p, mmmm. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/historyofartinpr01perr_0 HISTORY OF ART IN PRIMITIVE GREECE. MYCENIAN ART. HISTORY OF %\\t in l^rimittvo (Greece MYCENIAN ART FROM THE FRENCH OF GEORGES PERROT, PROFESSOR IN THE FACULTY OF LETTERS, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, PARIS, AND CHARLES CHIPIEZ. ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT, AND TWENTY COLOURED PLATES. IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. LL OLonbon: CHAPMAN AND HALL, Limited. 1894. Richard Clay London & Sons, Limited, & Bungay. CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. SEPULCHRAL ARCHITECTURE. PAGE $ i. Funereal Rites i — 19 § 2. Graves on the Acropolis at Mycenae 19 — 31 $ 3. General Characteristics of the Cupola-Tomb 31 — 46 § 4. Description and Restoration of Tomb I. . . 46 — 80 § 5. Tomb II Bo — 87 S 6. Rock-hewn Tombs (bee-hive) .... 87 — 90 CHAPTER VI. RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE 91 — 99 CHAPTER VII. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. § i. Fortification and General Character of the Towns ioo — 119 § 2. 'The House and the Palace 119 — 145 CHAPTER VIII. MYCENIAN MONUMENTS AND ORIGIN OF DORIC ARCHITECTURE . . . 1 46 — 1 72 CHAPTER IX. SCULPTURE. § i. Materials, Processes, and Themes 173 — 175 § 2. Idols 175 — 206 $ 3- Scenes of Battle, of the Chase, and other Representations of Human Life 206 — 239 § 4. Golden Masks 239 — 244 VI Contents. PAGE § 5. The Lions Gate 244 252 $ 6. The Human Figure as Decorative Element 252 265 S 7. Animal Representation 266 286 S 3. Glyptic Art 287—318 $ 9. Characteristics and Originality of Mycenian Sculpture 3 T 3—3 ^9 CHAPTER X. PAINTING 34o— 35 1 CHAPTER XL INDUSTRIAL arts. $ 1. Potter)' § 2. Glass § 3- Wood, Ivory, and Stone § 4. Metal S 5. Weapons and Tools . § 6. Dress . 352—412 413— 417 418 — 422 422—451 45 1 456 456 — 459 CHAPTER XII. gf.nfral characteristics, date, and divisions of thf. mycenian PERIOD 460 — 488 Additions and Corrections I ndex 489 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. To face pac;e IV. Mycenae. Domed-tomb I. Present state of fagade, plan, elevation, and section after Thiersch. Restored from existing pieces of facing 49 V. Mycenae. Domed-tomb I. Geometrical elevation of fagade, restored by C. Chipiez 63 VI. Mycenae. Domed-tomb I. Perspective view showing dromos. Restored by C. Chipiez 73 VII. Mycenae. Interior of Domed-tomb I. Perspective view of part of cupola. Restored by C. Chipiez 73 VIII. Tiryns. General view of citadel from south-east. Restoration by C. Chipiez 106 IX. Mycenae. General view from west. Restored by C. Chipiez . . . 108 X. Mycenae. General view from north-west. Restored by C. Chipiez 1 1 1 XI. Mycenian palace. Second epoch. Restored by C. Chipiez . . . 128 XII. Mycenian palace. Second epoch. Longitudinal section. Restored by C. Chipiez 133 XIII. Tiryns and Mycenae. Coloured architectural detail 135 XIV. Mycenae. Bas-relief over Lions Gate. After squeeze in Berlin Museum 173 XV. Gold vases. Vaphio 213 XVI. Engraved stones in Mycenian style 214 XVII. Mycenae daggers 224 XVIII. Mycenae daggers 225 XIX. Mycenae daggers 226 XX. Mycenian ceramics. Painted and unglazed vases 367 XXI. Mycenian ceramics. Glazed vases 385 TAIL-PIECES, &c. Ornament on Title. Gold ring from the Tyskevicz collection. Chapter V. Glass-paste. Spata 90 „ VI. Glass-paste. Menidi 99 „ VII. Fragment of ivory plaque. Mycenae 145 „ VIII. Glass-paste, Mycenae 172 v jjj List of Illustrations. PAGE Chapter IX. Glass-paste. Mycenae 339 „ X. Glass-paste. Menidi 35 1 XI. Gold ornament. Mycenae 459 XII. Glass-paste. Mycenae 488 MG. 244. Clay vase. I roy 2 245. Clay ossuary. Crete 7 246. Terra-cotta statuette 13 247. Plan of rock-excavated tomb. Mycenae 14 248. Entrance to rock-hewn tomb 15 249. Rock-cut tomb. Mycenae. Plan 17 250. Sepulchral enclosure. Mycenae 21 251. Section of sepulchral enclosure 23 252. Funereal stela. Mycenae 25 253. Bronze fibula. Mycenae 29 254. Side-chamber of Tomb I. Mycenae 36 2 55. Fragment of alabaster rosette 37 256. Plan of entrance to Tomb 1 47 257. Tomb I. Elevation of the entrance wall, with section of the lintel . . 48 258. Tomb I. Sealing-hole 50 259. Arrangement of lining slabs, Tomb 1 3! 260. Tomb I. The several parts of capital set up in position 32 261. Tomb I. Apex of cupola 33 262. Tomb I. Longitudinal section 34 263. Tomb I. Plan of cupola at two different heights 33 264. Tomb I. I )oor of side-chamber 36 265. Tomb 1 . Fragment of facade decoration 39 266. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 60 267. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 61 268. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 62 269. Tomb I. f ragment of decoration 63 270. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 64 271. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 65 272. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 65 273. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 66 274. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 67 275. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 68 276. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 68 277. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 69 278. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 70 279. Tomb I. Fragment of decoration 7I 280. Ivory comb. Spata ... 73 281. Gold disc. Mycenae 7 6 282. Plan of 'Tomb II. Mycenae 81 283. lomb II. View of wall which blocks up the dromos. Mycenae ... 82 284. 'Pomb II. The semi-column 83 285. Tomb II. Dowel-holes 85 List of Illustrations. ix FIG. PAGE 286. Tomb II. Plan and partial restoration of fagade 85 287. Fragment of sculptured slab 86 288. Cyprus. Tomb of Haghia Paraskevi 89 289. Tiny gold plate 92 290. Small gold plate 92 291. Lead idol 93 292. Temple. Ocha 95 293. Sacred grotto. Cynthus 96 294. Tirynthian crenelations 107 295. North-west angle of the acropolis 1 1 2 296. Terra-cotta ossuary. Crete 120 297. Staircase leading to the palace. Mycenae 123 298. Mycenian palace. First epoch. Elevation of fagade 129 299. Mycenian palace. First epoch. Longitudinal section 132 300. Mycenian palace. First epoch. Arrangement of wood-framing . . . 133 301. Mycenian palace. First epoch. Arrangement of wood-framing . . . 135 302. Mycenian palace. Second epoch. Arrangement of timber-frame above the column 137 303. Mycenian palace. Second epoch. Plan of the woodwork above the columns 139 304. Guthe of C. temple, Selinous. Section through the listel of the architrave 148 305. Myceniaa palace. Second epoch. Some pieces from the entablature. Architrave and frieze 1 5 1 306. Mycenian palace. Showing architrave and frieze in position . . . . 154 307. Section of palace wall. Mycenae 155 308. Mycenian palace. Details of cornice 156 309. Mycenian palace. Details of cornice 157 310. Mycenian palace. Lining-slab forming the drip-stone 158 31 1. Mycenian palace. Restored entablature 159 312. Entablature of the temple at Selinous 160 313. Mycenian palace. Longitudinal section through prodomos 161 314. Mycenian palace. Plan of woodwork of prodomos at the height of the frieze 162 315. Mycenian palace. Plan of woodwork of prodomos above the frieze . . 163 316. Egyptian cavetto of temple at Edfou 165 317. Substructures of wall of cella 169 318. Wall showing timber-ties 170 319. Back wall of the Erechtheion, inner side 170 320. Mycenian and Hellenic anta 1 7 1 321. Idol 176 322. Idol 177 323- Idol 178 324. Idol 178 325- Idol 178 326. Idol 179 327- Idol 179 328. Idol 180 329. Idol ... 181 330. Idol 182 X List of Illustrations. KIG. 331. Idol 332. Heads of idols 333. Fragments of terra-cotta idols . . 334* Idol 335. Idol, glass-paste 336. Idol, glass-paste 337. Idol, terra-cotta 338. Idol, terra-cotta 339. Idol, terra-cotta 340. Idol, terra-cotta 341. Idol, painted terra-cotta . . . 342. Cylinder 343- Idol 344. Ivory wing 345. Female statuette, facing . . . 346. Female statuette, seen sideways . 347. Fragment of ivory tablet . . . 348. Fragment of ivory idol . . . . 349. Bronze idol 350. Bronze idol 351. I ,ead statuette 352. Fragment of glass-paste . . . 353. Marble statuette of musician . . 354. Marble statuette of musician . . 355. Mycenae stela 356. Gold plaque 357. Mycenae stela 358. Fragment of silver vase . . 359. Ivory bust 360. Fragment of dagger-blade . 361. Fragment of dagger-blade . 362. Vaphio goblet 363. Vaphio goblet 364. Gold mask 365. Gold mask 366. Gold mask 367. Intaglio 368. Ivory knife handle 369. Vase from burnt city, Troy . . 370. Terra-cotta head, seen full face . 371. Terra-cotta head, seen in profile . 372. Bread-maker 373. Helmeted head, ivory . . . . 374. Silver vase 375. Fragment of vase 376. Gold ornament 377. Ivory' plate 378. Ivory plate 379. Ivory handle of mirror .... PAGE 183 184 »S 5 l86 187 ■87 1 88 189 190 191 192 192 193 194 x 95 196 x 97 x 97 198 x 99 200 200 204 205 209 210 213 217 219 224 224 227 23T 241 242 243 246 248 253 2 54 255 256 256 257 259 260 260 261 262 List of Illustrations. xi FIG. l'AGE 380. Ivory handle of mirror (fragment) 263 381. Ivory handle of mirror 264 382. Glass-paste 265 383. Terra-cotta vase 266 384. Terra-cotta vase (fragment) 266 385. Fragment of terra-cotta vase 267 386. A terra-cotta cow 267 387. A terra-cotta dog 267 388. Bronze animal 268 389. A terra-cotta cow 268 390. A terra-cotta cow-head 269 391. A silver cow-head 271 392. Gold cow-head 273 393. Bas-relief 273 394. An ivory cow 274 395. A gold lion 274 396. Ivory plaque 275 397. Gold ornament 276 398. Ivory plaque 276 399. Ivory box 277 400. Decoration of box lengthened out 278 401. Ivory disc 279 402. Wooden disc 279 403. Ivory dog 280 404. Gold ornament 280 405. Six-footed animal 281 406. Gold griffin 281 407. Ivory griffin 282 408. Ivory griffin 283 409. Ivory sphinx 284 410. Sphinx 285 41 1. Glass sphinx 286 412. Gold hippocampus 286 413. Gold ring with bezel 291 414. Gold ring with bezel 291 415. Gold prism 293 416. Gold prism 293 417. Gold prism 293 418. Bezel of gold ring 293 419. Mycenian intaglios, 24 pieces 295 420. Bezel of gold ring 297 421. Mycenian intaglios, 25 pieces 299 422. Bezel of gold ring 301 423. Bezel of gold ring 301 424. Mycenian intaglios, n pieces 302 425. Mycenian gems, 16 pieces . . 303 426. Sardonyx 308 427. Antelope among plants of papyrus 323 428. A morass. From Egyptian painting 323 xii List 01 Illustrations. FIG. I* AGE 429. Vase from the Abbott collection 325 430. Fragment of wall-painting 342 431. Fragment of mural-painting 343 432. Fresco from Tiryns 345 433. A painted stucco tablet 349 434. A painted sandstone jar 351 435. Polishers. Troy 355 436. Vases with tubular holes for suspension 356 437. Trojan pitcher 357 438. Trojan amphora 35 S 439. 440. Pitchers. Troy 359 441, 442. Pitchers. Troy 360-1 443, 444. Double-handled vase. Troy 3 62 '3 445. AeVac ufjKjnwTreWov. Troy 364 446. Pitcher. Troy 365 447. Fragment of vase. Troy 365 448. A vase in the shape of a woman’s bust 366 449. Fusaioles. Troy 367 450. Foot of vase. Thera 369 451. Stone vase 371 452. Stone box (pyxis). Melos 372 453. Stone cup 373 454. Stone spoon 373 455. Mycenae vase painted with dull colours 374 456. Pitcher. Ialysos 375 457. Amphora. Ialysos 376 458. Stirrup-handled amphora. Ialysos 377 459. Amphora. Cyprus 378 460. Gourd (pilgrim’s bottle). Ialysos 378 461. Crooked pitcher. Ialysos 379 462. Chafing-dish. Ialysos 380 463. Tripod. Ialysos 381 464. Funnel. Ialysos 381 465. Cup. Ialysos 382 466. Cup. Attica 382 467. Tall cup with foot 382 468. Vase with geometrical decoration. Mycenae 383 469. Stirrup-handled amphora. Ialysos 383 470. Triple-handled amphora. Ialysos 383 471. Box from the acropolis. Athens 384 472. Fragment of cup. Orchomenos 385 473. Circular box. Attica 385 474. Three-handled amphora. Ialysos 386 475. Argonaut on glass-paste 386 476. Vase with “ maritime ” decoration 387 477. Ewer from the Museum at Marseilles 389 478. Stone vase. Mycenae 391 479. Decoration on cover of vase 393 480. Stirrup-handled amphora 395 List of Illustrations. xiii FIG. *’AGE 481. Funerary recipient. Crete 398 482. Amphora. Pitane. Decoration lengthened out 399 483. Goblet. Ialysos 401 484. Stirrup-handled amphora. Crete 402 485. Fragment of vase. Spata 402 486. Fragment of vase. Mycenae 402 487. Fragment of vase. Mycenae 403 488. Decorative detail on crater or bowl 405 489. Handle of vase 407 490. Amphora. Sicily 41 1 491. Cup. Sicily 411 492. Stirrup-handled amphora. Troy 41 1 493. Glass-pastes. Menidi 413 494. Glass-handle. Spata 414 495. Glass-paste. Palamidi 415 496. Glass-paste. Palamidi 415 497. Glass-paste. Spata 415 498. Glass-paste. Spata 415 499. Glass-paste. Menidi 416 500. Glass-paste. Palamidi 416 501. Awls and diminutive gold object 419 502. Knife-handle of ivory 421 503. Ivory. Spata 421 504. Gold cup. Troy 424 505. Silver vases. Troy 424 506. Gold diadem. Troy 425 507. Gold diadem. Troy 426 508. Portrait of Mdme. Schliemann 427 509. Gold bracelet. Troy 428 510. Gold ear-ring. Troy 429 5 1 1. Gold bracelet. Troy 430 512. Gold ornaments. Troy 430 513. Gold disc. Troy 431 514. Gold eagle. Troy 431 515. Gold ewer. Mycenae 432 516. Gold cup. Mycenae 432 517. Gold cup. Mycenae 433 518. Gold cup. Mycenae 433 519. Gold cup. Mycenae 434 520. Gold cup. Mycenae 434 521. Gold cup. Mycenae 435 522. Gold cup. Mycenae 436 523. Gold ewer. Menidi 436 524. Silver patera. Vaphio 437 525. Bronze ewer 437 526. 527. Bronze ewer. Showing the decoration on necking and the handle . 438 528. Gold pendant. Mycenae 439 529, 530. Two gold diadems. Mycenae 441 53 i j 53 2 > 533) 534- Gold roundels. Mycenae 443 xiv List of Illustrations. MG. I* AGE 535. Gold ornament. Mycenae 444 536. Gold buttons. Mycenae 444 537. Gold plate. Mycenae . 445 538. Gold plaque 446 539. Gold ear-rings. Mycenae . 447 540. Gold ornaments and rings. Mycenae and Vaphio 448 541. Bronze sword. Thera 450 542. Bronze sword. Mycenie 452 543 - Spear-head. Vaphio 453 544. Bronze axe. Vaphio 454 PRIMITIVE GREECE: MYCENIAN ART. CHAPTER V. SEPULCHRAL ARC PI I T ECT U R E . Funereal Rites. Thera and Troy are unlike Mycenae in one respect ; tombs there have not made good the silence or lacunae of tradition. No graves have been discovered at Thera, and no data have come to confirm the hypothesis of an incineration necropolis at Troy. The enormous pithoi found in such vast numbers in all the strata, have been recognized by all competent authorities to be cellars. 1 As regards the vases with rude representations of the human face, which Schliemann at first identified with cinerary urns ( aschenurnen ), they were quite innocent of ashes (Fig. 244). 2 Human remains have indeed been collected in half-a-dozen pots or so ; but nothing about them shows their mounting back to high antiquity. There are reasons which tend to prove that the sepultures in question (see Fig. 66) date from the period which succeeded the fall of Ilium, when the hill, almost desert, was used as a burial-ground by the surround- ing peasantry. The remains of the dead found a more secure resting-place in a soil composed of ruin, than in the adjoining 1 Schliemann, Bericht ; History of Art. 2 Schliemann, Bericht. 2 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. plain, frequently disturbed by the overflowing and change of bed of the Scamander. The only sepultures that we may safely call archaic are those that have been recognized towards the foot of Mount Hanai Tepeh, on the summit of which stood the Hellenic temple of Thymbrseus Apollo. 1 Below the ruins of this sacred building, relics of a prehistoric village have been uncovered. The pottery is as uncouth as in the lowest strata at 1 1 issarlik . nearly all the implements are made of stone and bone, and bronze is hardly, if ever, seen at all. Here and there skeletons crop up, now on the rock itself, now somewhat higher up, on a spot which seems to represent the site of certain ancient dwellings. The dead were laid out on the bare earth, their faces turned to the west, and their knees doubled up. They lighted upon no grave hollowed in the solid rock, or made of brick or stone ; one and all were mere holes dug in the ground, wherein the bodies were placed. The exceptions to this universal rule are tombs built with unburnt brick for two infants. Remembering that the only 1 History of Art. 2 SCHLIEMANN, IlioS. Funereal Rites. 3 mode of disposing of the body known to Homer was by cremation, Schliemann fully expected to find traces of fire in the several tumuli still visible on the Rhcetheum and Sigeum headlands, as well as on the many eminences which dot the plain ; the more so that throughout antiquity down to our own day, local tradition associated the “ tells” in question with the names of Ajax, of Achylles, and other Homeric heroes. To Schliemann’s intense amazement, however, the sixteen tumuli which he laid open 1 were without result. Vases and imple- ments, very similar to those of the two first settlements at Hissarlik, have only come from the Kara-Gatshe-peh, or Tomb of Protesilas, on the European side of the Hellespont ; but no human remains were found therein. The mounds of the Troad have furnished Hellenic pottery in abundance ; but potsherds of undoubted antiquity were exceedingly rare. If these researches have failed of their purpose, they have yet proved that tumuli never ceased to be raised in the Trojan plain, down to the end of the Roman empire, in imitation of those which apparently belonged to the heroic age ; but although their situation is in perfect accord with the Homeric information, they have kept their secret.' 2 If there is a mode of burial which has been established for the period under consideration, it is inhumation in its most simple form, such as we find it in the lowest stratum of Hanai Tepeh. Similarly, we find inhumation, but this time with a tomb built and prepared to receive the dead, on the western shores of the Aegean, the scene of Achaean civilization, whether in Argolis, Peloponnesus, or Central Greece. The tombs of the princes who built the mighty walls of Tiryns are as yet unknown ; the oldest sepultures which have been exhumed in this district are the shaft-graves enclosed by a ring of slabs, which Schliemann discovered in 1876. 3 As is well known, he at that time believed in partial cremation. 4 But the fallacy of his theory has been demonstrated both from his own narrative and the condition of the bodies, some of which 1 Schliemann, Ilios. Upon these tumuli, see also Virchow, Berliner Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie. 2 Schuchardt, SchliemamC s Ausgrabungen. 3 History of Art. 4 Schliemann gave up the cremation theory, and stated in writing his change of front. — T rans. 4 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece: had apparently been partially embalmed, to preserve them until they were buried out of sight, as well as by the grave furniture extant at the time of discovery . 1 Interment is made even more manifest in sepultures be- longing to this same epoch, but which are regarded as later in time than the pit-graves on the Mycenian acropolis : we refer to the domed-tombs scattered over the land stretching from Laconia to Thessaly, and the rock-cut graves designed for persons of lower estate, which have been more especially studied in Argolis. Among those who have excavated the necropoles under consideration, Stamakis is the only one who noticed — as he thought — traces of partial cremation apparently carried out in the vault or pit itself, after the fashion imagined by Schliemann. He was present at the opening of the pit-graves at Mycenae, and his testimony relative to one of them fully bears out Schliemann’s own statement ; whilst on the existing portion of the old pavement of the tomb near the Heraeum he picked up ashes, along with human bones which showed marks of having passed through fire. He concluded from the fact that as fire has left traces on the stones of the pavement, and smoke has blackened the lower face of the lintel, the body had been consumed on the spot . 2 Finally, MM. Kouma- noudis and Kastorchis, in their report drawn up from notes left by the late Stamakis, mention having found calcined bones in the principal tomb, which was filled with undisturbed earth. But whether the said relics are human or animal bones is a secret which they have kept to themselves. lo the above conjecture we would oppose a prejudicial observation. We know by recent experience that intense heat of some hours’ duration is required to consume the fleshy portion of the body. If the ancients succeeded but imperfectly by means ot a great pyre set up in the open, which was fanned by the passing breeze, how much less could the operation be carried out in an unventilated chamber, or at the bottom of a pit ? At most they might perhaps have roasted the body ; but to have reduced it to the condition of a mere bag of bones had been Schliemann, Mycena. Sec also Helbig, Das Homerische Epos, and Tsoundas ( E'/»7/j£pt£, 1888). I he state of most of the bones collected in these graves proves that they were never thoroughly mummified. 2 Athenische Mitiheilungcn, 1878. Funereal Rites. 5 impossible. 1 There is no occasion to resort to an impossible hypothesis in order to explain the presence of calcined bones and traces of fire in the graves. The Spata and Heraeum hypogsea are admitted to have been rifled at an early date ; Stamakis himself recognizes that they were opened for the purpose just referred to and for subsequent burials ; and that bones which had not passed through fire were found in them. But how is it possible to pick out, among these remains, those that belong to the first interment from such as are of more recent date ? As regards the ashes and stains of smoke on the floor and wall of these chambers, they find a natural explanation in the sacrificial fires which went on here in honour of the dead. The passage leading to the tomb of the Heraeum was apparently accessible throughout antiquity. 2 The country folk who used it as a shelter for themselves and their flocks must not unfrequently have lit a fire in front of the doorway. Stamakis was an intelli- gent and close observer ; yet it is not impossible that, pre- possessed with the notion that he should find here traces of a funereal rite coinciding with that described in the Iliad , he may have seen more than reality warranted. Had Stamakis lived to pursue his researches in this domain, he would doubtless have reached the same conclusions as his successor, based as they are upon the excavations of the bee-hive graves of the lower city at Mycenae (1887 — 1888). 3 In the fifty-two graves opened by M. Tsoundas were several skeletons, which had evidently been placed there whole ; they had not been laid out at full length on the ground, but were found in a half-sitting posture, the head raised as if reclining on a pillow, the legs bent, and the knees high. These, however, were exceptional cases. The bones, in most of the graves, had greatly suffered either from damp, aggravated by the falling in of the roof, or later rebuildings and repairs. But none of them, says M. Tsoundas — who examined with minute care these relics — showed certain marks of fire. He does not feel justified to absolutely deny that bodies were not 1 Experience soon taught the Hellenes how difficult it was to obtain complete combustion without the help of a strong breeze. As Achylles lights the pyre which is to consume Patroclus, he calls to his aid Boreas and Zephyrus, tempting them to come fan the flame and enliven the fire by the offer of sacrifices. 2 Athe 7 iisclie Mittheilungen , 1878. 3 Upon these tombs, see ante, p. 355. 6 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece: cremated during' the period to which these graves belong , but, as far as his knowledge goes, there is no sufficient data to warrant him to decidedly state that such a case ever occurred. The only mode of burial which has been firmly established here is inhumation. These conclusions have been confirmed by the study of other necropoles of similar date. Thus, the vaults hollowed out in the flanks of Mount Palamidi, having a close resemblance to the similar graves at Mycenae, have disclosed nothing which would point to cremation practices . 1 Several skeletons were found whole, laid out on the bare earth ; the traces of fire left on animal bones and broken pottery had come from the sacrificial brazier. Human bones, even when discovered in great confusion and scattered round about, betray no sign of having been placed on the funereal pyre . 2 * Near Epidaurus, M. Stais opened several vaults, akin to the Nauplian examples. In one of them he found four skeletons, almost intact ; they lay on the soil, their heads propped up against the wall, and faced the entrance. For obvious reasons, the value of the evidence supplied by the domed-tombs can in no way compare with that which we owe to the shaft- graves. The scanty information which we get from one or two of the bee-hive sepulchres favours rather than not the burial theory. At Menidi, one out of six skulls was almost uninjured a fact which is inconsistent with burninof, however slight. At Vaphio, on the other hand, owing perhaps to the nature of the soil, the body had evaporated without leaving a trace behind ; but the place where it had been was indicated by the position of the weapons and ornaments buried with the defunct . 4 Finally, Crete has given us a number of specimens of terra-cotta vats, with elegant designs, the dimensions of which approach those ol sepulchral urns, into which elsewhere, in Etruria for example, 1 Sec ante, pp. 385-388. A then 1 si he Mttthcilungcn , 1880. Tsoundas formerly states having lighted on none hut liliputian hearths in the numerous tombs which he opened at Mycenae, and they naturally occupied a very small space only in the chamber. In the minut f P iec e« of charcoal scattered ..II over the floor, he thinks he made out chips ;>f resinous wood, such as pine, which the peasantry still use at the present day by way of candles to light their houses. A tomb of the same period, resting on the rock, to the south-eastward of the Athenian acropolis, has also furnished a skeleton. 4 Das Kuppdgrab. Funereal Rites. 1 was deposited the residuum from the pyre (Figs. 167, 245). At the time of their discovery they were full of bones, which bore no trace of fire. That inhumation should have been the rule during the course of the Mycenian period is no more than could have been expected from the ancestors of the Homeric Greeks. Interment agrees far better than burning with the first simple conceptions of man relating to a life beyond the grave. 1 2 The funereal rite in question was never abandoned by the Egyptians, whose ideas in this direction were rigorously pushed to their extreme con- sequences, and over whom they held so firm and abiding a sway.- As de Coulanges has forcibly shown, the sepulchral rites of Fig. 245. — Crete. Clay vat. Height, o m., 48 ; width near the rim, 1 m., 105. historic Greece and the laws which governed her cities, are wholly opposed to cremation practices, which allow nothing to remain of the body except a handful of ashes. 3 The beliefs which many a detail in these rites, many a provision made by the laws for peculiar manners and customs, seem to imply, are in unison with the same order of ideas which were prevalent in Egypt. At the bottom of the grave, into which wine libations and sacrificial fat are poured, we feel the mysterious presence of a being who continues, in ill-defined conditions, an existence resembling that which he led beneath the light of the sun. It 1 Orsi, Ur lie funebri Cretesi. 2 See our analysis of the ideas under consideration in History of Art. 3 De Coulanges, La cite antique. 8 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. is a person who eats and drinks, and enjoys the possession of riches buried with him in his eternal abode ; one who is accessible to joy and sorrow, to gratitude and anger, interested, too, in the movement and stir of this world, where he intervenes to reward pious children who honour his memory, and chastise those that are forgetful of him. The strange persistency of such concep- tions proves that they held supreme sway during those long centuries which correspond to the infancy of the Hellenic race ; they sank so deeply into these fresh minds, that the advance of speculative thought was unable to eradicate them. Hence it is that in the day of Plato and Aristotle, we find Isaeus appealing to them with telling effect upon an Athenian jury . 1 Inhumation is the only mode of disposing of the body which does not rudely shake the belief in the existence of a nether- world, consequently it was the only one that was in practice where this same belief was dominant. Vision, nay, even hallu- cination cannot dispense with a modicum of reality to start with. This element, without which self-illusion could not be carried on, was supplied by the last impression left by the departed, ere he was lowered in the grave, surrounded by kinsmen and friends, when the lines of the face were as yet unchanged, and the features still preserved their natural contour. No great effort was required to conceive the human form keeping itself whole and lasting on for weeks, nay, months and even years, provided they abstained from following the destructive process which goes on silently in the darkness of the grave. They just as easily pictured to themselves the colour mounting to the pallid cheeks of the defunct, as he fed on the toothsome viands offered him, or seemed to watch his mouth, which had looked as if closed for all time, re-open and about to speak. However great may be the imaginative power in its first freshness, when it not only invents but keeps up the illusion in which it delights, it would not have been proof against the utter annihilation of the body on the funereal pyre. If, in despite of the change which ushered in the cremation system, this belief of a life continued in the grave still kept its ground, it is because it had been written in indelible characters in the innermost depths of thought when another mode ot burial had prevailed. Had the order 1 G. Perrot, L eloquence politique et judiciaire a Athbics. Funereal Rites. 9 been inverted, it would never have gained so complete a mastery over the mind. 1 The furniture and arrangement of the Mycenian necropoles — taking the term in its broadest sense — are in perfect accord with prepossessions relating to a life prolonged in sepulchral gloom. Their logical outcome is the embalming process. If the Mycenians were very timid in their attempts at mummify- ing, it is because they lacked the necessary ingredients, nitre, aromatic substances, and the like. But although their means were much simpler, they neglected nothing, as far as we can see, of what seemed to secure the preservation of the body for a considerable time. We have laid stress on the mode of con- struction and closing of the shaft-graves. 2 Dwarf walls were built between the body and the native rock, and in the chamber was laid a solid thick pavement (Fig. 109). The entrance to all subsequent domed- or rock-cut graves was closed either by a cumbersome unwieldy door, or a wall of dry stones. This was demolished and rebuilt after each burial, when the passage leading to the vault was also filled up with earth ; with this difference, however, that in the bee-hive tombs of the lower city the body has been allotted more space than in the pit- graves, whether, as in the Treasury of Atreus, he has a chamber all to himself, or, as is usually the case, he rests under the cupola itself. Let the dimensions and arrangement of the tombs be what they may, the horns and bones of bulls, of sheep, goats, and fallow deer, which have been picked up among the ashes and charcoal lying above and within the graves, bear witness to the ideas and sentiments which the mystery of death suggested to the men of that period. These remains can be no other than those of victims, whose flesh was consumed on braziers that stood either in the vault or the vestibule. That shell-fish formed no inconsiderable item in the diet of the inhabitants of Argolis, is 1 This has been well grasped by Erwin Rohde, in his fine work, Psyche , one of the most suggestive books that has appeared for a long time in Germany. The author is equally at home in modern and ancient research ; his interpretation of old texts by the light of the recent excavations is instinct with rare insight ; he shows how wide was the difference between the conception referred to above, as revealed by the discoveries of Schliemann and his compeers, and those that were prevalent in Homer’s time. 2 History of A rt. Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. shown by the quantity of oyster-shells, some of which had not been opened, discovered by Schliemann in one of the tombs, whilst olive berries were found in another. These offerings were not the outcome of obsequies alone. The deep layer of rubbish which surrounded the slab-circle, composed as it was of earth blackened by burnt matter, ashes, bones of animals, and wood in a carbon- ized condition, was not heaped there in a day or week. 1 It proves the existence of rites which continued to be celebrated here in honour of the dead laid out in the depths of the rock. We have a further proof, if proof were needed, in the hollow altar found one metre above the fourth tomb (Figs. 102- 104), and very similar to that seen in the court of the Tirynthian palace (Figs. 81, 82). Then, too, we learn that the custom already existed in that remote age of breaking vases which had served in the sacrificial rites ; whilst the hollow altar recalls the hole sunk by Odysseus with the point of his sword on the Cimmerian shore, into which he pours wine, honey mixed with water, porridge, and the black blood of victims, to the end that the world of shades (larvae) may come and drink out of this spring of life. 2 In such vaults as were found undisturbed, fragments of a single vase had often been scattered, seemingly with design, to the four corners of the room ; at other times, analogous but diminutive fragments had been sprinkled all over the skeleton. 3 In either case we seem to follow the movement of the hand, which after breaking the fictile piece, sowed the bits on the ground, or, it would appear, over the burning embers of the brazier ; for some of these scraps bear marks of fire. The blood and fat of immolated victims, milch, wine, and honey were supposed to nourish and quench the thirst of the dead ; to renew his ever-ebbing life each time such gifts were brought to them. Sacrifices of another kind are conjectured to have been offered to the dead, in that human bones have 1 Schliemann, completely engrossed with the idea that the corpses had under- gone cremation in the pits, paid no great heed to the remains in question, and failed to apprehend their real character. But Milchofer, in some notes published in the Athenische Mittheilungen , after his visit to the field of excavations, drew attention to the enormous place sacrificial remains occupy in the detritus. 2 Odyssey. :i Das K up pel grab ion Metiidi. The same remark is made by Tsoundas upon bone and ivory objects. Funereal Rites. i i often been picked up in the dromos by which the bee-hive graves at Mycenae were entered. In one of these six skeletons were discovered, lying across the path, the one upon the other, along with other human bones and common pottery. What mean these skeletons ? They are assuredly not members of the family for which the vault was excavated. Why were they left without the common chamber, huddled up in the passage, and crushed under the weight of the fillings ? Are we to recognize in them poor relations, who were not allowed to share the same chamber as the tribal chief? But in those primitive societies personal property had scarcely come into being, and inequalities of rank cannot have been very marked between the inhabitants of a small borough, whose members were all acquainted with each other. All those who could claim a common ancestor enjoyed the same rights, had the same duties to perform in the place of their birth. Should we, then, view these remains in the light of slaves who had no right to enter a tomb purposely built and adorned for their masters ? We are met on the threshold by the following objec- tion : both Athens and Rome made room in the family vault for a faithful slave — previously initiated and made participator in the rites of the domestic worship — in days when simplicity of primitive manners was already a matter of antiquity . 1 Admitting that there was no such usage at Mycenae, how are we to explain the fact of so many bodies having been found together in a tomb apparently undisturbed ? We have another explanation to propose : may we not be confronted here by the remains of captives who, like the Trojan prisoners sacrificed to the manes of Patroclus by the son of Peleus, were slain upon the chiefs grave ? 2 If the Homeric tales describe human sacrifices which o had fallen in desuetude in the ninth century b.c., it is because the remembrance of an epoch when the usage was general among the Hellenes, as it was among the Scythian tribes of Southern Russia, had not passed away . 3 The rites observed at the royal funerals of the latter have been preserved to us 1 See texts collected by De Coulanges, La cite antique. 2 In the human remains discovered at Mycenae, amidst the soil and rubbish which covered the pit-graves of the slab-circle, the relics of human sacrifices have been recognized (Milchofer, Athenische Mittheilungen ; Schliemann, Mycenae). 3 Achylles sacrificed twelve prisoners to his friend Patroclus {Iliad). 12 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. in a curious passage of Herodotus. 1 If we find it hard to accept this hypothesis as probable, it is because the notion of a wholesale massacre is distasteful to our better nature. Never- theless, there is nothing about these human sacrifices which is in disaccord with the general ideas which from other reasons we know to have prevailed here. The fact that the horses, wives, and domestic servants of the defunct were dispatched, like those of the Scythian king, to keep him company in the nether-world where he was supposed to carry on his existence, coincides with the impulse which prompted them to provide for his bodily wants, decking him out in his richest robes, and placing vases, arms, and ornaments within reach of his hand, together with clay idols which would procure him divine protec- tion (Fig. 246). We have adverted to the unparalleled quantity of the precious metals contained in the oldest Mycenian cemetery. The grave furniture could not of course be everywhere as sumptuous ; yet they strove, as much as in them lay, to surround the defunct with some of the best things which the house could furnish. There are very few graves which have not yielded glass and amber beads, ivory tablets, and golden leaflets, and above all pottery. This same idea ruled the external and internal decoration of the most important domed-tombs ; it seemed natural and fitting to the men of that age that their chieftains should find no less luxury in their eternal abode than they had been accustomed to in their brief span of life. These tombs were all family vaults, for all contained more than one skeleton ; in most of them M. Tsoundas came upon as many as five or six bodies, which had been placed there at comparatively long intervals from each other. This is proved both from the number of the corpses and the situation they occupied on the floor. Such of the skeletons as were discovered in the middle of the room had apparently never been disturbed ; but bone-heaps filled up the corners of the chamber. We have explained in another place how these heaps had been formed. Elsewhere a greater degree of reverence had been shown to these remains ; such would be those that were discovered in the clay vats formerly deposited in Cretan tombs (Figs. 167, 168, 245). Such vats are much too small for adults ; yet they cannot 1 Herodotus. We have done no more than sum up Tsoundas’ observations and arguments (E^pepic, 1888). Funereal Rites T 'J 1 6 all have been designed for children, and must have served for what we would call secondary inhumations ; that is to say, no sooner was the body reduced to the condition of dry bones, when it was removed from the place it had occupied in the chamber and placed in these recipients. A very similar custom prevails to this day in some districts in Brittany, the churches of which contain chests filled with human remains. At other times, old bones were cleared out of the way by digging pits in the floor of the chamber, as at the Heraeum, Palamidi (Figs. 130, 1 34-1 37), and in some of the Mycenian bee-hive graves (Figs. 122-124), or by sinking niches into the wall (Fig. 247); again, when the family was unusually numerous, pits and vats were simultaneously employed to get rid of all the bones (Figs. 125, 126) ; and again, here a second and carefully-planned chamber 14 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. W as added (Fig. 127), there another was hastily run up on the spur of the moment, as is proved by the bad construction beheld in the traditional vault and passage, where all the lines are crooked (Fig. 128). The rebuildings and the precautions taken to provide a place for all the members of one family in the common family vault, speak in plain language as to the mode of burial that went on here for generations. The chamber and its contents were secured by a wall of loose stones against stray animals or malevolent persons. This wall was easily taken down and run up again with each successive burial. When, in despite of all possible additions to the original plan, the vault became chock-full of bones, it was permanently closed, and another was built as required hard by. In the lower city of Mycenae are no isolated hypogcea ; they always occur in groups (Fig. 88). Although, considered as a whole, they all belong to the same period, the single graves of any one cemetery cannot, of course, be all of one date. Here, iron, in the shape of rings — which is to seek in the upper necropolis — has been found in two of the tombs. Each family, then, was represented in the ceme- teries in question by several graves, and each of these answered to a distinct phase in the life of the “gens.” Here, too, as soon as a vault became full, it was walled up for good. It has been conjectured that, like the vault, the passage leading to it was filled up and cleared after each burial, but we think on insufficient ground. The operation would by no means have been a light one, and might have recurred the following year or week. The dromos, by which the Treasury of Atreus is entered, is over thirty metres in length, and this distance is increased by ten and twelve metres for the passages of many of the bee-hive tombs at Myceme. Funereal Rites. 