the throw, is characteristically distinguished from that of Myron, where the figure is raising his arm for the mighty hurl ; it also clearly exhibits the nature of Polycletus' art by the light elasticity of the position. Fig. 92. Juno Ludovisi. Rome. The other parts of Greece at this period stand out less prominently compared with the schools of Argos and Attica ; yet there is no lack of remains, which in all probability may be traced to these two schools of art. The most important are the reliefs decorating the interior frieze of the Temple of Apollo 174 History of Art. at Bassae, near Phigalia, in Arcadia, which were discovered in the year 1812, and are now preserved in the British Museum. The temple, which was built at the beginning of the Pelopon- nesian War, was the work of Ictinus. His sculptures exhibit, however,, such a thoroughly different style that they are scarcely to be traced to Attic hands, although the subject refers to the favourite national legends of Attica. Amazon contests and the battle with the Centaurs form the sjibject of the whole; they are dispersed by the helpful Apollo hastening forwards with his sister Artemis in a chariot drawn by stags. Amongst all that is Fig. 93. From the Frieze of the Temple of Phigalia. London. preserved to us of Greek art, these reliefs must be designated as the most animated and the boldest compositions. A sparkling warmth, combined with power and exuberance of invention, pre- vails in them, far superior to the kindred works in the Temples of Theseus and Nike, and never needing the aid of repetition. At the same time the figures are handled in a masterly manner — many of the groups are transporting in beauty, and strikingly truthful. But the delicate moderation, which never allowed Attic art to outstep the limits of the beautiful, is often lacking with the Phigalian artist. Exaggerated, too large, uncouth, and even ugly features are introduced ; and one can almost trace in them the violent passions and impure feelings which mark the Pelo- ponnesian War with its fatal results for Greece — passions and feelings as much in contrast with the noble pure enthusiasm of the period of Marathon, as the Phigalian sculptures differ from the works of Phidias' art. Gi^eek A rt. Plastic A rt. 175 The small remains of the reliefs which have been found in the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter at Olympia, and which are now placed in the Museum of the Louvre, also belong to a ruder Peloponnesian school, inclined rather to conformity with nature than to ideal representation. Among them, full of strong life, is a figure of Heracles subduing a bull ; and naively graceful, on the other hand, is a nymph, sitting on a rock and watching the deeds of the hero. THE THIRD EPOCH, embracing the fourth century up to the period of Alexander the Great, is unmistakably distinguished from the former, both as regards time and character. The Peloponnesian War had convulsed all the relations of the Greek States, had kindled passions which could no longer be reconciled by the sub- duing of a common enemy, and had introduced a new period, more lively and varied, in the place of the grand old times. The grand old ideas and feelings had died away, but in their place arose new thoughts and feelings which had extricated themselves victoriously from the fetters of the previous age ; for as the old band of fellowship among the individual states was loosened, the individual subject also extricated himself into a freer position in the state, developing his powers with less restraint, and his rich talents with greater versatility. The pas- sionate tragedy of Euripides, the philosophical system of a Plato, and later that of an Aristotle, proclaim themselves plainly as the offspring of this age ; and if the wild comedy of Aristophanes, in favour of the grand past, turns its biting wit against the new epoch, still it is none the less a product of the latter. The circumstances we have indicated effected decided changes in plastic art. The more passionate and deeply excited nature of the age was necessarily reflected in its works — while the former period had produced serious solemn figures of the gods, the divinities created by an enthusiastic, ardent, and joyous tone of feeling now appear in their place ; while formerly, in the representations of active life, the play of the physical powers 176 Histojy of A rt. asserted itself exclusively in conquest and defeat, the deeper pathos of the mind, and the passionate expression of the feelings, was now conceived as the highest aim of art. Combined with this, the material also was different, and marble, which receives unsurpassably the more fine and delicate shades of form and expression, was preferred to bronze, and the working in gold and ivory, for which the resources of the states no longer suf- ficed, passed almost into oblivion. The period altogether was not favourable to great monumental art ; private commissions, together with the influence of a more versatile individual taste, determined essentially the art character of this epoch. The first great master of this period is Scopas. Born in the island of Paros, he and his somewhat younger companion Praxiteles appear as the principal masters of the new Attic school in the first half of the fourth century. To him above all others it was assigned to display, with a power never before imagined, thrilling pathos and outbursts of passion. During his early life one of the most important monumental undertakings of that epoch occurred — namely, the rebuilding under his direc- tion of the Temple of Athene Alea in Tegea, which had been burnt down in 394 B.C. Also the two pediment groups of the same building, representing the hunt of the Calydonian boar, and the contest of Achilles with Telephus, were the works of his hand. If these imply an early and versatile gift, it is confirmed by the artist's later productions. Among the great number of statues of the gods created by him, those which betray the expression of a deeper inspiration are especially to be distinguished. To these above all belongs an Apollo, brought by Augustus to Rome for the Palatine. He is represented as stepping forwards in long flowing garments, grasping his lute with ecstasy ; his head is crowned with the laurel wreath. The marble statue at the Vatican seems to be a copy of this elevated creation of the master.^ Still more deeply and powerfully was the excitement of enthusiasm depicted in a furious Bacchanal, whose stormy » Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 18. Fig. 5. Greek Art. Plastic Art. 177 passion is thought to be recognised in a copy in the Louvre. Less strongly conceived, but expressive of still more feeling, was a sitting figure of Ares, who, overcome with love for Aphrodite, appeared lost in reverie : an idea of it is given by a statue in the Villa Ludovisi in Rome. The goddess of love herself he depicted for the first time in the unveiled magnifi- cence of the naked form, the grace of which excited universal admiration. Still more important, however, than this work was an extensive marble group, which, subsequently placed in a temple in Rome, was probably originally designed for the pedi- ment of a temple, and represented the delivery of the weapons of Hephaestus to Achilles by his mother Thetis. In the Nereids and Tritons riding on sea-monsters, and in the entire rich train of sea-gods, the artist excellently exhibited the life and wanton merriment of these inhabitants of the sea. Lastly, we know that Scopas was occupied, about the year 350, with other artists, in the decoration of the mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The second chief master of the Attic school, Praxiteles, seems to have been born at Athens in the beginning of the century, about the year 392 b. c. Closely allied to Scopas in the tendency of his art, he appears distinguished from him by greater versa- tility and an unusually fertile imagination. About fifty separate works are attributed to him, among which are several groups full of figures. While Scopas almost without exception made use of marble, Praxiteles also gave a preference to this material,' though he executed many excellent works in bronze. The greatest variety meets us as we review his productions. He knew how to depict gods and men, male and female figures, youth and age, yet he inclined most readily to the expression of tenderness in youthful female forms. Hence, although he repre- sented all the twelve Olympic divinities, and especially Here, Athene, Demeter, and Poseidon, yet Aphrodite and Eros were his favourites ; and to other gods, such as Apollo and Dionysus, he gave a youthful form in order to satisfy his striving after tender grace ; and although the bronze group of the Rape of Persephone, although the Maenades and Bacchanalian Silenes, VOL. I. N 178 History of A rt. leave us no doubt of his ability to depict passionate scenes, yet the true home of his art lay in the repose of a dreamy frame of mind excited into gentle enthusiasm. Among his most famous works, the Aphrodite of Cnidus stands foremost as one of the celebrated art creations of antiquity/ Ancient writers are full of its praise, and tell how the Bithynian King Nicomedes offered the Cnidians to annul the whole of their national debt for this marvellous work. The artist represented the goddess completely unclothed ; but this bold innovation was justified by the fact that she was taking up her garment with her left hand, as if she were just coming from her bath, while with her right she modestly covered her figure. The repose of the position was enlivened by a slight agitation, which filled the outline of the beautiful figure with grace ; the glance of the eye exhibited that moist and swimming look which is far removed from longing desire, and yet expresses the tender sentiments of the Goddess of Love. Many as are the subsequent copies pre- served of this famous statue, we can still only conceive the out- ward idea of the attitude, but none of the pure grandeur of the work of Praxiteles. Four other statues of the same goddess by Praxiteles were known to antiquity, especially a draped figure at Cos, which was preferred by the inhabitants to that of Cnidus. Scarcely less famous were his representations of Eros, among which the marble statue at Thespiae was the most es- teemed. The figure of the god was depicted in the tender transition state from boyhood to youth ; and a torso, now in the Vatican, with its youthfully delicate body and an almost sadly dreamy expression in the slightly inclined head, may give an idea of this work of Praxiteles.^ A third work of importance was Apollo as a lizard-killer (Sauroktonos) ; a statue in bronze, many copies of which, both in marble and bronze, have been preserved.^ The youthful figure, leaning against the stem of a tree, watching, with the arrow uplifted in his right hand, for the animal to glide up the stem, scarcely allows the ' Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. i8. Fig. 7. 2 Ibid. Fig. 8. 3 Ibid. Fig. 6. Greek Art. Plastic Art. 179 recognition of the god himself in the graceful sport. Lastly, among the figures which belong to this series, a youthful Satyr, in a temple in the Tripod Street in Athens, enjoyed the highest reputation, and was designated by Pausanias as most famous (Periboetos). Numerous marble statues of a youthful and beautiful Satyr leaning with his right arm against the trunk of a tree, with an air of graceful care- lessness, and an almost dreamy ex- pression, seem to refer to the Praxitelian model of another Satyr placed at Megara. (Fig. 94.) Un- doubtedly the soft harmonious charm of all the works of this master is assisted by a delicacy of workmanship, pervaded w^ith a ten- der grace, which enhanced to the utmost the bloom and richness of the Greek marble. Among the works of the Attic school at this period, the reliefs from the breast-walls of the temple of Nike Apteros at Athens are the most important. On one slab we find two female figures holding a resisting sacrificial bull ; on another is a female figure enveloped in rich drapery, represented in a passing movement of exquisite grace — name- ly, loosening the sandal of her right foot. (Fig. 95.) The reliefs which decorate the frieze of the choragic monument of Lysicra- tes are also full of grace, and are even not devoid of humorous cleverness.^ They depict the vengeance taken by Dionysus upon Fig. 94. Satyr, after Praxiteles. ' Denkm. d. Kimsf. PI. 18. Fig. 15. N 2 1 80 History of A ri. the Tyrrhenian pirates, and present various groups of figures full of variety and action. We must, however, give especial mention here to another work, highly extolled by the ancients, which has, it is true, only come down to us in later and somewhat indifferent copies : we refer to the group of Niobe with her children.^ The original, which was brought from Asia Minor, was placed in the Temple of Apollo Sosianus at Rome ; it probably formerly adorned the pediment of a temple of Apollo in Asia Minor. The ancients themselves were doubtful whether it were the work of Scopas or Praxiteles ; and although, so far as we can judge, the probability in- Fig.95. From the Breast-wall of the cliues to the former, a certainty in the Temple of Nike. matter can never be arrived at. The subject is, as is well known, the revenge of Apollo and Artemis on the Theban queen Niobe, who, on account of her fourteen children, had assumed importance over Leto, who had but two. This crime was punished by the destruction of her whole bloom- ing family. In a later copy of the original group, the mother with her youngest daughter, the teacher with the youngest son and six other sons and three daughters, are preserved : the mother and the principal figures are in the Uffici in Florence. Besides these, in the Pinakothek in Munich there is a figure of one of the children lying dead, and the torso of the so-called Ilioneus. With regard to the latter, there is nothing to prove whether he also belonged to the family group ; on the contrary, he so far surpasses in beauty the other statues, that he may be considered as one of the rare original works produced at that brilliant period of art. The avenging office of the inex- orable gods has just begun. One son is already dead ; the ^ Den km. d. Kinist. PI. 18. Figs. 9 — 13. Greek Art. Plastic Art. i8i others are fleeing to their mother, and are likewise struck or threatened. One of the sons endeavours, as he flees, to snatch up a sister who is sinking at his feet ; another, who is fatally wounded, is raising himself to cast one last defiant glance. In this general confusion, this agitating tragedy of anguish and despair, our eye wanders, like that of the children, to the illus- trious mother, who forms the cen- tral point of the whole. The thoughtless haste of flight is in- terrupted by her ; she shelters her youngest child tenderly in her lap: the avenging arrow has not spared its tender infancy. But while in motherly anguish she presses her child to her, and bends lovingly over her defence- less offspring, she turns her proud head upwards, and her eye seeks the avenging goddess with a glance in which deep pain and lofty nobleness of feeling are in- termingled, not to implore mercy, for she knows that that will find no pity ; not to express defiance, for all defiance were here only a token of weakness ; but to bend before the inevitable with heroic resignation, although thrilling with pain. In this one figure there lies full atonement for all the horrible misery that surrounds her ; she raises us by her own greatness into that true antique sublimity with which she bears her fate, and carries us to that pure height of sympathy to which the tragedies of the ancients also transport us. To the land of Asia Minor likewise belong a series of reliefs which have been found at Budrun, the ancient Halicarnassus,^ and which undoubtedly may be traced to the famous mausoleum, • Cf. C. T. Newton, A History of Discoveries at Halica7'Jiassi(s, &^c. London, 1862. Fig. 96. Head of Niobe. Florence. 1 82 History of Art. erected by Queen Artemisia of Caria to her consort, about the year 353 B.C., and the plastic decorations of which were exe- cuted by Scopas, Leochares, Timotheos, and Bryaxis. Several reliefs belonging to a frieze, and representing violent contests with Amazons, are in the possession of the Marchese di Negro in Genoa ; other remains are in London, in the British Museum. Although unequal in execution, these works breathe so much of the lifelike spirit of the art of Scopas that their connection with the mausoleum can scarcely be denied. Besides the frieze slabs, many fragments have been found of lions, horsemen, and of the colossal marble quadriga with the statue of Mausolus, which crowned the whole. The latter being almost completely restored deserves great attention as a most rare original portrait belong- ing to that period. In contrast to Attic art, the character of which must even now be considered essentially ideal, Peloponnesian sculpture still remained faithful to its former adherence to nature. At the head of the Argive-Sicyonic school stands Lysippus, whose works extend far into the time of Alexander the Great. He was not merely one of the most influential, but he was also one of the most prolific artists of antiquity, although the statement that he produced 1500 works is undoubtedly an exaggeration. Exclusively a worker in bronze, he thus stood in opposition to the Attic school ; and in the technical part of his art, also, he followed the earlier Peloponnesian style. Although many statues of the gods may be cited among his numerous works — such as the colossal Jupiter at Tarentum, which was 60 feet high, and the colossal figure of Hercules at the same place — yet his art was too exclusively devoted to the representation of the physical form, in its development of strength and beauty, to be distin- guished for its ideal excellence. It is also characteristic of this tendency, that of all ideal forms he most gladly and frequently depicts Hercules, the representative of physical manly power ; indeed, it was he who first truly stamped the general type of the hero, and portrayed his deeds in bronze groups. Most prolific, however, was this master in portraiture ; among others, the nume- Greek Art. Plastic Art. 183 rous statues of Alexander were so excellent that the great king would only allow himself to be modelled by Lysippus. In these portraits the most delicate power of individualising seems to have been happily combined with a conception rising into the heroic. More extensive compositions also belonged to this series of works, such as a bronze group at Delphi, depicting a perilous lion- hunt of Alexander's, and his deliverance by Craterus ; also the colossal monument representing the king with twenty-five horse- men and nine foot soldiers in the battle on the Granicus. In all these works a lifelike characterisation and a delicate and natural execution, especially exhibited in the management of the hair, is throughout conspicuous. In general, however, it was the beauty and harmony of the human body, especially of the masculine sex, to which Lysippus' efforts were directed ; and we find that, care- fully keeping in view the proportions of Polycletus, he trans- formed them into a new mode of conception, aiming more at effect, giving the body a slender and more elegant shape, and making the head smaller in proportion with the trunk than the rules of nature prescribe. In this respect his Apoxyomenes, an athlete, who is depicted scraping himself with an iron from the dust of Palaestra, was a work highly celebrated in Rome. A masterly marble copy of it, discovered in the year 1846 at Tras- tevere, forms at present an ornament of the Vatican collection, and displays the delicate elasticity and graceful suppleness of a beautiful youthful figure of great perfection of form. (Fig. 97.) If we add to this that Lysippus gave a lifelike character to his figures of animals, we shall have indicated the essential qualities of his works. Many able pupils followed in his steps, executing with peculiar lightness and delicacy similar representations of youthful life. But the Attic school at this epoch also extended to kindred branches of artistic work, and portraiture especially seems to have become prevalent, and exhibits a lifelike conception, though in no wise realistic. Statesmen, orators, philosophers, poets, and poetesses, were frequently and excellently represented, just as Praxiteles not merely made a portrait of Phryne, his History rf Art. beloved one, but ventured to place the statue by the side of a figure of Aphrodite. In order to afford a clearer idea of the noble conceptions of Greek portraiture, we have given under Fig. 98 a drawing after, the statue of Sophocles, which has come down to us as one of the most excellent works of this kind, although evidently a later copy: it adorns the collection. of the Lateran in Rome. Fig. 97. Apoxyomenes, after Lysippus. Fig. 98. Statue of Sophocles. THE FOURTH EPOCH, which follows the tvv^o most brilliant periods of art, embraces the time after Alexander's death, and comes to an end with the con- quest of Greece by the Romans. Alexander's rule had broken the varied individual life of the Greek races, but it had also ex- tended the influence of the Hellenic character, far beyond the Greek Art. Plastic Art. limits of Greece, into the Eastern world. The gain thus made in extension was counterbalanced by the loss of purity, self-depend- ance, and intensity. The Hellenic mind, while spreading itself over the East, imbibed more and more of Eastern influences within itself, and thus forfeited much of its original energy. The destiny of the plastic art was thus changed. In the divided and sundered free states of Hellas, it scarcely even found admission, and its place of refuge became the newly formed royal court. In- stead of being employed in the aggrandisement of a free people, it entered the service of princes, whose luxury and pomp must have promoted in it a tendency to brilliant appearance, to outward effect, and to virtuosolike execution. Yet even now Greek plastic art possessed such a vital power that it could add a new range of subjects to those already exhausted, and could produce works which were for ages unanimously considered as the highest creations of Hellenic sculpture. The fundamental character of these works is purely pathological, and is expressed by a style and manner of composition verging upon the effect of painting. Among the Greek free states it was principally Rhodes, and among the new royal courts it was exclusively Pergamus, where the art of this epoch especially flourished. The school of Rhodes appears to have been a branch of the Peloponnesian, from the fact that we find Chares, a pupil of Lysippus, at its head. The brazen colossal statue of Apollo, which measured 105 Roman feet, and which, not long after its completion, was overthrown by an earthquake, was his principal work, and was also the largest statue of antiquity. How great was the predilection for colossal works of sculpture, and at the same time the inclination to effective execution, we perceive from the statement that there were a hundred other colossal statues erected at Rhodes besides this one. The same taste was expressed in another manner in a statue of Athamas repenting of his fury, a work by Aristonidas, in which iron is stated to have been mixed with the bronze, in order to produce the expression of blushing with shame. The most famous work of the Rhodian school is the group of the Laocoon, executed by Agesandrus, i86 History of Art. Athenodorus, and Polydorus, which was found in Rome in the year 1506, and is one of the much-admired works of the Vatican collection. Pliny relates that this group stood in the palace of Titus, and from a vague expression in this passage of Pliny, it has been wrongly concluded, as it seems to us, that the work was first executed for the palace of Titus. Laocoon was, as is well-known, a priest of Apollo ; and having offended the god, he was killed at the altar, together with his two sons, by two serpents sent by Apollo, when he was offering a sacrifice to Fig. 99. Group of Laocoon. Poseidon. With wonderful art this fearful event is represented in its full extent, and from three different scenes one united and strictly connected group is formed, which converges in an artistic manner, and depicts with incomparable feeling the one moment of utmost suffering and horror. The two serpents have in an instant twisted themselves inextricably and irrecoverably round the three figures. Laocoon is powerlessly pressed against the altar, at the foot of which his younger son has just breathed his last sigh from a sharp bite from one of the serpents. His father is unable to support him, for he has just felt the fatal bite of the Greek Art. Plastic Art. 187 other serpent in his side, making him draw convulsively back in agony, and turn his powerful projecting breast to the right. Overcome by the pain of death he utters a cry as he throws back his head, while his right hand seizes the back of it with thrilling truth of expression,^ and his left, with a convulsive unconscious grasp, endeavours to remove the animal. The elder son, at his left, casts a glance of terror at his father, while with one hand he strives vainly to free his upraised left foot from the coil of the serpent, to whose fury he also is immediately to fall a victim. All this is compressed into one single moment, petrified with fearful truth ; the whole pathos is concentrated in the mighty figure of the father, and the whole execution in- tensifies in a keenly effective manner the expression of extreme terror. Yet we see nothing here but pure physical suffering ; the impression is entirely pathological, for no moral idea, no tragic conflict, no allusion to guilt and expiation, meets us ; and in this lies the barrier, in this lies the contrast, between it and a Niobe, or any of the other works of a former age. Nevertheless the composition remains ever the same, and the execution is masterly and worthy of admiration. Similar in style, and designed with a similar feeling, and no less artistic in its execution, is another work belonging to the same period and the same school, a work in which we possess the most colossal group of antiquity — that, namely, executed by Apollonius and Tauriscus of Tralles, representing the so-called Farnese bull.^ According to Pliny's statement, it was at Rome in the private possession of Asinius Pollio. It was discovered in the sixteenth century in the baths of Caracalla, and now belongs to the Museum at Naples. Although much restored, it yet undeniably shows the character of the epoch. The grand composition is based upon a local tradition, according to which Zethos and Amphion, in order to avenge their mother Antiope, who had been cruelly tormented by Dirce, bound the latter to a bull, and had her dragged to death by him, she having shortly ' In the Illustration the hand is placed in the original position. 2 Dcnkm. d. Ktmst. PI. 19. Fig. 5. i88 History of Art. before destined this fearful doom for Antiope. We see the two splendid youthful figures exerting all their power to seize the rearing animal by the horns, in order to bind to him the helpless and prostrate Dirce. In vain, in despairing agony, she clasps the leg of Amphion, in vain she raises her eye imploringly, and her right arm is outstretched as it were for defence ; in the next moment the furious animal, let loose, will have quenched in agonising death the luxurious beauty of the blooming and only partly veiled woman. Antiope stands calmly in the back ground, a beautiful and perfect figure, certain of the accomplishment of her revenge. A seated shepherd and various animals, sculptured on the base, designate the locality. This work also suffers from the same deficiency as the Laocoon. Here, too, we feel the absence of the expression of any moral idea ; here, too, our sympathy is excited only by physical action and suffering. But this magnificent work stands perhaps still higher than the other in boldness of composition, in the general perfection and harmonious arrangement of the group, and in thorough know- ledge and masterly power in the execution of the figures. The second great school of this epoch, that of Pergamus, seems to have been chiefly distinguished for representations of the battles fought by the kings Attains and Eumenes against the Gauls (about 240 b. c), multitudes of whom at that time invaded Asia Minor. Pliny mentions several artists who were engaged in these works. In all probability these representations were groups of numerous figures, of whose combination, indeed, we know nothing, but the character and importance of which we may estimate from the statue of the dying Gaul in the Capitoline Museum. It represents without doubt a Gaul who, in order to avoid ignominious slavery, upon the overwhelming approach of the foe, has thrown himself upon his own sword. Faint with death, he has fallen upon his great shield ; and resting on his right arm, it is with difficulty that he prevents himself from sinking entirely. But from the deep wound below his breast life is ebbing with his blood, his broad head bends heavily for- wards, the mist of death already dims his sight, his brow is con- Greek Art. Plastic Art. tracted with pain, and his Hps are parted for their last sigh. There can scarcely be another statue in which the bitter necessity of death is expressed with such thrilling truth, all the more thrilling from the strength of the vigorous body, and from the lack of any ideal expression or harmony of form to soften the impression made ; for, with the finest perception, the character of the barbarian is stamped, in contrast to the refined and harmoniously formed Greek, in the execution of the body, in the coarse and somewhat hard texture of the skin, in the muscular prominence of the joints, in the thick bristly hair and Fig. loo. The dying Gaul. Capito different type of head. What a cleft is there between those re- presentations of the Persians of the Marathon period, in all their idealism, and the sharp individuality and historical distinctness of this statue ! Closely similar in design, material, and execution, there is a marble group in the Villa Ludovisi at Rome, desig- nated ' Arria and Paetus,' representing a Gaul putting his wife and then himself to death. ^ The scene is the same, only the moment chosen is different, and a higher pathos and an ex- pression of momentary passion render it still more thrilling. The Gaul has just given the fatal thrust to his wife, so that she is falling lifeless at his feet, though his hand still clasps her left arm. Full of stormy excitement, as though he were snatching that last moment from a closely pursuing foe, the daring warrior has his right hand uplifted ready to thrust his short battle-sword ' Denkin. d. Kunst. PI. 19. Fig. 8. 190 History of Art. into his breast. This work is equally distinguished, with that before-mentioned, for its striking individualisation and truthful- ness to nature. c. Coins and Cut Stones. Greek life was so thoroughly pervaded with the breath of art, that it sought the stamp of beauty in all its necessaries. We Fig. loi. Specimens of Greek Coins. find this in a remarkable manner in the coins, which in Grsecia Magna and Sicily display greater variety and perfection than they do in Greece Proper. Athens, Argos, and Sicyon, the prin- cipal seats of art in its most flourishing periods, long retained a plain and strictly antique style in the stamp of their coins. In the fourth century we see an advance exhibited in the coins of Pheneus and Stymphalos in Arcadia, as well as in those of the islands of Naxos and Crete. In Magna Graecia and Sicily, on the other hand, the impression of coins rose, as early as the fifth century, to greater importance, and in the following century reached a high stage of perfection from lifelike representations, rich variety, and noble form. It is throughout peculiar to the Greek A rt. Plastic Art. 191 Greek coins that they bear the figure of the principal local divinity, or an emblem appertaining to it. It was not till the time of Alexander and his successors that the gods were dis- placed by the heads of sovereigns. In Fig. loi, we have given some specimens of Greek impressions of coins belonging to the different epochs. Among the earliest and simplest, which are only designated by an emblem, we may reckon [a) that of ^gina with the tortoise, of Ephesus with the bee, (c) Boeotian coins with the shield, {d) alleged Athenian coins with the antique Me- dusa-head, {e) also Athenian with the head of Pallas and the bird consecrated to her. A freer development, evidenced by lifelike representation, noble design, and unconstrained adaptation to the space, is exhibited in those of Selinus, where, on the one side, is a chariot with Apollo and Artemis, and on the reverse side the river-god Selinus, by the side of the altar of Asclepius ; i^g) in those of Heracleae, which represent the noble head of Pallas, and Heracles strangling the Nemaean lion ; further, in those of Pandosia and Plataea (//) with their beautiful heads of Hera, and of (i) Tarentum with the kneeling Satyr, and the fabulous Taras riding on a dolphin. Lastly, the coins of the last Greek epoch exhibit the head of Alexander and (iJi) that of Antiochus VII., and on the reverse side a copy of the statue of Athene on the Parthenon. Far more rich and comprehensive is the abundance of artistic talent evidenced by the numerous cut stones that are extant. Nevertheless there are here comparatively few works belonging to an earlier epoch, and it is only the later and more luxurious age which produces an abundance of elegant works, ingenious compositions, and interesting subjects from myths and legends. In the fourth century Pyrgoteles is named as a most famous master in the art of stone-cutting, and he alone was permitted by Alexander the Great to cut his likeness. Under Alexander's successors, at the pomp-loving courts of the East, luxury in- creased so much in this branch of art that gems and deeply cut stones no longer satisfied, but the so-called cameos, stones cut in relief, were invented. For this purpose various coloured pre- 192 History of Art. cious stones were used, and the strata of these stones was so skil- fully managed that the device stood out clearly upon a darker ground. The largest and most magnificent of these works is the Cameo Gonzaga, which is preserved in the Imperial Cabinet at St. Petersburg, and which, it is believed, represents the heads of Ptolemy I. and his consort Eurydice. Ptolemy II. and his consort are depicted on a cameo almost equally large, which is in the Imperial Collection at Vienna. 4. GREEK PAINTING, a. Its Nature and Importajice. The development of painting among the Greeks began at a much later period than sculpture.^ It was the younger, but not in consequence the more unimportant art. When in modern times a doubt is sometimes raised as to the high aesthetic value of Greek painting, the enthusiastic descriptions of the ancient writers, and the concurring records as to the universal estimation of the works of painting, should make us circumspect in our judgment, and should keep us from a decisive verdict. It is indeed difficult to follow the conception of the ancients, and it is almost impossible to gain even an approximate idea of the highly extolled works of painting, as none of them are extant ; and our verdict is, therefore, truly like that of a blind man when he judges of colour. Yet a great number of paintings have come down to us, which, if we carefully weigh their posi- tion as regards ancient art generally, will enable us to arrive at a fair estimate. These are, on the one side, the numerous painted vases, which are to be found by thousands in all Euro- pean museums ; and, on the other side, the rich abundance of wall-paintings which have been discovered in Pompeii and other places. Yet we must remember that all these works, both the vases and the wall-paintings, are the productions of skilful handicraft, or are superficial decorative works ; and ' For the history of Greek painting, see the second volume of the Geschichte dcr Griechischen Kiinstler. By H. Brunn. Stuttgart, 1859. Greek Art, Plastic Art. 193 we may, therefore, presuppose an infinite difference between them and the creations of the great Greek masters. When, however, the vase-paintings at least exhibit an inexhaustible ex- uberance of artistic idea, an astonishing power of imagination, and a great skill in arrangement and composition ; when, more- over, the best of them display an inimitable delicacy of design and a choice harmony of delineation — this alone should be suffi- cient to impress us with the artistic importance of that host of perished works of which they are only weak copies. It is true that in these works the power expressed is far less that of painting than of sculpture. Monochromatic in themselves, and standing out from a monochromatic ground, they do not rank in importance beyond reliefs, and by the lack of physical development they are even behind them in effect. It is other- wise, indeed, with the wall-paintings which have been transmitted to us by the ancients. Although, in a technical point of view, not passing beyond the character of slight decorative works, they not only manifest a delicate harmony, rich gradation, and soft blending of colour, but they often evidence a depth and force of expression, which allows us to infer a thrilling animated beauty in those master-works which have perished so irretrievably. We find in them a full, rich, warm colouring, a delicate perfec- tion of form produced by light and shade, and a careful attention to chiaro-oscuro as the artistic principle on which the spirit of the representations rests. Yet we readily perceive that we must not look at them from the standard of modern painting. Har- monious as the rich paintings appear to us, they still lack that peculiar depth which is alone obtained by perfect perspective. They, therefore, ever stand in closer affinity to the laws of the relief style than to the free art of the painter, and they afford a fresh evidence that all the creations of Greek art are unmistak- ably stamped with a plastic character. Mythical legends and heroic tales formed first and foremost the subject of the paintings, as they had done of plastic art. From the first, however, painting was materially affected by the fact that the true representation of the gods, the realisation of the VOL. 1. o 194 History of A rt. highest ideal conceptions, had been anticipated by plastic art, and that this older sister art had been exclusively employed in forming statues of the gods for the adoration of the people. Excluded from competition in the highest themes of art, painting must in consequence have acquired a more realistic position, which soon directed her to the vast sphere of true historical life and of the events and circumstances of the period. Thus it was that antique art could produce, besides representations of an heroic kind, genre-paintings, caricatures, still life, and other scenes of a lower character. The technical art displayed in antique paintings appears to have been manifold, and to have been influenced by the style and intention of the various works. There was a distinction, first of all, observed between wall-paintings and panel-pictures. The former were usually executed with simple water-colours al fresco, upon a carefully prepared and finely polished surface ; the latter were painted on wainscoting in tempera, i.e. with colours mixed together with size. It was not till ancient art had reached its prime that encaustic painting was invented : this was done by working the wax-colour with a dry stump, and then burning it into the carefully prepared surface. This invention, like the restoration of oil-painting in modern times, arose from a striving after realistic perfection, softer modelling, more delicate enamelling, and a more brilliant general effect. At a subsequent period, mosaic painting was added, though only for subordinate purposes, especially for the more magnificent decoration of the floor : it consisted of figures formed by various-coloured mosaics joined together. b. Historical Development} The records of the ancients respecting the early discoveries which gave birth to painting are connected, not with mythical, but with historical names. Thus Cleanthes is said to have sketched the first outline, and Telephanes to have brought ' Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 20, 21, 22. Greek A rt. Painting, 195 linear perspective to greater perfection ; while Ecphantus is re- ported to have executed the first monochrome painting, and Eumarus of Athens to have distinguished the figures of men and women. In the old vase pictures we have evident proofs of the condition of painting at that period, and the brighter colouring of the women and the darker of the men affords us some insight into the service rendered by Eumarus. Soon after these early attempts and inventions, a master appeared whose famous works reflected a glory upon the age of Cimon. Polyg- notus, who was born in the island of Thasos, appears to have received from Cimon a call to Athens about the year 462, where he adorned many splendid buildings with his paintings. Thus, with the help of his associates, he painted in the ' Pcecile ' the battle of the Athenians against the Lacedaemonians, that of Theseus against the Amazons, the taking of Troy, and the battle of Marathon. In the Temple of the Dioscuri, assisted by Micon, another Athenian master, he executed representations from the heroic legends ; he also took part in the paintings in the Temple of Theseus, in the Pinakothek of the Propylaea, and in the fore-court of the Temple of Athene, at Platsea. But the paintings which he executed in the Lesches at Delphi, one of the courts founded by the Cnidians, enjoyed the highest fame. He painted the taking of Troy, and the visit of Odysseus to the lower regions, with an abundance of figures and with many groups above and below each other. They were coloured outlines on a coloured ground, without shade, only executed in four colours, and designed, without perspective, in simple relief And yet, with all this strict simplicity of execution, they were extolled for clear harmonious composition, for delicacy of drawing, for full- ness of expression in the figures, and for the nobleness of the forms. When, moreover, the eyebrows of Cassandra were cele- brated ; when it was said of Polyxena that the whole Trojan war lay in her eyelids ; when, lastly, ' Ethos ' was adjudged to Polyg- notus before all others — we must be convinced of the powerful expression and intellectual importance of his works. We see, therefore, in this epoch, painting applied to great monumental o 2 196 « History of Art, objects, simply and strictly directed to the representation of heroic events and to the spiritual and thoughtful element they contain ; yet still far from realistic perfection, aiming rather at simple grandeur, worth, and solemnity, than at sweetness and variety. In sober severity of execution, it consequently appears allied with the works of Christian art in the early Middle Ages, but in the delicacy of its forms, and in the delinea- tion of various expressions of the mind, it is indisputably su- perior to it. Painting had next to pass through a further development with respect to form and technical skill. The Attic school con- tinued its efforts in this direction throughout the fifth century. A striving after illusory effect and perfect perspective appeared conspicuous in Agatharchus, who was engaged in decorating the theatre and in similar works for private individuals. More im- portant, however, were the works of Apollodorus, who, by a careful observation of light and shade, first introduced a more picturesque effect and a more powerful moulding of the figures, and thus received the name of the Shadow Painter. After the Peloponnesian war, painting withdrew for a time from Attica, in order to make a further advance in the cities of Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus. The merit of this Ionian school rests chiefly on a richer and more delicate perfection of colour, and on a more finished modelling of form, thus rendering the illusion complete. Like the plastic art, painting also at this period was directed more to common life and to the gratification of secular and private necessities ; and, instead of the former monumental wall-painting, we now more and more meet with panel-painting. Many anecdotes of artists testify to the effort after illusive reality ; among others, the well-known story of the emulation between the two principal masters of this school, Zeuxis and Parrhasius — the first of whom painted grapes at which the birds pecked, while the other was able to deceive his rival himself by a painted curtain. Zeuxis of Heraclea, born probably in Magna Graecia, passed the later period of his life at Ephesus. Not merely tender grace Greek Art. Painting. 197 and feminine sweetness were portrayed in his paintings, as in that Helena, for which the people of Crotona allowed him the noblest and most beautiful maidens of the city as models, and in the Penelope, which was considered the impersonation of modesty ; but he also succeeded admirably in giving a life- like character to rare and startling subjects — as, for instance, in the Centaur Family, described by Lucian. We perceive this, also, in the ancient report that he died of laughing over an old woman whom he had painted. In competition with him, the Ephesian Parrhasius developed his no less admired art. Ac- cording to the statement of Pliny, he first introduced into painting the rules of proportion, gave a delicacy of expression to the countenance, elegance to the hair, a tender charm to the lips, and carried away the palm in general outline — a fact acknow- ledged by all other artists. A more delicate perfection of form, a keen attention to light, shade, and reflection, and a masterly power of depicting psychological expression, seem to have been peculiar to Parrhasius. The latter is evidenced in the account given by the ancients of a painting in which he exhibited all the opposing qualities of the Athenian character. In another picture, he painted two boys, in whom the daring and simplicity of boy- hood was depicted. Among the scenes of heroic life, there were several, such as the feigned madness of Odysseus, and the lamenting Philoctetus of Lemnos, which, in the choice of subject, manifest an inclination to depict an agitated state of mind. Among the more famous contemporaries of these two masters, Timanthes may be reckoned, who, though he does not belong to the Ionic school, entered with others into a competition with Parrhasius at Samos. Power of invention is especially extolled in him, as well as depth and power of mental conception. His painting of the sacrifice of Iphigenia was much admired for its masterly expression of sympathising sorrow and lamentation, and for the thrilling manner in which he depicted paternal grief in Agamemnon by the veiling of the head. A small imitation of this work, although differing in some points of detail, is pre- served in a Pompeian wall-painting. 198 History of A rt. Just as in plastic art the Peloponnesian school was opposed to the Attic, so in painting the school of Sicyon is opposed to the Ionic. A more scientific attention to form, a distinct and characteristic design and effective colouring, seem to have been peculiar to it. At its head stands Eupompus, whose painting of a victor in the contests was much celebrated. His pupil Pamphilus seems to have given a deeper basis to painting by his scientific studies, and to have been a master much in demand. Melanthius was celebrated for the arrangement of his pictures, and Pausanias for the art of foreshortening and for the painting of vaulted ceilings, as well as for the perfection to which he brought encaustic work. The highest point of Greek painting was, however, reached by the great Apelles, who lived in the second half of the fourth century, and who understood how to combine the excellences of both the Ionic and Sicyonic schools. He appears, like an an- tique Raphael, to have given his works a finished grace, and to have imparted to them that soft breath of beauty which pro- ceeds alone from the combination of the finest form with soft blending of colour and nobleness of conception. A just har- mony formed the charm of his works. The most famous of these was Aphrodite, emerging from the waves, and wringing out with her hands the moisture and foam of the sea. Originally painted for the Temple of Asclepius at Cos, it was carried to Rome by Augustus, who remitted a hundred talents of the tribute due from the inhabitants of the island ; and it was placed in the Temple of Caesar. When the painting had suffered from subsequent injury, no artist would venture to undertake its resto- ration. Another painting represented Slander. Besides these, he painted pictures of the gods and heroes, and, lasdy, several portraits of Alexander, who would be painted by no one else but by Apelles. He painted the great king, with the lightning in his hand, for the Artemis Temple at Ephesus ; and so powerful was the impression made by the picture, that the king is recorded to have said regarding it, that there were two Alexanders, the unconquered son of Philip and the inimitable work of Apelles. Greek A rt. Painting. 199 Among the contemporaries of Apelles, Protogenes was so distinguished that even an Apelles was petrified with admiration at the sight of a picture of lalysus which he had painted, ^tion also was preeminent : his representation of Alexander with Roxana was highly extolled A high degree of fame was en- joyed by Antiphilus, who painted, indeed, by preference and with great lightness of conception, works of a ruder and lower kind, such as caricatures, effects of light, and scenes from daily life ; and, lastly, Theon, who was distinguished for scenes full of life and action, represented with the utmost effect. Some remains of this epoch are to be found in the tombs at Psestum ; among them there are scenes of the noblest beauty, Fig. 102. Wall-painting at Paestum. exhibiting an expression of deep feeling. Thus, for instance, the representation of a youth carrying his wounded comrade on horseback out of the battle : it is now in the Museum at Naples. (Fig. 102.) ■ In the epoch after Alexander, painting more and more ex- hibits a striving after true nature, combined with a preference for representations from lower life, for genre-pictures, and still life. From the records of the ancients we may infer that the style of painting called Rhyparography was also developed to great perfection. The highest fame in this style was attained by Pirsecus, whose barbers' and shoemakers' shops, still life, and similar small low art pictures, executed, however, with great 200 History of Art. delicacy, were valued at a higher price, we are informed by Pliny, than the greatest pictures by many other masters. Yet even now there were painters who produced excellent works of a higher kind, and among these Timomachus appears as the last distinguished master. He executed an Aias and a Medea, which were purchased by Caesar for eighty talents, and were placed in the Temple of Venus Genetrix : besides these, he painted an Iphigenia in Tauris, who, on the point of sacrificing her brother, is filled with the struggle of contending feelings. This passionate emotion of the heart must have been still more decidedly expressed in the Medea, who was conceived in the moment previous to the terrible deed, holding the sword ready in her hand, but lingering irresolute whether to thrust it into the breasts of her own children. A copy of this painting has been found in a wall-painting at Pompeii. In this epoch of increasing luxury, mosaic painting seems also to have been cultivated. Among the masters of this art Sosus was especially famed ; he executed the ' Unswept House ' at Pergamus, so called because he represented on the floor, in an extremely ingenious manner, the remains of food and all that is generally swept away. Such toy-work pleased at that period, and still continues to please the multitude. Peculiar admiration was elicited by several doves sitting on the edge of a water-tub, either drinking or basking in the sun, a representation of whose truthfulness to nature an idea is given by the copy of it which is preserved in the Capitoline Museum at Rome. c. Vase- Painting. Lastly, we have yet to mention the painted vases, ^ which not alone in their general form afford conspicuous examples of the delicacy of the Greek sense of beauty, but are also of great im- portance as regards their painting. When we consider that these works are only the productions of artisans, the unsur- ' See O. Jahn's Beschreibiing der Galerie bemalter Vaseu der K. Bayerischen Sammlung. Munich, 1854. Greek Art. Painting. 20 1 Fig. 103. Dodwell Vase, at Munich. passable freedom and beauty of their design awakens the highest admiration. The earhest style comprises those simple and moderately large vessels, which were formerly errone- ously called Egyptian, and are now with more correctness designated Phoenician, and are regarded as the productions of ancient Corinthian workshops. (Figs. 103 and 104.) They are simple in form, with a yellow or reddish colour in the clay, and they are painted in brown or black tints, intermixed with a little violet and white. Horizontal stripes form one or more band-like friezes, filled either with rosettes, lotus blossoms, or other flowers, or with representations of animals, for the most part of a fan- tastic character. In the arrangement and form of these ornaments we cannot fail to perceive the influence of early Asiatic art. In opposition to this older and evi- dently Doric style, there appears another, probably early Attic, which, while in its colouring it is essentially kindred to the former, forms a transition to the follow- ing period in the stricter organisation of the entire form and in the greater size of the vessels, as well as in the representa- tion of gods and heroes. The figures on these vases are sometimes stiff and lifeless, and sometimes abrupt and angu- lar in their attitude, the physical form is too sharply delineated, and the dra- pery falls in symmetrical folds. Next follow the vases of the old style, which not only displayed greater variety in the form of the vessels and exhibited greater beauty and life in the structure of separate works, but also denoted an advance in pure Hellenic art by a Fig. 104. Greek Vase of the earliest style. 202 History of Art. simplification of the earlier colours and by a more beautiful and brilliant tinge. The ornaments, merely designed to fill up the space, cease, and their casual introduction gives a greater scope to the imagination. The representations are well distri- buted over the space allotted, and stand out in brilliant black from the deep red hue of the vessel. The figures themselves, Fig. 105. Vases in the beautiful and rich Style. - however, still exhibit the severe constraint and sharp delineation of form which belongs to the archaic style of Greek art. A further stage of development is apparent in those vases which are covered entirely with a brilliant black, from which the figures stand out in the fine red colour of the clay. The cha- racter of the representations in this class testify to the transition from a severe style to one of great beauty (Fig. 105, ^), which in free and noble action, in a correct filling of the space, and in Greek Art. Painting. 203 softness of delineation, proclaims itself as the production of a period at which art was at its prime. These classic creations of Hellenic art are followed, in the last period under survey, by the works of a rich style, in which Greek moderation gives way to a pompous exaggeration, which finds expression in large and splendid vessels, amounting to five feet in height, and in a luxuriant excess of ornament. (Fig. 105, ^^.) The brilliant black ground of the former epoch is preserved, and the figures stand out from it in red clay ; but in the constant introducing of other colours, especially of a pale yellow and white, as well as in the abundant distribution of rich flowers and twisted ornaments, a mixture of foreign elements is again proclaimed. These ves- sels are indeed for the most part to be found in Lower Italy, Apulia, and Lucania. Their representations are chiefly scenes from the heroic legends, but often, also, corresponding with the character of the period, delineations of every-day life in great variety. The figures are executed with some freedom and ele- gance of conception, but for the most part with a virtuoso-like lightness, occasionally degenerating into a superficial and careless style. The epoch after Alexander, about the period of Roman supremacy, is the time at which this final form of vase-painting flourished. CHAPTER II. ETRUSCAN ART. The position of Italy has much that is kindred with that of Greece. Separated from the northern lands of Europe by the lofty mountain range of the Alps, it stretches towards the south as a long narrow peninsula. The mildness of the climate here, as in Greece, early favoured the growth of a higher order of civilisation ; the open sea-washed coast allured to commerce and navigation. But the greater distance from the East, those prime- val scenes of human culture, rendered the mediation of the Greeks necessary for the dissemination of general civilisation. Thus we see Greek colonies early taking root in the south of the country, and not merely extending into Sicily, but also occu- pying the coasts of Lower Italy, or, as it was then called, of Magna Grsecia. The districts of Central Italy held themselves, in ancient times, independent of these influences of foreign civi- lisation. Divided by the Apennines and their various branches into a number of independent territories, they offered, as Greece had done, full scope for the manifold development of different races. While most of these, as the language shows, belonged to the same original stem from which the Greeks also sprung, the old Etruscans, with their yet undeciphered language, their diverse customs and habits, their different figure and physiognomy, stand out as a thoroughly independent and foreign race in the very heart of Italy. They inhabited the territory which is bordered by the Tiber, the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the ridge of the Apennines, which stretches in a vast curve from the sea to the Tiber ; the greater part of the country, the Tuscany of the present day, preserving even in name the remembrance of the ancient Tusci. Etruscan A rt. 205 Yet, however much has been imagined or conjectured respecting the origin of this mysterious people, however much almost all the nations of antiquity have been traced to them by helpless modern science, the obscurity is not cleared up to the present day ; and the only thing which seems ever proved with greater probability, is their descent from the northern mountainous regions. In ancient times, the Etruscans, allured by the beauty of the land, appear to have descended towards the south, and to have established fixed settlements in Lower Italy. That they entered the country as powerful marauders, is to be inferred from the steep inaccessible position of their ancient cities, which were, moreover, united by a defensive alliance. Besides this free union, there was no higher bond of unity among them, and it was, therefore, no wonder that they were overcome in con- tinued attacks by the Romans in the early striving of the latter for political power. After their political subjugation, they gradually disappeared from history, as trackless as they had come, without leaving a vestige behind them either in political institutions or in the productions of an independent literature. Only in the ex- tensive burying-places of Central Italy have proofs been found of an independent architecture, as well as of works of various artistic skill, such as vessels of clay, stone sarcophagi, bronze casting, wall-paintings, and valuable ornaments. Much of this, undoubtedly, may be traced to Greek influence ; in others, an in- dependent style of art is not to be mistaken. At any rate, these works afford us not merely an insight into a manifold and highly developed state of civilisation, but they also furnish us with much information as to the nature of the people. The Etruscans appear in these representations as a stout, broad-shouldered, heavy race, differing in this from the Greek character, as well as in the flat form of the head and the strongly projecting lower parts of the countenance, the upper part re- ceding. In a similar manner, their character appears also to have been different from that of the other Italian and Greek inhabitants. Their religious views were pervaded by a gloomy superstition, which strove to unveil future things by the science 266 History of Art. of astrology. They held a dualistic belief, which admitted the existence of good and bad spirits, who accompanied mankind, and, as is evidenced by the wall-paintings in their sepulchres, sought to obtain possession of departed souls ; lastly, they pon- dered carefully and anxiously upon the state of things after death — traits which manifest a serious and gloomy contrast to the cheerfulness of Hellenic views. That idealistic conception, which portrayed the gods as the glorification of human circum- stances and qualities, was wanting in the Etruscans, and thus their plastic art lacked a higher consecrating element and a deeper import. It is true that subsequently, like all the Italian races, they borrowed from the Greeks, not merely forms of art, but also subjects of legendary and mythological tradition ; but a foreign branch was thus only grafted upon their art, and this branch at length covered the original stock with its luxuriant growth, and stifled its independent life. We should not know whether the Etruscans had any temple architecture, were not the fact confirmed by written records — namely, by the testimony of Vitruvius. Like the Greek temple, the Etruscan originated in a wooden structure, as is usual among all mountain races, but it was only partially finished in a firmer and more lasting material ; the entire superstructure re- tained the wooden construction, and this difference prevented the whole building from arriving at an harmonious and artistic perfection. Realistic suitability, as it corresponded with the very character of the Etruscans, retained the ascendancy ; an ideal conception was alien to the people, and, in order to express the higher signification of the building, they adorned it with rich ornament, but they could not elevate the essential parts into freedom and beauty. The ground-plan of the temple formed a square, the front half of which was filled up with a deep colonnade, while the rest of the building was broken into three cellas lying close together, the centre one of which was broader than the others. Each cella had its independent entrance from the porch, and each con- tained its especial image of the divinity. The whole was covered Etruscan Art. 207 with a lofty roof, the gable of which rose heavily above the slender pillars, which were placed at considerable intervals, and above the strongly projecting heads of the transom. We have no idea of the artistic perfection of this broad, heavy, and unsatis- factory structure, although various remains which have been dis- covered lead us to imagine a certain delicacy of form in the bases of the columns and in the capitals. Some facades of tombs — those at Norchia, for instance — exhibit this framework or- namented with misconceived forms of Greek architecture, espe- cially with the triglyph frieze. The points and the angles of the roof, as well as the pediment, were richly adorned with figures of burnt clay. It is certain that the Romans, in ancient times, adopted the Etruscan form of architecture, and that their earliest tem- ples, such as that of Jupiter on the Capitoline, Fig. 106. Fromthe Fa9adeofa were built lu this mauuer. Tomb at Norchia. - ^ . , A great number 01 remams, on the other hand, are still preserved of another kind of Etruscan building. These are the burial-places, which are found throughout Ancient Etruria.^ The most simple of them belong to that primitive form, which in all quarters of the globe has been preserved as an evidence of the earliest stage of civilisation. They are mounds formed of earth and stones, often of considerable extent, and oc- casionally furnished with a regular walled substructure. The interior contains a vault, frequently formed of stone. Some- times conical columns rise from the upper surface of these mounds, in all probability a primitive Italian form, which in the later Roman period was preserved in the spina of the circus. The grandest of these monuments is to be found at Vulci, under the name of the Cucumella. A certain affinity with these build- ings is exhibited in the so-called Nuragha, on the island of Sar- dinia, tower-like stone buildings of a conical form, containing in > Cf. Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 24. Micali, Storia degU Antichi Popoli Italiani. Ders., Monumenti Inediti. Firenze, 1844. Irv^xxdsm^ Moiiiiiiie^iti Etriischi, \o vo\s. Fie- sole, 1825. 208 History of A 7^1. the interior many chambers placed over each other, arched in the primitive manner. Other Etruscan tombs are fashioned cave-Hke in the rock, either hollowed out as simple sepulchres, or a complicated plan of connected chambers. The ceiling in these is frequently sup- ported on pillars, and occasionally we find an imitation of wooden rafters. Such tombs contained in their principal apartment the bricked-up resting-place of the departed, who lay there out- stretched in full armour, and provided with his weapons. Round about there were vases and other vessels, and the walls were Fig. 107. Tomb-fagade at Castellaccio. frequently decorated with figurative paintings. Tombs of this sort have been discovered at Corneto, Vulci, Cere, Tarquinii, and other places. A still greater importance is attained by these monuments, which strikingly call to mind the Egyptian Necro- polis, when they are ornamented on the outside with facades chiselled out of the rock. (Fig. 107.) A substantial cornice, consisting of various undulating members, terminates the facade above ; in the centre a seeming door is chiselled, which dimi- nishes towards the top, and the outward framework of which projects at the upper corners. At Norchia and Castellaccio, as well as at other places in the same neighbourhood, a number of such monuments have been discovered in the remote hollows of Etj^uscan Art. 209 the mountain. Two of those at Norchia exhibit this temple-Hke facade, which betrays an affinity with Greek forms. Lastly, fortification was carried to a distinct artistic perfection among the Etruscans. In the old city walls of Cossa, Populonia, Todi, and others, we plainly perceive an advance from the poly- gonal Cyclopean construction to the regular freestone building. In the gates, on the other hand, we find a form of construction which meets us here for the first time, and the invention of which, therefore, probably belongs to the ingenious and indus- trious Etruscans, while its introduction marks a new epoch in the history of architecture. For the first time we here find the arch formed of wedge-shaped stones, substituting, instead of the natural unity of the architrave, the artificial unity of a number of closely connected members, which produce by their span a firm vaulted construction. The old gate at Volterra is of this kind ; the keystone and the two extreme ends of the arch are marked in a plain but expressive manner by strongly projecting heads. The Cloaca Maxima in Rome, a subterranean conduit executed in the sixth century under the rule of the Tarquins, is one of the boldest and most important instances of this kind of vaulted structure. The Career Mamertinus, on the declivity of the Capitol, exhibits a similar construction ; while the ancient reser- voir of Tullianum, beneath it, is covered over with projecting horizontal layers. Thus Etruscan architecture acquired a lasting merit in the history of art by the new epoch which is formed by its advance in technical construction. In plastic art the Etruscans attained to considerable fame for their working of metal, and for their vessels of burnt clay.^ The latter were much in use in the decoration of the temple ; but the statues of the gods were also executed in similar material, for the image in the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, with many others, was of clay. Various specimens of this kind are to be found in the museums of Italy; yet all these works exhibit a somewhat rude style, and a heavy and often erroneous conception of the VOL. I. ^ Cf. Denkm. d. Kiinst. PI. 25. P 2IO History of Art. human body. Among the works of this class, we may include the vases which have been discovered in tombs, and which are partly ash-vessels, the lid grotesquely representing a human head, and partly vessels of unburnt black earth, on which are placed reliefs rather unskilfully executed. Sometimes ears and handles are formed in a figurative manner, and the whole is often so tastelessly overloaded that it produces a strange and fantastic effect. The Campana collection, now at Paris, in the Musee Napoleon III., is rich in examples of this kind of splendid Etruscan works. The Etruscan art of fashioning in clay early led to casting in bronze, which was cultivated with especial predilection, and was carried to great technical perfection. Instead of the earlier works in clay, independent works and decorative sub- jects were soon executed in this far more splendid material, which was often rendered still more brilliant by gilding. The Etruscan cities were filled with thousands of brazen statues, and the Etruscans long provided the Romans with works of this kind. Among the larger of these we may mention the Mars of Todi, in the Vatican Museum, a boy with a goose under his arm in the Museum at Ley- den, and a draped male figure in the Uffizi Fig. las. statue of an ^t Floreuce (^2^. io8); besides the fan- Orator at Florence. ^ \ &. / ' tastic figure of the Chimsera, also at Florence, and the she-wolf in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. These works accurately point out the limits of the artistic power of the Etruscans, the animal forms being distinguished by vigorous natural life, although sharp and hard in the mode of execution ; while the human figures, from a scrupulous and con- strained conception, and from an exaggerated attention to detail, exhibit a cold lifeless appearance, utterly lacking the breath of free animation. Besides these larger works, a number of smaller bronze statuettes are scattered through the different museums, Etruscait Art. 211 rarely possessing any great artistic value. Far more significant does the talent of the Etruscans appear in all matters in which true ideal art is not required, and in which technical skill carries the palm ; such, for instance, as the numerous weapons and splendid works still extant — helmets, shields, coats of mail, vessels, and ornaments. If they, too, lack the refined grace of the Hellenic mind, they have yet a lasting value from the neat- ness of their workmanship, and from the fantastic style of their carving. Many of these works are richly decorated with engraved representations, which we shall mention later. Much, too, has also been preserved to us of works of sculp- ture, among which those executed on altars and monuments appear especially ancient. They are, for the most part, confined to religious ceremonies — dances, processions, and the arrange- ments and solemnities referring to the rites in honour of the dead. The heavy compactness of figure, the profile position of the feet, while the upper part of the body is represented in front, and many similar characteristics, place these works in affinity with the Oriental and early Greek art, though their composition undeniably inclines to a more overloaded picture-like arrange- ment. The numerous ash-boxes which have been discovered, and which are chiefly manufactured out of alabaster, and are richly adorned with gold and colouring, belong, on the other hand, to a much later period, probably to the last epoch of Etruscan art. Executed in the form of small sarcophagi, they exhibit on the lid the outstretched figure of the deceased in an easy resting position, with various reliefs on the side surfaces, all relating to mythical subjects or to the life of the soul in the lower world. Rude and mechanical in execution, they betray little knowledge of the human figure, and are overloaded in style ; and this is combined with a weak expression of form, which plainly indicates a declining epoch. Thus Etruscan sculpture, incapable, as it was, of a truly ideal conception, seems also never to have found the just medium between weakness and a hard cold style of execution. Lastly, we have yet to mention the cut stones, which belong P 2 212 History of Art. to the later period of Etruscan art. In their subjects and form they exhibit the influence of Greek art, and adhere especially to its antique style. The representations are borrowed from the myths of the Greeks ; the execution is careful and fine — still there is an evident inclination to sharp characterisation. If in the plastic works of the Etruscans a tendency to pic- turesque effect may be perceived, the rich number of paintings Fig. 109. Etruscan 'I'omb-relief. that are preserved affords full proof of the certain preference with which this art was cultivated by them.^ In the subterrane- ous vaults, the walls are generally covered with paintings, which afford us a lively idea of the style of Etruscan art. These are coloured outlines, simply executed in light and pleasant colours, representations from daily life— dances, tiltings and hunts, ban- quets and festivities, preparations for chariot races, and the like, all represented with great life, but in a certain sharp manner, and with striding action, recalling to mind the models of antiquity. Between the separate figures, green branches are generally placed in order to separate and fill up the compartments. (Fig. no.) Sometimes a fantastic and even a comic element is added, which finds expression in the burlesque exaggeration of the attitudes. ' Cf. Denkm. d. Kinist. PI. 26. EtruscLni A rt 213 But more serious scenes, also borrowed from the rites of the dead, repeatedly occur, representing various solemnities of burial and the destiny of the soul after death. We here see the genius of light or of darkness, variously engaged, sometimes carrying away the veiled form of the departed on a chariot, and at another time the genius of darkness sitting before the gates of the lower world. Then, again, we find the demon of darkness making gestures in wild despair ; or the judge of the dead sitting on his throne to judge the souls of the departed. Most of these paintings have Fig. no. Etruscan Wall-painting. been found in Tarquinii, Veji, and Chiusi. They are very dif- ferent in style, some careful, severe, and antique in their execu- tion, and others hasty and formal. The arrangement is through- out that of the relief style, exhibiting unequivocally the influence of Greek works. Still more distinctly is this affinity displayed in the engraved representations which are to be found in great number on bronze vessels, and on the back of hand mirrors, and the sides of orna- mental boxes, which were formerly supposed to be mystical caskets. They chiefly contain representations of Greek myths and heroic legends ; yet Etruscan myths are to be found also, and at times even subjects belonging to common life. Their technical skill and the value of the works vary considerably. Repeatedly they are only hastily cut, sometimes in sharp angular lines, while the conception is cold and unimaginative — as,' for example, in the birth of Minerva, on a mirror in the Museum at Bologna ; but 214 History of Art. occasionally they exhibit a delicacy, a nobility, and a grace which seems to call to mind the hand of a Greek artist — as in the mag- nificent mirror in the Museum at Berlin, representing Bacchus and Semele. (Fig. 1 1 1, a. Also, under b, c, d, examples of the ornamental style of mirrors.) A wreath of tendrils and flowers like a tasteful frame generally encloses the composition which, on the mirrors especially, fills up the round surface, although at times the somewhat crowded mass of figures points again to the Etruscan predilection for picture-like arrangement. Among the caskets, the famous Ficoronische Cista, in the Museo Kircheriano of the Jesuit Col- lege at Rome, holds the first place. According to the inscription, it was made by Novius Plautius at Rome, and was found at Palestrina ; and on the surface of its somewhat bulging sides it contains representations from the Argonautic legends. Polydeuce is binding the conquered King Amycus to a laurel tree, while Nike is hover- ing near with the victor's wreath, and Athene, Apollo, and some Greek heroes are looking at the scene. Close by, the Argo is lying quietly at anchor ; Fig. III. Etruscan Mirrors. t i i • i 1 some heroes are disembarkmg by the ladder to draw water, others are sitting or resting in easy idleness on the deck ; other peaceful scenes are added in the distance. The delicacy of the drawing, the nobility and easy grace of the figures, the life and freshness of the composition, are only to be explained by the influence of Hellenic works. Vase-painting, so far as it is to be traced with certainty to Etruscan hands, stands throughout at a lower stage of develop- ment, as most of the works of this kind, formerly ascribed to the Etruscans, have been proved to be productions of Greek manu- facture. CHAPTER III. ROMAN ART, I. CHARACTER OF THE ROMANS. Closely related as the Romans are to the Greeks, certain as it is that they have sprung from the same race, equally certain is it that more different brothers of the same family could scarcely be imagined. If we wished to designate in one word in what this strong distinction, we might almost say contrast, consists, we might assert that the Greeks were the people of art, and the Romans the people of the state. The Greeks conquered the world with their beauty, the Romans with their policy. As the sculpture and poetry of the Greeks, even at the present day, transport a totally different race of men to admiration and imita- tion, and are regarded as the highest models in the kingdom of the beautiful, in like manner the Romans still govern with their laws a great part of the modern nations. A deeper signification and a hidden necessity must indeed lie at the foundation of such facts. The Greeks were an idealistic people, the Romans were thoroughly realistic. The Greeks founded states, sent out colonies, and spread their civilisation over distant shores ; the Romans had no desire to civilise, but to conquer, for at that time conquest was palliated by civilisation. The old legend of the origin and growth of the Roman community is characteristic of this vocation of the Roman, and makes violence and usurpa- tion even in the birth hour of Rome the badge of its inhabitants. As if impelled by an inward law of necessity, arising from the position of the city and the character of its citizens, the Romans ever gained ground, early subdued the surrounding races, not 2l6 History of Ar^t. merely the kindred Latin people, but also the alien Etruscan, speedily mastered the whole of Italy, with its Etruscan and Greek culture, and thus at last arrived at dominion over the entire known world. It was natural that the condition of the Romans should have materially changed in the course of a progress so continuous and bringing with it such mighty changes ; but, like a great river which receives a multitude of other streams on all sides in its unceasing flow, yet still retaining as the fundamental elements of its nature the same waters which in its early course constituted its whole extent, so was it also with the Romans. Although they gradually incorporated all the nations of the world in the immense body of the empire, they remained in the distinguishing features of their nature, in spite of many transformations, the same as they had been from the beginning. The distinguishing feature of this people is that of an energetic, wise, and practical mind, directed to the acquirement of gain and possession. This explains the great capacity of the Romans for the development of political life, and for the distinct embodiment, establishment, and perfection of their ideas of law. They were a vigorous and powerful race, as wise as they were brave, early distinguished by a rude manly virtue, the highest ideal of which was exhibited in strict rectitude and an adherence to ancestral habits. Hand in hand with the continued enlarge- ment of the kingdom outwardly, advanced the development of internal relations. The civil position of patrician and plebeian, the relation of the confederates, of those placed under their protec- tion, and of the subjugated foreign nations, raised many problems, the solution of which might have tested statesmanlike wisdom and a legislatory capability, and truly did so. In addition to this, there were the various relations in which the individual and the family stood to the state, for, in contrast to Greece, where family life was secluded within itself, and ignored by the state in an almost Oriental manner, the general life of the state was based among the Romans upon the existence of families ; and while with the Greeks the honourable women led, as it were, a Roman A rt. Character of the Ro7?ians. 2 1 7 hidden existence, the Roman matrons had their honourable posi- tion in pubHc Hfe with the father of the family. While the Romans thus arranged their internal affairs, con- quered Italy and the world, destroyed kingdoms, overthrew and appointed kings, and dictated laws to the whole earth, in all ideal expressions of intellectual life, in poetry and art, and even in the embodiment of their religion, they remained dependent on the Greeks. In earlier ages, Etruscan influence had indispu- tably preponderated among them, but Greek influence speedily took the place of the other. The Roman gods originated for the most part in the Greek Olympus ; the Romans adopted the forms of Hellenic mythology, merely translating their names, and giving now and then a new addition or a coarser conception. They even sought through ^neas to link their old legends with Greek tradition. But whatever was added to this system of religion from their own ideas had rather a moral and ethical, than a mythical and poetic, character. Hence the Romans lacked not only a national epos, but in all the main branches of poetry they were the pupils and docile imitators of the Greeks, and transported both the epos and drama of Hellas to the soil of Latium. But there prevails about the same difference between the verse of Homer and the '^neid' of Virgil, as between the noble idealistic humour of Aristophanes and the coarse comedy of a Plautus and a Terence, which adhered to daily life both in colouring and matter. The species of poetry, on the other hand, which the Romans have created for themselves — namely, didactic poetry and satire — are a fresh testimony of the preponderance of the understanding, of keen observation, and wise experience, over imagination and a higher idealistic power of conception. No less distinctly is the same fact expressed in the depart- ment of the plastic arts. The Romans themselves have never laid claim to higher artistic gifts. They were in this point willing pupils, first of the Etruscans, and then of the Greeks. Art was with them not the hearty delight of the people, not the requisite of the national faith, not the emanation of an imagination excited by the poet's ideal of the gods ; but an article of luxury 2l8 History of A rt. belonging to the rich and the powerful, the handmaid of autho- rity, ready to adorn life, to ennoble power, and to attract the people. Above all, architecture was thus employed, without standing in closer affinity to the Roman character by its applica- tion to the practical necessities of life. Hence it is just in this art that they created new and independent works, and were able to extend considerably the range of antique views. Grandness of design, variety of combination in the fulfilment of hew and chiefly practical requirements, and indestructible purity of execu- tion, are the common characteristics and excellences of all Roman works. Far less considerable is the merit of the Romans in the arts of sculpture and painting — indeed, it is really limited to the fact, that, as rich, pomp-loving Mecsenas, they offered a refuge to the Greek artists when their own country, in its degeneracy and empoverishment, no longer needed them, gave them a series of new tasks to accomplish, and thus caused Hellenic art to flourish with renewed vigour. While, therefore, the talent, the skill, the- tradition, and even the subject was Greek, the Romans acquired that modifying influence upon the exercise of art which is usually exerted by the Mecaenas of an age upon its artists. Thus they sometimes indulged in repetitions and imitations of older works of masters, and sometimes they produced more superficial works, aiming at the pomp and effect of the period, and corresponding with its nature. Truly original creations were, however, only arrived at in portraits and historical repre- sentations ; for it was just these branches of plastic art which must have been most in harmony with a nation which marked out its path in history with a series of brilliant deeds, placing the personal distinction of individual generals and statesmen in the foreground, and subsequently conceding to its Caesars the honour of deification. The great importance of the Romans, however, as regards the history of art, rests on their universal domination. While they laid a common yoke upon all nations, they conferred upon them their art as well as their law-books — that is, the Greek art Roman Art. Architecture. 219 adopted by them, generalised by them, and prepared by them for cosmopoHtan appHcation. Here, for the first time, we see the distinction of nations effaced, and art, disengaged from the conditions and barriers of national views, prevailing as a general law in Italy and Greece, among the rude Germanic and Gallic races of the North, as well as among the old civilised tribes of the East. 2. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE, a. The System. Nowhere is the intelligent bias of the Roman mind so clearly evidenced as in their architecture. Their earliest buildings were erected after the Etruscan mode, but in their later ones we see the admission of Greek forms, and the traces of the former influence are effaced. Only one important element of Etruscan art lastingly prevailed in Roman architecture, and even attained to a higher degree of artistic perfection — that, namely, of the arch. At first applied to useful buildings, such as the above-named Cloaca maxima, to aqueducts, bridges, and viaducts, the arch soon took its place also in extensive splendid buildings ; and for the first time, by the firm construction of the arch, by its strength and power of resistance, the possibility was afforded of erecting buildings of many stories with monumental durability. So long as the covering of a stone building could only be effected by mighty horizontal beams, as was the case in the East and among the Greeks, architectural work was limited in its scope, and was dependent on the natural conditions of the stone, which afforded horizontal beams only to a small extent ; but after the combina- tion of wedge-shaped stones into an arch had been devised, which, by the tendency of the various parts to their centre of gravity, was kept in a firm span, the art of building was in a great measure freed from natural hindrances, and the courts could be formed with much more size and variety, and the ground-plan with greater freedom than before. This is the importance, this the grand advance of the arch structure, devised 2 20 History of A rt. by the Etruscans, and carried out by the Romans. By means of it the Romans have executed tasks more grand and various than any imposed upon architecture before or after, more important and more beautiful than any to be again executed. Among the arch-forms with which we have become acquainted among the Romans, the tunnel-vault is the simplest. This arch connects two opposite walls. Opening at both ends, this form has only the disadvantage that it requires a strong counterfort, in order to resist the pressure of the arch at the side. Freer and more varied in form was the cross-vault invented by the Romans. This arch is formed by two cylindrical arches inter- secting each other at right angles in a quadratic space. They intersect each other, crossing at the two diagonal lines which unite the opposite corners. These cruciform arches rise, there- fore, from four points of support, and divide the arch into four curved triangles or calottes. In this form, the arch arrives at a greater variety, transforming the supporting wall-surfaces into four free supporting members, and producing a lively and varied organisation. A third form of vault, the cupola, was called forth by the favourite circular buildings of the Romans. We may imagine this as a half-hollow globe formed of horizontal layers of wedge-like stones, thus showing the principal of the arch applied to a circular ground-plan. The necessity to give this form of vault a sufficient counterfort at all points produces a contraction here, as in the cylindrical vault. Besides the cupola, we find in Roman architecture half-cupola arches used in the frequent semicircular niches (apsidse). With these arches they were not only able to give a variety of form to the courts, and to carry out the most different ground-plans, but also, by insulated arches and niches, to invest the whole building, within and without, with a lively organisation. Yet this entire system would have remained rather insipid, had not the Romans borrowed elsewhere an element of artistic ornament. This element was the Greek column, which was to offer its rich and finished perfection for the decorative magni- ficence of the Roman buildines. In the halls of the Basilicas, in Roman A rt. A rchitecttLre. 22 I the markets, in the rich courts of the houses, and especially in the temples, the Romans introduced the Greek colonnade in rich abundance. Whether the temples were Etruscan or Greek in their ground-plan, a splendid ornament of columns was ever added, either arranged in the stately Greek form of the periptery or the dipteral, or with the Etruscan ground-plan of the porch, placed in three or four rows deep of columns, finishing the wall all round with a row of half-columns in a pseudo-peripteral manner. At the same time, the Doric and Ionic forms were less popular on account of their greater simplicity, and were only in constant use in the earlier epoch. The more magnificent Corinthian form, on the other hand, was not alone employed with great preference and fashioned into that typical form in which we now almost n I Fig. 112. Curintliian Capital. Fig. 113. Composite Capital. exclusively know it (Fig. 112); but a new variety was also produced from it by the Romans, in the so-called Composite or Roman capital (Fig. 113), a coarser form of the Ionic capital being placed with ostentatious clumsiness on two rows of carved acanthus leaves. On the other hand, we repeatedly find the three Greek orders in the same building, used to mark the different stories — the Doric being assigned to the lower, the Ionic to the central, and the Corinthian to the upper story. We have thus reached the point which constitutes the im- portant epoch of Roman architecture— the combination of the column and the vault. That this combination, however, was only employed at will, is evident The vault, from the nature of its 222 History of A rt. construction, stood in connection with powerful pillars and strong walls. In order to give these a more lively effect, the Greek columns, with their entablature and cornice, were placed in front of the body of the wall like a loose framework, whether they were half-columns or pilasters, or insulated columns. The laws respecting the space between the columns were thus relaxed, and the separate columns frequently had a qua- drangular piece of stone as base or pedestal ; in other matters, the Greek forms were strictly adhered to, only that the different orders were sometimes blended together, the cornices were rendered prominent by an accumulation of decorative members, P -T-^-:.—-:. — T Fig. 115. Corinthian Cornice from the Arch of Titus. Mg. 114. Doric Order among the Romans. and the expression of overloaded splendour was everywhere sought after. This was accompanied by a lack of imaginative conception, which, hand in hand with a misunderstanding of the original signification of the forms, would place, for example, half a me- tope at the corners of the Doric frieze (Fig. 114); while they imagined, undoubtedly, that they were rectifying and improving the irregular division of the triglyphs. Thus also, when the length of the columns was frequently insufficient for the height of the building, a half story with pilasters, a so-called Attic, was introduced over the main story. Still less consistency is displayed in the columns of the last epoch of Roman art, when they Avere often employed as supports of the cross-vault, although they still Roman A J' t. Architecture. 223 retained their entablature, together with their frieze and corona. The corona was developed by the Romans, although they adhered to the Corinthian style of the Greeks, into an extremely splendid form (Fig. 115), unequalled in richness and beauty of effect by any other cornice in the world. In a similar manner, those parts which are applied merely to wall-decorations project over the columns, and form those protuberances which reveal more plainly than all else the superficial and unorganised cha- racter of this architecture. No less a token of the incapability of the Romans to create a necessary artistic form for their arch- system was the transferring of the ceiling of Greek temples to the various vaulted roofs, as well as to the archivolt. They could only combine, borrow, and unite, they could not create anything new. In spite of these limits, great excellences undeniably belong to Roman architecture. We find the range of architectural works considerably enlarged, and, with the help of this new means of construction, a variety of designs, never imagined previously, were artistically satisfied. The art appears most brilliant in the execution of tasks of a practical and secular kind. Not merely the making of roads and bridges, aqueducts and viaducts, walls and gates, but also palaces and villas, markets and judgment-halls, as well as all buildings dedicated to public amusements, such as the circus and the baths, the theatre and the amphitheatre, acquire in Roman architecture a form as massive as it is magnificent. As in everything emanating from the Romans, the character of power and greatness was stamped upon their buildings, and the solidity of execution and excellence of material only yielded to the mightiest ravages, so that even the ruins are a witness of an almost imperishable glory. Not less distinguished are these works for the brilliancy and beauty of their ornaments, for, although the original delicacy of the Greek forms is changed into a coarser and more luxurious style, yet the skill of the chisel is so great, and the original beauty so indestructible, that even the mutilated remains afford evidence of a magnificent decoration, more splendid and of nobler beauty 224 History of A rt. than any other style has produced. But while the Romans spread this style in numerous monuments over all parts of their vast empire, they procured for architecture that universal position which was to lead, in after times, to new and grand developments under the dominion of Christianity. b. Monimiental Works} The earliest epoch of Roman architecture seems to have been exclusively marked by Etruscan influence. We know that the temples at Rome were built after the Etruscan manner, and that the great conduits for draining the city belong to the period of the rule of the Tarquins. The earlier epoch of the Republic, which was a time of strict simplicity of habits, is distinguished principally by works of utility. The Via Appia and many aqueducts are grand testimonies of this epoch. Nevertheless, Greek influence early asserted itself, and especially after the year 150 B.C., when Greece was subjugated by the Romans. Thus, for instance, the first magnificent temple in Greek form was built from the Macedonian spoils of Metellus, and at the same time the Basilica received its splendid completion. Both of these were buildings of a rectangular oblong ground-plan, the broad central space of which, in both stories, was surrounded by colon- nades. While these spaces were intended for commercial deal- ings, the semi-circular niche at the narrow end was probably used as an elevated tribunal, a place for public judicial proceedings. Few remains are left of that early epoch of Roman architecture, yet ever sufficient to give an idea of a certain homely simplicity both in form and material. The earliest works are executed in a common greenish-grey tufa, little adapted for fine detail ; yet soon after we find in general use a limestone distinguished for its hard- ness and for its beautiful warm tint. One of the most interesting monuments of this period, and one at the same time important 1 Cf. Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 27-31. Desgodetz, Les Edifccs antiques de Rome. Fol. Paris, 1682. V\x2.riQ.s\^ Le Aiitichita Rcviajie. 14 vols. Fol. Q:\\-\\\\^^ Gil Edijjcj di Roma antica. Fol. Roma, 1S40. N?\\2i^\<:ix^ Raccolta dclle pin insigne Fabbriche diRoma^&^c. Fol. 1826 ; and others. Roman Art. Aixhitecture. 225 in an historical point of view, is the sarcophagus of L. CorneHus Scipio Barbatus, belonging to the early period of the third century B.C., which was discovered in the subterranean family tomb of this famous house at the Porta Latina, and was con- veyed to the Museum of the Vatican. The Doric triglyph frieze, with its triglyphs cut off at the top, the rosettes in the metopes, the heavy cornice with its indented frieze, the volute- like crowning of the corners, are all evidences of a peculiarly strict and simple adoption of Greek detail. The Ionic form is exhibited in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, which rises on a lofty substructure on the banks of the Tiber, and the elegant portico of which, with its six columns, is continued in a pseudo-peri- pteral manner to the walls of the cella. Lastly, an example of the early applica- tion of the Corinthian style is preserved in the so-called Vesta Temple at Tivoli, which, with its graceful circular building, surrounded by columns, is enthroned on a steep rocky height above the foaming waters of the Anio. (Fig. 1 16.) The grand and solid style of this early period is also exhibited in the remains of the Tabu- larium, the ancient depository of the archives, which was built about 78 B.C., and which with its mighty freestone structure and its once open arches, constructed between Doric half-columns, crowns the de- clivity of the Capitol towards the Forum. It is likewise exhi- bited in the tomb of Caecilia Metella, the wife of the Triumvir Crassus, which is situated on the Via Appia, and rises, tower-like, in a circular form upon a quadratic base. Towards the end of the republican period, when the struggles for individual power began, which shook the whole kingdom, the architectural works exhibited a magnificence and a splendour which substituted regal pomp for republican simplicity. The theatre, which was built by M. Scaurus, in the year 58 B.C., for VOL. T. Q Fig. 116. From the Vesta Temple at Tivoli. 226 History of Art. 80,000 spectators, was formed, it is true, of wood, but it was covered with the costHest materials — gold, silver, and ivory — and adorned with spendid marble pillars, and an innumerable quan- tity of brazen statues. But only three years afterwards, the first stone theatre was erected in Rome by Pompeius ; it was capable of holding 40,000 spectators, and the summit of it was crowned by a temple to the victorious Venus. The magnificent buildings which Caesar bestowed on the city surpassed, however, all former ones. He built an amphitheatre, which was furnished with an immense silk awning as a protection from the sun. He began the building of a stone theatre, which was completed by Augustus ; he enlarged and beautified the Circus Maximus, which, at the lowest computation, held 1 50,000 spectators ; he executed the magnificent Basilica Julia, the marble floor of which has been discovered at a recent period on the south side of the Forum ; lastly, he built a new Forum, which he adorned with a temple of Venus Genetrix. All this, however, was only the transition to that glorious Augustine age which forms the noblest and most brilliant epoch of Roman life. It was under Augustus that Roman architecture seems to have reached its height ; and in lite- rature, also, his rule may be regarded as the golden age, glorified by the first stars of Roman poetry, by names such as Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Tibullus, and Propertius. Augustus not only completed the unfinished buildings of Caesar, he not only restored eighty-two temples, among them the most sublime and famous of an earlier age, but he erected magnificent edifices for popular assemblies ; and, above all, a new Forum called after himself, the surrounding walls of which, together with the re- mains of a splendid temple connected with it, are still partially preserved. Of this temple, which Augustus had vowed to the avenging Mars (M. Ultor) in the battle of Actium, we find three Corinthian columns, as well as a part of the cella wall, and the beautiful ceiling, still standing, and we justly admire in them one of the noblest remains of Roman art. The grandest monument of this period, and one of the sublimest of the Roman works Roman Art. A rchitectii re. 227 generally, is that of the Pantheon, built by Agrippa, the son-in- law of Augustus. (Cf Fig. T17.) It was originally a hall in the Thermae, which were built about 26 years B.C., and was the first building of the kind in Rome. At its completion, it was, however, immediately transformed into a temple, and dedicated to the avenging Jupiter. It exhibits the circular form popular in old Italian art; and here, perhaps for the first time in such magnificent dimensions, we find the dome. The interior is 132 feet in diameter, and the same in height. The walls are indented with eight niches, three semicircular alternating with four rect- Fig-. 117. Section of the Pantheon. angular, in which subsequently splendid marble columns with an entablature were inserted. Over these was an attic with pilasters, the original design of which is also changed ; and above this, in a semispherical form, rose the mighty dome, at the extreme height of which there was an opening of 26 feet in diameter, through which a stream of light was introduced for the entire space. The simple regularity of the whole building, the beauty of its organi- sation, the splendour of the material, and the quiet harmony of the light, gave the interior a character of solemn sublimity which is scarcely diminished by the subsequent alterations, inhar- monious as they occasionally are. This, for instance, is the case with the dome, the beautiful and effective cassettes of which were Q 2 228 History of Art. formerly richly decorated with bronze ornaments. The marble covering of the attic was also removed in the last century, and a common scene-painting substituted in its place. The splendid columns of yellow marble (giallo antico), with their capitals and bases of white marble, and the marble covering of the lower walls, alone testify still to its ancient magnificence. The Carya- tidae, which, according to ancient evidence, adorned the interior, have disappeared, and we no longer even know where they were placed. When the building was transformed into a temple, a portico was added to it, furnished with sixteen splendid Corinthian columns ; so that eight support the front gable, and the other eight divide the deep portico into three naves. The central one of these naves leads to the great entrance-gate, the two others terminate in niches. The ceiling had formerly bronze ornaments, which were barbarously removed under Pope Urban VIII.., and were applied to the clumsy and grotesque altar tabernacle of St. Peter. The rest of the exterior is executed in simple brickwork, without ornament, and was originally covered with stucco. Although the addition of a portico to a circular building must be considered inconsistent and inorganic, yet the whole affords a highly imposing impression. In the year 13 B.C., Augustus completed the Theatre of Mar- cellus, which had been begun by Caesar, and was therefore named after a son-in-law of the emperor. The mighty remains pf it are now to be found in the Orsini Palace, which was built within the old ruins, the enclosing wall being used for the pur- pose^ There is a considerable piece of the semicircular structure still standing, built in solid travertin freestone, and some frag- ments of the two lower stories with their arches, framed with Doric and Ionic half-columns and corresponding entablatures, executed in a simple and severe style, and with their triglyph •frieze still preserved. The theatre formerly held 30,000 spec- tators. Some beautiful Corinthian marble columns with their entablature are also standing in the dirty neighbourhood of the Ghetto and the fish-market ; they belong to the splendid portico jOf Octavia, which was attached to the theatre, and which afforded Roman Ai^t. Architecture. 229 the people a shady place for walking under its courts. On the other hand, there is nothing left in the old Field of Mars of the grand mausoleum of the emperor, which, like a mighty mountain, rose in terraces planted with trees, and adorned at the top with a brazen statue of the emperor, but the surrounding wall of the substructure, 220 feet in diameter, now a place for equestrian performances and similar exhibitions. The variety at that time exhibited in the form of monuments is evidenced in the pyramid of Cestius, a slender structure, picturesquely situated at the Porta S. Paolo, the interior of which contains a small painted vault. Outside Rome there is the elegant Temple of Augustus at Pola in Istria (Fig. 118), a well-preserved example of the noble per- fection of the Corinthian style, and of the union of Greek forms Fig, 118. Temple at Pola. with Italian design ; for, according to old national tradition, a deep portico is annexed to the simple cella. Triumphal gates belong- ing to this period are to be found at Rimini, Susa, and Aosta, all of them simple in design and execution. Vitruvius' compendium of architecture belongs to this period, though it is remarkable that there is no mention made of arches or vaulted roofs ; and it almost exclusively furnishes academical rules for the application of Greek forms. 230 History of Art, After Augustus, who could boast that he had transformed a city of brick into one of marble, the love of building seems to have subsided for a long time. Still, in the three columns, with their entablature and corona, which stand on the south side of the Forum, and were formerly designated as the ' Temple of Jupiter Stator,' we have probably a work belonging to the period of Tiberius and Caligula. Under these emperors the old Dios- curi Temple was restored ; and that these remains are the ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux has been recently unanswerably proved. The columns, entablature, and corona are certainly the finest, richest, and noblest of the ancient remains of Rome. Under the rule of Claudius a magnificentwork appeared — namely, the double aqueduct of the Anio Novus and of the Aqua Claudia, the brick arches of which, in mighty ruins, still traverse the Campagna and the vineyards of Rome, and with their splendid ornament of ivy and other creepers form the principal attraction Fig. 119. Section of the House of Pansa in Pompeii. of the Villa Wolkonski. At the spot at which this double aqueduct entered the town, there rises a mighty double gate, over the entrance of which the two water-pipes were carried. This gate is still standing under the nam.e of the Porta Maggiore, and is a tasteless building, though imposing from its size. Shortly afterwards, Nero's frenzy laid the city in ashes, in order that it might rise anew, and that his ' Golden House' might be built upon the ruins, a magnificent building, such as former ages had never seen, but which, after the assassination of the tyrant by the infuriated people, was levelled with the ground. We must also here mention the monuments of Pompeii, which afford us an idea of the transition from the Hellenic to the Roman form. Visited by an earthquake in the year 63 A.D., Roman Art. ArchitectiLre. 231 which was followed by the destruction of the city sixteen years afterwards, Pompeii and its monuments afford us a picture of the state of things at that time in a small provincial town in Italy. In the earlier buildings — for instance, in the triangular Forum and in the temple situated in it — Greek architecture appears in its later forms. The theatre exhibits in its design a blending of Hellenic and Roman principles ; in the Forum and its temple, as well as in the Basilica, Roman influence preponderates. If these buildings, and the triumphal gates, baths, temples, amphi- theatre, city walls with their gates, and burial-places with their monuments, portray, though somewhat in microscopic size, the Fig. 120. Hall in the so-called House of Sallust at Pompeii. condition of Rome at that time, yet, above all, the numerous dwelling-houses that have been excavated are of the highest importance, affording us examples of antique private architec- ture. From them we gain a clear idea of the plan of the Roman house, recurring everywhere in every possible variety. Each more stately dwelling-house had its double design, a fore- house as the more public part, and a back building as that reserved for the family. Both parts were grouped with their apartments round an Atrium — i.e. round open courts, the front ones being generally small and simple, after Etruscan fashion ; 232 History of Art, and the inner orte richer and surrounded with a colonnade, after the Greek model. In the centre of the Atrium was the Implu- vium, in which the rain water that fell from the sloping roofs was collected in a deep basin. The two parts of the house were united by the Tablinum, a hall in the centre of the building, appropriated to the statues of ancestors. Besides the sleeping and dwelling apartments, the dining-hall, or Triclinium, was distinguished by greater magnificence of execution. The slaves usually lived and worked in the upper story. A rich painting of the walls, and a mosaic ornament of the floor, diffused over this Fig. 121. Section and Part of the Fngade of the Co'.os.seum. graceful building an inimitable charm of contemplative ease and cheerful enjoyment.^ (Pig- 120.) With the Flavians, 69 a.d., a second brilliant epoch of Roman architecture begins, the remains of which at least equal former remains, in grandeur, and surpass them in splendour. Foremost of all stands the Colosseum, a Flavian amphitheatre, begun by ^ C'f. Dciikm d: Kiiiis'f. (PL. 31 a), wliere there is a coloured representation. Roman Art. Architecture, 233 Vespasian, and finished by Titus in the year 70 A. D., now the most mighty Roman ruins in the world. (Fig. 121.) An area of about 600 feet long, by more than 500 feet wide, is covered by the immense oval building, which held 80,000 spectators, and whose arena was the scene of those contests of wild beasts and men, which delighted the rude taste of the Romans. The rows of seats, resting on arched corridors, rose one above another, the uppermost circle being terminated by a colonnade. A wall, more than 150 feet high, enclosed the interior of the gigantic building like an immense shell of travertin. Though half of the building is destroyed, the northern side, which is still in good preservation, exhibits three rows of arcades above each other, bordered by Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian half-columns, with their entablatures ; and above these arcades the whole is terminated by a fourth story adorned with Corinthian pilasters and furnished with windows. In the strong cornice of this story, the holes are still to be seen for the masts to which the immense carpet was attached, which was spread over the whole as a protection from the sun. Considerable remains of the Baths of Titus are also existine in the neighbourhood of the Colosseum ; these are especially remarkable for their fine wall-paintings, the discovery of which, in Raphael's time, is said to have suggested one of the noblest creations of the renaissance style, the Loggie of the Vatican. To this period also belong those three rich Corinthian columns on the declivity of the Capitol, which were formerly known under the name of the ' Temple of Jupiter Tonans,' but which have been recently proved to be the Temple of Vespasian, More important, however, in an architectural point of view, than all these works is the Arch of Titus, on the height of the Via Sacra ; dedicated to the emperor in the year 81 a. d., in consequence of his victory over the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem. Here for the first time we find the monumental form of the triumphal arch, which had been created by the Romans, appear- ing before us in finished perfection and yet in simple design ; for only a single high-arched entrance is introduced between 234 History of Art, firm masses of wall, supported on each side by half-columns upon pedestals, and on these columns for the first time the coarser form of the Roman composite capitals appears. The walls are enli- vened by window-like recesses, the attic over the columns contains the dedicatory inscription, the side-walls in the interior are ornamented with splendid reliefs, the vaulted roof of the arch is adorned with rosettes between the modillions, and a brazen chariot with four horses, in which the conqueror was seated, formed a rich and brilliant finish to the platform above the attic. Of the new Forum, which was begun by Domitian, and which received its completion and designation from Nerva, there are still standing, between the Roman Forum and that of Augustus, some beautiful Corinthian columns, half buried in the soil, with a rich frieze sculptured in relief, and a lofty attic bearing the figure in relief of the ' beneficent ' Athene. The temple, which occupied the centre of the Forum, and which was not destroyed till the seventeenth century, was dedicated to this goddess. All preceding buildings were, however, surpassed in splendour, ex- tent, and magnificence by the Forum Trajanum, founded by Trajan (98-1 1 7 a. d.). Executed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, the centre was occupied by the mighty Basilica Ulpia with its five aisles, and the marble column which sup- ported the statue of the emperor, the height of which, amounting to 92 feet, marked the height of the hill which had to be levelled to obtain a site for the plan. Besides this column, with its rich ornament of relief, nothing remains but the fragments of the mighty granite columns which supported the brazen roof of the Basilica, and which were excavated by the French. There are some larger ruins of granite columns belonging to the temple which Hadrian erected here in honour of Trajan. Besides the triumphal arch leading into the Forum, another similar gate of honour was erected in Rome, the fragments of which were subsequently appropriated to the triumphal arch of Constantine. (Fig. 122.) In this the richest and most magni- ficent monument of the kind, with its threefold arch, its splendid Roman A r/. A rchikcHu^e. 235 plastic ornament, and its harmonious and distinct structure, we have undoubtedly still before us the essential design of the Fig. 122, Arch of Constantine. Trajan work. Formed entirely of Pentelican marble, it is equally distinguished for the nobility of its proportions as for Fi^. 1^3. BHdge of Alcdntara. the delicacy of Its execution. Another arch of Trajan, with one entrance it is true^ but likewise richly adorned with sculptures, is 236 History of Art. still standing at Beneventum. Many buildings of importance were erected by the emperor in his native country, Spain ; among them, the bridge of Alcantara (Fig. 123), which was combined with a triumphal arch, and many gates of honour more simple in design. No less extensive were the architectural works of Hadrian (i 1 7-1 38 A. D.) ; yet a more careful and precise return to Hellenic forms is expressed in them. One of his mdst magnificent de- signs was the Temple of Venus and Roma, which he erected opposite the Colosseum, on a lofty substructure at the eastern end of the Forum, and which was extolled as being the most colossal of all Roman temples. The plan exhibits, however, a studied formal appearance, for the two temples join each other at the back with large niches for the statues of the gods ; and thus their porticos opened towards opposite sides. There is still a part standing of the surrounding walls with their small niches, as well as of the apsides with their lozenge-shaped and ornamented semi-domes. The former tunnel vault of the cella has, on the contrary, utterly vanished, and the same fate has befallen the seventy-two marble columns which formed a peripteral design and two porticos. Some colossal ruins are scattered round, belonging to the granite pillars which supported the portions of the temple court, which were 500 feet long and 300 broad. A single flight of marble steps led from, the Forum, and a double flight of steps led from the Colosseum to the height of the temple terrace. Another of the mighty remains of this period is the present Castle of St. Angelo, originally erected as a Mausoleum of Hadrian. Based on a quadratic substructure, the circular monument rises, tower-like, with a diameter of 226 feet, and is built of blocks of travertin. Deep below is the vault of the emperor, whither one descends by a secret spiral passage. The immense building was covered with Parian marble, and the summit was crowned by a brazen quadriga. Nothing but a chaos of extensive ruins is left of the villa which Hadrian built for himself at Tivoli. Besides Rome, Athens was also adorned by this emperor Roman A rt. A rchitectiirc. 237 with numerous splendid buildings. A triumphal gate belonging to this period is still standing ; it connected the new portion of the city, likewise built by Hadrian, with the old city. He also executed a Pantheon, an aqueduct, and other works, and com- pleted the gigantic structure of the Temple of the Olympic Jupiter, the earliest design of which extends as far back as the time of Pisistratus. The elegant temple at Nismes in France, there designated as ' maison quarree,' seems to belong to this epoch. On the other hand, the Porta Nigra at Treves (Fig. 1 24) Fig. 124. Porta Nigra at Treves. is said, owing to the tenor of its inscriptions, to have been built in the first century after Christ; it exhibits a double arch executed in strong freestone, both entrances being protected by projecting towers, and the surface of the whole is enlivened by rows of pilasters and arches, the details of which betray barbarous rudeness.^ The greater refinement but increasing formality of Hadrian's 1 For this very reason they are to be assigned to a period previous to the Mero- vingian or late Roman time. 238 ' History of Art. art was followed by a gradual decline of the more lively archi- tectural taste, and by a heavier and more clumsy treatment of form, amounting even to degeneracy of style. This is to be perceived in the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, which was built in the time of Antoninus Pius (i 38-161 a.d.), the entrance to which with its magnificent cipolin columns, and the wall of the cella with its rich frieze, are still existing. The stately column, erected in the Field of Mars in imitation of the Trajan column, was built by Marcus Aurelius (i 61-180 a.d.). The remains in the neighbourhood of eleven colossal Corinthian marble columns with entablature and cornice, which exhibit the convex form of the frieze, the token of later degeneration, are likewise ascribed to this period. The Dogana now occupies the site of the temple. The epoch of decline, which begins with the third century, was ushered in with the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, which was built on the declivity of the Capitol in the year 203 a.d. ; it imitated the Trajan column in its general form, but the pro- portions were less noble, it was more heavily overloaded, and the reliefs were placed without regard to architectural arrange- ment. A wild superabundance of ornament and plastic deco- ration is exhibited in the architecture of the arch of the gold- smiths, an honorary monument erected to the Emperor Sep- timius Severus on the Forum Boarium by the guild of gold- smiths. The elegant circular building with its Corinthian colon- nade, known under the name of the Temple of Vesta, belongs to this period. Under Caracalla (211-217 a.d.), one of the largest and most magnificent Thermae was erected, the mighty ruins of which rise out of the scene of desolation like some wildly sundered mountain. Even in their fearful state of destruction, they still exhibit the grand combination of various apartments, designed for different kinds of baths, for promenades, for games, and for reading and revelling in art. There are gigantic halls, the former vaulted roofs of which lie on the ground like fractured masses of rock, partly concealing the splendid mosaics of the floor, and partly Ro7nan A rt. A rchitechire. 239 grown over with wild copsewood and evergreen roses. Attached to the principal apartment, there were galleries, by-rooms, and bathing cells, so many in number that there were 1,600 marble seats for the bathers. Splendid columns and magnificent paint- ings and sculptures adorned this immense building, among whose ruins there were discovered such works as the Farnese Bull, the Hercules, and the Flora of Naples. In this concluding epoch of the Roman power, the buildings grew more and more gigantic and powerful. The remains of Aurelia's Temple of the Sun (270-275 a. d.) formed, in their ruined state, the elevation on which the garden of the Palazzo Colonna now stands. The fragments still left, formerly designated as ' Nero's Frontispiece,' are among the most gigantic ruins in Rome, In the beginning of the fourth century (after the year 303 A.D.), the Baths of Diocletian were built ; in extent and splen- dour they were even superior to those famous Baths of Caracalla, but in essentials they were only a repetition of the plan there fol- lowed. Their remains are still standing in great extent. The principal hall, which was roofed with three cross-vaults of 80 feet span resting upon granite columns, was transformed by Michael Angelo into the church of San Maria degli Angeli. It is one of the mightiest vaulted halls in the world. The marble seats in these baths were reckoned at 2,400. The palace built by Diocletian at Salona in Dalmatia was also of great importance ; its ruins have given name and existence to the present city of Spalato. Here, exhibiting great decline of the antique form, swelling friezes, misconceived entablatures, and the like, we find new architectural arrangements — for instance, combinations of arch and columns — which proclaim a loosening of the trammels of ancient tradition. (Fig. 125.) The Basilica of Constantine, which was begun by Maxentius, belongs to the last period of the antique style. On the north side of the Forum there still rise the three mighty cylindrical arches of the northern side aisle, as well as the remains of the pillars of the southern aisle. Between them, supported by strong columns, the only one of which now standing has been 240 History of Art. placed in the church of San Maria Maggiore, were the three cross-arches of the higher central aisle, 80 feet span, like the grand hall in the Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian. The ruins of the vaulted roof lie about like blocks of rock ; but yet, amid this scene of destruction, the three tunnel arches that are yet standing, together with the apsis, subsequently added to the side aisle, tower above the neighbouring buildings, and, like the Fig. 125. From the Diocletian Palace at Salona. Colosseum, are visible everywhere over the far-stretching ruins of the city. On the western side was the principal apsis, and op- posite to it, at the other end, stood the entrance. The plan of the building is grand, it is designed in true Roman style, and there is much technical skill displayed ; but the execution is somewhat careless, and the details show unmistakable traces of degeneracy. The decline of ancient architecture is still more distinctly evidenced in other buildings of this period — such, for instance, as the four-sided Arch of Janus (Janus Quadrifrons) in the Forum Boarium, the clumsy colonnade in the Temple of Saturn, on the declivity of the Capitol, towards the Forum, as well as the new parts of the Arch of Constantine. No less rude Roman Art. Architecture. 241 and misconceived in form, but interesting from its design and con- struction, is another work of this concluding epoch — namely, the Tomb of Constantia, the daughter of the Emperor Constantine, which is situated in front of the Porta Pia. It is the last antique Doric building, 52 feet in diameter, and is surrounded by a low gallery. This is separated from the lofty central space by twelve pairs of columns, which are coupled by a common entablature, and are connected by arches. Beside these, windows are placed to light the dome. The forms are here perfectly rude and mis- conceived, the frieze is convex ; but the plan is, on the whole, full of interest, and already prognosticates subsequent develop- ments. Among the numerous remains of the buildings which have Fig. 126. Porte d'Arroux, at Autun. arisen in all regions of Roman dominion since the third century, we will only mention the most important. The Porte d'Arroux at Autun, in France (Fig. 126), is one of the most splendid ex- amples of Roman gate architecture. There are two large en- trances flanked by two smaller ones, and above them is an arcade of Corinthian pilasters : the whole is ably and worthily executed. Orange is distinguished by a magnificent triumphal arch belong- VOL. I. R 242 History of Art. ing to the year 21 a.d., and a theatre in excellent preservation. At Nismes, there are considerable remains of a grand amphi- theatre. In Germany, conspicuous remains of this late period are to be found in the basilica, amphitheatre, and imperial palace at Treves ; the adjacent Fliessem also possesses extensive Roman villas ; Igel has an elegant tower-like and richly sculp- tured tomb of the family of the Secundines ; Nennig a villa re- markable for its splendid mosaic floor ; and Badenweiler some baths still in a state of preservation. Still more important, however, are the extensive buildings of the late Roman period in the East, because in them the decline - of antique architecture is consummated under the influence of the fantastic Eastern mind. Broken gables, surfaces waving in and out, together with the most grotesque transformation of the different forms, produce a style which we may designate as the antique Rococo. Grand monuments of this kind are to be found in the midst of the Syrian deserts, at Palmyra, the Tadmor of the pre- sent day— splendid works in which the glorious times of Queen Zenobia seem magically embodied. No less important are the similar buildings at Heliopolis (Balbec), where the ancient wor- ship of the sun called forth many magnificent structures. Even in the remote rocky valleys of Arabia Petraea — for example, at Petra — various remains of temples, theatres, tombs, and triumphal gates, testify to this blending of late Roman art with the fantastic style of the East. The tomb-facade of El Deir, represented at Fig. 127, exhibits all the strange peculiarities of this tendency. 3. SCULPTURE AMONG THE ROMANS.^ It is true that, with the subjugation of Greece by the Romans, the independent national life of the Greeks ceased, and with it were extinguished the last sparks of that noble inspiration which had created the ideal forms of the earlier epoch of art. But this revolution had not been able to annihilate the innate plastic ^ Cf. Denkm. d. Kjinst. PL 32 and 33. Numerous copperplates of the famous Mu- seums of Europe, Roman Art, Sculpture. 