15 Apart from these objections, we have substantial proof that the entrance-passage was deliberately walled up for at least a series of years. M. Tsoundas noticed that, in front of the wall blocking up the entrance to the chamber, huge boulders 1 had in every instance been piled up high, to remove which would have entailed greaJt expenditure of time and labour ; the more so that the blocking system narrows from bottom to top (Fig. Fig. 248. — Mycence. Entrance to rock-excavated tomb. 248). The tomb could only be entered by clearing the dromos of the earth and rubbish filling it. This sometimes has acquired great compactness from having been rammed down hard, at Vaphio and the Treasury of Atreus for example. The passage of the latter was filled with virgin earth, and therefore undis- turbed. If the chamber was accessible in the time of Pausanias, 1 Upon the closing of the graves at Palamidi, see Lolling, Athenische Mittheilungen , 1880. Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 16 it is because after the fall of Mycenae thieves, guided by local tradition, or a top-gap which may have disclosed the cupola underneath, opened a passage towards the upper portion of the doorway just large enough to let themselves through (Fig. 120). Thus both rock-excavated graves and domed-tombs were permanently closed, by having their dromos filled up with earth and stones. The object of this was to secure the dead against unwelcome visitors. Every precaution was taken to prevent exciting the greed of later generations and their love of plunder ; it was safer to count upon their ignorance than their pity. To this end they smoothed out the soil above the passages, re- established the natural slope of the hill, where grass and shrubs soon grew up, and effaced all trace of the late works. We do not think that there were two sets of tombs : (1) tombs in which every conceivable means were employed to keep the site secret, and (2) tombs where the high estate and importance of the defunct were proclaimed to the world at large by a stately portal and richly-decorated facade. 1 The excavations carried on by MM. Stamakis and Tsoundas in the passage entrance of the two most sumptuously adorned cupola-tombs at Mycense (Fig. 88 and Pis. I., II.) have disclosed the fact that they were completely blocked up ; accordingly, their fronts were not in- tended to be always visible. 2 As regards the majority of bee-hive graves, years must have intervened between the completion of the vault and the blocking-up of the corridor. To this universal rule there are apparently some exceptions, brought about, mayhap, by an epidemic, or accidents consequent on war, when the vault was filled at once with as many people as it could hold. This is the case with the tomb shown in Fig. 248 and PL XIII., where M. Tsoundas found traces of coloured stucco on the stones of the wall which blocked up the passage, as well as on pebbles which 1 Dr. Adler, in his Preface to Tiryns , divides the tombs under consideration into two classes. 2 Stamakis never published his excavation journal relative to Tomb I. ; but he alludes to it in his account of the grave which he cleared near to the Heraeum. Nor has Tsoundas given a report of his excavations of 1892, when Tomb II. was cleared. After describing the walls that blocked up the dromos at the two extremities, he concludes thus : “ In my opinion, such facts certainly prove that the beautiful sepulchral facade, with its semi-columns and sculptured marbles, was intended to be exposed until and during the performance of the funeral ; when, the dromos being wide open, the approach to the grave was closed by the ‘ stomion ’ door alone.” Funereal Rites, 17 formed part of the filling ; proving that when the earth was heaped against the facade, the plaster was still fresh and moist. This vault is regularly planned ; here are no rebuildings, or niches pierced in the wall, or pits dug in the ground, or lateral chambers, as in many another tomb (Fig. 249). The construction, decora- tion, arrangement, and every detail about this grave show that they all formed part of the original plan ; a fact which favours the hypothesis by which we explain the exceptional spontaneity found here, relating to all the operations demanded by funereal rites. Were affairs managed after this fashion in buildings like the two great domed-tombs at Mycenae, and the no less magnificent sepulchre at Orchomenos ? 1 Given the belief in an after life, the seal of which is perceptible on everything 1 Tsoundas is inclined to think that a very similar arrangement existed in the domed-tombs. VOL. II. C IS Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. here, no serious objection can be raised against the conjecture. If they stowed away priceless objects with the dead, it was not a bit more strange to execute, on purely artistic grounds, an architectural decoration fated to disappear from human gaze after the interment. Have not the Egyptians, under the influence of very similar beliefs, covered the walls of the royal tombs with marvellous series of bas-reliefs, cunningly hiding and obstructing their entrances with the landslips of the Libyan range ? l Never- theless, there are two, or perhaps three, tombs here which have been provided with real doors, and not simply barred with planks. This is proved in the Treasury of Atreus by the holes pierced in the door-case for the pivot and the bolts, as well as the channel worn in the sill by the movement of the door to and fro . 2 The same arrangement occurs in Tomb II .; 3 and Tomb III. has no threshold, but a hole meant to receive a metal stem appears on the lower face of the pivot . 4 The mode of closing which these dowel-holes reveal, shows that the doors were used for a certain time. Why and for how long did this provision last ere the chamber was made fast for all time ? This is what we discern. Granted the importance which the people of that period attached to burial and its consequent arrangements, there is a prima facie presumption that the Mycenian kings, like the Pharaohs, began to build and adorn their own tomb in their lifetime, to make sure of having one to their liking. If their reign extended beyond the completion of the edifice, it could wait until they were ready for it. Meanwhile, the magnificent and highly-ornate facade would remain visible to all the world, and be a standing witness to the power of the chieftain who had had it built ; the door, whilst helping the effect, would prevent intrusion and depredation. Did the death of the prince always put an end to this provisionary arrangement ? We think not. We know that the bee-hive graves were family vaults, whilst in the cemetery of the Mycenian acropolis women’s and children’s bones have been found by the side of men’s bones. If the cupola-tombs display a better order and greater sumptuousness, is it a reason why 1 History of Art. I hiersch, in Aiken ische Mittheilungen. 3 Adler, Preface to Tiryns. Letter of M. lsoundas, December io, 1892. Funereal Rites. 19 they should have differed in this essential point from their fellows in the lower city ? The ruler who had prepared for himself this ostentatious vault, would doubtless mark out beforehand a place in it for his wives, his children, and nearest kinsmen. There came a time, however, when the whole available space was filled up. Then, and only then, the tomb was closed for ever, the passage was filled up, and the facade buried out of sight with stones and imported earth ; whilst the reigning sovereign built him a tomb hard by, where he and his would find their last dwelling-place, even as those of a former generation had done before him. Was the notion relating to this primitive mode of burial kept alive among the ancients — in despite of the change which had intervened in this direction — by discoveries made in these tombs by treasure-seekers, or was it tradition which kept green the memory of the primitive rite ? To this question we can give no positive answer, except that the Hellenes pictured to themselves the pre-Homeric heroes as having been interred and not burnt. When, in the sixth and fifth century b.c., the Greek cities, on the advice of the Delphic oracle, looked about them for the remains of their founders, the possession of which was to secure triumph to their arms and the welfare of the State, what they removed within their walls, with great pomp and circumstance, were not ashes but skeletons, held to be those of men of unusually lofty stature . 1 Again, the fact that an erudite poet, Apollonius of Rhodes, dared to conform in this matter with historical truth, in opposition to the revered authority of the Epics, is full of significance. In his Argonautica , the heroes who accompany Jason bury and do not burn their dead . 2 Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. Our description, in a former chapter, of the shaft-graves, when we surveyed the primitive culture of the Greek world, 1 This is told both of Orestes and Protesilas (Herodotus); of Theseus (Plutarch, Theseus ) and of Pelops (Pausanias). 2 Apollonius, Argonautica. 20 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. was sufficiently comprehensive to dispense us from entering into further details in this place in regard to them. 1 Fig. 250, 2 which we engrave below, will enable the reader to form a correct idea as to the aspect and situation of this remarkable group far more efficiently than any word-painting of ours. The restoration, based on the data furnished by C. Belger, is due to Lubke, and requires some few words of comment. This will give us an opportunity of defining with greater nicety the probable sequence in the gradual development of the group in question, during which it probably assumed the aspect in which we show it here. The six graves, which contained the remains of fifteen bodies, are excavated at different levels on the side of the citadel hill facing west (Fig. 90, C, and Fig. 251). It is just possible that originally the several mounds, each surmounted by a stela, lay at some little distance from one another, but as their number increased, they got nearer and nearer, and ended in forming one continuous tumulus ( [ro^og ), which had to be supported to the westward by a semi-circular wall, to prevent the earth from gliding down the slope, notably during the rainy season. On stated days, and as the year came round, propitiatory sacrifices were offered above these tombs. In consequence of these cere- monies, the tumulus rose in height, and with it the sustaining wall, the rebuilding of which, however, was not carried out with any regard to symmetry, nor were they mindful to keep the stelce in an erect position, for several, in a fragmentary state, have been found buried in the ruin and soil. Hence there came a day when the need was felt to invest a sanctuary which had been consecrated to the worship of distant and shadowy ancestors, with a form more appropriate to the holiness of the place. This was effected by means of a fence put around it. Was the sanctuary originally comprised within the citadel en- closure, or was it suffered to remain a long time without the rampart ? Did the latter occupy the site of the present sustain- 1 See ante, pp. 31 1-335. 2 Charles Belger, Die Alykenische Lokalsage , &c. An interesting paper by Reisch, entitled, Sc/ihemanris Ausgrabungen , which appeared in the Zeitschrift fiir Oesterreichische Gymnasien , will repay perusal. It contains many a judicious and original observation ; but we think the author is mistaken in identifying the bee-hive tombs of the lower city with the sepulchres shown to Pausanias as the burial-places of the Atridee. Fig. 250. — Sepulchral enclosure. Restored by Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. in g wall, which appears in the background of the perspective view (Fig. 250), and on our map 246,4 (Fig. 90), and seems as if it might be a prolongation of the left wall leading to the Lions Gate? It is hard to say. No traces have been noticed of a junction between the southern front of the fortress and the first wall, which ran along the inner edge of the western esplanade, covered with ruinous buildings, and which in after days was either totally or partly destroyed. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the area behind the circle, but on a level with it, betrays marks of re-handlings ; the boundary wall here sweeps round so as to enclose the additional space then given to the sacred precinct. Eastward, the sanctuary met the Fig. 251. — Section of sepulchral enclosure, from east to west. foundation wall of the second platform and the adjoining circuit ; no free space, therefore, was left on this side, and it became necessary to provide circulation on the lower esplanade, to keep man and beast out of the holy ground. To this end they brought the rampart a little more forward, and contrived between it and the talus of the funereal mound a path for the inhabitants of this quarter. This is the path seen in Belger’s restoration : it rises west of and near to the gate, and disappears between two impending walls. 1 Whatever notion we may form of the primitive 1 In Adler’s opinion the tombs were situated without the acropolis, and the south face of the wall was then given its present direction to make room for the erection of the Lions Gate ( A rchceologische Zeitung . ; and Preface to Tiryns). Steffen, on the contrary, thinks that the trace seen at this spot belongs to the original plan. 24 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece : plan of the ramparts, it is clear that the city, at a given time of its long existence, executed this work in the fond belief that in so doing it would obtain the protection of the heroes interred within the mound, who could not fail to be touched by such tokens of regard shown to their memory. The western side of the precinct was brought to the general level of the sanctuary, whilst the wall was reconstructed and made more massive and higher. A glance at Fig. 90 will show that it passes above a corner of Graves V. and VI. The best-pre- served stelae were set up anew, and the sacred area was fenced off by a ring of slabs. We gather from Schliemann’s imperfect account that the stelae, many of which were standing at the time of their discovery, stood on the same level as the ring of slabs. The whole restoration, therefore, was carried on at once ; the sanctuary was then placed on a footing which it preserved until the fall, and perhaps some time after the catastrophe which overtook Mycenae, when stelae and slabs alike were gradually covered with debris washed down from the upper platform. When did the alterations take place ? We shall never know, except that it was before the introduction of letters on Grecian soil. The number of the stelae is neither in accord with the number of the graves nor with that of the bodies found in them. Those who carried out the work confined themselves to setting up such of the plaques as were least injured. For the rest, they knew the lie of the graves hidden below, and had a certain notion of the contents of each. Thus, above Tombs V. and II., where, according to Schliemann, men’s skeletons only were discovered, stood three stelae with representations of hunting and war-scenes, which recalled the chieftain’s active occupations and exploits. The second group of the left row contains two stelae ; the one quite plain, and the other embellished by a species of maeander (Fig. 252). This group corresponds with 1 0111b IV., in which were found bones belonging to both sexes. I he eastern row of stelae, standing nearly over Tombs I. He allows, however, that when, on this point, the external face of the rampart was ( lSL ^ P°tyk r ° na l slabs, rebuildings and a slight enlargement occurred, so as to provide a small space within the enclosure, between the circuit and the talus of the sacred precinct. Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. 25 and III., are unsculptured; these tombs have therefore yielded but women’s and children’s bones. The difference is easily accounted for : figured bas-reliefs, however roughly executed, involved an enormous effort from the inexperienced sculptor of that period, and could not be undertaken for the sake of women and children, who had con- tributed nothing towards the general welfare of the tribe, and whose chief claim to be remembered was their having been associated with the master or father, as the case might be. The pit-graves are all grouped on the west side of the precinct (Fig. 90), of which they take up the half, and though roughly arranged in two parallel lines, they are neither on the same axis nor of uniform size. Over them stood, as already remarked, two rows of stelae, of four and five single slabs respectively. The position of the cippi approximately coincides with that of the pits. F'our out of the nine stelae are sculptured on the side facing west. 1 The orientation of the graves, as well as that of the bodies, seems to have been determined by the con- figuration of the ground ; hence great variety prevails in this 1 See passages cited by Belger, Mycence. 26 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. respect. Are we to attribute to a whim on the workman’s part the fact that the stelae — instead of being opposite to the main entrance, as might have been expected — are all turned to the west ? Did it not rather proceed from a notion which prevailed here, as it did in Egypt, of a supposed relation existing between the sombre abode which man would inhabit after breathing his last, and the region in the heavens where each evening the sun, after passing through the zenith on his course, slowly sank, and had its fires extinguished in the sea, or disappeared behind a thick curtain of bluish mountains ? 1 If the draughtsman has left out Cyclopaean constructions which lie between the Lions Gate and the slab-circle — duly set down on our map — it is because when he made his perspective view, the buildings in question were as yet uncovered. It is Steffen’s opinion, as well as that of other investigators, that the second construction of the Lions Gate and of the sanctuary were simultaneously planned. It is also possible that the en- closure was made to serve a double purpose, namely, a spot where sacrifices could be offered, and also a place of assembly or agora , where the inhabitants of the citadel, the elders of the tribe (oTj^oyepovrs^), would gather together for council or judgment under the presidency of the king ; whilst hard by stood the graves from whose depths they might seem to hear the voices of their ancestors speaking and suggesting wise decisions. Throughout the classic age, several Greek cities had, or thought they had, the heroes whom they especially honoured, buried in their agora . 2 As long as matters in this direction remained unchanged, free access was doubtless had to the sanctuary through the northern and southern passages ; these had not been enlarged that they might be immediately closed, nor had the slabs been furbished up to be masked by a brick or stone curtain. In the course of time, however, when the settlers, by reason of the security afforded them, waxed exceedingly, the business and movement of life migrated from the upper to the lower city. A new dynasty had arisen, which buried there its kings. It had no more difficulty in finding a space for the 1 For the like practices see History of Art. See texts collected hy Schliem \nn, Mycena, To his list of names may be added that of Hesiod, buried in the agora at Orchomenos ; see ante, Vol. I. p. 422, n. t. Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. 27 dispatch of public business, at once more spacious and nearer to the vast majority of the citizens than its predecessors had experienced in the upper city. Then, for the first time, the acropolis became inconveniently crowded ; space was not only scanty, but on account of its uneven surface very inappro- priate for building purposes. The free plot of ground was eagerly pounced upon, and presently covered with habitations ; much after the fashion which caused our cathedrals in the old days to be surrounded by wretched hovels and shops. The new dwellings filled up every inch of ground, and leant on one side against the inner face of the circuit-wall, and on the other against the talus of the sacred enclosure. From that day, the only unbuilt part was towards the north-east, where stood the palace gate, to which probably led the ramp rising on the western side of the hill. It is represented in the background of our perspective view by a gap in the middle of the wall. The other entrance in the north wall is the Lions Gate. It stands in the left corner of our picture, and gives a back view of the triangular block upon which is carved the celebrated relief. In the centre of the circle occurs a swelling, produced by an enormous boulder which Schliemann found deeply em- bedded in the soil, but slightly protruding above the surface. 1 Did it belong to the original plan ? Was it a rustic platform, a “ bema,” whence the orator harangued the multitude gathered here ? We know not. As will be observed, there occurs a considerable gap in the circle towards the south ; this was brought about by landslips which destroyed a certain number of the slabs, or about a third of the total circumference. The question may be asked whether a gate facing the entrance did not stand here ? In regard to the horizontal slabs placed on the vertical ones (Fig. 100), they have been purposely left out, in order that the reader might have a better view of the peculiar arrangement of this enclosure ; had they been retained, they would have conveyed the false impression of a solid wall. Although the esplanade and stelae do not belong to the oldest period in the existence of the Mycenian people, the graves and their contents, which the excavators found undis- turbed in 1876, are among the oldest instances we possess of that remote age. Mycenian civilization could already look back 1 Schliemann, Myce?ice. 28 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. upon a long past when it buried the riches we have found in these pits ; yet the discoveries made here will not enable us to penetrate beyond the period to which these graves correspond. Their very situation in the acropolis is a strong point in favour of their high antiquity. For a long time, people at Mycenae, as everywhere else, only felt secure behind massive walls running atop the abrupt sides of a lofty hill. At no period of its existence could the enclosure of the lower city challenge com- parison with the citadel rampart. If both the living and the dead descended from their rugged height, it is because a long series of victories, by placing the power of the Mycenian rulers above fear from hostile attacks, had ensured the tranquillity of their subjects. The same conclusion is reached when we inspect the tombs at close quarters. A pit or hole excavated in the rock is the simplest and consequently the oldest mode of interment. In despite of the additional side-walls and closing slabs which we find here, the shaft-graves are older than the domed-sepulchres, whose construction involved far greater technical skill. As regards the rock-cut tombs of the lower city, with their dromos and more or less spacious chamber, they can only be considered as imitations of the cupola-buildings. All this is of course mere presumption ; more decisive and important evidence is supplied by the furniture. The objects composing it have a very archaic physiognomy, as against those that have been found either in the rock-cut graves of the lower city, or at Nauplia, or wherever they have not been disturbed and relieved of their contents, as at Mycenae. The pottery is not rude and monochrome, like that of the early settlements at Troy and Tiryns ; but reveals the incipient efforts made by the potter to decorate his clay (PI. XX.). Earthenware of this kind has only been brought out from the Mycenian tombs on the acropolis and the deepest strata of the hill ; nothing ap- proaching it has come from Nauplia, Spata, Menidi, or Ialysos . 1 I he style of the sculptures seen on the stelae is quite barbarous, and betrays an art which is far less advanced than that which modelled the lions over the gate. But what is still more significant, is the fact that no trace has been discovered in these tombs of the peculiar characteristics 1 Myke?iische Vase?i. Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. 29 by which the end of the Mycenian period, the transition period, is distinguished. That the process of soldering gold upon gold was freely employed about this time, is evidenced by a number of fine gold leaves collected both in the tomb at the Herseum, in front of the Treasury of Atreus, and at Spata, together with quantities of glass beads, doubtless from bracelets and necklaces. On the other hand, the ornaments yielded by the citadel-graves are not soldered, and no glass beads have been found among them. 1 A considerable advance in metal and glass work was made, then, between the closing of the pit-graves and the invention of new sepulchral types. In the former fibulae are not found, but they crop up in the vaults of the lower city (Fig. 253); where, too, iron — that surest sign of the approach of the classic age — is not very unfrequent. Schliemann was correct in identifying the graves enclosed within the ring of slabs with those of a royal race. The habit of burying treasures with a defunct king has never been out of fashion among barbarians. The testimony of Herodotus in this respect has been brilliantly confirmed by the results of excavations in Southern Russia, where the custom under notice was as firmly implanted as among the Goths, with whom it was found as late as the fourth century of our era. We read that when their King Alaric died in Italy, the flow of the Busento was turned aside, a pit was dug in its bed, and the mortal remains were deposited there with many costly objects ; and, that the site should ever remain secret, the slaves who had done the work were slain on the spot. 2 A glance at the stupendous works carried on here to ensure the 1 The observation is due to Stamakis. Schliemann mentions soldering but once, and that in a very vague sort of fashion ( Mycence ), for the sake, as it were, of inserting Landerer’s communication upon the use of borax by the ancients for soldering. The statement of Stamakis is much more positive. Schliemann also noticed the rare occurrence of glass in the tombs on the acropolis. 2 Jordanis, Getica. 30 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece : end they had in view, must dispel any lingering doubt on this head. Would they have laid so heavy a burden upon them- selves, had they been unaware that beneath the mound covering the pit-graves reposed the founders of the superimpending and redoubtable fortress, or at any rate of such of their successors whose prowess had assured the hegemony of Argolis to the warriors entrenched behind the walls ? The stelae were not put up without due consideration to the sex and quality of the dead above whose graves they rose. Uninterrupted tradition must still have kept alive in those days the names of the personages to whom they paid their regards. What we divine of the history of Mycenae, during the cen- turies which followed on the restoration of the sanctuary, is the reign of the Pelopidae, whose deeds and opulence find ample recognition in the Epos. Naturally, in an illiterate age written documents could not' make good deficiency of memory; hence is explained why the new-comers, by their brilliant exploits and conquests, caused their predecessors to fall in the background and soon to be forgotten. They came in, therefore, for every- thing that appealed to the eye ; they were credited with the erection of all the monuments of the glorious past of Mycenae. These appeared all the more stately by contrast with the poor condition of the place, which the Dorian conquest and the growing power of Argos had wrought. When and how the substitution of names occurred it is impossible to say ; we cannot, however, accept the denominations which Pausanias has handed down to us, except as a laboured, ingenious, and arbitrary inter- pretation. It is well known that in his day nine stelae were still in position on the esplanade, and that to account for their presence there they turned to the legendary circle of the Atridae, of which several versions were then current in the Hellenic world. There was no great difficulty in finding what was wanted, viz. the nine personages to whom the cippi could be attributed ; accordingly, they trotted out Atreus, Agamemnon, Cassandra and her twin babes, the charioteer Eurymedon, Electra and her two boys. I he tale was complete, and additional evidence was discovered in the fact that outside the circle, but hard by, stood two separate cippi. To whom but to Clytemnestra and ^EDgisthus could these be assigned, whose crime had made them unworthy to lie in holy ground ? Pit-Graves in the Mycenian Citadel. 31 Did the Mycenians themselves invent that specious tale, or was it due to one or another of those precursors of Herodotus who, towards the end of the sixth century b.c., began to inquire into the antiquities of their nation, and to this end visited the several provinces of Hellas? It matters little; but whoever first put forward these names was unconscious of what the excavations have revealed to us, namely, that the number of the bodies contained in the graves was at least seventeen , 1 and thus exceeds that of the superimposed stelae ; and that said stelae fall short of their original number . 2 It would, then, be sheer loss of time to inquire how the victims of a successful treason could have been interred with all their riches ; the designations picked up by Pausanias must therefore fall to the ground as void of historical truth. The secret which the defective memory of the people suffered then to be lost, will ever remain a mystery to us. Yet the probabilities are in favour of the hypothesis, according to which the pit-graves would date from the beginnings of the kingdom ; that is to say, they would mount back to the Perseidae of whom Greek myth said that they had been the first to cast a wall around the Mycenian rock. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. Whilst indicating our reasons for heading, chronologically at least, our list of funereal monuments with the pit-graves, we have thereby marked beforehand the place of the cupola-tombs. The situation they occupy in the lower city at Mycenae and elsewhere, whether in the plain or on the mountain slopes, where they are unfenced by walls, and for other reasons which it is unnecessary to repeat here, prove that they belong to the ripe age of Mycenian civilization, and that ancient local chiefs were buried in them. 1 Schliemann came upon fifteen corpses ; and two male skeletons were found in Tomb VI. 2 Schliemann adverts to “ a quantity of fragments of sepulchral stelee ” (Mycence). -> ' > J- Mvcenian Art. Primitive Greece: The two principal tombs at Mycenae, as well as the Treasury of Minyas, imply the co-operation of numerous and skilful hands engaged upon the work, which a prince alone could command, in order to satisfactorily carry through such enter- prises as these, with their lavish display of bronze and gold ; a monarch alone could exact from press-gangs the needful effort for setting in place enormous lintels such as those of the Treasury of Atreus. The furniture of these graves, as a rule, has not come down to us ; but the little that has been saved is suggestive of wealth which, in the social state of that early date — as reflected in the Homeric tales — was hardly to be found except with tribal chiefs. The precious metals are not rare at Menidi or Spata, and a great quantity of ivory has been picked up there. Ivory must then have been an expensive material ; out of it were made small costly objects. Besides the treasure said to have been brought out of one of the great tombs at Mycenae by Veli Pasha, M. Tsoundas discovered, in a very similar sepulchre, ornaments, engraved stones, and two goblets, in which the Mycenian goldsmith has surpassed himself. If a single second-class grave has yielded so rich a booty, what unparalleled riches must not the great tombs at Mycenae and Orchomenos have contained ere they were relieved of their contents! Tradition, moreover, connected the buildings in ques- tion, whether in Argolis or Bceotia, with the ancient kings of the country ; and in so far as it applies to the sepulchral domes, it is perhaps entitled to more respect than when it pretended to know the names of the dead interred beneath the stelae composing the circle. The cupolas wherein it recognized the treasuries of the Atridae and Minyae did not go back to so remote a period as the mysterious pit-graves on the acropolis. The men that erected them were nearer to the classic age ; and the reigning princes of Mycenae, at the time of the Dorian invasion, may have been the descendants of those who had built them these tombs. The proportions, style of construction, and more or less elaborate ornamentation of a given tomb varied according to the power and wealth of the chief for whom it was prepared ; but whatever its importance and massive grandeur, the same methods prevailed in all . 1 I he site of the future tomb was selected either in the plain, 1 R. Bohn, Ueber die technische Herstellung der T/io/os bei Menidi. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 33 or oftener on rising ground, in the mass of a hill of no great height. A deep circular pit was first sunk, of the required dimensions ; these allowed for the thickness of the wall with which the future sepulchral chamber would be surrounded, but whose underground dome would be completely buried out of sight. An exit was cut through the rock at some point of the circumference, and when the tomb was excavated in the flank of a hill, the cutting or corridor debouched on the nearest slope. Into this open passage were thrown the earth and rubbish displaced in the course of the work. As soon as this was completed, the corridor was cleared and used as entrance to the chamber. The circular excavation was carefully levelled out, to form a resisting surface for the first course ; and that it should be a firm support for the superimposed beds, larger blocks were used. It may also have been deeper. To verify the truth of this, it were necessary to clear the foot of the wall ; but this as yet has not been done by any of the excavators. Above this first bed was put another, and then another, until the summit was reached ; the rings became smaller and proportion- ately less in height as they rose upwards. Without, the displaced earth and rubbish were heaped up on and around the dome, and made to mount up with the construction. The workmen were thus enabled to use this species of breastwork as scaffolding, and to circulate around at their ease and in perfect security. In this way the last course, formed of a single stone, horizontally placed on the last ring of masonry, was attained. When the tomb was built on flat ground, the movable earth was apt to glide and be washed away by torrential rains. To maintain it in place, a sustaining wall was cast around the base of the artificial mound, remains of which have been found near to several structures. 1 To the same end a transverse wall was set up at either end of the passage as soon as it was filled, to prevent the earth from getting into the chamber (Fig. 1 3 1 ), or spreading outside (Fig. 130, v, and PI. III.). Now and again the approach was blocked up at once, at the Heraeum and Spata for instance, where the corridor has a marked inward slope (Fig. 144). 2 Without these precau- tionary measures, the circular chamber would have been flooded 1 At Menidi, for example, in the tomb near to the Heraeum, and Tomb II. at Mycenae, as well as at Arkinae. 2 Athenische Mittheilungen . VOL. II. U 34 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. after every storm of rain. 1 The dromos was more particularly exposed to ravages of this nature, for its pavement, as a rule, is no more than natural earth ; but in the chamber a concrete floor, composed of beaten clay mixed with pebbles, has generally been laid down, 2 which in places still preserves bits of colour. 3 The construction of the tomb, then, is like that of the domestic abode, for the same processes have been employed in both. Thus, coating's of stucco which sometimes cover the inner walls of a the habitation re-appear in the sepulchral chamber and near its entrance, where they served to conceal the joints of the masonry. One of the chief characteristics of these buildings is the arrangement seen everywhere above the door. The openings were purposely made remarkably high and proportionally broad, to facilitate the transport of the body and the movement of funereal processions. They required huge lintels, but these, in consequence of their great length, were apt to break in the middle under the weight of the upper portion of the wall. To lighten their burden, they contrived a triangular hollow, produced by corbelled courses of stone (Fig. 118). As far as the cavity was concerned, the end which the builder had in view was obtained ; no stone beam has been found broken above it ; but it had the defect of distributing the pressure unevenly, of throw- ing it on the beam ends, and at these points many of the lintels, notably that of Tomb II. at Mycenae, have come to grief. Here the mischief extended below, and caused the fasciae on either side of the doorway to grow apart ; and but for the side pressure of the thick earth mattress the masonry would not have held together. In working out his scheme, the Mycenian architect displayed less skill than his Egyptian colleague, who, in the pyramid of Cheops, calculated so well, that despite the enormous weight of the masonry over the sarcophagus chamber, not a stone has stirred, though the building has been standing thousands of years. The arrangement adopted by the builder for the tomb 1 A different arrangement seems to have been adopted in Tomb II. There the dromos had a slight slope towards the outside, and was provided with a channel which ran along it and through its entrance to drain off rain-water, so as to prevent its accumulating in the excavation meant to form the floor of the chamber, whilst the construction was in progress. 2 AtheniscJie Mittheilungen. This is the case in the Mycenian domed-tomb marked III. on plan. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 35 at Menidi comes very near to that which was so effectual in Egypt. Four great stone beams appear on its facade, between which are voids intended to relieve the lintel of the weight to be placed above it (Fig. 145). But we do not find here the two sloping slabs which meet to form a ridge-like roof, as in the pyramid, where they protect the discharging chambers, and help to throw part of the vertical pressure of the superstructure over the lateral parts of an admirably well jointed masonry. The slovenly and confused style of building at Menidi excludes all idea of a borrowing from Egypt. When the Achaeans began to frequent the Nile valley, the pyramid of Cheops, together with its passages and vaults, had long been closed. The question has been raised whether Egyptian or Phoenician builders may not have been employed by princes of archaic Greece. If it were so, we should surely find traces of that collaboration in the stately Mycenian sepulchres, rather than in the tomb of a petty Attic chief. But at Mycenae, both architecture and the methods it employs are original, and do not betray the influence of foreign models. The resemblance which we have pointed out is the result of mere chance. The builder of either country had the same problem to solve ; one way out of the difficulty was perceived by both, but the Egyptian architect carried it out in a far more masterly fashion. The employment of relieving voids was familiar to the Mycenian constructor. Thus, above the lateral vault at Orchomenos there apparently was a second chamber, whose walls were partly ex- cavated in the living rock, and partly made of sun-dried brick. 1 This cell had no direct communication with the vault or the outside, and was only put there to relieve the ceiling of the superincumbent weight of earth placed above it. Thanks to these wise precautions, the roof did not give way until quite recently ; when, through fissures which in the course of time were brought about by the weather, the earth got into the void and put a burden upon the slabs contrary to the constructor’s intention. The two treasuries, that of Minyas at Orchomenos and of Atreus at Mycenae (Tomb I.), are the only examples where a side-chamber occurs (Fig. 168 and PL IIP). In both the second chamber, separated from the principal one by a narrow passage, 1 Schliemann, Orchomenos. Mycenian Art. 36 Primitive Greece : stands on the right ot the main entrance ; but although they are alike in plan, there is yet a difference between them. At Orchomenos the smaller chamber has been excavated at the bottom of a kind of shaft vertically sunk in the rocky hill, and in consequence of it had to be covered with huge schist slabs. The corresponding chamber at Mycenae, on the other hand, is entirely rock-cut. The work here was carried out in different conditions. Before setting up the wall of the circular chamber, they hollowed out in the tufa enough space for a second apart- ment, and connected it with the main chamber by a corridor built Fig. 254. — Mycenoe tomb. Longitudinal section of lateral chamber. in the same style as the rest of the edifice (Fig. 254). The vault, like that of the Treasury of Minyas, is provided with a flat roof; but whilst at Orchomenos schistose slabs, carefully chiselled, lined the whole expanse of the surface, the only existing relics of the decoration at Mycence are two sectional low plinths, with so slight a salience as to have been overlooked by the draughts- man (big. 254). Again, the extreme simplicity, verging on rude- ness, oi the rocky walls excites our wonder ; especially when compared with the stateliness and rare magnificence of the other parts of the building. 1 he anomaly is more apparent than real. As in the pit-graves close by, and the chamber at Orchomenos, General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. here also built walls were set up against the rocky ones. Con- structed of rubble bonded in mud, they offered little resistance, and the staves and knives of visitors — shepherds and archae- ologists — may have brought about their destruction. Dr. Dbrp- feld pointed out to me traces left at the angles of the entrance by the walls in question. Fragments of alabaster slabs, three to four centimetres thick, adorned by rosettes, which I saw in the museum at Charvati, may perhaps belong to the facing with which these rude walls could not dispense (Fig. 255). From identity of plan we may safely infer identity of destination for the side-chambers. But what manner of destination are we to suppose ? The prevailing idea from the very first was to the effect that the lateral chamber had served as a sepulture. 