243 talent of the Hellenic race; far rather the embryo love of art in the Romans awakened the slumbering plastic art of the Greeks into new life, and gave it tasks to achieve, and incentive to produce them. This taste for the fine arts among the Romans was based, it is true, on a love of ostentation — they desired the productions of plastic art for the enjoyment and Fig. 127. Tomb-fagade at Petra. ornament of a refined life — but never has a grander and a purer luxury been practised. The direction taken by plastic art corresponded henceforth with these outward circumstances. New ideas were no longer possible in the imaginative sphere of Hellenic art, essentially new creations were therefore not to be expected ; but it was possible freely to reproduce the earlier famous works of the past brilliant epoch, and to take up again the sundered threads. Thus we see a new Attic school of sculptors again arising in Rome or working for Rome, and their works attain to such per- fection that it seems impossible that they can be surpassed. There is a delicacy of conception in them, a harmony of rhythmic movement and outline, a delicate softness, a gentle transition of form, and a masterly perfection of technical work- R 2 244 History of Art. manship, which, combined together, have rendered these works an object of the greatest admiration. It was not till the present century, when the works of the best epochs of genuine Hellenic art were known, that it became evident that in these the excel- lences of the others were combined with a perfect naturalness and chastity, with an elevation and purity of feeling, compared with which the later works appear unnatural, conscious, striving after effect, and therefore, on the whole, colder and more full of reflection. If this tendency of art was evident in Rome as early as 150 years before Christ, it was not till the epoch of Caesar and Augus- tus that it rose into brilliant operation. Almost all the beautiful works which the rich collections of antiques in Italy contain are assigned to this and the following epoch. Among this mighty accumulation of works, we can only draw attention to the most important. The Medicean Venus in the Tribuna of the Uffizj at Florence, executed, according to its inscription, by Cleomenes of Athens, the son of Apollodorus, belongs to the most famous statues of this period. The Goddess of Love presents to view the undraped form of her graceful body, not in naive self-forget- fulness, or in the sublime sense of victory, but with design com- bined with a conscious bashfulness. This is expressed in the position of the arms, which try to conceal the bosom and part of the body, and in the shy turning aside of the head. But with all its delicacy and perfection of art, with all the noble rhythmical proportions of the limbs, there is a touch in it of coquettishness which has a chilling effect. Another much extolled work is the Farnese Hercules of the Museum at Naples; according to the inscription, a work by the Athenian Glycon. The mighty hero is leaning upon the club, over which the lion's skin falls ; his head is bent forwards in a meditative attitude. Powerful as is the effect upon us of the magnificent limbs, yet their exuberance is exhibited with too much design, and the full and almost turgid muscles are displayed too conspicuously ; and the proportion of the significant and beautiful head is too subordinate to the body. A similar tendency is shown in the famous torso of the Bel- Roman A rt. Sculpture. 245 videre at Rome, a work by Apollonius of Athens. It represents the figure of a resting Hercules, grandly and nobly designed and ideally conceived ; but this also in its execution inclines to a weak and pompous ostentation. In this class we may also number the Caryatidae with which Diogenes of Athens deco- rated the Pantheon, and to which possibly the statue found in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican may belong. (Fig. 128.) In contrast to this ideal tendency stands the Borghese Fig. 128. Caryatide of the Vatican. Fig. i2g. Apollo Belvidere. gladiator, now in the Louvre at Paris, a creation which from its inscription is certified to have been produced by Agasias of Ephesus ; it is a work exhibiting the utmost stretch of physical power and the greatest elasticity and rapidity of action, thus seeming to triumph over the difficulties of plastic art. We here see the tendency begun in the earlier school of Pergamus reaching its final conclusion. The bold warrior is conceived powerfully advancing : the whole weight of the upper part of the body, which is bent forward, rests on the right foot, while 246 History of Art. the left scarcely touches the ground with the toes, but is on the point of eager advance ; at the same time the left arm is thrown across the countenance, which is steadfastly fixed upon the adversary, while the short sword in the right hand, which is drawn back, seems waiting for its moment. The boldness and power of the representation and the masterly perfection of the clearly defined form are admirable : yet here also we see that the whole composition is aiming at effect. The Apollo Belvidere, one of the most famous statues of the Vatican collection, also belongs to this epoch. (Fig. 129.) The god is represented as slightly stepping forward ; his fine manly body is naked, only the light chlamys falls over his left shoulder down upon his arm, which probably held the bow. The head, which is turned aside, is thrown boldly back, his beaming eye follows the effect of the arrow just let fly, and an excited passionate life flashes from the proudly parted lips, and is breathed forth from the distended nostrils. The God of Light can be thus imagined when he had just despatched his fatal dart upon the dragon Python, his divine beauty still trembling with the elevated fury which had filled his mind.^ There is something wonderfully touching and bold in the effect ; and much as the rhythmical harmony of the form, the noble curve of the lines, and the nobility of the whole figure testify to the imperishable beauty of the god, yet the spectator is ever most enchanted with the lifelike expression of the head, and the passionate animation of those proud features. Schnaase appro- priately designates the Apollo as the cleverest statue of antiquity; and by this expression its excellences as well as the limits of its artistic value — that is, the subjective character of the conception — are denoted. It is not to be denied that the artist aimed at a . sudden and striking effect; and although the theatrical impression may be caused by the faulty restoration of the hands, yet without 1 It has recently become probable, owing to a bronze statuette of the Apollo, in the possession of Count Stroganoff, that the left arm did not hold the bow, but the segis with the head of Medusa, in order to put an enemy to flight. Cf. Wieseler, The Apollo Stroganoff and the Apollo Belvidere. Leipsic, 1861. Roman Art. Sculpture. 247 any disfiguring addition, an inclination to this tendency is always apparent. The Apollo was discovered in Porto d' Anzo, the ancient Antium, a favourite residence of the first Ceesars. Without taking this as a reason for assigning its origin to that period, we find in the whole character of the work sufficient grounds for ascribing it to this epoch. The Diana of Versailles, now in the Museum of the Louvre, owes its origin to a similar effort. Although inferior to ^he Apollo in delicacy and finish, it also gives us the image of goddess, when, agitated by a sudden impulse, she hastens away on swift foot, wearing the short Doric chiton and followed by Fig. 130. The reposing Nile. Vatican. her doe, as though she were about to join in the merry chase. In other works, the noble perfection of form is combined with an allegorical tendency, more in harmony with the Roman mind, which, nevertheless, is often transformed into a naive Avanton grace, as in the colossal statue of the Nile in the Vatican. (Fig. 130.) The mighty river god is stretched in easy repose, looking with mild benevolence at the comical doings of a whole troup of pygmy children, who are clambering up his mighty body, tumbling over his gigantic limbs, leaping upon his neck and shoulders, and even boldly scrambling up the cornucopia by his side. We feel delighted with the attractive humour, the 248 History of A rt. charming wantonness of this graceful representation ; and we do not remark that the sixteen roguish pygmies are intended to de- signate just as many stadia of the inundations of the stream. How grand and free this period often was in the imitation of the older Greek works, and how nobly it knew how to execute the mightiest colossal figures, is evidenced in the two horse-breaking Dioscuri of Monte Cavallo in Rome ; the sublime conception of which plainly points to the original produced in the prime of Greek art, although the designation subsequently attached to these figures as works of Phidias and Praxiteles does not hold good. The sleeping Ariadne in the Vatican is full of grace combined with a touching grandeur of conception, and is especially distinguished for the rich and beautiful execution of the drapery. A new impulse was introduced into idealistic plastic art by Hadrian, who, with his predilection for the Greek mind, caused the imitation of many earlier, and even antiquely severe, works, and thus gave occupation to a number of talented artists. A great elegance of form belongs to these works ; but there is a smoothness in their execution which is inaccurate, and which strik- ingly contrasts with the life of the earlier productions. Numerous statues of this kind are scattered over the different museums. Among the most interesting is the Pallas of Velletri, in the Museum of the Louvre : it is grand and severe in design, but insipid in its execution. Yet in this late period, antique plastic art produced a new ideal form — that, namely, of Antinous — which is preserved in various repetitions of great artistic perfection. He was a beautiful youth, the favourite of the emperor, who met with a mysterious sacrificatory death in the waters of the Nile. Hadrian honoured his memory by founding the city Antinoe, and by erecting numerous statues of his favourite, which idealised him in various ways — all, however, wearing an expression of profound sadness in the bowed head, the brow being shaded by hair, and an air of pain contracting the beautiful lips. Some of these are in the Vatican and Lateran in Rome. If in all these works we can recognise unequivocally the stamp of Greek art, another branch of plastic art rests especially Roman A rt. Sculpture. 249 on Roman habits and ideas — that, namely, of portraiture. This art accords with the importance which, among the Romans, was conceded to the separate individual with all his distinctive peculiarities. Even in the old custom of ancestral images {imagines), which every noble family placed in one especial Fig. 131. Roman Figures in Togas. apartment of the house — a prerogative which distinguished the patrician from the plebeian — we can perceive the tendency to adhere to the individual characteristics of the figure represented. Although these images were only prepared in wax, and aimed undoubtedly more at outward similarity than at a higher artistic conception, yet with the revival of Hellenic plastic art in Rome the custom arose to execute portraits in the nobler material of marble or bronze. Here, too, Roman habits betrayed a striking original difference to those of Greece. While Hellenic art idealised the separate figure, and even in the light arrangement of the drapery added only so much to the body as seemed necessary for a more general characterisation, the Roman aimed at the complete accuracy of the individual appearance, and wished to see himself represented in all lifelike reality, either in the wide folds of the toga, the robe of peace, or in full military History of Art. equipment. Accordingly the portrait statues were divided into ' togatae,' and ' thoracatse ; ' and as the whole garb of the Roman was far heavier and fuller than that of the Greek, its accurate imitation in these works produced a coarser and more realistic appearance, according with the rest of the characterisation. But with the introduction of Greek customs, the Hellenic dress was also adopted by the effeminate Romans ; and from henceforth they began to treat portraits accordingly, and to give them an idealistic form. These statues were called Achillean. Hence- forth it became the custom to represent the emperor in the form of Jupiter or other gods, and their consorts with the attributes of Juno or of Venus. Yet, quite apart from such idealism, this tendency was most favourable to female portraits ; and the dignified sitting or standing figures, with their fine, only somewhat too studied, Gre- cian drapery, gave the idea of matronly majesty and of the grace of the true womanly nature. The two sitting statues of Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, which are in the Museum at Naples, and in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, are perfect in beauty ; and no less beautiful are the sitting figures of the so-called Herculean women in the Dresden Museum — noble women, in whom unsurpassable grace is combined with feminine dignity and noble bearing. The statue of the so-called Pudi- citia in the Vatican (Fig. 132) also be- longs to this class, and is an embodiment of chaste attractive womanliness, and at the same time exhibits great perfection in the execution of the drapery. Among the male statues of this kind, the marble statue of Augustus (Fig. 133), recently discovered near the Prima Porta, not far from Rome, is unsurpassed both as regards its excellent preservation, the nobility of its conception, and the delicacy of its artistic execution. Fig. 132. Pudicitia, from the Vatican. Roman A rt. Sculpture. Similar excellence and the same breath of Greek ideality are betrayed by the two marble equestrian statues of M. Nonius Balbus and his son, which were discovered in Herculaneum : they are works of the Augustine epoch, and are full of delicacy and simple nobility of form. Far colder, but exhibiting the same simple lifelike expression and careful execution, is the Fig. Ill- Marble Statue of Augustus. equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, a gilded bronze work, now adorning the square of the Capitol in Rome. The vigorous step of the powerful horse, the kindly expression of the rider, who is stretching out his right hand as if soothing his steed, is truly and well expressed. 252 History of Art. The number of the statues and busts of the emperors and their relatives is immeasurable, as well as of those of other noble Roman men and women, in which, combined with an idealistic conception, we find the strictly individual representa- tion which accords more with the Roman nature. The indivi- dual character is generally exhibited with unsurpassable life ; so that, even in a psychological point of view, it is of great interest to examine the numerous collection of busts, for instance, in the Capitoline Museum. The collection affords a significant and figurative illustration to Roman history. Frequently executed with great ability, and indeed masterly skill, there is many a sub- ordinate work, which is all the easier to explain when we consider L. Verus. M. Aurelius. Caracalla. Fig. 134. Busts of Roman Emperors. that there were laws commanding every Roman to place in his house a portrait of the ruling emperor. Many tasteless innova- tions thus, in course of time, gained ground — such as the applica- tion of costly varied marbles to busts ; or in female portraits the addition of a m^ovable headdress of hair, which was constantly exchanged with the changing fashion for one still more ugly and senseless. Hand in hand with portraiture went historical representation, the sedulous and eager culture of which among the Romans constitutes another independent side of their plastic art. Here, too, the thoroughly realistic character of the Romans proves its power, for, far removed from the lofty ideality with which Hellenic art conceived even historical events, the Romans ventured upon Roman Art. Sculpture. 253 the most accurate delineation of reality, upon distinct prominence of facts — such as warlike undertakings, battles, sieges, and im- perial triumphs. Roman plastic art details as fully and copiously as that of the East ; but a breath of Greek beauty hovers over it, giving it life and variety. Here, too, the glorification of personal characters is aimed at, and this aim influences the design and conception of the whole. The necessity to crowd together in a narrow space a great number of figures, as far as possible in accordance with reality, led in time to a style of relief representation, far removed from the simple and delicate manner of Hellenic art. Plastic art wandered into the sphere of painting, adopting a deeper background, and placing its figures by gradated modelling on different planes. The foremost figures often stand out almost entirely from the surface, and thus acquire that substantial form which appeared necessary to the coarser Roman taste, while the rest, gradually receding in a crowded mass, withdraw into the background. Thus the strict law of Greek reliefs is considerably relaxed, and transformed into a freer and more picturesque art. Among the earliest and most important works of this kind, belong the reliefs on the Arch of Titus in Rome. On the inner side walls, we fin^ the emperor, crowned by a figure of Victory and conducted by Roma, making his solemn entry through his triumphal arch; on the other side, the treasures from the Temple of Jerusalem, among them the seven-branched candlestick, were being borne along. The somewhat small reliefs on the outer frieze represented the sacrificial procession. A fresh vigorous life, freedom of action, and noble dignity characterise these works. Still more decidedly is the true Roman style exhibited in the historical reliefs of Trajan's monument, especially in the nume- rous works on the triumphal Arch of Constantine, which were remains from the Arch of Trajan ; such, for instance, as the reliefs of the Attic, and the statues of captive Dacians on the pedestals above the columns, the medallions over the side entrances, and the reliefs on the outer two narrow sides, and on 54 History of A rt. the inner portal walls. The latter reliefs give a lively represen- tation of the battles of the emperor with the Dacians and Parthians, and the former the triumphal procession amid the conquered nations, and other public acts ; while the medallions portray the private life of the emperor, such as sacrificial or hunting scenes. Most important are the extensive reliefs which, unfavourable indeed for examination, wind in a spiral belt round Trajan's pillar, giving inexhaustible representation of the war of the emperor against the Dacians. (Figs. 135 and 136.) The [35. From Trajan's Pilla various events of a campaign are here depicted with the utmost life and distinctness — combat and defence, passionate struggle and humble subjection, all alike receive distinct characteristic expression ; and although no element of higher ideality is to be felt, yet the true and simple power of historical representation captivates the spectator. Some valuable remains have also been preserved of the period of Antoninus Pius ; for instance, two reliefs from a trium- phal arch erected by this emperor, now placed in the Conserva- tore Palace of the Capitol. The one depicts the consecration of the temple dedicated to Faustina, the colonnade of which is still standing ; the other represents the apotheosis of the empress, who is carried up by a goddess of victory from the flames of the funeral pile. Similar in style are the reliefs of the pedestal of a Roman Art. Sculp hire. 255 former column of Antoninus Pius, which was erected to the de- ceased emperor in the year 161 a.d. This pedestal is now in the garden of the Vatican (Giardino della Pigna). On the front, the apotheosis of the emperor and his consort is represented in an idealised and finely finished manner ; but it is cold and stiff like most allegorical works. (Fig. 137.) On the two other sides, there are trains of galloping horsemen, portrayed with much life, but Fig. ij6. From Trajan's Pillar. arranged without regard to architectural design — a serious symp- tom of the beginning of a decline in art. The simple vigorous representation of historical subjects is, however, again roused to the production of able works under the rule of Marcus Aurelius, evidently having in view the monu- ments of Trajan's time, although not equal to them in energy and life ; thus, for instance, the reliefs on the column in honour of the emperor, which depict his wars against the Marcomanni and Quadi, testify to a healthy simple tone of feeling. The four great reliefs also in the vestibule of the Conservatore Palace in 256 History of Art. Rome, which Hkewise belong to a monument of this emperor, manifest a clear, free, and able mode of execution. A decided decline in the historical plastic art of the Romans shows itself in the reliefs on the Arch of Septimius Severus (203 a.d.), which I Fig. 137. From the Base of the Column of Antoninus Pius. not alone in their confused irregular distribution disregard the laws pf architectural order, but also produce an unsatisfactory effect from their cold and spiritless execution. A complete Fig. 138. Relief from the Arch of Constantine. decay of art is proclaimed in the reliefs on the Arch of Constan- tine, which belong to the time of Constantine, and appear stiff and cold, devoid of life and feeling, with no knowledge of the human body, and even in parts barbarously rude. (Fig. 138.) Roman Art. Sculpture. 257 Lastly, we may mention one more remarkable and numerous kind of monuments, which, in more than one respect, extend the sphere of Roman plastic art — namely, the sarcophagus-reliefs. The custom of interring instead of burning the dead had never become wholly extinct in the days of antiquity ; but it was not till after the period of the Antonines that it attained a more universal prevalence. The use and artistic decoration of the sarcophagi are connected with this circumstance. They belong, almost without exception, to the epoch of a growing decline in art ; besides this, we cannot fail to perceive in them, for the most part, w^orks of a manufactured kind, as they were chiefly prepared in stock in the workshops, and exhibit constant repetitions of the same composition. Nevertheless, the immense mass of these monuments excites a great interest, for a number of antique compositions belonging to the earlier epochs are imitated in them. With few exceptions, wherever events of real life are depicted, the outer walls of these sarcophagi are adorned with the most varied scenes from the legends of the ancient gods and heroes. Sometimes the merely material interest in favourite subjects of this kind has been consulted — such as in the scenes from the life of Achilles on the magnificent sarcophagus in the Museum of the Capitol, or the frequently repeated battles with the Amazons. As a rule, however, such scenes are em- ployed as contain or allow a deeper allusion to death, separation, and meeting again. In a clear, intelligible, and at the same time thoughtful and beautiful manner, we find here often expressed that deep longing for another and a better life, which gives declining antique art the stamp of melancholy seriousness, and points from the unsatisfying state of things in this present exist- ence to the necessity of a new and comforting revelation. Thus we often find representations from the rape of Proserpine, and others from the history of Alcestis or Protesilaus, who returned from Hades, and thus became symbols of the hope of reunion of the departed through death ; thus also the profound myths of Cupid and Psyche, of Prometheus (Fig. 139), of Luna and Endymion, or scenes from the Bacchic myths, which admit of VOL. I. s History of Art. various symbolical interpretations, and many others. These works are, for the most part, inferior as regards artistic worth ; the arrangement is often confused and crowded, the drawing clumsy, the physical structure little understood, and the execution often insipid, sharp, and hard. But an abundance of surprisingly beautiful and ingenious ideas is to be found in them, suggesting models belonging to the prime of antique art, and affording us glimpses of many a lost production of the noblest art. A small number of these works, as regards their execution, evidently belong to a better epoch. Among lesser arts, stone-cutting was practised with especial skill by the show-loving Romans, aiM their works were highly Fig. 139. Sarcophagus from the Capitoline Museum. esteemed. In the time of Augustus, the Greek master Dio- scorides enjoyed the highest reputation in this branch of art. The two famous cameos, which surpass all others in size and richness, belong to the best period of art. The one now in the imperial collection at Vienna measures the astonishing width of 9 inches, by 8 inches long, and exhibits an allegorical represen- tation of the glorification of Augustus, who appears as Jupiter enthroned by Roma. A similar subject is depicted on another cameo, dedicated to Tiberius, which is preserved in the Louvre in Paris, and even surpasses the former in size and splendour. It measures 1 3 inches long, and 1 1 inches wide. This same love of show in the Romans also produced astonishing works by the use of different coloured glass fluids. The most famous work of this kind is the Portland vase in the British Museum; a Roman Art. Painting. 259 vessel 10 feet high, formed of a magnificent dark blue glass, over which is placed a coating of white glass, so that the figures cut in it stand out in white from a blue ground. 4. PAINTING AMONG THE ROMANS. The art of painting also passed from the Greeks to the Romans, and in our consideration of Hellenic art we have already named the masters who up to the time of Hadrian attest the brilliant revival of this branch likewise of ancient art. But while among the sculptors of this epoch we rarely meet with a Roman name, there is no lack of Romans who have distinguished themselves as painters. If we consider that even among the Etruscans painting was frequently used, we may suppose a greater qualification for this art among the Italian races. Even in the days of the Republic, Fabius Pictor painted the Temple of Salus, about the year 300 b.c. ; the poet Pacuvius is said to have been similarly engaged about 200 b.c. ; in the time of Augustus, Ludius was especially famous, not to mention many other Roman names. All these works may have been in a great measure of a decorative character, as we know to have been the case with the last-named painter ; for the more distinguished works always proceed from Greek hands, and the Romans themselves acknowledge the superiority of the Hellenists. Portrait-painting seems to have been especially popular ; and towards the end of the Republic a famous female artist, Lala (more correctly Laia) of Cyzicus, produced many works in this branch of art. The discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the examination of the baths of Titus, and of many subterranean tombs in the vicinity of Rome, have afforded us an ample view of an important branch of Roman painting, and the Museum at Naples offers us a survey of the most beautiful of these works. The paintings of Pompeii and Herculaneum^ belong, like the ^ Cf. Denkm. d. Kunst. Plate 22. Zahn, Die schdnsten Ornamente und merk- wiirdigsten Gemdlde von Herculanum und Pompeii. Ternite, Wandgemdlde atts Pompeii und Herculanu7n. R. Wiegmann, Die Malerei der Alien. s 2 26o Histoiy of A rt. buildings themselves, to the transition between Hellenic and Roman art, and present in many of their works imitations of older Greek masterpieces, as is the case with plastic art. Executed on an extraordinarily fine and smooth stucco, they are either al fresco upon moist lime, or, and this in rarer instances, painted in distemper on a dry ground. The distribution of the whole bears witness to the predominance of a fixed architectural arrangement. The walls are painted in a simple coloured ground, chiefly a deep warm red, or a soft tempered yellow, also black, blue, green, or lilac — these latter colours, however, rarely. There is generally a lower socle-like skirting-board, painted in other colours, more frequently darker ; occasionally a similar band stands out like a frieze at the upper ends of the wall. In the middle of the compartments thus bordered, single figures are introduced, lightly floating in the air — dancing girls, genii and other things, or even entire paintings. The repre- sentations rarely refer to the events of actual life : where these, however, appear, they are often of great beauty and dignified grace. The figures are generally those of the fabulous world — Bacchic and other myths, Centaurs and female Centaurs, Bacchantes, Satyrs, and the like ; the most important works are those which depict scenes from the heroic legends or myths, often after famous Greek masterpieces. Among these, there is the sacrifice of Iphi- genia, the death of Patrocles,the meeting of Odysseus and Eumaeus, the fury of Achilles, the education of Achilles by Chiron, the recognition of Orestes by Iphigenia, the parting of Achilles and Briseis (Fig. 140), the rescue of Andromeda by Perseus, the victory of Perseus over the Minotaurus, etc. ; in short, the whole bright and beautiful world of ancient legends and myths lives before our view in all the splendour of colour. The colouring is light and tender, sometimes in warmer, sometimes in colder tints, the modelling is occasionally only slightly indicated, and then again distinctly followed out, and the technical execution, as well as the spirit, value, and character of the compositions, vary considerably. In all, however, the charm of a joyful, easy life is expressed in the whole design. Roman Art. Painting. 261 This cheerful character is increased by various harmless burlesque and naive genre-scenes, by slightly sketched landscapes, Fig. 140. The Parting of Achilles and Briseis. Wall at Pompeii. still-life, fruits, animals, and, lastly, by a representation of cane- work painted in perspective — all appears as the result of graceful play, and not as if executed in the serious intention of delusion. Essentially different from the character of these paintings is the mosaic work which decorated the floor of the so-called house of the Faunus, and is regarded as the representation of one of Alexander s baths. The composition is thoroughly picturesque, with a rich background in perspective ; the groups are in passionate action, and the decisive moment of a battle is strikingly portrayed. The victorious Alexander has just pierced the general of Darius with his weighty lance, and the latter is 262 History of Art. falling to the ground with his wounded battle-horse. A mighty terror seizes the Asiatic soldiers ; the horses are prancing wildly, and are scarcely to be restrained by their riders and charioteers ; Fig. 141. Genre-picture rom Pompeii. anxiously bending forward, Darius himself watches the fatal catastrophe — in the first moment forgetting everything else ; the next moment sees all taking to flight in panic fear. The part of the picture containing the suite of Alexander is unfortunately to a great extent destroyed. Apart from isolated errors of form, the drawing and arrangement are excellent, the colouring is lively, and the wearisome technical part is executed with infinite care. The expression of passionate action is given with such great power, that we can gain some idea of the thrilling effect of the masterpieces of Greek painting. The Aldobrandine marriage in the Vatican in Rome is a wall-painting of soft and feeling grace, showing affinity with the Pompeian works in its light and distinct execution. Others, among them some which are extremely graceful, are to be found in the burial vaults of the neighbourhood. On the other hand, the extensive mosaic pictures which have been taken from the baths of Caracalla, and which now cover the floor of a Supplement. A 7icient Artistic Handicraft. 263 great hall in the Lateran, are rough representations of gladiators, and are coarse as regards subject and awkward in their technical execution. The same may be said of the contests of beasts and gladiators in the principal hall of the Villa Borghese. Among the most excellent floor mosaics, we may number those of Nennig and of Vilbel, the latter in the Museum at Darmstadt. SUPPLEMENT. ANCIENT ARTISTIC HANDICRAFT. In order to obtain a more complete idea of the artistic gifts of the races of classical antiquity, we will, in conclusion, cast a glance at the productions of those works of handicraft which are closely allied with the creations of the artist. All epochs of a healthy art-life, developing itself freely from the popular mind, accord in this point, that handicraft is in them inseparably con- nected with art, that the one unfolds on the solid technical soil of the other, investing it in consequence with a higher dignity, and a stamp of greater nobleness. Nowhere, however, has this relation reached such perfection as among the Greeks. If all the works of their architecture, their plastic art, and their paint- ing had perished without a trace remaining, yet we should gain the conviction of the incomparably fine artistic feeling of this highly endowed people, from their burial-places, from the vessels and implements discovered in the houses of Pompeii, and from the ornaments and articles of equipment of every kind. The significant fact that the language of the Hellenists applied the same word ' techne ' to the work and skill of the artist as to that of the artisan, is a proof of the connection between the two. The Etruscans also shared this readiness for artistic handi- craft, and were highly extolled in certain accomplishments — for instance, in works of burnt clay and bronze, and in the working of the fine metals. We have examples of this in the magni- 264 History of Art. ficent bronze mirrors with engraved designs, already mentioned. (Fig. T 1 1.) Lastly, the Romans entered here also upon the rich joint heritage of the two nations, and understood, not merely how to ornament their life with the creations of former times, but also how to employ the talent of the Greek artisan for them- selves. From the end of the Republic, luxury began to be developed among them. It increased more and more under the emperors, and displayed its most magnificent productions up to the time of Hadrian. No epoch of history can compete with the purity and nobility of that age of Roman luxury, which revived and animated itself ever anew from the fountain of Greek beauty. Without even attempting to give a sketch of the history of ancient artistic handicraft, we must content ourselves with a brief glance at its principal characteristics. The ruling feature in the life of classical antiquity was the effort to imbue the whole outward existence with the breath of beauty. The poorest household vessel, the most insignificant implement for daily use, evidence this genuine artistic impulse as plainly as the sublime creations of monumental art. The law apparent everywhere may be thus defined — perfect fitness com- bined with an ideal sense of beauty regulated all forms. Let us take the simplest — namely, the vessels and implements for the kitchen and store-room, and the daily family table, fashioned of burnt' clay. A rhythmical curve of outline, a perfectly distinct and suitable construction, and a definite characterisation, marks, in every case, the design and use of the utensil. Just as rich as the Greek language is in names for the different vessels, just so infinitely varied are their forms. It is a pure artistic delight to observe these hundredfold variations of the harmoniously curved outline. Eurhythmy, perfect beauty of proportion, is the funda- mental law here as in all Greek works. But far higher interest is excited by those vessels which are characterised by greater artistic display as the possession of the wealthy, or as matters for festive gifts. To these belong the prize vases which were bestowed upon the victors in the Pana- thenaean games, and which were distinguished by beauty of form. Supptement. Ancie^it Artistic Handicraft. 265 richness of construction, and noble ornament. (Fig. 142, a, b, c, d.) Among these also were the graceful vessels for drawing water, which were often presented to brides as wedding gifts ; also Fig. 142, Greek Prize Vases. the capacious two-handled amphora, intended to contain fluids (Fig. 143, a, d) ; especially also the large mixing vessel (crater), in which the wine was mixed with water, and cooled previous to the meal, and which plays so important a part even in the banquets of the Homeric heroes. (Fig. 143, r,^.) These Fig. 14J. Greek Amphorae and Craters. vessels were not executed merely in clay, but often in bronze, and even in silver, gold, and electron, for the most famous masters of plastic art gladly at times put their hand to such works of a lesser art. Examples of magnificent vessels belong- ing to the best period of Greece, and executed partly in clay, with painted and gilt reliefs, and partly in silver, and even in gold, were discovered in the grave-mounds of the Crimea, and were brought to the Museum of St. Petersburg. In Figs. 103 and 105, 266 History of Art, we have adduced proofs of the importance and style of the paint- ings which adorned the greater number of the ancient vessels and implements. The drinking horns (Fig. 144), in the decora- tion of which plastic art vied with painting, likewise formed a favourite subject of artistic execution by the ancients. Painting generally adorned the edge with typical representations, while sculpture, with inexhaustible invention, constantly transformed the lower extremity of the vessel into heads of animals. We find among them the heads of a fox or dog (a), of a greyhound (e), of a mule (d), of a horse (^), of a winged horse {Jt), of a griffin Fig. 144. Greek drinking Horns. {/, g), of a panther [k), of a lion {c) ; and even whimsical com- binations of two different animals' heads, such as that of a sheep and a boar sometimes appear. Luxury reached its highest pitch among the Romans in the employment of the most costly material of every kind for these vessels. Vessels of gold and silver, others of precious stones carved and set in gold, alternated with bowls of onyx and agate, with costly drinking cups of glass, with the famous Myrrhine vases, and, lastly, with those splendid craters of alabaster, marble, granite, and porphyry, on which the value depended partly on the difficulty of the technical execution, and partly on Supplement. Ancient Artistic Ha7idicr aft. 267 the ornament with its typical rehefs, as in Fig. 145. The latter, owing to their plastic treatment, rise to the importance of inde- pendent works of art. Added to these, there were the beautiful brazen tripods, together with the vessels for incense placed upon them, which Fig. 145. Roman marble Vessels. were equally distinguished for noble form and artistic ornament ; and, above all, the numerous candelabra, the greatest assortment of which have been sent from Pompeii and Herculaneum to- the Museum at Naples. We may distinguish those among them as works of Italian masters, which are either executed in a ruder form, and are heavy and monotonous in construction, or which follow the Etruscan taste by a capricious addition of human figures, climbing or sitting, or of any kind of small animals. On the other hand, we perceive in other works (Fig. 146, b, d, e) the organic structure, rhythmical arrangement, and fine harmony of genuine Greek art. Occasionally an adherence to nature appears. 268 History of Art. as in [c], where the separate lamps are suspended by chains from the branches of a tree. Antique art in its ingenious way always gives the form of an animal's foot to the base, in order to denote the movable character of these graceful articles. The lamps Fig. 146. Antique Candelabras in Bronze and Marble. also, which belong to the candelabra, and which are placed on their plate-like slab, in order to diffuse the light from a higher point, are conspicuous for elegance of form and various in- genious ornament. Lastly, the Romans executed their great marble candelabra (Fig. 146, ci) in a richer form and with greater abundance of plastic ornament : a considerable number of these is to be seen in the Galeria de' Candelabri in the Vatican. No less beautiful and splendid were the other adornments of outward life, only here also with the significant distinction, that among the Greeks the greater stress was laid upon beauty, and among the Romans upon magnificence and costliness of Supplement. Ancient Artistic Handia^aft. 269 material. Not merely the dress of the men and women, the equipment and arming of the soldiers, but also all articles of the most various use — such as tables and chairs, carriages and musical instruments— all exhibit that refined sense of beauty, which alone finds satisfaction in noble forms and artistic orna- ment. And throughout do we see the antique artistic mechanic, especially the Greek, observing the golden cardinal rule : regarding in every material the mode of treatment befitting it, both in the general form, the construction, and the ornament, so that one material never assumes the mask of another, but each is artistically beautified in its peculiar mode of expression. Above all, we must here mention the incomparably beautiful antique ornaments, which, in richness of invention, nobleness of Fig. 147. Antique gold Ornaments. Style, and ingenuity of figurative decoration, are models for all ages. Even the Romans, and therefore far more the Greeks, disdained the coarse pomp of massive but commonly worked metals. Even the barbarous Scythian races of the present Crimea rendered homage to the genius of Greek beauty. The remains from the tombs of Kertsch (Pantikapaion), which have been placed in the collections of St. Petersburg, are most magni- ficent of their kind, and comprise golden wreaths and diadems, 270 History of Art. earrings and pins, necklaces, bracelets and rings, and even golden ornaments and small figures, to be fastened on the drapery so that they may appear interwoven in it. Excellent Etruscan ornaments are to be found in the Museo Gregoriano of the Vatican, in the British Museum, in the Louvre, and in the collections at Munich. Under Fig. 147, we have given some examples of antique ornaments, in order to afford an idea of the elegance of the workmanship and the grace of the devices. To these works we must add those of the armourer, who also manufactured their magnificent fabrics in bronze, as well as in gold and silver. Even among the Greeks, the armour, Fig. 148. Roman Suits of Armour. especially the breastplate, helmet, and shield, were decorated with rich artistic ornament. In an heroic age, greater value is placed on the noble adornment of armour and weapons. Homer loves to delight the ear of his hearers with such-like descrip- tions ; the shield of his favourite hero comes from the hand of Hephaestus himself, thus ennobling the work of the armourer for all ages. Roman armour only gives a coarser mode of expres- sion to that transmitted from the Greeks, and delights in over- loading helmet and breastplate with carved work. A noble specimen of rich ornament is afforded in the statue of Augustus Supplement. Ajicient Artistic Handicraft. 271 at the Prima Porta, represented at Fig. 133. Other specimens of Roman armour ornamented with carved work are given in Fig. 148. Among the antique suits of armour which have been preserved, the splendid breastplate now in the British Museum is distinguished for its noble carving. Lastly, we must mention the rare works in wood which have come down to us from Greek antiquity. They were discovered in the tombs at Kertsch, and now form a part of the incompar- able antiquities from the Crimea, which are in the Museum at St. Petersburg. Among them, there is a sarcophagus covered with magnificent carving, another is covered with paintings almost effaced, and there are some fragments covered with noble reliefs, which seem to have once formed a lyre. Here too, in the most insignificant substance, we perceive the same fine artistic spirit, which ennobles the lowest material, and without whose stamp the most costly stuff remained valueless to the highly cultivated races of antiquity. THIRD BOOK. THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES. VOL. I. T CHAPTER I. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART, I. ORIGIN AND IMPORTANCE. The germs of a new life lay in embryo within the dying antique world. Christianity began its world-convulsing career amid oppression and persecution, penetrated with its blessed truths slowly but irresistibly into the minds of men, and created silently a new centre of existence, which suddenly started forth, confident of victory so soon as the decaying shell of heathen life snapped asunder and perished. As this new truth began to work in the mind, giving mankind, in their dismay at the decline of antique splendour and general morality, the glorious certainty of deliver- ance and redemption, and, amid the universal ruin, encouraging the ever-increasing band of the faithful to patient steadfastness in suffering and death, the inward impulse of the mind irresist- ibly urged the Christians to give expression to their feelings, to invest their religious ceremonies with the stamp of dignity, to manifest symbolically in their meeting-places the glad certainty of the new covenant, and to express in the tombs of the beloved dead their confidence in a future and eternal union. Long before Constantine acknowledged Christianity by pub- licly joining it, this inner need of the young community had found its expression in significant forms. As, however, the entire life still bore the stamp of the rule of the Caesars, the effort after the outward representation of the new ideas of God was obliged to be satisfied at first with the forms afforded by the art of heathen ages. Thus declining ancient art became the gar- ment in which the young and world-agitating ideas of Christianity were compelled to veil themselves. The new wine had to be T 2 276 History of Art, put in the old bottles, till it burst asunder the decaying vessels, and issued forth in a new form of art as in a vessel appropriate to itself. So wonderful and profound, however, are the laws which regulate the inner life of man, that in this way alone could an infinitely rich and new development be rendered possible. While the early Christian age used the antique forms of art from necessity, it preserved for its future greatness those fundamental laws which could be the basis of the new structure, stripping off from the antique art-treasures all that might not befit the new ideas, and retaining the healthy germ from which the tree of Christian art was to unfold with grand magnificence. In this lies the historical position and importance of early Christian art. It stands as a mediator between antique-heathenish life and the art of the true middle ages. Its beginning can be traced to the first century of the Christian era, and it reaches its close about the end of the tenth century, with the independent advance of Teutonic civilisation. In the early epochs, we shall examine the productions of the new art within the barriers of antique- Roman culture ; at a later period, the northern races appear, and introduce many essential transformations in the forms transmitted by ancient tradition. These are, as it were, har- bingers of that new and independent tendency, which was to place a limit to early Christian art and to open a new course for development. 2. EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE. a. Roman Monuments. Nothing gives us such a touching idea of the condition of the early Christians as the plan of the catacombs.^ This word, the lingual derivation of which is not clear, denotes the extensive subterranean burial-places of the earliest Christian communities, such as are to be found at Rome and Naples especially. The custom of subterranean tombs had been usual from the earliest ages throughout antiquity ; in Egypt as well as in Asia Minor, 1 Cf. Ferret's splendid work, Les Catacoinbes de Ro7ne. Fol. Early Christian A rt. A rchitecture. 277 in Greece as well as in Ancient Etruria, the abodes of the dead were excavated in the rock, and in all places of primeval civilisa- tion we meet with capacious subterranean necropolises. Among the Romans we found a similar custom practised ; and even now almost every new excavation beyond the gates of Rome brings to light one of those antique receptacles which, after thousands of years, exhibit uninjured the urns, with the remains of the interred, placed above and by the side of each other. For the most part, these common burial-places belong to slaves and freedmen ; but in their design and decoration they show the care and elegance peculiar to Roman art even in its decline. What a contrast to these is formed by the catacombs of the early Christians ! As if in the stifling narrow shafts and pits of a mine, we walk backwards and forwards for hours, through an intricate labyrinth of passages broken in the black porous tufa, and for the most part only high enough and broad enough to admit of one person, and often' so fearfully narrow that we can scarcely conceive it possible to have deposited the dead in them. And yet, without doubt, this was the design of these passages. On the right and left their side-walls are re- peatedly hollowed out, and exhibit low and oblong openings, scarcely large enough to receive a human body. Into these holes the corpse of the deceased was forced, the opening was closed with a slab, bearing the name or some artistic designation of the tomb, and a flask of consecrated oil was added. When especially distinguished personages, such as bishops, or even , martyrs, were to be buried, a larger and broader tomb was exca- vated, and the walls were decorated with simple paintings, in which we find for the first time symbols of the Christian faith, and a character of higher dignity was given to the whole place. Occasionally, also, we meet with more capacious and loftier chambers, with vaulted roofs and niches, the walls and ceilings decorated with similar paintings, evidently chapel-like structures, designed for religious service. But even this slight ornament is little qualified to lessen the severe, serious, and gloomy character of the catacombs. All the History of Art. more distinctly do these exhibit to us an image of the early Christian communities. We see the persecuted believers, in the distress and hurry of evil days, secretly and by night interring in these cave-like clefts the honoured corpses of the fallen mar- tyrs ; we see them assembling here in common prayer around the tombs of the martyrs, imploring power for patience and steadfastness ; we see, in after times, the silent community of the dead, in long rows around the graves of the martyrs and bishops, forming new passages, and growing into an immeasurable city of the dead. If we were to attempt to designate the characteristic element here, we should say that it lies in an almost complete absence of art and form. The boundless labyrinth of passages, with their irregular design and their insignificant grave-holes, the rough blackish tufa, the gloom of which is scarcely perceptibly diminished by the simple wall-paintings of more distinguished tombs — how thoroughly does it contrast with the distinct design, the bright colouring, the elegant ornament and plastic details of the antique burial-places ! The homely simplicity of early Christian habits, the sincerity and purity of their ideas of God, and the consciousness of the nothingness of all earthly things, could not be more distinctly expressed than in these burial- places of the early Christian centuries. The most important of the catacombs discovered in Rome are those of S. Sebastiano, S. Calisto, S. Lorenzo, and S. Agnese. Their earliest inscriptions seem to extend as far back as the second century, but the greater number of their metaphorical representations belong to the fourth and fifth centuries. Besides these, we must mention the catacombs of Naples, especially those of S. Gennaro de' Poveri, S. Maria della Sanita, and S. Maria della Vita. Early Christian art could alone attain to a higher stage of development when, with the acknowledgment of the new doc- trines by the state, the occasion presented itself for erecting a worthy edifice for the public worship of God and for the common confession of Christianity. Although requirements wholly new here sought their expression, it was impossible at first not to Ea7Hy Christian Art. Architecture. 279 make use of the old technical construction and the arrangements belonging to ancient times. That in some instances there was no hesitation shown in preparing heathen temples for Christian worship, is evidenced by the Pantheon and the church of Maria Egiziaca in Rome. These, however, were only exceptional cases, for the Christian church, in its requirements and inten- tion, was too diverse from the ancient temple. It is true that each originally was solely a house of God ; but in the Christian church the whole congregation desired to assemble round the altar, to celebrate together the appointed love-feast. A far more extensive space, therefore, was required, the plan of which would be capable of a construction corresponding to the need. These demands were fully satisfied in the early Christian basilica. It has been much disputed how far these buildings imitated the old heathen basilicas for justice and commerce.^ There is just now an attempt made to deny this connection, in order to concede to the early Christian architects as much independent merit as possible. But, on the other hand, it would be infringing upon the acute penetration of those early Christian artists, if we assume that they could have overlooked the suitable character- istics of the ancient basilicas which were daily before them. It is even, therefore, most probable that those models gave the Christian basilica its impulse to grandeur of form. The first idea may, indeed, have been offered by those basilica-like halls of the ancient dwelling-house, in which, probably, the early Chris- tian congregation may have been wont to assemble secretly for religious worship. Even the atrium added to the Christian basilica seems to point to similar apartments in the Roman dwelling-house. It is enough that in the variety of antique buildings there lay more than one model for the meeting-hall of the Christian congregation. But it is just in the free transfor- ^ Cf. F. V. Quast, Die Basilika der Alteit. Berlin, 1845. A. Zestermann, Die antiken und die christlichen Basiliken. Leipsic, 1847. J. A. Messmer, Ueber den Ursprung^ die Entwickluiig und Bedentung der Basilika in der christlichen Baukiinst. Leipsic, 1854. W. Weingartner, Ursprmig und Entwicklung des christlichen Kirch- engebdudes. Leipsic, 1858. O. Mothes, Die Basilikenform bei den Christen der ersten Jahrhunderte. Leipsic, 1865. 28o History of Art. mation, in the suitable remodelling of the old form to a new object, that the true merit of the Christian architect is based. The elevated tribunal, with its mighty apsis, was retained ; and the courts of the long nave joined it, only allowing a space to intervene between the rows of columns which formerly divided the tribunal and the nave from each other. Slight as these alterations appear, they yet gave the building an essentially new impress and a decided stamp of its own. A short consideration of the basilica will demonstrate this. As in the ancient basilica, the space dedicated to judicial proceedings was separated from the parts devoted to the bustle of the market, so in the Christian basilica the apsis, as the seat of the bishop and his clergy, was opposed to the nave, which re- ceived the congregation. Semicircular in form, the seats of the priests were placed along the wall ; and in the centre, in the background of the niche, the bishop took his seat on an ele- vated throne. The walls and vaulted roof of the apsis were covered with the figures of Christ and His apostles and saints. Between the apsis and the nave was the altar, canopied by a baldachin supported by columns and raised several steps, gene- rally over the grave of a martyr, the so-called ' Confessio.' On this altar the holiest sacrifice was offered, as the solemn point of the whole building accessible to every eye. Above it, fre- quently resting on two mighty columns, the triumphal arch with its wide span opened invitingly towards the nave. Its walls also exhibited serious and sublime representations of sacred figures. The main body of the building, the termination of which was formed by the great apsis, consisted of a broad and lofty central nave, on the two sides of which there were one or two smaller and lower passages as side aisles. These were divided from the main aisle and from each other by rows of columns, which supported the upper wall of the nave, either by a common architrave or by strong circular arches. This upper wall was broken at regular intervals by a series of large broad windows, enclosed in circular arches, which supplied the whole space with a strong lateral light from above. Several windows Early Christian Art Architecture. 281 were also introduced in the low walls of the side aisles ; the apsis, on the contrary, in ancient times, was devoid of window, and lay in a kind of mystical twilight, from which the reflection of the gold mosaics gleamed solemnly forth. The principal and side aisles were covered with the framework of a roof, which originally was lined with a ceiling adorned with painting. The aisles were entered at the end opposite the altar : there was at least one especial entrance for each aisle, but in large churches the centre aisle had three. A porch was always attached to these entrances, forming generally a kind of stately atrium, with its free quadran- gular space and surrounding columns. The centre was occupied by a fountain (cantharus), which, with all surrounding it, gave occasion for freer and more beautiful architectural construction. Thus an edifice was created which, with all the simplicity of the primitive form, was able fully to satisfy all ritual requirements, and expressed in a forcible manner, in grand monumental design, its ideal object. Each who entered was at once irresistibly led by the parallel rows of columns to the aim and central point of the whole, where the administrators of the divine mysteries were collected round the elevated altar, and from the lofty arch as well as from the walls of the apsis the solemn figures of Christ and His chosen ones beamed down upon him with grand dignity. However much subsequently this ground-plan was enriched and extended, whether a transverse structure were introduced as a transept between the apsis and the central nave ; whether smaller side apsides were attached to this transept, or an upper story were placed over the side aisles, and this two-storied arrangement were carried on over the entrance-court — still the fundamental idea of the basilica was never lost sight of, but proof was only given of what elastic extension and of what manifold perfection it was capable. If it be asked what forms of art were employed in these new architectural creations, the answer cannot be doubtful. Antique art, declining as it was, and even technically exhausted and de- generated, was obliged to furnish her still undestroyed treasure of detail for the new architectural framework. Antique bases of 282 History of A ri. columns, shafts, and capitals, antique entablatures with their luxuriantly rich decoration — these were the elements from which the early Christian basilica gathered finish and ornament. The more antique temples and splendid buildings fell into decay and oblivion, all the more costly remains were left for the decoration of the basilicas, and whatever could be snatched from the im- measurable but ruined splendour of antique mythology was used accordingly. Hence the earliest basilicas are the richest and most beautiful as regards detail ; the later they were, the more poor, rude, and heterogeneous did they become, for even in the early times the remains of the columns of old temples and courts, most heterogeneous in size, material, beauty, and execu- tion, were placed in the same arcade of the new Christian church. Shafts too long were cut short, and those too short were length- ened by higher bases or capitals ; among the capitals themselves in the same colonnade, all conceivable shades of Corinthian, Com- posite, and Ionic forms would alternate, so that ancient architec- ture appeared chaotically let loose in its fundamental elements. It is a matter of course that in such a mode of proceeding every trace must have vanished of old proportions and laws, of intercolumniation, entablatures, and the like. The barbarians could not have dealt more regardlessly with the remains of ancient art, for, in the sense of primitive art, the proceeding was barbarous. Nevertheless, it was alone in this manner that the new spirit, firmly keeping in view the main point, heedless of that which now could only be subordinate, was able to pursue and reach its aim. Though the costly remains of antique structures were formed anomalously into new combinations, yet there was no longer anything more to be retained or altered in that which was past and gone ; and only as it suited a new organisation could it even in its remains form the germ of a new development. Yet in this very regardlessness is not the spirit of primitive Christianity powerfully expressed, as it strove to realise the new truth, heedless of harmony and beauty } Nevertheless, even in the form of the earliest basilicas, we can perceive decided attempts at an artistic embodiment of the Early Christian Art. Architecture. 283 Christian ideas ; and if the plastic and architectural part, from its own poverty, fed on the crumbs which fell from the luxurious table of antique art, yet the extensive paintings with which the interior of the basilica was adorned, especially the vaulted ceiling of the apsis and the wall of the arch, soon became the means of expressing Christian ideas and views in a grander manner. Here, too, antique art was, it is true, the model and rule, but the spirit and signification of the new works soon assumed a distinct character of their own. In the exterior of the basilica, the strong prominence of the form was adhered to, without any richer ornament being considered necessary. The entrance side alone was, as a fa9ade, covered with representations in painting, in which architectural arrangement was evidently out of the question. Among the basilicas^ preserved, the church of San Paolo in Rome was the most distinguished as regards its age, the grandeur of its design, and the splendour of its ornament; it was destroyed by fire in the year 1823, and was recently restored, though unfortu- nately in too modern a spirit. (Fig. 149.) Built about the year 386 A.D., under Theodosius and Honorius, it holds the first place in extent among all the basilicas of the world. The mighty apsis, about 80 feet in breadth, is increased in effect by a lofty tran- sept, which stretches in front of it across the whole nave. The latter is constructed with five aisles, the immense central aisle having on each side two lower side aisles. Eighty granite columns connected by circular arches rise in four rows, in order to divide the aisles and to support the upper wall of the central aisle, and also the framework of the roof The main aisle opens into the transept with a broad and lofty triumphal arch, which rests on two colossal columns. Apsis, transepts, and the walls of the triumphal arch were splendidly decorated with magnificent mosaics, and the other walls of the interior were 1 Derikju d. Kmist. Plate 34. Guttensohn and Knapp, Denkmale der christlichen Religion. Fol. Rome, 1822. C. Bunsen, Die Basiliketi des christlicheft Roms. Canina, Ricerche sulV Architettiira piu propria dei tempj cristiani. Fol. Roma, 1846. Also Hiibsch's masterpiece, Die altchristlichen Kirchen nach den Baudenkmalen nnd alter en Beschreibungen. &^c. Fol. Carlsruhe, 1858. 284 History of Art. covered with paintings. An extensive atrium surrounded with colonnades was added to the front, completing the perfect plan Fig. 149. Interior of S. Paolo at Rome. of a (Fig. basilica of the first rank. The old church of St. Peter 150), destroyed upon the re-building of St. Peter in the fifteenth century, belonged to the time of Constantine ; it was also an oblong structure with five aisles, and possessed extensive transepts and portico, and must have resembled the church of S. Paolo in its impress of sober sublimity, power, and dignity. Among other Roman basilicas, that of S. Maria Maggiore, which was sub- sequently modernised, and is still very beautiful, belongs in its original design to the first half of the fifth century a.d. It is likewise a stately structure, though Fig. 150. Former Basilica of St. Peter . 1.1 '1 1 • in Rome. Ground-plan. posscssmg ouly three aislcs, and Its Early Christian Art. Architecture. 285 colonnades exhibit the same antique architrave as the church of St. Peter. The same period produced, also, S. Sabina on the Aventine, with its twenty-four beautiful columns, all of the same antique structure ; and S. Pietro in Vincoli, which, in spite of its modernised restoration, is an imposing building with a central nave 50 feet broad. Smaller, but elegant in form and graceful in proportion, are the two basilicas of S. Lorenzo and S. Agnese, standing outside the gates of Rome ; they were built at the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century, and are both rendered especially attractive and irregular in style by the in- troduction of an upper story with rows of columns. Lastly, to the ninth century belong S. Prassede and S. Cle- mente, basilicas in which separate pillars are placed in rhyth- mical recurrence amid the columns of the arcades, in the former even exhibiting a further change of construction, as cross-arches rise from the pillars, and serve to support the framework of the roof Thus new elements of architectural development were germinated from the old primitive form, and in these elements subsequent transformations can be already traced. In many of these later basilicas a new member was employed, in order to reconcile the contrast between the arch and the column. Above the Corinthian capital, a broad projecting kind of impost was placed, which served as a suitable support for the broader plinth of the arch. This is to be seen in S. Agnese and S. Lorenzo. Besides the basilicas, there were other architectural forms, mostly applied, in Rome and elsewhere, to the especial object of religious worship. These were chiefly circular or polygonal buildings of a more or less complicated character, used especially as baptistries or funeral chapels. One of the earliest and most important of these buildings is the funeral chapel of the daughter of Constantine, already mentioned on p. 241, now the church of S. Costanza ; it is a circular building, the central space of which, with its lofty dome, resting on a circle of columns in pairs, rises above a low and likewise vaulted circular aisle. Much smaller in dimensions and similar in design, though not vaulted, is the important church of S. Stefano Rotondo, originally surrounded 286 History of Art by two low circular aisles between double colonnades, so that to a certain extent the principle of the five-aisled basilica appears applied to a mighty rotunda. The details here, also, at the end of the fifth century, are thorough- ly antique, yet the high impost above the capitals is noticeable as a new element. Among bap- tistries, we must mention the remarkable baptistry of the La- teran, also belonging to the fifth century (Fig. 151): it is an octan- gular building, with eight antique columns connected by an elegant architrave; above which there is a second row of columns, which give the lofty corridors and the slender central building an air of especial lightness and airi- ness. b. Mommients of Ravenna. The most important city in Italy at that time was the ancient Ravenna. Raised by Honorius, in the year 404 a.d., to be the capital of the Western Roman Empire, it was subsequently adorned by his sister Galla Placidia with splendid monuments. When Theodoric, at a later period, subjected the kingdom to the Ostrogoths, he carried on the architectural works that had been begun ; and his daughter Amalasuntha also promoted similar undertakings after his death. Many of the changes belonging to the northern turn of mind mark the artistic works of this period, although in essentials they adhered faithfully to the antique style. A decided change in the destiny of the city took place in 540, after the conquest of the Ostrogoths by Early Christian Art. Architecture. 287 Narses, the general of the Eastern Roman Emph-e ; and Ravenna henceforth became the seat of the Byzantine exarchs. From this time, artistic works also yielded to the influence of Byzantine art, which was already considerably developed. The Ravenna basilicas fall short of the grand and spacious effect of the Roman buildings ; they rejected the plan of the transept, but early aimed at a more lively organisation of the architectural form, and added an independent bell-tower to the church. This tower rose in a simple cylindrical form, without tapering, and was terminated by a tolerably flat roof On the other hand, in the heavy monotonous upper wall of the central nave, there is evidence of a decided advance in freedom and in organic form ; stronger wall pillars, connected by cir- cular arches, frame the windows, and thus distinctly repeat the form of the arcades below. In the management of the detail, also, there was a new spirit at work within the antique tradition ; and this was especially expressed in the independent, elegant, though somewhat cold form of the capitals, and in the now complete impost with its ornaments which surmounted them. Among the monuments ^ that have been preserved since the five-aisled cathedral in the past century gave place to a new style of building, S. Apollinare in Classe (the former harbour-town of Ravenna) is the most important. Erected between 534 and 549 A.D., this building, with its twenty- four Greek marble columns, its rich mosaic ornament, and the old framework of the roof of its nave, leaves the impression of a venerable early Christian monument. Fig. 152. Capital at Ravenna. I ts columns are placed on pedestals, the capitals have the finished impost, and over the richly decorated archivolts there is a mosaic frieze of medal- ^ Deiikm. d. Kttnst. Plate 34. F. v. Quast, Die altchristhchen Bauwerke zii Ravenna. Berlin, 1842. Cf. also Hiibsch, Die altchristlichen Kirchen, &^c. 288 History of Ai^t. lions with portraits. The triumphal arch and apsis are also covered with mosaic representations. Among buildings of another kind, the funeral chapel of Theodoric, now S. Maria della Rotonda, stands out as one of the most original works of its class. Undoubtedly founded under the influence of the mighty imperial tombs of Rome which were then standing, it exhibits an antique mode of building in the strong coarse manner of the Germanic race. It is a simple decagon, formerly surrounded by a corridor, and covered with a vaulted dome, hewn out of a single block of rock 34 feet in diameter. In its gigantic construction, and in the strong compactness of its form, this monument recalls to mind those primitive places of assembly in the Germanic and Celtic nof-th, where immense blocks, piled one over another, mark the grave of some distinguished leader. Less mighty, but of no less interest, is the funeral chapel of Galla Placidia, now the chapel of S. Nazario e Celso, which was founded by this empress about the year 440. It is built in a cruciform design — the arms of the cross are covered with a tunnel-vaulted roof ; and where these arms intersect, there rises a dome : the whole is richly adorned with mosaics. The design of placing here, besides the sarcophagus of the empress, those of her brother Honorius and of her husband Constans may have affected the original ground-plan. More important than the other Ravenna works — indeed, un- doubtedly one of the most remarkable monuments of Christian architecture — is the church of S. Vitale, erected between the years 528 and 547 A.D.. (Fig. 153.) At the period of its founding, the relations with Byzantium had already begun ; and before it was completed, Ravenna had fallen under the dominion of the Greek emperor. No wonder, therefore, if here for the first time we perceive in the West the stamp of a Byzantine art-influence, which at the same time occupies so decided a position in the history of Eastern art. The ground-plan here is that of a central cupola- design, such as formerly was only usual in buildings of subor- dinate dimension and importance. This form, however, received Early Christian A rt. A rchitectiire. 2S9 a rich, fine, and complicated organisation, such as architectural art had scarcely before known. The principal space was formed by an octagon of 47 feet in diameter, bounded by strong pillars which supported the upper part of the building and the dome. Between these pillars, the central space was extended in large Fig. 153. Interior View of S. Vitale. separate niches, the walls of which were broken by two stones of colonnades, which formed below the connection with the sur- rounding aisles, and above that with an upper gallery. Only to- wards the altar, the space opened rectangularly for the choir, which was enclosed in an apsis. Over the great arches which connected the eight pillars, there rose octagonally the high upper wall of the central aisle, broken by windows which, after Byzantine fashion, were separated by small pillars. Above them was the vaulted roof of the dome, in the construction of which the architect had adopted a plan, also occurring in antique buildings, in order to lighten the lower parts as much as VOL. I. u 290 History of Art. possible. The vaulted ceiling, namely, consisted of amphora- like clay vessels inserted in each other, the ends and neck touching each other. If we add to this, that an entrance court with two circular towers was placed opposite the altar side, we have essentially the design of this remarkable building. Splendidly rich decoration, consisting in the lower parts of coloured marbles, and in the vaulted roof of mosaic represen- tations, increased the effect of the whole. At the first glance, however, it was perceptible how completely the clear distinct- ness and severe simplicity of the basilica was here exchanged for the more highly developed plan, rich even to confusion. We must glance around to the origin of so diverse an architec- tural style. c. MoniLincnts in the East and in Byzantium. Before Christianity had celebrated its triumph in Rome by the grand monuments we have described, in the remote regions of the East, on the frontiers of the Libyan and Syrian deserts, numerous churches had arisen like peaceful oases of the new civilisation. They almost all bore the type of the simple basilica, evidencing, for the most part, in their details the late Roman stamp with many significant alterations. The African churches, still preserved in large numbers both in Egypt and Nubia, as well as in the oases of the Libyan deserts and the coast lands of Algeria and Cyrenaica, were generally of small dimensions, though frequently with five aisles. The aisles were divided from each other by rows of columns ; above the side aisles there were occasionally traces of galleries ; the apsis, which was often repeated on the west side, did not project outwardly, but was rectangularly enclosed. The basilica of Reparatus at Orleansville, built in 252 a.d., with five aisles and colonnades, and with the apsis raised over a vault, is among the earliest buildings of this kind. A second apsis was subsequently added as the burial-place of the Bishop Reparatus. A basilica with five aisles and four colonnades is also to be seen in ruins Early Christian Art. Architecture. 291 near the present Tefaced. There is a basilica with three aisles at Deir-Abu-Faneh, in Upper Egypt. More extensive are the Christian monuments of the interior of Syria, which have been recently investigated with great care, and which embrace a period from the second to the third cen- tury.^ They are in two groups, the southerly one of which belongs to the present Hauran, and the northerly stretches into the territory between Aleppo, Antioch, and Apamea. More than a hundred towns are to be found here, with entire streets and rows of houses, with churches, cloisters, burial-places, villas, and baths, all essentially remaining just as they were left by their inhabitants on the advance of Islam in the seventh cen- tury. The most original of all are the buildings of Hauran, where the utter lack of wood compelled the exclusive use of stone. The former basilicas of this district — for instance, one at Tafkha — have three aisles formed by pillars, from which cross springers rise to receive the great granite slabs. Galleries are introduced over the side aisle, and thus all the aisles are raised to the same height. The horizontal stone ceiling forms also the roof of this severe and primitive building, thus wholly composed of granite. In other monuments — as, for instance, at Chaqqa — where an apparently ancient basilica and a larger palace- like building are still standing, the same mode of construction prevails. Later, Byzantine influences are brought to bear here, as is evidenced by the octagonal dome of the church of St. George at Esra, built in the year 510 a.d. In the group near Antioch the pillared basilica, with its ceil- ing of wooden beams, early appeared, exhibiting exclusively three aisles, no transept, an apsis generally receding and en- closed rectangularly, and low side aisles without galleries. At the entrance side there is generally a porch with an open portico, and sometimes a second arcade is erected above it. The tower itself is occasionally connected with the fa9ade. The construc- tion of these buildings is executed in classic style, although ^ Cf. the still unfinished work, Syrie centrale^ Architectiu'e civile et religieuse dtc ler mi Vllme siecle. Par le Comte Melchior de Vogiie. U 2 292 History of Art. many alterations are evident, and the ornamental details pass, into cold delineation, and gradually into a barbarous style. Basilicas of this kind are to be found at Kherbet-Hass and El Barah, in both places connected with extensive cloisters, and at Kalat-Sema'n and Deir Seta. At Hass and Behioh they exhibit a rectilinear choir ; at Baquza and Turmanin they have a circular or polygonal apsis, in which we find niches with pillars, which call to mind the late Roman buildings. The grandest design, however, is exhibited in the monastic church of St. Simon Stylites at Kalat-Sema'n, a columned structure with three aisles, built in the form of a Creek cross, with equal sides, the east only being somewhat lengthened. The central point of the cross is formed by an octagon about 90 feet wide, with low surrounding aisles and diagonal apsides in the angles, thus raising the whole building into one of the grandest of the early Christian monu- ments. Besides these churches, we find numerous well-preserved dwelling-houses built in freestone, with few apartments, opening with their two stories, by means of a deep colonnade, towards an open court, which separates the house from the street. Fig. 154 represents one of these groups of buildings at Djebel Riha. Lastly, we may here mention whole necropolises of splendid tombs, partly rocky tombs with antique porticos or fagades, and partly insulated tombs, frequently combining the Oriental pyra- midal form with the elements of classic columned buildings, occasionally imitating antique peripteral designs, or in a few later isolated instances placing the Roman dome above the central and generally quadratic ground-plan. In spite of the striking irregularity of detail, all these buildings vividly recall to mind the simple style of noble antique art. When Constantine removed the central point of his empire to the East, churches and palaces soon arose, under the auspices of the emperor, in great number and magnificence in the capital on the Bosphorus, which he had recently founded.^ Here, too, it was the forms of antique art which were to give their impress 1 A careful representation of the history of Byzantine art is given by W. Unger in Ersch and Gruber's Encyklopddic. Early Christian Art. Architecture. 293 • to the new imperial city, and while old Rome was gradually fading away, new Rome rose into fresh splendour by the arts borrowed from the mother country. So far as we know of the ecclesiastical buildings of that period, they seem to have followed the general rules of the basilicas usual in the West. The church Fig. 154. (n-oup af Buildings from Djebel Riha. which Constantine erected at Jerusalem over the Holy Sepulchre was a basilica with five aisles, and with galleries over the side aisles. The church to the Virgin Mary, built at Bethlehem by Helena, the mother of the emperor, and still standing, is also a considerable structure with five aisles, and a stately transept terminating in a semicircle, but without galleries over the side aisles. The galleries were, however, usually retained in Byzan- tine architecture, in order, according to the custom of the East, to place the women apart in the upper story. The numerous churches of Constantinople in the early epoch were of this cha- racter. Yet Eastern love of show and the degenerated monu- 294 History of Art. ments of Asia Minor may have considerably influenced the magnificence exhibited in some of them. A higher style and a more independent advance is evidenced in Byzantine art in the beginning of the sixth century. The brilliant rule of Justinian (527-565) marks the turning point. The Byzantine state had vigorously defended itself against the attacks of the barbarians, especially after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the old glory of Rome seemed newly revived on the shores of the Bosphorus, the last asylum which the civili- sation of the old world had found. But it was only the mechanism of the Roman State which sunk into cheerless hollowness when combined with th-e bombast of Oriental ceremonial. Christianity itself, lacking the elements of a Greek national spirit, assumed the outward dogmatism of the ossified civil state, and thus Byzantine life, with all its splendour, acquired an air of coldness, and with all its apparent power was gradually stiffening into torpor. When attempts have recently been made to controvert this fact, it has been forgotten that isolated points of light in the civilised life of the later Byzantine period were too fleeting to modify essentially the whole character of the time. Certain it is that the highest point of Byzantine development was reached as early as the sixth century, and that after this period no new idea and no radical movement broke the stagnation of the Eastern Roman Empire. A^nong all the evidences of this remarkable state of things, the artistic productions, and especially the architectural, occupy the first place in importance.^ It is true that even here the cold and stifl" nature of the Byzantine character is unmistakably ex- pressed ; it is true that the speedy deviation from the simple form of the basilica, and the transition to a more varied and more richly complicated design evidences a lack of simple artistic intention ; but with all this peculiarity of tendency there are combinations of original boldness, powerful eflect, and solemn grandeur, which afford brilliant testimony to the technical know- * Denkm. d. Kuiist. Plates 35 and 35A. Salzenberg, Die altchristlichen Baudenk- tnci^le von ConstantinopeL Berlin, 1854. Early Christian Art. Architecture. 295 ledge, energy, and skill of their authors. That which essentially characterises the true Byzantine style is the adoption of the dome with all its appurtenances. While the dome had formerly been employed in baptistries, funeral chapels, and similar smaller buildings, it was now adopted as the prevailing form in the most important designs of the principal churches. As religious wor- ship, more ostentatiously developed among the Byzantines, required more variously constructed courts, and the dome, but little according with the oblong form, necessitated rather a central design, the church accordingly acquired a more com- plicated ground-plan. Thus a system of domes and half-cupolas, to which wall niches were attached in manifold forms, was com- bined with a great variety of plans. The columned structure of the basilicas was substituted by a pillared structure with its broad surfaces, and mighty arches and colonnades were only added in a subordinate manner to support the galleries, and to terminate the side courts of the grand main edifice. But while all parts of the building pointed to the ruling centre of the whole, the grand dome, there appeared in the choir, necessary for the altar service, a non-centralising element in the design, affording, as it were, an irrefutable testimony to the disunion between ritualistic object and architectural design. Variegated marbles were employed in rich splendour for the decoration of the walls and pillars, and brilliant mosaics covered the vaulted ceiling of the domes and niches. For Byzantine art delighted, after Eastern fashion, in the greatest abundance of decoration, and endeavoured to execute the architectural mem- bers in the same style. The columns, with their bases and capitals, the cornices, friezes, door and window frames, as well as the rails of the galleries, were all formed of marble, and covered with ornaments. These ornaments, although based on antique tradition, still exhibit chiefly the cold stiffness of the art. Instead of free plastic ease, they imitate only the correct elegance of Greek models, which at last relapses into a powerless shallow ornament. This is most plainly evidenced in the form of the capitals. They originate in the calyx-form of the antique Corin- 2g6 History of Art. thian capital ; but while they make it swell out, and press the free projecting leafwork to the surface, allowing the volutes to emerge at the upper end in a clumsy manner, they obtain a wholly new form, in which, indeed, there is scarcely even a slight trace evident of the life of the beau- tiful antique. (Fig. 155.) Above these capitals the impost is placed, often richly ornamented, a member which we have before designated as an element of Byzantine art. Little attention to the external was paid by Byzantine art at this epoch. Yet here also the grand Fig. 15s. Capital from the Church of St. heavy masscs, the centre of which Sophia, ^ was likewise marked externally by the prominent dome, presented a striking physiognomy. In San Vitale at Ravenna, we have already become ac- quainted with an important monument of decided Byzantine architecture. Another remarkable building, executed at about the same time, under Justinian's rule, affords a further evidence of the development of the Byzantine central structure. This is the former church of S. Sergius and Bacchus at Constantinople. As in S. Vitale, there is here also a central octagonal space covered with a dome, and inclosed in two stories of surrounding aisles. But only on four sides of the principal space do we find niches with columns placed within them, and the outward form of the surrounding walls forms almost a square, beyond which only the choir with its apsis stands out. Among these monuments we must also number, as one of the most important early Christian works, the rocky cathedral of Sachra-Moschee, on the temple- mount at Jerusalem, which for a long period was regarded as a Mohammedan work under the erroneous designation of the ' Omarmoschee.' ^ Round the famous rock with the ' noble cave ' there extends a rotunda, 66 feet in diameter, the wooden cupola (added subsequently) and upper walls of which are supported by ' Le Temple de Jerusalem. Par le Comte M. de Vogiic. Paris, 1864. Early Chris tia7i Art. Architechtre. 297 twelve Corinthian columns, and four pillars placed between them. A broad octangular corridor, divided into two aisles by an octagon-shaped wall resting on eight pillars and sixteen co- lumns, surrounds the interior structure. This external support, the columns of which exhibit the impost addition, and are con- nected with the pillars by an architrave and by circular arches, betrays the decided Byzantine style. There is no longer any doubt that this grand building may be regarded as an original early Christian work ; whether it may be partly assigned to the time of Constantine, as Unger^ asserts, or is to be identified with the church to the Virgin built by Justinian, as Sepp ^ has recently maintained, must yet remain uncertain. If at this stage many ambiguities may be observed in the treatment of the ground-plan, if the rectangular form is still struggling Avith the polygonal, yet in the brilliant epoch of Justinian's rule the system exhibits its mightiest and most consistent work, one which was to render Eastern arthitecture the highest model for all future ages. This is the church of St. Sophia at Constantinople. Constantine had already erected in his capital a church to the honour of ' Divine Wisdom ; ' and this having been destroyed by fire, was restored under Justinian with all conceivable splendour. Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus were summoned as architects, the most costly columns and other remains from the temples of Asia Minor were gathered together, and in every respect the utmost care in preparation and execution was devoted to the magnificent undertaking. Thus, by the restlessly stimulating zeal of the emperor, the entire building was completed in the almost incredibly short period of five years, 532-537 a.d. Twenty years later, in 558, it was visited by an earthquake, in consequence of which the much-injured dom.e was removed, and raised somewhat higher upon strengthened counterforts. In this form the building remained till the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, when it was transformed into a mosque, and was furnished 1 Die Baiiten Coiistantins am h. Gj-abe, von F. W. Unger.' Gottingen, 1863. 2 Neue archit Stiidien^ &^c., hi Paldstina, von. Prof. Sepp. Wiirzburg, 1867. 298 History of Art. with slender minarets at the four corners. In the interior, the Turks were satisfied with covering the mosaic paintings, so that the building yet retains its original character in all essential points. Its ground-plan (Fig. 156) is influenced by the effort to make the oblong design of the basilica harmonise with the cupola Fig. 156. Ground-plan of the Church of St. Sophia. form. The main space has for its central point the mighty dome, which, itself 106 feet in diameter, rises on four pillars placed at right angles to a height of 177 feet. Yet the dome is in no wise slender, far rather its form is shallow, as though it were only the segment of a circular arch ; it rises from an entablature, which rests on the top of the four grand arches supported by the main pillars. Triangular niches fill the space between the sides of the arch and the entablature. Nevertheless, only a quadratic space is thus obtained ; and to lengthen this space, a mighty semicircular niche is attached to the front and back sides, the walls of the niche resting on the corner pillars of the dome and on two pillars placed between them. On the sides, on the contrary, the central aisle was bounded by a wall supported by columns, the arches between which formed the connection with the side aisles. The two apsides, the vaulted arches of which touched the Early Christiait Art. Architecture. 299 great central dome and continued its lines, increased the space of the principal aisle into an oblong oval, which in this ingenious design was intended to correspond with the central aisle of the basilica. On the front side this was connected with the long portico, extending the whole width of the building ; at the back it was terminated by a large altar apsis, and two side apsides, likewise required for religious services ; so that here also a further enlargement of the semicircular form took place. The two long sides, on the other hand, were accompanied by low side aisles, which, however, on account of the different strength of the projecting counterposts and the different kind of vaulted roof, had not the character of consistently executed side aisles, but of a number of subordinate spaces. Instead of the calm stability of the basilica aisles, they presented to view an attractive variety of picturesque vistas. Over all these side spaces galleries were placed, which contained the seats for the women, and opened with colonnades to the central aisle. The building was lighted by a circle of windows at the foot of the ^ principal dome, also by windows in the semi-domes, and by a great many others in the vast partition walls. All these variously formed spaces exhibited outwardly an almost quadratic figure, 252 feet long by 228 feet wide. In front of the entrance hall, which contained nine gates, there was an atrium surrounded with colonnades, after the fashion of the great basilicas. The interior decoration of this imposing building was executed in a manner corresponding with its importance. All the surfaces of the walls and pillars, even to the cornices, were covered with costly many-coloured marbles ; the choicest remains from the temples of Asia Minor were selected for the columns ; the vaulted roofs, the dome, semi-dome, and apsides, had a brilliant ground of gold mosaics set in coloured ornamental frames, and interwoven like tapestry with figurative representations, the colouring of which stood out strongly from the golden ground. The stream of light falling from above beamed full upon this solid magnificence with a wondrous glow, filled the courts with brightness, and, combined with the manifold variety of curved 300 History of Art. arch and vaulted roof, produced an overwhelmingly fantastic effect. Bold was the plan of construction which the ingenious mind had here devised ; imposing was the impression of a dome, raised hovering with its vast span upon few supports. Yet the product of all this labour is and must ever be full of arduous effort ; and, in complete contrast to the early Christian basilica, the church of St. Sophia is, it is true, regarded as a wonder of constructive knowledge and clever combination ; but he who perceives beauty in simplicity and distinctness, in the harmonious union of the different parts into an animated whole, will give the preference to the basilica. At all events the treatment of the upper walls is defective, and the ceiling has none of the construction necessarily arising from the organisation of the other parts. The importance of the church of St. Sophia is not, however, to be underrated, inasmuch as it presents a fully developed system of stone-roof construction ; but, combining as it does, in a studied manner, the great forms of building, following mechanical rather than organic laws, it bears the stamp of temporal constraint and local limitation. The form of the architectural detail is of little importance, owing to the preponderance of surface ornament. The heavy By- zantine form of the capital alone furnishes a distinct evidence of the architectural conception. Thus the exterior also maintains an air of unpleasing stiffness, and the shallow main dome stands with its adjoining semi-domes, vast and heavy, like a mountain rising above a mass of walls and pillars. The minarets added by the Turks furnish the exterior with ornament, though hetero- geneous in its kind. With the church of St. Sophia, Byzantine art reached its climax. Henceforth it remained at most a model for the art of the East, though in many churches a simplification of the ground-plan was necessary ; and it was deemed sufficient to repeat the idea of the main dome in smaller proportions, and to combine with it an oblong or nearly square building con- sisting of three aisles. In subsequent times, the interior of larger buildings frequently assumed the figure of a cross with Early Christian Art. Architecture. 301 equal sides, the so-called ' Greek Cross,' the central parts length- ways and crossways being higher than the other parts. At the point of intersection rises the grand main dome, sometimes accompanied by smaller domes at the four ends of the cross. In the form of the domes, also, a more slender rise is to be perceived, especially caused by the fact that there is first a drum in a polygonal or circular form, affording a better place for the windows, and from the corona of this drum the some- what shallow dome rises. The three apsides and the entrance porch, which extends the whole breadth of the building, and the Fig. 157. Fagade of the Church to the Virgin Mary at Constantinople. front of which is supported by columns, are also usual in the Byzantine churches of this period. The interior is generally adorned with frescoes, for want of more important means of ornament ; the exterior, on the other hand, from its richer deco- ration of the columns, as well as from the employment of variegated stratified material, acquired a more cheerful and artistic stamp. The church to the Virgin Mary (Agia Theotokos) at Constantinople, built about the year 900 a.d., is a beautiful example of this later Byzantine architecture. (Fig. 157.) The Greek Church had, however, soon exhausted its variety 302 History of Art. of artistic forms. The original idea from which its architecture emanated, possessed too Httle simplicity for it to be capable of a rich and lasting development. Hence it soon grew stiff, and became as formally insipid as Byzantine life generally. d. Mommients in the North. The buildings of the Ostrogoths in Ravenna have already shown us in what manner the Roman forms of architecture were apprehended by the Germanic races. In a subsequent period, when the northern nations had advanced into the foreground of history, when, after the subsiding of the general migration, new states were formed, artistic efforts must also have acquired a greater importance in these new political relations. It was the Frank kingdom especially which made itself the vehicle of this civilisation. But as the restoration of Caesarian dominion ever hovered as an ultimate aim before its mightiest ruler, Charle- magne, as the powerful extension of his empire seemed to promise the realisation of this idea, the tradition of the ancient world must all the more have been his standard in all artistic productions. Yet the distance from these sources of ancient art was considerably greater than before, both as regards time and space ; he had to draw the elements and implements for his undertakings from an almost uncultivated people ; and even in a material point of view his task was rendered still more difficult by the lack of noble material, technical knowledge, and resources of every kind. Added to all this, the mind of his people, with all their power and freshness, was yet too little awakened, and the remodelling and arrangement of outward life was too urgent, to allow the freedom of mind necessary for artistic creations. All that we therefore find of artistic works among the Germanic races of this period is an imitation of the Roman style, not without traces of barbarous transformation, such as a want of understanding and experience would be likely to cause. In many forms, also, we cannot mistake the Byzantine influence, which had already gained a footing on Italian soil in the Eaidy Christian A^^f. Architecture. 3C3 Ravenna works. Nevertheless, only isolated evidences of that period have come down to our own day. S. Lorenzo, in Milan, may be mentioned as a work probably belonging to the early Christian age.^ Although perhaps erected on the site of some antique baths, the close affinity of the ground- form with that of S. Vitale seems to imply the same epoch. Considerable additions have been subsequently made, yet the interior distinctly exhibits the original design v/ith its magnifi- cent effect. The dome of the quadratic central space rises boldly and freely above four vast semicircular niches, in which there are colonnades opening into the corridors and upper gal- leries. The Palazzo delle Torri in Turin is a mighty brick ruin, belonging to the period of the Lombards, and is con- structed in Roman fashion, with pilasters and arches in several stories. In the earliest parts of the cathedral at Treves, Ger- many possesses a remnant of those numerous and splendid structures of the sixth century ; Treves having occupied the first rank among the cities on this side the Alps, owing to its having been the capital of the Austra- sian kings and the seat of an archbishop. Still greater in importance are the numerous buildings with which Charle- magne adorned the cities of his exten- sive empire ; above all, his favourite capital Aix-la-Chapelle. If no trace has been left of his fortresses at Nim- wegen and Ingelheim, if not a vestige longer remains of the palace, the Capitol, and the splendid halls which he built at Aix-la-Chapelle, and which even in the fourteenth century filled Petrarca with admiration, we may yet readily conjecture that the Roman palaces at that time standing formed the model for these designs. The palace chapel of Charlemagne has been alone preserved for us, in all essential parts, in the nave of the cathedral church at Aix-la-Chapelle. (Fig. 158.) ' Cf. Hiibsch^ Die altchristUchcii Kircheu, Plate 15. 15S. Minster at Aix-la-Chapelle. 304 History of A r/. The building, which occupied the years from 796-804, combined within its walls all that stood at the disposal of the mighty em- peror in technical skill, in splendour of material, and in richness of ornament. Ravenna furnished the marble columns ; Ravenna also gave the ground-plan. It is ummistakably the form of S. Vitale which floated before the mind of the Carlovingian architect. Here, too, there is a central octagon surrounded with low surrounding aisles and galleries, and only by dispensing with the system of niches is the plan transformed into one of greater simplicity. On the other hand, the spaces between the pillars are filled up by a colonnade above and below, corre- sponding with the surrounding aisle and gallery. The use of this form betrays the clumsy, rude work of the period, as the upper columns with their capitals and entablature touch the intrados of the arch. The construction, on the contrary, ex- hibits wise calculation and technical skill. The central space is covered by a dome, the aisle round with its sixteen sides is finished with calottes and cross-arches, and the galleries with their tunnel-vaulted roof form a kind of counterfort to the side of the dome. Nothing is left of the mosaic ornament which formerly covered the arched ceiling ; but the rich bronze gates, and breastwork of the galleries, exhibit the solidity and splen- dour of the decoration, as well as of the influence of severe Byzantine ornament. The former rectangular altar niche has been subsequently supplanted by a choir built in the Gothic style. If in the minster of Charlemagne, as in S. Lorenzo at Milan, a predilection for Byzantine forms is expressed, there is no lack of record to prove that the plan of the basilica was also in general use. As there are no remains left of buildings of this kind belonging to this period, the remarkable plan of the monastery of St. Gallen is of great interest in supplying us with a more complete view of our subject ; this plan was executed in the early part of the ninth century by an ecclesiastic at the Frank court, and was found in the library of the monas- tery itself We perceive here the distinctly expressed form of Early Christian A rt. Sculpture and Painting. the basilica with its broad central aisle and two narrow side aisles, after the Roman style ; and only in the addition of a second choir, opposite the main choir, do we find a further development of ritual requirements, as well as an important enrichment of the design in the round bell-towers. As a smaller work belonging to the same period, we may mention a portico at Lorsch, probably belonging to a larger ecclesiastical building, which, with its columns, cornices, and other details, betrays a cold but careful imitation of antique works, while the variegated mosaic marble ornament on the wall panels corresponds with the playful inclination of the period. 3. EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. The development of the plastic arts in the early Christian period^ exhibits characteristics similar to those of architecture, only the examination of the remarkable process by which a new life struggled into being from the formal tradition of the antique is more attractive, because the contrast between idea and form is here more strikingly apparent. The rich sensual life dis- played in ancient plastic art up to the very last could only be approached with timidity and fear by early Christianity. Too critical was the danger of falling back again into the old idolatry ; and just at this time, when the fantastic worship of Egypt and the East was joined in Rome with that of the heathen gods, too strong was the feeling with regard to the strict warning of that law which enjoins the worship of God alone in spirit and in truth. Only timidly and occasionally could they, therefore, make use of plastic art to express the new ideas, and when this was done they gladly conformed to the laws of antique art. The early Christian period has, therefore, no new forms and types of representation in plastic art : whatever ' Cf. Denkui. d. Kunst. PI. 36, 37. Bosio, Ro7na sotteranea. Fol. Roma, 1787. Arringhi, Rojna subter7'-anea novissima. Bottari, Sculpture e pitture sagre estratte dai Cimiteri di Roma. VOL. I. X 3o6 History of Art. it produced of such works, is affected by the spirit of antique Roman sculpture. Independent statues appear most rarely. Setting aside the statues of the emperors, which both before and after were executed in the usual Roman style — though with ever less artistic power — and the other honorary monuments, such as the column and obelisk of Theodosius at Constantinople, which followed well-known Roman models, few instances are known to us of plastic representations of sacred personages. The most important is the great sitting bronze statue of St. Peter in the central nave of St. Peter in Rome, probably a work of the fifth century ; it is severe and dignified in bearing and in the ar- rangement of the drapery, and is .executed in the spirit of antique portrait statues. Another sitting statue of St. Hippo- lytus, a marble work of the same epoch, now in the Christian Museum of the Lateran, is unfortunately modernised in its most important parts, but a similar style is to be perceived in the lower antique half of the figure. No statues of Christ have been preserved, although even in the third century the emperor Alexander Severus had one executed. We cannot, therefore, judge what the sculptors conception may have been. Some marble statuettes of the Good Shepherd in the Christian Museum of the Vatican are likewise quite isolated of their kind. The Christian ideas acquired a more thorough and general expression in painting. The danger of an intermixture with antique heathenish conceptions was less imminent ; the claims of the material receded, and in the more versatile element of colour, the kindly sincerity, that spiritual link, which connected the members of the new communities with each other, acquired a freer expression. The young Christian art, therefore, made use of this means more and more, and gained a new sphere of representation, the technical work and artistic laws of which belonged to it alone, and were influenced by the nature of their tasks. This, therefore, is the mode of art in which the early Christian period obtained its greatest independence, its -deepest significance, and its freest expression. Early Christian Art. Sculpture and Painting. 307 Before, however, this point could be reached, a series of stages had to be passed through, from utter lack of form to the many-coloured splendour displayed in magnificent basilicas. The first hieroglyphic of the early Christian period begins with a few simple symbolic signs. At first it was only the entwined signs of Christ, the Greek XP, or the alpha and omega (the first and the last), Af2, which, inscribed on the vessels and imple- ments used in ordinary life, suggested pious remembrances to the faithful. In a similar manner the Greek word ichthys (fish) was employed as a token of the name of Christ, or the figure of a fish was represented for the same purpose. Art here, therefore, as in all original works, began with significant symbols, which, being agreed upon universally, became the absolute image of the thing signified. Soon, the number of these symbols was enriched by the figurative mode of expression in the Holy Scriptures. The cross was used as a token of sacrificial death and redemption, the palm as the symbol of eternal peace, the peacock as the sign of immortality ; the lamb, the vine, the ship, all bearing distinct reference to well-known biblical passages, and many others, are to be found in great numbers on sarcophagi, on walls, and on many implements and vessels. All these signs speak a figurative language, which has its basis only in general allusions, and in thoughtful but conven- tional associations. The element of a free figurative embodi- ment, and of a personal or even individual representation, is entirely absent from them. The first decided step in this direc- tion is made by the favourite representation of the Good Shepherd, who is guarding His fiock, and bringing back a wandering lamb. As Christ Himself is designated by this beautiful simile, early Christian art received it with thoughtful feeling; here, too, still satisfied with a general ideal representation, yet far from striving after the stamp of a distinct character. The figure of the shepherd is conceived, in the ideal manner of antique art, as a tender, beardless youth in a short shepherd s garb. Yet they did not rest satisfied with this. The principal X 2 3o8 History of Art. scenes in the history of Our Lord, especially His miracles and sufferings, were frequently depicted ; corresponding incidents in the Old Testament, in which allusions to His life and sufferings were perceived, were added as significant parallel subjects, and thus the sphere of representation was ever more and more enlarged and enriched. The wonderful deliverance of Daniel from the lions' den, of Jonah from the whale's belly, the ascen- sion of Elijah, the sufferings of Job, and many similar scenes, were represented, all bearing an intelligible reference to the Messiah, and pointing to sufferings, persecutions, and promised redemption. The scanty means of expression belonging to antique art were employed, and all outward allusions were expressed by symbolic tokens ; sun and moon, day and night, rivers and mountains, are to be found personified among the characters of the Old and New Testaments, proving how the original mythological importance of these beings was gradually fading away. Still more unequivocally is this perceived when personages belonging to the heathen myths are admitted into the range of Christian representations, when Cupid and Pysche are met with among Christian symbols, or when even Christ Himself is represented as Orpheus with the lyre. Thus, for instance, we find it in the central panel of one of the most beautiful early Christian wall-paintings, in the catacombs of S. Calixtus, which we have inserted at Fig. 159. In the eight compartments surrounding the principal picture, small landscapes with the figure of an animal are introduced alternately with representations from the Old and New Testaments — Moses striking water out of the rock with his rod ; opposite to him Christ, awakening Lazarus, who is represented as a mummy ; Daniel in the lions' den, and, opposite to him, David with the sling. Among the most important monuments which bring before us this early Christian range of subjects, in their various con- nection and alternation, are the sarcophagi, the sides of which ^re adorned with reliefs after the old heathen manner. Their artistic execution corresponds with the tendency of the late Early Christian A 7^ t. Sculptm^e and Painting. 309 Roman works of the same kind. Like the greater number of those works, they often exhibit the stamp of mechanical execu- tion — sometimes a crowded overloaded composition, sometimes a Fig. 159. Wall-painting from the Catacombs of S. Calixtus. distinct rhythmical arrangement, and sometimes an architectural framework of pillars with arches and pediments, peculiar to late Roman art. The miracles of Christ — the healing of the man sick of the palsy, the increase of the wine and bread, and other incidents — with corresponding events from the Old Testament — Moses striking water from the rock, the creation of the first man, the Fall, and others — are the subjects of these works, repeated over and over again with little variation. Many express an antique life full of freshness and energy ; in others, an awkward, heavy form, and a misconception of the physical pro- History of Art. portions, evidence the speedy decline of this last remnant of antique art. The catacombs contained a great number of such works, most of which now belong to the Christian Museum in the Lateran. Others are to be found in the crypt of St. Peter, in Ravenna, and in many other places. One of the best and purest is the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (f 359), in the crypt of St. Peter's Church. (Fig. 160.) It contains two rows of five representations from the Old and New Testaments, and from the Acts of the Apostles, though the subject is not always ascertained with Fig. 160. Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. Rome. certainty. That of Probus (f 395), also found there, appears coarse in comparison. In S. Ambrogio, at Milan, there is a remarkable sarcophagus under the pulpit, the representations on which exhibit the yet lively influence of antique art. On the front (Fig. 161), Christ is teaching among the apostles; above Him, on the edge of the lid, are the medallion portraits of those enclosed within the sarcophagus ; and on each side of them, in distinct parallel rows, are the adoration of the three kings, and the three youths of Nebuchadnezzar, who in vain requires them to honour his idol. Another work, of great size and splendid Early Christian Art. Sculp ttcre and Painting. 31 r execution, is the porphyry sarcophagus of Constantia, the daughter of Constantine, which was removed from her funeral chapel to the Museum of the Vatican. Its surface is covered with heavy vine branches and genii gathering and treading the grapes, the clumsy execution of which forms a remarkable Fig. 161. From the Sarcophagus ua S. Ambrogio at Milaij. contrast to the technical and masterly working of the difficult material. A further contribution to the knowledge of early Christian sculpture is afforded by the works in ivory. Among the Romans, ivory was used for various objects of luxury ; among others, for the consular diptychs, which consisted of two small writing tablets fastened together, the outside of which was adorned with carved work. These works were imitated in the Christian ages, sometimes being applied to small portable altars, and sometimes to the covers of books containing the Holy Scriptures. On these tablets we early see scenes from the life of Christ depicted, and also incidents from the legends of saints. In the sacristy of the cathedral at Salerno, there is an ivory tablet representing 312 History of Art. the death of Ananias, which is full of antique life. (Fig. 162.) While Sapphira is unconcernedly making her false statement to the apostle, who is holding up his finger in warning, her husband is being carried out by several persons, and the hand of God, visible from above, is declaring by an intelligible token that a divine judgment is here taking place. Frequently, moreover, in Fig. 162. Ananias and Sapphira. Ivory Tablet at Salerno. museums and church treasures, cylindrical ivory boxes are to be found, originally intended as a depository for the host ; and the outside of these boxes is also covered with reliefs. A valuable work of this kind is preserved in the Museum at Berlin, another is in the Hotel Cluny at Paris, and several similar ones are to be found in Hanover, in the possession of the court bookseller, Dr. Fr. Hahn. It is, therefore, in the earliest Christian age, the wall-paintings of the catacombs which afford an artistic expression of the ideas of the new doctrines. On the vaulted roofs, niches, and walls of the more distinguished edifices, chapels, and burial-places, decoration was early introduced in the form of simple wall- paintings, superficially and slightly executed. At first the model of antique wall-paintings was strictly followed, only that Chris- tian signs and images took the place of heathenish figures. Yet the character of these works, as of the antique ones, is in the beginning that of a light graceful decoration. The division of the space, the management of the colouring, and the manner of the design, in no wise differ from the heathen models. Early Christian Art. Sculpture and Painting. 313 Among the favourite subjects of these representations, that of the Good Shepherd may be mentioned as recurring ever in the same conception.^ He appears as an elastic youthful figure in a short garb, carefully bearing on His shoulders the recovered lamb. (Fig. 163.) Around Him are grouped, in a distinct rhyth- mical arrangement in harmony with the antique models, other figures and important inci- dents, whose relation to each other is frequently executed in an ingenious manner. All these representations breathe the pure simple feeling of an- tique art, which arranged the whole in a decorative man- ner, and allowed no conspi- cuous importance to any single subject. Nevertheless, in most of these small decorative fi- gures and scenes, there is a breath of deep fervour, of calm repose, and of peaceful placidity, which evidences it- self as a characteristic expression of the Christian frame of mind. The Catacombs of S. Calisto (Fig. 159), of S. Agnese, and others in Rome are especially rich in such works. The third century, and still more the fourth, is the period which brought this style of art to perfection. The next epoch was no longer satisfied with this mode of representation. In the course of the fifth century, these calm symbolic conceptions were replaced by a striving after a signi- ficant embodiment of the separate fact, after a more power- ful conception of the personal figure. The more antique tradition faded away, the less were men satisfied with the character of cheerful decoration after the fashion of earlier art. ' F. Kugler, Von den dltesien Kunsibildungcn der Christen. Berlin, 1834. 314 History of Art. They burst asunder the framework of narrow architectural Hmits, and allowed the main figures to stand out with greater power, independence, and effect. If before, the single figure reached its unassuming symbolic importance from its connection with others, now," the personal and historically distinct fact was to display itself as such. Scenes from the sacred legends were represented in a more significant manner, and the sacred per- sonages, especially the Redeemer Himself, were grandly and prominently depicted. The allegorical picture of the Good Shepherd was now no longer sufficient for Christ, they endea- voured to realise the appearance of the divine Teacher in all the fulness of His spiritual power and calm sublimity. Although the technical means diminished, and the artistic understanding of form grew more and more dim, yet the spiritual value, the profound greatness of these creations, often rose to higher signi- ficance, compensating for the imperfection of form by fulness and depth of expression. The catacombs of S. Ponziano in Rome afford numerous examples of this style of art. The type of the head of Christ appears here already established in its grand characteristics — the noble oval of ti'ae countenance is shaded by long brown hair parted in the middle, the eyes are large and thoughtful, the nose long and narrow, the mouth serious and mild, and the beard almost youthfully tender. The left hand holds the opened book of life, and the right hand is raised as if for solemn invi- tation and warning. If Christian painting had to lead a modest subterranean life in the catacombs, it was likewise early called to more powerful and brilliant tasks. The basilicas, which had been erected in great numbers in all places since the recognition of Christianity by the state, needed a decoration suitable to the present position of the church. At first wall-paintings after the models of antique art may have been employed for this purpose. Whether it was that light decorative ornament did not now sufficiently correspond with the grandeur and solemn dignity of the ecclesi - astical edifices, or whether the need was felt of a more magnificent Early Chris lian A rt. Sculpture and Paintmg. "3 1 5 style of work, instigated perhaps by Byzantine influence, it is enough that even in the fourth century we find a technical skill employed in the decoration of churches, which likewise, it is true, derives its origin from the antique, but which now rose, owing to altered requirements, to an essentially new and higher perfection — namely, mosaic work. This art, which seems to have been almost exclusively applied among the ancient Romans to the decoration of floors, was called from its lowly position to the high task of adorning the walls of Christian churches with the solemn figures of Christ and His saints. This technical work was, it is true, far surpassed by wall-painting in lightness and variety : the more delicate lines of the body, the more tender shades of expression, lay not within the range of its capability. But early Christian art could easily dispense with the charm of physical grace and the deeper expression of feeling. What it needed were grand powerful characteristics, strongly expressed types of sacred personages, which should express themselves forcibly at a distance, and fill the mind of the spec- tator with pious reverence. Mosaic work, apart from its greater durability and monumental firmness, was sufficiently adapted to this ; indeed, its very clumsiness was more likely to cause that the types once obtained should be adhered to without wavering and formed into a fixed canon. It is true, the danger thus again impended of stiffening into formal types, an evil which Byzantine art had not escaped ; but even without this technical form of art, the Byzantines would never have been free from insipid formalism ; while, on the other hand, Roman art had already afforded evidence that a lively power and depth of feeling could be expressed even within the limits of mosaic work. The primary result of this tendency of art was the strict architectural arrangement of the space. Yet the law here was essentially different from the principle prevailing in antique wall-paintings. In the early Christian mosaics, the architectural decorative element, which had been so predominant in the antique, recedes and gives place to a strict rhythm in the position of the 3i6 History of Art. figures. These are placed, with regard to each other, like archi- tectural masses, commanding the space below with their vast dimensions. In the arrangement, gesture, and position there lies a strict architectural formality, producing the effect of solemn dignity. Ornamental detail is only added to a small extent ; and while the antique endeavoured to divide every surface of a wall, and every niche by graceful members, toruses, and fes- toons, the whole surface of the apsides and the triumphal arches was now left unbroken as a whole, and was finished with an ornamental framework. Only on the upper walls of the nave the extent of the space usually required some division, and in this we discover a remnant of the rhythm of the arcades. From all these elements, the early Christian mosaics acquire a character of simple grandeur and sublimity, which is sure of an independent artistic effect. In expressing this solemn dig- nity, it is of little matter that the formal execution of the figures leaves much to be desired, and that the understanding of the natural organisation and of the movements of the body is deficient. In essentials we still perceive that dignity which Roman antique art knew how to impart to its senatorial figures, and thus in drapery, position, and action ancient art remains for a long time the model of the Christian mosaics. At the same time great distinctness and variety of characterisation are expressed in the heads. Christ is represented in the same manner as He is portrayed in the catacomb paintings, only the expression of His head is more solemn, severe, and earnest, more belonging to that of the mature man. The sphere of represen- tation appears still more closely limited. It comprises Christ with His apostles and saints, and the elders of the Apocalypse; also the Madonna and Child, frequently surrounded by angels. Added to these, there are some symbolic elements — the lamb, the palm-tree, the cross, the peacock, and such like. The im- portant traits are always given with a few touches ; but reality is strictly disregarded, everything being depicted on a blue ground or hovering on clouds, and only occasionally the soil is indicated by green and gay flowers. Early Christian Art. Sculp tttre and Paiitting. 317 The successive periods exhibit among the mosaics also a series of transitions and changes of style, evidencing, however, not an advance in development, but a gradual decline until after the sixth century, when Byzantine art substituted its typical forms in the place of the decayed Italian style. The earliest of the mosaics that are known to us seem to be those which are to be found on the vaulted roof of S. Costanza in Rome, the funeral chapel of the daughter of Constantine. They represent vine tendrils in the manner of antique art, but evidently, as in the sarcophagus of Constantine, conceived in the sense of Christian symbolism, though not without a certain coarseness of feeling expressed in their formal execution. A similar feeling is dis- played in the rich mosaics of S. Nazario e Celso at Ravenna, the funeral chapel of Galla Placidia, belonging to the early part of the fifth century. Magnificent branch work is here interwoven with symbolic signs — for example, the hart, as an image of the soul thirsting for redemption. Associated with these are some solemn figures of the Good Shepherd and others. The period immediately following proclaims in its works a further limitation of the symbolic element, and hence renders the characteristic traits more prominent. This we find, for in- stance, in the excellent mosaics of the baptistry of S. Giovanni in Fonte at Ravenna, belonging to the early part of the fifth century. Surrounded by rich ornament, interwoven with a va- riety of symbolic allusions, the centre of the dome is occupied with the baptism of Christ, and all around are the figures of the apostles : the whole is executed with grand solemnity and in wonderful colouring. The principal works in the latter part of the fifth century are the mosaics on the wall of the triumphal arch of S. Paolo in Rome, recently restored according to the remains and descrip- tions. In the centre, enthroned in a medallion, is the colossal bust of Christ, here represented* with an unpleasing, morose expression, yet powerfully effective. Above are the symbols of the evangelists, who even at this period were represented as an angel, an eagle, a bull, and a lion ; on both sides, arranged in History of A rt. two rows, were the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse in white garments, their crowns in their hands, and worshipping on bended knees. There is little variety in the forms, the action is constrained, but yet the effect is, on the whole, highly impres- sive. Further below, on the narrow compartments at the sides of the arch, stand the two princes of the apostles, Peter and Paul — the one denoted by the key, the other by the sword. The division of the whole surface is effected in the simplest manner by a horizontal line under the rows of the elders : bands of inscriptions form the frames without any ornament. Thus the rich play of antique decoration is here quite lost sight of behind the severe gravity of the figurative representation. The conclusion to the great mosaics of that early period is formed by that in the apsis of S. Cosmo e Damiano in Rome, executed between 526 and 530 a.d. (Fig. 164.) Here, upon a blue ground, Christ appears in His full figure, borne upon varie- gated clouds, with His mantle thrown in an antique manner over His left arm, the hand of which holds a roll, while the right hand is raised expressively as if for solemn invitation. On both sides, six figures are arranged symmetrically, five saints, and Pope Felix IV., as the author of the work. These figures also, with the exception of the last, which has been subsequently restored, exhibit the same severely antique style, although somewhat stiff. The earnestness of the heads, the repose of the attitudes, and the grand arrangement within the space, give an extremely solemn air to the whole, such as is never expressed with the same power in any other of the works that have been preserved. Below this representation, there is a broad frieze of lambs, the symbolic token of Christ and His apostles. On the wall en- closing the tribune there are still to be seen the remains of angels and of the elders in the Apocalypse. About the beginning of the sixth century, the last remains of antique culture in Italy were so completely consumed, and the whole life was so disordered and broken up by changing des- tinies, that the land could no longer produce any artistic works from its own mental power. On the other hand, a new life Early Christian Art, Sctilptui^e and Painting. 