1 When it was proved that the whole edifice was but a sepulchre, the principal hall was forthwith recognized as a Herceum. It is Fig. 255. — Fragment of alabaster rosette. plain, then, that when the resources of the Mycenian builder permitted him to give the tomb its full development, it consisted of two divisions, the grave strictly so called, and a roomy circular chamber, where all the objects which the defunct took with him were spread ; here, too, were performed funereal sacrifices both on the day of the interment, and until the final closing of the sepulchre, and again on certain anniversaries. 2 M. Tsoundas does not share these views. His argument is this: Whenever rock-cut graves are provided with two chambers, human remains are found in both ; why should there be a difference in regard to cupola-tombs ? Nevertheless, given the difference of dimen- sions and aspect of the two sets of buildings, it seems natural to suppose that the difference also extended to the use to which 1 Expedition de Moree. 2 No bones have been found in the first chamber of the principal hypogamm. One is tempted, therefore, to consider it as a vestibule, a kind of chapel in which the ceremonies connected with the dead were performed. Mycenian Art. ^8 Primitive Greece : the two chambers were put. As already remarked, M. Tsoundas noticed that when a grave was full to overflowing, old bones were gathered into heaps in the corners of the room. Buildings as important and spacious as the two treasuries must have been planned to receive all the members of a princely house ; the constructor was bound to foresee and provide for future con- tingencies. Accordingly, the remains of the chief were deposited in the circular chamber which had been prepared for him, along with such members of his family as died soon after him. The side apartment, on the other hand, served as an ossuary, where in the course of time the remains of the earliest occupiers were transferred, to clear the main hall. The smallness of the vault favours somewhat the hypothesis in question, for it would have been difficult to find in it room for all the nearest relations of the chief along with himself ; on the other hand, there is nothing to prevent libations having been made here, as in the pit-graves, some metres above the bodies. The question which has been raised in regard to these two buildings cannot be decided, in the absence of the deposits which they once contained. We have stated at full length, in another chapter, why domed-tombs were fated to be plundered at an early date. They attracted the attention much more than graves of the same era excavated in the flanks of a rocky hill, for which no great effort was required to completely obliterate the gap they formed on the mountain-side. Built in the plain, they were a conspicuous feature in the landscape ; the smooth, regular slopes of the mound could not possibly be mistaken for natural undulations or broken ground ; they seemed to be placed there for the very purpose of inviting cupidity; at the Heraeum for instance, and Tomb II. at Mycenae before the excavations. For although they were protected from intrusion by a thick covering of imported earth, and had their passage similarly blocked up, the ‘‘conical head ” 1 of the dome, as Pausanias has it, was suffered almost in every instance to protrude above the surface. As if this were not enough, now and again the cupola carried a sign (< ts ^ ol ) which served the twofold purpose of proclaiming to the people the site where its kings lay, and of exciting their reverence. In the rubbish filling the circular chamber at the Heraeum, Stamakis found two slabs, with dowel-holes for the reception of clamps, 1 Pausanias. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 39 which he thought had probably fallen from above when the roof gave in, and had formed a pedestal over the tomb, which sup- ported some symbolic image, a stela mayhap, bearing some analogy to the cippi of the pit-graves at Mycenae. 1 And he refers to the very similar situation which sphinxes occupy over the most ancient Cypriote tombs; 2 he might, with equal pro- priety, have recalled the remarkably archaic sphinxes which have been discovered in the Attic cemeteries of the seventh and sixth centuries b.c. M. Tsoundas throws out the hint that this may be the case with the rock-cut graves. Barring the entrance to one of these were two stelae, and internal evidence forbids him seeking here the place originally designed for them. One out of the pair is ornamented on its small sides and one of its faces (Fig. 229), and both are left rough below, as if meant to enter the ground. He conjectures that they were set up in the first instance either in front or above a grave ; and subsequently re-used as building material, in closing one or other of the poorest tombs of the necropolis. We cannot admit, on the authority of a single example, that it was a common practice to set up stelae of this nature at the approaches of the graves. It behoves us to wait for ampler evidence. If such a usage really existed, cippi were but temporary features, doomed to dis- appear as soon as the hypogaeum was permanently closed. The rock-cut chambers we are considering would not have eluded our researches until the other day, had they continued, when closed, to hang out some sign to the curiosity of the casual visitor. • We now come to the question relating to the origin of a type of which we have described the principal varieties. Where did it come into existence ? On this point archaeologists have not been able to agree. Many of them derive domed-tombs from a conical hut, composed of unsquared timbers made to slope towards a common centre, thatched over, or covered with earth or skins. Such a hut, in fact, has been met with among a number of savages ; who, to make it warmer in winter and cooler in summer, often sink it two or three metres deep. In that case, the walls are completely buried, and flush with the surrounding soil ; a sloping passage, like the sepulchral dromos, 1 Athenische Mittheilungen. 2 Ibid. 4o Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece: leads down lo the subterranean house. This hut, according to the same authorities, was one of the varieties of the primitive dwelling of the prehistoric Greeks, perhaps even during the palmiest days of Mycenian civilization, when it was to be seen on many a point without the precincts of lofty acropoles and stately palaces. By the side of these were quadrangular houses, such as the excavations at Thera have revealed to us. We have shown by many specimens, that wherever sepulchral architecture has assumed a certain degree of importance, the habitation of the dead is invariably found to be a more or less free copy of the domestic one. The stone-cutter of Lycia strove to reproduce the aspect and details of a wooden house on the fronts of his rocky sepulchres . 1 Imitation here is not quite so literal ; a wide gap parts the well-built circular chamber from the rude hut ; nevertheless, this it was which, enframed in its circular pit, suggested the first notion of the monumental type under consideration . 2 According to others, if the shape originated in the rudimentary house, the work of adaptation was not effected in Greece, but in Phrygia, where, says Vitruvius, subterranean buildings, approached by a long passage cut in the flank of a hill, had been in vogue from time immemorial . 3 The passage from chambers hewn in the rock to built tombs was first accomplished in the Hermus valley, owing to the excellent quality and abundance of its bricks, and from Sipylus- Phrygia the domed or cupola-shape passed to Greece . 4 Was it in reality, as is assumed, the quasi-subterranean house of Lycaonia, in which I halted many a time during the noonday heat, which furnished the architect the point of departure ? Vitruvius is reticent as to the chamber having been circular and the roof dome-shaped in antiquity; today, the former is rectangular and the latter is flat. Pinally, brick-made tombs, which are assumed to have formed the point of transition between the Phrygian house and the sepulchral edifices we are discussing, have never been found in 1 History of Art . I soundas, Ot irpouTTopiKin rd(poL rrjg EMadog ; P. Orsi, Ur/ie funcbri Cretesi. Eelger seems to think that the domed-tombs are but a later development of the hypogieum found at Palamidi and Mycenae. We fail to grasp, however, how vaults of no particular shape can have grown into so sharply defined a form as the domed- tomb, conspicuous for skilful construction. 3 Vitruvius. •» Adler, Tiryns. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 4i the Hermus basin. That the type was imported into Western Greece is not unlikely, and many indications seem to favour the hypothesis. Among the numerous specimens of buildings of this class, whether in Hellas, Laconia, or Thessaly, there is not one which betrays the effort of a first essayal, or the hand of a novice. Now, if the type had originated there, we ought to find tombs wherein some of the distinctive peculiarities we have enumerated had been left out, graves where the effort of an art which feels its way in a blundering sort ol fashion towards new shapes would be apparent. But this is not the case. Of course, the graves are not all planned alike, but in all essentials they are practically identical ; we everywhere recognize replicas of a type whose general lines had been fixed some time before. This uniformity becomes as clear as day if we admit that the shape in question was invented, not at Mycenae, but some- where else, and was therefore already constituted when it began to spread in the Mycenian world, where it retained its distinctive characteristics. But now the burden is laid upon us to name a country and people whence the borrowing was made. Among the confused traditions relating to prehistoric times, that which is connected with the Pelopidae stands out from among other cycles for its modicum of historical truth. The events which led warlike and wealthy chiefs to quit Sipylus- Phrygia, where their ancestors had obtained supremacy, are lost in obscurity. They are said to have traversed Northern Greece, and settled in Peloponnesus, where they obtained the lordship of Argolis and Laconia. The great part which the myth assigns to this royal race seems to point to a decisive advance in all matters pertaining to art and industry, which would correspond with their domiciliation in the peninsula. In a former volume we pointed out a necropolis which commands the Bournabat plain, near Smyrna — the reputed cradle-land of this race — where are beheld curious specimens of a sepulchral type of architecture, presenting singular analogies with the Mycenian domed-graves , 1 with this difference : the sepulchres of Sipylus-Phrygia are not hidden in the flank of a hill ; they are tumuli constructed with large and small stones ; the chamber is always rectangular and small in proportion to the total mass of the building. On the other hand, the Smyrnian and the Mycenian vault alike consist 1 History of Art. 42 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. of large blocks well jointed and dressed fair, set out in corbelled courses until the top is reached. If the vault of the so-called tumulus of Tantalus has no exit, one of the adjoining sepultures is approached by a passage, and though it does not extend outside the mound, it yet recalls the dromos of the Mycenian graves. It is not impossible, therefore, that we have here the first stage of a type which, transferred by the Tantalidae to the land of their adoption, was domiciled and developed there into the shape seen in the domed-graves of Hellas. However fasci- nating may be the juxtaposition, there is not much hope that the question of origin and transmission will ever be settled with certainty This much is clear : our domed-tombs are distinct from the Asiatic specimens with which they have been compared, by marked and numerous peculiarities. Thus, the mounds, instead of rising cone-like on the spurs of some hill, are hidden in their flanks ; they stand, therefore, mid-way between the tumulus and the hypogseum. The most intimate point of resemblance between the two sets of buildings is that all are constructed on a circular plan. Finally, two at least of the Mycenian domed-sepulchres, and probably the corresponding edifice at Orchomenos, are given a frontispiece and a stately portal, in imitation of the palatial facade. Whether the Mycenian architect derived his inspiration from Phrygian models for the setting up of his cupolas, the facade is his own invention ; nothing like it appears in the Tantalidian tomb or in the adjacent tumuli. To find aught approaching it, we must turn to the rock-excavated graves of Sangarius-Phrygia, and the similar buildings of Persia, where above and around the door the chisel has simulated, here a house front with a triangular loft, there the main porch of the palace . 1 These tombs, whether in Magna- Phrygia or Persepolis, are all much younger than the Mycenian ones. Hence, in this partial resemblance we have one of those coincidences which are best accounted for by the very restricted number of combinations to which the materials employed lend themselves . 2 1 History of Art. “ It is curious to note how man repeats himself. In the Antiquarium at Edinburgh is deposited a plan of the sections and elevation of a tomb discovered in a mound near to Marshowe, the arrangement of which is within a little that of the Treasury of Atreus. Here as there, the vaulted or domed-chamber occupies the centre of the area, and is entered by a long covered passage akin to the dromos. Three other apartments open on the principal one. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 43 No cupola-grave has been found either with an inscription or a style of furniture which will permit us to place it after the Mycenian period, when tombs assumed other shapes. The subterranean vault, however, apparently retained a certain hold on the popular imagination, even after it had fallen into desue- tude ; its remote antiquity on Grecian soil had much to do with the species of fascination which it exercised on the fancy. The tomb to be raised to the high-priest of Apollo and Helios, in Plato’s ideal city, brings to mind the one we have passed in review ; be it in the curvilinear shape of the roof, the circular base of the mound covering the vault, or the provision made in order that the sepulture may have sufficient space for a whole series of successive interments. 1 To account for the fact that throughout the classical period quaint sepultures were known to exist in those districts where primitive civilization had had its chief centres, a sufficient number must have been visible. Many have been destroyed, and the material re-used by the inhabitants ; others are still concealed in the mountain mass ; yet the number of those that are daily brought to light has been increasing for the last twenty years. As these papers were being prepared for the press, fifteen more domed-graves were announced. In the summer of 1892, M. Tsoundas uncovered another tomb between the entrance to the Mycenian citadel and grave No. 2 (Fig. 88), thus bringing up the total number to sixteen. This grave has not yet been excavated ; the dromos, five metres seventy centimetres, is in part rock-hewn, and the rest built of small stones bonded in clay. The facade is the only portion which is constructed with large blocks dressed fair. Among these are not comprised the Spata and Anoja Messaritica specimens, for although they closely resemble our tombs, they are entirely rock-cut. During this 1 Here is C. F. Hermann’s translation of the passage (Teubner’s collection). The correction we introduce has long been proposed as self-evident and necessary ; the term noTifxoc , “drinkable,” applied to the stones, is void of sense. Plato wrote : XiOtav 7 ToXvTi/jiojy, “ stones of great value.” “ Of the graves,” he says, “ the priests will have a long subterranean gallery, constructed with stones of excellent quality, upon which the passage of time will have no effect. The gallery will contain stone couches, set near each other. The dead having been duly placed in the chamber, a circular mound will be raised above it and a sacred wood planted around, to allow of the building being enlarged on this side, should fresh inmates require the addition to be made (Plato). 44 M vc km an Art. Primitive Greece : same campaign, M. Tsoundas lighted upon two other graves, marked 3 and 6 on our map ; these, and the one discovered in 1892, have not yet been cleared. Researches in this direction, however, are not likely to be of much consequence. Up to the present hour, the domed-buildings, for reasons of plunder, have scarcely yielded anything. All we can hope is that by some lucky chance we may come upon unviolated pits, as at Vaphio. It is just possible that the vats in question were dug when the tomb had become full, to make room for late arrivals. This was the case at Vaphio (Fig. 140), and also at the Heraeum, where Stamakis thought that the pits were younger in date than the circular chamber. 1 But the finds at Vaphio, which certainly belong to the Mycenian period, have proved that Stamakis was mistaken. 2 This is further strengthened by M. Tsoundas’ recent discovery of two pits sunk within the area of the circular chamber of Tomb III., northward of the Lions Gate, and very similar to the shaft-graves of the acropolis. Like these, one out of the two troughs has an inner casing. The first, in length, averages five metres forty centimetres by one metre sixty centimetres, and three metres ten centimetres in depth ; whilst the second is only two metres thirty centimetres long, eighty-three centimetres broad, and ninety centimetres deep. It consists of tufa slabs set up edge-wise at the sides, and others horizontally placed above to form the covering. This is another proof of the mingling of the two processes, a harking back to the primitive mode of sepulture for reasons of expediency, since they are found side by side with a well-constructed chamber. Notwith- standing the closing slabs, these troughs have kept their contents no better than the adjoining chambers. On the other hand, from a grave sunk in the dromos of Tomb II., five metres ten centi- metres from the passage entrance, which M. Tsoundas found undis- turbed, have come gold ornaments and two bronze mirrors, whose 1 Bulletin de correspondance liellenique , 1891, contains a note relative to the exhuming of Tomb V., in the course of which some thin gold laminae and a bronze knife were picked up. The excavation carried on at No. VII. yielded but a few potsherds, which came from the dromos. 2 Athenische Mittheilungen , 1878. The fact that in these pits were found lamps of the Roman era, as proved by Furtwiingler, who saw them on the spot, seems to favour his expressed opinion. But as the tomb remained open throughout antiquity, the vats, which had long been emptied of their primordial contents, may have been utilized at a comparatively modern epoch for fresh sepultures. General Characteristics of the Domed-Tombs. 45 ivory handles had women’s figures carved on them. That this pit is coeval with the main chamber, is proved by the style of these figures, for M. Tsoundas, a little later, found the handle of a mirror, which is almost a fac-simile of those from the rock-cut graves. The wealth of the furniture, like the dimensions and quality of the work, must have been widely different from one tomb to another. Thus, the diameter of the chamber of the Mycenian tomb (Fig. 88, No. 7, the door of which is reproduced in Fig. 119) is but eight metres twenty centimetres, and its dromos is a trifle over thirteen metres. The circular chamber of the Treasury of Atreus has a diameter of cir. thirteen metres, whilst its dromos reaches thirty-five metres. We know of what enormous size were the materials employed here, and how perfect was the work- manship. In the small Mycenae tomb (Fig. 88, No. 7), the doorway of which is reproduced in Fig. 119, the diameter of the circular chamber is only eight metres twenty centimetres, whilst at the Treasury of Atreus we have a diameter of fifteen metres ; here the dromos is thirty-five metres long, there it hardly exceeds seven metres. We remember the enormous dimensions of the materials used in Tomb I., whenever they were required for architectonic reasons, and what care was bestowed on the masonry ; in other graves, on the contrary (No. 6), the vault is constructed with small, ill-jointed stones, like that at Menidi. Three or four blocks, juxtaposed to form the lintel, are invariably of great size, but they have no imitators ; if tombs of good style exhibit stones cut with the utmost precision, what is seen elsewhere are no more than heavy masses of breccia left almost in the rough. There are no reasons why we should classify these tombs in chronological order, or that the worst built are necessarily the oldest. Good, excellent work, then, must rather have depended on the resources which the architect had to hand ; thus, traces of metallic facings are only seen in the two treasuries. We incline to view those specimens as show slovenly and negligent construction as inferior copies of a type brought into fashion by the great domed-buildings of Mycenae. Hence it is that, despite many difficulties resulting from insufficiency of ground-plans and drawings, as well as the dispersion of some of the fragments, we have undertaken to restore Tomb I., the so-called Treasury of Atreus, so as to enable the reader to grasp the massiveness and noble grandeur which the Mycenian architect 46 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece : knew how to impart upon the royal tomb, when admirably served by ample resources, in the shape of trained artisans or materials of rare excellence, for carrying out his plans. Description and Restoration of Tomb /. As the traveller trends his way along the path winding up the eastern slope of the hill where is situated the so-called Treasury of Atreus, he is made aware of its importance by several signs. As if to prepare him for what is to follow, there is first a large level space in front of it (PI. III.), twenty- seven metres at the side, made up of earth taken from the dromos, 1 which is supported by" a wall still about two metres high, overlooking the deep ravine of the Chavos (Fig. 88, I.). Here and there the facing blocks, with imperfect joint, are preserved up to four or five courses ; but the core, composed of rubble piled up anyhow, has given way and glided down into the ravine. Beyond the dromos the hill becomes very steep. The entrance passage was blocked up by a transverse wall, of which some stones are still in place. From this point the dromos rises to a gentle incline up to the tomb’s entrance, a distance of thirty-five metres, between two parallel walls, six metres apart, which follow the natural slope of the hill. A concrete floor has been laid down in the alley. This is a sure sign of the special care which was bestowed on every part of the building, be it in the walls of the dromos, whose masonry 1 In writing this chapter, we have made substantial borrowings from the oft- cited account of F. Thiersch, published in Athenische Mittheituugen , 1879, under the title, Die Thotos des Atreus zu Mykence. His description is the only one which has been given of the building since the researches carried on there by Stamakis, who cleared the monument. His narrative contains many details on the style of building beheld here, such as an architect alone would be able to furnish. As remarked in a former note, it is regrettable that the author should have con- fined his investigations to the facade, and not extended them to the interior of the cupola, so as to examine the upper courses from a scaffolding. At the height where they occur, the eye from below cannot make out the details, even with the help of a fire lighted on the floor of the chamber. The light of the flame is lost ere reaching the summit. Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 47 is nearly as regular as that of the chamber, the huge blocks of the lower course, the three slabs of conglomerate which form the low sill of the circular building, the polished surface of which is hardly injured by time or wear (Fig. 256, A, B, c), or the soft calcareous flags of unequal size seen front and back of the threshold n d. The circular cavities shown at R R are probably dowel-holes, which served to fix a bronze band on to 0 ,i 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 " 1 1- 3M Fig. 256. — Tomb I. Plan of entrance. the sill, or perhaps a sill of the same metal, s s represent traces supposed to be left on the flags by the door as it turned round u, which is the central point of the pivot. The couple of tiny punctated circles, t and v, are round holes sunk in the lower face of the colossal lintel. A larger cavity, already adverted to as appearing at u, doubtless played the part of socket. These cavities were certainly sealing-holes (Fig. 257). On each slab of the threshold there is a groove running between u and v ; it Mycenian Art. 48 Primitive Greece: bears marks of bronze nails, two of which are still buried in the stone. Right and left of the doorway there is a row of sealing- holes, five centimetres broad by three centimetres deep (Fig. 2 ^7 , pp, p' r'). The space between them corresponds with the width of the sill ; some of these cavities also contain ancient ■!i-i ‘ ■’ : i > /- ■ Ejo. 257. — Tomb I. Elevation of entrance wall and section through lintel. nails. Other and similar traces are seen at w. The line of nails represented by the letters r r is in the same vertical plane as the groove of the threshold ; thus far extended the timber case, the “ built ” part enframing the doorway. Every- thing points to the existence of a bronze epidermis between HISTORY OF ART, Vol. II. treasury of atreus Description and Restoration of Tomp, I. 49 the lines pp, p' p'. The destination of the marks seen at w is unknown. At x (Fig. 257), on the corresponding point of the door-case opposite, are oval holes, analogous to those seen in the same situation on the Tirynthian and Mycenian gates ; they were designed to receive the bolts which made fast the door. The opening is five metres forty centimetres high, by two metres sixty-six centimetres below, and two metres forty- six centimetres above. It is enframed by double fasciae, and opens on a facade some twelve metres in height and six metres thirty centimetres in width, whose surface may be computed at seventy-five square metres. Our PI. IV. is reproduced from Thiersch ; to his ground-plan we have added, with their actual dimensions, such architectural fragments as have seemingly come from that section of the building. We shall have to account for the place which each piece occupies in the restoration ; for the present the reader is asked to pass them by and direct his whole attention to what Thiersch carefully studied and noted down : a wall, pierced by many dowel-holes of varying size, with facing slabs which are not arranged in one plane, the upper courses being set back from the lower ones. Then, too, from the lintel to the penult course occurs a triangular space extending right through the wall. Other buildings of the same nature have taught us that this void was not a window meant to light the chamber, 1 for this was always closed after the entombment, here by a triangular door, elsewhere by a wall of massive masonry, or a system of slabs. The conviction which forces itself upon the mind after a cursory glance at this facade, is that it was enriched by a casing of many plates, held together with bronze hooks, and carried liberally over wall and door. In order to determine the position which the decorator has assigned to the several elements, now scattered all over Europe, it will be well first to define the processes which he employed in putting the pieces together, and draw attention to such indications as are deducible from the state of the facing. Metal plates were fixed to the wall with bronze clamps ; pins of the same material, vertically set, served to join the sheets to one another. On the facade are six rows of dowel-holes, of six each : to these correspond numbers from 1 to 6, seen on the 1 The triangular cavity of Tomb II., towards the chamber, still preserves its well- prepared casing slabs. VOL. II. E Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. left of PI. IV. Bronze clamps were dovetailed at both ex- tremities ; one end was driven into the stone, and the other into the bronze sheets (Fig. 258). Each hole shows a narrow rectangular cavity below, purposely made to facilitate the in- sertion of the dovetail. How the facing was applied to the wall, how the single units were joined together and fixed, is it ELEVATION Fig. 258. — Tomb I. A sealing-hole. not all shown in Fig. 259 ? The letters seen in it coincide with those which serve as reference in elevation and section, PI. IV. 1 he three courses above the lintel, as well as that resting on the relieving space, stand out beyond the plain wall. The bed, with the fourth row of clamps, projects seventeen centimetres from the one over it. The arrangement enables us to gain a notion of the receding field and the thickness of the facing Description and Restoration of Tomp> I. slabs, which were designed to cover the expanse of the surface and conceal the wall behind. The salience of the twin stones belonging to the course comprised between the figures 5 and 6, represented by v in the section, is even more marked. These corbelled slabs are the only two existing fragments of the decor- ation ; their green colour and the polish of their surface singles them out from the rest of the structure. There are two rectangular holes below these slabs, and other two in the upper face of the abacus terminating the monolith capital (Fig. 200). Fig. 260 indicates how this capital and the corbel which it supported were joined to each other and with the adjoining wall. The capitals are gone, but the position which they occupied is so well deter- mined, that M. Thiersch did not hesitate to introduce one of the capitals in question in his sketch, entitled. Present State. We have followed his example. The bases of the semi-columns cleared by recent excavations are whole. To return to the corbels. The very peculiar aspect presented by the course answering to the salient tabular slabs, and the two superincumbent ones, will be noticed. The three blocks are smaller than the rest, and form a narrow band on the frontispiece which was clearly meant to be masked by a special facing, with a salience above and beyond the whole Fig. 259. — Tomb I. Showing arrangement of the lining slabs. Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. length of the lintel. The dowel-holes found at the edge of the slab tell this tale very plainly (see PI. IV., near letter v) ; they would be meaningless unless meant to receive clamps for fastening thick metal sheets whose projection was kept a Fig. 260. — Tomb I. The several members of the capital joined together. trifle below that of the corbelled slab. If the general propor- tions of the edifice be considered, the front wall has certainly lost something, but not much, of its original height ; several stones are missing from the course above the last line of clamps, and of another bed a single stone remains. There is Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 53 yet another detail in the aspect of the facade to which atten- tion should be directed ; namely, the small holes on the surface of the lintel, designed to receive nails (PL IV. x), and those bored in the upper corner of the second fascia enframing the bay (PL IV. y). They are very thickly set on the lintel, where they describe five elliptical segments ; though more sparingly distributed around the portal, they served the same end. Let us enter the circular chamber. The work-frame of the door, the stomion of Greek archaeologists, is five metres ten centimetres deep. The shape and dimensions of the doorway, the weight of the two stone beams, the masonry, and the processes employed in the construction of these cupolas, whose finest example is found here, have previously been dealt with. 1 It only remains to point out such peculiarities in the inner building, from which a plausible hypothesis may be formed as to its primordial decoration, of which we are bold enough to present a restoration. Its lowest diameter and its height are generally computed each at fifteen metres. 2 Thiersch, however, reckons its diameter at cir. fourteen metres twenty centimetres, and thirteen metres sixty centimetres in height or thereabouts. None of the dome’s images, in section, which have hitherto been published, are strictly accurate (PL III.). The cupola does not form a broken arc, as might be supposed from the reduced drawings which have often been made of it. It describes a continuous, or rather three distinct curves, closed at the top by a single slab. The dome has always been examined in semi- darkness ; that is why the real character of this part of the edifice has escaped so attentive an observer as Thiersch himself (Fig. 261). Figs. 262 and 263 are from drawings made purposely for us by Dr. Dorpfeld ; they very distinctly show how the 2 See ante, p. 35. 1 See ante, Vol. I. p. 480. 54 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. sealing-holes, in some of which are still ancient bronze nails, were distributed on the inner surface of the dome. For obvious reasons, the holes in question had only been noticed on the courses near the ground . 1 Dr. Dorpfeld ascertained that they extended much higher than had been thought at first, that they mounted in fact right up to the summit of the dome ; m y,/ ■ • / • / ♦ / yy/VH i n ■/• /• 7 ’/'/• •b •/•/ •/;) •; .-I,,: i I -I ‘I 'I M :\ -\ V TV mm i-i -i 071 . .\ .\. Jm m -T Z IZT »•»•••• • t 1 irLTlb/.. "/.( "I ; ; 1 1 m f/ / / 1 f 1 rn • .. .. .. - ri / / / 1 ; 1 \\ ; m \ .10 M'-i Fig. 262. —Tomb I. Portion of longitudinal section. for although he could not distinguish them after the twentieth course even with the aid of an opera-glass, he counted six holes on the penult ring which is lighted from above . 2 As three of these fall in the field of our sketch, they are indi- 1 See ante, Vol. I. pp. 468-469, 479-480. 2 Thiersch only mentions those of the fifth and ninth course. But Dodwell and l.eake noticed that they were more plainly seen towards the top of the cupola, where they ran less risk of being removed. Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 55 cated as distinctly as those below, whilst the thirteen invisible courses are more faintly punctated (Fig. 262). The holes are of two kinds ; they are double at the points of junction between the fourth and fifth course, and were intended to receive double-tailed hooks. Reference to Fig. 263, which represents, on plan, the fourth and eighth ring, shows that they are not equally spaced ; the numbers coincide with the dowel-holes, ■■■■ r - r ■f — f ^ — I' — 1 10 M c - Fig. 263. — Tomb I. Plan of cupola at two different heights. and express the intervals parting them. These vary from 35 to 1 24 centimetres. Above these courses the dowels are single and smaller, one centimetre across, and nine centimetres deep. In the eighth course, answering to the inner circle of Fig. 263, the spacing between the single holes — forty-three in number — is cir. one metre ; the accompanying numbers are simply put there to facilitate calculation. Vertically, this irregularity is even greater. The holes do not coincide ; but if we take three horizontal rows, 56 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. we shall find that the holes of the third line fall vertically over those of the first, whilst in the intervening second line the holes are in the centre of the space formed by the other lines. In this way a continuous lozenge-like pattern is obtained. Some of the rings — the sixth, tenth, thirteenth, and fifteenth — bear no traces of nails. Seen from the vaulted chamber, the door reproduces the arrangement of the principal gate (Fig. 264). Above the stone beam, three metres twenty-five centimetres long by fifty centi- metres high, there is the discharging space. Small, serried holes, particularly visible right of the opening, indicate that a door- Fig. 264. — Tomb I. Door of side chamber. case was fixed to the wall. The vault is approached by a corridor which traverses the whole block of the building • and its sides, as it ran inward with the stony mass, were faced by ashlar stones. Before these had disappeared, the passage in length was four metres sixty centimetres, and the rectangular chamber seven metres fifty centimetres on one side, and six metres sixty centimetres on the other, and about five metres in height. It has lost its decoration, which formed its chief interest, and made it resemble the vault at Orchomenos (Fig. 254). In the middle of the chamber, where bats have left marks of their presence, Schliemann found an almost circular depression, fifty- Description and Restoration of Tome I. 57 three centimetres deep, by one metre in breadth . 1 These dimen- sions do not correspond with those that go to the making of a sepulchral shaft, such as that at Vaphio. Should we perchance seek here one of those offering-pits of which we have already found two specimens on our path ? We think it most unlikely. The libation poured into these species of cesspools, both in the court of the Tirynthian palace and the pit-graves at Mycenae, was sucked up by the earth ; here an impervious rock would scarcely have lent itself to the absorption of liquids. Besides, Dr. Dorpfeld, who examined the chamber after it was cleared, is of opinion that said depression did not belong to the original plan, as Schliemann conjectured, and may very likely have been due to treasure-seekers. The traveller has no great wish to remain long in the side-chamber, whose worn walls are blackened by the smoke of fires lit by former visitors. He hastens back to the vaulted hall, which he is loth to leave ; he lingers before a facade which, even in its decayed condition, retains a look of massive grandeur. In presence of this ruin, the archaeologist, it he is not one easily discouraged by the prospect of protracted work, but for whom the difficulties of the problem, are an additional stimulus, will not resist the temptation of re-establishing the missing parts of the edifice, and presenting it nearly as it must have been when the inhabitants of opulent Mycenae con- templated it — for awhile at least, until the closing of the dromos — as a glorious symbol of the majesty of the Pelopicl princes who reposed therein. Up to the present time, Donaldson is the only archaeologist who has attempted the restoration, in elevation, of this facade. His sketch, however — which has often been reproduced, — though brimful of happy suggestions, dates from a time when notions relating to Mycenian art were shadowy in the extreme . 2 The 1 Schliemann, Mycence. - The restoration referred to above may be seen in PI. V. of the section devoted to Mycenae, in Antiquities of Athens and other Places in Greece , Sicily , by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett. Apart from certain improvements of detail, it reproduces the tentative restoration to be found among Elgin’s drawings. The first step, therefore, in this direction was taken by the Sicilian architect Sebastian Ittar, who worked for Lord Elgin along with the Neapolitan landscape painter, Lusieri. The most picturesque of the views that have been published of the inner building is certainly that which Gell engraved. But the perspective is quite wrong ( Itinerary of Greece ). Superficially, Plates 66-69 °f the Expeditio?i de 5 § Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. building had not been completely cleared ; its real condition was mere guesswork, and the existing perspective views, instead of helping, obscured our knowledge. Thus it was that Donald- son, unaware that the shaft tapered downwards, inverted the natural order of things, and set up a capital which, in point of fact, is the base. We are better off to-day, inasmuch as other similar sepultures, recently discovered, and a host of manu- factured objects of the same period, suggest many a signifi- cant comparison. The halls and approaches to the tomb have been cleared down to the regular soil, and have uncovered details of the highest interest, the bases of the semi-columns, for instance, and other sculptured fragments. Finally, MM. Thiersch and Dorpfeld have made a careful and minute study of this tomb ; the former has devoted his whole attention to the facade, the latter to the arrangements of the inner building. Both have noted down, one by one, the traces left by dowel- holes ; these afford technical and more or less distinct indications relative to the facings. Yet M. Thiersch, in 1879, wrote to the effect that “ there are not sufficient data for a restoration ; to attempt it would only result in the production of an entirely fanciful image, and pro tanto devoid of interest.” * 1 Dr. Adler’s language, though less explicit, is no more encouraging. 2 Un- dismayed by the adverse verdict of these two competent judges, we have dared to undertake a work which they deem impossible (PI. V.). If, in despite of the fiasco said to await us, we have not given up the undertaking, it is because we hope that the method we have adopted will satisfy the severest criticism. The generous and timely help which we have received from all quarters has greatly facilitated our researches ; it has enabled us to juxtapose photographs and drawings of all known fragments of the decoration, which we have utilized after having referred them to the surface to be filled, so as to ascertain where they would most fittingly come in. There was no possible hesitation Moree look well ; by juxtaposing them with those we reproduce, or even with photographs, it is at once seen how carelessly the drawings were executed from which the plates have been engraved. The traces of nails visible on lintel, door- frame, and cupola were indicated by Gell, if not with rigorous precision, quite near enough to attract attention to the detail ; but in Ravoisid’s plates they have completely evaporated. 1 Die Tho/os des Atrens. - Tiryns. Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 59 about a certain number of the pieces, their situation being determined by their shape and dimension ; so that the central part of the edifice may be restored with almost absolute certainty. For the framing and crowning members of the region near the triangular space the case is different. Here, either the ornament has disappeared without leaving a trace, or the piece of wall to which it was applied no longer exists. Nevertheless, glean- ings may be made out of the condition of the wall, the presence of dowel-holes, and the arrangement of the stones. Besides our general knowledge of the habits of the Mycenian orna- mentist, we are guided by practical observations of other very similar buildings, where what is mutilated or wanting in one place is found in better condition in another. Nobody will dispute our right to utilize the data furnished in this direction by Tomb II. ; its plan, structure, and design have much similarity to the Treasury of Atreus (Tomb I.), and its outward aspect was scarcely less rich. Let us suppose all the fragments pieced together and spread out on the floor ; in sorting them we shall find that some are scraps of bands ( fascice ), and were fixed, therefore, lengthwise in narrow strips, with a feeble salience over the field (PL IV. r, h, l. K, v) ; others are nearly square, and would come under the denomination of slabs (g). Bearing in mind the arrangement of the dowel-holes, it is plain that the facing must have been composed of a series of bands and slabs set flat, which formed a succession of superimposed zones. As the bands had to support the casing stones, they were given greater thickness, and firmly fastened to the wall with pins and clamps, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 represent the dowel-holes of said bands. Among the remains of these fasciae are several pieces with the same design ; but difference of scale precludes their being pieced together — 6o Primitive Greece : Mvcenian Art. the ornament is similar, but the size of the fragment on which it appears is dissimilar. We shall, then, have to find different places for different fragments. First of all, we must determine the position which these various items occupied in the facade. 1 We will begin with the triangular void. The fragment of red porphyry which was found in 1878 fits to a nicety the upper angle of the void under notice (PI. IV. m). Carved on its surface are two rows of spirals. Prom this and Fig. 266. —Tomb I. Fragment of decoration of facade. another bit of porphyry, adorned in the same style, which assuredly belonged to the same unit, we learn the movement of the design (Fig. 265 and PI. IV. n). One of the sides is cut obliquely, and must therefore have met the edge of the wall which adjoins the relieving space on the right. Hence we can only suppose that the bands were horizontally placed, and ran parallel to the ground. Another fragment of the same nature is given 1 We met M. Babin — who formed part of the Dieulafoy Mission — at Athens in 1890, when he was good enough to draw for us some of the fragments cited by us, which are preserved in the Central Museum and at Charvati. Description and Restoration of Tomb I 61 below (big- 266 and PI. IV. n). That all these pieces came from the same building is proved by similarity of material and design. In the same category should be placed the porphyry fragment which is preserved in the British Museum, with three rows of spirals (Fig. 267 and PL IV. n). The plan of the upper and lower borders, with sealing-holes, serves to show how these bands were joined to one another by means of vertical clamps. When pieced together, they constituted a species of screen, which closed the opening pierced above the lintel. As the thickness of these slabs was but nine centimetres or there- abouts, their collective weight was not great. As might have *1 Pf " SI cod ctof ! ; 1 *0,115* : ■ •f----- 0,35s — ->1 ' u u 0395 * k 0,663 d, 7 00 '-i Fig. 267. — Tomb 1 . Fragment of decoration of fa9ade. Elevation and Plan. been expected, the course of masonry, which was hidden by the facing whereon they rested, has disappeared. The screen is not in the same vertical plan as the field surrounding it. If the architect contrived an opening above all his domed-buildings, it was not likely that he would hide it away behind a facing which would merge into the rest of the facade ; or make believe that he had put a solid where the rule of his craft required a void. We have no instance of any architecture, as yet uncorrupted by the over-refinements of decadent epochs, wherein ornament, far from disguising the great architectonic divisions, does not very plainly declare them. The closing of the circular chamber involved blocking up this great hollow with a stone curtain ; but as this was drawn somewhat in the rear of the front wall, it 62 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. created a hollow which warned the spectator that there occurred a gap in the masonry. The triangular space required a border. We have supposed that the slabs adjoining it were adorned by spirals which formed a frame around the cavity. The portion of the frame which corresponds with the height of the bands was fixed by clamps or bedded in the slabs. We have now to furnish the frontispiece, below and at either side of the discharging space. We start from slab g, of which a drawing was made by Lord Elgin’s draughtsman (Fig. 268). It is the only fragment which will fill in one half of the space com- prised between the rows of holes 2 and 3. Accordingly, we may Fig. 268. — Tomb I. Fragment of decoration of facade. Height o m., 512. White marble. safely infer that the facade was lined from right to left by two such slabs, set one above the other. Reference to our engraving (Fig. 268) shows that it was furnished above with a border of a single row of spirals ; a corresponding line ran along the lower edge of the second slab, and the two formed a polished zone of about one metre in height, whose rich tint and almost plain surface were in pleasing contrast with the elaborate ornaments circling it. We are inclined to believe, with Dr. Adler, that painting is not unlikely to have aided the decoration of these facades. 1 Have we not a curious instance of the intervention of the painter, and the taste with which he knew how to replace chiselling by ornaments drawn with red, yellow, and black figures, 1 Tiryns. mmi -r-}.*y/rpj.yi &£r's. ■■■ r-v vmmm 48S&.* Description and Restoration of Tomb I. over the door-case of one of the Mycenian rock-cut graves? If a painted decoration existed here, what were its distinctive characteristics ? As this is a moot point, we prefer to leave that part of the facade quite plain (PI. V.) ; but in our per- spective view, two running lions appear in that situation (PI. VI.). There are evidences as to the great part played by the lion in Mycenian art, be it in the Lions Gate, on engraved stones, or jewellery. We might with equal propriety replace the royal beast by sphinxes or bulls. The space which occurs between the first and second line of the sealing-holes, above the polished zone, is less than the next immediately below, between Fig. 269. — Tomb I. Fragment of decoration of facade. Red porphyry. the third and fourth line. We may assume that there existed here an ornament which might be repeated vertically, as often as the decorator required it, and continued along the edge of the slab. Accordingly, we have applied above and below the border in question a single row of spirals, of which two fragments are in existence (Figs. 269, 270). The perspective view of slab (Fig. 270) brings out very distinctly its thickness. Judging from analogy, we have supposed that a very similar slab (PI. IV. 4) covered the space represented by the first row of dowel-holes. The surfaces enclosed by these salient bands (1 and 2, 3 and 4) were lined with slabs, as thin as fragment G. They are gone, but the spaces they occupied have been rightly filled in with a form based on spirals, of the same family as that 64 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. which makes so brave a display of undulating and endless cur- vilinear lines on the ceiling at Orchomenos (Fig. 217). It is not conceivable that so sumptuous a facade should have been left without a crowning member which fulfilled the function of cornice. A cornice is to architecture what peroration is to a speech ; it bounds and arrests the ascending lines of the edifice, exactly as in the speech the flow of ideas and the whole sequence of proofs cumulate towards the con- clusion. Fragments r and r (PI. IV.) are well suited to occupy Fig. 270. — Tomb I. Fragment of decoration of fa9ade. Lower portion. Height, o m., 09. this place, both from their size and the ornament they exhibit. On the one (Fig. 271) we have a row of spirals, and below, a line of discs, similar to those beheld on the pillar of the bas- relief over the Lions Gate (PI. XIV.). Below this, again, we have placed an ornament recalling the arrangement of triglyphs and metopes of the Doric frieze (Figs. 225, 226), and so much affected by the Mycenian ornamentist. The excavations of 1878 have brought out two specimens bearing this same pattern, though slightly modified and on a different scale. 1 On account 1 Represented in the upper portion of Fig. 270 are two other diminutive fragments of fasciae decorated in the same style. Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 65 of the distance, the largest must necessarily be placed topmost in the facade. The two crowning members required no great salience. The towering side-walls and the mound at the back would carry off most of the rain-water, a minimum of which alone would fall on the frontispiece, and thus make a gutter Fig. 271. — Tomb I. Fragment of the decoration of the fa£ade. Height, o m., 46. Green breccia. useless. We have yet to utilize the smaller of the twin bands, wherein triglyphs alternate with metopes (Fig. 273). The first idea that comes to the mind is to make it do duty as base to the triangle ; for its well-furnished design will harmonize well .^rrm i r ri i 1 1 i 1 1 1 i n 1 1 1 i i 1 1 n rru it rmTivto^ ^ --*■ -X- - -113 *-k 3A-H Fig. 272. — Tomb I. Fragment of the decoration of the fa5ade. Height, O m. , 262. Red porphyry. with the prominent situation it is to occupy in the facade. Nothing can be urged against it ; but, on the contrary, every- thing seems to counsel us to carry the ornament on the salient stones at either side of the triangle, so as to connect the latter with the adjoining surfaces, and establish by a frieze-like arrange- vol. 11. f 66 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. ment, a desirable symmetry between the upper and lower section of the edifice. The smaller scale of the lower frieze is made good to the eye by its proximity to the ground. That division of the facade decoration comprised between these two very similar bands had also to be provided with a lateral border, so as to bound it right and left, to form a transition between it and the double wall of the dromos. Without this necessary border, the arrangement would have savoured of clumsiness, for the patterns meeting at the edge of the wall would have looked as if abruptly interrupted, rather than as having come to their normal end. The borders seen on the ceiling at Orchomenos, and the mural paintings of the Tirynthian palace, prove how popular they were with the Mycenian ornamentist. The central division of the facade of Tomb II. is bounded on either side / * 1- N 1 -"y-~V^ v v 4 . - 73 X 93 ? Fig. 273. — Tomb I. Fragment of facade casing. Elevation and plan. Height, o m., 175. Red porphyry. by a very salient mural band or pilaster (Fig. 1 1 8). These pilaster-like strips must have been protected by a stone facing, whereon was painted or carved an ornament which rose with them towards the cornice. The doorway of Tomb I. bears no trace of having been flanked by this species of pilaster ; but we have no reason to believe that they dispensed with a framing in that situation. In what style was the decoration of the case in question carried out ? The buildings which we have passed in review prove that rosettes were largely em- ployed as borders (Figs. 206, 213, 217, 218). The fact that one of the fragments from this very building exhibits a row of semi-rosettes favours the assumption that the artist who adorned this facade was no straneer to that form of enrichment. We are not sinning, then, against probabilities in setting up here a post, t, relieved with rosettes, like those which embellish the painted door-frame of a rock-cut tomb (Fig. 234). Should we not Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 67 recognize a wall-band of this kind in the alabaster piece which is preserved in the Mycenae Museum (Fig. 274) ? The fragment is said to have come from the side-chamber of Tomb L ; but as long as the excavation diary of Stamakis remains unpublished, we may be pardoned if we attach little importance to information supplied by oral tradition. For the rest, the ornament is of a nature to suit equally well the lining of the facade and the rectangular chamber. The creamy white of the alabaster would have formed a charming contrast with the bands of red porphyry. Fig. 274. — Tomb I. Alabaster fragments of decoration of facade. (The two pieces on the left.) The upper portion ot the tomb being now complete, there only remains to find space for fragment v, with semi-rosettes (Fig. 275). The band to which it belongs was the narrowest of all, and in no way corresponds with the sealing-holes of the facade ; but it exactly coincides with the height of the slabs embedded above the abacus of the semi-columns. Let us put this band over the course of masonry which rests on the lintel, where it will be kept in place by its own weight, as well as by clamps and pins. The lower section of the front wall, below the lintel, was distinct from the rest of the frontispiece, from 68 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. its having no decoration. The facing, composed of beautiful courses of very hard calcareous blocks, with yellowish tones, was everywhere left exposed. Some few applied pieces of green breccia or metal were trenchantly relieved against the Fig. 275. — Tomb I. White marble fragment of decoration of the facade. Height, o m., 16. light colour of the limestone. Of these the most important are the two semi-columns at either side of the doorway, rising to a height, with base and capital, of six metres sixty centimetres. Although the base, composed of low steps, alone remains in iV — 70 — -:j !•---■ *7 « | I 4A — ;J Fig. 276. — Tomb I. Green breccia fragment of capital. situ , we have none the less all the requisite elements for restoring the column. . True, one of the capitals (Fig. 200, a) is very much worn, but it is nearly complete, and the general contour of the mass and main modulations of the shape can be plainly made out. The other capital has been taken to pieces and dis- Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 69 persed. Of these, one is at Mycenae (Fig. 204, b), another at Carlsruhe (Fig. 276, c), and the smallest, which belongs to the Berlin Museum, is engraved under two aspects below (Fig. 277, d). It is the same with the shaft. A piece of it preserved in the British Museum appears in Fig. 278 ; another fragment has already been referred to (Fig. 203). Accordingly, we have the ornament in all its detail, for both capital and shaft ; as to the height and outline of the column, they can be very easily defined. The base has not stirred, and in the perpendicular line of this, above the lintel, on either side of the doorway, there still exists a flat, corbelled stone, on the lower face of which are sealing-holes. These correspond with the holes noticeable on the upper face of the least-injured capital (Fig. 200). The length Fig. 277. — Tomb I. Green breccia fragment of capital. Length, o m., 27 ; width, o m., 205. of the shaft strictly so called, exclusive of the capital, is com- prised between the edge of the corbel and the base ; and the dimension of this makes it plain that the shaft affected the shape of an inverted truncated cone, like that of the Lions Gate (PI. XIV.). On the testimony of several travellers, a large piece of this shaft was lying on the ground in front of the edifice at the commencement of the century. Drawings of it were made by Dodwell and Lord Elgin’s artist ; 1 it is from the latter that we reproduce Fig. 279. In this fragment we recognize a portion of the shaft which came in contact with either the capital or the base, from the fillet bounding it at one end. 1 Gell, The Itinerary of Greece , 1810; Dodwell, A Classical and Topo- graphical Tour through Greece , 1819; Leake, Travels in Morea, 1830. 70 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. Remembering that the Mycenian shaft diminished from top to base, it is self-evident that we have here the upper portion adjoining the capital. In this case, however, the draughtsman has certainly exaggerated the downward tapering of the shaft ; were his presentation exact, we should have to assume that it reposed, not on the base seen here, but on some species of pedestal, a fantastic animal. Such an arrangement certainly Fig. 278. — Tomb I. Green breccia fragment of shaft. Height, om., 279. Width, o m., 278. occurs in certain Assyrian columns, where they appear in low- reliefs ; but the case does not apply here, and the conjecture must be abandoned ; for the surface of the base is only thirty- three centimetres deep, and would not have lent itself kindly to carry a standing and far less a crouching animal or pedestal. Besides, the Hellenes never associated a pedestal with the column, which latter they carried down to the ground. Finally, there is a decisive reason why we should set aside the hypothesis under discussion; the shaft of the column in Tomb II. exhibits Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 71 a very similar entasis, and there it reaches the soil without any intervening member, pedestal or otherwise (Fig. 198). The difference between the upper and lower diameter may have been a trifle over ten centimetres, but certainly not more. The above result is obtained by reckoning the upper diameter at about 548 centimetres, and the breadth of the base surface fifty centimetres. The uppermost step of the base must have had a slight salience beyond the shaft. Were these shafts all monoliths, or made up of several pieces ? We know not. The marks left on the wall by the sealing system will fit either hypothesis (s, s). In any case, the shaft was distinct from the wall ; it gives on plan a semi-circle, and looks as if the architect Fig. 279. — Tomb I. Green breccia fragment of the shaft. Upper diameter, o m., 5480. had taken a column and split it lengthwise in twain, and then applied the two halves to the wall. In principle, semi-columns are totally different from engaged pillars, of which classic archi- tecture will presently make so liberal a use. These are contrived in the masonry, and incorporated with it. Here the straight (back) face is smooth, and recalls those baguettes which a cabinet- maker glues on to the panels of a piece of furniture ; the semi- columns were only held in position against the wall by clamps and pins. The largest of these occurs at about one-third of the total height of the shaft (s s). Traces of smaller dowel-holes are visible on the base and lintel, where they occur on a plane with the abacus, which is itself fixed to the corbel with bronze pegs. Multitudinous clamps served very well their purpose, which was to attach the pillars to the walls ; but their want of mass 72 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. precluded their carrying a heavy burden, and if our restoration exhibits a projecting member over these pillars, which they seem to support, it is a false appearance, and not likely to deceive anybody. Flush with the fifth line of sealing-holes, above the letter v of section (PI. IV.), appears a punctated shape, which below shows a block cut to an acute angle on one side, to fit the adjoining wedge-like stone, whilst the other end is inserted into the wall. The roughness of the block and its prominent situation indicate that it was never intended to be seen, but must have been concealed by a wide, projecting slab. We get a hint of what there was here from the facade of the neighbour- ing Tomb II., where, notably on the right side, between the doorway and the relieving triangle, we have part of a slab which projected far out beyond the lintel, and formed a ledge or pent-house. On the lower portion of this slab are chiselled, in low-relief, discs or roundels, in which we recognize the end beams of the roof (Fig. 118). We are quite sure that no such bas-relief ever existed in this situation on the frontispiece of the principal tomb. On the other hand, the semi-columns would have been incapable of bearing a heavy stone beam ; as to a lining, which might have been fastened with clamps to the lintel, no trace of it has been found in the intervening space between the triangle and the doorway. The only possible solution, there- fore, is that the pent-house was hollow, and entirely covered with sheets of metal nailed or riveted to one another, so as to bring this portion in harmony with the rest of the edifice. The hollow piece in question did not rest on the false columns, but on the corbelled stones of the wall right and left, where PI. IV. shows a couple of sealing-holes. In this way not only was the pent-house married to the wall, but its extremities reposed on the widely-projecting slabs of the abacus, the ends of which were also embedded in the masonry. The columns carried nothing. With regard to the ornament of the brazen beam, we have selected such forms as are most affected by the Mycenian artificer — rosettes, spirals, and discs or beam-ends. We have been particularly mindful, in the rendering of our image, to show how much greater was the finish of workman- ship, and how infinitely richer the aspect of bronze work, as compared with work executed in stone. From the ellipsoidal shape of fine holes left by nails towards HISTORY OF ART MYCE N AE DOMED TOMB I OR TREASURY OF ATRI PERSPECTIVE VIEW SHOWING DROMOS d by Ch. Chipiez itorei ^tnpiez de Description and Restoration of Tome I. 73 the upper edge of the lintel x, we learn the nature of the applied pieces which formerly stood there ; namely, human or animals’ heads ; as the Mycenian artist, however, rarely attacked the human face, and seems to have delighted in the representation of huge animals, lions or bulls, we incline for animal figures. Remem- bering the castle gate, we have, like Donaldson before us, placed here lions’ heads, the symbols of strength and courage. In the corners, at point v, are dowel-holes, which denote the former presence of two other applied pieces ; the small number of sealing-holes does not allow us to surmise what these were. We have assumed that there once stood here an eagle or hawk, or some such-like figure. In describing the present state of the building, we adverted to the marks left by the door on the threshold (Fig. 256, rr, v). These indicate that two-thirds only of the wing were movable — the panel comprised between r and v remaining fixed — so as to facilitate the movement of the unwieldy heavy door to and fro. The same reason counselled the curtailing of the height of the folding-door ; had it been carried up to its present elevation, five metres sixty centimetres, the labour involved in swinging it round would have been well- nigh impossible ; hence the necessity of an impost or quiescent part. This, in our plate, takes up about one-third of the total height of the hollow. Was the portal closed by a grating, as conceived by Donaldson ? We wot not. A sepulchral door must have been solid, to shut out light and prying eyes. We assume it to have consisted of wooden planks with a bronze plating, after the fashion of the Balawat Gates. 1 These metal plates are relieved by such forms as meet the eye throughout the building. The door is surrounded by a separate case, borrowed from a Mycenian rock-cut tomb, where it is painted (Fig. 234). As regards the mechanism of the lock, it has been evolved out of information gleaned in the Homeric poems. We have indicated the holes for the hook which served as key, by removing which the bolting beam could be drawn in and out at pleasure, by means of cords fastened to a ring which is seen between the holes in question. The excavations of 1878 have shown that the wall coping of the dromos was neither horizontal nor “ stepped.” 2 The junction between the front wall and those flanking the approach 1 History of Art. 2 Thiersch, Die TZiolos. 74 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. is well seen in PI. VI. We have supposed the ends of the side- walls as slightly overhanging, and projecting over the frontis- piece ; their relief served to enframe the cornice and help the monumental effect of the facade. On these saliences we have placed a covering slab of limestone, with double slope, of which many fragments have been found in the passage. The saliences in question are not visible in PL V., because the section was made at the back of this coping. The restoration of the inner building (PI. VII.) is justified and accounted for in advance by the arrangement of the sealing- holes (Fig. 262). The shape and irregular spacing of the double- holes between the third and sixth course prove that the surface was filled by a continuous frieze, composed of metallic laminae. 1 No stringent rule was laid upon the artisan to have all his pieces cut of the same size, provided they were kept of uniform height ; all he had to do when he came to join the units together and put them in place, was to enlarge or narrow the spaces between his clamps, as the case might be. Thus, many a double-hole falls in the centre of a course, many another close to a joint. Between the double-holes of the fifth bed are smaller ones, which are absent from the fourth. The difference observable in the distribution of the dowels seems to indicate that the band was divided into two zones of unequal height. In the lower strip we have put a continuous design, a row of crouch- ing sphinxes, set in pairs face to face. The Mycenian artist has frequently resorted to this type and mode of grouping to fill in lengthy spaces. For the present purpose it will be enough to recall an ivory tablet, with a figuration of running sphinxes (Fig. 205), and a comb of the same material, where the sphinxes are lying down ; whence we have derived the principal element of our restoration (Fig. 280). In furnishing the upper zone, we were obliged to take into account the small holes distributed over the surface ; each one of these suggests a nail stuck into the middle of a separate ornament, a star, flower, or rosette. 1 In 1862, Stark and Vischer, during an excursion to Mycenje, cleared in part a small domed-tomb, “ quite close to the Treasury of Atreus.” This must be No. VI. or VII. They found “eine Erzeplatte an der inneren Flache noch wohl erhalten.” Though badly worded, the phrase can only mean, “A well-preserved plaque was still adhering to the inner face of the wall.” [It may also be translated by, “ the inner face of the plaque was still in good condition ; i. c. the decorated side.” — Trans.] Description and Restoration of Tomb I. 75 We have chosen the latter ; on the authority of an ivory comb, where it appears between two sphinxes in the upper part of the field, which is also divided into two zones. Here, however, the holes are too near each other to make it possible to put these forms lengthwise ; in these intervals we find room only for one of those sinuous curves which so delighted the eye of the men of that period. 7 6 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. To return to the dome. There is no uncertainty from the sixth course upwards ; the smallness of the holes, the fashion in which they are distributed, without any fixed rule, over the sur- face, are suggestive of separate applied pieces, like those which we have introduced into the upper bronze zone. Stars, which would have endowed the cupola with something of the aspect of a constellated firmament, might have been thought of, but for the fact that among the unending patterns beheld on the golden discs which have been collected in the shaft-graves, there is one solitary specimen only with a far-off resemblance to a star (Fig. 281), and it has never yet been found among the Fig. 281. — Gold disc. Actual size. sculptured and painted fragments of either tombs or palaces. Per contra, the rosette is seen almost on every single scrap which has been brought out of these ruins ; hence it will cause no surprise at our having given it the preference. On the bronze door-case surrounding the entrance to the vault, we have put a series of spirals. The large square hole shown on the upper corner westward of the opening (Fig. 264), seems to call for a distinct ornament there ; to have set up a lion’s mask in that situation had been but to repeat the form seen on the external face of the lintel over the principal portal. For reasons of enrichment we have assumed that the vault was closed by a wooden door overlaid with bronze. Thiersch does not seem to have paid any great attention to this division of the building ; Description and Restoration of Tome I. 77 but Gell, a very attentive observer, noticed the holes for the bolts . 1 Above the lintel, the discharging space was closed by a triangular slab. A scarcely happy note would have been sounded had it been left plain and bare ; we have therefore reproduced here the pattern seen on the porphyry slabs, which fulfil the same function in the facade. Had the circular chamber originally a furniture proportional to its importance ? Local gossips informed Schliemann that the workmen of Veli Pasha had found “a marble table and a long bronze chain, from which depended a bronze candelabrum .” 2 These objects, if they ever existed, which is doubtful, have disappeared ; and on the slender strength of hearsay evidence we could not undertake to re-establish the accessories in ques- tion. They are, moreover, details of minor importance ; whether the vault was provided with a door or not, whether a lamp hung from a chain, will make no difference to the essential character- istics of the building, and it is these distinctive peculiarities which we have at heart to bring home to the reader, by means of our restoration. Our aim has been to give a general and true impression, so as to suggest a transient vision of what internally and externally an edifice, respecting which the Mycenian architect put forth all the resources of his art, may have been. If the reader has thus far followed our explanations, whereby we have accounted for our mode of procedure, he will have recognized that there is not one of the ornaments which figure in this unit but has come from the existing portions of the doorway and the column. The facings have not of course all been found ; and it is quite possible that this or that band, of which scraps are to hand, does not occupy the place of its original in our restoration. But notwithstanding these substitutions, which we are far from conceding as facts, in despite also of lacunae filled in from analogies that have not been lightly invoked, we flatter our- selves that we have grasped the spirit of this decoration, and faithfully rendered its general aspect. The facade, imposing even in its mutilated state, has suffered 1 Gell, Itinerary : “ On the right, a door is seen which has been secured by strong bolts.” So Dodwell, Tour. Neither of them saw the holes sunk in the threshold of the main doorway to receive the bolts, for at that time the sill was still hidden under accumulated earth ; but those pierced in the lintel did not escape Leake ( Travels in Morea). 2 Schliemann, Mycence. 78 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. much more than the circular chamber. If the masonry, com- posed of well-wrought stones, is unimpaired, if the two semi- columns which flanked the entrance are alone missing, the whole of the upper part of the edifice is but the ghost of its former self. The closing slab of the triangle has gone, and left the space gaping ; here and there cavities mark the place in the wall where stones have been ; and the joints are mostly wide apart. Of the facing that once formed the flesh and epidermis of this great body, scarcely anything remains. Notwithstanding the shock which the spectator feels in presence of these signs of decay, his eye ere long follows with keen interest the ease with which were set up these materials, whose colossal dimensions fill him with astonishment ; his artistic sense is gratified with the effect of the stately doorway, and its simple wreathing bands, towards which the eye is led by the vanishing lines of the long side-walls. The mighty effort which brought this structure into being is felt at every turn ; it is an effort which pre-supposes, not only a large contingent of skilful and well-trained artisans, but the directing mind of a master, who begins to feel the subtle beauty of forms, and the charm of proportions. How much more lively would be our admiration could we see this frontispiece as it appeared on the removal of the scaffolding, in all the freshness and splendour of its richly-coloured decoration, with the lustre of bronze and the gleam of white marble, married to the red and green tones of porphyries and breccias, perhaps also to the tender blue of enamels, where, as in the frieze of the Tirynthian palace, they were brilliantly relieved against alabaster. In the middle of the spirals of a fragment which we have utilized for the triangle (Fig. 265) are seen holes into which, mayhap, were stuck glass-pastes. 1 Stone and bronze everywhere exhibit ornament of the most varied kind, chevrons and rosettes, palmettes, discs, and scrolls. Palmettes, though dependent on the same taste, permitted a certain latitude in their treatment. The painter, it may well be, added the lighter notes of frescoes to the polished surface of marble slabs which lined 1 A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, by A. H. Smith, 1892 : “Two of these bands are in low-relief, the third is in high-relief, with a hole bored in the centre for the insertion of glass or metal ornaments.” Owing to the small scale of our illustration, the small holes and the difference of relief of the bands in question could not be indicated. Description and Restoration of Tome I. 79 the middle division of the lofty wall, and amidst this super- abundance of geometric figures the living form was represented by lions or bulls ; if not full size, at least in the shape of masks about the lintel. From the juxtaposition of the several forms and the variety of incrustations was given forth a noble and severe harmony, which was in perfect unison with the destination of the building. Although the decoration of the circular chamber could not challenge the more varied ornamentation of the facade, in its own way it was quite as sumptuous. Here metal reigned supreme. When the sun’s rays stole in through the open door, or when the chamber was artificially lighted, a soft diffused light was reflected back by the bronze lining, and helped the eye to measure the height and breadth of the spacious nave. Even now, although the vaulted roof has been stripped of its bronze habiliment, and holed at the top, the remembrance of this dome dwells with the traveller who has once seen it ; he cannot forget the finish of the construction, the simplicity of the means employed to obtain a desired result, or the strange curve which from the ground ascends in a continuous and unbroken line to the crown of the edifice. To picture to oneself what an addition all this brass was to the splendid decoration presented by the dome, a long and complicated inquiry, such as we have instituted for the restoration of the frontispiece, is not required ; a little effort of the imagination will suffice. Another point which contributes to stimulate our curiosity, is that when brought face to face with this building we at once feel how widely different is the style seen here from all and any with which we have been previously ac- quainted. Of course certain elements will live on, and though in a modified form, will be easily recognizable ; but others are fated to disappear for all time. If the arrangement of the temple in some respect recalls that of the Tirynthian palace, the cupola shape, for which the Mycenian builder had so marked a predilec- tion, is absent from subsequent structures ; whilst the whole of the decorative scheme will be discarded. The Hellenic architect will retain certain forms, the fluted column of our tombs for example, and the door-frame of the Erechtheion will be picked out with rosettes, like those of the Mycenian graves. But what we shall not find again at Athens or elsewhere, will be the habit of concealing meanness of materials by facings, to which 8o Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. the wealth of designs, closely packed in fields divided into small compartments, will give a gauffered-like appearance. It is a style which we meet again in Arabic architecture, where it ex- hibits far greater refinement of workmanship. Phoenicia affords many examples of such facings and continuous ornamentation ; 1 but they will fall in disrepute during the classic age. Tomb II Before the excavations of 1876, the only apparent part of Tomb II. was its lintel; all the rest lay buried under accumu- lations of silted-up earth and ruin. The work of excavating it was commenced by Mdme. Schliemann, but only completed sixteen years later (1892), by M. Tsoundas, who has not yet given to the world the result of his researches. Nevertheless, the drawings and photographs which he and Dr. Dorpfeld have obligingly placed at our disposal will enable us to convey an idea of the general characteristics and main divisions of this building. The most striking difference between this tomb and the Treasury of Atreus is its having no side-chamber ; its dimensions, however, are nearly as great, and the diameter of the circular chamber, if somewhat less, is made good by the greater length of the dromos (Fig. 282). Nowhere is the wall that blocked up the passage better preserved than here ; it still rises to a height of two metres ten centimetres, and from the blocks of sandstone composing it and the distribution of the joints, we gather that it was built after the side-walls of tufa (P ig. 283), that is to say, after the filling up of the passage. Fig. 118 gives a general view of the facade ; its lower portion, in plan and elevation, appears in Fig. 198. Fig. 284 is intended to show the sealing-holes, which served to fix the semi-columns to the wall. The alabaster capital (Fig. 274, on the right) which was picked up at the foot of this facade was at first supposed to belong to our column ; the greatest diameter of the capital, however, is 355 centimetres, and could not possibly be fitted to 1 History of Art. Tomb II. 8 a shaft which, at one metre above the base, is already fifty- eight centimetres in diameter. It probably came from some smaller building hard by. Be that as it may, it undoubtedly bears a strong resemblance to the one we have described ; and the ring of leaves which surrounds the lower portion of the abacus is still discernible, in spite of its worn condition. As in the shaft and base of the column, so in the capital, there may have been slight differences of detail from one grave to another, but the dominant lines were uniform. Thus, the capital of red stone preserved in the museum at Charvati, though smaller than the alabaster specimen, is undoubtedly drawn on the same model. Respecting that portion of the facade enclosed by the pilaster- like bands and a double salient course which plays the part of cornice (Fig. 118), are we to infer that it was entirely over- laid with a mosaic-wise casing, as in Tomb I. ? We think not. Right and left of the relieving triangle are no traces VOL. II. G 82 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. of dowels, but the rough surface of the wall can hardly have been left exposed, and may have been faced by coloured plaster. What lends colouring to this conjecture is the fact that other parts of the facade preserve important remains of a decoration very similar to that of Tomb I., both in work- manship and intention. Dr. Adler raises the question whether a very rude lion’s head of grey trachyte which he saw in the museum at Charvati is not one of a pair that once stood upon the widely-projecting slabs of the capital . 1 Between these, Fio. 283. — Tomb II. View of transverse wall at the entrance of the dromos. above the lintel, are slabs of bluish-grey marble, on which there is cut, in flat relief, the beam ends of a roof ; they form a pent-house whose salience was less than that of the brazen beam of the neighbouring tomb. Two of these slabs are in position. Other fragments of the decoration were brought out by the excavations ; here it is a band of this same marble with spirals, there two others, but this time of red porphyry ; on the one are seen triglyphs and metopes, and spirals on the other. The latter must have been part of the external slab closing the triangle. It is quite unnecessary to reproduce these oft-recurring 1 Tiryfis. Tomb II designs (Fig. 285). The dowels which occur in the adjoining sketches will suffice to show that the mode of assemblage, whether in Tomb I. or in Tomb II., was precisely similar. The transverse sections of Fig. 285 show the pieces in question in the order followed by us, from top to base. The lower portion of the last block has lost its facing, whose salience doubt- less coincided with that of the contiguous stone immediately below. The stones were clean cut, set close to each other, edge against edge, and secured at the back by clamps. Without prejudging the question of a capital which has dis- appeared, or a surface decoration — enhanced perhaps by painting — completely obliterated, we can at any rate restore, with a high degree of probability, the bands which composed the pent- house and the relieving space (Fig. 286). In this manner we obtain a partial, though incomplete restoration, which goes far to prove that this facade, though less magnificent than that of the 86 Mycenian Art. Primitive Greece : Treasury of Atreus, was yet adorned in the same style. Its fragmentary facings exhibit the same processes and the same forms as those manifested on the neighbouring edifice, including rich incrustations of red, green, bluish, and white marbles. The tomb is apparently built on the lines of its greater neighbour ; but the work was carried out on a simpler plan, and apparently Fig. 287. — Fragment of sculptured slab. Height, o m., 57 ; width, o m., 67 ; thickness, o m., 10. without the aid of bronze in any part of the edifice. . The Elgin collection in the British Museum contains two fragments of doubtful origin, probably from some domed-tombs. Their green tone recalls the very similar slabs of calcareous breccia at Orchomenos. The side of one of these pieces is obliquely cut, and announces itself as having come from the closing system of the triangle (Fig. 287). The right side is occupied by the head and shoulder of a lion ; and the left by a leafy branch, Rock-Cut Tombs. 