319 of culture was formed in Byzantium, which just now, under the brilliant rule of Justinian, reached its highest point of pros- perity. Likewise resting on an antique basis in its characteristic features, it had yet by degrees received a strong remodelling under the influences of the East and of a highly finished court Fig. 164. Mosaic in S. Cosmo e Damiano in Rome. ceremonial ; and henceforth this remodelled art began to extend its overwhelming influence over the whole Christian world as a special Byzantine style. Italy stood all the more open to this influence of art as, about this very time, it was subjugated to the Greek empire by Belisarius and Narses, and was, more- over, deeply impoverished as regarded mental culture and ar- tistic power. Added to this, Byzantine art had embodied just that which the church in its power and splendour must have most desired for outward representation ; namely, a canon of fixed forms and figures, securely circumscribed, and executed in magnificent material with the advantage of practised skill. Be- sides this, the dogmatic separation between the Eastern and 320 History of Art. Western churches had not then taken place, so that on this point, also, nothing stood in the way of the advance of Byzantine principles. The fundamental idea of Byzantine art is the utmost develop- ment of splendour within the strictly circumscribed limits fixed by the church. As in true Oriental fashion, the most costly materials — gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones — were em- ployed in ornamenting the altars, ambons, and folding-doors, and in the restoration of ecclesiastical utensils — a custom which speedily spread over the whole of Christendom, and resulted in an incredible expenditure in the decoration of ecclesiastical buildings — so in the mosaics, also, the gold ground henceforth prevailed instead of the simple and hitherto preponderating blue ground. From the multitude of small and often even figured surfaces, which composed these mighty wall-panels, the light was broken into countless reflections, so that the utmost bril- liancy imaginable was produced. From this golden ground the figures, in their strict symmetrical arrangement, stood out with all the more force. Insufficient, also, for them was the simple colouring of the early Christian art, with its solemn drapery of the white antique robe ; far rather a gay, richly decorated court attire, such as the luxurious Oriental capital had originated, became customary, overloaded, likewise, with golden and other ornaments in various device. As in the drapery, so also in the attitude and arrangement, the ritual evidently predominated ; and although the early Chris- tian art of the West strove to portray in its figures a motionless repose and a solemn secluded character, yet this tendency was transformed, by the outward ceremonial which prevailed in Byzantium, into a formal type. Even the laws of physical form had, in accordance with this effort, to yield to an external dignity and sublimity ; and the human figure acquired a length which, in order to produce a more powerful impression, far surpassed all natural proportion. The countenances, in harmony with this, wore an expression of seriousness and dignified formality, which, however, could only be expressed by old age, sadness, or Early Christian Art. Sculpture and Painting. 321 moroseness. A narrow oval, large and often obliquely cut eyes, a long thin nose, thin lips, and a narrow chin, are the general characteristics of the Byzantine figures, who have generally grey hair and beard, usually combined with conventionally prescribed court attire. In these forms, in these laws of an outward cere- monial, Byzantine art stiffened, proving anew that a develop- ment of forms can only spring from true intellectual life, and that an external dogmatism is death to all progress. As, how- ever, that which is formally established is most easily transmitted to others, and as there is always a tendency to believe that salvation is to be found in formulas and outward precepts, the regular and distinctly circumscribed qualities of this art must have always tended to commend it, especially as its technical skill had long been practised, its aim had long been directed to accu- rate elegance, and many a gifted artist knew how to elevate the rude type by nobler inspirations. This was especially the case with works of miniature-painting, which frequently to a later period preserved surprisingly noble, beautiful, and expressive remnants of the antique.^ As regards the subjects of the representations, they remained essentially those established by early Christian art. Christ triumphant and as Judge of the world, surrounded by His angels, apostles, and saints, besides the Madonna or Queen of Heaven, all of them in solemn repose and severe bearing, are here to be found as the central points of the representation. To this, how- ever, Byzantine art, affected as it was by Caesarian influences, constantly added worldly ceremonials, in which the emperor appears with his suite in all the splendour of court costume. Truly historical subjects are rarely found, and whenever they do appear, they have no pretensions to dramatic life. In plastic art, also, the Ravenna monuments represent the growing inclination to the Byzantine style. The earliest and most important works, which were produced prior to 550 a.d., are those of the tribune and choir of S. Vitale. In the vaulted roof » A series of excellent examples in Labarte's Histoire des Arts indiistriels. VOL. I. Y 32 2 " Histo7y of Art. of the apsis, Christ appears enthroned among sahits. He is still in the youthful form in which earlier art portrayed Him; but the gold ground denotes the decline towards the Byzantine manner, and this is more decidedly evidenced by the splendid represen- tations on the lower wall of the tribune. They exhibit the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora, both in magnificent court costume, surrounded by their suite, by ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries, and by the halberdiers of the body-guard, on the point of a solemn church procession. On the walls of the choir, executed with less display, and upon a dark ground, sur- rounded with symbolic figures and emblems, scenes from the Old Testament are represented, for the most part those which allude to the sacrifice of the New Covenant ; thus, for instance, the sacrifices of Abel, Abraham with the angels, Abraham with Melchizedek, the offering of Isaac, and others. The extensive mosaic frieze in the central nave of S. Apollinare Nuovo belongs to the same period. It represents processions of saints and martyrs, men on the left side and women on the right, coming from the towns of Ravenna and Classis, and moving in a long train towards the altar. Thus, by their excellent arrangement, they fill the surface between the arcades and windows, and follow the line of the colonnade up to the Holy of Holies. The most comprehensive works of this epoch, however, are the mosaics with which the church of St. Sophia at Constanti- nople was adorned, probably about the year 560 a.d. The figures in the choir, and the large figure of Christ in the dome, enthroned as Judge of the world, have disappeared. The other represen- tations, still in good preservation beneath the whitewash with which Turkish orthodoxy has carefully covered them, came to light some years ago on a restoration of the building, and copies have been made of them.^ In the triangles of the principal dome there are the fantastic figures of the cherubim, which fill the place excellently with their three pairs of wings. On the windowed walls, on both sides below the dome, there are martyrs ^ Cf. Salzenberg and others. Early Christian A rt. Sculpture and Painting, 323 and holy bishops and prophets placed between the windows. Among other remains on the vaulted roofs of the galleries, there is a grand representation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Lastly, in the porch, in the arched panel of the principal portal, there is a figure of Christ enthroned on a fantastically decorated seat, and by His side are medallions of the Madonna and the archangel Michael. On one side of the throne is an emperor kneeling with Oriental devotion, arrayed in rich attire, pro- bably Justinian himself. (Fig. 165.) This figure expresses, more than any other, the stiff nature of this art, and its incapability for free action, while the other figures proclaim a formal imitation of antique conceptions. The whole is represented upon a splendid gold ground, with which the rich magnificence of the drapery vies. From this period the influence of Byzantine art spread in- cessantly over the entire West. It is true there are a few works in Italy which repeat the early Christian range of subjects with- out any perceptible influence of the Byzantine style, but the prevailing character is that of the stiff and almost modelled Byzantine form, ever becoming more lifeless and dull. The first works of greater importance belonging to the seventh century (671-677) are the mosaics of S. Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna. The altar apsis follows the model of S. Vitale, both in the repre- sentation of Old Testament scenes and in that of a solemn cere- Y 2 324 History of Art. monial. In the central nave a number of early Christian symbols are introduced between the arches to fill up the space ; above them is a frieze of medallions of Ravenna archbishops, and this also exhibits an original and lively division of the surface. The apsis of S. Teodoro in Rome possesses a mosaic of the same century, in which the influence of the early Christian models preponderates, especially that of S. Cosmo e Damiano. On the other hand, a more Byzantine style is evidenced in the mosaics of the apsis of S. Agnese (625-638), which are remark- able from the fact that between two other saints, in the place usually appropriated to the Redeemer or His mother, the patron saint of the church himself appears. Another highly remarkable mosaic from the apsis of the Triclinium of the Lateran (the refectory of the old Lateran palace of Leo III. about the year 800 a.d.) has been transferred at a later period to the chapel of Scala Santa. Within the apsis, Christ appears standing, surrounded by the apostles. In His left hand He is holding the book of life, while the right hand is consigning to Peter, who is standing next Him, the token of supreme authority. This idea is further carried out on the two walls near the apsis. On the right wall, Christ is conferring the keys upon Pope Sylvester, and the standard with the cross to the Emperor Constantine ; on the left wall Peter is assigning a stole to Leo III., and a standard to Charlemagne, as tokens of spiritual and temporal power. Among the most extensive re- mains of this period are the mosaics of S. Prassede. Christ is represented in the apsis between six saints, and below is a frieze with lambs. On the wall of the transept and on the triumphal arch are the evangelists and the elders of the Apocalypse sur- rounded by angels ; in short, it is a repetition of early Christian subjects, only on a small scale, and with Byzantine coldness of expression. The small chapel on the right side aisle is also an example of the perfect mosaic work of the period. The mosaic of the apsis of S. Ambrogio in Milan (about 830 A.D.) is a valuable work belonging to this epoch, though now much restored. In the centre we see Christ, a figure with a remark- Early Christian Art. Scidpture and Painting. 325 ably fixed expression, enthroned between the archangels Michael and Gabriel, and the saints Gervasius and Protasius, who are not without a certain grand solemnity of appearance. Angels are hovering downwards to crown them. On the right is the city of Milan, and the saints Ambrosius and Augustinus sitting at desks ; on the left is the city of Tours, where Ambrosius is interring St. Martin. The colouring of the drapery especially is gay and glaring, the whole execution is rough, and the com- position is somewhat confused and irregular. The important architectural works of Charlemagne, in which such grand scope was afforded to wall-painting, belong also to this period. Un- fortunately, nothing is preserved of these works ; yet we know that in the dome of his minster at Aix-la-Chapelle, upon a gold ground starred with red, the colossal figure of Christ was repre- sented, enthroned among the elders of the Apocalypse ; that the basilica at Ingelheim was adorned with scenes from the Old and New Testaments ; that the palaces there and at Aix-la-Chapelle were decorated with wall-paintings from the history of the Frank Empire and the rule of Charlemagne ; thus affording an intimation that here, perhaps, in the midst of stiffness of form and Byzantine style, a breath of fresh life and self-confidence had begun to pervade art. The form that art in Byzantium itself had assumed at this period may be perceived by the mosaics which were executed, in the latter half of the ninth century, on the arch of the dome of St. Sophia at Constantinople. There is a half-length figure of the Madonna, surrounded by other sacred personages, which is executed with all the strict formalism of later Byzantine art ; yet it is not without dignity and a certain austere grace. In this and similar works we cannot fail to see that revival of the earlier types, which called forth a new era of development, though mixed with outward formality, after the violent strife decided in favour of painting by the rejection of free plastic art. We have no interest in following this art any further in its pro- gress from stiffness to utter soulless modelling. Besides these large monumental works, we may trace, through 326 History of Art. the different epochs of the early Christian age, a series of smaller productions, suitable to complete our view of the progressive stages of early Christian art. Among them an important place is occupied by the miniatures on parchment manuscripts. This art is also connected with antique models ; such, for instance, as the illuminated manuscripts of Virgil and Terence in the Vatican library, that of Homer in the Ambrosian library at Milan, which exhibit imitations of antique compositions, it is true, in an in- creasingly degenerating style. In a similar manner, the sacred writings of the Christians, especially those of the Old Testa- ment, were early thus ornamented. Thus in the Vatican there is a parchment roll, 32 feet long, with representations from the life of Joshua ; there is also in the same place a manuscript of the first eight books of the Old Testament, and one of Genesis in the imperial library at Vienna. The imitation of the antique is here plainly evident, both in the conception and execution and in the detail of the representation. At a later period, it is the Frank miniatures especially which evidence a final revival of antique art, and this through the medium of a stiff Byzantine style, and in rather a barbarised form. Com- bined with this, there is a solid splendour of execution, analogous to the architec- tural undertakings of the same tendency and epoch. The most able are here also the earlier works, which belong to the time of Charlemagne, as well as several illuminated manuscripts in the municipal library at Treves, and in the royal library at Paris. Other works to be found in Paris, which were executed for Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald, evince a decline of artistic power ; thus, for in- stance, an evangeliarium of the Em- peror Lotharius preserved there. (Fig. 166.) Still more decided degeneration is exhibited in the works belonging to the time of Pig. 166. Emperor Lotharius. Frank Miniature. Early Christian Art. Sculpture and Painting. 327 Charles the Fat, as is evidenced by the richly illuminated manu- script of the Vulgate, now in the possession of the Benedictines of S. Paolo in Rome. By the side of the Frank miniature-painting of this later epoch, Irish miniature-painting stands out all the more pro- minently, as it forms a decided contrast to the antique concep- tion, and evidently, for the first time, brings a northern national element to bear upon Christian art. This, however, is of such a wonderful fantastic character, so strangely opposed to the laws of organic culture, that it reduces the human form into a play of caligraphic flourishes, and employs it for motley twists with dragons' and serpents' heads. The richest power of invention seems here entirely employed in evading the natural formation of the organic nature, and in allowing the lines for ever to wander into new fantastic mazes. The earliest work of any importance in this style is to be found in an evangeliarium of St. Wilibrord in the beginning of the eighth century. It is now in the library at Paris. To about the same period belong the miniatures of the so-called Cuthbert-book, an Anglo-Saxon evan- geliarium, in the British Museum. Other examples, belonging to the eighth and tenth centuries, are to be found in the English libraries, and also in the former monastery of S. Gallen, a colony of Irish monks. Holding a middle position between the Frank and Irish miniatures, appear those of the Anglo-Saxon school, which adopt the fantastic Irish style, but limit it to ornamental acces- sories, and adhere to the Byzantine conception in the figurative idea. The English libraries also possess numerous examples of this style. The Byzantine miniatures of this concluding epoch evidence a surprising advance in technical skill, necessarily developed in opposition to the oppression of artistic production during the iconoclastic period. While in the execution the neat elegance of this school is brought to its highest perfection, and the con- ception of the forms corresponds with the established type, the mode of representation decidedly resorts to the idea of antique 328 History of Art. art, and is often carried out with surprising though tfulness and grace. The superabundance of antique personifications of moun- tains and rivers, of the conditions of the mind^ and the powers of the soul, was again revived, and was often combined with a freedom and life of action, which only occasionally is counter- balanced by the faulty understanding or con- ventional exaggeration of the figures. Among the numerous works of this kind still extant, we must mention a manuscript of the sermons of Gregory of Nazianzen, belonging to the ninth century, now in the library at Paris, and an illuminated manuscript of Isaiah, executed Fig. 167. King David. the end of the following^ century, now Irish Miniature. ^ in the Vatican. With the eleventh century, there begins a gradual decline in technical skill and conception, until at length the last spark of artistic creation expires in utter lifelessness. But even in later epochs, we still ever meet with isolated works, in which we find antique art pervaded by a more lifelike character. Lastly, there are the decorative works, works designed for the adornment of churches and vessels connected with divine worship, which we must mention as especially characteristic of the spirit of this epoch. We have already made the remark, that the Byzantine love of show induced the application of the costliest materials — precious metals, pearls, and gems — to this purpose. We are told of the church of St. Sophia at Constan- tinople, that the choir was shut out by silver columns and rails, that the golden altar, with its rich ornament of precious stones, was crowned by a lofty silver tabernacle, and that gold em- broidered tapestries closed the openings between the columns of the tabernacle. This Byzantine love of splendour quickly spread over Western Christendom. The churches everywhere emulated each other in the costliness of their ornament, a striving after the appropriation of the most magnificent materials gained ground, and the artistic element soon appeared subordinate to 'Early Christian Art. Sculpture and Painting. 329 the material. It was especially at the beginning of the ninth century, when the bishops of Rome had attained to external power and considerable possession, through the generosity of the Carlovingian sovereigns, that incredible display was lavished upon the churches of Rome. The church of St. Peter was at that time ornamented with a costliness beyond description ; the folding doors, the floor in front of the tomb of St. Peter, the cross-beams under the triumphal arch, were covered with silver plates, and the floor of the tomb itself was inlaid with gold ; numerous gold and silver vessels, lamps, and candelabras, altar coverings, and statues of the same precious metals, are also re- corded. Although in these works we constantly find figures in relief and plastic ornaments of various kinds, yet the effect was rather picturesque than plastic, as is evidenced by the love of rich colouring, and by the combination of various splendid metals, pearls, and variegated stones, frequently adorned wath elegant enamel. An idea of these magnificent works is afforded by the decoration of the high altar of S. Ambrogio in Milan, executed in the early half of the ninth century, and from its in- scription the work of a master named Wolvinus, and the Pala d'Oro of St. Mark at Venice, manufactured at Constantinople in the eleventh century. As an example of the splendid drapery of the period, we may mention the so-called Dalmatica of Charle- magne, preserved in St. Peter's in Rome, which, indeed, pro- bably owes its origin to the twelfth century. Taking a general survey of early Christian art, we cannot fail to see that it at first began its course upheld by enthusiastic feeling, that it produced grand fundamental forms, created a series of ideal figures, and then soon became powerless, slackened in will and ability, and finally gave way either to ossified formalism or to rude confusion. This phenomenon may appear to us unsatisfactory, but yet it was necessary and beneficial. The races belonging to the old circle of civilisation had exhausted 330 History of Art. themselves, and they could not possibly, even under the in- fluence of new religious views, thoroughly fashion a fresh life. They were, however, still capable of holding out as types for all future ages a form of church suitable for their worship and a number of sculptured figures ; and that they did this with the resources of antique art, is perhaps the most striking proof of their inexhaustible vigour. But here lay also the limits of their creative power. The Germanic races were still too little deve- loped to be able to cast a decided weight in the balance of art-development. They themselves, in their political life, fell back upon the remembrances of the Roman period, as is tes- tified by the renewal of the empire of Caesar by Charlemagne. How much more must they in art have yielded to the supe- riority of antique tradition in early Christian conceptions and transformations ! Other ages were yet to come, when the superior power of antique culture would no longer hold such universal sway, when the self-reliance of the Germanic races would fashion new political forms, in order to be able to satisfy the mental need of an independent mode of art. To have laid the grand foundation for these future ages, a foundation from which an infinitely rich and varied creative power was to deve- lope itself, is the important merit of early Christian art. CHAPTER II. THE ART OF ISLAM. I. CHARACTER AND ARTISTIC FEELING OF THE ARABIANS. Monotheism was to find its way to the East in another form than that of Christianity. It is true the East had not wholly repudiated the Christian doctrines, but various disputes and heresies had soon disfigured their form. It was thus reserved for Mohammed to spread the belief in one God among the people of the East. The faith of Abraham had of old pre- vailed in his father-land Arabia, and the Arabians traced their origin to the patriarch of Israel, their language also belonging to the Semitic family. But rude idolatry, and at the same time the Chaldean worship of the stars, had penetrated universally, while there were not wanting those who professed the Mosaic and Christian doctrines. As in religious matters, so in other respects, the Arabian people were cleft into many hostile races, who extirpated each other in hostile feuds. It was Mohammed who with ardent enthusiasm kindled into a bright flame the old pure belief of his race, and with the power of conviction and the might of the sword spread it as a new doctrine over the whole of Arabia. The nature of the country and of its inhabitants was favour- able to such a beginning. A rocky bare table-land, without rivers or open coast, Arabia lies cut off from the sea, although enclosed on three sides by arms of the sea. The mind of the people was, therefore, not even remotely inclined to seafaring, but was led to a roving nomadic life. In the boundless wilderness of the desert, under the brilliant cloudless sky, on which glittered the stars of the northern and southern hemisphere, a mind was 332 History of Art. developed equally Inclined to fantastic extravagance as to keen one-sided speculation. As no distinct horizon-line bounded the son of the desert, and no varied forms of nature afforded points on which his eye could rest, his mental eye also wandered into the unlimited, his imagination revelled in the formless ; he passed quickly from one idea to another, never learning the repose which belongs to the fixed impress of distinct forms. In this we find an inner affinity with the character of the Israelitish people, and the basis of that abstract monotheism common to both nations, and of that simple worship established among them both. That primeval black stone at Mecca, which tradition connected with Adam, and which the Arabians revered long prior to Mohammed in the sacred enclosure of the Kaaba, was an expression of their religious worship divested as it was of images ; and if in the course of time the innumerable quantity of 300 idols were accumulated round it, the worship of them was only a decline into the polytheism of the neighbouring heathen races, similar to the temptation which befell the Israel- ites. But that the belief in the God of Abraham still existed in many minds in Arabia, though mingled with various foreign elements, and even with Christian elements, is only a more distinct testimony to the yearning after monotheistic views. These views acquired a purified form in Mohammed's teaching, and in essentials, especially in the belief in a resur- rection and in an eternal life, they possessed a basis kindred with that of Christianity. Yet the embodiment of these views was suited both to the more abstract and to the more sensual life of the East ; they harmonised with the former by the undivided unity of the Divine Being, and with the latter by the adoption of a fatalistic principle, and the sensual colouring of the world to come. Although Islamism is not deficient in a moral ten- dency, although valour, generosity, hospitality, fidelity, and magnanimity are enjoined upon every Moslem, yet, by the strange mixture in the religion of Mohammed, there is none of the higher moral sanctity which belongs to the doctrines of Jesus Christ. The Art of I slain. Character and Artistic Feeling. 333 This corresponds also with the manner in which the Prophet disseminated his faith, having recourse to fire and sword besides a more peaceful propaganda, and kindling the fanaticism of his adherents into a bloody religious war. Once carried away by the fire of religious ecstasy, allured, moreover, by the immense treasures of the kingdoms to be conquered, the Arabians broke like a devastating flood over the decaying Byzantine power and the degenerate Oriental kingdoms ; and so irresistible was their advance, that in the year 644, on the death of Omar, the second successor of the Prophet, thirty-four years after the first appear- ance of Mohammed, the territory of Islam stretched from Tripoli to the frontiers of India, and from the Indian Ocean to the Caucasus ; and not merely comprised Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, but also the lands of Persia, Egypt, and the northern coast of Africa. And scarcely a hundred years had elapsed since the first feeble beginnings of Mohammedanism, when it had subjugated on the east the immense territory of India as far as the Ganges, and on the west the whole of North Africa, Sicily, and Spain. When the Arabians inundated these extensive territories, in which a grand state of civilisation had created splendid monu- ments, they were still the same simple people, partly warlike and partly nomadic, possessing none of the refinements of culture. No wonder, therefore, that they frequently yielded to the influence of foreign forms of civilisation, and this especially as regards art. They themselves had no national art of their own ; just as little as the Israelites, and for the same reasons. Thus it was that they applied Christian churches to their own form of worship, or that they obtained architects for their mosques from the Byzantine court. With abhorrence, however, they abstained from figurative representations, and one of Mohammed's laws forbade these no less strictly than the Mosaic tables had done. Not merely the fear of falling back into heathenish idolatry occasioned this prohibition ; but, like the whole simple worship of the Arabians, it was the result of their abstract turn of mind, as well as of the incapability of their 334 History of Art. roving fancy to be fettered by plastic conceptions. These strong contrasts in the Arabian nature produced equally strong con- trasts in their mental life. Ardent sensuality and severe self- denial, passionate desire for action and dreamy immorality, alternated with each other. These qualities made them espe- cially inclined to poetry ; and in the very earliest period we find among them competitions of poets, who sang the deeds and glory of their race before the assembled people, while their prize poems, embroidered in silk, were placed in the Kaaba. As regards art, on the contrary, the peculiar nature of the Arabian possessed no conspicuous qualification. The prohibi- tion of images limited all artistic work to architecture. In this branch of art, however, they chiefly followed the style which they found prevalent in the conquered countries ; in India and Egypt we especially perceive the strong influence of the grand monuments of ancient civilisation. Other effects resulted from the Christian, and especially from the Byzantine art. Like their religion, their architecture was also a mixture of these various elements ; and as the world of their imagination was restless and unlimited, their architecture also was full of vagueness and caprice, and was apparently without rule. It lacked that definite stamp which only appears when the imagination, restrained by reflection, produces pure creations. Instead of this, the architec- ture of the Arabians presents the same combination of striking contrasts, as clings to their whole mental nature — a bald, cold exterior with a fantastically decorated interior ; monotonous confused masses, and a magic complexity of ornament ; death- like stiflhess and inexhaustibly rich life. 2. THE ARCHITECTURE OF ISLAM. The progress of Mohammedan architecture ^ is, in the first place, linked with religious requirements, which correspond in most respects with those of Christianity. A spacious hall (mihrab), set apart for the worshippers, with a peculiarly sacred » Cf. Denhn, d. Kiinst. PI. 38, 39, 40. The Art of Islam. A rchitecture. 335 place (kiblah), where the Koran was kept, form the principal requisite of every mosque. To this was attached a large court containing a fountain for the ablutions of the pilgrims. Slender, tower-like minarets, from which the muezzin called the faithful to prayer, were likewise indispensable ; and, lastly, the dome-like tomb of the founder was frequently connected with the edifice. But from these leading features Mohammedan art was unable to develope any general and fixed form for its houses of worship. So long as the essential requirements of their worship were satisfied, so long as the direction of the house of prayer towards Mecca was preserved, there was much scope for liberty in the formation of the ground-plan. Nevertheless, the design of the mosque may always be traced to one of two types ; either there was a second nearly square court, surrounded by halls, which obtained a greater depth towards the side of the inner 'h \ \ 'i .i i I i \ •\ i 'i _ m i • 'H li ij ■:i ii 5 •5 i ii •S I ij \ \ "WITtW • i i 's |>. ii ij |j !> H M !; 5 ' !; 6 \\\\\\\\\\ Fig. i68. Mosque Amru at Old Cairo. Fig. 169. Mosque at Tabriz. sanctuary — as, for instance, the Mosque Amru at Old Cairo (Fig. 168) — or the design was executed after the Byzantine model as a dome structure, as in the mosque at Tabriz. (Fig. 169.) In the artistic execution of these ground-plans no new system of construction was, it is true, produced, but a series of new forms were created. The artistic feeling of the Arabians was not persistent, not serious enough to give much advance to architecture in a constructive sense, while the very versatility of their imagination prompted them to add many original forms 33^ History of A rt. to architectural tradition. In the extensive halls and arcades which the mosques required, they found occasion for various forms of columns, though these, however, were only rarely con- nected by the semicircular arch. More complicated and freer forms suited their roving fancy ; and thus the pointed arch arose — an arch composed of two circular segments, admitting the possibility of a more varied form, either more perpendi- cular or more diminished ; also the horseshoe arch (Fig. 170), consist- ing of the large segment of a circle, and thus gaining greater slender- ness and fantastic Hfe ; and, lastly, the keel arch, rising at first in a semicircular form, and ending at the top in a curved point. In all these forms we trace the predilection of the East for richly curved and swell- ing lines. In the roofs of the courts, they followed either the system of wooden ceilings prevailing in the early Christian basilica, or the Byzantine dome. The cupola form was used in the vaulted roofs of arcades and courts, and also to give prominence to the principal space ; it was also used over the fountain in the portico, or, lastly, over the tomb of the founder. In all these cases, it remains true to the construction employed by the . Byzantines ; and only when it was intended to have a conspi- cuous position did its outward form assume either a strongly heightened or curved swelling outline, testifying, together with the lines of the arch, to the peculiarly fantastic tendency of Oriental taste. But beside these simple and usual ceilings, there arose among the Arabians a vaulted form peculiar to themselves, expressing their character far more than any other detail. It consisted of a number of separate niche-like vaulted The Art of Islam. Architecture. 337 calottes, which, projecting over each other Hke consoles, formed a richly constructed and varied whole, not unlike the honey- comb or stalactite caves. (Fig. 171.) They were employed in various ways, especially in filling up the triangular spaces of Fig. 171. From the Kuba at Palermo. the domes, and in effecting an agreeable transition from the wall to the vaulted roof, and from the square to the circular form ; but often the edges of the arches, and even whole ceilings and domes, consisted of this graceful stalactite work. Formed of light material, such as gypsum and stucco, it has no higher con- structive value ; but its decorative effect, increased by varied colouring and gilding, is all the more important. Judging of it in connection with the whole decorative system of the Moham- medan buildings, we find that it is just in this that the true life and the unsurpassable beauty of this style lie. The ornamental work of the Arabians does not follow, as in antique art, the noble form of the architectural framework, but it exhibits a decided tendency to surface decoration. The walls are covered with an inexhaustible abundance of charming forms, calling to mind the splendid tapestries of the East and the light tents of nomadic wanderers. The imagination of the Arabian, however, is too flowing to conceive and to execute, in all their distinct peculiarity, the various forms of nature, whether of the animal or vegetable world. Each separate form serves him rather as a passing point of rest and transition to the following, as an ornamental pattern which, in restless whirls and ever new VOL. I. z 338 History of Art. combinations, must join with the homogeneous and the dis- similar, in order to produce that fantastic diversity of form which has received from its inventors the name of Arabesque. In it, vegetable and animal forms mingle together in a manner, rarely adhering to nature, exhibiting generally a fantastic design of various linear and richly entwining geometric figures. (Fig. 172.) One design encroaches into another — there is, as it were, an ever- Fig. 172. Portal at Iconium. lasting running and seeking, a playing and pursuing, of the forms ; and in all these both the restlessly roving fancy and the specu- lative understanding find their pride and their satisfaction. Golden ornament and splendid colouring, chiefiy in strong dis- tinct tints, accompany this play of form, their tapestry-Hke regularity producing a tranquillising effect. This rich system of decoration is connected with architecture in a systematic arrangement, corresponding to the surfaces of the walls and the openings of the arches, so that frieze-like strips afford a frame and finish, and often twisted devices form the termination to a whole compartment. The separate arches also have a rectangular border of richly adorned arabesque bands ; so The A 7^t of Islam. Monuments. 339 that, although a stricter law cannot make itself perceptible, owing to the construction, yet a kind of organisation and rhythmical regularity brings rule and order into this ornamental play of forms. All the surfaces of the walls, the curves of the arches, the borders and edges of the arcades, were covered with this brilliant decoration ; and numerous sentences from the Koran and the poets, inscribed in simple Cufic characters, or in the fantastic strokes of the later Arabic- Italian type, were inserted as frieze and frames, in order both to charm the eye and to afford a stimulus to contemplation. All this profusion, however, only adorned the interior. The exterior was usually strictly left without ornament ; so that here also a striking contrast prevailed. Nevertheless, the archi- tecture of Islam understood, when necessary, how to obtain a lively artistic effect externally also by the introduction of lofty portal niches, which were often richly adorned by fantastically formed battlements, and occasionally by open courts, and in certain designs by the stately dome. 3. MONUMENTS. a. Egypt and Sicily. All that has been preserved in Arabia, Palestine, and Syria of the earliest monuments of Arabian architecture proves a vagueness and dependance in the still youthful art. Thus the Kaaba at Mecca, for instance, appears erected completely after ancient models ; the mosque El Aksa, upon the temple mountain at Jerusalem, originally with five, and afterwards seven aisles, imitates the design of Christian basilicas, combining with it, however, a dome ; also the great mosque of the Caliph Walid at Damascus, which may be designated an imitation of the other. It was in Egypt that the art of the Arabians formed itself into a fixed system, and attained an imposing perfection.^ In ^ Denhii. d. Kunst. PI. 39. Cf. P. Coste, Architecture arabe, ou Monuinens de Caire. Girault de Prangey, Momimens arabes d Egypt &^c, z 2 340 History of Art. the presence of the profound seriousness and soHdity of the primeval buildings of the Pharaohs, the architecture of Islam here rose to a surprising grandeur. Most of the monuments exhibit a solid freestone structure with mighty pillars, and the distinct form of the pointed arch appears here for the first time. A multitude of magnificent monuments rose into being, and made the new capital, Cairo, one of the most splendid cities of the new kingdom. A small monument, the so-called Nile- measurer, upon an island near Old Cairo, is of importance, from the fact that its wall-niches exhibit, for the first time, the form of the pointed arch. It is, at all events, one of the earliest specimens of it, whether it belongs to the first building in the year 719 a.d., or to its restoration in the year 821. Among the mosques, which in this early period followed the simple ground-plan of a hall surrounded by courts, one of the most important is the Mosque Amru, built in the year 643 a.d., immediately after the subjugation of the land, and considerably enlarged at a subsequent period. Round a quadratic court, the sides of which measure 245 feet in length, and in the centre of which there is a fountain (Fig. 168, on p. 335), are placed colon- nades — those in front presenting a single row, those to the left four rows, those to the right three, and in the hall of prayer amounting to six rows. The columns are all taken from antique Roman works, and are various in form and height, a diversity which is equalised by layers placed beneath the bases. In order to attain a greater height, stone cubes are laid upon the capitals, over which, in horseshoe-like contraction, rise the arcades, at first circular in form, and then terminating in a slight point. (Fig. 173.) The steadiness of the pillars is secured by hori- zontal wooden supports. While even here we find traces of the antique corresponding with the early Christian basilicas, the mosque of Ibn Tulun, executed in the year 885 a.d., acquires a higher importance, as we perceive Fig- 173. Arcades of the Mosque Amru. The Art of Islam. Monu^nents. 341 in it the construction of a new architectural form in the com- pletion of a mighty colonnade, with elegant corner columns, anei a rich ornamenting of the surface of the arches. The design of the whole corresponds with the last-mentioned mosque, as is shown by Fig. 174, which affords a glimpse into the arcade- encircled court, and exhibits the powerful arches, the rich battle- ments of the walls, the minaret rising in telescopic form, together Fig. 174. From the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. with the flight of steps winding round the outside, and the serious monumental form of the dome. The splendid mausoleums of the caliphs at Cairo, stately domed buildings of a severe design and quadratic ground-plan, belong to the eleventh century. An elegant row of battlements terminates the quadrangular wall, the transition from which to the high circular dome is obtained by fantastic forms. A high portal niche, richly adorned with stalactite designs, marks the entrance. As works of later epochs we may mention the mosque Barkauk, executed in the year 1149, the arcades of which are finished with domes ; also the splendid mosque Hassan, belonging to the fourteenth century ; and, lastly, the'mosque El Moyed, belonging 342 Histo7y of Art. to the fifteenth century, the courts of which rest upon columns, and the walls and ceilings display much brilliant ornament. About the year 827 a.d., the Arabians penetrated into Sicily/ and established there a state of culture which for almost three centuries advanced in increasingly rich development. The few monuments, however, which have survived the storms of time are not to be assigned with any certainty to the period of Arabic rule, although they belong to it in their character. The most important remains of this kind is a country seat near Palermo, named Zisa. In spite of modern transformation, the stamp of Arabic architecture is not to be mistaken in the arrangement of the ground-plan (Fig. 175), and in the general character of the building. The masses of walls rise about 88 feet high, almost unbroken and severely grand. At the two narrow sides, there ap- pear projecting pavilions, and in the centre of the facade, which is 112 feet Fig. 175. Gfound-plan of the Zisa. long, there is a lofty portal, enclosed by double columns. This portal leads into a corridor- like vestibule, and from thence into a square hall containing niches and an elegant fountain : the roof of this hall is formed by a cross-vault. Although much destroyed and subsequently re- stored, this building evidences, in its stalactite ceiling, mosaic frieze, rich paneling of the walls, and the marble-columns inserted at the corners and at the portal — evidently similar in execution to the mosque of Ibn Tulun — the former beauty of the design; a beauty increased to exquisite grace by the cheerful play of the fountain, in the midst of the luxuriance of a landscape of surpas- sing fertility. A smaller building of a similar character is the country house of Kuba, also situated near Palermo, a specimen of the details of which is given at Fig. 171, p. 337- From its ^ Gaily Knight, Saracenic and Norman Remains in Sicily. Hittorf et Zanth, Architecture moderne de la Sicile. Fol. Paris, 1835. The Art of Islam. Mo7iuments. 343 Moorish inscription, it belongs, however, to the Norman period, and was built by King William 11. b. Spain. In no country has the art of Islam passed through such con- sistent stages of development, and attained to such noble perfec- tion, as in the Pyrenaic peninsula/ The conquest of the country took place in the beginning of the eighth century ; and until the fall of Granada, in 1492, the land remained uninterruptedly for seven centuries in the possession of the Moors, who had esta- blished an independent kingdom there under Abderrhaman. The vicinity of the Christian west, the constant allusion, both warlike and peaceful, to its knights, invested Moorish life with a strong admixture of western elements, and thus at the same time caused a more consistent advance in development than Arabian art could elsewhere experience. It is a noble, charming, and high-minded spirit which marks the epoch of Moorish rule in Spain, and which is beautifully exhibited in the chivalrous life, in the high civilisation of the country, and in science, poetry, and art. Architecture took an active part in this brilliant superiority. After the conquest of the, country, Abderrhaman built a mag- nificent mosque at Cordova, the capital of Moorish Spain, about the year 786 a.d. ; a structure said to equal the famous shrines of Jerusalem and Damascus. (Fig. 176.) It consisted of a court eleven rows of columns deep, the central aisle being somewhat superior to the others in breadth. They all opened upon an enclosed court, measuring about a third of the length of the whole. In the tenth century, eight aisles were added, so that the whole breadth now contains nineteen aisles, and the ground-plan of the building measures 560 feet long by 400 feet broad. With this immense extent, the height of the nave, which is about 20 feet broad, only reaches 30 feet, and even this height 1 Cf. Deiikm. d. Ktmst. PI. 38. Girault de Prangey, Essai siir V Arcliitecttire des Arabes en EspagJie, en Sidle, et en Barbarie. Paris, 1841. Al. de Laborde, Voyage pittoresque et historique de VEspagne. 4 vols. Villa Amil, Espana artistica y monumental. 2 vols. Paris. Caveda, Geschichte der Baukunst in Spanien. Edited by Fr. Kugler. Stuttgart, 1858. 344 History of Art. is only rendered possible by an extremely ingenious mode of construction. As the antique columns employed in the building are only about lo feet high, not alone are horseshoe arches spanned above them, but upon the broad impost, which covers Fig. 176. Ground-plan of the Mosque at Cordova. the capitals in Byzantine fashion, a lofty stone pillar is placed, which is connected with its neighbour by a second series of arches, while the wall resting upon these arches served as a support to the formerly wooden roof In this skilful manner the colonnades were rendered steady one above another, without requiring wooden supports, and a more considerable height for the building was obtained. Still more richly is this form of construction exhibited in the loftier court at the end of the central aisle, the so-called chapel of * Villa Viciosa,' which is finished with a dome. The arches here intersect still more, and are composed of various indented segments fantastically arranged, alternately consisting of white hewn stone and red tiles, and which, combined with the splendid ornament of the walls, the gay mosaics and rich gilding, produce a brilliant effect. Behind the chapel rises the small octagonal kiblah, the dome of which has a peculiar shell-like curve (cf Fig. 177), and is hewn out of a single block of marble. These magnificent parts of the building belong to a later period — namely, to the tenth and eleventh centuries ; yet their details decidedly The A rt of Islam. Monuments, 345 evidence Byzantine influence, as also do the columns of the whole extensive structure, which partly follow the antique form, and partly the Byzantine imitation of the antique. Although the mosque was transformed into a Christian cathedral after the conquest of the city, and thus many alterations must have been Fig. 177. Section of the Mosque at Cordova. introduced, yet the original effect has remained essentially the same ; an effect severely solemn and mystically sublime, ac- quiring an enchantingly picturesque and fantastic grace by the rich perspective play of 850 columns, with their double and triple arches. On the other hand, the exterior is devoid of all ornament, and is bald and simple, being only broken by powerful buttresses. A second stage of development is marked by the buildings of Seville, where, towards the end of the twelfth century, a splendid mosque was erected, the remains of which are still preserved in the north-eastern parts of the cathedral. More important, however, is the so-called Giralda, the former minaret of the mosque, still in perfect preservation, with the exception of its modern addition. (Fig. 178.) Deviating from the slender and graceful form, usually circular or polygonal, which is generally seen in minarets, this building rises in a square mass, reaching a height of 174 feet by 43 feet Fig. 178. Giralda at Seville. 34^ History of Art. square : this height is increased by the modern addition to 260 feet The mass of masonry is brick, divided into compartments by perpendicular and horizontal stripes, the surface of these com- partments being ornamented by rich designs in burnt stone. These designs, rising from small columns, spread net-like over the entire surface, the same pattern being always repeated. In the central compartment, windows are introduced, which are divided by small columns connected by horseshoe arches, with an indented arch spanning the whole. The Moorish style, however, reached its highest perfection in the buildings which mark the brilliant concluding epoch of the rule of Islam in the kingdom of Granada.^ Driven by the advancing Christian arms to this last southern bulwark, the Moors seem to have desired once more to display on their limited territory their whole creative power ; and the spirit of their culture seemed once more, before its extinction, to burst forth in brilliant splendour. It was about the year 1250 that the mighty fortress of the Alhambra rose upon the steep rock overhanging the town of Granada, and the palace enclosed within it was erected in the later half of the following century. After the conquest of the city much of it was destroyed ; but the most unsparing devastation was committed by Charles V., who removed a great part of the building, in order to build in its stead a palace in heavy renaissance style. All that is preserved, however, is sufficient to bring before the mind an image of the fairest period of chivalry and a realisation of some enchanting eastern legend. The plan of the fortress is grouped, after the custom of southern lands, and of the East especially, round two open courts, which, with their reservoirs, fountains, colonnades, and projecting roofs, afford coolness and shade. Entering by the old main entrance, now verging on parts of Charles the Fifth s palace (the part more lightly engraved in Fig. 179), we find ourselves in the court of the Alberca, 70 feet broad by 1 26 feet long, and bordered ^ Goury and Owen Jones, Plaits^ elevations, &^c., of the Alhambra. 3 vols. Folio. London, 1842. Girault de Prangey, Souvenirs de Grenade et de P Alhambra. Paris. The Art of Islam. Monuments. 347 by a colonnade at both the narrow ends. Opposite the entrance, on the north side, Hes a vestibule ; and beyond this, in a strong square tower, is the ' Hall of the Ambassadors,' a building 34 feet square, enlarged on three of its sides by deep window Fig. 179. Ground-plan of the Alhambra. niches inserted in the walls, which are more than 9 feet thick. A rich stalactite dome, rising to a height of 58 feet, completes the whole. These parts were evidently appropriated to public matters. Only a small portion is preserved of the buildings on the west of the ' Alberca' court ; on the other hand, the eastern courts still exhibit a rich and extensive structure. Their central point is formed by a second open court, some- what smaller than the first, 61 feet broad by 108 feet long, but superior to the other in richness, elegance, and splendour of ornament. This court also is adorned with fountains. In the centre there is an immense alabaster vase resting on twelve lions of black marble ; and the name of the Lions' Court is given to the hall. All round the court there are arches resting on slender columns, and these project in the middle of the two narrow sides into square pavilions, which also contain fountains. There is a lively variety exhibited in the arrangement of the 348 History of A rt. columns, which sometimes stand singly, and are sometimes grouped in pairs, or even three together, as if all strict architec- tural rule was to give way before the cheerful playfulness of the whole. Eastward lay a long arcade-like court with five deep niches, called the ' Hall of Judgment;' while towards the north, in the middle of the long side of the Lions' Court, was the Hall of the Two Sisters, so called from two large slabs of marble on the floor. Towards the south lay a smaller hall, which received its name from the murder of the famous family of the Abencerrages, which took place there at Boabdil's command. These courts are the most beautiful and splendid parts of the fortress : the walls and stalactite domes are covered with an inexhaustible display of gay ornaments. The hall of the Abencerrages is, moreover, connected with two adjoining cabinets by elegant arches supported by slender columns. Everywhere canals carry the water of the great fountain to smaller fountains, and thus complete the air of easy comfort and poetical dreaminess. The angle between the courts of the Two Sisters and the court of the Alberca is filled by bathing rooms, which are in connection with the dwelling apartments. The artistic formation of this ground-plan breathes the ut- most lightness and grace. The seriousness of strict organisa- tion is removed by a slenderness and elegance, apparently bordering on the impossible. Thus the marble columns shoot up like thin canes, only joined to the ground as it were by a slight ring ; and even the capitals have the same graceful and slender character. Several fine rings surround the lower part, which is only a continuation of the shaft ; it then curves out- wardly on all sides, and forms a cubic head, which is covered with twisted arabesques, lace-like devices, and leaves or stalac- tites. The whole is completed by a projecting fluting, upon which a strong impost rests, the surface of which also exhibits rich ornamental work. Where two pillars are connected to- gether, as in our example (Fig. i8o), the same impost belongs to both capitals. It is obvious how diametrically different this whole structure of the column is to all ancient traditions, and The Art of Islam. Monuments, ' 349 how thoroughly it appears in its completion as a production of the Moorish style. Above the columns, a strong pillar rose vertically, terminating with a horizontal frieze, and thus forming a frame in which the arch was placed as a light filling-up. It rose in a high circular or horse- shoe shape, with its surface and edges so completely garnished with fretwork, twisted arabes- ques, indented arches and stalac- tites, that it appears to the eye as a delicate tissue of magni- ficent and glittering colours. (Fig. 181.) Added to all this rich variety of form, the surface of the walls are decorated with a harmonious splendour that stands unrivalled, thus rendering the whole system of ornament com- Fig. 180. Capital from the Alhambra. Fig. 181. Edge of Arch in the Alhambra. plete. The lower part is formed by a socle of glazed tiles, about 4 feet in height, in simple tempered colours. The upper surface of the walls is divided into separate compartments by bands of gold inscriptions upon an azure ground, while the compart- ments are resplendent with arabesques in gold, blue, and red.^ ' Cf. Denkm, d. Ktmst. (PI. 40 A), which contains a coloured representation of the Alhambra. 350 History of Aid. * Gladly does one resign oneself to the intoxicated effect of these fairy-like courts, and forget the lack of strict architectural rule. Everything breathes the happy delight of a dreamy poetic existence, such as can be alone enjoyed under a southern sun ; refreshing shade and reviving coolness are afforded in fantas- tically decorated courts ; and amid the gurgling of the fountains, the play of the sunlight through the designs of the fretted arches, and the breath of exquisite odours, the mind is lulled as it were in a romantic dreamy twilight' Similar in design and equally charming in its completion, the country house Generalife, built on an opposite rock, is dis- tinguished by its graceful portico, fountain, and gardens. (Fig. 182.) Fig. 182. Portico of Generaliie. The technical skill displayed in this building consists in its light material, which is handled with admirable skill : the mass of walls resting on the columns being composed of a kind of pise, a mixture of small stones, earth, and lime ; the vaulted roofs and arches are of gypsum and stucco over light wooden frameworks, and the ornaments are cast in fine gypsum. The Art of Islam. Monuments. 351 The freedom of Moorish art, in its contact with the Christian West, is especially evidenced in the plastic ornaments in the Alhambra. It is true the lions by the fountain are heavy and rude proofs of an unpractised sense of form (analogous works are, however, produced in the Christian monuments of this pe- riod) ; but of more importance are the paintings which were executed on parchment on the vaulted roof of the Court of Justice, partly representing dignified figures of Moorish rulers, and partly scenes of chivalric life, exhibiting Moors and Chris- tians in various contact — works full of naive grace, of a similar kind with the contemporaneous productions of Florentine artists, and probably proceeding from foreign (Italian) masters. c. Turkey y Persia, and India. The Oriental kingdoms were also early subject to Islam ; yet their most splendid monuments represent the last epoch of an independent Mohammedan art, and mark the concluding period of a rich and varied culture. With the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in the year 1453, a turning point in architectural progress occurred.^ The magnificent church of St. Sophia was transformed into a mosque, and with its grand dome presented a model for the erection of architectural edifices — a model to which Eastern architecture all the more readily yielded, as the dome was a form common to the East, and in the earlier epochs of Arabian art Byzantium had obtained great influence in the structure of the Mohammedan mosques. An imposing central building, crowned with a dome, was henceforth the design of Turkish mosques, to which the fine slender and needle-like form of the minaret afforded a striking contrast. Among the most splendid works of this kind we may mention the mosque of SeHm II. (1566-74) at Adrianople, a dome-like structure resting on eight colossal polygonal pillars ; and above all the magnificent mosque of SoHman II. at Constantinople, completed in the year 1555, a 1 Denhn. d. Kiuist. PI. 39. Travels of AH Bey. Vol. 11. J. V. Hammer Constantinopolis uiid der Bosporus. 352 History of Art. model of the church of St. Sophia, but in the pointed style. Close to it rises the tomb of the sultan, an octangular dome, with windows in the pointed style, and surrounded by a columned portico with pointed arches. These three works were executed by the famous Ottoman architect Sinan. Persia^ witnessed a long period of mental and material culture under the dominion of Islam, to which it had been subject since the days of Omar. Science and poetry flourished at the courts of the vicegerents of the caliphs, who speedily broke their allegi- ance, and established new dynasties. But the only important monuments preserved are those belonging to later epochs, after Timur had conquered the land, towards the end of the fourteenth century, and these monuments proclaim the brilliant development of Oriental art. Ottoman architecture had obtained a decided influence over the Persian ever since, by the conquest of Con- stantinople, it had obtained, in the church of St. Sophia, a model for the grand development of the mosque design. Thus Byzan- tium, even in its decline, was to have an enriching influence both upon the East, and, as we shall later see, upon the West also. The Persian mosques adopted the dome form upon a polygonal or quadratic ground-plan, and fashioned it into a magnificent effect. Lofty portals, rich minarets, and a decoration which rendered homage to nature in its representation of flowers and plants, combined with a tender, soft, and cheerful colouring — these are the characteristic features of Persian buildings. One of the most perfect of these works was the now ruined mosque at Tabriz, executed in the middle of the fifteenth century. (Fig. 169, p. 335.) Its plan consisted of a dome struc- ture surrounded by vaulted courts, and measuring about 50 feet in diameter, and the utmost splendour combined with harmonious beauty was exhibited in its decoration.^ Flowers and plants intertwine in bright green and white colours on a blue ground ; 1 Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 40. Texier, Descriptioti de rAr7nenie, &^c. Paris, 1842. Tom. II. Coste et Flandin, Voyage en Perse. Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, &^c. 2 See a coloured illustration in the Denkm. d. Kunst (PI. 40 a), where a repre- sentation of the decoration of the Alhambra shows the characteristic difference be- tween the two. The Art of Islam. Monuments. 353 golden arabesques and inscriptions are interwoven between on a black ground. On the whole, the Persian arabesques exhibit rather an adherence to nature, and the Spanish- Moorish designs evidence a strictly architectural and formal character. The magnificent buildings which have been erected in Ispahan, the capital of the Sophi dynasty, since the sixteenth century are also of the utmost splendour. The most distin- guished among them are grouped round a gigantic square, the Fig. 183. Portal of the Mosque at Ispahan. great Meidan, which is surrounded by two stories of vaulted arcades with pointed arches, and in the middle of each side there is an immense and lofty portal between slender minarets. One of these portals leads to the great mosque, which, with the entire structure, is the work of Shah Abbas the Great (i 587-1629). Vast porticos and repeated portals with minarets prepare the eye for the splendid effect of the interior, the main court of which is roofed by a dome, which, with its curved and bulging outline, expresses the fantastic character of the East. All these forms are covered, both within and without, with a tissue of elegant ornament in bright colours — white, yellow, and black, on an azure ground ; and even the immense dome is entirely overlaid VOL. I. A A 354 History of Art. with gaily enamelled tiles, so that the architectural masses seem broken into playful decoration. As in the dome, the curved form of the keel arch prevails in the portal, which is formed as a semicircular niche, richly adorned with ornaments, and covered with cell-like calottes. In India there are a number of works preserved which exhibit no less magnificence, and which likewise belong to the concluding epoch of the Mohammedan style.