87 which recalls a laurel or olive. The hollow of the leaves is filled with bronze laminae. The other fragment is a rectangular slab, on which are outlined, in slight relief, the fore-quarters and the lower part of the body of a bull, facing west. The upper part of the body and the head are continued on the adjoining stone. A pendant to this figure probably existed on the other side ; and the two formed the central group in the frontispiece of some tomb or other, like that seen in PI. VI., for which we have indirect if not direct authority. If the fragment in question was not utilized in Tomb I., it is because its size and material forbade our so doing. Rock- Cut T 9 mbs. A sufficient number of ground-plans and sections of rock- cut graves at Mycenae and Nauplia has been given, in our general description of the Mycenian world and the study of funereal rites, to make it unnecessary to do more than refer to them here (Figs. 122, 128, 132, 137, 143, 144, 164, 165, 246, 249). Judging from the existing sepulchres which belong to the golden days of Argolis, we may expect to come across others of the same nature in that district. M. Stais, during his researches in Epidaurus, lighted' upon chambers situate on the road which leads to a spot called Palaea- Epidaurus. 1 The arrangement of these hypogeea, and the style of the pottery collected in them, convinced him that he had laid hands on graves which chrono- logically may safely be placed in the same class as those we have reviewed. M. Stais takes as type a circular grotto, cir. four metres broad and two metres high, with a dromos six metres long, blocked up by huge stones. Close to one of the skeletons there was a well-preserved spear-head of bronze. Else- where, the body, instead of being interred in the depths of the virgin rock, was found lying in a species of recess built with undressed stones piled up one upon another. It was a quicker way of going to work, and seems to have been generally em- ployed by the oldest inhabitants of Attica. A number of very 1 A tXriov u()\cuo\oyLKoy, 1888. 88 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. similar graves has lately been uncovered on the Athenian Acropolis. Tombs become more simple and rude in construction in ratio to their distance from Argolis. Those met with in the Cyclades are no more than holes dug in the ground ; but wherever the sepultures have had greater care bestowed on them, the sides are lined with slabs set up edgewise ; and a covering slab is horizontally placed over a cavity in which the body can only have reposed in a squatting posture. Sometimes, as at Melos- Philacopi, the chambers, being rock-hewn, are unprovided with a dromos ; they then open directly on the outside , 1 and are therefore less well hidden than in Argolis. The excavations which have been systematically and carefully carried on in Cyprus during the last few years, have enabled MM. Ohnefalsch Richter and Dummler to classify the necropoles into distinct periods, answering to different phases in the existence of the inhabitants . 2 The separate finds of the various sepulchral groups have been subjected to a critical and searching analysis ; this has led them to recognize in these objects the products of a civilization intimately related to that of Troy, of which in fact, like that of the Cyclades, it was but the continuation. So striking does this correspondence and agreement appear to them, that Dummler goes farther in this direction, and is inclined to believe that such tribes as first buried in Cyprus the tokens of their laborious activity with the dead, came from the same stock as the clans that raised the Trojan walls. The racial question will probably never be solved ; but this does not deprive the result of these investigations of their historical value. 1 Athenische Mittheilungen. 2 Dummler, Mittheilungen von de 7 i griechischen Inseln , IV. ( Athenische Mittheil- ungen) ; M. Ohnefalsch Richter, Kypros : The Bible and Homer, 2 vols. 4to, 1893. This last work, the result of well-conducted excavations covering over twelve years, is so ill edited that one is driven to the plates for elucidation, which it is hopeless to seek in the text. Moreover, it is not easy to grasp the reasons which counselled the order followed in the arrangement of the plates, whilst it is difficult to find the information one is looking for in the mass of irrelevant matter which fills up a great part of the book. He would have done better, both for himself and the public, had he confined himself to the reproduction of the numerous monuments which he has either exhumed himself or seen exhumed, and which are as yet unpublished. Instead of that, he has engraved a whole range of figures to be found in older works, many of which have but a very distant relation to Cypriote art. By so doing, also, the exorbitant price of the book would have been greatly reduced. Rock-Cut Tombs. 89 It may be safely laid down as an established fact that the island at an early date, ere the Phoenicians got a foothold there, was occupied by a rather dense population, which almost unaided manfully strove to unfold a rudimentary industry analogous to that which has been met with along the whole line of coast of the /Egean. Graves bearing the mark of that epoch are now dug in the ground, now rock-excavated ; but wherever they are not mere holes hastily made in the earth’s surface, they present a uniform arrangement. They then consist of a vertical rect- angular shaft, about one metre at the main sides (Pig. 288), having a mean depth of from one to two metres. I he bottom of the well is fitted with a species of niche, oven-shaped, which is pierced in one of the small sides, and forms the grave strictly so called. A corresponding niche sometimes occurs on the opposite side ; elsewhere the vault is one with the axis of the shaft. But no matter its situation, a slab invariably forms its covering. The bones seen in these cavities are generally in a very reduced condition ; in one alone were ashes mixed up with them. Pottery is plentiful ; single niches have yielded as many as thirty and forty specimens apiece, along with tools and weapons. There was no apparent sign to indicate the site of the grave. M. Dummler is too discreet and attentive an observer to make it safe to question his conclusions ; they call, however, for some reservations. From the condition in which the bodies were found, he seems inclined to believe that the cremation rite was practised by the tribes to which he ascribes the earliest graves 90 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. in Cyprus . 1 But we have proved that throughout the primitive period, wherever the graves were sufficiently well preserved to furnish sure indications, these always show, in no unmistakable language, that inhumation, not burning, had been practised. Finally, in the later tombs of Phoenicia and Cyprus alike, a shaft serves as entrance passage to the vault, whilst the graves of prehistoric Greece are approached by a horizontal or gently- inclined dromos. One is tempted, therefore, to ask whether the habit of placing the chamber at the bottom of a well was not borrowed by the early inhabitants of Cyprus from Egypt, or rather Phoenicia, its near neighbour. On the other hand, these tombs contained no imported objects which could be attributed to either of these two countries, where, at any rate in remote antiquity, the dead were interred without having passed through fire. There are, then, very peculiar characteristics about Cypriote necropoles, respecting which we do not care to commit ourselves; we could not, however, pass the island by without pointing it out to future explorers. 1 Dummler. CHAPTER VI. RELIGIOUS ARCEIITECTURE. If in the introduction nothing was said of religious rites expressive of the beliefs which once had swayed the tribes fated to become the Hellenic nation, it is because there is no docu- mentary evidence to hand referable to that subject. The vague and faint reminiscences which the Hellenes preserved of the period answering to the infancy of their race have no passing allusion to them. The parts assigned to the gods, the exact and rich terminology by which they are distinguished in the Iliad , indicate that, like the heroes, they already had a long past behind them. Images drawn with so distinct and clear an outline are the result of an elaboration many centuries old ; whether at Troy, Thera, Tiryns, and Mycenae they should be placed towards the beginning, the middle, or the end of the primitive period, is not easy to say. Plastic art was not yet sufficiently advanced to translate with any degree of clearness the notions formed by the men of that day in respect to superior powers. Terra-cotta idols from these localities are too coarse and rude to give us any clue as to the feelings and thoughts which they express (Fig. 246). On a shockingly mutilated tablet of limestone are apparently represented two women in the act of worshipping the statue of a god. Other paintings and engraved stones show us the evanescent outline of fabulous, strange-looking creatures, akin to the simulacra which Asiatic art multiplied, griffins and sphinxes, winged personages, and human bodies with animals’ 92 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. heads ; but the fragmentary and poor state in which they are found supply us with no sure indication wherefrom to define the religious conception of which they are the embodiment, save that they seem to belong to the religious stage which is some- times termed “ polydemonism. ” The same uncertainties beset us when we turn to the archi- tectonic remains. Figured on five very similar golden plates that have come from two Mycenian pit-graves, is the facade of a building which has been identified with that of a temple (Fig. hi). Doves are perched at the corners; that is to say, in precisely the same situation as they appear on a coin from Paphos, which shows the elevation of the famous temple of the Cypriote Aphrodite. 1 So too, in this same series of gold orna- ments, doves hover above a nude figure, and flutter about her ; her hands are pressed to her breasts (Figs. 289, 290), a gesture often pointed out and figured by us from numberless terra-cotta statuettes belonging to Chaldaea, Susiana, Phoenicia, and Cyprus." It also characterizes a unique lead idol discovered at Troy (Fig. 291). The attitude suggests the goddess of nature and fecundity, whom the nations of Anterior Asia worshipped under many names, Zarpanit, Mylitta, Nana, or Ashtoreth, according to localities. The Syrian origin of both temple and idol is further emphasized by the part played by the doves. These birds were selected by the Hellenes as appropriate victims to be offered on Fig. 289. — Small gold plaque. Actual size. Fig. 290. — Small gold plaque. Actual size. 1 History of Art. 2 Ibid. Religious Architecture, 93 the altars of their Aphrodite ; the faithful mounted to her temples carrying a dove in their hands, as an earnest of the worship which was paid her, a symbol of her creative power . 1 Doves nested in her houses and peopled the precincts. Accordingly, there is Fig. 291. — Lead idol. Actual size. Height, o m., 65. a strong presumption that both figurine and small temple are objects imported by the Semite, or home-made copies of the same. If our leanings are for the last hypothesis, it is because in the entablature surmounting the central opening — above a massive architrave composed of four or five beams — below a frieze-like salient cornice — is seen a portion of the ornament which 1 History of Art. 94 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. we have compared to the metopes and triglyphs of the Dorian frieze, and placed in that situation in our restoration of the palace (Pis. XL, XII., and Fig. 227). 1 Are we, then, to conclude that the form in question was borrowed by the Tirynthian decorator from Phoenician models ? This of course is not im- possible ; but we must own to having met nowhere among the Phoenicians, either in their architectural remains or on their wares, a design which is so liberally employed by the Mycenian ornamentist. One is tempted, therefore, to think that the Greek artificer, whilst deriving his inspiration from a foreign type, put his indi- vidual mark on it ; and if the assumption be allowed, it would explain the far-off yet undoubted resemblance observable between this facade and that of the Tirynthian palace. There is first a foundation of well-jointed stones ; above this follows a con- struction the visible parts of which are seemingly carpentry work. In both edifices there are three doorways enframed by massive timbers. The height of the middle entrance of our gold plate far exceeds that of the side openings. This was doubtless done to provide a lantern with windows at the sides for lighting the inner edifice. The salient beam ends of the flat roof, which served to keep in place the earth covering, are well brought out at the corners. The entrances about this frontispiece are the only points which are somewhat problematical. Are the doors intended to be open, and the columns seen in the centre of the openings meant to indicate rows of pillars extending right through the inner hall ? Should the curvilinear shape that surrounds the foot of the shafts be identified with one of those great basins placed in front of porches, like the vase at Amathont for example ? Or is it a mere decorative form applied to the door surface ? It is hard to say. But these are after all minor points, and however interpreted, will not greatly modify the main characteristics of the building. The triple division of this facade recalls that of the Tirynthian and Mycenian palaces, the ground- plans of which may be read on the ground. Could we be sure that this amulet was wrought at Mycence, by an artist who did his best to reproduce the outward appearance of some edifice of his native place, it would enable us to assert that Mycenian Greece had temples whose arrangement was practically identical 1 This detail was first noticed by Schuchardt (Schlieifiann' s Ausgrabungeri). Religious Architecture. 95 with that of the palace. Against this view there are certain doubts that we cannot shake off as to the origin of this golden plate. We detect, it is true, peculiarities that seem to bear the sign-manual of the native artisan ; other features, again, carry the thought to the cults of Syria and her special rites. In such conditions as these, the historian has no choice but to keep on the reserve. Nowhere has he found, whether at Troy, Tiryns, Mycenae, or elsewhere, remains of structures to which, from the arrangement of the plan or other sure indications, he can confidently ascribe the character of temple or chapel. Temples Fici. 292. — Temple on Mount Ocha. strictly so called, it would appear, were as yet exceedingly rare in the Homeric period ; allusions to sacred woods and altars set up beneath their mysterious shade are much more frequent in the Epos than to temples in our sense of the word. Two sanctuaries, the one on Mount Ocha in Euboea (Fig. 292), and the other at Cynthus, in the island of Delos (Fig. 293), 1 are generally put forth as the oldest known on Grecian soil. Their 1 On the sanctuary of Mount Ocha, see Urlich’s account ( Anncili delV Instituto ) ; Welcker, Kleine Schriften , and Rheinischer Museum N F, 1856; J. Girard, Mcmoire sur Vile FEubee. Bursian has described three diminutive temples found in the same district, near Stoura, which are reproductions of the Ocha building in small ( Die Dryopische Bauzueise , &c., in Arch. Zeitung). On the sanctuary of Delos, read Lebegue, Recherches sur Delos. 96 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. situation on the mountain side, the style of the masonry, which consists partly of enormous blocks dressed fair, partly of units left in their native rudeness, have all the appearance of leading back to remote antiquity ; nor is the presumption that there is at least a passing allusion to the sacred grove of Cynthus in the Odyssey devoid of verisimilitude. 1 Even admitting this much will not enable us to confidently place the construction of the grotto in the Mycenian period ; for it may after all only date from the Fig. 293. — Cynthus. Sacred grotto. time when the soaring genius of Ionia began to awake, causing her to take possession about the same time of the Cyclades, and the strip of coast, in Asia Minor, which intervenes between the mouths of the Hermus and Maeander. As regards the temple on Mount Ocha, there is some difficulty in believing that so important an edifice can have been erected at an elevation of cir. 1400 metres by semi-savage tribes sparsely distributed over the island, whose name history does not record. We have a different hypothesis to put forward. Might not this be a much later work of wealthy Karystos, situated at the very foot of Ocha ? Odyssey. 1 Religious Architecture. 97 The scene where Zeus unites himself in holy matrimony (ispog with Hera, which in the Iliad occurs on Mount Ida, was placed by local tradition on the Ochsean heights . 1 There was doubtless a day about midsummer, when all the folk from the country-side and the Attic coast hard by were gathered together on the mountain top, to hold a general assembly ( panegyria ) in honour of the august couple, even as the modern Greeks pay their regards to the Panaghia, or some saint of their calendar, by an al fresco festival. We may assume that at a given time, to endow the meeting with greater brilliancy, the Karystians decided to build a temple on the small plateau parting the two terminal rocks of Ocha, where no structure wherein a statue might be lodged had yet appeared ; a rustic altar formed of unhewn blocks or clods of turf being the only visible sign of a sacred character. With the pliability to which Grecian art bears ample witness, the architect entrusted with the undertaking suited his work to the very peculiar conditions in which it had to be carried out. What was the good of building porticoes that could not be seen at a distance ? For the sanctuary, be it remembered, is invisible until you come upon it at the last turn of the winding path. Pillars, moreover, in a position liable to be swept by every wind that blows, could not long have kept their erect position. Delicate ornament would soon have been eaten by damp arising from snow, which remains for months on the ground. What was wanted here was a building that should combine, with the solidity of the rock against which it leant, a surface whereon Boreas might beat in vain. That the builder satisfactorily solved the problem is proved by the condition of the oblong hall, which is whole ; the huge covering slabs, set up in such a way as to form a four-fold sloping roof, have not been impaired or given way under the weight of the wintry snows of thousands of years. For my part, I cannot see the reason why this temple should not be placed in the eighth or seventh century b.c., when Euboea, which had grown rich by agriculture and a flourishing industry, was sending out the surplus of its population, together with the Greek language and Greek arts, to Trinacria, Italy, and the peninsula calling itself Chalcidica, in remembrance of Chalcis, the mother-country. The question can only be decided one way 1 Stephanus Byzantinus. VOL. II. ii 9 8 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. or another, by paying special attention to the broken pottery that may be discovered in the Delian cave, or within the precincts of the temple. In this manner we should be able to determine whether such potsherds belong to the Mycenian or a later period. When the excavations at Delos took place, the far- reaching importance which attaches to this special field of inquiry was as yet very imperfectly understood, and Mount Ocha w r as left untouched by the spade. Was there in those far-off days aught answering to our notions of a temple ? Though unable to disprove it, one is inclined to doubt it. Primitive religion takes its being and inspiration from the mystery that surrounds death. Its temple is the tomb, within and above which are performed the rites which the family and clan render to their dead. We have shown how great a place such worship held in the life, the ideas, and thoughts of the societies whose history we are en- deavouring to re-constitute. When the citadel walls of Tiryns and Mycenae were erected, the Achaean clans had doubtless stepped beyond the initial period, when religion is no more than a simple fetichism ; they were on the high-road to poly- theism, and had begun to personify the forces of nature, under names which we know not, under semblances hard to grasp. Their minds were already busy in chalking out those divine types with which the Homeric tales have made us familiar. Inductions drawn from our knowledge of the laws which regulate the development of religious thought are corroborated at every turn by monumental testimony. It may well be that these types had not yet assumed enough consistency to have made the need felt of assigning to each god, or at any rate to the dis superis , special dwellings where they were fabled to live in regal state, like princes in their palaces. They may have been content to offer them, in open but enclosed precincts, the tribute of prayer and sacrifice, pouring the blood of victims, whether in a built pit, such as the slab circle at Mycenae (Figs. 102, 103), or the fenced enclosure in the court of the neighbouring house, or the inner square of the Tirynthian palace (Figs. 81, 82), or on one of those altars figured on the mural paintings of Mycenae and the glass-paste amulets (see tail-piece, end of chapter). In this way would be explained why temples have not been discovered on the sites of Mycenian Religious Architecture. 99 strongholds, and why the honour of inventing an edifice, in the erection of which architects, sculptors, and painters joined hands, redounds to the men of the following epoch, when with the great artists of the fifth century it became the masterpiece of the plastic genius of the Hellenes. CHAPTER VII. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. Our general description of the remains of the prehistoric buildings of Hellas must have given the reader some notion relating to the characteristics of the construction and arrangement of fortified enclosures which, to the ancients, seemed to be the work of superhuman beings, the Cyclopes. Hence it only remains to draw attention to certain details, so as to justify our attempts to restore the citadels of Tiryns (PI. VIII.) and Mycenae (Pis. IX., X.). In these plates the trace of the wall is taken, with rigorous exactness, from the plans of Dr. Dorpfeld for Tiryns, and from Captain Steffen for Mycenae. We have confined our task to re-establishing the upper portion of the wall, which has everywhere been destroyed. In its present state, the greatest vertical height at those points where it is best preserved is seven metres fifty centimetres in the lower Tirynthian citadel, and at Mycenae, on the south-west front, near the point L, a little over thirteen metres . 1 The chief characteristics of all these fortresses reside in the fact that they are not planted, like the acropoles of Amasia, Pishmish-Kalessi in Asia Minor , 2 Polyrrhenia and Phalasarna in Crete , 3 on the summit of perpendicular rocks, at enormous 1 Schlieviann, Tiryns. 2 On the Amasia citadel, see G. Perrot and E. Guillaume, Exploration archeologique. Upon Pishmish-Kalessi, History of Art. ’ Relative to Polyrrhenia and Phalasarna, G. Perrot, L'lle de Crete , Souvenirs de voyage. Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. ioi heights above the valley, where the escarps of the cliff make all attempts at an assault impossible, and leave little to be added by the architect to the work of nature. On the other hand, the difficulties of access are so great, even in time of peace, as to render relations with the lowlands irksome and arduous. Such fortresses are either impregnable shelters or freebooters’ dens. In either capacity, circumstances are adverse to their growing into populous centres, and becoming the resi- dence of chiefs having large and intimate dealings with the masses — artisans, labourers, and mariners — grouped in fertile lands or along sheltered coasts, under the protection of their masters. On the contrary, the acropoles, whether of Troy, Tiryns, or Athens, are very little above the surrounding plain ; they are sufficiently close to the sea to have their boats moored in one or another of its creeks, frequented by alien traffickers. They are far enough from the shore to enable the garrison posted on the wall to follow the movements of a hostile force that might have suddenly landed on the coast, giving it time to prepare for defence or sally forth to meet the foe. If in the first encounter the attacking party succeeded in breaking the lines of the defenders of the castle, these would fall back towards the friendly shelter of the walls, whither the enemy would follow, only to be broken against the impenetrable and lofty barrier. Then it would frequently happen that the soldiers massed on the curtain successfully repulsed the aggressors with stones and other missiles, obliging them to effect a hasty retreat, and closely pursuing and compelling them to embark on the ship that had brought them . 1 Reverses alternating with successes, checks followed by renewals of attacks, provoked by the obstinate resistance of the besieged against the dash of the vanquisher, are easily grasped, when one tries to picture to oneself the many incidents likely to have occurred in a battle fought around Tiryns or Troy — granting that Hissarlik occupies the site of Ilium — such as they are delineated with its varying fortunes in the tales of the Iliad , where the strife, from the first combat to the death of Hector, is waged between the town and the ships. 1 In this way Patroclus, after having pursued and routed the Trojans as far as the city gates, thrice attempts, but in vain, to scale the wall (Iliad). The Greeks, unable to force an entrance, fight in front of the Sctean Gates until nightfall. 102 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. The Mycenian acropolis can scarcely be classed in this category. Its distance from the sea, as the crow flies, is fifteen kilometres, and from Nauplia close upon nineteen. It is fenced by two mountains ; its walls, unlike those of Tiryns, which rise sheer from the plain, overhang deep ravines on the north, south, and south-west of the citadel, thereby adding to its strength ; whilst on the side which faces the Zara, the rock below the wall, down to the bed of the Chavos, is almost perpendicular, and about forty metres in height. If by themselves the ravines could not render any attack well-nigh abortive, they did not prevent free intercourse between the castle and the outlying country. The hilly mass was not isolated. A narrow crest connected it eastward with the pass which interposes between the Haghios I lias and the Zara, and westward a broad isthmus joined it on to the low ridges which slope down towards the Inachus, Here, too, the value of the position resided above all in the strength of the ramparts ; a value which the rulers of Mycense had increased manifold by advanced works raised around the fortress where they were enthroned, both at the entrance of defiles that led to their territory, or on mountain tops ruling it. We are not concerned with the political history of Greece ; hence we shall not, on Steffen’s example, try to show how important was the site of Mycense from a strategic standpoint, situated as it is at the converging of roads coming from the north ; and how in a campaign against Argos, starting with Corinth, its possession would assure the same advantages to an invading force as that which Decelia afforded to Attica . 1 In the same manner Nauplia, the only harbour Argos possessed on the gulf, would be cut off by Tiryns, unless she was the ally or subject of Argos. Hence it came to pass that, with the growing ambitions of the latter, it was felt that its own safety would be imperilled unless these two townships were not only deprived of their independence, but of their inhabitants also. To have brought them to acknow- ledge the supremacy of Argos was looked upon as an insufficient measure, one, too, fraught with danger. The destruction of the walls would have been the surest way of accomplishing the end proposed ; if these escaped, it was because of the enormous materials of which they were made, to demolish which would have involved too great an expenditure of time and labour. 1 Steffen, Kartell von Mykenai. Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics, ioi The reminiscences which they recalled doubtless had something to do in preserving the old stones, bound up as they were with the past of their race, which the mythic cycle pictured forth in vivid and abiding colours. Had not Tiryns been the cradle- land of Heracles ? Had not Perseus, the tamer of monsters, built the walls of Mycenae ? Was not the tale full of the deeds of the Atridae who had been enthroned here, and whom Argos, when Mycenae fell, did not fail to claim for her own, as helpful in the part she aspired to play in Peloponnesus ; just as Athens, her ally, made use of the exploits and victories of Theseus over the Amazons for precisely the same ends ? The desired result could be obtained without having to undo the stupendous labours of the Cyclopes ; nor was it necessary to open, large breaches and dismantle them, that is to say, tear down the heavy gates and strip the curtain of its breastworks and galleries ; left to themselves, the fortifications would soon fall into decay. The work of destruction which fire had com- menced, would ere long be completed by the weather. In early defences the stone wall was always surmounted by crude brick or breastworks of timber, without which the besieged, exposed to the darts of the enemy, would have been unable to maintain themselves on the wall. Modern war-engines, and the invention of artillery, have wrought little change in the conditions of siege warfare ; we could therefore have predicted the presence of parapets here even without the traces they have left behind. At Troy, sun-dried bricks have been found in position on more than one point ; and it is self-evident that the vast quantities of ashes and charcoal found around the bricks can only have come from the rough timbered works which served to protect the soldiers posted on the round-walk, or on the platforms of the bastions by the gates (Figs. 41, 18 1). At Tiryns also, where certain portions of the circuit had lain concealed under heaps of ruin and earth, until the excavations of 1885, Dorpfeld found, in the upper part of the existing wall, many crude bricks in a semi-calcined condition ; he also noticed at the inner corner of the eastern rampart, opposite to the great propylaeum (PI. II., in front of rr), stone bases, on the surface of which has been cut a circle with a diameter averaging fifty-five centimetres (Fig. 197). There can be no doubt, he says, that we have here the remains of a colonnade which formed a passage 104 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. around the wall, at least in places. There were wooden uprights, spaced about two metres fifteen centimetres, resting on stone bases, along the inner side of the rampart, here four metres forty-five centimetres ; without rose a continuous brick wall, pierced by windows for the defence, and roofed over with joists, clay, and baked tiles. Built up flush with the great stone wall, at this point nearly five metres high, the back wall of the passage added to the elevation of the vertical face. It is supposed to have been covered with wood and clay, and furnished with openings for the defence. 1 The arrangement is akin to that of the Athenian walls, at the top of which ran a covered gallery, consisting along the inner side of a row of separate piers, and a continuous brick wall outside, etc. These walls were restored towards the year 323 of our era, and it is from the decree ordering the execution of the work that we gather their dis- tinctive peculiarities. A restoration of these same wails, which is doubtful only on details of minor importance, has lately been made. 2 With Mycenae the case is different. The principal buildings were placed on the summit of the rock, at a considerable distance from the circuit (Figs. 89, 90) ; they were not therefore sup- ported by, nor did they lean against it, as at Tiryns ; so that their mutilated limbs did not protrude above and form a pre- serving mattress for the crest of the rampart. The upper part of the wall was everywhere exposed, and in process of time the stone and brick constituting it got loose and rolled down the sides of the rock. We should, then, not be surprised because we find no traces of fire, or of bases for uprights as at Tiryns and Troy, where they afford clear indications towards a restor- ation of the crowning members of the rampart. These at Mycenae can only be put back by analogy. Then, too, it is more than probable that here, as at Tiryns and Troy, wood and brick went to the making of breastworks, at any rate on such points as were most exposed to the attacks of the enemy, and therefore in need of additional strength. Our attempts to restore ancient strongholds have not ex- tended to Trojan Pergamus. The excavations carried on there 1 Tiryns. 2 C. I. Attic. A. Choisy, Etudes cpigraphiques sur /’ architecture grecquc , 1884. Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. 105 at the present moment (June 1893) are not advanced enough, nor do they establish with sufficient distinctness the successive stages through which the fortress passed, to make possible the restoration of a structure uniquely composed of elements, the relative age of which has been determined with certainty. More- over, the unlovely appearance of rubble walls, overlaid through- out with mud, would have been exceedingly unattractive. It is quite different at Tiryns and Mycenae. There the circuit-wall has been cleared along its whole perimeter, and the mass, with the exception of a few gaps, stands revealed before the eye of the beholder. Moreover, the colossal materials of which the masonry is composed are suggestive to a practised eye of the stupendous effort which was required to erect these redoubtable citadels. Hence, in Pis. VIII., IX., X., we have done our best to reconstruct the walls of the fastnesses in question, showing them as they must have been when, fully equipped for defence, they made ready to sustain a siege. Above the dentalled line of walls we have shown the top of spacious and richly-decorated royal habitations, with many towers and gates, with stony masses soldered on to the escarp of the rock, the whole forming an effectual protection both against turbulent subjects and the attacks of inimical forces. That our perspective views of the two restored acropoles should have a continuous crenelation along the whole length of the wall coping, cannot come as a surprise to the reader. The employment of embattled edges leads back to the glimmerings of fortifications in every country. Nature itself is the teacher and model. Is not the first instinctive movement of every man, on perceiving that a ball or arrow is speeding towards him, to “ file ” or slip behind anything that happens to be at hand — stone, tree, faggots, or earth, in order that he may avert the blow, or at least minimize the chances of being wounded ? What are crenelations but these haphazard shelters transferred to the wall top ? Sometimes they were movable and provisionary, thought of at the very last moment, just as the assault was impending ; and in that case they would be no more than a few faggots or sacks of earth hastily placed on the rampart. As, however, aggressions were of frequent occurrence, it seemed more natural to make crenelations permanent, and connect them with the construction. PI. VIII. shows examples of two methods io6 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. that could be adopted with equal success. On the resaults of the circuit, which play the part of towers, we have put a crenela- tion formed by a huge single block, like those constituting the wall, and placed in such a way as to make it project beyond the terminal course. To have distributed and bedded hundreds of such blocks along the wall coping would have involved too protracted and arduous a labour. At Troy they discovered a more speedy process, which consisted in surmounting the stone wall by one made of clay. A brick embattlement could be run up in a few hours ; hence we have planned our parapets in this way both at Mycenae and Tiryns. There are no possible reasons for thinking that the Mycenian builder did not find out for himself the contrivances under notice. He was stimulated thereto by the conditions of the surroundings in which the sphere of his activity was exercised, and also by the wealth of the materials to his hand, the difficulty being only how to choose. If some should be inclined to believe that the solution of the problem was facilitated by the employment of certain types seen here, and imported from countries older in cultured ways, we should have no difficulty in pointing out whence originated the models upon which they worked. In their distant migrations and ad- venturous expeditions in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, Achaean and other tribes closely related to them landed more than once on Egyptian and Syrian shores, where the dash of their bands spent itself against the fortress-walls which they there encountered. These, we know from the wall-paintings of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasty, were all furnished with cre- nelations . 1 Embattled edges, first as defence, then as ornament, played an equally important part in Phoenician buildings ; 2 it was the same for thousands of years throughout Anterior Asia. We are aware that Assyrian bas-beliefs, wherein are figured countless sieges and places taken by storm, are later in time than the citadels of Argolis, and that Assyria invented nothing. In her civil and military architecture she did little more than apply the methods she had inherited from Chaldsea, where embattlements had been popular at an early date, owing, as we have shown, to the ease and rapidity with which battlements can be constructed in a brick wall . 3 Whether the form in question was suggested from with- 1 History of Art. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. ENERAL V i. CHIPIEZ Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. 107 out, crenelations about Mycenian walls could not be exactly on the same lines as those beheld in the strongholds of Egypt and Western Asia. Rain is less prevalent in those countries than in Greece ; besides, brick baked in the kiln was among the properties of Chaldaea and Egypt from time immemorial, the resisting power of which against the elements is infinitely greater than brick dried in the sun. It often rains in Argolis. Hence Fig. 294. — Restoration of Tirynthian crenelations. Old Messenian crenelations. the need may have been felt of protecting, by means of a horizontal slab placed upon the clay squares, both the void between each pair of battlements and the head of the merlon. We are inclined to attribute the origin of the peculiar arrange- ments which we meet in certain crenelations of the historic age to climatic exigencies. Fig. 294 shows the juxtaposition of the Tirynthian battlements, as conjecturally restored by us, with io8 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. Messenian crenelations ; remains of the latter have been found at the foot of that fortified and splendid enclosure, the masterpiece of Greek engineering in the fourth century r.c . 1 Without this precious relic the presence of a covering slab for each merlon would have been hard to explain. The merlon, being a stone block, had no need of a covering slab, the effect of which was to narrow the width of the embrasure, the sides of which caught the shoulders of the combatants and hindered their movements. The difficulty, however, disappears as soon as we look upon it as a survival, or traditional preservation, of an arrangement which had once been found useful, and was apparently retained, not for reasons of necessity, but because the workman’s hand and the eye of the spectator alike were accustomed to it by long usage. Whether battlements were rough and irregular or not was of little consequence. Their great advantage was this : their construction involved very little expenditure of time and labour, and wherever the nature of the ground formed no barrier to the enemy’s approach, they could be run up and placed on the curtain within a few hours. It may well be that on naturally well-guarded spots, the southern front of the Mycenian enclosure for instance, where the escarp of the rock sufficed to keep off the enemy from the wall, embattlements were dispensed with as superfluous. Per contra , on the most exposed points, in the proximity of the gates, a simple parapet would have been in- adequate ; here the combatants felt the need of a more efficacious protection against missiles, and the want was met with those platforms, the timbers of which, devoured by the flame, have left ashes round about, and calcined the stone and brick in their immediate neighbourhood, both at Troy and Tiryns. Reference to PI. VIII. will show how varied were the shapes which these shelters might assume. The closed niches in question, with window-like openings, though affording excellent protection to the defenders, were poor places wherefrom to discharge missiles with telling effect against the foe. In a supreme struggle they were content with such shelter as a wide projecting roof and pillars at the corners of the walls were able to supply. Merlon, roof, and pillar arrested many a murderous dart ; whilst the com- batants had not only more elbow-room, but could repulse the attack in every direction. 1 Expedition dc Morce. HISTORY OF ART, Vol. II. PI. IX. MYCENAE Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. 