^ The rule, especi- ally of the great Moguls, established in 1526 by the dynasty of Timur, was distinguished for magnificent monuments, the most remarkable of which owe their origin to the time of Shah Abbas the Great and his grandson Shah Jehan — that is, to the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries. As the new court imitated that of the Persian Shah's both in language and manners, its art also followed the main features of the Persian — hence the same forms, the curved arches and domes, the lofty niches, the nume- rous slender minarets, and the extensive courts and halls. But instead of the graceful stamp of Persian ornament, the exterior here assumes a character of imposing massiveness, the separate parts of which form, it is true, a picturesque contrast, but seem to emulate the old Hindoo buildings in bulk and dignity of expression. In the interior decoration there is a fairy-like dis- play of the richest materials, of costly metals, and precious stones, realising the dreamy charm of Eastern fiction. Shah Akbar built the mausoleum of his father at Delhi, and his own at Secundra, near Agra, as well as the Dschumna and the pearl mosques at Agra — works the richness of which was surpassed by the still more splendid undertakings of Shah Jehan. He founded New Delhi, and adorned it with magnificent build- ings, among them his own imposing palace and the vast Dschumna mosque. He erected a mausoleum at Agra to his beloved consort, Nur- Jehan, known as the celebrated Taj Mahal; a dome building of white marble, which, surrounded by blooming gardens, rises from the midst of noble arcades. Perforated marble trellis- • Cf. Denkm. d. Kunsf. PI. 40. L. v. Orlxch, Reise in Ostindien. Leipzig, 1845. Daniell, Oriental Scenery. Fergusson, Handbook of Architecture. Vol. I. Oriental-Christian Art. 355 work subdues the sunlight, which falls through a space in the dome of 70 feet in diameter, and illuminates the fabulous splendour of its flower-mosaics, which are entirely formed of precious stones. Further south in the Deccan are numerous monuments belong- Fig. 184. Mausoleum at Bedjapur. ing to the same period ; above all, the mausoleums, palaces, and mosques at Bedjapur (Fig. 184), which are executed in a rich picturesque style, more after the manner of the old Hindoo monuments. 4. SUPPLEMENT. ORIENTAL-CHRISTIAN ART. a. Armenia and Georgia. Jn the lands of the Caucasus, about the time of the tenth and eleventh centuries, a Christian style of architecture deve- loped itself, which on the one side received its primitive forms from Byzantium, and on the other side allowed the influence of early Mohammedan architecture to affect their execution.^ The primitive form of the churches adheres to the Greek cross, over the centre of which a dome rises. While the trace of Byzantine models is here plainly evidenced, the dome construction proves an independence of conception. Instead of the circular vaulted roof, we here find a tent-like penthouse of stone rising above the dome, a contrivance probably first suggested by considera- 1 Texier, Description de PArjuenie, &^c. Tom. I. Dubois de Montpereux, Voyage autour du Caucase, &^c. Paris, 1839. 4 vols. V>. Gx\mm^ Monuments Architecture byzantine en Georgie et en Armenie. St. Petersburg, 1859, et seq. A A 2 356 History of Art. tions with regard to climate in mountainous regions. The in- terior was divided into various parts by strong pillars, or by- slender pillars joined together, and in the roofing of these divisions, domes and tunnel arches were employed. The principal niche of the altar is accompanied by two smaller apsides for the side aisles ; but none of the apsides project externally in their semicircular form, but are all cut off equally by the straight wall, and only deep triangular wall-niches mark the points where the apsides touch. Similar triangular niches are also to be found at the points of walls, which are strengthened within by pillars, and thus, according to architectural rule, re- quired rather a strengthening by buttresses than a weakening. The outward walls are constructed with slender half-pillars, connected together by mock arches, a form which appears again on the drum of the dome. The cornices are also orna- mented with a shallow frieze of band-like ornaments, which, like the rest of the detail, have an air of timidity and want of energy, and give the building, with all its distinctness of plan and effective construction, a feeble and timid character. An example of this style of architecture is to be seen in the cathedral of Ani, which, like the other churches in the country, is but of small proportions. (Fig. 185.) Other instances are to be found in the monastery church of Etschmiazin and the church of St. Rhipsime at Vagharschabad, which exhibits a com- plicated specimen of the cruciform ground-plan. We may also mention the church at Ala Werdi, and the church to the Virgin at Gelathi in Georgia. b. Russia. Christianity extended to Russia, and with it, in the course of the tenth century, the forms of Byzantine art ; but we find here, more than elsewhere, a thorough union with the Oriental style in its most extravagant caprices. Russian architecture^ possesses a spirit of fantastic wildness, that not only ridicules all rule, but 1 Cf. Denhn. d. Kimst. PI. 35 A. Figs. 8, 9. Oriental-Christian Art. 357 also as much as possible shuns simple beauty and distinctness of form. The ground-plan of the churches here also adheres to Fig. 185. Cathedral of Ani. the Byzantine style : domes and tunnel arches cover the courts, which are overloaded with paintings and precious stones. Fig. 186. Church of Wasili-Blagennoi at Moscow. 358 History of Art. While with all this the effect of the interior is gloomy and oppressive, the exterior exhibits such an excess of extravagant fancy, and is so utterly overwhelmed with towers, cupola-towers, and domes, sparkling with glaring colours and rich gilding, that the eye grows bewildered with the fabulous confusion. Bar- barous ornaments are combined with this motley mass, and intermingle, in course of time, with the architecture of the western middle ages, and subsequently with the details of Italian renais- sance in a wild architectural caprice. The work most extolled is the church of Wasili-Blagennoi at Moscow, built in 1554, from the low structure of which rise a number of domes and towers. Tike a mass of glittering fungi.' (Fig. 186.) In the Russian churches up to the present day much use is made of religious paintings, which unchangeably imitate the Byzantine models in their soulless character. Many of these dull and monotonous works are to be found in museums — among others, in the Royal Gallery at Berlin. CHAPTER III. THE ROMANESQUE STYLE, I. CHARACTER OF THE ROMANESQUE PERIOD. When the flood of that migration of nations which had dashed to pieces the decaying structure of the Roman kingdom had subsided, the kingdom of the Franks had risen to especial importance from the tide of waters, and under Charlemagne had obtained the position of a new power, and of a revived Caesarian empire. In it the last remnants of antique culture were concen- trated, and preserved as germs for further developments. The barbarous races of the West learned to yield to political laws and to adapt themselves to the old forms of culture. Yet they could not at once arrive at creative forms and a new life of culture, for the rude but vigorous power of the northern nations could not thoroughly blend with fading antique tradition. Hence the fall of the Carlovingian kingdom was the basis of the new epoch. The Germanic mind had revolted against that unity of the empire created after the Roman model, and from henceforth there began that development of culture, which is called the mediaeval in the narrower meaning of the word. It is true there was first a period of wild confusion, and it seemed as if everything were again sinking into chaotic disorder ; but the powerful rule of the emperor of the House of Saxony established a new order, which reacted on the state of things throughout the West. The tenth century may, therefore, be regarded as the beginning of the middle ages. The first epoch, which we shall call the Romanesque epoch, as regards artistic life, extends till the middle of the thirteenth century. 36o History of Art. The character of this period is diametrically opposite to that of all other former stages of development. Whilst in the ancient world, the separate nations unfolded independently side by side or in succession, each developing its own especial culture, re- sulting either from mental qualities and the outward surround- ings of nature, from the character of the land, and the influences of climate, all peculiarities being subsequently crushed by Roman rule — while it was thus in the ancient world, now all nations entered into a relation of common civilisation. Christianity gave all the same vent, the same aim, the same basis, but its power had no wish to fetter individual peculiarities ; it desired to afford the individual a free scope to his will and ability within due limits. Thus grand and universal characteristic features arose, which, however, in no wise excluded a rich variety of different national peculiarities. Thus, in this epoch, modern nationalities were developed freely and vigorously, in language, habits, and art. While the Germanic races, under the guiding hand of Christianity, now took possession of the remains of antique culture, and endeavoured to blend and to unite their own nature with the demands of the Christian law and the forms of Roman antiquity, a new kind of existence was the result. The church was, however, at this epoch the exclusive vehicle of culture, and civilisation and intellectual life were spread with Christianity throughout its monastic settlements. These settlements, during a period of fermentation and rude struggles, were an asylum for every higher kind of culture, and from them all art and science gradually extended in a v/ider circle. At the same time, however, from the Germanic capability of self-defence, there arose that spirit of chivalry, which received a religious sacredness from the church, while its violent power gained a softness, doubly necessary at such a period, from the tender reverence for women which it enjoined. These elements gave an hierarchical and aristocratic character to the Roman epoch. By degrees, settle- ments of the people were formed under the protection of the abbeys and bishoprics, and these settlements, in course of time^ The Romanesque Style. Character of the Period. 361 produced a new civil commonwealth, based on manly ability, industry, and activity. But it did not reach its highest perfection until the following epoch. Groups thus various in kind built up the state, not, however, in the strict despotic form of Roman rule, nor in the free republican spirit of Greece, but in a feudal system, based on old Germanic custom, and strangely intermingled with new institu- tions and requirements ; a system which but little fettered personal individuality, and imprinted a character of constant commotion upon the epoch. An everlasting struggle, growth, and development, an uninterrupted striving and counter-striving of powers, a mixture of rough valour and enthusiastic softness, of cruelty and gentleness, of haughtiness and humility, of bold passion and tender resignation, a chaos of sharp contrasts, mark this epoch. Although this tendency may have lain in the nature of the Germanic mind, and in the character of a period still young and unsettled, the Christian doctrines were likely to increase it. They roused man from the naive harmony with nature to a sense of discord, giving him a higher spiritual law, in obedience to which innate nature had to be struggled with as sinful. Hence there was a restless feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of men, hence an alternation of wild desire and repentant con- trition ; but combined with it, there was also fervent resignation and enthusiastic elevation. We can only point out these characteristics so far as they are necessary to the understanding of the development of art, so far as they explain that restless pulsation which pervaded the whole progress of mediaeval culture, and impelled the artistic creative power of the middle ages to constant struggle for advance, and to new developments. Above all, this is the case with architecture, which, during the whole of the middle ages, takes the lead in all higher productions. It must, indeed, have enjoyed almost exclusive consideration at a time which strove to express universal ideas in mighty lineaments, a time in which the masses were regarded as bodies politic, and the individual was held within the insurmountable barriers of his position. 362 History of Art. Many hindrances rose in the way of a freer development of the plastic arts ; above all, the wavering uncertain customs, and the alternating agitation of the minds of men ; the hostility to natural impulses exhibited by Christianity, and the stiff ecclesiastical tradition which kept art imprisoned within the monasteries, and ever constrained a repetition of the old types. Thus the plastic arts remained completely dependent upon architecture, and received their laws from their sovereign ; namely, strict sub- ordination to the whole, adaptation to a fixed space, symmetry and rhythm, and a prohibition against all freer action. Yet in these very constraints the plastic arts were to advance, for it is a law of all progress, that at the right time, when the independent power is strengthened, the fetters that have impeded burst asunder before the extending life. 2. ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE, a. The System, The early Christian basilica is the starting-point for mediaeval architecture. It was everywhere received as the canonical form of ecclesiastical buildings, and it experienced, in the course of five hundred years, a series of phases, which, starting with simple and even rude beginnings, produced at last one of the noblest forms and one of the most perfect creations of architec- ture. The distinguishing feature between the Romanesque basilica and that of the early Christian period is the entirely new character adopted in the form of the architectural framework. But even the ground-plan could not remain without important transformations. These transformations principally concern the choir and the facade — the east and west parts of the building. The oblong nave is formed, as in the early Christian basilicas, by a broad and lofty central aisle, lying between two side aisles, only measuring half its height and width. The more extensive five-aisled design is more rare than ever at this period. At the end of the oblong nave a strongly projecting transept separates it from the choir, giving the church the distinct figure of a cross. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 363 (Figs. 187, 188.) Occasionally, indeed, the transept does nQt project outwardly, as in Fig. 189, where it is merely marked by a greater interval between the pillars and by the height of the side spaces. Sometimes it is wholly omitted. The most essen- Fig. 187. Church of Monreale. Fig. i88. S. Godehard at Hildesheim. Fig. 189. Cathedral at Gurk. tial alteration exhibited in the choir consists in the fact that usually on the side opposite to the transept the central aisle is lengthened eastwards by a square, and then terminates with the apsis. This prolongation of the choir was required by the great number of monks, who occupied the seats on both the side walls. By this alteration of the ground-plan, the central part of the transept, ' the square,' became a court open on all sides, termi- nated by four strong pillars and by an equal number of lofty arches. It usually extended to the high choir, and terminated at the oblong space and the transept arms by stone barriers. The barriers nearest the nave were often provided with a kind of tribune, from which the Gospel was read to the people. 3^4 History of A rt. whence it received the name of Lectorium. The whole choir, however, also called the Presbyterium, was usually raised many steps above the oblong building ; and under it was a vault, formed with a vaulted roof resting on short insulated pillars, and called a crypt, which was used as a burial-place for persons espe- cially distinguished, such as abbots or the founders of the church, and had its own altar. Thus the choir was even outwardly raised as the Holy of Holies above the oblong space intended for the congregation. In the formation of the choir there was a great variety, from the simplest design, which even sometimes rejected the apsis and finished the choirs in a straight line, to the richest construc- tion, which, by a repeated employment of the apsis, gave a lively picturesque charm to the whole. The arms of the cross or the side aisles have not only their especial niches, but the side aisles are occasionally continued by the side of the choir, and end with apsides, or they surround the central space, like a semicircular passage (Fig. i88), and contain a number of niches. As all these apsides served as altar-niches, the greater or lesser require- ments of worship caused a corresponding arrangement of the ground-plan. This, however, differed in different orders, and even in the different churches of the same order, according to the number of the monks, and according to the extent of the pious foundation and other similar grounds. A further result of the changed system of worship was the omission of the narthex and the extended atrium of the basilicas. ' The whole community of the laity, no longer separated as in the early days of Christianity, were to have free access to the house of God ; and thus, at the most, a small porch, a so-called Para- dise, was placed before the main portal, and the cantharus, for- merly standing in the atrium, was exchanged for a basin of consecrated water at the entrance of the church. The main portal lay generally in the middle of the western wall, so that on entering a grand view met the eye of the distant elevated choir with its apsis. Frequently, however, the ritual requirements in cathedrals or great abbeys rendered a second choir necessary. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 365 opposite the other, at the west end of the church, as is shown in S. Godehard at Hildesheim (Fig. 188) ; indeed, at times this west choir had even a second transept. But wherever the regular arrangement was observed, the great main portal in the west was enclosed between two towers, which henceforth in northern art were connected with the church itself, and a new and important element was thus added to the artistic develop- ment of the basilica. In nunnery churches, a gallery supported on pillars was introduced over the western part of the central nave, where the abbess and her nuns had their especial seat. In some other churches, also, a similar arrangement is to be found, although its object then is less clearly to be ascer- tained. These essential transformations of the ground-plan were next stamped by various new forms in the execution of the architectural construction. It is true the flat ceiling long remained exclusively employed for all parts, with the exception of the crypt and the apsides ; but the essential members of the building received a new expression. Above all, we may mention the supports, on which the upper wall of the central aisle rested by means of the arcade arches. Frequently, as in the early Christian basilicas, columns were employed for this purpose (Fig. 187) ; but more frequently single pillars were interspersed in the row of columns, either alternating with them, or taking the place of every third pair of columns, as in the two churches 'of Hildesheim ; lastly, the exclusive adoption of the pillar became general, so that a pillared basilica superseded the colonnade basilica. (Fig. 189.) Further, there was an endeavour to enliven the lofty upper wall of the nave by introducing a cornice above the arcades, and allowing vertical strips from this cornice to pass down to the capitals of the pillars, or spanning a larger arch over every two arcades by enlarging the tablet of a column. (Fig. 190.) Above the arcade cornice, the windows were placed ; they were smaller than in the early Christian basilicas, but they were bevelled within and without, in order to afford freer access to the light, and like the former they were finished 366 History of Art. with semicircular arches. Similar windows, only smaller than the others, were inserted in the walls of the side aisles, as well Fig. 190. Church at Huysburg. ' Fig. igi. From the Cathedral at Mod. The Romanesque style, however, did not adhere to this simple construction. The repeated fires, which caught the framework of the roof and destroyed the whole wooden ceiling, so that pillars and walls were burnt down, first gave occasion to an innovation, which was also in harmony with the increased aesthetic taste. There was an attempt made to combine the vaulted roof with the plan of the basilica. In some districts, the tunnel-vaulted roof was employed, and even the dome ; yet we only find local instances of this, as it was not suited to meet with general approbation. The better, freer, and more lively form adopted was that of the cross-vault, which had been before applied to subordinate spaces, and the transference of which to the broad and lofty church naves was an act of courage and advancing technical power. At first the side aisles were covered by separate cross-vaults; and this was all the more easy, The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 367 as the breadth of these aisles corresponded to the interval between the pillars, and thus square partitions were produced. Cross springers were then spanned between the pillars and the pilasters which jutted out from the wall, and between these arches the cross-vaults were placed. As they thus obtained a firmer substructure, galleries were sometimes raised over the side aisles ; and these opened with colonnades upon the nave, and broke the surface of the wall above the arcades. This enlivening of the usually bare surfaces produced such a far freer construction of the upper part of the building, that this was often retained even when no galleries were introduced, and it remained merely as the so-called Triforium. As square partitions were equally necessary for the vaulted roof of the central nave, they made, by a projection on each pillar, a cross springer shoot from the one to the other, and thus obtained a system of arches over the central nave, one of which always came upon every second arch support in each of the side aisles. Thus the basilica received a totally new stamp. No longer did its separate parts — the aspiring, the supporting, and the passive — maintain a stiff contrast ; but a flowing architectural life allowed the one to pass into the other, gave the whole a higher rhythmical organisation, and formed from the once uniform arcades a variety of groups, with a strong vertical division. (Cf Fig. 1.9 1.) For the design of the transverse arch necessitated a strengthening of the respective supports, and this was effected by a projecting pilaster or half-column placed against the pillar. Thus a new and significant organisation was created, artistic in its effect, and its technical and aesthetic excellences found universal acknowledgment and diffusion. The same characteristic features prevailed in the details of the Romanesque style, whether applied to flat-roofed basilicas or to vaulted ones. Wherever the column appears, it is, it is true, sometimes in a form related to the antique ; yet generally there is no aesthetic law for the proportions of the separate parts; and hence we find them most differently applied — sometimes substantial and compact columns, and sometimes slender and 368 History of Art. elegant ones. The base is generally the Attic form ; but usually a corner leaf is added, which bends over the lower ovolo upon the square plinth, and thus fills up the empty corners of the slab. (Fig. 192.) This corner leaf is variously formed, sometimes as a small peg or stump, and sometimes as the leaf of a plant, or in some animal form, and frequently in thoroughly fantastic devices. Even the columns of the same building, and even of the same arcade, exhibit a great variety in the form of the corner leaf The shaft of the column has no fluting nor swelling ; it occasionally tapers, but not always. There are, however, especially in the subsequent rich development of the style, examples of elegant decora- tion of the form of the shaft — decoration, however, which, far from characterising the nature of the column, only treats the shaft as an agree- able ornament, with twisted bands, with a play of lines, or with spiral flutings. The formation of the capital is extremely important, and in it the love for various and rich play of forms is especially ex- hibited. At first they sought help in an imitation of the Corin- thian capital, which, for the most part, indeed, appeared rude and misconceived, but occasionally, also, where the conception of the antique was still lively, as in Italy and certain parts of France, it was executed with more understanding and skill ; and in some localities it prevailed through the entire epoch of the Romanesque style. Nevertheless, these antique forms were too foreign, and too delicate and elegant in detail, to harmonise with the tempera- ment of the northern races. Another form of capital, therefore, entirely peculiar to the Romanesque style, was invented, and this in a strong and simple manner effected the transition from the round shaft to the quadrangular abacus. This is the cubic The Romanesque Style. A rchitecture. 369 capital. (Fig. 193.) Quadratic In its upper part, the four sides are terminated below in a semicircular form, in order thus to pass into the round form of the shaft. The abacus consists either of a plinth sloped obliquely, or of a richer composition of members, in which the ovolo, the fluting, the cornice, and other forms borrowed from the antique, constitute the es- sential parts. But here also the greatest caprice prevails in the construction, and every kind of combination is al- lowed so long as it is effec- tive. The surfaces of the cubic capital are either left smooth, or are covered with vigorous ornaments, composed of vegetable forms, linear com- binations, and even animal and human figures. Even whole historical representations occasionally appear on the surfaces of the capitals. Fig. 193. Cubic Capital from the Cathedral at Gurk. Fig. 194. Cup-capitals from the Church at Horpacz. Side by side with this capital there appears another, the cup- shaped, which is repeatedly in use, either simple or covered with VOL. I. B B 370 History of Art. ornaments. (Fig. 194.) Lastly, both forms, the cubic and the cup-shape, frequently mingle together, while the ornamental finish presents the most varied devices. Besides the column, the pillar is also frequently used, either exclusively or alternately. Its form is rectangular, and generally square, terminated below by a foot, which has, for the most part, the form of the Attic base, and above by a cornice, which repeatedly exhibits the same profile reversed. Various other combinations occur, such as curved members, ovolos, flutings, plinths, and narrow bands. Here also there is the utmost freedom of construction. Repeatedly we find an attempt to give a more lively organisation to the whole pillar, which, how- ever, almost without exception, originates with the rectangular form. Either the corners are cut slightly obliquely, or several thin columns are introduced into the hollowed corners, having their own base and capital, but held together with the pillar by a common cornice and foot. This rich construction, which softens the severe seriousness of the pillar, without diminishing its value as a support, is continued in the arcades, so that their broad interior curve thus acquires a more lively expression. The exterior of the Romanesque church exhibits calm serious masses converging in a point, owing to the low side aisles, the higher central aisle and transepts, and the tower rising above them. The whole building is surrounded by a socle, the members of which constantly show the elements of the Attic base, and similar forms. The surface of the walls is divided by narrow pilaster-like stripes, so- called lisenes, which rise out of the socle, corre- sponding with the differ- ent intervals in the in- terior, and form a frieze, composed of small cir- cular arches, round the roof of the side aisle as well as of the upper nave. This frieze of arches, an infallible characteristic of all Romanesque buildings J Fig. 195. Circular Arch-frieze from the Church at Wiener-Neustadt. The Romanesque Style. Aixhitecture. 371 (Fig. 195), is formed in different ways, frequently varying in the same work, with or without consoles for the separate arches, and at the same time with more or less richness of profile. Above it comes the roof-cornice, which is often accompanied with another bandlike frieze. The most frequent frieze, however, is that which is formed by diagonally placed stones. (Fig. 196.) Still more effective is the chessboard frieze, which consists of 6ibwwi.Rtvdi.3otf.l "it^J^^ Fig. 196. Church at Schwarz-Rheindorf. several rows of stones alternately elevated and depressed, or a frieze of a similar character, which is composed of alternate round mouldings. In some parts we find a row of consoles added, in an antique fashion, but independent in conception. While the grave masses of wall were thus only divided by lisenes, and at all events by half-pillars, arch-frieze, and mock- arcades, and were broken by small windows placed at wide intervals, in many places connected with the main apsis and with the other principal parts of the building, there was a per- fectly free gallery, resting on small columns, forming a passage round the respective parts, and not only diminishing the mass of wall, but giving to the serious formal character of this architec- B B 2 372 History of Ai't. ture, a lively and cheerful termination. The eastern parts also were more richly executed, in accordance with their inner signi- fication. We must next mention the treatment of the facade, which, by the direct connection with a tower, acquired a perfectly new aspect. Two towers were usually placed in front of the two side aisles. These were circular at first, but were soon qua- drangular in form, owing to their better connection with the building. They were attached by a strong frame to the broad central part, which corresponded to the central aisle, and opened into it by the main portal. Occasionally the lower story was unbroken in its whole extent, and terminated with a frieze of arches, so that the different parts only began to be independently developed above it. Sometimes, however, the facade was con- structed with lisenes, in a manner corresponding with the design of the interior. The towers then rose several stories high, orna- mented with lisenes and arch-friezes, and sometimes enlivened also by mock-arcades. The upper stories of the towers had apertures — i.e. openings in the wall, in groups of two or three, divided like windows by small columns. These openings became larger and more numerous towards the top, so that the mass of the tower became more light and free as it rose. Frequently in the upper parts the tower assumed an octangular form, and the transition from the square substructure was effected in the simplest manner by an oblique slope. The centre of the facade was occupied by the grand main portal, the walls of which expand on both sides from the in- terior, and are cut out in angles, so that hollows are formed in which slender columns are placed. These are connected by the abacus with the cornice of the corner pillars, and are only ren- dered prominent by special capitals and bases. In a similar manner, this construction of the portal wall is continued on the semicircular arch, which serves as a conclusion to the whole. Where the entrance itself is finished, as is often the case, with a horizontal beam, there is an arched compartment, called a tym- panon, formed between this and the framework of the entrance ; The RomaiiesqiLe Style. A rchitechire. 373 and this tympanon is frequently filled with representations in relief — for instance, with Christ enthroned between the figures of the patron saints, evangelists, or adoring angels. The utmost splendour of ornament is usually displayed in the portals ; the ornament with its various designs not merely covers the shafts of the columns, but also the whole framework of the arch. Above the portal a large circular window is frequently intro- duced, divided by spokelike bars, whence it has acquired the name of the wheel window. The upper termination of the facade is formed by the lofty roof of the central aisle, the gable lines of which are frequently marked by a frieze of arches. In these few characteristic features, which, however, experience many variations, a massive and distinctly organised facade is pro- duced, richly developed at suitable points. The whole design of the church receives in it a significant finish, the main forms of the interior being concentrated in it, and the spacious construc- tion of the building clearly expressed. Yet these distinguishing features in no wise exhaust the multiplicity of conception exhibited in this infinitely varied style. By the richer and more lively design of the tower, the more important abbey and cathedral churches present a grand and magnificent combination. This is evidenced in the fact, that over the intersection of the oblong nave and transepts a dome is raised, which towers above the mass of the building with an octagonal tower-like form, ornamented with lisenes and arch- friezes, frequently crowned with a columned gallery, and termi- nating with a polygonal and pyramidal roof In addition to these domes, in which we cannot fail to perceive a trace of Byzantine architecture, however independently transformed, there are slender towers on both sides of the choir, or at the end of the subordinate aisles ; frequently the dome is re- peated at a second transept, and is likewise combined with two towers, by which the whole design acquires an unusually stately effect. (Fig. 197.) An extremely varied form is also to be ob- served in the towers of the Romanesque style, the roof and dome of the tower, whether constructed of stone or wood, and 374 Histo7y of A rt. in the latter case covered with metal or slate, being sometimes slender, sometimes stumpy, sometimes simple, sometimes richly organised, ever according to the advancing development or the declining tendency evidenced in a local school. In this as in Fig. 197. Cathedral at Worms. every other point, the Romanesque style betrays such a power and depth of individual forms, that an intimation alone is af- forded of those from which they are derived, and only from the consideration of the various local groups can we obtain an ap- proximate idea of the versatility and life of this architecture. Over all parts of the building an abundance of free orna- ment is diffused, richly displayed on capitals, cornices, bases of columns, and even on the shafts of the columns. These orna- ments principally refer to vegetable life ; tendrils, flowers, leaves, are spread over the capitals and cornices with rich magnificence and variety. Yet the Romanesque plant work never imitates distinct natural forms, but gives evidence in its strong delinea- tions of a more formal and general law. For the most part, there is a narrow leaf, the strong ribs of which are studded with small rows of beads, so-called diamonds, its point displaying lan- ceolate indentations, and frequently gracefully turned over. Besides this plant work, much linear ornament appears on friezes and cornices, and especially on the framework of doors — en- The Romanesque Style. Architectttre. 375 twined and knotted ribands, undulating zigzag lines, scales, chessboard pattern, and similar things in great variety, and for the most part in vigorous round profile. With these forms are combined figures of men and animals, monstrous creations of every kind, partly of deep symbolic purport, and partly only emanations of northern fancy ; and all this rich life is intertwined together with the utmost variety, and is expressed in strong plastic art with a lively interchange of light and shade. That here, also, great differences prevail, according to the epoch, the locality, and the material used, that we find rude and clumsy attempts by the side of masterly and elegant works, is a matter of course. Yet, on the whole, Romanesque ornament lays claim to an independent character ; the delicate formal finish of the Roman antique is lost, but, in its stead, appears an inexhaustible richness, an unconquerable freshness of fancy. Yet the Roman- esque ornament stands opposed to the kindred Arabian style by greater control of the imagination, by stronger distinctness of form, and by a more just limitation in its employment. It is this energetic characteristic in plastic art which forms one of the main excellences of Romanesque architecture. If from these brief remarks on the leading features of eccle- siastical building we have gained an idea of its total effect, we shall be chiefly struck and attracted by the fresh life which the Germanic nations gave to the plan of the basilica, while they developed it into a new organisation. It is true that the character of the building was still hieratic and ecclesiastically solemn, though often reaching a high pitch of festive splendour ; but yet the strong independent feeling of the Germanic race pulsated within it, and the breath of a new national life moved within its members. And as the plastic art could frequently manifest itself in the organisation, so painting also was allowed grand co-operation, as the walls, ceilings, and vaulted roofs were to be adorned with the elevated forms of Christ and of His apostles and saints. Generally in the apsis, in a large lozenge- shaped frame supported by angels, was the enthroned figure of the Redeemer, seated on the rainbow, holding out the book of 376 History of Art. life to all who entered. In addition to Him, there were the apostles, evangelists, patron saints of the church, and the personages of the Old Testament. The paintings were executed on dry plaster, and the figures, for the most part, stood out in strong colours from a blue ground. The architectural details also, especially the capitals, appear frequently to have been painted. A serious solemnity, increased by the dim light of the small window, often rendered still more dim by the stained glass, prevailed in the vast naves, impressing all who entered with the effect of sacred repose and quiet separation from the world. Hitherto we have considered the Romanesque church as an isolated work. This, however, it was not ; it was far rather only a part, although an important and solemn one, of a great whole, displaying a variety of groups. The churches were, for the most part, combined with monastic institutions, whose extensive buildings joined the church either at the north or south. The communication between the monastic buildings and the church was effected by a cloister, a vaulted hall, surrounding an almost square court, and opening towards the court with elegant groups of windows or arches resting upon small columns. Attached to it was the chapter house used for conferences, the refectory or dining hall, as well as various other courts required in the common life of the monks. The whole range of the abbey was, however, encompassed with walls and towers like a fortress, and thus in the distance had the appearance of a small town. But true ecclesiastical buildings were also often to be found in great variety at this epoch — buildings deviating from the plan of the basilica, and assuming either a polygonal or circular form. Such, for instance, are the baptistries attached to cathedrals, for which a central design was preferred ; also the funeral chapels, or chapels for the dead, in the cemeteries ; and, lastly, many churches are to be found inclining to the central plan. When these are without surrounding aisles, rich niches, both within and without, afford scope for greater variety of development (Fig. 198) ; but when a division of the space is obtained by one or two rows of pillars (Fig. 199), a higher central aisle is formed The Romanesque Style. Architecture, 2>77 after the manner of basilicas, and this is surrounded by lower side aisles as passages round. There are also occasional instances of double chapels, i. e. of two chapels designed on the same ground-plan, one over another, and placed in connection with Fig. 198. Baptistry at Parma. Fig. 199. Baptistry at Asti. each other by means of an opening in the floor, the lower one sometimes being arranged as a funeral chapel.^ These buildings, which belong especially to fortresses, are to be seen at the fortresses of Nurnberg, Eger, Goslar, Freiburg on the Unstrut, and in the monastery church at Schwarz Rheindorf near Bonn. Lastly, with regard to secular architecture, we find occasionally magnificent specimens in castles, where the solemn massiveness of the design, the appropriate arrangement of lisenes and arch- friezes, and sometimes of galleries opening with slender columns, produces a pleasing effect. Thus, for instance, in the older parts of the Wartburg. Civil architecture only in exceptional cases, at this epoch, attains to an artistic and monumental form. The unceasing development, which we have pointed out as the characteristic of mediaeval art, produced in the Romanesque style, towards the close of the period in which it flourished, a remarkable movement, clouding, it is true, the severe and pure character of this architecture, and receiving various admixtures of ^ Cf. W. Weingartner, System dcs cJiristUchcn Thurmbaues. Gottingen, i860. 378 History of Art. foreign forms, but, notwithstanding, adhering to the fundamental principle of Romanesque architecture, and even raising it to the richest, purest, and most brilliant development of which it was capable. This movement, as it took place between the severe Romanesque style and the Gothic, is called the Transition Style. Its sway is limited, however, to the period between 1175 and 1250, although these dates are in nowise universally binding, and this mode of architecture acquires a difference in form and character according to the different local groups. The transition style proceeded from the increased yearning for more beautiful, rich, and elegant works, and for the ornamxents and embellishments of life. External life had everywhere more and more outgrown strict monastic jurisdiction. Chivalry flourished, and cities began to be conscious of power and wealth. Commerce disseminated the treasures and opinions of other countries ; the crusades made laity of distinction acquainted with the brilliant culture and architecture of the East : they saw slender, cheerful, and magnificent works, lively piquant forms, bold combinations ; and all this must have made a deep impres- sion on the susceptible minds of the men of that day. Henceforth we see Oriental forms pervading the architecture of the West, among them most frequently the pointed arch and the trefoil ornament ; but even the more fantastic forms of the horseshoe arch and the indented arch, i.e. the arch ornamented with a row of small semicircles, ventured, though rarely, to appear. While the Western mind received these playful elements of a decorative art, it gave them, nevertheless, gradually another and a deeper import. After the first shy attempts to adopt them, it assigned them a fixed place in its architectural system, and imposed upon them the laws of a higher organisation. The trefoil is found in portals, galleries, cloister-windows, and is especially richly and magnificently displayed on cornices, where formerly the simple arched frieze had prevailed. But this also was frequently used in combination with the newer form, though in such rich outline and luxurious ornament that it was in no wise inferior to the other. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 379 Far more important to the development of the new style was the pointed arch. This, too, was at first only intended to meet a more slender, freer design and a more manifold variety. Thus it was at first used in mock-arcades, but it was soon employed for the arcades of the nave ; and, lastly, it was even introduced into the vaulting. But here, also, a consistent adherence to the new form was in no wise intended ; it frequently alternated with the circular arch, and, for a long period, the circular arch was preserved in windows and portals, while arcades and vaulting exhibited the pointed arch. This adoption of the pointed arch in arch architecture resulted in a greater variety in the ground-plan, as the quadratic arrangement was no longer required. Hence, occasionally, a cross springer arch was spanned from each pillar, and the nave was covered with slender arches, thus denoting a quicker pulsation of architectural life. For the same reason the apsides were now frequently poly- gonal, and were roofed with a pointed calotte vaulting instead of a semi-dome. More slender proportions and richer construction were still, however, aimed at. This may be perceived in the vaulting, fr. m the fact that the cross springer received a more complicated profile, with mouldings at the angles, and with projecting semi- circular ovolos, and occasionally by a deep fluting of the inter- vening angles. The edges, also, of the vaulting were finished with rounded cross-ribs, so that the whole surface of the arch exhibited marked divisions. Still more varied was the profile of the arcades of the nave, which were composed of flutings, sharp angles, and full rounded members. The pillar was finished in a corresponding manner, often having a number of corner columns and half-columns, Nevertheless, the true normal exe- cution of the nave-pillar, corresponding with the new construction of the vaulting, aimed at a regular cross-design, the surface with projecting half-pillars corresponding with the cross springer, and smaller corner pillars with the cross-ribs. Slender columns were in general lavishly used on walls and angles, or in the arcades of the cloisters as supports of the arches, either singly or in pairs, 380 History of Art. or with several joined together ; thus producing an unusually lively effect. In the cloisters this frequently led to a splendid display of architectural skill, especially as it was combined with a perfect construction of the walls. But in the great ecclesiastical buildings, also, the finer development of the pillars and the stronger division of the vaulting, produced an effect considerably different to the severe earnestness of the former buildings. The striving after more powerful effect, which we have already perceived in the main features of this architecture, now pervades Fig. 200. Capital rom Heiligcnkieuz. all its details, producing a brilliant result in the perfection of the various members and in the decoration used. On the bases of columns, on the abacus and cornices, a striking effect, founded upon lively contrasts, is aimed at in the deep flutings and cut- tings, and in the sharp projection of the numerous members. The slender cup-form is principally employed in the capitals, and is adorned with a splendid ornament of elegant intertwined The Romanesque Style, Architecture. 381 plant work, especially with bud-like leaves on long stems. (Fig. 200.) Repeatedly the column, or the two columns — indeed, the whole pillar — is marked by a protuberance ; and close below the capital, as the same figure shows, it has a console-like termination adorned with foliage. The shaft of the long and slender columns, which are employed either to cover the wall or for portals, has constantly about the middle a ring, which is formed of concave and strongly convex members. Platelike shields are also fre- quently introduced in the ribs of the vaulting. Lastly, we have still to mention that the windows also partici- pate in the general development. The tendency to a more free Fig. 201. Portal at Heilbronn. and slender style is evidenced in them by the fact that, whether they terminate in a circular or pointed form, they are broader and longer, and that they appear more frequently in groups of two or three, combined with a small circular window. The effort after more lively grouping, lighter effect, and the utmost 382 History of Art. possible perforation of the surfaces, is thus expressed. Added to this, the restless desire for novelty produced many other forms of windows — circular or enclosed in a semicircle, fan-shaped, and wheel windows appear in much greater perfection. An important part, in the more lively arrangement of the walls, belongs to the numerous niches, which, generally surrounded by columns with blind arches, are variously constructed, and are used especially in the choir apsides. Decorative effect reaches its highest pitch in the portals, which are generally formed in circular arches ; they are also formed in trefoil arches, and even in pointed arches, the columns of which are massed and are adorned with an abundance of ornaments of all kinds — on base, shaft, and capital ; and also, to a rich extent, on the abacus, tympanon, and archivolt. (Fig. 201.) From these elements the last stage of the development of the Romanesque style sometimes displays a beauty belonging to a truly free and noble degree of perfection, but occasionally also resplendent with fantastic and strange ideas, and rising rather to decorative play than to the harmony of an organised complete- ness, always, however, an evidence of the almost inexhaustible productive power, by means of which the Romanesque style produces within its apparently strict laws an infinite abundance of individual forms and distinct tendencies of its own. b. Wide Extension. GERMANY.^ In thus beginning the most important monuments of the Romanesque style with Germany, we find ourselves justified in more than one respect. In the first place, the new and independent development of the basilica structure is linked with the revival which marked the entire life in Germany under the powerful rule of the Saxon emperors ; and, in the next place, it was in Germany that the development of the basilica led to that consistent form which, with all the distinct ' Denkm. d. Knnst. PI. 45 and 46. The Romanesque Style. ArchitectMre. 383 impress of an independent mind, kept itself almost perfectly free from one-sided, fantastic, and exaggerated tendencies ; lastly, the Romanesque style has been so generally, so long, and with such unmistakable predilection fostered in Germany, that it seems to have penetrated deeper than elsewhere into the- national life. Various differences are to be found, it is true, here also ; differ- ences resulting from smaller local groups, from gradual advance in development, and, lastly, from the various quality of the material : yet there is a certain harmony in the whole artistic execution which we may regard as a common fundamental element. Flat-roofed basilicas of great severity and simplicity of style are to be found in the Saxon parts of Germany,^ parts which, as genuine German provinces, are distinguished for the purity of all matters relating to culture. The ground-plan of the basilica exhibits generally perfect transepts with apsides, a choir with a circular recess, in the aisles an alternation of columns and pillars, and at the end of the long nave two strong towers. The church at Gernrode in the Hartz is antique and severe in style ; it was founded in the year 961 a.d., and probably even then grew out of the earlier structure, with the addition of certain alterations. The transepts are less projecting, in the long nave pillars alter- nate with columns, the latter having heavy antique capitals ; there are two round towers at the west of the building, and the lofty and clumsy central building between them is worthy of remark ; a second apsis was subsequently added to it. Freer and more noble in form are the reminiscences of the antique in the details of the castle church at Quedlinburg, where every two columns are followed by an arcade pillar, and an extensive crypt runs under the choir and the transepts. The whole manner of execution testifies to the fixed style of architecture which pre- vailed even at the end of the eleventh century. A perfect- * L. V\x\.\x\q\\^ Denkinale der Baiikimst des Mittelalters in Sachsen. Leipzig, 1835 -52. F. Kugler und E. F. Ranke, Die Schlosskirche zu Quedlinburg^ &^c. Berlin, 1838. Kugler's Kleitien Schriflen znr Kunstgeschichte. Vol. I. Stuttgart, 1853. Mithoff, Archiv fib- Niedersachsens Kunstgeschichte, Folio. Hanover. Schiller, Die Mittelalterliche. 384 Histoiy of Art. columned basilica, belonging to the developed but still severe Romanesque style, is the m.onastery church at Paulinzelle, begun in 1 105, and which, with its magnificent columns, its high and partly destroyed walls, and its splendid portico, which was sub- sequently added, forms one of the most beautiful ruins in the midst of the Thuringian Forest. Hildesheim, with its cathedral, and the Godehard Church, built in the year 1146, the ground- plan of which we gave at page 363, are splendid works of a similar kind, but exhibiting the magnificent ornament of the period at which this style of .art reached its prime. An aisle with apsides Fig. 202. Church of St. Michael at Hildesheim, is bent round the choir, and an octagonal tower is erected on the square, formed by the intersection of the transepts and the nave, which, with the two west towers, forms an important and pictur- esquely effective group. Still more grand is the design of the church of St. Michael in the same place. There are here two complete choirs with transepts and apsides, one of which is con- The Romanesque Style. Ai^chitecture. 385 structed with an aisle bent round it : there are stately towers erected on both squares, in addition to which octagonal steeples with winding staircases are placed at the gable ends of the tran- septs, so that the church in its original condition possessed six towers. The first design of the year 1033, to which the whole grand construction must be ascribed, was followed in the year 1186 by a splendid restoration, to which the magnificent decorative finish belongs. Rich and variously ornamented capi- tals, elegant decoration of the interior of the arcades, statues over the capitals in the side aisles, as well as on the rails of the choir, and, lastly, a fine painted wooden ceiling in the central aisle, still testify to the splendour of this grand basilica. (Fig. 202.) One of the mightiest columned basilicas on the Rhine ^ is the monastery church at Limburg, on the Hardt, founded in the year 1030 by the Emperor Conrad II., and now a picturesque ruin. Lofty columns, with simple cubic capitals, separated the central aisle, which was 40 feet wide, from the side aisles ; the choir was finished in a straight line, and the west fa9ade was provided with an atrium. In what a serious and expressive manner the exterior of the buildings at this period was formed, with their calm masses and simple and distinct construction, may be per- ceived in the west side of the cathedral at Treves, which was rebuilt by the Archbishop Poppo, and was completed in 1047. The monastery church at Hersfeld in Hesse, built about the year 1037, is one of the mightiest columned basilicas in Germany ; columned basilicas are also still preserved in the Swabian-Alle- mannic districts,^ in the church at Hirschau, built in the year 107 1, in that of Schwarzach, Faurndau, in S. George at Hagenau in Alsace, in the cathedral at Constance, and in the minster at Schaffhausen. The cathedrals of Wtirzburg and Augsburg, in spite of thorough subsequent alterations, still present distinctly ^ Geier und Gorz, Deiikmale roinanischer Baukimst am RJiein. Folio. Frankfurt a. M., 1846. 'Qo'issQ.xQe, De7tk?nale der BaukuTist a7n Niede7Thei7i. Folio. Miinchen, 1833. G. Moller, De7ik77idler deutscher Ba7ikunst. Folio. Darmstadt, 1821. Com- pleted by Gladbach. C. W. Schmidt, Baude7iki7iale von Trier. 2 Heideloff und Miiller, Schwdbische De7tk??idler. Completed by Leibnitz. Stutt- gart. VOL. 1. C C 386 History of Art. to view in their old parts the style of the grand pillared basilicas of Franconia and Bavaria/ To these we may add the buildings at Ratisbon, which are executed in a severe classic style — namely, the chapel of St. Stephen, with the cathedral, porch, and crypt, as well as the remains of S. Emmeran and the church of the Fig. 203. Cathedral at Trier. West Side. Obermiinster, and the monastery of S. Jacob, remarkable for its fantastic portal. In the Austrian lands,^ the simple basilica style * J. Sighart, Gesch. d. bild. Kiinste im kd?tzgr. Baiern. Miinchen, 1862. 2 G. Heider, R. v. Eitelberger und Hieser, Mittelalterliche Kuiistdeiikinale des osterr. Kaiserstaates. Stuttgart, 1856. 2 vols. Jahrbuch der k. k. Ceiitral-Coinmissiori^ (Vr. Wien. 1856. Mittheihingen der k. k. Ce7ttral-Co7nmission. Edited by K. Weiss, 1856. Aeltere Publikationett von Fiirst Lichnowsky. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 387 is exhibited in St. Peter's at Salzburg, built after a fire in the year 1127, and in the cathedral at Seccau, which was restored about 1 1 54 — both of these have vaulted side aisles ; also in the cathedral at Gurk, a simple pillared basilica, with a splendid marble crypt with a hundred columns, built about the end of the twelfth century (see ground-plan at p. 363). There is also the cathedral at FUnfkirchen in Hungary, a magnificent pillared basilica, designed like the former, without transepts, and with three apsides in a row. It was in the Rhenish districts of Germany that the vaulted structure first triumphed over the flat-roofed basilica. The cathedral at Mainz stands foremost in the list — a mighty build- ing, the first design of which as a colossal flat-roofed pillared basilica, with two choirs, a western transept, two towers on each side of the choirs, two domes over the transept and the eastern choir, surpasses in grandeur every other Romanesque structure in Germany. The breadth of its main aisle amounts to 50 feet, and the length of the whole building in the interior is 415 feet. After a fire, in the year 1081, the cathedral was restored, and this restoration in all probability was combined with the vaulting of the roof. The effect, with all its simplicity, is extremely grand, the proportions are unusually slender, and the aspiring tendency of the whole is forcibly marked. The present vaulted roof belongs to a subsequent restoration, and the imposing design and rich finish of the western choir and transept is one of the splendid examples of the transition epoch. On the other hand, the eastern parts, with their apsis, the two portals and the two round towers, which here flank the building, may be referred with great probability to an earlier work of the eleventh century. Such a distinguished example could not remain without imi- tation ; and thus we find, about the middle of the twelfth cen- tury, the adjacent cathedral of Spires in course of a similar transformation of its old design. This magnificent building, no less sublime and mighty than its Mainz rival, is one of the most eventful of the monuments of the middle ages, and is closely 388 History of Art. connected with the greatness and the ignominy of Germany. Founded by King Conrad II. in the year 1030, on the same day as the above-named abbey church at Limburg, it was intended as a burial-place for the German emperors. A crypt, extending beneath the choir and transepts, which even now bears witness to the grandeur of the original design, contained the consecrated vault. Under the succeeding emperors, the completion of the Fig. 204. View of the Interior of the Cathedral at Spires. immense building, which, with its central aisle of 44 feet, measured in its interior 418 feet in length, was continued during almost the whole century ; indeed, even the vaulted roof, accord- ing to Hubsch's investigations, must have been then designed. This roof follows the system of the Mainz cathedral, though a more lively effect and a more powerful expression is given to the The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 389 forms of the vaulting. (Fig. 204.) The exterior corresponds in grandeur with the interior ; an elegant gallery extends round all the principal parts of the building, and in the arrangement of the mighty domes and towers the picturesque principle of Rhenish architecture is observed in the effective grouping of the immense masses. When Louis XIV., in the year 1689, laid waste the Palatinate, the old imperial vault and the magnificent cathedral suffered from the incendiary fury of the French ; and for almost a century the building of the German emperors lay desolate and destroyed, until, in the year 1772, a restoration began, and the western imperial hall was rebuilt with all the splendour be- longing to the period. In our own days. King Louis of Bavaria has restored the cathedral, and had it painted with frescoes ; and the imperial hall also has experienced a suitable renovation. As a third important monument of this group, we may men- tion the cathedral of Worms, the main parts of which also belong in their grand design to an earlier epoch, but which was enlarged in the course of the twelfth century, and was conse- crated in 1 181. In its general form, and in the finish of the separate parts, its principal characteristics point sometimes to its Mainz neighbour, and sometimes to that at Spires. The ex- terior is again marked by double choirs, with two domes and four round towers with spiral staircases. The western parts have been executed in the magnificent transition style. (See a drawing of the exterior at page 374.) Further down the Rhine, we find the smaller but no less nobly finished and richly developed abbey church of Laach, which was completed in the year 1 156, and exhibits a vaulted structure of a similar character, only that the quadratic division of the ground- plan is omitted. In its exterior, the church, with its six towers of different form and size, exhibits an unusually picturesque effect. The church of Schwarzrheindorf, near Bonn, must be also mentioned as very original in its design.^ It is a small elegant central building, which was subsequently lengthened ; 1 A. Simons, Die Doppelkirche zu Schwarzrheindorf. Bonn, 1846. 390 History of Art. and besides being remarkable as a double church, it is rendered picturesque by a gallery carried round it. (Cf. the representation on page 371.) Essentially different, but equally artistic in its development, is the church architecture of ancient Cologne. One of the earliest and most important monuments is the church of S. Maria im Capitol, the consecration of which by Pope Leo IX. is stated to have taken place in the year 1049. To this epoch the original of the present building belongs in all essential parts, only the vaulting of the central aisle and the upper parts in the choir and the transepts exhibit the style of the thirteenth cen- tury. The building is original in its arrangement. The choir and the two transepts terminate in a semicircle, but are com- pletely surrounded by low aisles, which are separated by columns from the higher main space. The cross vaulting of these aisles, and the large and differently constructed vaulting of the central spaces, afford a surprising evidence of the confidence with which this technical part of art was at that time applied in Cologne. The effect of the interior, aided by the centralising design of the eastern parts, is serious, solemn, and at the same time full of picturesque life. The centralising construction of the choir attained to increased perfection and to greater distinctness in the course of the twelfth century in two other churches of Cologne — that of the Apostles and of S. Martin : both shorten the transepts, omit the aisles round, and thus produce a more concentrated form. In both, the walls are divided and lightened by niches, triforiums, and galleries ; in both the utmost orna- ment possible is expended on the exterior. But w^hile in the church of the Apostles the central part of the transept has a vast octangular dome flanked by slender towers, in that of S. Martin (Fig. 205) a mighty quadrangular tower rises at the centre of the cross, and at each angle a slender tower projects. Other buildings at Cologne bear still more decidedly the stamp of the transition epoch ; for instance, in the intermingling of the pointed and circular arch, and in other freer forms of detail. The most interesting of all is the church of S. Gereon, which. The Romanesque Style. Architechire. 391 at this period (1212 till 1227), obtained a new nave, in the form of a decagon, added to its long projecting choir, which rises over a crypt and is flanked by two towers. This unusual form, evidently the result of the retention of an old circular building, displays a series of semicircular chapels, and a gallery above them, entirely in the spirit of the before- mentioned Cologne buildings of this epoch. On the other hand, the pointed windows, as well as the simple massive supports and pillars, proclaim the character of a new art — namely, the Gothic. The neighbourhood around Cologne is rich in monuments belonging to the concluding epoch of the Romanesque style. One of the most original of these compositions, and at the same time one of the grandest, was the abbey church of Heisterbach, which was completed in 1233, and was destroyed at the begin- ning of this century, and which now lies as a picturesque ruin in a green wooded valley in the Seven Mountains. It was a Cistercian establishment, and, like most of the more important buildings of this order, was a work marked by great peculiarity. The choir especially, considerable remains of which are even now standing, was distinguished by a complete aisle running round it, terminating towards the central span with a double row of columns ; while attached to the aisle, imbedded in the thick wall, were a series of semicircular and lower chapels. Thus externally the building presented the appearance of a pyramidal structure several stories high. An immense nave, with two transepts and rows of chapels on each side, was Gross S. Martin at Cologne. 392 History of Art. attached to the imposing choir. The no less grand structure of the minster at Bonn, which is at the same time far richer in detail, and which, with its ancient choir, its polygonal form, and its five towers, presents externally a stately appearance, belongs to about the same period. Lastly, this tendency of the Romanesque style may also be Fig. 206. Cathedral at Limburg. Interior View traced in many important works in Central Germany. Thus, for instance, the parish church of Gelnhausen, the simple flat- roofed nave of which was enriched at this period with an elegant choir surmounted by three slender towers and elegantly fretted galleries ; but above all, the cathedral at Limburg on the Lahn, The Romanesqtie Style. Architecture. 393 which was consecrated about the year 1235, is a splendid example of Rhenish transition style. (Fig. 206.) With only moderate dimensions — the whole length in the interior amounts only to about 165 feet, and the breadth of the central aisle to 25 feet — the interior system of the building is organised with so much variety, by galleries and triforiums in the nave and choir (the latter having a complete aisle round it), and the exterior displays such exuberant richness in two mighty west towers — a stately cupola tower over the transept, and four slender towers on the corners of the arms of the cross — that the Rhenish style here finds its most splendid expression. The vaulted style of building appears far more strict and simple in its mode of execution in the Westphalian^ and Saxon districts, and in all probability does not belong to an earlier period than the end of the twelfth century. The simple expres- sion of what is necessary is here sufficient — all richer ornament as a rule is omitted — but the most lively and distinct organisation possible is given to the important members, especially to the pillars. In the cathedral at Soest, the vaulting of the Roman- esque epoch is added to the originally flat-roofed nave, and an extensive western porch with a mighty tower, likewise belong- ing to the same concluding period, increases the effect of the whole in an imposing manner. The transition epoch is dis- played in the parts added to the cathedral at Osnabriick, and still more significantly in the cathedral at Munster, which was restored between the years 1225 and 1261. Vast and bold vaults, two transepts, and an aisle bent round the polygonal choir, the upper wall of which has a triforium, stamp this building with an air of solemn magificence. In the other churches of Westphalia an entirely new system of construction has been adopted, the side aisles being raised to the height of the central aisle, the latter, therefore, losing its upper wall and independent lighting, while the whole building acquires a hall-like character. Among the most important of ' W. Liibke, Die mittelalterliche Kimst in Westfalen. Leipzig, 1853. 394 History of Art. these hall-like churches, we may mention the minster at Herford and the cathedral at Paderborn, and among the most elegant the church at Methler : both the two last-mentioned exhibit also a peculiar Westphalian arrangement in the straight termination of the choir. In the Saxon lands the vaulting of the roof, in combination with the old strict basilica structure of the country, first appears distinctly in the cathedral at Brunswick, founded by Henry the Lion in the year 1171, and of great interest also on account of Fig. 207. Cloister at Konigslutter. its spacious crypt, and the extensive paintings on the vaults of the choir and transept. In the neighbouring church at Konigs- lutter, which possesses one of the richest cloisters (Fig. 207), and, moreover, one with the rare double aisle, the eastern parts at least were originally finished with a vaulted roof A fine artistic example of the transition style is afforded by the cathedral at Naumburg, consecrated in 1 242 ; a building of limited proportions, * Cf. Puttrich's work, before mentioned, p. 383. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 395 with two choirs and four towers, and also distinguished by a splendid Romanesque lectorium. The details especially are full of noble grace and free life. The highest perfection of the Romanesque transition style in Germany is, however, exhibited in a Franconian building, the magnificent cathedral at Bamberg, in which the excellences of the Rhenish and Saxon school are blended together into exquisite beauty. The design is very grand, the proportions are vast and powerful, and at the same time there is an aspiring character evidenced in the noble free- dom and slenderness of the forms. Here also we find two magnificent choirs, each flanked by two splendid towers, and the western choir is also distinguished by a broad transept. The distinct organisation, the pure proportions, the bold structure, and the rich ornament, which in an abundance of noble forms gives the stamp of cheerful magnificence to cornices and portals, place this work in the foremost rank among the architectural creations of the middle ages. Among the vaulted buildings of Southern Germany and the German Switzerland, the church of St. Michael at Altenstad in Bavaria, as well as the cathedral of Freising (i i6o to 1205), may be mentioned as simple Romanesque works, the latter being dis- tinguished by a crypt, in which the fantastic style of these South German schools is displayed with rich ornamental effect. The collegiate church at Ellwangen in Swabia, a vaulted pillared basilica of considerable extent, belonging to the Romanesque period, is remarkable for a ground-plan, far richer than is gene- rally the case in South Germany, and which calls to mind certain Saxon churches — that, for instance, at Konigslutter. A choir with a crypt, side choirs and transepts, enclosed by two towers, and terminating with five apsides and a western porch, over which a third tower rises, are undoubtedly the features in this noble structure to be traced back to Saxon models. The minster at Basle is an important work of the transition epoch, though enlarged into a five-aisled structure during the Gothic period. Its polygonal choir with surrounding aisle, and its triforium over the arcades of the nave, are unmistakable evidences of the late 396 History of Art, Romanesque epoch. More severe in style and earlier in date, belonging to the end of the twelfth century, is the great minster at Zurich, the somewhat later cloisters of which afford an ex- ample of great richness both in their construction and in the composition of fantastic ornament. (Fig. 208.) Eig. 208. Cloister in the Great INIinster at Zurich. The vaulted roof early appeared of some importance in the monuments of Alsace, which form a group as attractive as they are remarkable, and represent the German style on the frontiers of France. Built in the severe style of the eleventh century, the church at Ottmarsheim presents an accurate imitation of the Carlovingian minster at Aix-la-Chapelle. The abbey church of Murbach, situated in a pleasant valley near Gebweiler, belongs to the early part of the twelfth century. It is distinguished by a straight choir, two towers on the east, and a truly artistic although severe style of execution. A further stage in develop- ment is represented by the church at Rosheim, with its circular The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 397 ribbed arches on simple pillars, which alternate with strong columns. Above the transept there rises an octagonal tower, which henceforth regularly recurs in all Alsatian monuments. A similar mode of execution is exhibited in the Fides church at Schletstadt, only that here the arcades begin to be pointed, and rest with a half-column upon pillars, while a pillar composed of four half-columns takes the place of the columns. The arcades are pointed, though the circular arch prevails everywhere else — that is, in the vaulted roof On the western side there lies a pretty portico between two towers ; above the transept there rises a third octangular tower. A similar towered structure, but having an open porch with three aisles on the western side, is the church at Gebweiler, the interior design of which likewise corresponds with that at Schletstadt, only that the pillars are still more richly constructed, and the pointed arch of the trans- ition style prevails both in the arcades and in the vaulted roof. An elegant choir of the same epoch is preserved in the church at Pfaffenheim. The western porch of the church at Maursmlinster in Alsace is very grand in design, and the three stately towers considerably increase the effect of the well-constructed facade. Lastly, the eastern parts and the mighty transept of the minster . at Strasburg are works belonging to the Romanesque transition period ; and to the same epoch belong the transept and choir of the church of St. Stephen in the same place, the walls and western portal being all that is preserved of its nave. The last epoch of Romanesque art has left rich and splendid remains throughout the Austrian dominions, and in the' orna- mental finish especially a nobleness and fulness of imagination has been developed, which has given the principal works of this group a place among the most beautiful structures produced by Romanesque art. The facade of the church of St. Stephen, with its rich ' riesenpforte,' and the noble aisle of the church of St. Michael, may be numbered among these. The Cistercian church at Heiligenkreuz is an important monument of severe but con- sistently developed Romanesque vaulting. It is, moreover, distinguished by a splendid transept. The choir has been sub- 398 History of Art. sequently remodelled and enlarged. Another conspicuous church of the same order, belonging entirely to the transition style, is at Lilienfeld, the vaulting of which shows an advance in freer arrangement from the application of the pointed arch, and the choir exhibits the effective addition of a later period, which con- siderably enhances the first design. Here, too, a cloister of still richer finish increases the magnificence of this grand monastic Fig. 209. Church at Trebitoch. Transverse Section. structure. A third cloister, fully equal to the two former, and likewise belonging to the late Romanesque epoch, is that of the Cistercian establishment Zwetl. Recently two monastery churches in Moravia have been discovered, which add some new features to the brilliant architecture of the Austrian lands. The Benedictine abbey at Trebitsch has a church, in which the trans- The Romanesqtie Style. Architecture. 399 ition style has produced surprising effects from original con- ceptions. The pointed arch is consistently adhered to in arcades and vaulted roofs (Fig. 209), only in the windows and portals it shares its sway with the circular arch. The vaulted roofs of the choir and of the western porch are formed polygon- ally, and the whole eastern space is distinguished by an ex- tensive crypt. We have given a specimen on p. 370, in the arched frieze of the main apsis, of the rich and luxuriant orna- ment that prevails throughout. The greatest magnificence was, however, displayed in the principal portal on the north side, which was finished with a circular arch, and was rather broad than slender in form, but with its sixteen columns, its pillars and archivolts, richly covered with ornament, belongs to the most splendid productions of Romanesque art. Another Moravian monument, the convent church of the Cistercians at Tischnowitz, completed about the year 1238, exhibits the complete transition style, with the more simple design and severity of execution peculiar to this order. On the other hand, there is here a noble cloister and a western portal, which, in elegance of proportions and in richness of finish, far surpass the formal leaf ornaments and statues of the portal at Trebitsch. Far into Hungary and Transylvania we find this magnifi- cent style, and only the mountain range of the Transylvanian Alps have formed the line that separates it from Byzantine art. The principal work of Hungarian architecture is the church of St. Jak, a vaulted structure of the transition epoch, with noble proportions, the highly ornamented western portal of which (Fig. 210) rivals in richness the before-mentioned portals of Vienna, Trebitsch, and Tischnowitz, and surpasses them all in original design. Lastly, Transylvania possesses the cathedral at Karlsburg, a vaulted building executed in the simple style of the monuments of Central Germany, such as the Cathedrals of Naumburg and Bamberg ; it has noble proportions, and a finely developed organisation, which is rendered still more effectively conspicuous by moderate but suitable decoration. 400 History of A rt. The buildings of the German north-east lands^ form a group by themselves. Long after Western, Southern, and Central Germany had attained a high degree of culture, these regions, peopled as they were by Sclavonic races, remained hostile to the Christian-Germanic efforts for civilisation. It was not till the Fig. 2IO. Portal of Jak. course of the twelfth century that Christianity succeeded in establishing itself firmly in these regions, and in making a way for the introduction of a new form of existence by means of German colonists. The forms of the developed Romanesque style were now regarded as the standard for the architectural undertakings which prevailed about this period in the neigh- ^ F. V. Quast, Zur Charakteristik des dlteren Ziegelbaues in der Mark Brandenburg, Deutsches Kunstblatt, 1850. — F. K^tx^ Mittelalterliche Backsfeinbauwerke des preuss. Staates. Fol. Berlin, 1859. — Strack und Meyerheim, Deiikmdler der Altinark. Berlin, 1833. (Text von F. Kugler.) — A. v. Minutoli, De7ik7ndler mittelalterlicher Kimst in den brandenbtirgischen Marken. Berlin, 1836. — F. Kugler, Po7nine7'' sche Kimstgeschichte^ in den Kleinen Schriften Bd. L Stuttgart, 1853. The Romanesque Style. A rchitectMre. 40 1 bouring Saxon lands. But as the nature of the north German Lowlands withheld the suitable stone, they were obliged to have recourse to a substitute, which could not be used without exerting a radical influence upon the characteristic forms. At first they attempted to make use of the erratic granite blocks scattered over the whole of the north German plains. But this material, too hard as it was for working, only produced awkward and unsatisfactory results ; and thus they now began to mould bricks Fig. 211. Monastery Church at Jerichow. and to burn them, and thus to erect their buildings. As these bricks, however, could only be burnt in moderate size, all more powerful projection of the members was prevented ; and the desire for artistic decoration inclined more to shallow ornament, while a picturesque variety was frequently produced by coloured polished stones. Both in the exterior and interior, the buildings remained unplastered, and, from their calmer and more massive design and the tempered hues of the colouring, had an unusually solemn effect. Much alteration, also, took place in the whole VOL. I. D D 402 History of A rt. detail ; the columned-basilica was only rarely adopted, and the pillared-basilica received predominant attention, and soon ac- quired a more lively stamp from the introduction of half-columns and other members. At the same time the bases were simplified, and the capitals were rendered suitable, although the cubic form in massive brick had somewhat of an air of heaviness. Occasionally, indeed, they had recourse to hewn stone for these details, and thus acquired those finer and more lively forms which the skilful chisel was able to produce. In the exterior, it was the cornice and frieze which gave an effective finish to the calm surfaces, and these either took the simple form of the circular arch frieze, or of a frieze formed of intersecting circular arches. Occasion- ally, too, we find a simple triangular frieze, or a rhomboidal frieze composed of single bricks. Small consoles were connected with these ; also separate stones, diagonally placed, were constantly used as an effective finish. Among the monuments still standing, the monastery church at Jerichow is one of the most important and the best preserved. It is a flat-roofed columned basilica with a lofty choir, and an extensive crypt with sandstone columns. At the sides of the choir there are chapel-like side spaces with apsides, and the whole exterior of the building is excellently executed ; frieze and cornice are richly finished, and the western side is flanked by two slender towers. Under the monastery is the splendid chapter-house, and the still more splendid refectory, the vaulted roof of which rests on sandstone columns, with richly decorated capitals, still well preserved in spite of rough modern injury. As a simple and originally flat-roofed pillared basilica, we may mention the cathedral at Brandenburg, which was subsequently vaulted and much altered, and which likewise has a crypt of hewn stone. A consistently executed and pure Romanesque vaulted structure is exhibited in the monastery church at Arendsee ; on the other hand, the similarly vaulted cathedral at Ratzeburg inclines to the forms of the transition style, and The Romanesque Style. A rchitecture. 403 evidences in its design a certain harmony with the cathedral at Brunswich. ITALY. While in Germany, with all the varieties of development, a common fundamental idea may be traced through all the crea- tions of Romanesque architecture, a far more striking difference among the various groups appeared in Italy/ Side by side, with the strict adherence to the early Christian basilica, we find an equally exclusive adoption of Byzantine designs — fine antique execution by the side of a style inclining in its fantastic ideas to the Germanic nature ; the vaulted structure, formed distinctly and consistently in the northern spirit, by the side of an imita- tion of the playful, rich, and graceful forms of Mohammedan architecture. Throughout, however, with few exceptions, Italian architecture gives the tower an independent position, without connecting it with the church building ; on the other hand, it usually likes to place a dome over the transept, which gives it the appearance outwardly of a foreign element. While the exterior never reaches that high degree of rich organisation which distinguishes northern architecture, the rich employment of noble material leads to a decoration often extraordinarily beautiful, gracefully spread over the whole surface. Even in the regions of brick architecture, a beauty and delicacy of details, unknown and unattained in the north, were obtained by burnt stone. In the interior, broad, free space was especially aimed at, excluding as a rule any considerable development in height. An absolute adherence to the form of the early Christian basi- licas, without any new point of development, is seen in the build- ings of Rome until late in the 13th century.^ They plundered, as before, the antique monuments, and formed the columns and » Deiikm. der Kutist. PI. 41 and 42. S. d'Agincourt, Histoire de VArt. H. Gaily Knight, The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy, 2 vols. London, 1842. Chapuy, Ttalie monumentale et pittoresque. Fol. Paris. J. Burckhardt's Cicerone. Basil, 1855. 2 See Guttensohn and Knapp's before-mentioned works. D D 2 404 History of Art. architraves of the basihcas out of the fragments. At the same time, the standard of size diminished, and the height increased in proportion to the breadth. As works of the ninth century, we may mention S. Martino ai Monti, with an ancient crypt, much restored in the nave, but still showing beautiful and considerable proportions, the central aisle being 44 feet broad, with an archi- trave above the columns ; also the grand five-aisled church of S. Giovanni in Laterano, subsequently entirely remodelled ; and the solemn structure of S. Maria in Araceli, situated on the height of the Capitol. S. Crisogono and S. Maria in Trastevere belong to the twelfth century, both of them having architraves and rich console cornices ; also to the same century belong the front parts of S. Lorenzo fuori le mura, likewise with horizontal beams and columns of various proportion. A rude pillared structure of the thirteenth century is SS. Vincenzo ed Anas- tasio, outside the city, on the other side to S. Paolo. More in- teresting than all these dependent remnants of a former age are many of the elegant clock-towers of this period, which, simply executed in brick and adorned with various antique remains, have a highly picturesque effect. Among the most graceful are those of S. Pudentiana and S. Maria in Cosmedin. While architecture in Italy thus made no progress on a large scale, in smaller matters a decorative art was developed, the main charm of which consists in the tasteful combination of various coloured marbles, such as is seen in inexhaustible abun- dance in the floors of ancient Rome. The artistic family of the Cosmata were especially distinguished in such works, and most of the old churches in Rome contained examples of this elegant art in choir rails, ambons, tabernacles, lights, and such-like things. Thus we find it in S. Nereo ed Achilleo, S. Clemente, S. Maria in Cosmedin, and others. A quaint fantastic element is mingled with it, in so far as that the stricter architectural forms are broken by a light play, the shafts of the columns espe- cially are ribbed and spiral, and are adorned with mosaic pat- terns of the most varied kind. We find this even applied on a larger scale to the columned courts of the cloisters of S. Giovanni The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 405 in Laterano and S. Paolo fuori le mura, both of which exhibit this style in great richness of execution. A freer and more independent style was adopted by church architecture in Tuscany, which, it is true, equally emanated from the flat-roofed basilica, but which followed consistently the ancient models even in detail. Added to this, the whole was executed in noble material, or was covered with costly kinds of marble. The first grand work of this group is the cathedral at Pisa, founded about the year 1063, after a naval victory over the Sicilians, by the rising commercial city. Busketus and Reinaldus are named as the architects. It is a five-aisled, flat- roofed basilica, intersected by an extensive three-aisled transept, the central spans of which end in apsides, while an elliptical dome rises above the centre of the cross. The galleries over the side aisles open with pillars and columns towards the lofty central space, and are continued along the sides of the square up to the end of the choir. The arcades of the nave are sup- ported by sixty-eight slender granite columns with antique marble capitals. The whole detail is severe and classic in its forms, and the essential part of the building is fashioned, both within and without, of alternate layers of white and dark -green marble blocks. The exterior is richly interspersed with half- columns and pilasters, with arcades or architraves, according to the intention of the different parts ; in the panels of the arches there are generally graceful ornaments from mosaic models and fine antique members ; the capitals carefully adhere to the Corin- thian form. The facade is constructed with half-columns and arcades, and over the latter rise four rows of insulated columns with arches, which extend like galleries along the surface of the wall. This grand building, which raised the basilica form to increased importance, and, although in a heavy manner, endea- voured to combine the dome with it, was followed in 1 153 by a baptistry, built by Diotisalvi, also a domical structure, 93 feet in diameter, with an aisle and galleries round it. Externally it was elegantly diversified with a lower row of half-columns and an upper gallery, and also by the original roofing of the dome. 4o6 History of Art. the effect of which was enhanced by the rich subsequent ornament of a Gothic frontal. There was also the famous clock-tower, built, about the year 1 1 74, by Bonannus and a German master, Wilhelm von Innsbruck, the leaning position of which arose at first casually from the giving way of the soil, and was afterwards adhered to with capricious design. It is a lofty circular building, entirely surrounded with an arcade of insulated columns, and at the same time the classic style of the Pisan school is evidenced in its details. Fig. 212. S. Micchele in Lucca. This Pisan style became universal in the vicinity ; and in the buildings of Lucca we find similar works — in details, it is true, less noble and more quaint and fantastic, but alike in the form of the exterior and in the arrangement of the facade. This is especially the case in S. Micchele (Fig. 212), and, although with greater diversity, in S. Frediano, a five-aisled basilica, possessing considerable affinity with antique works. A separate group is next formed by the buildings of Florence, The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 407 which are distinguished by a pecuHarly noble marble coating and an equally independent development of the basilica design. Foremost in elegance is the little church of S. Miniato, beauti- fully situated on an eminence above the city, and belonging to about the twelfth century. In spite of its small proportions, it Fig. 2 1 3. Baptistry at Florence. is one of the most remarkable monuments of the art of this epoch, owing to its original design and noble execution. Each two columns are followed by a pillar consisting of four half- columns, and supporting a cross springer, such as we have already seen in S. Prassede in Rome (p. 285). Yet this arrange- ment here seems harmoniously combined with the rest of the 4o8 History of Art. system, and thus a lively and pleasing effect is produced. A beautiful crypt considerably raises the choir. The fa9ade, from its marble coating, its lower row of half-columns with arcades, and its upper pilasters with their entablature, has an extremely noble and classic air. It is a renaissance prior to the renais- sance. We find the same nobleness of form in the baptistry (Fig. 213), a large octagonal domical building, 88 feet broad in the interior, with noble Corinthian columns against the walls, and above a galleried story, which opens towards the interior with an arcade of Ionic columns between Corinthian pilasters. The whole structure decidedly bears a classic character, so that the formal groundwork of the building may be assigned to the same epoch. This simple and distinct architecture forms a contrast to the buildings in Sicily^ and Lower Italy, which display rich fantastic designs and a strange blending of forms. These countries had long stood under Byzantine dominion, and had subsequently ex- perienced a high degree of civilisation under the rule of the Mohammedans. When now, in the course of the eleventh cen- tury, the Normans subjugated these lands, they received the heritage of that mixed culture, and added to it even elements of their own. The plan of their church architecture, simply adhered to the design of the early Christian basilicas ; the dome above the cross, and the mosaics and other ornaments, were taken from the Byzantines ; the extremely pointed arch and the stalactite vaulting were derived from the Arabians ; and, lastly, a tower with a fa9ade was usually added as an evidence of the northern mind. Nevertheless, from this mixture of foreign elements, a whole was sometimes produced, which compensated, by its solemn effect, great splendour, and richness of fancy, for the want of higher organic development. A small gem in this kind of architecture is the palace chapel at Palermo, built by King Roger, and consecrated in 1 140. The ^ Duca di Serradifalco, Del Duomo di Monreale, &^c. Fol. Palermo, 1838. — H Gaily Knight, Saracenic and Nor7na7t Remains in Sicily. Fol. London. Hittorf 1^.r\ih., Architecture moderne de la Sicile. Fol. Paris, 1835. The Romanesque Style. Architectiu^e. 409 mosaics on the walls, the rich ornaments, the gaily painted and gilded ceiling, with its stalactites, gleam with wonderful magnifi- cence through its mystical gloom. A distinguished example of this kind of external decoration, which produces a gay fantastic effect from painted devices, intersecting arches, rich friezes and battlements, is to be found in the cathedral of Palermo (Fig. 214), which was built between 1169 and 1185, and is now entirely re- modelled in the interior : it is also conspicuous for its splendid tower. But the grandest conception of all is displayed in the mo- nastery church of Mon- reale, founded by King William II. in 11 74, and magnificently situated on the slope of a mountain, not far from Palermo. The ground-plan (cf. the Fig. on p. 363) shows a three-aisled basilica of large dimensions, together with a tran- sept and a broad choir with three apsides. Slender antique marble columns, with splendid capitals, support the lofty pointed arch of the nave ; the central aisle is terminated by a (restored) flat roof at a considerable elevation. All the walls are covered by an innumerable abundance of mosaic paintings, like rich tapestry. The whole interior presents one of the most sublime ecclesiastical effects in the world, from the nobleness of the pro- portions, and from the distinctness, harmony, and richness of the colouring. The facade is finished with two towers, con- nected by a colonnade. The cathedral at Cefalu has a similar design. Moorish influence exhibits itself in the buildings of Lower Fig. 214. From the Cathedral at Palermo. Decoration of the Apsis. History of Art. Italy/ in the introduction of extremely high circular arches and pointed arches. Thus, for instance, in the large and almost square porch of the cathedral of Salerno, where antique Corin- thian columns are combined with high circular arches, the ex- tensive crypt is all that now remains of the cathedral in its old condition. In the cathedral at Amalfi there is a picturesque, two-aisled portico, with fantastic pointed windows, and a high irregular flight of steps, which is worthy of remark. The cathe- dral at Ravello, situated on a steep rock above Amalfi, likewise exhibits an old basilica design, in spite of modern transformation : all three cathedrals have alike the original plan of a broad tran- sept, to which three apsides are attached. On the whole, the simple basilica prevails almost universally in these countries, and with slight alterations ; yet the exterior occasionally shows a lively richness of ornament, in which Tuscan influences may be recognised. The most important of these buildings are the cathedrals at Bari, Ruvo, Trani, and, above all, the magnificent cathedral at Troja. The cathedrals also of Bitonto, Bitetto, and Molfetta may be mentioned among many others. In most of these churches decorative works are to be found in the style of the art of the Cosmatae, although considerably enlivened and enriched by the mixture of Arabian ornament. Thus there is a rich pulpit, choir rails, and chandeliers in the cathedral at Sessa ; there is one of the most splendid pulpits in the cathedral of Ravello, a no less costly and antique one in the cathedral of Salerno ; and, lastly, the grand and severely antique canopies over the sarcophagi of King Roger II., King Frederic II., the Emperor Henry VI., and their consorts, in the cathedral at Palermo. Another kind of foreign influence, though in many points congenial, we find in Venice, whose merchants early came into connection with the East as bold navigators, and brought home, with the productions of the East, both its art and its love of show. The direct influence of Byzantine architecture is ex- * H. W. Schulz, Denkjnale der Kunst des Mittelalters in Uiiteritalicn. Dresden, i860. The Rornanesque Style. Architecture. 411 hibited in that wonder work of the Venetian school, S. Marco, the splendid church to the patron saint of the city.^ Burnt down during an insurrection in the year 976, the church, which con- tained the bones of the honoured saint, was rebuilt with greater magnificence, but the essential part was not completed till 107 1 ; the rich ornament was even added and completed in the course of the following century. The church has the form of a Greek cross, the angles and intersection of which are marked by five domes. Forty-two feet in span, the top of these domes is double the height of the building from the ground, and the central dome exceeds the others by six feet. Broad cross springers, resting on insulated pillars, form, as it were, the framework on which these domes are placed. The nave and the transept have three aisles, a division which is carried still further by rows of columns. These latter support a gallery, which extends over the side spaces. The main aisle and the side aisles terminate in apsides, which are again divided by wall-niches, only the main apsis pro- jecting outwardly. Thus a consistent central building is produced, which even in its essential details, as well as in the rich mosaic decoration of the whole vaulted roof with pictures on a glittering gold ground, in no wise denies its Byzantine origin. The lower surfaces of the walls and pillars are entirely covered with large marble plates of different colours. The effect of this genuine splendour is very powerful. The tone of the whole is solemn and earnest, and the charm of the whole vista is extremely picturesque. A portico, rich with mosaic ornament and likewise with domed arches, ex- tends round three sides of the nave ; the right wing of the portico, however, terminates in two chapels. Outwardly (Fig. 215) the portico opens with a row of deep niches, the walls of which rest on a perfect forest of small columns. This and the round gable ends, with their subsequent Gothic surmountings, the five lofty domes, the rich ornament of gold and colour which covers every part, give an effect to the Wiole building, making it appear like * G. e L, KxQMiz, La Basilica di S. Marco in Venezia. Fol. 1843. O. Mothes, Geschichte der Baiikunst und Bildhatierci Venedigs. Leipzig, 1858. 412 History of Art. some wonder risen from the sea, or some magic production of the East, and filHng the mind with the remembrance of great historical events. In other buildings, also, on the Venetian Fig. 215. S. Marco in Venice. lagunes, we find similar combinations of style, though more moderate in dimensions. We have still a numerous and important group of works to mention, which, in contrast to the other Italian schools, exhibit more harmony with the northern mind, and, especially in the construction of the domed basilica, accord with the efforts of Romanesque architecture on this side the Alps. We refer to the works of Lombardy,^ and of the territory belonging to that kingdom, which even in the beginning of the middle ages, under the rule of the Longobards, inclined chiefly to the Germanic modes of life. Hence, in the detail of these buildings, we find that common leaning to the rude and the fantastic, which is so ' F. Osten, Die Baitwerke der Lonibardei. Fol. Darmstadt. Heider und Eitel- berger, Denkmale des Oesterreichischeti Kaiserstaates. The Romanesque Style. A rchitecture. ^ 1 3 strikingly opposed to the fine antique tendency of central Italy. The use of brick is predominant ; and this necessitates a massive style, and also a rich decoration of the surface. Occasionally, however, a coating of marble is added. Great as is the similarity evidenced with the northern style, the tower here is excluded from the development of the facade, and the facade in front of the nave is a single lofty decoration ; and this in such a manner that the proportion of the lower side aisles with the higher central aisle is thus sacrificed. This form is certainly as heavy as it is inorganic, and is far surpassed in artistic value by another which also occasionally appears, and which adopts the proportion of the side aisles to the central aisle as its basis, and produces a lively organisation by means of wall-columns, arched friezes, and arcades. An important position among these buildings is occupied by the cathedral at Modena, begun by Lanfrancus in 1099, but not consecrated till 11 84. It is a three-aisled structure, termi- nating without transept in three apsides, with an extensive crypt under the choir, and the whole arrangement of the supporting pillars calculated from the first for a vaulted roof, simple columns alternating with pillars, which are composed of half-columns. (Cf. the section on p. 366.) Even the upper w^all of the nave already exhibits a freedom of design in triforium-like openings upon small columns above the different arcades. But these are neither galleries nor surrounding aisles, but they rest upon the elevated side aisles, which have similar openings in their walls. The form of the exterior is peculiarly significant ; it is surrounded by open galleries, the grouping of which corresponds with the triforium of the interior. (Fig. 216.) At the facade, which is built in three divisions, this gallery effectively blends with the general organisation. Three portals open into the aisles, the central one having a small porch, such as is repeatedly seen in the churches of Upper Italy, the columns of which rest on mighty figures of lions. The rich wheel window of the upper part of the building is also a favourite element in Lombard architecture. 4H Histo7y of Art. • A similar design is shown in S. Zeno at Verona, only that here the vaulted roof, which the alternating columns and pillars indicate, has not been executed. We find a consistent and variously organised pillared-structure in S. Micchele at Pavia, a heavy vaulted basilica with quaint fantastic details, galleries Fig. 2i6. Cathedral of Modena. Choir Side. From Nohl. above the side aisles, and an undivided facade gable. S. Ambrogio of Milan is next in importance, and exhibits much similarity with the just-mentioned church, having likewise an undivided facade-gable, before which there is an extensive atrium. This atrium has pillars constructed of half-columns and a cross-vaulting, and displays an intricate Romanesque archi- tecture, which may belong at the earliest to the eleventh century ; The Romanesque Style. A rchitecture. 415 a fact demonstrated also by the details. The nave has similarly constructed pillars and cross-vaulting of considerable span, with galleries over the side aisles, and the same heaviness in the proportions, and the same energetic northern character in the details, which mark the developed Romanesque form. A vaulted dome rises above the choir, but there is no transept. Lastly, a more free, noble, and finished example of the Lombard vaulted building is exhibited in the cathedral at Parma, restored about the year 1 1 1 7 ; it is a building with a distinctly constructed ground-plan, with a transept rendered prominent by a dome, and not merely finished with apsides, like the cathedral at Pisa, at the extremities of the transepts, but also at their east end. The pillars here are also varied, yet alternately constructed with half-columns ; above the arcades there are triforium-like galleries, and the broad quadratic span for the vaults has been exchanged, it seems, subsequently for narrow rectangular zygomatic arches. The facade, which terminates in an undivided gable, is splendidly ornamented, and has three richly adorned lion-portals. FRANCE. In France,^ also, we find a lively variety of architectural forms, which have all emanated from the common basis of the Roman- esque, and furnish a further proof of the many-sidedness of which this style is capable. Yet here, in a land rich in antique tradi- tions, there is an evident adherence to the forms of classic archi- tecture — an adherence which surpasses even Italy in energy. It is here not merely the decorative details, but the fundamental features of the construction, which are borrowed from the Roman buildings, and the flat-roofed basilica early gives way to the tunnel and dome vaulting, the use of which in France has become more universal and systematic than elsewhere. Probably * Deiik7n. der Kunst. PI. 43. Voyage pittoresque et archeologique dans Vancienne France. A splendid work full of rich material. Chapiiy's Cathedrales franqaises^ Moyen Age pittoresque et Moyen Age momunental. A. de Laborde, Monnmens de la Fra7ice. Du Somdrard, L'Art du Moyen Age. Viollet-le-duc, Dictionttaire raisoiine de r Architecture fran(^aise. 1856 et seq. 4i6 History of Art, the grand useful structures of the past ages of Rome, which were still abundantly preserved, may have given the first impetus to this tendency, which subsequently assumed a more decided form owing to the preponderating intelligence of the French mind. But here, also, we find many different schools working indepen- dently of each other, and it is especially the contrast of North and South which becomes conspicuously evident. It is especially in southern France^ that we have to look for the almost universal employment of the tunnel-vault. This is combined with the form of the basilica in such a manner that it extends over the central aisle in its full length, while half-tunnel vaults are employed for the side aisles, which, like uninterrupted buttresses, receive the thrust of the tunnel vaults, and rest against the strong walls. By this arrangement the ground-plan of the basilicas is certainly preserved, but an essential element of its artistic effect, the beautiful upper light of the windows in the walls of the lofty central aisle, is entirely lost. With this construction the columned building was discontinued, and gave place to a strong system of pillars. Strengthening springers are usually introduced from the pillars to the arch. Sometimes galleries are placed over the side aisles, upon cross arches, and are roofed with half-tunnel vaults. The choir is generally pre- ceded by a transept, and is often richly finished with a low surrounding aisle furnished with chapels : this aisle is a charac- teristic of French architecture. Here columns appear again in their rightful position as separating supports. The details for the most part adhere to the antique, and are often rich and elegant; the exterior has a tapering form from the towers on the fagade or on the transept. Provence and Dauphine are the parts in which this style has been most purely and consistently executed. An important building in this style is the cathedral of Avignon, a pillared structure exhibiting much variety of development, with a splendid portal executed in the antique manner. No less magnificent, 1 Architecture romane du Midi de la France. Par Henry Revoil. Fol. Paris. (Still unfinished.) The Romanesque Style. ArchitectMrt 417 and exhibiting the same antique style, is the portal of the church of S. Gilles, begun in 11 16, as well as that of S. Trophime at Aries. There is here also a pointed form of the tunnel-vault, which is to be found combined with the circular form throughout the whole series of these buildings, from the period of the twelfth century. One of the greatest productions of this style is the Fig. 217. S. Sernin at Toulouse. Interior View-, church of S. Sernin (or S. Saturnin) at Toulouse, begun towards the end of the eleventh century. (Fig. 217.) It is a mighty five-aisled basilica, with a three-aisled transept ; over the side aisles are galleries, which open between columns into the main aisle. The choir is furnished with an aisle and five radiating VOL. I. EE 4i8 History of Art. apsides ; two apsides are also placed at each arm of the cross, so that the building is enlivened with nine of these niches. Lastly, this splendid design terminates in a slender tower, which rises over the intersection of the cross, and increases the rich central form of these eastern parts of the building. The same style, with a still richer arrangement of the ground- plan, is to be found in Auvergne, but a new element of great perfection is obtained for the decoration of the exterior by the abundant employment of a mosaic ornament consisting of various Fig. 2i8. Notre-Dame du Port at Clermont. Section. coloured stones. One of the most distinguished works of this group is the church of Notre-Dame du Port at Clermont, which, with its distinct and varied pillars, its gallery opening between ornamental columns, and its rich arrangement of choir — in which, however, in an unusual manner, the chapels are placed in pairs — stands forth as a model of this style. (Fig. 218.) Among the Burgundian buildings, which followed the same style in its general features, the abbey church of Cluny, the parent monastery of the mighty Cluniac order, is the largest and also one of the most important of all Romanesque monuments. Built between 1089 and 1131, it expressed the power of that distinguished order in a style developed with the utmost noble- The Romanesque Style. A rchitectMre. 419 ness. The five-aisled building, without the subsequent addition of a porch no feet long, was 410 feet in length, and no in breadth. Two transepts, with ten apsides, enlarged the choir, which had a surrounding aisle with five radiating chapels. Besides the stately main tower on the larger transept, there were six other towers ; so that also outwardly the church presented an imposing appearance. Among the works still existing, the Cathedral d'Autun, begun in 1 132, is one of the most important: it has pointed tunnel-vaults, and a triforium decorated in the same manner as the antique Porte d'Arroux. The fluted pilas- ters are here employed by preference, as in many other monu- ments of Southern France. French Switzerland^ also follows the system of the adjacent country in its Romanesque buildings, as is evidenced in the churches of Granson (Gransee) on the Neuenburger Lake, and of Payerne. Yet here a remarkably grotesque and almost bar- barously fantastic element is mingled with the detail, a striking example of which is given in the church of Notre- Dame de Valere at Sion. The western parts of France exhibit, besides the forms usual in the south, a series of buildings the common feature of which is the Byzantine dome. These domes rise on pendentives from a cornice, after the antique manner, and thus are distinguished from the domes belonging to the Romanesque style. This form is combined, for the most part, with an oblong building, which has, however, but one aisle, and has no construction for the cross springers but the broadly projecting pillars. The side walls are enlivened by blind arcades on columns, and are broken above by round arched windows : the cross springers generally exhibit a pointing at the top. The cathedrals of Cahors and Angouleme, and others, are of this kind. The church, however, of S. Front at Perigueux^ may be considered as the most re- markable building of the whole number, because it combines this dome structure with a ground-plan, which, not merely in 1 Blavignac, Histoire de V Architectiwe sacree, &^c., 1853. '•^ F. de Verneith, L Ai^chitecUwe byzantine en France. Paris, 185 1. E E 2 420 History of A rt. arrangement, but even in its proportions, is an accurate image of S. Marco at Venice. (Fig. 219.) The only difference is that the pillars are more massive, that the columns and galleries are omitted, that the cross springers are pointed in form, and that the whole interior appears cold and empty, from the want of richer ornament ; that, moreover, the extensive porch is wanting, and in its place we find the remains of an earlier building. The \ Fig. 219. S. Front at Perigueux. present building seems to have been erected after a fire in the year 1120. How it was that an imitation of S. Marco should have happened here is difficult to ascertain. The last main group of French architecture belongs to the North, and indeed to Normandy.^ The bold race of the Normans, who had established themselves here in the beginning of the tenth century, knew how to give their buildings the stamp * H. Gaily Knight, Architectui'al Tour in Normandy. Britton and Pugin, Archi- tectjiral Antiquities of Normandy, Lond. 1828. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 421 of strict regularity, of simple and distinct ground-plan, and of consistent execution. When with the conquest of England, in the year 1066, the kingdom was enlarged and national self- reliance increased, this state of feeling was also imparted to their architectural works ; and hencefortji we see the vaulted building, significant by its cross- vaults, combined with the basilica. At the same time, in a manner analogous with the Saxon churches, we find the facade constructed with two bold aspiring towers, to which was added a massive quadrangular tower over the tran- sept. The ornament is simple, dry, inclined rather to a play with linear than with vegetable forms ; for instance, the meander band, the diamond, zigzag, and chessboard patterns, are used by preference. In the last epoch, this ornament reaches a brilliant effect, covering whole surfaces in the portals, arcades, and walls of the upper part of the nave. The two principal works of this style are the churches of S. Trinite and S. Etienne at Caen, founded by William the Con- queror and his consort : both of these churches represent the complete form of the vaulted pillared basilica. S. Trinite, originally founded in 1064, but probably not finished in its present form until the twelfth century, is a vaulted basilica, the three aisles of which are continued in the choir on the other side of the transept. Distinct and regular as the design is, it rejects the rich ornament of chapels belonging to the southern schools. Over the arcades, the upper wall is broken by a gallery, on which are the windows, which are also connected by a colonnade. The great cross vaulting of the central aisle is hexapartite, arches being thrown across from the intermediate pillars. Still more severely is the same style exhibited in the church of S. Etienne, which was built between 1066 and 1077, but was completed somewhat later. The arrangement of the ground- plan is similar, only that the choir has been subsequently sup- planted by an early Gothic structure. The vaulting of the central aisle is hexapartite, probably not according to the original intention ; over the side aisles there is a gallery, which opens towards the main aisle with broad arcades ; the upper windows 422 History of A rt. are here also connected with a pecuHar gallery. The exterior is grandly adorned with a short tower over the transept, and two slender towers, exhibiting great variety in the upper parts, over 1 Fig. 220. S. Etienne at Caen. the facade. (Fig. 220.) The division of the fa9ade by supporting pillars is simple, but distinct, and corresponds with the arrange- ment of the interior. Three portals form the entrance. The Romanesque Style. ArchitectMre. 423 ENGLAND. With the conquest of England by Duke William, the Norman style penetrated there also, and put an end to the old Saxon architecture. Yet the new architecture of the land adopted certain elements of the former period into its system, thus giving it a peculiar national colouring. The most essential of these elements was undoubtedly that of wooden building, which had enjoyed especial favour among the island people from an early period, and which henceforth was at least em- Fig. 221. From the Church at Waltham. ployed in the flat roofing of the aisles of the basilica. This pre- dilection was so strong, that the main aisles of the churches were always furnished with flat wooden roofs ; and we know of no vaulted central aisle in the entire English architecture of this period. If we compare with this the vaulted plan of the basilicas, just now so consistently constructed in Normandy, the contrast of the Anglo-Norman architecture becomes all the more 424 History of Art. striking. Nevertheless, the rest of the building seems entirely to correspond with the system of Normandy, and even adapted for a vaulted roof In the first place, there are the massive pillars of the nave, which, however deviating from the Roman- esque manner of all other countries, have a heavy circular form, or, at any rate, are constructed with half-columns and other pro- jecting additions. To obtain capitals and bases for these heavy masses, the forms usually employed were insufficient. For the base therefore, as a rule, a simple bevelled slab was used, and for the capital, a kind of cube, suitable to the new proportions, as is shown by our illustration (Fig. 221), the'so-called ' plaited' capital. Above the vaulted side aisles, and repeatedly also on the east side of the arms of the cross, galleries are arranged, which open towards the central aisle with broad arches. Then follow the windows. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 425 in front of which, as in the churches at Caen, there are galleries with columns. Mighty half-columns rise the whole height of the upper wall, as though a vaulted roof were designed, which, however, is nowhere to be found. The linear decoration seen in Normandy is here extensively used for ornament, so that, for instance, on the intrados of the arcades, the framework of the galleries, and still more on the portals, we see all those rich but cold forms applied, such as the diamond and scale ornament, and especially the zigzag. Above the transept there rises almost always a massive quadrangular tower ; the facade is generally furnished with two towers. The portals open, contrary to the usual rule, in a semicircle, so that the pediment, which generally occurs between the horizontal projection and the archivolt, is here omitted. Hence an important plan for the display of plastic art is also lost, and it is therefore almost exclusively limited to the linear ornaments. Thus the Anglo-Norman buildings appear serious, mighty, and massive, bold in structure and strongly marked in their horizontal construction ; but they are deficient in a finer, nobler, and softer style ; they breathe almost warlike defiance and even chivalric splendour, rather than ecclesiastical solemnity and dignity. Among the numerous edifices of the land,^ important remains of this epoch are to be found, for the most part, however, trans- formed in the Gothic period, and supplanted by surrounding buildings. An important monument of this early period is Winchester Cathedral, built between 1079 and 1093, with a con- siderable crypt and extensive transept, subsequently variously restored and altered. Vast crypts belonging to this period are also preserved under the cathedrals of Worcester and Canter- bury, and to the same time also belong the choir and crypt of the cathedral of Gloucester, the main body of which shows the developed forms of the twelfth century. To the same advanced period the cathedral of Norwich is assigned, which, like the rest of these buildings, exhibits an unusually grand conception in its ^ Denkm. d. Ktinst. PI. 44. Britton, Cathedral Antiquities of Great Britain. 5 vols. London, 18 19. Ibid., Architectural Antiquities^ &^c. 5 vols. 1807. 426 History of Art. original design — namely, a considerable length of structure com- mon to all English buildings. With a central aisle 31 feet broad, the building extends in length to 411 feet, broken by an extensive transept with apsides on the east sides, and terminated by a choir with a low corridor, and two originally designed chapels. No less imposing is the cathedral of Peterborough, the building of which lasted until the end of the twelfth century. Its lengthy ground-plan, the transept with its eastern side aisle, the beautifully constructed openings of the galleries above the side spaces, and, lastly, the distinct organisation of the whole system — all this affords a remarkable example of the developed Anglo-Norman style. The aisle round the choir has been sub- sequently altered, and the facade also has been enriched by an imposing Gothic porch. Other remains, more or less important as regards extent and execution, are to be found in most of the cathedrals. SCANDINAVIA. In the Scandinavian kingdoms, where Christianity only tardily acquired general sway, an architecture developed itself, which in Norway is to be traced especially to English influence, and in Sweden and Denmark to North German influence. Among the Norwegian buildings,^ the cathedral at Drontheim occupies the first place, although the transept alone belongs to this epoch. Its design, with upper galleries and triforium, thoroughly recalls to mind Anglo-Norman architecture, which is also followed in the detail. Sweden possesses a stately vaulted pillared basilica, with an extensive crypt, in the cathedral at Lund, the exterior of which is constructed in a manner that bears great affinity with the German buildings in the Rhine lands. Among the Romanesque buildings of Denmark, the cathedral at Roeskilde, on the island of Zealand, occupies the first place. More important and unique in their kind are another species of buildings, which belong to the interior mountainous regions of Norway, and follow the laws of the Romanesque style in a ^ A. V. Minutoli, Der Dom zit Drontheim, &^c. Fol. Berlin, 1853. The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 427 highly original construction of wood.^ The churches are either built with horizontally placed beams, or with perpendicular planks, after the manner of log-houses. The ground-plan has some analogy with the basilica design, though with some essen- tial differences. These consist in the fact that the entire nave forms nearly a square, and that the lofty central space is sur- rounded by lower aisles. The division is effected by round wooden columns with cube-like capitals, from which rise arches, Fig. 224. Church at Borgund. also constructed of wood. The ceiling is formed by the rafters of the roof, and the form of the tunnel-vault is imitated without modern transformation. In the east is the choir, which termi- nates with an apsis, but appears separated from the main building by the aisle surrounding the nave. Round the entire building a corridor generally extends, which opens like galleries with small wooden columns. 1 Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 45. Dahl, Denkmale eiiicr ausgebildeten Holzbaukimst i?i den Laitdschaften Norwegens. Dresden, 1837. 428 History of Art. The exterior is still more characteristic than the interior. The different parts, rising one above another with their high roofs, terminate in picturesque points, and end their pyramidal form by the tower, which rises from the roof of the lofty central nave. A separate small tower is generally placed above hibit, even in the high north, lively traces of this original trans- formation of the Romanesque style. SPAIN. In conclusion, we have still to consider the diffusion of the Romanesque style in the opposite extreme boundary of western civilisation — namely, in the lands of the Pyrenaean peninsula, so far at least as deficient records permit of such a survey.^ Since the Christian rule in Spain had begun again to subdue the ^ Denkm. d. Kurist. V\. \2. V\\\dL kmA.^ Espana artisticay ino7tiimentaL Fol. Paris. A. de Laborde, Voyage pittoresque e7i Espagne. Fol. Caveda, Geschichte der Batikimst i7t Spanien. Street, Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain. Lond. 1865. 8vo. Fig. 225. Portal of the Church at Tind. the choir, and a peculiar bell- tower with oblique walls fre- quently stands separated from the church. In the ornamental parts, both on the capitals and portals, there appears a strange carved work, which, with varied riband-like twists, interspersed with dragons, serpents, and other animal forms, expresses the nor- thern fantastic element, and often in its intricacy looks like the flourishes in manuscripts. The church at Tind, built in the con- cluding part of the twelfth cen- tury, has a rich portal framework of this kind. Besides this build- ing, the churches at Borgund, Hitterdal, Urnes, and others, ex- The Romanesque Style. Architecture. 429 Arabian power with slow but continual advance, a style had been developed in these remote regions, which was analogous in its fundamental features to the general tradition of the West. But in the earlier epochs — in the eleventh and twelfth centuries — the architecture of Southern France, with its tunnel-vaulted aisles, seems to have especially exercised a decided influence, facilitated as this must have been by the vicinity of the northern provinces of the peninsula, at that time exclusively under the dominion of Christianity. This explains the preponderance of the pillared building, and its complete construction. Columned basilicas appear but rarely. Generally a mighty tower rises above the transept, and the fa9ade is also finished with towers. The further, however, the Christians penetrated southwards, and the more they disputed the soil with the Moors, the more was their own architecture modified, if not supplanted, by the buildings of their adversaries. The points of contact between two civilisations thus closely connected with each other were, in peace and in war, too manifold, and the Arabian monuments in the reconquered lands were too brilliant, and too insinuating in their splendid decoration for them not to obtain a thorough influence over the excitable imagination of the Spaniards. If the rest of Europe had not been able to escape the influence of Moham- medan art, how much more easily must the same influence have penetrated here, when the whole land was strewn with their monuments ! Thus in the concluding epoch a Romanesque style was formed, which, in its fundamental features, adhered to the old tradition, and in its construction followed the now general cross vault, but in its decoration gave place to the brilliant and lively play of Moorish detail. Many magnificent buildings are evi- dences of this interesting mixture. The most important creation of the Romanesque early epoch in Spain is the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella — a consider- able structure with a tunnel-vaulted nave, a three-aisled transept, galleries over the side aisles, a choir with aisles and chapels, besides a magnificent portal, essentially a building of the twelfth century, and indeed an accurate imitation of S. Sernin at Tou- 430 History of Art. louse. The church of S. Isidoro at Leon, consecrated in 1149, is similar in design, and belongs to about the same period. It is a pillared building of rich construction, and possessing much plastic ornament ; to the western side a vaulted ' pantheon ' is attached, the old funeral chapel of the kings of Leon. In Georgia there are several churches, among others that of S. Millan, which exhibit the original design of elegant columned porticos, extending along the outside of the side aisles, and are sometimes connected with the western side by a similar colonnade. (The church at Monreale in Sicily has a similar portico at its north side.) The old cathedral of Salamanca belongs to a later and more richly developed period. It is a building with strongly Fig. 226, Tower of the Collegiate Church at Toro. constructed pillars and a dome over the transept ; the choir con- sists of three parallel apsides, a form peculiar to most Spanish buildings, and which was soon supplanted by the richer French choir with its aisle and chapels. The cathedral and the Magdalen church at Zamora also belong to this later period. They are both distinguished by magnificent portals. The neighbouring city of Toro has a collegiate church belonging to the same epoch. Its massive domed tower over the transept is characteristic of the original adoption of Moorish forms. (Fig. 226.) At the The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 431 angles there project small round towers, which, like the main tower, are broken by two stories of pointed windows. The shallow roof strengthens the strangely heavy effect of the work, which is decorated with an abundance of Moorish detail. On the other hand, another import- ant building of this late period — the cathedral at Tarragona — ex- hibits the influence of northern, perhaps Norman, mode of con- struction in its richly developed pillars and vaulting. Smaller in dimensions, but similar in design, is the cathedral of Tudela and that of Lerida, now employed for secular purposes, while, on the other hand, the abbey church of Veruela, with its richly organised choir, follows the French mode of architecture. Lastly, there still exist some cloisters, as splendid works of the concluding epoch, among them those of S. Pablo at Barcelona (Fig. 227), which again show an inclination to the Moorish style in their elegantly adorned columns in pairs and indented arches. Fig. 227. Cloister of S. Pablo at Barcelona. 