109 The reader must beware of taking for towers certain appear- ances in our views of Tiryns and Mycenae (Pis. VIII., IX., X.), for he must remember that the military architecture of that period is as yet unacquainted with towers strictly so called. These are works which, though hollow and quite independent, have a more or less marked salience on the external and sometimes internal face of the circuit-wall, with which they are connected at the sides. The like peculiarities are absent here. The enclosure presents salient resaults ; but oftener than not they appear to be due to the contour of the cliff, which in places juts out into a species of promontories. Such saliences are of unequal length and irregularly spaced ; whilst their mass is solid, like the remainder of the curtain. This was not the spot chosen by the builder for contriving chambers in the thickness of the wall. At most, we find stores or cisterns in the foundations of a rect- angular work, standing out about eight metres from the wall, towards the south-west angle of the castle (PI. II. a a.). This structure is the nearest approach, along the entire perimeter of the enclosure, to what we call towers. Nor should the name be applied to an enormous round bastion westward, with a postern, against which leant the steps that led to the palace (PI. II. t). The gates belonging to the first period of the burnt city at Troy jut far out in front of the enclosure. The arrangement was intentional, and served to diminish the slope of the covered passage, flanked by thick walls, and topped by a broad platform which led up to the castle, having a salience on plan, and perhaps also in elevation, beyond the curtain, whence the approaches to the gate could be watched and kept clear (PI. I. fl, fn). Thus, Homer shows us Priam and the Trojan elders seated on the Sceean Gates, looking on at what is doing in the plain, and Helen, who presently joins them, is said to be “ walking towards the tower .” 1 We cannot, however, without a strange abuse of the meaning the words convey, apply the term of tower to a structure, no matter its amplitude, which is but a fortified gate, a shell, in the middle of which a passage has been pierced. Whereas the rectangular masses which project beyond the south-eastern front of the rampart of the burnt city may be recognized as the first outline of towers (PI. I. ba, b c, b d), and used doubtless by the defence to keep the enemy at 1 Iliad. I IO Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. bay, and take him, as he neared the foot of the wall, between what we now should call two fires. What most resembles a tower at Mycenae is a kind of spur, having a bold projection beyond the rampart in front of the Lions Gate, towards the right (Pig. 90 and PI. X.). Here the building of the masonry, arranged in horizontal courses, is more regular than on any other spot of the enclosure, and must have been constructed at the same time as the monumental entrance whose approaches it covers. We think that both wall and gate are coeval with the final re-building and enlargement of the slab-circle, when this part of the fortress was endowed with the appearance which it retained to the last. A less salient spur of the same nature protected the north-eastern postern (Fig. 90, b, and PL X.). There were certainly platforms on the top of the pair of projections, which served as places of arms ; we have supposed that they were provided with a roof like those on the corresponding plateaux of the Tirynthian wall. The Mycenian enclosure exhibits no other saliences but these ; flanking does not seem to have been made use of here, if exception be made for such points as are near the gates ; whereas its principle seems to have been dimly perceived at Troy and Tiryns. This might not unreasonably be taken as denoting that, despite certain appearances, the body of the Mycenian circuit is not much younger than the wall of Tiryns. The fact that the Tirynthian fortifications never underwent any rehandlings, that they are constructed with materials of great size, and belong to the first system of Cyclopeean masonry, is apt to give a false impression. If the stones composing the Mycenian rampart are smaller, that may have been due to the greater distance which separated the quarry from the works. If the parts of the rampart at Mycenae which attract the attention of the visitor have a less archaic appearance than the Tirynthian walls, it is because the Mycenian citadel was enlarged and rebuilt several times. These differ- ences in the style of building are shown with absolute exact- ness in our Pis. IX. and X., made up from photographs and information furnished by Steffen. 1 They are too distinct to be explained otherwise than by successive reconstructions. Under this denomination should be noticed a well-jointed polygonal masonry extending over a large surface, seen in PI. IX., 1 Steffen, Karten. HISTORY OF ART, Vol. IT. MYCENAE FROM Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. i 1 1 right of the spur which conceals the Lions Gate, and again in PI. X., and also at the opposite end of the visible front of the enclosure, towards the eastern point, where it describes a triangle. What, in despite of this difference, permits us to class Mycenae and Tiryns together, is the fact that in both citadels we see the application of a rule which the Greek engineer will retain to the last days of antiquity ; namely, to. arrange the approaches to all the gates along the circuit in such a way as to oblige the assailant to present his right side — i. e. that which was uncovered by the shield — for the arm, having to handle the bow or javelin, left that part of the body exposed to the missiles of the defenders stationed on the wall. There was nothing for o it, either at Tiryns or Mycenae, but to present the ‘‘naked” side whilst ascending the gently-inclined ramp which led to the main entrance, or whilst skirting the projection, in length fifteen metres, in front of the Lions Gate. The advantage derived by the defence from this arrangement was enormous, the difficulties and dangers of the attack were greatly increased thereby, whilst it compelled the besieger to offer battle under unfavourable conditions. Nothing of the sort has been found at Troy, not even in the last stage of the enclosure. Their wits had not yet been sharpened up to the point of playing such a disagreeable trick on the foe, obliging him to turn a work he wished to storm under the volleys of the garrison. A glance at the gates of the third epoch (PI. I. f m, fo) will show that the ramp by which one of the entrances is approached is perpendicular to the line of the rampart f m ; the hostile force mounting that path does not come within the range of the shots of the garrison until it faces the obstacle about to be carried. It is the same with the other gate, fo. The art, then, of construction and fortification has made considerable advance from Troy to Tiryns and Mycenae. Narrow posterns or back entrances, hidden away in the thickness of the wall, occur in the three citadels. These, at Troy and Tiryns, are reproduced in Figs. 45 and 79. At Mycenae this function seems to have been fulfilled by two passages which traversed the rampart, and ran through the eastern recess of the castle (Fig. 90, nn). At Troy, the enemy’s advance and his attempts to force the passages were checked by double gates. I I 2 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. If he succeeded in breaking down the first, he found himself in the inner chamber of the structure, with a second barrier in front of him. The Argolic citadels were similarly planned. Thus at Tiryns, the enemy, after successfully scaling the ramp (PI. II. A A) and crossing the narrow corridor pierced in the eastern wall, was far from being master of the situation ; he had to continue his march between two walls, from the top of which missiles were rained down upon him ; at the end of which he would come against a heavy gate, and find himself caught as in a trap, for the doors, being firmly fixed to huge stone uprights, could not be easily forced. The Lions Gate, which was closed by folding-doors, was apparently followed, four metres fifty centi- metres in its rear, by a second gate, pierced in a wall of no great depth, the foundations of which alone remain. When these works had been carried, the invader debouched on an esplanade bounded southward by the sacred precinct, overhung on the right by the circuit and on the left by a Cyclopcean wall, which supported the lower esplanade of the upper city, thickly studded with habit- ations. Behind the north-eastern postern, b, there is a wall which runs parallel to the circuit for about thirty metres, leaving a narrow space between it and the boundary wall, where the invader who had obtained a first success on that side would be exposed to the missiles of the garrison posted on the summit of the double rampart. If the principal entrance at Mycence was planned on a more simple system than at Tiryns, it may have been because it was Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics, ii? felt that the buildings of the lower city and the boundary wall afforded sufficient protection for it. The wall, for the most part, has gone ; but two pieces of it are extant at one of the extrem- ities, in front of the north-west corner of the castle (Fig. 295) though much thinner than the citadel rampart, it is none the less constructed in Cyclopsean style. According to Steffen, the meeting of the boundary wall and the inner enclosure occurred somewhere at that point. In PI. X. the junction in question is seen almost on the first plane, to the right. We have likewise followed his instructions for the westward curve made by the city wall, some seventy metres or thereabouts in front of the Lions Gate, so that it formed on this side a first line of defence of no inconsiderable strength. Fronting the north side of the enclosure we have, in this same perspective view, the foundations of a causeway which from the valley of Cephisus and the lower city led to the spring of the Perseia, and the small plateau which interposes between the heights of Haghios I lias and the Zara. The edifices planted on the summit of the acropolis are seen sideways ; this was done for the sake of showing the powerful mass of Cyclopsean masonry, which not only served to make good the steepness of the slope on that side, but constituted the esplanade whereon stood the palace. But in the western view (PI. IX.), if the Lions Gate, masked by the salience of the spur covering it, is not visible, we obtain a front view of the palace block of build- ings commanding the edifices staged on the slope. The houses shown in these two drawings are put there on Steffen’s authority and the result of subsequent researches, in the course of which their remains and substructures were uncovered. Thus, the state of the ground (PI. X.) indicates that the abrupt sides turned to the Kokoretza ravine had but very few dwellings ; whilst both on the gentle declivities to the westward, which face the castle gate, and towards the Treasury of Atreus (PI. IX.), they muster stronger. We have enclosed them within walls of dry stones placed there, like those of many a modern Greek village, to prevent animals from straying away when not pasturing. The stones that everywhere strew the ground must to a great extent come from these ancient low walls. But for the fear of over-crowding the foreground of the picture and concealing, on 1 Steffen, Karten. VOL. II. 1 U4 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. the right, the boundary wall, we could have put many more rustic dwellings, along with their stone fences. As regards the acropolis, however, our aim has been to convey a just notion of the way in which houses were staged on the declivity where, in the space intervening between the palace and the gate, they were serried against one another. Ere the authority of the Mycenian princes was firmly estab- lished, such families as had cast in their lot with these chiefs must have been anxious to domicile themselves in that narrow space, in order that they might have the full benefit of the pro- tection afforded by the formidable rampart. Northward of the citadel, one may still pick one’s way up a narrow street, bordered on either side by the front walls of ancient houses, still one or two metres high. The lane is but one metre twenty centi- metres broad. 1 A subterranean conduit was laid down for drain- ing off the waters, and continued right through the rampart, to prevent floodings. The slope, within the citadel, is throughout pretty steep ; at certain points a flight of steps, thirty-two of which are in position, served to connect the several habitations (they are marked in Fig. 90, right of the house e). Survey of the ground does not tend to make one understand how Homer could rightly apply the epithet of supuayuia, “ large streeted,” to Mycenae. 2 In order to grasp it, a distinction must be made between the lower and the upper city. Here the course of a path, cir. five metres broad, has apparently been recognized ; it ran above the wall bounding the sacred precinct on the west, and after a long curve reached the foot of the stairs by which the palace was approached ; 3 yet the threshold of the Lions Gate bears no trace of chariot wheels. Hence Homer’s allusion to the broad streets of Mycenae must be understood to refer to the causeways which, established on Cyclopaean founda- tions, intersected the lower city, and placed it in communication with the outlying plain, as well as with Cleonae, Nemaea, Sicyonoe, Corinth, and Epidaurus. One of these, according to Steffen’s measurements, is three metres fifty-eight centimetres broad. 4 In order to make the details to which attention has been drawn in the foregoing pages easily understood, we have supposed that our 1 Tsoundas. 2 Iliad. 3 Tsoundas, M vKfjvai kuI fxvKqyaiog ttuXitotixoc. 4 Steffen, Karlen. Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics. 115 views were taken close to the castle ; the imagination can alone — taking in the general view of the city as it appears to the spectator, who should stand on the rising ground of the right bank of the Cephisus — conjure up here the whole panorama which would unroll before him, and which, for reasons of space, we have imperfectly figured. His attention would first be drawn to those detached forts frowning from the summits of precipitous ravines, or placed at the outlets of defiles to guard the approaches to the valley ; then he would follow the broad firm outline of massive causeways, leading to the royal borough, and built, like the bridges thrown athwart tearing torrents, for eternity ; whilst in the middle distance, beyond the river, his eye would dwell pleasantly on fields and orchards, mayhap, then as now, on clustering olives ; and farther on, spread out leisurely amidst gardens and terraced walks, he would note the houses of a vast suburb, whose site is now occupied by the village of Charvati, and the more compact groups of habitations enclosed by the external enclosure ; finally, in the distance, great pieces of embattled ramparts en- circling the acropolis would break the line of grand and lofty ridges, at that time finely timbered . 1 Behind this stony zone, a pyramid-like pile of structures was soldered on to the rock, the peak itself being crowned with the imposing mass of the palace erections. At that period, there probably was no spot washed by the /Egean which, from the multitude of men dwelling within its walls, the amplitude of the edifices, and length of line of the fortified enclosure, could challenge comparison with the Mycenae of the Atridae. Minyan Orchomenos may not perhaps have been wanting in a certain massive grandeur, which in some respects approached to this, but we cannot gauge its importance on the sole testimony of tradition, or picture to ourselves the outward appearance of the town from a unique building confessedly much weathered. If we are to believe the tale of the Arcadians, there are older remains than those of Mycenae and Tiryns, and they should be sought at Lycosura, situated on the southern slopes of Mount Lyceum, of which Pausanias writes : “ A little higher is seen 1 Indirect proof that the country was covered with forests in antiquity is furnished by the presence of boars’ teeth, found in great profusion in these graves. The animal, as is well known, thrives and multiplies only when sheltered by thick undergrowth (Tsoundas, M vKfjvcu). 1 1 6 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. the enclosure of ruinous Lycosura, now reduced to an exceedingly small number of inhabitants. This city is the oldest known, either on the continent or in the islands. It was the first whose construction Helios witnessed, and from it men learnt to build other towns .” 1 In despite of this emphatic statement, the ruins, whatever their real age may be, do not impress an observant eye as leading back to hoary antiquity. The oblong and fairly regular stones composing the wall are of medium size. They are not dressed to a very even front, but the courses exhibit a decided tendency to horizontal beds . 2 If the work cannot compare with the Hellenic masonry of the Messenian or Eleutherian walls, neither does it betray the rude power and massiveness of the Argolic acropoles. The defences of Lycosura, then, are unique in their way, a fact that would make for the myth according to which Lycian workmen helped the Perseidae to erect the walls of their fastnesses. In this way the originality which is displayed in these structures would be accounted for on the basis of Oriental influences both marked and continuous, observable on the hospitable shores of the Argolic bay ; except that we are met on the threshold by the difficulty of accounting why the Mycenian and Tirynthian defensive works exhibit none of the features by which those of the districts where the myth places their models are distinguished. Nevertheless, if there be struc- tures that almost appear beyond the reach of injury which man or the weather may wreak upon them, it is assuredly ramparts like these, whose materials it would have been inexpedient to dis- place at any time. Had the prototypes of the enclosures described and figured above ever existed in Lycia, they would be there still. Our difficulties are equally great in viewing these citadels, as some have proposed to do, as Phoenician work. Phoenicians have 1 Pausanias. 2 Dodwell was the first to point out these ruins ( Tour through Greece). In Views and Descriptions of Cyclopcean or Pelasgic Remains , 6°ez Chroinolitii MYCENIAN DAGGERS Representations of Human Life. the folds of drapery, spots of animals’ skins, and the like, are traced with the point. The dagger figured in PI. XVII. 1 2 is a typical specimen of this kind of work. Panthers, hunting wild ducks along a winding stream peopled with fish, appear on both sides. The water is rendered by a streak of pale gold, against which are trenchantly relieved the dark slender stalks of flowering plants. The figures are outlined in a very arbitrary fashion, by two shades of gold ; thus the neck of one of the ducks is picked out with dark gold-leaf, but the wings are pale yellow ; whilst the entire body of another is grey, and two golden specks mark its open bill. This holds good with the panthers. The body is overlaid with electron ; face, paws, and ears, however, are tipped with pure shining gold, and the tail is indicated by a narrow strip of the same precious metal, which stands out from the back- ground. The fish are painted in black, on the lighter tone of the water. The aquatic plants seen here have been identified, but we think erroneously, with the papyrus. The vegetable forms which bend over the brook are much more like a lotus than the straight papyrus of the Egyptian monuments ; blossom and bud come nearer to those of the water-lily, than the terminal tuft of leaves of the Egyptian plant. PI. XVII. reproduces the two sides of perhaps the most remarkable daggers of the whole series. The decoration, though very like from one face to the other, is not identical. One side exhibits a great lion-hunt (PI. XVIII. 3), J composed of five men and three lions. Of these, one alone has stood his ground, the other two have turned tail and fled. On the other side of the blade (fig. 4), we see a lion and four gazelles ; the lion has seized the hindmost, but the others are scampering away. The peculiar drawers worn by these men are known to us from the bronze statuettes (Figs. 351-354). Four of them are armed with long spears, which they grasp with both hands. Their shields are of two kinds : round, huge, and curved in at the 1 Length, seventeen centimetres. Our plate shows but one face of the blades ; the figures on the other, although not copied on those of the first, are precisely similar, and the different tints are indicated in the same manner. A drawing of this face will be found in Mittheilunge?i , 1882, and in Schuchardt’s book. 2 Length, 235 centimetres. VOL. II. Q 226 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. side, or small and rectangular. One of the men lies on his back, entangled between the legs of the lion. The fifth is an archer, without a shield ; the knee is bent to draw the bow. The ground, indicated by an almost straight gold strip, is very distinct in fig. 4. A last blade is less interesting in itself than from the fact of its having preserved the gold plate which once covered its hilt (PI. XIX. 5). 1 About one-third of the heel end of the blade still exists. The decoration, though very similar, is on simpler lines than that of the two preceding daggers ; it consists of separate blossoms, each inlaid with stamens of brighter yellow than the corolla. The same flowers, but without stamens, re- sembling lilies or rather irises, re-appear on a gold plate in repousse, which covered a bone or wood hilt, now disappeared. There, where the covering widens to form the cross-guard, will be noticed two holes for golden nails, which served to fix the hilt. Elsewhere the nails are in place, but nothing remains of the grip. Here it is the other way about. But armed with these two indications, there would be no difficulty in restoring the weapon ; all that is required is to provide the gold plate with a hard core, drive into it the tang of the blade, and secure the hilt at the sides with three or four nails. The part played by these large-headed nails is at once useful and decora- tive ; we now understand, as we had never done before, the oft-recurring epithets a pyupoVyAot,', ^iKrorjXog, “ silver and gold- headed/’ which Homer uses in describing the armour of the heroes. If we have placed this last dagger, adorned by simple flowers, with those literally covered with human and animal figures, it was for the sake of keeping together objects exhibiting the same technique, and which must practically be coeval with one another. The methods found here were also applied elsewhere ; so that we can show by the most remarkable example of all, that of the Shield of Achylles, how certain Homeric descriptions have been made clear by recent discoveries, the real meaning of which had until then been a mystery to the most sagacious and penetrating commentators. We have said where, under what circumstances, and to whom redounds the honour of having found the pair of golden goblets, 1 Length, eighteen centimetres. 3amtouroez' Chromolith, Printed by Lemercier Paris (France ) MYCENIAN DAGGERS Fig. 362. — Gold vase. Vaphio. Representations of Human Life. 229 whose discovery marks an epoch in archaeology. Their shape and general appearance are well seen in PL XV., where they are shown exactly as they looked when they reached Athens in 1888. Their yellow hue is broken by dark patches, resulting from their long burial under ground ; the relief, whose salience is so strongly marked as to break and destroy the contour of the vase, is frankly indicated. The entire figuration is spread out on two parallel bands in Figs. 362, 363. 1 The shape and dimensions of the cups are precisely similar, and but for the ornament we should scarcely tell them apart. The one to the left (PI. XV.) is eighty-three centimetres, and its diameter at the upper rim is 104 centimetres ; the diameter and aperture of the second goblet are equal to those of the first, save that the height is less by three millimetres. The difference between their respective weights is so slight — four centimetres — as to be imperceptible to the eye. Above and below the figures of the first cup (PI. XV., to the left) runs a band, adorned with fillets, which plays the part of plinth below and of cornice above. This 1 M. Tsoundas was the first to publish the Vaphio vases ('Epewai lv rrj A aicwvtiqi ra 6 t d(f>oc tov BcKpttov, in ’E^jutp/e, 1889). His memoir is accompanied by a drawing made under his direction by M. Gillieron, with intelligent and scrupulous fidelity. The only defect of the plate is its having aimed at reproducing both the general contour of the vase and the outline of the figures adorning it, with all their inner detail as well. The lustrous tones of the yellow are some- what conventional, and mar rather than help the effect, so that the full outline of the image can only be seen at a certain angle. This led M. Foucard to try another mode of reproduction. M. Defrasse, a student of the French School at Rome, happening to be in Greece at that time, was requested by him to draw the two vases. These drawings were published in the Bulletin de correspondance hellhiique , 1891. Pis. XI. and XII. of the Bulletin appear in our PI. XV. As regards Pis. XIII. and XIV. of the Bulletin , they reproduce the whole ornament- ation of the goblets after the system used in the Greek plate. But here the form, being left untinted, detaches itself better on the background. Our Figs. 362 and 363 are reductions of M. Defrasse’s drawings. At M. Foucard’s desire, I wrote some remarks to accompany the publication of these capital sketches (Les Vases dor de Vafio , 1891). My task was facilitated in that I was able to use M. Tsoundas’ learned and well-pondered dissertation on the goblets in question. But now that the vases have been for more than three years in the hands of archaeologists, it seemed best to sum up the discussions to which they have given rise, all the more that quite recently fresh monuments have been discovered offering useful points for comparison. Since then, discoveries and dis- cussions have grown apace. The principal papers and memoirs wherein, as far as we know, the Vaphio vases have been considered, were indicated in a note to our article. 2 30 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. species of frame is wanting in the other vase. Handles and technique are identical in both. The design is hammered up ; but the hollows inside are not visible, because each cup is formed of two plates set one upon the other. The inner one, which is quite smooth, conceals the wrong side of the repousse, and does duty as lining. It was kept somewhat larger, and folded back on the outer plate to form the rim. Cups which, like these, are made of a double piece absolutely without seams, are widely different from vases composed of several pieces, and applied to the background either by solder- ing or riveting. The artisan knew how to solder gold upon gold ; for thus, apparently, was fixed the vertical stem which serves to connect the two horizontal bands of the handle . 1 But he used the hammer far too airily to dream of building up his vase with applied pieces that were apt to separate. Both plates, the inner as well as the external one, were beaten down from a thick circular sheet of gold. The artificer began at the centre, and hollowed it out with a series of gentle blows, driving the metal particles towards the periphery ; this he would call “ ex- panding” the metal. The ingot to be beaten up is placed into a mandrel or pan, which must be both massive and of a hard substance. The resistance it opposes to the pressure exercised on the molecules by repeated blows with the hammer helps the operation, which will progress easily and steadily enough when mere rough tinkering is in question ; but the operation is much more difficult when the form has to be beaten up from a thin plate. This is so readily influenced by the blows applied to it that, unless great caution is used, it is difficult to bring it even approximately to a level without cracking it. The vase, once made, had to be decorated ; and the silversmith has given proof of no less skill in this second part of his work. In saying this we do not advert to the composition of the scene or the modelling of the figures. In the master-smith who chiselled these vases we study the craftsman not yet the artist. Let us suppose that the artificer had to work out these figures in one of those bands or plates found at Mycenae; all he would have had to do was to place the band or plaque upon a soft substance, sand or ashes, and the figures would have sprung up as by magic under his chisel. But the same methods could 1 TSOUNDAS, 'Epevvm. Fig. 363. — Gold vase. Vaphio. Representations of Human Life. 233 not be applied except with great difficulty to a circular vase, of so feeble a diameter as to scarcely allow the hand to get through the narrow aperture. The tool lacked space and re- bound. To have succeeded in such conditions as these in producing so true a shape is nothing short of marvellous. Again, the inner plate or lining seen here implies that exceptional care was bestowed on these goblets. If the goldsmith laid upon himself this additional burden, for which we should vainly seek another example among the similar objects yielded by the Mycenian graves, 1 it was not merely to make the walls of the vases stronger, but also to endow them with greater refinement and a more pleasing appearance. The rugged surface and its unsightly hollows, corresponding with the reliefs of the design, were concealed by the fine, smooth gold-leaf, which enhanced the rich effect. To the foregoing remarks, relating to the practical knowledge which is displayed here, we have nothing more to add, save that the work begun with the hammer and chaser was gone over and finished with the burin. Those parts requiring special markings, such as the hair, coiled ropes, leaves, stems of palm trees, etc., were worked with a fine point. We must now turn, none too soon, to the study of the subject, or rather subjects — for the theme varies from one vase to another — which are represented on the Vaphio goblets. We will begin with the cup which bears the scene enclosed by a double band (Fig. 362). The central bull gives us the clue to the whole picture. He has been scared by the tally-ho of the beaters, and has rushed into the toils of a great hunting-net, tied to a couple of trees right and left. Thrown on his haunches, he roars in mad fury, and strains his head to the skies as he vainly struggles to free himself. Warned just in time by his brother’s misadventure, a second bull has cleared the net with a formid- able leap, without touching ground ; he turns to the right and effects his escape, no one pursuing. Two men have dashed forward to arrest a bull who is rushing furiously to the left, but both have come to grief. One has been caught and tossed in mid-air, whence he falls on the brute’s back ; the other has apparently not been tossed, but has been transfixed and hurled 1 The cups from the Mycen?e graves, having no second plate, show the hollows of the raised pattern, as will be seen by reference to Schliemann’s book. 234 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art, headlong to the earth, where the beast worries him in vainly trying to shake him off. Tall trees enframe the composition, one on each side ; but to what species they belong it is difficult to say. The figures on the other vase which correspond to the netted bull, are two bulls standing close to each other ; one faces the spectator, but the head of the other is turned towards his companion, as if about to converse with him (Fig. 363). This group is separated by a shady tree from a third bull, slowly moving along, his head lowered to the ground. On the left is another bull, whom a man leads by a string fastened to his hind leg. We feel that the animal is not likely to give his captor much more trouble. True, he pulls and obeys unwillingly enough, but the lasso has done its work, and knocked all go out of him. He spends the little energy which remains to him in filling the air with heart-rending lowing. Behind him is a tree, like that on the other side of the handle. We have no difficulty in grasping the idea which the artist wished to express in these two pictures. It is self-evident that the first is intended for a bull-hunt, and that in the second we have the animal led away captive. The two scenes are enacted on the same spot, a narrow gorge and grazing ground on the hill-side, and the same actors appear in both ; the mighty bull who must be tamed and his strength utilized on the one hand, and on the other the primitive man who risks his life in this hazardous pursuit, and will presently reduce to nought the beast’s murderous attacks which have so long terrified him, by tying ropes round his horns and putting a yoke on his neck. There can be no doubt that the scenes were intended to balance each other. The artist seems to have delighted in strongly-contrasted themes taken from the same sphere ; here the stormy bull- hunting, there the issue of the drama. The general composition and blocking out of the two scenes were conceived by one and the same artist ; yet were these even less intimately allied than they are to each other in unity of subject, we should still have no hesitation in proclaiming their unity of origin. Both exhibit the same processes, the same work and style, the same way of indicating the costume and accessories. To say that the vases have sprung from the same school does Representations oe Human Life. 235 not approximate the truth ; both come from the same shop. To deduce therefrom that they were fashioned by the same hand would be somewhat hazardous ; and on this point we may hesitate to be assertive. We have already indicated a point of difference between the twin compositions ; namely, that one only is enframed by a band. Had we here the work of one pair of hands only, it seems natural to infer that the same arrangement would have obtained in both vases. The variant is better accounted for on the basis of a second craftsman, who, although required to assist in carrying out a common work, yet preserved his own individuality. Nor is this all : the pieces are also distinguished by difference of make. Thus, the incised lines on the vase with the hunting-scene have not had their edges beaten down, they have been left in the rough ; whereas, on the other goblet, these slight asperities have been smoothed and rounded off, as if with the deliberate intention of effacing the traces made by the tool . 1 Again, the two artisans used their tool somewhat differently in beating up the figures. The portions in relief on the first cup are connected by a curve with the background ; but on the second they are allied thereto by a straight edge which is perpendicular to the field. There, the outline of the living forms is sharper and harder ; it recalls the methods of the goldsmith rather than those of the sculptor. In the first instance, the manipulation is less finished, more careless, and the details have not been attended to, but for that very reason it is instinct with greater breadth and movement ; the work, whilst preserving a more sketchy character, is chalked off with a fire and sureness of hand which testify to the knowledge and spirit of the master. This is apparent in many ways. Thus, the limbs of the bulls chased by the men are more firmly knit together than those of the corresponding cattle taken out to grass ; they are more intimately united to the body, whose movement they espouse and continue. On the second vase, the points of junction of the hind quarters are weak and conventional ; the legs seem to hang loose in a limp, helpless kind of way from the body, as if they had been tacked on and did not belong to it. We cannot be surprised at these bulls being larger and fleshier. The difference in the outward appearance arises from their mode of existence ; a domestic animal puts on more flesh than one in 1 TSOUNDAS, ’E >;/ut. 1 88 q j X. 3. Vaphio. 15. Chalcedony ring. Schliemann, Mycence , 175. Mycenae 16. Red jasper. ’E rj[j.. 1889, X. 32. Vaphio. 17. Crystal. Scaraboeoid. Br. M. Catal. 122 (?) 18. Agate. Das Kuppelgrab, PI. VI. 3. Menidi. 19. Red jasper. ’Ef/^/x. 1889, X. 3 1 * Vaphio. 20. Sardonyx. ’E $77^. 1888, X. 2. Mycenae. 21. Chalcedony. Br. M. Catal. 123 (?) Figure 419. 1. Brown agate. Cone. Paris. Chabouillet, Catal. ( 1858), 1264(F) 2. Sardonyx agate, with three layers. Paris. Catal. 1402 (?) 3. Light chalcedony. Cone. Paris. Catal. 1133 (?) 4. Cornelian. Cone. Paris. Catal. 1295 (?) 5. Cornelian. ’E^ju,. 1888, X. 34. Mycen;e. 6. Sardonyx. ’E^/x. 1888, X. 26. Mycenae. 7. Agate. ’EW- 1888, X. 36. Mycenae. 16. Cornelian. ’Ec pri^. 1889, X. 10. Vaphio. 17. Sardonyx. ’Ec/^ju. 1888, X. 30. Mycenae. 18. Sardonyx. ’Ec/>?7/x. 1889, X. 36. Vaphio. 19. Cornelian. ’Ec^/x. 1889, X. 24. Vaphio. 20. Sardonyx. ’Ec prjfj,. 1889, X. 23. Vaphio. 21. Sardonyx. ’Ec/^/x. 1889, X. 28. Vaphio. 22. Gold ring from excavations of 1892. Mycenae. 23. Gold ring. Tsoundas, M vKrjvcu, V. f. 3. Mycenae, 1892. 24. Cornelian. Mycenae, 1892. 25. Agate. Tsoundas, Mvk. V. 6, Mycenae. 1892. VOL. II. X Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 3°6 Figure 424. 1. Cornelian. ’E$>7/x. 1889, X. 12. Vaphio. 2. Yellow jasper. 1889, X. 2. Vaphio. 3. Sardonyx. Schliemann, Mycence, 313. Mycenae. 4. Sardonyx. ’E0r;/ut. X. 26. Vaphio. 5. Amethyst. Schliemann, Mycence, 315. Mycenae. 6. Sardonyx. ’Et^rj/x. 1882, X. 36. Vaphio. 7. Amethyst. Triangular prism. ’E^/x. 1889, X. 5. Vaphio. 8. Sardonyx. Das Kuppelgrab , VI. 2. Menidi. 9. Gold ring. ’E^/ix. 1889, X. 39. Vaphio. 10. Gold ring. ’E^ry/tx. 1 888, X. 43. Mycenae. 1 1. Rock-crystal. Mycenae, 1892. Figure 425. 1. Sardonyx. Br. M. Catal. 87 (?) 2. Green jasper. Br. M. Catal. 83 (?) 3. Agate. Br. M. Catal. 73. Greek Islands. 4. Hematite. Br. M. Catal. 8o(?) 5. Brown chalcedony. Scaraboeoid. Br. M. Catal. 112. Egypt. 6. Chalcedony. Br. M. Catal. 12 1. Camiros. 7. Green schist. Cone. Br. M. Catal. 93 (?) 8. Agate. Scaraboeoid. Br. M. Catal. 1 16 (?) 9. Sardonyx. Br. M. Catal. 39(?) 10. Agate. Scaraboeoid. Br. M. Catal. 1 1 8 ( ?) 11. Green schist. Br. M. Catal. 101 (?) 12. Hematite. Br. M. Arch. Anzeiger, 1890, p. 69 (?) 13. Burnt Sardonyx. Br. M. Greek Islands. 14. Steatite. Br. M. Catal. 21 (?) 15. Green porphyry. Br. M. Catal. 76. Crete. 16. Yellow steatite. Br. M. Catal. 82(F) The stones from which the engravers of this school oftener cut their gems were the many varieties of the agate, for the sake of their creamy white tone ; the onyx, sardonyx, chalcedony, cornelian, and the like. Rock-crystal seems to have been an expensive material, which was reserved for carefully-wrought pieces. Yellow, green, and red jaspers are not unfrequent, and here and there porphyry occurs. Precious stones, such as the amethyst, are still more rare. Semi-soft stones, the steatite, hematite, and schist, are seldom found among intaglios whose Glyptic Art. 30 / origin is well established. 1 Glass-pastes must have been common enough, 2 but they were easily destroyed ; hence it is that so few intaglios in that material have survived to our day. What were the types which made up the repertory of engravers who were contemporary with the shaft-graves at Mycenae, and the domed- tombs of Greece generally ? We can point to a large number of gems with representations of the human form, male and female. Adoration scenes appear more particularly on gold signet-rings (Figs. 418; 421, 23; 422). But figurations of dancing men and women are also meant for worship scenes or for deities (Fig. 424, 9); here we see a woman alone, her hand carried to the thick masses of her long hair (Fig. 424, 1) ; there a second is holding by the neck a quadruped, horse or ram, erect on his hind-legs (Fig. 419, 14) ; whilst two women appear in PL XVI. 5. Now we have a personage whose sex is not defined ; his costume is a long flowing robe which falls to his feet ; he stands near to a griffin who has a halter round his neck (PI. XVI. 16) ; the same garment, perhaps a sacerdotal costume, is worn by a second man, who carries an axe on his shoulder (P'ig. 424, 4) ; and a third is slaughtering a pig or bull stretched upon a table (Fig. 421, 15). These are obviously preparations for a sacrifice. Personages playing with monsters or other animals : the man with outstretched arms, who holds up two lions in the air (Fig. 419, 21), the woman who squeezes the neck of a couple of swans (Fig. 424, 7), may be placed in the same class of themes. A loin-band, and hair falling low behind, do not help us much in determining the character to be attributed to their owner (Fig. 421, 1). The talent of the artist appears to have exercised itself quite as often on scenes of battle and of the chase. The theme sculptured on the stelae of the Mycenae shaft-graves occurs twice over, once on a gold signet-ring (Fig. 413), and the second time on a gem from Vaphio (PL XVI. 9). In the first of these images the king chases a stag ; in the second appear horses at full speed, but the object of the pursuit, man or beast, is not indicated. Single combats are portrayed on gold and stone signets from 1 I see but one example, at Mycenae, of the use of the steatite, and one only of the employment of the hematite. Neither of these stones appear either at Vaphio or Menidi. 2 'EffrrjfiepLQ, 1888 . 3o8 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. Mycenze (Figs. 414 ; 416 ; 424, 3 ; 426). 1 The arms used are the spear and sword ; and two distinct shapes of shield, whose dimensions and characteristics have already been pointed out. Elsewhere, the heroes are fighting a lion (Fig. 415), or a boar (Fig. 419, 17), or pursue (Fig. 419, 5) and overtake (Fig. 419, 13) antelopes and wild bulls (Fig. 419, 24). Again, a couple of hunters are pictured in the act of fastening together the paws of a lion which they have brought down, so as to carry him home (Fig. 419, 15). The actors in these scenes always appear naked ; but we may safely conceive them with drawers, and a band to fasten these in front. If they are not plainly indicated in every instance, it is because of the smallness of the image ; but they are none the less to be distinguished in some of the intaglios (Figs. 414; 415; 421, 1; 419, 11, 21; 424, 3). The women’s dress is ever the same ; a flounced skirt, which assumes a Fig. 426. — Sardonyx. crescent shape above the ankle (Figs. 418; 419, 14; 421, 23; 422 ; 425, 2 ; 424, i, 7, 9). The employment of conventions to which attention has already been drawn is also resorted to in these gems ; the ground, for example, indicated now by scales under the feet and above the heads of the personages (PI. XVI. 12; Figs. 413; 414; 419, 17), now by a simple horizontal band (PI. XVI. 6, 9, 14, 15, 16; Figs. 421, 16, 19; 419, 7; 424, 1 . 