3.. ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE AND PAINTING, a. Subject and Form. The rich and animated picture of Romanesque architecture finds a corresponding phenomenon of no less importance in the plastic arts of the same period. The spirit of the time favoured in the same degree the revival of architecture as it hindered a freer development and higher perfection of the sister arts. It lay in the nature of the entire development, that universal ideas, arising from hierarchical influence upon society, held at first supreme sway and found a corresponding expression in the works of architecture. The development of the plastic arts 432 History of Art. depends, on the contrary, on a freer position of the individual, and on the independent importance which is awarded to each in general society. This importance was at a low ebb in the Romanesque epoch, and indeed throughout the middle ages, first being limited by monastic life and then by guilds or corpora- tions. Especially in our present epoch, when the exercise of the arts lay for the most part in the hands of the clergy, ecclesi- astical tendencies became the standard in everything, and the narrow limits of the cloister-cell became identical with those of plastic art. Here, too, tradition was for a long time the de- ciding and guiding power, for with church architecture the series of images developed in the early Christian period was adopted as the basis for the entire range of Western art. The desire and the duty of Christian art was even now nothing else than to teach and edify. Its forms are the same everywhere, the narrow circle of symbols was used in all places, and the conven- tional outward tokens and emblems were still ever needed as a help to the understanding. No less traditional is the form in which the figures were em- bodied, and the technical skill employed in their execution. As in the early Christian period, so now also the antique concep- tion prevailed, as is plainly evidenced in the drapery as well as in the arrangement throughout the whole Romanesque epoch. At all events the antique elements were retained in the stiff and much-distorted forms which they had imbibed in the early Christian period ; the representations bear the same proportion to the actual antique in this respect, as those rude imitations of the Corinthian capital do to their original model. Indeed, the degenerating process in the early epochs is apparently an ever- increasing process, because the yet unpractised and rude mind of the Germanic races had first to learn to agree with the antique form and its transmitted purport, before it could develope a new life by its own power out of these very germs. An epoch of acclimatisation, as it were, was necessary, in which the foreign seed had to overcome the stiffness of the yet uncultivated northern soil, and this, on the other hand, had to be softened The Romanesque Style. SciUphire and Painting. 433 for the reception of the new seed. Then followed a period of revival, in which again the antique conception gave the key-note to the forms, but in which the Germanic mind could express itself in independent touches and modulations. By this connection with tradition, by the necessity for a thoughtful purport and the close reference to architecture, plastic art acquired at first a strict law of style, which, in its further advance, served as a rule of guidance and kept it free from going astray. The Christian doctrines, which perceived in nature only the sinful element and that opposed to the spirit, long withheld art from the contemplation of nature ; and thus the antique conception remained the standard, satisfying for a while, until hand and eye became free in the uninterrupted exercise of the art, and learned to prepare themselves for the independent conception of nature. The range of ideas belonging to the plastic arts was at this epoch almost exclusively ecclesiastical, although there was no lack of representations from profane history — such as that famous tapestry at Bayeux on which the consort of William of Nor- mandy embroidered the history of the conquest of England by the Normans, or the wall painting on the castle at Merseburg, which represented the victory of Henry I. over the Hungarians. It was not alone that the church drew almost all artistic talent into her service, but she afforded it also the widest scope and the most manifold opportunity for work. There were choir rails, pulpits, portals, and, indeed, whole facades, to provide with sculptured ornament ; there were extensive surfaces of walls and vaulted roofs, wooden ceilings, and even windows, affording scope for the display of important series of paintings ; there were the various vessels required for divine service, all giving opportunity for artistic technical skill ; lastly, in the decoration of the manuscripts, the help of painting was demanded in the ex- ecution of beautiful miniatures. But even as regards subject, the church afforded artists the utmost possible scope ; while, in portraying the sacred figures, she gathered together all that the learned culture of the time VOL. I. F F if 434 History of Art. could offer. First and foremost she drew these from the series of antique legends, the forms of which are 6ften naively inter- mingled with Christian representations, sometimes even with symbolic allusions. Allied with the antique there are the oft- used personifications with which they delighted in representing allegorically the sun and moon, the months and seasons, rivers and localities, as well as virtues and crimes, sciences and em- ployments. Especially frequent are those antique fables of the sirens, centaurs, satyrs, which are generally applied as em- blems of corruption and crime, and occasionally also as mere ornament. How far the love of symbol may be discovered in the works of this epoch, and where this is bounded by the free play of artistic fancy, is often difficult to say, but certain it is that both elements are represented side by side. The beings also of the northern heroic legends are occa- sionally to be met with, though they are not particularly frequent. More importance, on the other hand, is given to the representations from the German animal epos, in which, fre- quently with free humour, we find the idea expressed of the craft of the evil one in tempting and seducing men. Generally, however, animal forms are an important element in the sym- bolism of mediaeval art ; and there are scientific compendiums, so-called vestiaries, which endeavoured to exhaust the natural science of the period by an abundance of symbolic allusions. As, however, even there the explanation is vague, indistinct, and thoroughly arbitrary, it is often handled vaguely and con- fusedly in plastic art ; so that, for example, the lion may just as well refer to Christ as to the devil. This whole profusion of associations and ideas weaves its fantastic net round the true substance of the representations, which pass through the range of Christian ideas from the Fall to the Redemption, sometimes in simple, sometimes in richer style. The preponderating architectural law of this epoch often brings out a well-contrived and distinct arrangement of whole series of pictures. The separate picture, the single form, has no signification by itself alone. Only in connection, in the pro- The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 435 found relation to adjacent pictures, in the subordination to a complete idea, is its law fulfilled. The formation of such relations with the utmost richness, was eagerly adopted and enlarged by that parallelism, conspicuous in the early Christian period, which combines the events of the New Testament, the scenes from the life and sacrifice of Christ, with the typical stories of the Old Testament. Thus plastic art gains at this epoch a grand and thoughtful depth of representation ; while it places the one fundamental idea of redemption in the centre, and obtains from the general purport of its other views those fine associations which pervade the web on all sides, like tender variegated threads, and add the graceful creations of a lively fancy to the strict unity of the design. The style of these works, like their subjects, is solemnly serious and grand, strictly typical and fettered by traditional usage. With all this harmonious physiognomy, various distinc- tions appear in the different national groups, and even in the small local groups. We find the contrasts of the clumsily rude but natural style, and the technically neat but stiff style — the latter the result of various Byzantine influence ; we see dif- ferences proceeding from the variety of the materials used and the conceptions thus produced ; lastly, we can discover advances from the severe to the more free style, and from the clumsy to the more refined and the more noble. Yet nowhere do we per- ceive a general development, in the same manner as architecture must have obtained through the inevitable material advantages of a higher order of construction. The precision, which even in architecture could preserve a peculiar importance, obtains a far wider field in the development of the plastic art ; and this is all the more uninterrupted as circumstance and the personal qualification of the individual artist concur in its advance. On the whole, however, a distinct difference between the produc- tions of the northern lands and those of Italy is to be observed, and this will serve as a guide in our considerations. F F 2 436 History of Ai^t. b. Historical Development. THE LANDS ON THIS SIDE THE ALPS. Among the northern lands there is none which exhibits the course of the development of Romanesque sculpture with such life, freshness, and variety as Germany.^ If the Germanic cha- racter, here represented in its purest state, was especially qualified to receive the new ideas and to fill the transmitted antique forms with independent life, other causes co-operated also. The mighty rise of Germany under the Saxon emperors, the position of these emperors as successors of the old imperators, gave a free uplifting to the national mind ; the manifold connection with Italy stirred up the taste for sculpture, and gave fresh impres- sions of the rich treasures of antique art, and these may have made a deeper effect upon the northern stranger than upon the native himself ; lastly, Byzantine influence was not wanting, and this was of considerable importance in the development of technical skill in the minor arts. In many branches, especially in sumptuous garments with inwrought representations, even Oriental-Saracenic influences came into play. A series of interesting works in Germany affords us an attractive picture of the gradual advance of the development of artistic consciousness. At first, the remains of the Carlovingian epoch are observable everywhere : we find an antique treatment which for the most part appears rude and misconceived in form, but is yet not without the germ of a new life ; indeed, in the course of the eleventh century, a surprising freshness and origi- nality is expressed in the works of sculpture. But by its side there advances another tendency, which, resting for the most part upon Byzantine models, leads to a stricter restraint and to more fixed rules. The effect of natural simplicity 'is now re- pressed, and a less pleasing character takes its place ; yet this • Denkm. der Kunst. PI. 47. Miiller, Beitrdge ztir deiitschen Ktcnst- nnd Gc- schichtskiinde. Darmstadt, 1832. Y.. ■A.ws^vsx^^QxXh^ Kunstdenkindler des christlichen Miitelalters in den Rheinlanden. Vol. I. Leipzig, 1857. E. F orster, IJen^m. deutscher Bildnei'ei, Leipzig, 1856. The Romanesque style. Sculpture and Painting. 437 affords the basis for a higher, freer development, which begins about the end of the twelfth century, and reaches its height towards the middle of the following century. The antique was now taken as a starting-point, with fresh powers and new en- thusiasm. But the extended sphere which the splendour of chivalric life, the prosperity of the cities, the far journeys into the East — for instance, in the crusades — had opened, filled the old forms with a youthfully free and noble life, which occasionally, it is true, was still held in fetters by the stiff spirit of tradition ; yet wherever the bold and self-conscious artistic genius possessed sufficient power, burst forth with a purity and beauty which revealed a noble sense of form pervaded by the breath of feeling. Plastic art is represented, in the first place, by many works of lesser art, such, for instance, as carving in ivory. This technical work was practised with especial predilection during the whole Romanesque period, and its productions formed a considerable element in those various articles of splendour in which the naive ostentation of a fresh and youthful age delighted. Book-covers, small portable altars composed of two plates, like the antique diptychs, vessels also connected with worldly luxury, such as hunting and drinking horns, goblets, and other things, were con- stantly executed in ivory, and ornamented with rich sculptured representations. These consist for the most part of strong relief, which is sometimes executed with a certain stiffness and clumsi- ness, and occasionally even awkwardness. But wherever true Byzantine works have served as a model, there is a remarkable fineness and neat elegance of workmanship, such as belongs to that fair courtly mode of art. Generally, however, there is more intellectual freshness in the works of the former style, with all their unsuitable coarseness, than in those of a Byzantine character. A great number of these works are still preserved in libraries and art collections, as well as among the relics of many churches. A striking example of the former kind is afforded by some ivory tablets from the shrines for relics in the casde church at Qued- linburg, which have been righdy traced back to the Emperor 438 History of Art. Henry I. They represent events from the Hfe of Christ — the washing of Peter's feet, Christ blessing His disciples, the Marys at the grave of Our Lord, and the transfiguration on Tabor — but all in such an awkward clumsy manner that they may be rec- koned as the infant productions of art. The general arrangement observed in the antique Roman drapery is adhered to, but there is scarcely a trace of any idea of just proportion in the body, or any understanding of its organic structure. Yet even in this naive awkwardness there is yet some remnant of the noble dig- nity of antique art, and this is enhanced by the solem- nity of the subject. A remarkable contrast to this is formed by a diptych, in the collection of the Hotel Cluny at Paris, which, from its inscription, be- longs to the time of Otto n. This emperor, as is well known, married the Greek princess Theophanu; and although from this connection we can trace no radical Byzantine influence upon German art, yet it is easy to perceive that many works of Byzantine art were thus brought over, inviting to imitation by their technical superiority. A lively idea of this state of things is afforded by the diptych just mentioned. (Fig. 228.) Enclosed in an architectural framework of columns, we see Christ in sublime grandeur and solemn antique drapery, laying His hands in blessing on the far smaller figures of Otto and his consort, who are dressed up as dolls. Beneath the emperor, Fig. 228. Ivory Relief at Paris. The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. the author of the work seems to have introduced himself in subject humiHty after the fashion of the time. A hunting-horn kept among the cathedral treasures at Prague^ gives an idea of the lifelike ornament, which the rich fancy of the time loved to diffuse over vessels for secular purposes. (Fig. 229.) The chariot race, as well as the form of the quadrigas and the figures of the griffins and centaurs, with whom gladiators are Fig. 229. Reliefs on a Hunting-horn at Prague. preparing to fight, intimate plainly antique models, while the character of the leaf ornament shows the unmistakable Ro- manesque form, so that the work must belong to about the eleventh century. The works in bronze, of which Germany again possesses * Mittelalterl. Denkm. des osterr. Kaiserstaates, ii. 127 et. seq. 440 History of Art. the most important, are also of great value. Many remarkable ones are connected with Bishop Bern ward of Hildesheim (ti02 3) ; a learned man, equally versed in art and science, in political life as well as in ecclesiastical affairs. He was himself an artist, as is proved by many works executed by him which are still in existence. Foremost among these is the brazen gate of the cathedral at Hildesheim,^ which is adorned with sixteen repre- sentations in relief arranged in two rows. The first row contains scenes from the Old Testament from the creation of the world till the death of Abel ; the other row, without adhering to strict parallelism, portrays the history of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension. The style is still unusually primitive, the treatment of the figures strangely awkward, the relief, curiously enough, limited chiefly to the lower part of the figures, while the upper part of the body, completely bent forward, is separated from the surface : equally little idea is there of an artistic arrangement within the space allotted. But in spite of these defects, the work excites our interest from an undeniable expres- sion of life and even of dramatic action : Abel falling under the stroke of his brother Cain, Cain veiling himself before the threatening hand of God, are scenes full of naive freshness and energy. There is also another and a still more remarkable work by Bernward— namely, a brazen column, which formerly sup- ported a crucifix in the choir of the cathedral, but which now, robbed of its capital, is erected on the square in front of the dome. It evidently owed its origin to the Roman works with which the distinguished bishop was acquainted, for, like the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, representations from the life of Christ are wound spirally round the Bernward column ; and these representations recall to mind those Roman models in the crowded arrangement of the relief, and furnish an evidence of the uncertain condition at that time of artistic workmanship, and of the laws of creative art. A similar bronze door is to be found at the cathedral at Augsburg, probably belonging to the second half of the eleventh century. * Kratz, Dcr Doni zu Hildesheim. — Denkm. der Kunst, PI. 47. F'igs. 9 and 10. The Ro77ianesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 441 To a more advanced epoch, a large baptismal basin in S. Barthelemy at Liege belongs, which was moulded by Master Lambert Patras of Dinant, after the year 11 12. Like the famous brazen sea in the porch of Solomon's Temple, the basin rests upon twelve oxen, which likewise contained an allusion to the apostles. On the outside there are five representations in relief, the subjects of which relate to the sacred ceremony of baptism. We see St. John as a preacher of repentance, and as he baptizes the publicans, while the inscription points to a Greater who is to come (Fig. 230) ; there is also the baptism of Christ, and two other biblical baptismal ceremonies. The composition is here far more free and varied, the figures more natural, the drapery simple and distinct, and the whole is pervaded by a simple naturalness, which harmonises well with the antique conception. Another work of the same epoch, executed by a Master Gerhard, is preserved in the cathedral at Osnabrtick. It is a representation of the baptism of Christ, while an angel, hastening eagerly forward, holds out a cloth for drying. Here, too, we find a freshness of nature, and the stiff form is pervaded by an effort after dramatic life. To the same epoch also belong the so-called Korssun gate of the cathedral at Nowgorod, and the brazen gate of the cathedral at Gnesen. iO"B£^' BAPTl'STA Fig. 230. Relief on the Baptismal Basin in S. Barthe'lemy at Liege. 442 History of Art. Lastly, the cathedral at Hildesheim possesses a still richer baptismal basin of the thirteenth century, which rests on figures personifying the rivers of Paradise, and is covered with reliefs in a lifelike style. On other vessels, also connected with religious worship, we find the same delight in rich decoration, and the same technical skill in the formation of larger works — thus, for instance, in the magnificent seven-branched candelabrum in the collegiate church at Essen, which is one of the few examples still existing of the favourite Romanesque imitation of the seven- branched candlestick in Solomon's Temple ; also the richly decorated chandelier foot in the cathedral at Prague, which, in its motley mixture of graceful branch-work, human figures, and Fig. 231. From the Chandelier in the Cathedral at Prague. fantastic animal forms, affords an attractive example of ingenious and fanciful Romanesque ornament. (Fig. 231.) We must also mention a splendid work belonging to the concluding epoch of Romanesque art, the chandelier in the minster at Aix-la-Chapelle, founded by the Emperor Frederic I. There is a similar one in the cathedral at Hildesheim and in the church at Comburg. If the works hitherto discussed are of a more animated character, we have also to make mention of the sculptures, which were executed in stone or stucco for the decoration of the buildings themselves, and for the rich profusion of which the portals, choir rails, and lectorium afforded ample opportunity. The Romanesque Style, Sculphire and Painting. 44 j It was natural that with the more difficult material, in this richer epoch of development, the need of decoration should give rise to more important works. Among the earlier productions, which are to be ascribed to the eleventh century, belong two interesting stone reliefs in the minster at Basle, which contain figures of the apostles and four martyr scenes, arranged in pairs between small arcades. Here also there is a striving after greater life, and a certain naturalness is expressed in the distinct and effective style of drapery. To the early part of the twelfth century, the much-discussed colossal relief of the Extern stone in Westphalia belongs, which is cut in a rocky wall 13 feet broad by more than 16 feet high. It is a representation of the descent from the cross,^ and is rendered important by its profound symbolic allusions. Above the cross hovers the half-figure of God the Father, holding the standard of victory, and receiving the spirit of the Son, while on both sides sun and moon droop their heads with a sorrowful expression ; and at the foot of the cross stand Adam and Eve, as representatives of humanity entangled by the dragon of sin, and spreading out their arms imploringly to the Redeemer. Amid the austere severity of the representation, which, however, fills the space with architectural exactness, occasional touches of deep feeling burst forth with marvellous power. This is especially the case with the Virgin, who is here not depicted fainting, and thus forming a group by herself, but in deep agony embracing the falling head of her Son, and in sorrowful tenderness leaning her head against His. We see that here, even in the fetters of tradition, the feeling mind of a gifted artist could find expres- sion. A whole series of relief compositions, and a consistent advance of development, is presented in the Saxon basilicas. Among the earliest and still entirely strict works, are the figures of Christ (Fig. 232) and the apostles, executed in stucco on the breastwork of a west gallery in the church of Groningen near ' Denktn. der Ktmst. PI. 47. Figs. 2 and 3. 444 History of Art. Halberstadt. More free and advanced in style are the stucco reliefs on the choir rails of the Liebfrauen church at Halberstadt, which also depict the apostles, and in their centre Christ on the one side, and the Virgin on the other — works in which the severe style already betrays a singular softness. Less noble but more full of life are the figures in relief on the choir rails of S. Michael at Hildesheim : they are, moreover, no longer represented sitting, but standing. This style rises to a perfection very rare at this epoch, and to almost classical grace, in the stone sculptures at Fig. 232. Relief from the Church at Groningen. Fig. 233. Relief from the Church at Wechselburg. Wechselburg and Freiberg. In the church at Wechselburg there are, in the first place, the reliefs on the pulpit, which refer to the doctrine of redemption. The central group is formed by the enthroned figure of Christ, surrounded by symbols of the evangelists, and at His side Mary and John, the intercessors for mankind at the throne of the Most High. Christ's sacrifice and work of redemption is intimated by the sacrifice of Isaac and the adoration of the brazen serpent. Cain and Abel (Fig. 233), who are presenting their offerings, designate the relation of the good and evil to God. Here, too, the symbolic purport is per- vaded by free artistic feeling, which breathes a new life into the The Romanesque Style. Sctilphtre and Painting. 445 traditional conception of nature. The altar of the same church belongs to a somewhat later stage of development ; it is an ex- tensive arcade structure, adorned with sculptures in a milder, freer, and softer style, and crowned with a crucifix, placed be- tween the figures of St. John and Mary. The splendid work of this concluding epoch, which is about the middle of the thirteenth century, are the sculptures of the golden gate at Freiberg,^ the remains of an older building in the subsequently Gothic cathedral. In the pediment of the arch, there is the figure of Mary enthroned with the Child, who is receiving the adoration of the three kings ; while in the archivolts above, are seen the forms of the Trinity surrounded by angels. On each side of the portal between the columns, four insulated figures are introduced ; wholly various symbols indicate the prophetic an- nunciation of the Messiah : the whole work thus has a profound connection, though with a more free and independent applica- tion of the ideas. The formal execution strikes us in the same manner ; it is fine and noble, displaying youthful grace and freedom, combined with an inclination to softness. The form of the heads as well as the drapery, calls to mind the sublimity of the antique ; but there is here a wholly new life, and a depth of feeling which finds glorious expression. Among the best and noblest works of the Romanesque concluding epoch, these mag- nificent sculptures stand prominently forward, and their existence is only to be explained by the supposition of some special highly gifted artist ; yet they are evidently connected with that effort of plastic art, conspicuous from the first in the Saxon lands, and they find an analogy in the classical refinement and elegance of the rich ornamental sculpture, such as is exhibited, for instance, in the cathedral at Naumburg. A similar effort after pure beauty and free action is perceived, though combined with severer execution, in the reliefs of the eastern choir rails in the cathedral at Bamberg.^ All that belongs, on the other hand, to true South German work, such as the sculptures * Denkm. der Kunst. PI. 47. Figs. 4-6. 2 Kugler's Kl, ScJuHften. Bd. I. With illustrations. 446 History of A rt. of the Gallus gate, m the cathedral at Basle, and others, exhibits a striking persistence in rude unfinished stiffness, which contrasts strangely with the elegance of the mere decorative plastic art in many Austrian works, as, for instance, in the church of Schongra- bern.^ Among the French works of the same kind, many may be traced to the early part of the twelfth century. The most extensive monument of this epoch are the sculp- tures on the main portal of the abbey church at Conques, which afford a representation of the Last Judgment. In the centre is a stiff and severe representation of the figure of Christ enthroned, surrounded by angels ; below we see the separation of the good from the evil, who are respectively taken to Paradise and to hell. In the further course of the twelfth cen- tury, the custom was adopted in France of over- loading the capitals of the columns with his- torical scenes from the Bible, or from legends, or with pure fantastic and symbolic representa- tions. The limitation as to space led at the same time to a heterogeneous crowding in the arrangement, and the style of the figures alter- nates between stiff lifelessness and almost bar- barous rudeness. Thus, for example, a capital in the church at Vezelay represents, in a rude fantastic manner, Moses and the worship of the golden calf Sculptures are also richly intro- duced on portals and facades, in the same stiff conventional style, especially in the south, such as those in the cathedral of Aries, which contain the often-recur- ring representation of the last judgment. In the western parts, especially in Poitou, a more fantastic style was cultivated with great zeal, one of the most splendid specimens of which is to be seen in the magnificent decoration 1 G. Heider, Die Kirche zu Schmgrabern. Wien, 1854. Fig. 234. Statue from the main Portal of the Cathedral at Chartres. « The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 447 of the facade of the cathedral at Angouleme. Towards the end of the twelfth century, in the north of France, a strict revival of the old hieratic forms is perceptible, evidencing itself in an almost column-like stiffness of figures, and a lifeless parallelism of the folds of the drapery — not unlike the archaic sculptures of Greek art. The portals of the cathedrals of Bourges, Chartres, (Fig. 234), and Le Mans afford remarkable examples of this tendency, which might seem an anachronism, if it did not form the strict basis upon which a new, grand, and wonderfully free, plastic art was to arise at the revival of architectural creations in the beginning of the thirteenth century. Yet these artistic ten- dencies, occurring as they do in France in the early Gothic period, are for subsequent consideration. The transition from sculpture to painting is formed by certain works of a decorative art, which seek to satisfy the lively osten- tation of the time, not merely by the combination of the most various costly material, but by blending together the sculptor's and the painters skill. Metal, gilded copper, or silver plates, are generally taken as the groundwork, the surface of which is covered with graceful filigree ornaments, with gay enamel paint- ing, costly gems, and especially antique gems and cameos. All that was possessed of valuables was given up for the execution of these works, especially for book-covers, small altars, incense vessels, relic-cases of every kind, procession crosses, and even for the covering of large altars, with the so-called antependium. Various as the material and the technical skill are, these works may lay claim to great artistic grace, and sometimes to independent importance. In spite of the destruction that has taken place, many noble and rich pieces have been preserved in museums and among church treasures. Enamel work was very generally employed. It spread at first in Byzantine models, but afterwards attained to great independent perfection at Limoges. The Byzantines soldered gold threads upon the surface, which separated the colours, and, in the enamelling, prevented their running one into another imaux cloisonnes ') ; Western art, on the other hand, hollowed the ground for the reception of the 448 History of A rt. enamel, and allowed the gilded edges to project (' emaux cham- p lev is or i7naux en taille d' epargne'). Splendid works of this kind, belonging to the eleventh century, are preserved among the treasures of the churches at Hildes- heim and of the collegiate church at Essen. The following century was unusually active in these works, congenial as they were to the prevailing love of show and ornament, especially in the production of large relic-cases, which, in the form of oblong chests with roof-like finish, have the appearance of small costly buildings — thus, the rich S. Heribert's chest at Deuz, the two splendid relic-cases of S. Crispinus and S. Crispinianus, in the cathedral at Osnabriick, adorned with precious stones and elegant arabesques, the two relic-cases in the minsters at Aix-la- Chapelle, and the magnificent shrine of the Three Kings in the cathedral at Cologne, which likewise belongs to the concluding epoch, and is finished with the utmost splendour. Among the most famous works of this kind, there is also the so-called Verdun altar at Kloster Neuburg, near Vienna,-^ which originally served as an antependium, and, according to the inscription, was executed in 1181 by Master Nicolaus of Verdun. The whole is composed of fifty-one gilded brass plates, entirely covered with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, engraved in deep outlines, which are filled up with blue and red colours. These designs are of great importance, for in the solemn elevation and often grand nobleness of the figures, as well as in occasional glimpses of dramatic life, they evidence the freedom of a great original artist. The figure of Samson subduing the lion (Fig. 235) will serve as an illustration of this; though coarse and forcible, it expresses passionate action with much power, boldness, and energy. As regards painting itself,^ the miniatures afford us the most fruitful source for the examination of the various stages of de- velopment.^ They begin with the barbarised imitation of the ' Das Niello-Antepeitditun zit Kloster-Nenbtirg. Vienna, 1856. Edited by Camesina and Arneth. Denkm. der Kunst. PL 49 and 49 A. ^ See K\\g\tY, Kleine Schriften zii?' Ktnistgesch. Vols. I. II. Stuttgart, 1853. The Romanesque Style. Sculpture aud Paiitting. 449 antiquf,-, which was universally prevalent in the Carlovingian epoch But in this art, also, Germany long took precedence. The German monasteries possessed an active taste for science, and fostered in their schools a study of ancient literature, which Fig. 235. From the Verdun Altar at Kloster Neuburg. found its echo, not only in the chronicles and biographies, but also in various poetic attempts, as in the comedies of the nun Roswitha at Gandersheim. The miniatures with which the manuscripts were adorned are based, like all the art of this ► period, not upon nature, but on a transmitted type. The figures have no natural surroundings ; they only stand out from a coloured and often tapestry-like background, and are enclosed in an architectural framework, like a colonnade. An epoch was formed in the technical execution of these works when, in the end of the tenth century, the union of the Emperor Otto II. with the Greek princess Theophanu occasioned Byzantine works to be brought in greater number to Germany, and rendered finished Byzantine workmanship of high repute. These works were now imitated with all the more zeal, as they afforded a fixed' canon suitable for universal application. The colours were now VOL. I. G G 450 History of Art. more rich and varied, and were heightened by mezzo-tinto. But, as ever, the nature of this art rested on simple outHne, the essential forms being strongly designed, and filled with simple colours, which occasionally acquired a slight shadow, the lights being laid on in white or yellow. The distribution of colours was guided more by a general law of harmony than by regard to nature ; and it was no strange occurrence for hair and beard to be painted green or blue, if this happened to suit best. The faces had a pale, even greenish colour, which, combined with the thin hollow cheeks, the long emaciated figures, and the formal lifeless drapery, give these works a sad and forbidding expression with all their splendour of colour. Yet this pupa-state was necessary, before a noble and free art could extricate itself from the stiffness of rule. Among the works of this early epoch, the Evangeliarium of the Bishop Egbert of Treves, in the library belonging to the town, is of great importance as a production of the close of the tenth century. The colours exhibit gay and charming variety, and the figures of the Evangelists have a stiff but strikingly grand dignity. The reign of Henry II. (the Saint), in the be- ginning of the eleventh century, was especially conducive to miniature painting, owing to his pious zeal. Even now the libraries at Bamberg and Munich possess a number of splendid manuscripts, which he presented to his favourite cathedral, that of Bamberg. In the further course of the eleventh century, we find this style degenerating into mannerism, exhibiting strangely distorted forms, confused drapery, and often repulsive ugliness, thus betraying the deepest decline of art. But in the twelfth century, after the example of architecture, it roused itself to new life, to strict regularity and distinctness, threatening, it is true, at first to degenerate into Byzantine life, but soon — that is, towards the middle of the century — exhibiting a freer and more lively transformation of the old types. Amid this favourable change, miniature painting acquired that deeper, thoughtful conception, which is everywhere seen as the characteristic of the most im- portant productions of Romanesque art. One of the most remark- The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Paiitting. 45 1 able works of this epoch is the ' Hortus Deliciarum ' of the library at Strasburg. It was written by the Abbess Herrad of Landsberg, about 11 75, and is furnished with numerous illustra- tions, which are invested with a naive grace by their simple harmony with life and nature.^ Several brilliant examples of the free and high soaring fancy, which is playfully expended on the marginal ornaments and initials, is exhibited in three Passion- aries from the monastery of Zwiefalten, now in the Royal Library at Stuttgart. Another kind of miniature painting appears flourishing at the end of the twelfth century, excited by the revival of chi- Fig. 236. Miraculous Phenomenon at the Birth of Christ. From the MS. of Werner of Tegernsee. valric poetry, and seems to have prevailed especially in Southern Germany, particularly in Bavaria. Compared with the former style, it holds about the same proportion as the unassuming national song does to the artistic melody which resounds at the 1 Abbildungen imd Beschreibung bet Ch. Engelhardt : Herrad von Landsberg. Stuttgart, 1818. G G 2 452 History of Art. celebration of divine service. They are simple drawings in pen and ink, for the most part only executed with black and red strokes, slightly tinged with colour. They do not assume such rich splendour, but they are also not so heavy and solemn as the former ; in their light strokes of the pen, they are better adapted to follow the promptings of the imagination and to express poetic fancy. And as in the development of music, the melody that lives in the national song must pass into the severe artistic song in order to reach a higher stage of art, so these simple pen and ink drawings seem to form the bridge to that epoch, in which painting could more freely embody the emotions of the inner life. For the most part they are secular chivalric poems, to which these graceful miniatures are added as an ornament, and in their more natural lifelike manner betray a freshness of feeling hitherto unknown. Yet there are also many w^orks of a religious kind with similar illustrations. The library at Berlin possesses a manuscript of the poem of the life of Mary, by the monk Werner of Tegernsee,*^ the miniatures of which display an unusually animated and energetic feeling. (Fig. 236.) Another manuscript of the Eneidt (yEneid) by Heinrich von Veldeck, also preserved there, stands in this respect in close affinity with the former work, as is shown by the representation of Dido, who is giving free vent to her complaints before y^neas, while he is endeavour- ing in vain to comfort her. (Fig. 237.) We have only to say of the French miniatures that their development takes a similar course as in Germany. On the other hand, England cultivated the Anglo-Saxon style from the early epoch till the period of the Normans, until a total change to the true Romanesque manner occurred there also. Painting now advanced to grand spacious effect in the wall- paintings of the churches. The formal character of these works was developed nearly in accordance with miniature painting, only that the solemnity of subject, as well as the direct connection with architecture, invested this style, on the whole, with a more severe 1 Denkm, d. Kunst. PI. 49. Fig. 9. Cf. Kiigler's KL Schriften. Vol. I. The Romanesque Style, S cm Ipture and Painting, 453 sublimity ; and while it circumscribed the free movements of individual life, it often compensated for this by an effect of lofty dignity and power. There are sufficient instances to allow us to conclude that it was a general custom to paint the walls, vaulted roofs, and wooden ceilings of churches ; and the general effect of this gave a finish and an air of consecration to the artistic cha- Fig. 237. Dido and Eneas. From the MS. of the ^Eneidt. racter of the whole building. A simple strong outline of the figures, which generally stood out boldly from a blue back- ground, produced a grand effect. With this was combined a strict architectural arrangement, often divided by painted orna- mental bands in rich and tasteful designs, and investing the whole with an air of distinctness, rhythmical variety, and rich life. That wall painting was employed, to a great extent, in the course of the eleventh century is warranted by numerous written records, yet nothing has been preserved which can with certainty be assigned to this period. Many important remains belonging to the twelfth century have, on the other hand, been brought to light from the subsequent whitewashing. One of the grandest and largest examples is afforded by France in the church of 454 History of Art. St. Savin in Poitou/ Probably the production of the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the following, this painting exhibits a grand and severe conception, rising into solemn effect. (Fig. 238.) The representations begin in the crypt with scenes from the legends of the saints of the church ; the choir with its chapels exhibits the grandly designed figures Fig. 238. Wall Painting of St. Savin. of the Redeemer and the patrons of the country, as well as repre- sentations from the New Testament ; on the vaulted roof of the nave there are representations from the Old Testament, in the western porch scenes from the visions of the Apocalypse, and the galleries above contain paintings relating to the Passion of Christ and legendary events. The conception is throughout severe and typical, the figures are tall, thin, and inclined to the Byzantine style ; but in the drapery we catch glimpses of the simple grandeur of the antique. These elements combine in expressing a severe dignity, which occasionally, as in the repre- sentation of Moses, which we have given, who is receiving the tables of the law on Mount Sinai, rise to an air of solemnity. An ^ Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 49. Figs. 7 and 8. The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 455 ornamental painting covering every part of the architecture, the shafts of the columns, the capitals, and the archivolts, gives an harmonious finish to the whole. In Germany, among the works of the more advanced twelfth century, the wall-paintings in the lower church of Schwarz- rheindorf, near Bonn, stand in the first rank as regards extent and artistic value.^ Executed in the year 1151, their grand architectural rhythm, as well as the profound train of thought which lies at their basis, produce an effect of rare power and Fig. 239. Wall Painting of Schwarzrheindorf. significance. In the centre of the main apsis, the Redeemer is represented enthroned ; in the northern apsis, the crucifixion of Christ is portrayed ; in the southern, the Transfiguration on Tabor (some figures of which we have introduced at Fig. 239) ; and in the west, at the side of the entrance, the expulsion of the money-changers and traders from the Temple is ingeniously intro- duced, as a serious divine warning to those who enter the house of God. Amid these representations, and on the broad springers of the arch, we find single figures of saints, allegorical personi- ^ The Illustration is taken from the Drawings in the Museum at Berlin by C. Hohe. Cf. also Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 49 A. Figs. 1-7. 456 History of A rt. fications, and royal portraits ; and on the cross vaulting there are scenes of deep symboHc meaning, apparently referring to the contrast between the true worship of God and the worship of idols. The figures are sketched in outline, and simply coloured on a dark-blue ground edged with green. But within these narrow limits there is evidence, though still occasionally con- fused, of a rare purity of feeling, a lofty freedom of composition, Fig. 240. From the Ceiling in S. Michael at Hildesheim. an intellectual freshness and life, undoubtedly affording proof of considerable artistic power. In the concluding epoch of the Romanesque style, wall- painting seems to have been especially cultivated on the Lower Rhine, in Westphalia and Saxony. The most remarkable are The Romanesque Style, Sculpture and Painting, 457 the paintings of the Chapter Hall at Brauweiler, those of the Nicolai chapel at Soest/ and of the church at Methler,^ but above all the important painting on the vaulting of the choir and tran- sept of the cathedral at Brunswick. One of the most important works of this period is the wooden ceiling of the church of S. Michael at Hildesheim, which, arranged in beautiful divisions and in rich ornamental frames, contains the pedigree of Christ, or the so-called root of Jesse.^ A series of medallions, beginning with the Fall, is continued through the pictures of the progenitors of Christ up to Mary (Fig. 240), and the Redeemer, who is enthroned in glory, while smaller medallions on both sides repre- sent the patriarchs and prophets belonging to the Old Testa- ment. The style, with all its typical solemnity, has a certain freer life, which is also evidenced in the rich arrangement of the drapery. Similar treatment and architectural construction are to be found in the paintings on glass, which were constantly employed in the Romanesque period, first in Germany, and afterwards with great success in France. The few specimens that are retained of- these works are distinguished by simple severe style and splendid colouring. ITALY. Italian art* follows, it is true, in general at this period the laws of development observed also in northern art ; never- theless, in a certain respect, it already takes an independent path, which leads it eventually to a separate goal. In the early epochs, Italy stands at a subordinate stage in artistic work, as it does in general civilisation ; and of the scarcely credible rude- ness of this stage, a striking proof is given in the brazen portal of S. Zeno at Verona. It is formed of nothing but small plates 1 Denkm. d, Kunst, PI. 49 A. Figs. 10, 11. W. Liibke, Mittelalterliche Kunst in Westfalen. PI. 28, 29. Denkm, d. Kunst. PI. 49 A. Fig. 12. , UMie, Mittelailerliche Kunst, PI. 30. 3 Denk?n. d. Kunst. PI. 49 A. Fig. 15. * D'Agincourt, Histoire de I' Art. Cicognara, Storia delta Scultura. 3 vols. Fol. Vinezia, 1813. 45S History of Art. of relief, the representations on which on the left wing of the door are astonishingly barbarous. Among numerous stone sculptures, we may mention as an example of this rude style a representation of the Last Supper from the pulpit in S. Am- brogio at Milan, which is at the same time combined with various fantastic carving. The only works that are tolerable at this epoch are those which betray direct Byzantine influence. How universally this was diffused in Venice and Lower Italy, is evidenced by some extensive works, the technical workman- ship of which is thoroughly Byzantine — thus, for instance, the brazen gates at the main portal of S. Marco at Venice ; also the Roman gates of S. Paolo, which were executed in Constantinople in the year 1070, and were destroyed by the fire of 1823; and the brazen portals of the cathedrals of Amalfi, Salerno, and Monte Casino (1067), which were similarly manufactured. All these works have that genuine Byzantine niello-like style, in which the figures are engraved on brass, and are filled up by the insertion of silver wire and silver plates. In Amalfi, the few figures represented exhibit stiff Byzantine conception ; in Salerno, on the other hand, they are formed with more life and perfection. A new tendency appeared with the beginning of the twelfth century, though at first in a manner which seemed like the bar- barous dissolution of all artistic form ; for a rude and wild adherence to nature took possession of Italian plastic art, the old typical laws were set aside, and no new rule was adopted. The portals and facades of the churches of Upper Italy and Tuscany exhibit rich traces of this new movement ; but just as rarely as they present anything that is attractive, so do they naively exhibit the vain glory with which the artists have intro- duced their names at full length. If we compare with this the almost perfect namelessness with which most, and even the noblest, of the works of this period meet us in Germany, we cannot but perceive how early the self-reliance of the artists in Italy was awakened. This free prominence of the individual is, however, one of the mighty levers which allowed Italian art The Romanesque Style. Sculphcre and Painting. 459 subsequently to attain to so high a stage. Probably to the same epoch belong two reliefs containing the figures of the Evan- gelists St. Luke and St. John, which were found in the porch of the church connected with the baptistry at Aquileja, and which afford an example of the strange symbolism of the middle ages. (Fig. 241.) In Lower Italy, towards the end of the century, a new style of bronze work becomes perceptible ; and, instead of the former Byzantine niello, a lively plastic execution is em- ployed. An important work, belonging from its inscription to Fig. 241. The Evangelists St. John and St. Luke. Relief from Aquileja. the year 1 1 79, is the bronze portal of the cathedral of Ravello, the figures of which are treated in a new and ' classic manner ; the architectural framework has a rich decoration of noble Romanesque leaf ornaments ; the figurative representations are, it is true, constrained in action, but there is no rudeness of style. Barisanus of Trani is named as the author of this portal ; he also executed the gates, which are still in existence, for the cathedral at Monreale, and for the cathedral of his native city Trani. In these works, Italian sculpture advanced to a new style, which for its higher development now needed a genius equal in skill to the master of the golden gate at Freiberg. Such a genius appeared in the great Nicola Pisano, who was born 460 History of Art. about the year 1204 a.d., and whose works extend to 1280. With him antique art suddenly revived, in its power and splendour, for a new though short existence, far removed from the miser- able and gloomy reminiscences which had hitherto clung to Romanesque art, and also far more absolute and decided than it showed itself elsewhere, even in the noblest creations, in the sculptures of Wechselburg and Freiberg. His style was just as much a renaissance before the renaissance, as the fa9ade of S. Miniato was, or the baptistry at Florence. But if these build- ings prove to us that such works must at that time have been Fig. 242. Relief from the Pulpit at Pisa by Nicola Pisano. a kind of necessity in Tuscany, yet the phenomenon of this wonderful master is none the less left unexplained. It seems doubtful to claim the influence of German masters ; we are ever obliged to fall back on Nicola's unbiassed perception, and on his sympathy with the antique, as the final explanation. A youthful work by this master, the relief of a taking down from the cross in the north portal of the porch of the cathedral of Lucca, executed in the year 1233, shows him still fettered by The Romanesque Style, Sculpture and Painting. 46 1 the general Romanesque conception.^ The first work of his maturer manhood, the splendid pulpit in the baptistry at Pisa, bears the date of the year 1260.^ Six columns, and in the centre a seventh, resting on lions and other figures, and con- nected by Gothic trefoil arches, support the superstructure with its balustrades, to which a flight of steps lead, so that the whole magnificent marble building forms an independent work. Above the elegant leaf capitals there rise small statues ; and beside them, on the triangular space left by the arch, there are reliefs, alle- gorical pictures, prophets, and evangelists. The principal scenes, however, are the rich reliefs on the breast-walls, which contain the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Three Kings, the Offering in the Temple, Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment. The scenes are rich in figures, and are arranged in the crowded manner of the Roman sarcophagous sculptures ; but the inner life of the figures, as well as the outer construction, breathe the spirit of antique art. In the Birth of Christ, the Madonna is resting on her pillow with all the majesty of a queen ; and in the Adoration of the Kings, she is enthroned like a princess, who is receiving the tribute due from vassal princes. They are true and striking studies after the antique — studies conscious of their aim, and evidencing it in every line of the execution of the figures ; and even now we see in the Roman sarcophagi of the Campo Santo, ideas which afforded a basis to the great regenerator of plastic art. In the treatment of the naked figure, which is seen, for instance, in the Last Judgment, he exhibits a wealth of ideas, combined with a perception of form, unknown since the days of the ancients. All that he thus gained for his national art is an inviolable good, and is the broad secure basis for all ensuing development ; for although the life and majesty of his figures is too far removed from Christian resignation and humility not to make a deep cleft appear between his subject and its concep- ^ Crowe and Cavalcaselle {History of Painting in Italy. London, 1864. Vol. I. p. 136) mention it as one of the latest works of his mature years ; my memory is no longer fresh enough. » Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 48. Fig. 8. 462 History of Art. tion, although the following epoch had to pass through a natural reaction after this unqualified glorification of the antique, yet ever since Nicola Pisano the spirit of the antique has remained the inalienable heritage of Italian art. In his later works the master himself has softened the unqualified severity of his antique conception, as is evidenced in the reliefs imputed to him on the so-called area (sarcophagus) of S. Dominicus in S. Domenico at Bologna,^ and still more in the pulpit of the cathedral of Siena. The latter work, a still more magnificent production than its Pisan predecessor, though showing much affinity with it in design and composition, was executed by Nicola, about the year 1266, with the assistance of his son and some associates.^ The reliefs on the pulpit contain the same cycle as before, though somewhat enlarged and en- riched. In the noble antique conception there breathes a new and more hearty feeling, increased to passionate depth in the Murder of the Innocents and the Crucifixion, which were pos- sibly the work of his son Giovanni. In his advanced age, in the year 1278, we find Nicola engaged in the decoration of the beautiful fountain at Perugia, though we have no accurate information respecting this work. The \\2X\2.x\ painting^ of this period followed the footsteps of the Byzantines in all great monumental works. The mosaic art, adhering to early Christian tradition, was now especially em- ployed ; at first only in stiff formalism, but after the twelfth century with undeniable evidences of a new life and of awaken- ing feeling. The extensive mosaics in the interior of S. Marco at Venice, which belong for the most part to the eleventh century, still adhere to the solemn but stiff Byzantine style. An important assistance in the development of this style is afforded by the rich mosaics of the Sicilian buildings. The works in the church of the Martorana at Palermo, which was built by King ^ Denhn. d. Kimsf. PI. 48. Fig. 10. ^ Denkm. d. Kimsf. PI. 48. Fig. 9. ' Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 49. D'Agincourt, Histoire de PArt. Rosini, Storia del/a Pittura Italiana. Pisa, 1839. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Paint ifig i7t Italy. London, 1864. 2 vols. 8vo. The RomanesqiLe Style. Sculpture and Painting. 463 Roger, are still entirely dependent upon Byzantine art : they are stiff and solemn, almost without expression and action, and yet bearing Greek annotations. No less strictly Byzantine and cold in treatment are the paintings in the choir of the Capella. Palatina ; but even in the nave a touch of independent life is perceptible, and the figures, especially that of the enthroned Redeemer, are full of grand significance and expression. Still more independently is this style displayed in the immeasurably rich representations of the church of Monreale.^ Here, too, we find the Byzantine element intermingled, as, for example, in the Madonna over the portal, whose thin face and Roman nose correspond with the Byzantine model ; other parts, especially the youthful figures, follow antique art. The historical repre- sentations are more lifelike than any other ; the movements are justly conceived, and, though still clumsily represented, are full of expression. Occasionally, indeed, a deeper expression of feeling is obtained, while throughout that excellent adaptation to the space is observed, which henceforth forms a characteristic of Italian painting. In Rome also, at this epoch, we see the cold severity of the old style revived, nowhere, however, with so much freshness of feeling as in the mosaic picture in the apsis of Sta. Maria in Trastevere, executed in the twelfth century, in which Christ is represented as enthroned beside His mother, whom He is tenderly embracing. This style is continued here until far into the thirteenth century, to which late period belong the two mosaics in the apsides of S. Giovanni and Sta. Maria Maggiore, executed, according to their inscription, by Jacobus Torriti ; the latter, espe- cially, the Coronation of the Virgin, is a grand composition, and evidences a soft and noble remodelling of the antique type.^ While these last-named works belong to the end of the thir- teenth century, the baptistry at Florence contains important productions of the earlier part of the century in the extensive mosaics, executed in the choir by a Friar Jacobus in 1225 a.d., and 1 Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 49. Fig. 6. 2 Detikju. d. Kunst. PI. 49. Fig. 3. 464 History of Art in the great main dome by Andrea Tafi and his associates. Here, too, we plainly see a new and more lifelike spirit wrest- ling with the stiff Byzantine formality. The mosaic also in the apsis of the cathedral of Parenzo exhibits the same thing : it represents the enthroned Virgin surrounded by saints and angels. By the side of these splendid works appear the productions of a more simple style of art, which follow the tendency of the northern mind. The most important work of this kind is the extensive wall painting in the baptistry at Parma, comprising in Fig. 243. St. John the Evangelist. From a Madonna Picture by CImabue. profound connection figures and historical scenes from the Old and New Testament — a work exhibiting an energetic and lively adherence to nature, the historical scenes being often full of passionate action, and the separate figures, as, for example, the half-length figure of King Solomon, possessing sometimes ex- treme beauty. About this time, 1240, Giovanni Cimabue was born, with whose name and works is linked the lasting establish- ment of a fixed style of painting ; which, it is true, emanated from the severe grandeur of the Byzantine form, but which, at the same time, procured the victory to a new conception of The Romanesque Style. Sculpture and Painting. 465 nature in her truth and beauty. This state of art, though with the severe style still preponderating, is to be seen in a large panel picture of the Madonna, originally in Sta. Trinita, and now in the academy at Florence ; in a later one, on the contrary, in the right wing of the transept of Sta. Maria Novella,^ the art of the master rises to grand ^ beauty,' which is combined with a touch of attractive grace in the- angelic figures surrounding the main picture, and in the medallions of the frame. (Fig. 243.) He executed an extensive series of wall-paintings on the vaulted roof and upper walls of the church of S. Francesco in As- sisi, which are full of lifelike spirit in spite of their destroy- ed condition. His style was adopted by the great Sienese master, Duccio di Buoninsegna, with much artistic power. Al- though his works extend into the fourteenth century, the}' are likewise based on the severe Byzantine manner, which is, however, here combined with a beauty, a grace, and a richness of life which testify even now to a free artistic con- ception. His great altar-piece in the cathedral at Siena, which was completed in 131 1, and which is now placed at one end of the transept in the same cathedral, though, unfortunately, in a most disadvantageous light, portrays, on the principal side, the Madonna between many saints arranged in rows : the figure is grand and Byzantine in attitude, but full of beauty and loveliness. On the other side, Fig. 244. From Duccio's Picture in the Cathedral at Siena. VOL. I. 1 Denkm. d. Kunst. PI. 49. Fig. 2. H H 466 History of Art. scenes from the Passion of Christ are represented in small figures, from which we have selected the beautiful group of women proceeding to the sepulchre of our Lord. (Fig. 244.) The severe sublimity of the style is here combined with serious thoughtfulness, noble beauty, and force of passion, producing a wonderfully touching effect. Italian painting here reached a lifelike power, to which hereafter no stage of perfection was too steep or inaccessible. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. LONDON : PRINTED BY SrOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STKEET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET WORKS BY MR. RUSKIN. Modern Painters. Complete in Five Volumes. Imperial 8vo. With Eighty-seven Engravings on Steel, and Two Hundred and Sixteen on Wood, chiefly from Drawings by the Author. And Index to the whole work. /^S 6s. 6d. Each Vohinie may be had Separately. Vol. I. Of General Principles and of Truth. Sixth Edition. i8s. Vol. II. Of the Imaginative and Theoretic Faculties. Fourth Edition. los. 6d. 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