3 . ii)- The form of all others which the engraver seems to have taken most pleasure in studying and reproducing was that of animals. A glance at any gem-collection will prove the truth of our words, where their image occurs far more frequently than that of man, whether by itself or in combination with other elements. The lion was a great favourite with him, and brought 1 From the image which Schliemann has given of Fig. 426 ( Mycemc ) no guess can be hazarded as to the nature of the subject. His drawing was made to favour his interpretation that we have here a man and a woman sitting. Glyptic Art. 309 him luck (Figs. 417; 421, 12). He has shown him at full speed (Figs. 417; 421, 12), or ere he makes his spring (Fig. 421, 20); now at rest, now stretched at full length on the earth (PL XVI. 6; Fig. 421, 19); here crouching and leaning on his fore-paws, there roaming in solitary grandeur (PL XVI. 14); now accompanied by the female (Fig. 419, 6) or another lion (PL XVI. 18) ; now licking and toying with his cub (PL XVI. 7). Elsewhere we see him rushing on his favourite prey, antelopes, stags, and bulls (PL XVI. 12 ; Fig. 421, 14). Finally, we have a curious variant on the famous group of the Mycenae Gate, in a couple of lions, whose fore-paws rest upon an altar (PL XVI. 11, 20). The artist was no less attracted towards the ample and powerful proportions of the bull and cow. We have seen bulls sometimes exposed to the attacks of man and the lion ; at other times in peaceful enjoyment of green pastures. Here he is moving along, his head turned on his back as if to listen and survey the scene (Fig. 419, 18), there his head is bent to browse the grass (Fig. 419, 7). Above his back appear two ram or mouflon-heads. Then, too, in a meadow there are two bulls lying down by the side of each other ; one is shown in profile, and his mighty sides squarely face the spectator. The head which projects beyond the neck of his companion is all that we see of the second beast (Fig. 421, 16). The awkward- ness of the arrangement seems to have dawned upon the artist ; for elsewhere he tried another expedient, but with hardly greater success ; a pair of bulls are lying down atop of each other, head to foot, and foot to head (Figs. 421, 24; 419, 8). Again, two cows are figured feeding their young, their head turned back- wards to lick the calf suspended to the udders (PL XVI. 15). A very similar attitude is given to a doe suckling her fawn (Fig. 421, 10); a second doe merely looks back towards her suckling (Fig. 424, 5). Animals of the deer type seem to have been as often portrayed as those of the bovine species ; we meet twice over an antelope walking along (PL XVI. 1 ; Fig. 421, 11). A third has its head bent as if to graze (Fig. 424, 11). Wild goats appear in couples amidst shady glades, which are indicated by leafy branches popped down in the field (Fig. 419, 9, 10). The first throws back her head as if writhing in an agony of pain, caused by the arrow which has just struck her (PL XVI. 19) ; the second is lying among flowering shrubs (Fig. 419, 20). Two 3 IQ Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. more goats are butting at each other ; they stand erect on their hind legs preparing to butt again (PI. XVI. 13 ; Fig. 419, 23). A pair of long-horned antelopes nearly repeat the same attitude, save that here a tree interposes between them (Fig. 419, 22). Horses are probably meant in the field of a lentoid gem from Vaphio, representing an elongated face without horns (Fig. 421, 21); there is much cleverness in the variety of the attitudes. Birds are more rare ; I know of but one small intaglio where their portrayal, two wild ducks with flapping wings, is seen (Fig. 421, 18). Nor have fishes often been depicted; the only instance which occurs to me are two dolphins (Fig. 424, 2). As with the sister arts, here too the fancy was not content with the forms presented by Nature ; it called in also those fictitious beings that we already know, and created composite types as well, not to be found in the works of the sculptor. There, separated by a palm tree, we have two sphinxes couching and facing each other (Fig. 421, 22); here griffins are grouped in like fashion, one on each side of an altar surmounted by a column (Fig. 421, 25). A third griffin, couchant, fills the very elongated surface of a gem with his huge wings (Fig. 424, 8). A single head, seen full face, appears over a double body, intended no doubt to represent griffins (Fig. 421, 17); elsewhere the engraver seems to have tried to draw a bird’s bill. Griffins and sphinxes are familiar enough ; but here comes a type as yet unseen either on gold-leaf, glass-pastes, or ivories. The attitude is not uncommon, a pair of lions erect on their hind-legs ; but the band around the body, the thoroughly conventional rendering of the mane, which has all the air of a cloak thrown over the shoulders of the brutes, are new and peculiar features. The garment or mane is interspersed with dots in relief, and it rounds off into an appendage which detaches itself from the body, after the fashion of the lower part of a frock coat. The fore-paws are raised like arms ; they rest upon a shrub planted in a vase, and support two water-jugs of very elegant shape (Figs. 419, 16 ; 424, 6). The only instance where this type had appeared, before glyptic art brought it to our knowledge with a series of examples which are beginning to be rather numerous, is a bronze vase from Cyprus, on the handle of which is depicted a similar group to the one just described. 1 Whether the vase was 1 I thought at one time to detect a squamy fish’s skin on the back of the lions ; but the interpretation found little favour. I would submit, however, that it would Glyptic Art. 3 1 manufactured in Peloponnesus or Cyprus is unimportant. This much is plain : the type, with its sharply-defined lines, was very popular, in the Mycenian epoch, throughout the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. The figures holding up the jugs have pro- visionally been identified with water-genii. The vases would stand for the springs to which they give rise, whilst the shrub intervening between them would represent vegetation kept alive by rains and fountains. We will close this list with three intaglios engraved with images taken from still life. The first is a signet adorned by six heads of animals seen full face, belonging to a gold ring from Mycenae (Fig. 420). On the second signet appear four rams’ heads (Fig. 419, 19) ; and on the third there is a helmet, with horns (Fig. 421, 6) curving in front in true ram fashion, like those of the helmets borne by warriors of other intaglios (Figs. 359, 373. 414)- Thus ends the series of types which may be taken to repre- sent the best authorized intaglios of Mycenian glyptics. It now only remains to examine their fabrication and origin. What strikes one from the first is that these gems one by one, even where the work seems to have been most rapid and least forced, exhibit a cleanly cut and admirably firm outline ; this is the only quality which can be discerned where the drawing is a mere linear sketch ; but the consummate skill of the engraver is best seen in the image within the contour. The modelling, par- ticularly of some animal figures, is at once broad and singularly simple. The roundness of the bodies is marked with rare frank- ness by means of planes of feeble depth, very skilfully superim- posed upon one another ; the prominence of bone and muscle under the skin is forcible, yet void of harshness. The movement is always well caught and naturalistic. The quality is even apparent in nude figures of men, where the artist’s inexperience well coincide with the character that has been provisionally ascribed to the figures, and that we see no trace of hairs which would stand for the mane. Other examples of this same type are cited by Milchofer (Anfiinge) and Rossbach (Annali, 1885). The latter brings forward another specimen which was found at Orvieto in Italy. The stone, a sardonyx, presents a curious and unique variant on the known type. It portrays a man who stands erect with outstretched arms between two genii. These, owing to the man’s pose, cannot raise the vase as high as in the other intaglios. The engraving is in pure Mycenian style. 3 12 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art, betrays itself in a somewhat dry and meagre treatment. He is over-anxious to declare the main divisions of the human body, and the result is undue emphasis. Then, too, the unnatural drawing in of the body above the hips recurs on the intaglios (Figs. 413 ; 415 ; 419, 15, 21 ; 421, 1 ; 424, 3). But we find more than one bull, antelope, and lion where it is impossible to detect any tendency to systematic deformation ; on the contrary, the design is both impressive and broad. It would be wrong to conclude from the above observations that animal figures are all perfect. No doubt some come very near to that point (PI. XVI. 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19), and the defects observable in many examples, sometimes even among the most carefully executed, should rather be accounted for by the programme which the artist was required to carry out than his unskilfulness. His composition had to fit a narrow field whose shape he could neither change nor modify in any way. Hence it was inevitable that the action of his figures should be forced, their heads turned on their backs more than was natural, and made to look towards the field, when technical necessities required them to be stretched contrariwise (Figs. 419, 8, 18, 24; 421, 11, 24; 424, 5). Elsewhere one might be tempted to tax him with too precise and mechanical a symmetry ; for example, where the figures of a group of two, set face to face, or one above the other, are as like as two peas. One could wish that some of Nature’s noble freedom, who never repeats twice over the same thing at every point, had been with the artist (PI. XVI. 15, 20; Figs. 419, 16, 22, 23; 421, 17, 22, 24, 25 ; 424, 2, 10). First impressions, however, are not always reliable, and we should do him grave injustice in allowing them undue weight, for we must remember that he was not always free to indulge his own inclination. When we deplore the little variety instilled in these groups, we yet recollect their symbolic or heraldic character ; their being the representation of a religious or civic idea, i. e. allegorical figures, or the armorial bearings of a chieftain or clan. In either case, the engraver dared not improve or modernize the image, where the special destination of the gem, as well as the meaning attached to the emblem, were hallowed by tradition. Considering the restrictions put upon him, and the fetters from which he could not shake himself free, we should have none but grateful acknowledgments for the elegance and Glyptic Art, 'J T 'j 3 A 3 dignity which he has imparted to these forms. This style of drawing has not always preserved, among other races and at other times, so bold a character or so vivid a feeling of life. So, too, we must allow for the horror vacui which, ever present with the primitive artists of every country, prompted them to fill in every available space. This feeling, coupled with a desire to define the locality, suggested the frequent insertion of flowers, branches, and trees, and unnecessary details such as the two mouflon-heads beheld above an ox on a Mycenae intaglio (Fig. 419, 7). Perhaps the myth of the Chimcera has no other origin. 1 The ingenious and subtle mind of the Hellenic race was not satisfied unless it could discover a meaning for every form which it saw brought together in the field, but whose juxtaposition was probably accidental, a mere expedient and artifice of the decorator. We now know the stereotyped themes of Mycenian glyptics whose style we have passed in review. We are, then, in a position to pick out among intaglios of mysterious or doubtful origin, but which belong to remote antiquity, those that should be ascribed to the archaic period. Mistakes in this direction are so unlikely to arise, that we need not take them into serious consideration. Among the choice specimens of this art which figure in our plates, we do not think there is one to which the attribution we claim for them can be seriously disputed. Our gems, like those whose birth-place and antiquity are warranted by the Excavation Journal, are characterized by shapes, themes, accessories, and execution which are common to both sets. No doubt the pair of bulls, the one moving along peacefully, the second his head bent between his legs preparing to rush against his foe, will never be surpassed (PI. XVI. 2, 17). Yet the attitude and technique of the bull devoured by a lion (PI. XVI. 12), and two or three more lions, are quite up to their high level. There is an intaglio in the British Museum (PI. XVI. 3) which on the first blush might rouse some slight suspicion, in that it not only is a scaraboeoid, but has a cable or denticulated border, neither of which forms have as yet been encountered on any well-established example. But let us remember that Mycenian gems are by no means uniform in shape ; that the relations of the Mycenian world with Egypt 1 Murray, Catalogue of Gems. 3 1 4 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. were frequent enough to have put into the mind of the native artist that here was an opportunity for freely imitating Egyptian scarabs. One of the commonest subjects treated by these en- gravers was the group composed of some victim on which the lion had made his spring — stag, ram, or bull — as in Plate XVI. 21, for instance. It is the same with the stag brought down by the hunter, and the wild bull careering in woody stretches (PI. XVI. 8, io). Pendants to these are to be found at Mycenae and Vaphio (Figs. 413; 419, 18), whilst the pair of lions front- ing each other on either side of an altar (PL XVI. n), the two goats erect on their hind-legs (Fig. 419, 23), are but varieties of a group which recurs again and again on bas-reliefs and intaglios (Pis. XIV., XVI. 20; Fig. 421, 25). If the cuttle- fish is portrayed but once on a gem of doubtful origin (PI. XVI. 4), we are aware that it has furnished the Mycenian decorator with one of his favourite themes. The two fishes introduced into the field alongside of the mollusk in question re-appear on a Vaphio intaglio (Fig. 424, 2). It is now the turn of the remaining gems to make good their right to be comprised in this category ; but there will be no necessity to dwell at any length on them. Such representations as a conflict between two warriors (Fig. 421, 7), or a man standing between two goats erect on their hind-legs (Fig. 425, 7), or a boar’s chase (Fig. 421, 13), or a lion devouring an antelope (Fig. 421, 9), or hunting a stag (Fig. 425, 3), or the portrayal of a man apparently hovering in mid-air above the animal, but whom the artist conceived running by the side of the beast, (Fig. 425, 12), are not of a kind to arouse our suspicions. In point of fact, the primitive perspective of this last intaglio dates the piece. 1 A female dog is sucking her pups (Fig. 425, 1). Where is the anomaly ? Was there an outcry because a cow was discovered feeding her calf, and a doe her fawn ? We see a man carrying a big fish suspended from a string (Fig. 425, 4) ; none the less the theory has been advanced that the natives of that period ate no fish. But on what ground do they rest their assumption ? This they have forgotten to tell us. At any rate, the general outline and costume of the fisherman are precisely similar to those of the best-authenticated Mycenian figures. One is tempted to see deities in a certain number of these images ; 1 Arch. Anzeiger , 1890. Glyptic Art. 3^5 women who draw the bow, for example, or hold goats by the horns, or are embracing swans (Figs. 419, 11, 12 ; 425, 2). The costume, the theme and action of all these effigies are but echoes of those we have already examined. Here, however, are two fictitious types as yet new to glyptic art. The first is a personage with an ass’s head, and, it would appear, the claws and tail of a grasshopper (Fig. 421, 8); next comes a nondescript creature, a man’s body with the head and long horns of an antelope (Fig. 425, 15). Both monsters carry heads of game, suspended from a pole. The former re-appears in a Mycenae fresco (Fig. 431); the second, though differently composed, belongs to the same order of ideas. They are daemons, who inhabit forests and mountains, in whom we divine the ancestors of the satyrs of classic poetry. A gold-leaf gives us the hippocampus (Fig. 425, 13 ; 412). Whether the intaglios we have cited one by one up to the present time have a civil state or not, we think they are all instances of an art whose palmy days were in those centuries which witnessed the rise of the Tirynthian and Mycenian edifices. The next in order of succession are some specimens chosen from the prodigious quantities that reach us from the Archipelago (Figs. 419, 1, 2, 3, 4 ; 425, 5, 14, 16). Four at least of these in- taglios have a far more archaic appearance than the most care- lessly executed gems ever brought out of the Argolic or Laconian graves. Could aught be more barbarous than the image where we rather divine than discern a man with outstretched arms, grasping a sceptre in each hand ; or the pair of winged animals, a bull and a horse, or Heracles struggling against Nereus, Ocean’s old sire ? The work consists of parallel or cross hatchings, in which we feel the jerkings and shakings of a plodding and clumsy hand ; their technique in no way resembles that of our gems, where the exposed parts are always smooth ; where, too, inner cuttings are juxtaposed by the engraver for the sake of bringing out certain details, the folds of drapery, wisps of hair, and the like. The bird perched on the back of an ox, the lion lying down in front of a tree, are certainly a step in advance, but the manner is none the less cold and dry ; there is a total absence of that sincere spontaneity which we find so attractive in genuine Mycenian intaglios. Accordingly, it would be wrong to imagine that the gems of this worse-than-bad style can take us back to the begin- Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 3 i6 nings of glyptic art. What the most shapeless of these stones shadow forth is the profound decadence which descended upon this art after the fall of the Achcean royalties, when it was thrown back and kept at a standstill a hundred or two hundred years. Those intaglios which exhibit better drawing are no test of efforts made by an incipient art towards progress, but rather of a fresh start, a re-awakening to life and activity under the in- fluence of Oriental models. Thus, the winged and bearded bull is reminiscent of Chaldsean and Assyrian palaces. As to subjects such as the fight between Heracles and Nereus, or Prometheus bound to a rock, we have found no trace of them in the Vaphio and Mycence glyptics. Wherever we find intaglios that may be explained away by these and the similar myths transmitted to us by Greek letters, the chances are about even that we are in presence of gems dating no farther back than the ninth or eighth century b.c . 1 The rude manipulation of some of these gems has caused them to be considered unduly old ; the same error has been committed in regard to intaglios of a much later date for a reason exactly the reverse of this. If these have been confused with genuine Mycenian gems, it is because the themes beheld on them are very simple, and of the kind which archaic art so much affected, namely, the portrayal of one or other of those animals whose image so often appears in the works of our engravers. In such cases it is extremely difficult to differentiate between the really old and the comparatively modern pieces. The difference seems to me to be this. If the artists of the sixth and fifth centuries b.c. do not surpass their far-off predecessors in their imitations of Nature, and scarcely infuse more animation and intelligent fidelity into them, they yet have better tools, and there- fore a lighter hand ; the engravings have all the air of having come more easily to them. I should incline, though falteringly, to assign this recent date to a pair of gems preserved in the 1 The wrong attribution referred to above will be found in Milchofer’s otherwise suggestive and instructive study, entitled Inselsteine. He was the first to approach a subject fraught with difficulties, and wrote his book some time before the dis- coveries made at Mycen?e and Vaphio. Diimmler, on the other hand, already attri- butes the date we have adopted for the island-stones to those of Melos, which he published in the Athe?iisc/ie Mittheilungen. Among the intaglios which Rossbach has printed in the Zeitufig and Annali respectively, the number of pieces of certain Mycenian origin appears to us exceedingly small. Glyptic Art. 3*7 British Museum (Fig. 425, 8, 11). I feel no hesitation for two others, representing a doe struck by an arrow, and a stork crowned with stag-antlers (Fig. 425, 10, 6). In these two last the field is plane, instead of being more or less concave, as is always the case with Mycenian gems. Our impression is further strengthened by the fact that the chalcedony with the stork figured on it was picked up in a tomb which cannot be older than the fourth century b.c . 1 To avoid confusing epochs one with another, it will be well to form a clear notion relating to the processes which the My- cenian engraver employed in his work. Examination of the intaglios leads to the following conjecture. As a rule, the gems are regular in shape. Such perfect regularity as we see here is absent from the polished but uncut stones of the primitive period ; nor would simple friction against harder materials have been more successful in obtaining the desired form. The en- gravers probably began by cutting the outline on crystal and agate, and used for the purpose a lathe or wheel, dropping upon it from time to time moist emery powder or crushed corundum. This done, they set their tools to the actual engraving of the stone, penetrating it and modelling the image. To attack quartz, and even harder materials, tools finer and more resisting than the chisel were required. We guess the intervention of two kinds of instruments : a drill ending in a rounded button, which was used for the circular hollows, 2 3 and turned by a movable bow, like that of a modern centre-bit or wimble, and one for the straight lines. This drill was probably worked with the hand ; for the lathe is a comparatively late invention. It was introduced by Theodorus of Samos into Ionia in the sixth century b.c., and does not seem to have been known in Anterior Asia until the eighth century B.c. ;j The holes indicating the main divisions of the figure having been drilled into the stone, the engraver connected them with one another, using points and hand-saws ; 1 The famous and many-coloured vase, now among the treasures of the British Museum, was brought out of this tomb. It represents the struggle of Thetis and Peleus. 2 The Homeric carpenter already sets a rotary movement to his tool by means of a leather strap (Odyssey). As to the drill with rounded end, it is no more than the ferrum retusum of Pliny. 3 Information relating to glyptic processes are detailed at some length in History of Art. 318 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. he first traced the outlines and minute details, then smoothed over and rounded off the work with a turning-chisel. Finally, the edges of most of the holes were carefully beaten down to obtain an even surface ; a few, however, were left in the rough, about the jaw and shoulder of the Mycenae lions for example (PI. XVI. 20), whilst the big round eyes beheld on a number of other images are no more than the holes with which the engrav- ing was begun (Fig. 421, 11). A species of scissors with curved blades or bores appear to have been found. They were used to cut circles or segments of circles, and were worked with the finger. Compared with the implements which a Pyrgoteles or a Dioscorides will have to hand, those of the Mycenian engraver appear very imperfect, slow, and difficult to handle. We admire all the more that by dint of patient and steady work he should have turned them to such good account. The more we study remote antiquity, the more we are amazed at the miracles per- formed by the artisans of those early days, perhaps slaves, for whom time did not count. Originality and Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture . The reader has seen marble, clay, and bronze statuettes, sculp- tures modelled, whether in relief or intaglio, on metal, wood, ivory, marble, or gems, pass before his eyes, and he may perhaps have asked himself the question if all these pieces were executed in the country which has preserved them to us, or if a certain proportion was not imported by commerce to the islands and the Greek continent. The question has been implicitly answered in our former volumes, when every object that seemed to bear the seal of Egyptian or Phoenician industry was ascribed to the land where it had been found. On the other hand, a work of the chisel which was picked up in a tomb at Memphis has been adjudged by us to the Mycenian sculptor, because the taste, make, and certain features recognizable in it are those we discern, more or less distinctly, in all the works that have just been passed in review. The better we define these general characteristics, the easier will be our task in apportioning the share which should be allotted to imitation in this art, and in Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 319 finding out to what extent the artist derived his inspirations from models brought to him by trade. The only way I know to satisfactorily solve and set at rest the problem, is to subject the more important pieces of the series we have formed to a final revision. In casting our eye over the sculptor’s work, we are struck at the small proportion of foreign elements to be found in it, and the predominance of characteristics that constitute the unity of these scattered images, and the originality of the mind of which they are the spontaneous expression. This originality is already obvious in the idol series. The oldest would scarcely be quite so barbarous, had their makers had models under their eyes to help their inexperience. If with the passage of time the artisan lost somewhat of his clumsiness, we feel that a vague remembrance and reflex of better-defined forms were with him, when he blocked out some of the divine simulacra. Such images accidentally and momentarily seen, but of which he had no specimens to hand, appear none the less to have suggested this or that movement, this or that attitude. Nevertheless, even when we feel most certain of being in presence of imitations, like the lead statuette discovered at Troy (Fig. 291), and the two gold leaves from Mycenae (Figs. 289, 290), the impression remains that these are no true copies. Not one of these statuettes is, or claims to be, the exact reproduction of one of those effigies of Egyptian or Syrian gods impressed or cast in the same moulds for centuries by Oriental artisans. The very choice of the material of which they are made is significant, and a standing witness that the ^Egean statuettes were executed on the spot. This material is marble ; it forms the sub-soil of the islands, but is found neither in the Nile valley nor in Phoenicia. Moreover, works such as the two musicians of Keros would suffice to prove the independence of the insular sculptor (Pigs. 353 > 354)- The man who blundered out their uncouth shape started with the firm resolve of reproducing what he saw in Nature, and he sincerely thought he had done so. Intention, at a later date, will be carried out with better effect. If rapid advance is everywhere to seek, we are sure of its having been constant. Bronze statuettes, more particularly from Argolis and Laconia, close the idol series. Although female figures are con- cealed by drapery, we divine a form well hung together and of normal proportions. The exposed parts of men’s figures are 320 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. handled with a lively feeling for the leading features of the form. The natural breadth which the native artist gives to his torso, the roundness of the fleshy portions of arm and leg, swelled out by the muscular masses underneath, are points which he did not learn of his mediocre colleague of Syria. Some of his works are far above many a Phoenician piece, and that of a later date. These characteristics hold with the costume ; the women’s dress consists of a skirt trimmed with four or more bands, and is never met with in the Nile valley or in Syria. Its deceptive resemblance to the kaunakes of the Chaldaeans and Persians has already been adverted to. The men wear drawers. Penally, the idol series excites our surprise by the evident effort made henceforward towards anthropomorphism. If painting and in- taglios show us daemons with animals’ heads, we find nothing of the sort in statuettes, whether of marble or bronze, which no doubt represent the dii majores. Animals and fabulous monsters, which Egypt never ceased to worship, are already relegated here to the background. So, too, the most shapeless of the figurines betray the inner craving which will prompt the Hellenes of the following period to idealize the forms of man and woman, that they may find in these noble and pure images the means of translating the idea and the various aspects with which they pictured to themselves the mysterious essence of the Deity. Next, perhaps, in date to the marble and clay idols are the stelee of the royal cemetery at Mycenae. If, broadly speak- ing, the theme depicted on them is similar to that of many an Egyptian and Assyrian bas-relief, it is yet of a nature likely to come to the mind of any artist entrusted with the task of glorifying the prince. The composition and the work itself, how- ever, are diametrically opposed to the vast and far more compli- cated pictures, where Oriental art has handled the same subject. Here the number of the actors who appear in the scene is reduced to a strict minimum. Personages and animals are drawn with strange carelessness, and merely outlined, all inner details being eliminated. The groups are enclosed by those spirals and cable ornaments which characterize Mycenian art. The author of these bas-reliefs had no good models before his eyes ; and he tried his best to convey, with the few resources he could command, a high notion of the warlike prowess and power of the king. His sincerity is only equalled by his clumsiness. Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 321 The same may be said of the piece representing a siege (Fig. 358). Here the work is by a silversmith, and the art, in consequence of it, is much more advanced. The fragmentary scene in question has been compared, but we think erroneously, to the apparently similar pictures displayed on the walls of pylons, whether in the tombs or palaces of Egypt and Assyria ; but the resemblance goes no farther than the choice of subject. Remem- bering that Achaean, Perseidae, and Atridae dynasts, though their activity was exercised on a smaller scale, must have been warriors as doughty as the conquerors of Thebes and Nineveh, we cannot be surprised at the bellicose themes we find at Mycenae. For the rest, there is nothing either in the aspect of the fabrication or the grouping of the designs to remind us of the Nile valley or of Assyria. 1 Here all is more incorrect, less symmetrical and conventional than in the assaults figured on Asiatic bas-reliefs. The movements are expressed in a lively but totally different manner. The sculptor sought his models in one or other of those conflicts which, either as a witness or actor in the scene, had stirred his soul within. Perhaps also the lays of the distant predecessors of Homer and Hesiod may have furnished this or that detail to his picture. The complicated and clever technique, the fairly correct design of the figures represented on the encrusted daggers and on the Vaphio vases, caused even greater surprise. Hesitation was felt and doubt expressed in some quarters to the effect that the authors of the stelae and the rude clay figures could not be the same artificers who had turned out works which bear witness to skill of no mean order. These misgivings I shared as far as the daggers are concerned ; 2 but my doubts vanished in proportion as my acquaintance with the productions of Mycenian civilization increased. The native goldsmith, in all probability, learnt these fine and delicate processes which he applied to the decoration of his daggers, from craftsmen trained in the Egyptian school, for it is clear that more than one subject must have been borrowed from the Delta. The Mycenian griffin, with his three or four curled plumes falling behind his head, comes straight from the Nile valley ; whilst the stretch of body of running animals is also in the habits of the Egyptian VOL. 11. 1 History of Art. 2 Bulletin de correspondance hellenique. Y 3 22 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. draughtsman. Finally, the chasing of water-fowls is one of the commonplaces of Egyptian painting. Thus, a bas-relief shows us a beast of the feline species and an ichneumon pursuing their volatile prey among rushes. 1 Despite these and similar affinities, I am convinced that the Mycenian productions are the outcome of an Egyptianized but not of an Egyptian art, and I should no longer be inclined to consider any of the daggers as due to Phoenician industry. We have seen far too often the lion drawn from nature in the Mycenae intaglios and bas-reliefs not to accept the fact that at that time he still inhabited the mountain ranges of Greece. Lion-hunting, therefore, was a theme which this art may claim as its own ; besides, the details of costume and orna- ment beheld in all these pictures, distinguish them from Phoenician works and serve to connect them with the series of Mycenian productions whose origin nobody would think of disputing. The men wear the tight-fitting drawers which we find everywhere at Mycenae, and not the loose loin-cloth seen on the figures of Phoenician bowls. 2 Again, on many of these tazze, the warriors are protected by a round shield ; whereas the cavaliers of the Mycenian glyptics and bas-reliefs are provided with two kinds of shields, neither of which has yet been met on Phoenician vases. Both kinds of shields are huge ; the one is long and semi-cylindrical, the second spherical, and curved in at the sides (PI. XVIII. 3 ; Figs. 414, 416, 418). If it is not unlikely that the subject figured on another blade was suggested by an Egyptian model (PL XVII. 1), I think I can detect from certain indications the mark of the artist. The way the plants, papyrus or lotus, are grouped in the field, is instinct with a degree of elegance and variety not to be found in the similar representations of Egypt, where the plants grow plentifully, or in the less frequent examples from Phoenicia. The plants, when figured in the Delta, are stiff and straight (Fig. 427) or arranged into sheafs (Fig. 428). 3 It is the same with the medallion of a Phoenician bowl. 4 The artificer who designed the decoration of our dagger was more inventive ; each bunch of lotus is given a different inclination. As to the Vaphio vases, I am afraid that I took unnecessary trouble when, two years ago, I claimed for the Mycenian chiseller the honour of having executed them. This view of the case 1 Lepsius, De?ikmdler. 2 History of Art. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 323 did not arise from the choice of subject, for in itself it would be insufficient to clinch the question. If the wild bull does not appear on Phoenician bronze and silver bowls, whereon are represented lion and stag-hunts, he is brought down by the arrows of the sportsman in the wall-paintings of a hypogseum Fig. 427. — Antelope chased through a tangle of papyrus. at Thebes; 1 whilst he is depicted overthrowing his would-be captors in a bas-relief of unknown origin, but obviously influenced by Egypt and Chaldaea. 2 At any rate, the subject figured on many specimens of Mycenian glyptics, on an intaglio (Fig. 421, 24) for example, and above Fig. 428. — Marsh from an Egyptian painting. all on the celebrated wall-painting at Tiryns (Fig. 432), is mani- festly the same as that of the Vaphio goblets. Now, if it is just possible to assume a foreign origin for the gems, we cannot do so for the painting, which was executed on the spot by work- men that must have been domiciled in the country. What is there 1 F. Cailliaud, Recherches sur les arts et metiers de VEgypte. 2 L. Heuzey, Un prototype des taureaux de Mycenes et d’ Amy clees. 3 2 4 Primitive Greece : Mvcenian Art. so wonderful in the fact that hunting should have been a theme on which the imagination of Mycenian artists loved to exercise itself? Did not tradition count among the great and good deeds of Theseus, his having rid the inhabitants of Attica of the Marathon bull ? Some have expressed surprise that palms should be figured on one of the vases in question, in that the tree does not grow naturally in Greece. We do not suppose that the champaigns of Argos and Sparta produced edible dates at that period, any more than they now do ; but why should not the palm have been cultivated as a purely ornamental plant by princes who, like Alcinous, loved to surround themselves with beautiful gardens ? Besides, they had not to go far to admire its elegant outline and flexible plume of feathers swayed by the passing breeze. We know that it grew at Delos when the hymn to Apollo was composed ; whilst the palm-wood, which to-day is one of the pleasing features of the Sittia district, in Crete, was doubtless even then in existence. Finally, remembering that the Achseans were a nation of soldiers and adventurous mariners, whose raids often extended to the coasts of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, where is the impossibility of their bands having landed more than once under the palms of the Delta and those of Southern Syria ? Hence is explained why the palm is intro- duced not only as an accessory into the decorative scheme of the Vaphio goblet, but as chief ornament on the handles of mirrors (Figs. 379-381), and in the field of more than one intaglio (Figs. 419, 6, 10, 18 ; 421, 11 ; 424, 11). Nothing characterizes an art better than the conventions which it employs ; that is to say, as soon as these cease to be of the kind which arise from the inexperience of the artist, and are necessarily inherent to every nascent art. One such convention is peculiar to Mycenian art ; we allude to the very singular ex- pedient which it uses to express the ground. This, in the monuments of Oriental culture, is figured under the feet of the personages ; above their heads are flights of birds intended to suggest the notion of heaven, of infinite space. At Mycence, however, there is no sky ; and but for the figures, which must inevitably be placed in the vertical plane, the head towards the upper rim of the vase, we should have no up or down in the picture. The rocks, which are meant to indicate the broken Fig. 429. — Vase from the Abbott collection. New York. Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 327 nature of the ground, are popped all over the place, to make it quite plain that the figures are moving between two stony walls. It is the same with the pair of trees to which a hunting- net is fastened ; they are planted opposite each other, the one near to the foot, the other close to the lip of the vase. It would be difficult to imagine aught more arbitrary than the perspective of the landscape. The spectator is supposed to look down upon the scene from a very elevated position, but the projection system does not extend to the figures. These are represented as if seen sideways, by a person standing on a plane with them. We have here a compromise between two different modes of figura- tion, or to speak more correctly, two modes in contradiction to each other. Is not the fact a significant one, that if we wish to find other examples of this strange combination we must fain turn to Mycenian art ? Look at the dagger (PI. XIX. 6), and several intaglios (Fig. 413, 414), and you will perceive the truth of our assertion ; for in one of these the landscape is only expressed above the heads of the figures (Fig. 419, 17). If, peradventure, the testimony of both gems and daggers should be challenged, that of the painted vases must stand. These are universally held to be native productions. Now rocks are depicted on more than one vase, amidst which nautili, polypi, and other mollusks are swimming, both in the upper and lower portions of the field : “ The whole scene looks like the bottom of the sea perceived from a high cliff or the deck of a ship” (Fig. 429). 1 However surprised we may have been at the sight of a work as advanced in some respects as the Vaphio goblets, we must give in to the evidence. There was no other reason or rather pretext for turning to Egypt or Phoenicia as the country of their birth, except the beauty of execution, the happy com- position of the double scene, the expressive vivacity of the movements, and the boldness of the design. Yet the charac- teristics which distinguish this art are found one by one in these vases ; and the same qualities return in other monuments pertaining thereto, though perhaps not carried to so high a level. For obvious reasons, the doubts which beset us here are absent as regards the golden masks. If the idea of thus covering the face of the dead may very well have been suggested to the 1 The observation is due to Murray, A Vase of the Mykcnai Type (. American Journal of Archaeology). 328 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. Mycenians by the masks they had seen on the Egyptian mum- mies, the difference of execution from one country to the other is so great as to strike the most superficial observer. There is a wide chasm between the noble and conventional style of the mummy masks, and the coarse realism of the Mycenae ex- amples. Moreover, we fail to perceive any affiliation between the animals which the Mycenian artist represented and those that were probably brought to him on imported wares. From these he no doubt borrowed certain fictitious types, such as griffins and sphinxes ; but when he had to reproduce living and organic forms, he took counsel of his personal impressions. We shall not insist on those rude clay jars and figures in the semblance of dogs, cows, and pigs, which reach us from the Troad and Argolis (Fig. 383-387) ; nor those seen on gold leaves where the animal form, barely outlined and rigorously symmetrical, has but a decorative value (Figs. 397, 404). In turning out by the dozen those mock offerings and personal ornaments, the crafts- man contented himself with rapidly sketching such images as he could best remember. Was the case different with the lions of the famous gateway, the bulls of the gold goblets, or the best- executed intaglios ? Did he seek his models from foreign parts, Egypt for example, for those works on which he lavished his best care ? The answer to this query must again be sought from the Vaphio vases, since nowhere has the artist been in such earnest as there. Now the style of the Vaphio bulls is neither Chaldaeo- Assyrian nor Phoenician, so that we have no reason what- ever for approximating it with the inexpressibly rude productions of Syro-Cappadocian art. The sculptures and paintings of Egypt show us a much more simplified animal form. The contour is reduced to such strokes as characterize the species, and the chisel and brush are sparingly used within the contour ; being confined to those indications the elimination of which would make it difficult to understand the anatomical frame-work of the figure. This looks as if standing at a great distance. In the plastic art the taste of the artist led him to act as distance does in the outside world ; namely to eliminate all superfluous detail, by which the eye might be amused but not helped in defining the unit. He thus epitomized and sim- plified nature. Here the case is quite different ; the form seems to have been looked at at closer quarters, near enough for every Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 329 shade of the outlines to have been made out. This is why the form is fuller than that beheld in the plastic works of the Delta ; at the same time, the muscles, bones, and articulations, the wrinkles and wisps of hair are less harshly expressed, less rigid than in the Chaldaeo- Assyrian bas-reliefs. The forms may be said to stand mid-way between the two modes of realistic interpreta- tions which characterize the sculptors of the Euphrates valley and those of the Delta. It belongs to neither of them ; nor is it a compromise between the two, one of those eclectic combinations which the Phoenician artisan knew how to turn to his profit. The style is distinct and original. I cannot understand how anybody could look towards Syria for the author of the Vaphio vases. In that case we should have to suppose that an art existed there in remote times whose works had all perished except the goblets in question. The contrast between our vases and Syrian pro- ductions must be patent to all. The Phoenician specimens, which, owing to the material and destination, would best lend them- selves to be compared, are those bronze and silver gilt bowls which that art has handed down to us in considerable numbers. The themes it treats offer many points of resemblance to those which served to decorate our goblets. Yet how different the taste and spirit which they disclose ! The scenes figured on the Phoenician bowls - have somewhat the air of having been traced on a pattern; we divine the “blocks,” to use a modern expression, which the workman had borrowed from models of many lands and distributed liberally, in those concentric bands surrounding a central design . 1 His tool was agile and sure, but his work was second-hand ; he hurried on to secure his fee, and had no time to inspire himself with the direct spectacle of Nature. Here it is quite another matter. Despite faulty design, of which the Phoenician craftsman is free, we feel ourselves in pre- sence of the work of an artist who was an eye-witness of the scene which he represents, or who pictured it vividly to himself from what he knew of the habits and gait of the bull. Although inexperienced in many respects, he had observed Nature with intelligent curiosity, and the infinite variety which he perceived there had so far impressed him, that he was at pains to reproduce its ever-changing and diverse aspects. Out of the seven bulls 1 History of Art , 330 Primitive Greece: Mvcenian Art. that people the wood, no two have the same pose. On the contrary, look at hundreds of pictures in the Egyptian necropoles, wherein the bovine species is portrayed, and you will scarcely find more than three or four different attitudes given to the animals. They are either being driven along in droves, or drawing the plough, or couchant, or being milked. The sculptor never seems to have stepped outside this narrow circle. The same poverty of invention is manifest on the Phoenician tazze, where no change is rung from first to last. The ox is either feeding or attacked by a lion, and the cow invariably suckles her calf. The only subject which stands out from these unending repetitions, is a patera from Curium (Cyprus), on which are figured two bulls in no very impressive manner. 1 By themselves our vases already offer, as far as the bulls are concerned, a richer repertory of forms and characteristic movements than all the Oriental art put together. The superiority of the Mycenian artist will stand out far more clearly if we throw in the Tirynthian fresco, and above all the engraved gems, where this same type appears so often and in such varying forms (Figs. 419, 7, 8, 18, 24; 421, 4, 24; 424, 11 ; PI. XIII.). Though the interpretation of man’s body on our vases and other monuments of this art is far below the portrayal of the animal, it is no less individual. The form of the three personages introduced by the craftsman into the twin pictures has undergone notable changes. The drawing of the head is correct enough, and not deficient in vigour ; but the torso is unnaturally thin and slender, and the curving in above the hips much too ex- aggerated. We find nothing of the sort in Egypt, where a just proportion is observed between the breadth of the chest, the fulness of the abdomen, and the roundness of the limbs. These are attached to the bust with scarcely any transition or salience about the hips. Frank nudity is rarely represented in Chaldsea or Assyria ; but when we exceptionally meet with it, we always find that the various parts of the unit are well poised. The portrayal of the nude figures on Phoenician cups is clearly reminiscent of the general lines of Egyptian figures ; whereas we have, so to speak, no example in Mycenian art where the ex- aggerated curving in of the torso does not occur. This curious deformation returns in the scene where the hunter chases a bull, 1 History of Art. Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 331 as well as in the Tirynthian fresco, and on many a glyptic piece (PL XVI. 5 ; Figs. 419, 5, 12, 15, 21 ; 421, 1, 7, 23 ; 424, 1, 3, 9 ; 425, 2, 4). It is as the personal mark, the signature of the artist. The same remark applies to the character of the costume and head-gear. The leading peculiarities of the dress, whether of man or woman, have already been pointed out ; but there remain details which deserve to be noticed. In Egypt, men and women are always bare-footed. But the personages depicted on the Vaphio vases wear shoes with slightly turned-up tips, fastened above the ankle with strings which go round the leg four or five times. No shoes are visible on the gems, because of the small dimension of these ; but they are plainly indicated in the hunting scene at Tiryns (Fig. 432). The shoes are expressed by a dark brown tone, evanescent bits of which are traceable on one foot, but we know how far they reached by the presence of the dark leather strings. In many parts of the Grecian world very similar shoes, with pointed and turned-up ends, have not long gone out of fashion ; under the name of tsaroukhi they are still worn in Albania. 1 Nor should the long flowing hair of the figures be left with- out a word of mention : it sweeps the earth and is tumbled about on the two men overthrown by a bull (Fig. 362) ; whilst the cattle- driver has his fastened by a knot on the nape of the neck, whence it floats in large masses about the shoulders (Fig. 363). In the like fashion does the gem-engraver arrange the hair of his person- ages in those rare instances where he has contrived to insert the head-dress into the narrow field (Fig. 421, 1). The epithet which Homer frequently uses in reference to the Achaeans, by way of explanatory note as it were, shows that the heroes wore theirs in some such fashion. 2 From the Achaeans the mode passed to the Ionians, and we have evidence in the archaic statues that the fashion died hard in Greece. There is nothing of the sort in Egypt ; where men shaved their heads and wore a thick bushy wig. Subordinate features, such as the costume and head-gear, are not the only items that help us to recognize in these personages the direct ancestors of the Greeks of history, and not, as some have advanced, aliens, Africans, or 1 See the examples which Tsoundas has collected (’E<£^eptc, 1889). 2 Kdfyrj KOfioiorreQ ' Aycuot. Helbig, Das homerische Epos. 33 2 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. Asiatics, whose image and warlike deeds had been skilfully- depicted by Oriental artists, for the amusement of the Achaean princes of Peloponnesus. If we look at the contour of the figure, where this is large enough to allow us to follow the line of the profile of the face, we shall see the happy proportions of the head, the fine open eye, the beautiful curve of the mouth, and above all, the straight nose which continues the frontal line without a break, whether on gold and silver vases or ivory plates. These are the leading lines of w r hat is called the Grecian type, that which the masters of the classic age will reproduce by and by (Figs- 359. 3 62 - 3 6 3- 366, 373 . 374). It has often been averred that there is an exotic air about the bas-relief of the Lions Gate. This may well be, but if so, the theme did not come from Egypt, where the ornamentist, when he opposes two figures, symmetrically arranged, likes rather to put them back to back than face to face. 1 It is self-evident, however, that the lions, as well as many images engraved on our gems, recall the group of two fronting each other on countless Chaldaeo-Assyrian cylinders. But nobody has yet come across an example in Oriental art where the palace is epitomized by the facade of the principal gateway, this is made up of an altar, columns, and an entablature, including two lions, who represent the guardians of the royal dwelling. Even allowing that the Mycenian sculptor did in fact borrow the group, when he re- ceived it, it was but an empty form, a commonplace subject, to which he added certain characteristic features, and put into it a meaning which it has nowhere else. Accordingly, he may claim to be the inventor of the symbol. For reasons of size, the features of the face cannot be seen on the images of the engraved stones ; but the leading lines of these bear the stamp of the same tastes as the other sculptured monuments, and are quite distinct from Egyptian and Asiatic glyptics. Thus, the stones which the craftsman likes to engrave have not often been seen elsewhere ; whilst the shapes are neither borrowed from Egyptian scarabs, nor from the cylinders of Anteria Asia, although these penetrated in Cyprus, and were imitated there. 2 Some few scarabs have been found in the graves at Ialysos and Mycenae, and a cylinder reaches us from Vaphio. 3 To sum up. Whether we turn to the engraved stones or other 1 History of Art. 2 Ibid. 3 ptc, 1888. Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 333 works of the Mycenian artist, we everywhere see the same choice of subjects, the same weapons and costume, the same mode of interpretation, and the same conventions ; sculptor and engraver work on the same themes, and the spirit in which they treat them is thoroughly alike, but widely different from that of Oriental art. The reader will judge from the example engraved below, perhaps the most impressive in our collection, how profound is the differ- ence between the two styles. The intaglio represents a battle- scene carried on by four men (Fig. 414). Victory seems assured to the man with the raised sword ; but the arrival of a new-comer may yet deprive him of his triumph, and in this way the issue of the strife is left undecided. We have met nothing like this in the battle-pictures of Egypt and Assyria. There, the artist does not admit that the hero whose exploits he is about to represent can ever be vanquished, or victory tremble in the balance between him and his foes. These are always overthrown by his mighty arm, or crushed under the wheel of his chariot. Any work of art where the conclusion may be foretold with absolute certainty must inevitably lose of its interest and warmth. An unerring instinct saved the Mycenian artist even then from such a pit-fall ; he understood that the mind of the spectator would not be moved if the end of the conflict were known before- hand. Here then, as in the lion-hunt of one of the daggers (PL XVIII. 3), as in the bull-fight of the Vaphio goblet (Fig. 362), he remains neuter between the parties striving against each other. His interest in them waxes in proportion to the power which they put forth ; he takes as much pleasure in show- ing off the courage of the lion and the bull, who fight gallantly for dear life, as in the man who brings them down with his club, or nets them. These are the very methods that Greek statuary will employ. If there is an intaglio which more than any other may be said to betray Oriental influence, it is the Mycenae ring with the portrayal of a deity seated in front of a tree (Fig. 418). Obviously it bears a certain analogy to the worship scenes figured on many a Chaldaeo- Assyrian cylinder; 1 these present several variants on a theme representing women in different attitudes, grouped around a palm usually loaded with fruit ; whilst the sun and moon appear in the upper part of the scene. Hence it 1 M. Heuzey has pointed out the analogies referred to above, and engraved one of the cylinders in question ( Revue archeologique). 334 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. is not at all unlikely that an Oriental intaglio suggested the idea of the general arrangement, as well as of this or that minor detail ; but the gem, nevertheless, was engraved by a native artist, who put features there which he had not found in his model, granted that there was a model. Such would be the small personage with a spherical shield curved in at the sides, who hovers in mid-air ; or the women’s skirt, which, on the cylinders, never assumes the crescent-like shape above the ankle beheld on the figures of the Mycenee gems. If the engraver derived his inspiration from a foreign subject, he translated it into his own idiom. The conclusion, no matter the side we approach the subject, is invariably the same. Mycenian sculpture, like architecture, is an autonomous and original art ; it may have demanded of older civilizations the primeval idea of certain forms and the secret of certain processes, but it has already many affinities with the art of historic Greece, and is allied thereto by closer ties than to any branch of Oriental art. The sequence and successive phases through which this primitive art passed during its evolution, from the shapeless simulacra picked up in the lower strata at Troy to the elegant and complicated works executed on the eve of the Dorian invasion, remain obscure. All we can hope to do is to fix some leading marks which will enable us to roughly estimate the duration of that long evolution, and divide it into a certain number of periods, according to the distinctive characteristics of each. Of the first and second settlement at Troy, it can scarcely be said that sculpture, even in its embryo state, existed there, for the essayals of a hand trying to imitate types of the organic world are exceedingly rare. The tribes of the Cyclades, whose existence is marked by the oldest cemeteries that have been found in some of the islands, stole a march on those of the Troad. If the rendering of the living form, as we find it in their marble idols, leaves much to be desired, the essential elements are all there, a first success due, perhaps, to the ease with which marble can be worked. We know from more than one example how far the progress of art and industry among various peoples has been influenced by the employment of a fresh material. Out of a rock, docile to the tool, the inhabitants fashioned vases for domestic and orna- mental uses, along with effigies of their gods, who perhaps even then bore some of the names which now cannot be spoken Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 'y 't C without calling up to the mind a whole series of noble and charming images. Even without the treasures which the soil of Mycenae has yielded, a glance at the walls and buildings attributed to the Cyclopes would have sufficed to make us realize how vast was the difference between the island hamlets and the agglomera- tions formed around the powerful citadels of continental Greece. Nevertheless, from the graves representing the oldest Mycenae which we can ever hope to reach, no figures in the round, no stone statuettes, have been brought out except clay idols, and these are scarcely superior to the marble idols of the Cyclades. As to the amazing rudeness of the sculpture seen on the stelae which were set up above these sepultures, it is to be explained by the stubbornness of the material the artist had to his hand ; this, unlike the fine white marble of the islands, did not tempt- ingly meet him half-way. There is yet another reason why stone sculpture should have made such slow progress in Argolis, namely, the wealth of this community, the enormous part played by the precious metals, and consequently the pre-eminence of the metal-worker or goldsmith, the privileged servant of prince and noble, over every other craftsman. The metal-worker transforms the gold which trade, the chances of war, or piracy bring in abundance to the tribal chieftains, into all manner of personal ornaments, vases for the table, and weapons cunningly wrought. Gold is the principal factor of that culture ; we might almost say, in forcing somewhat the present meaning of the word, that the gold standard was the only standard known to the Mycenian community. The astonishing proficiency of the metal- worker can only be accounted for by the enormous quantity of gold which that society possessed, and the use it made of it . 1 The Trojan goldsmith was considerably more advanced than the sculptor and the potter. We have evidences that in the Cyclades he mainly worked in silver, and gained some skill in his craft ; but his decisive progress was made at Mycenae, where kings placed ingots without number at his disposal. Metal technique has resources which are unknown to wood and stone. Metal lends itself to be fused and cast ; beaten out flat or in relief with the hammer, stamped in a mould, engraved with the point, rounded into balls, lengthened into thin leaves, pulled into fine threads or 1 This is well understood by Tsoundas, Mvicijvai. 33 6 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. wire, and cut into flexible narrow strips to form every conceivable curvilinear ornament. With light, nimble fingers, the pieces thus obtained are easily joined together by soldering or riveting ; this can be so deftly done as to be almost invisible to the eye. These resources one by one are only learnt by constant practice ; and it would be difficult to over-estimate how favourably placed was the Mycenian craftsman in this particular. The opportunities of the stone-cutter were confined to carving figures in the field of a stela or decorating the gate of an acropolis ; but such works were necessarily few and far between, whereas the flow of commissions that came to the goldsmith never ceased. The tastes and magnificence of the master spurred him on to produce unremittingly, and put forth all his strength to please his employers, who would not be satisfied with the same everlasting subjects. There is no handicraft which requires longer training than this, none where a turn of the hand is of greater consequence. Hence we are led to infer that the abundance of gold in kingly castles gave rise to real guilds in the main centres. The more delicate processes, such as incrustations on metal, were perhaps learnt in the first instance of alien artisans, who had come to Argolis to improve their lot, or had been brought thither as slaves. But once the secrets and processes of the craft had been mastered, they were handed down from father to son in artisan families, each generation adding somewhat to the stock it had received. As the artisan gained more and more skill in the handling of his tools, his confidence in himself increased, and his style became broader. That he had started with geometrical drawing is shown from the fact that linear patterns are about the only ones we see on the monuments of the Cyclades ; the next step was to demand new forms of the sea fauna and flora, which the ceramist took up and continued with great zest. So too the elegant outlines of certain insects seem to have had great attractions for him ; by degrees he plucked heart of grace and introduced first the figure of superior animals, then that of man himself, into works of a better class. The silver vase representing a besieged city, daggers with hunting scenes, and not a few engraved signet- rings, were all brought out of the shaft-graves over which rose stelae with the royal chariot carved upon them. Rings, vases, and daggers, then, cannot be younger than the stelae, yet how wide the difference of execution from one group of monuments Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture. 337 to the other ! The following detail will suffice to establish the superiority of the metal-worker. We have all read in Homer of the war-chariot drawn by a team of two horses ; but only one is figured on the stelae, the other is to be understood. On the contrary, in the narrow field of the bezel of a ring, the goldsmith has succeeded in putting behind the first horse the head and croup of the second (Fig. 413). In that period the influence of the metal-worker is felt every- where. The ornaments filling the space not occupied by the image are taken from gold, silver, and bronze pieces. If in the second period in the life of the Mycenians the lions that watch over the citadel gate were endowed with a just proportion and a certain nobility of aspect, it is because the stone-carver had learnt his lesson of the goldsmith. Yet this was the same type which he had so imperfectly rendered in the least awkward of the sepulchral reliefs. Where should he have learnt how to improve his lion figures, except from those which the engraver introduced into his vases, daggers, and gems ? To the gold- smith also must be ascribed those rare bronze statuettes that make their appearance towards the close of the Mycenian period. 1 The artisans who supplied the princes with those show weapons and artistic objects which filled their treasuries employed this or that metal according to circumstances, sometimes introducing them all into one piece. Do not we see Homer calling Laerkes — whom Nestor summons to Pylos, that he may gild the horns of his oxen — (bronze-worker) and (gold-smelter) indiffer- ently ? 2 A gem-engraver is after all no more than a metal-worker, or at most his disciple and continuator ; if we allow, as seems probable, that the taste for chiselled gems became general, it follows that glyptic art developed into a separate craft, and turned out seals and personal ornaments without number. Engraving in metal led the way to intaglio work. The best representative, then, of this archaic culture is the craftsman who modelled the Vaphio goblets and certain gems ; he is the precursor of that grand art of sculpture in which Greece will excel. An intaglio from Vaphio, representing a bull attacked 1 To the few bronze statuettes which we have reproduced (Figs. 345, 349, 350, 351, 388) I have only to add a small goat of the same metal that comes from a grave at Ialysos ( Mykenische Vasen). 2 Odyssey. VOL. II. Z 338 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. by a lion (PI. XVI. 12), strikes me as even superior to the great vases near which it was found. The design is as impressive and varied as that of the vases, but more correct. Despite the small dimensions of the image, the limbs of the bull are modelled quite as cleverly as the best the goblets have to show. The rendering is somewhat dry and sinuous, and in strong contrast with the amplitude of the powerful flanks swelled out by agony. Fleshy though the sides may be, they allow us to see under the skin the ribs stretched by the effort which the animal makes to breathe, whilst the teeth of his adversary tear his back, and his claws threaten to strangle him. The convulsive movement of the head as it falls between the rigid paws, is copied from Nature herself ; he lowers it that he may avoid the deadly embrace of his terrible foe, from whom he vainly tries by a violent and desperate jerk to free himself. Of the lion we see but the top of the back ; yet we divine right well the spring which has landed him on his prey, and the voracity with which he satisfies his appetite on that back, which sinks under his weight. I very much doubt whether Grecian glyptic art in its palmiest days will turn out figures more living and realistic than these. Two more lions (PI. XVI. 6, 14) and a pair of bulls (PI. XVI. 2, 17) claim our attention for qualities of the same high order. Here, too, the design is at once fine and singularly broad. Having passed in review the march pursued by this art in its development, we are now in a position to pass a well- pondered judgment on the merits and demerits of this sculpture, such as we find it in the last days of the Mycenian period, when we see it in its perfection in the works of continental Greece, notably Peloponnesus. The result of our study is to the effect that the sculptor, even when he became most skilful, never advanced far enough to be able to thoroughly cope with the human figure. If in chiselling the sepulchral masks he honestly strove to express the shades of meaning which make up indi- vidual character, he yet failed in some respect whenever he attempted to represent the nude, the whole frame-work of the human figure. The proportion which he adopted between the different parts of the body is not correct at all points. The attachment of limb and trunk leaves much to be desired ; the limbs are too long and slender ; his most glaring fault, however, Characteristics of Mycenian Sculpture, 339 is the exaggerated narrowing of the bust above the hips. Never- theless, this very mistake shows that although his eye had seen more than there was in reality, he had observed Nature with intelligent curiosity. Like all beginners, he achieved his greatest success when he copied animals, but he was less fortunate in his presentation of man. Some of his bulls and lions, notably those which he gathered together, as it were, so as to insert them in the narrow space of a seal, hold their own against all comers. He had rather a fine intuition of the whole than a precise knowledge of detail. His portrayal of animal and human figures, despite blemishes of drawing, strike us particularly because of the dash and warmth, the sincere feeling, which he has put there. Our sculptor stands out from among all his colleagues for his taste, we might almost say his passion, for movement and variety. The bolder and franker the movement, the more unforeseen it is, the more the artist, without measuring the difficulties of the emprise, seems actually to delight and revel in attempting it. In this respect then, despite inexperience, he is the distant precursor of the great sculptors of the fifth and fourth centuries b.c. We shall have to descend very low in the series of monuments of archaic art ere we alight on specimens comparable to the best works of Mycenian sculpture, or where the free action of the body in activity is reflected and portrayed with better effect. CHAPTER X. PAINTING. We have defined the part which colours, laid on with the brush on the woodwork, especially on coatings of plaster, played in the decoration of edifices. 1 In order to illustrate our words, we have printed several specimens with purely ornamental designs, composed of straight and curvilinear lines combined in various ways, which served to enliven and heighten the aspect of the floors, walls, and perhaps the ceilings, if not of all the apartments, at least of the principal ones (Figs. 85, 206, 210-216, 229, 242; PL XIII. 2, 3). We have shown that the painter, at the early date when Thera was buried under volcanic ashes, began to be dissatisfied with geometric design alone, and looked for and found variety in leafage and flowers (Figs. 208, 209, 236), as also in certain inferior animals, such as cephalopods, the circular forms and flexible tentacles of which happily combined with those spirals dear to the Mycenian ornamentist (Fig. 237). We also hinted at the bolder flights of the painter ; his earnest efforts to clothe the walls of his reception-rooms with veritable pictures made up of great quadrupeds, including men and gods. If we have engraved rather early in this volume the fresco fragment repre- senting fully equipped warriors alongside of their horses (Pig. 238), it was with a view of enabling the reader to form some idea of the inner aspect of the palace. So scanty a piece of information, however, cannot dispense us from devoting a special study to whatever remains of these pictures, where the painter has emulated the sculptor, and like him attacked the noblest and most complex types of the living form. 1 History of Art. Painting. 34i The remains of mural paintings have all been found at Tiryns and Mycenae, and external evidence leads us to infer that they all belong to the close of the Mycenian period. The Mycenae hearth discloses as many as five different coatings of coloured stucco (Fig. 239), thus showing how often the painting had to be renewed to make good the damage caused by the smoke beaten back by the wind into a room void of chimney. 1 There existed at Tiryns and Mycenae older, and perhaps simpler, frescoes than these ; but whether they have been destroyed with the buildings they once adorned — whose materials have been re-used — or whether they have disappeared under more facings of stucco, the fact remains that no trace of them has come to light. Those fresco scraps which have miraculously escaped the universal destruction which befell ancient painting must represent the last state of the edifices of either acropolis. They were preserved from the influence of the weather by the covering of debris which was suffered to remain undisturbed after the fall of the Achaean dynasties. As in the stelae and engraved gems, here also scenes of battle and of the chase seem to have had the lion’s share. From the Mycenae megaron have come numerous stucco fragments, but much damaged by the action of the fire. They appear to have formed a great picture, representing perhaps a chariot-race or a pageant (Figs. 238, 430). With the exception of a single piece which perhaps fronted the procession, all the figures move in the same direction, from right to left. Unfortunately, the best- preserved fragments, with remaining bits of colour, only contain the lower portion of animal and human figures. The men would seem to be without shoes ; hence the strings that surround the calf of the leg may have served to fasten sandals which left the upper side of the foot exposed. Two fragments make up, one the head (Fig. 238), and the other the torso of a warrior (Fig. 430). Traces of plumes falling on the back of the neck imply a low helmet, of which we have not even the outline. The pointed beard which falls below the chin, has been met again and again in other monuments (Figs. 374, 375). The arms are bare, and the wrists encircled by a pair of bracelets. The body is covered by a tunic, with sleeves a few inches long. From a slight difference of tone we are led to infer the presence 1 History of Art. 342 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. of a cuirass or justaucorps, which was worn over the dress. All the warriors carry long spears. As far as these faded relics will enable us to judge, the artist had figured around the public room the companions-in-arms of the chieftain, those he was wont to have about him, to share both in the convivialities of the banquet and the deliberations of political import. A fragment from the neighbourhood of a house close to the south wall of the acropolis may not unlikely have belonged to a hunting-scene (Pig. 90, e). It represents three monsters carry- ing a long pole on their shoulders, which they steady with the Fig. 430. — Fragment of mural painting. right hand (Pig. 431). The extremities of the pole are not indicated ; but depending therefrom we divine heads of large game, lions, wild bulls, or stags. Our conjecture is corroborated by the authority of many gems (Pigs. 421, 8; 425, 15). 1 As in the similar portrayals seen on engraved stones, to a man’s bust and arms the painter has added the head and long ears of an ass. The mane, apparently divided into plaits, falls on the back, and a band is about the waist. The head is whole ; and on the top will be noticed a tight curl or ring, which, it will be remembered, forms the distinctive feature of the Mycenian griffin. The lower part of the body is entirely obliterated ; we cannot, therefore, even hazard a guess as to the species of 1 Milchofer has given many other examples of figures of the same nature taken from intaglios ( Anfiinge ). Painting. 'I A animal from which the painter borrowed the lower limbs of his composite type. The similar images engraved on glyptics represent a monster, now with a bird’s feet, now with the paws of a lion. But whether lion, wolf, or horse-headed, these fiends are no other than the ancestors of the satyrs and centaurs of Greek poetry. Like these they were fabled to share the thick tangle of forests with wild beasts, which they loved to capture, and whose spoils they carried into their caves. If the attribution of a hunting- Fig. 431. — Fragment of mural painting. Actual size. scene is purely conjectural as regards the fragments in question, no such doubt exists about the famous fresco which Schliemann discovered in the Tirynthian palace (Fig. 432). 1 The picture was enframed by a band, with red lines led across from side to side. Below the band, a mighty bull, painted yellow on a bluish background, is madly galloping to the left. The modelling of the body and tufts of hair is rendered by red strokes and patches of the same colour, laid on with the brush. The head is short, the eye large, round, and truculent ; it carries a pair 1 Schliemann, Tirytis. 344 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. of long horns, curved in front, and reaching as far as the frame of the picture. A man balances himself on his back, just touching the animal with his right knee and the tip of his toe, whilst he throws the other high up into the air, and holds on to the bull’s horn with his right hand ; the other is laid in front of his body. When the find was first brought out of the ruins, the man was explained to be an acrobat who shows off his agility by leaping on to the back of the animal in full career. A passage in Homer was cited in reference to it, where a clever rider is described who leads four horses at full speed, and vaults now on the back of one, now on that of another, without ever falling to the ground. 1 Others have compared our group with the en- graving seen on a Greek coin from Catania, in Sicily, and have proposed to see in the Tirynthian bull a river-god, accompanied, as on the coins, by a genii of the Satyr or Silenus family. The discovery of the Vaphio vases has given us the right, and at the same time a much simpler explanation. The bull figured on the fresco has been recognized as the animal in a semi-wild state which bold sportsmen loved to capture ; whilst the tight- fitting drawers secured by a girdle, and the horizontal bands covering the legs of the “ acrobat ” have been identified with those of the hunter who brings him down at Vaphio. Hence the inference that the theme was treated about the same time by the goldsmith, the painter, and the engraver, who made it quite the fashion (Figs. 419, 24; 425, 12). We now find no difficulty in grasping the real character and the movement which the painter has given to the hunter. The Mycenian artist frequently betrays his embarrassment how to show two figures at once in one plane, which in reality would cover each other. In such cases he does not hesitate to superimpose vertically, bodies which in his model are horizontally juxtaposed. 2 But in the mind of the contemporary spectator, the hunter is running in front of the bull. Confirmed habit predisposed him to accept without demur this childish convention. Besides mural paintings, which served to cover the walls of the apartments with a brilliant and historic veil, there were also what we should call easel or movable pictures. In a room of the house at Mycenae near which was found the fresco with 1 Iliad. 2 F. Marx, Der Slier von Tiryns. Fig. 432. — Fresco from Tiryns. Two-thirds of actual size. Schliemann. Painting. 347 the three ass-headed monsters, was also picked up a tablet of agglomerated chalk, about two centimetres thick (Fig. 4 33), which had never been let into a wall. We infer its having been placed on some conspicuous place or projection of the wall, from the fact that the edge is adorned throughout by a pattern of alternating red and white stripes. The external face is enclosed by a double border, within which there are traces of three figures painted yellow on a blue ground. The painting is shockingly mutilated ; yet enough remains to make us realize the interest which attaches to the subject. The arrangement of the image was symmetrical. In the centre we divine an idol similar to that of a Mycenae gold ring (Fig. 418). The figure is recogniz- able from the huge spherical shield, curved in at the sides, which entirely covers the body. The feet are not visible, and the head is indicated by evanescent vestiges. Left of the place once occupied by the figure are streamers : hair floating in the wind, or the long plumes of a helmet. One of the arms is stretched westwards, and may have held a spear. To the right is an altar, and behind it a woman, and, judging from several bits of colour, we may assume that the design was repeated on the left. The shape of the altar is known to us from other monuments (PL XIV.; tail-piece, Chap. VI.; Fig. 367; PL XVI. 11, 20; Fig. 421, 17). The woman stands upright, both hands raised above the altar. The upper part of the body is covered by a close-fitting garment, whilst sweeping down from the waist is an ample skirt trimmed with several tucks, which detach themselves black from the yellow ground. We have here proof positive that figures thus accoutred are nowhere to be supposed as having their bosom exposed, no matter how prominent the breasts may be. To the left is a second woman in the same attitude, before another altar. The only remaining portions are the bust and the head, bound with a fillet or diadem. The face and neck are painted in white. The black selvage around the neck of the yellow bodice shows exactly how far the dress extended. Although, on account of the poor state of the fragment, many details escape us, the general drift of the picture cannot be mistaken. The scene depicted here is analogous to that of many intaglios (Figs. 418 ; 421, 23 ; 422). The two women are offering their homage, mayhap a sacrifice, to an armed-god, Ares or a primitive Zeus. The picture, being a movable one, has been 348 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. considered by some in the light of an importation, but we think on very insufficient reasons. The same blue ground, the same colour and technique, and even accessories, occur on the wall- paintings at Tiryns ; whilst the god with the huge shield, the beflounced women, and the profiles of the altar have been met again and again on other monuments of Mycenian art. The picture was doubtless intended to recall some religious ceremony of the local worship, and painted by the same artists who decorated the megarons. It was probably set up in a prominent place about the room, and designed to place the owners of the house wherein it was discovered under the protection of the god of battles. With these populations, the brush was not only employed to decorate the walls of buildings, but of every available expanse of surface. With it thousands of clay vases were covered with designs, including those stone vases which the isles of the Archipelago turned out in vast quantities. Of these, not a few specimens have found their way to Argolis. Thus, on the fragment of a sandstone jar from the Hera^um, the point of the brush has traced the outlines of a man with a necklace (Fig. 434). 1 The dress is only indicated by a broad band which must have formed the upper border of the tunic. Of all these paintings, the Tirynthian fresco is that which, owing to its state of preservation and the nature of the theme, permits us to judge of the habits of the painter and his qualities of workman- ship. As to the figures and patterns having been produced from other designs, this is an idea which, as has been well observed, is inadmissible. The eye of the painter was his only guide ; he drew the image on the wall itself, even though he had to trace and correct his outlines more than once. The ground of the frescoes has peeled off in many places, and revealed the remains of an older sketch over which a coating of blue had been spread. The bull in the first instance was somewhat longer, and as a consequence of it the tail stood farther back and the fore-feet were higher than they are now ; but the artist saw his mistake, and outlined the figure three times over until he was satisfied. The fact that the painter drew his outlines upon a damp surface implies a singularly free and sure hand, together with a precise knowledge of the appropriate character to be given to each form 1 Athenische Mittheilungen. Fig. 433. — Coloured plaster. Actual size. Painting 35i which he introduced into his pictures. These are points that long practice alone would secure to him. As to his qualities and shortcomings, they are those of the sculptor. What fasci- nated him most was movement of the liveliest, aye, of the most violent description. The attitude of the bull is seized with great justness, but that of the hunter is not so happily rendered. In both instances, the ruling idea of the artist was to show how the body elongates and the limbs stretch as if moved by springs, when the animal is at full speed. His fault is to have over- Fig. 434. — Painting on fragment of sandstone jar. Actual size. stepped the mark ; the figure stoops too much forward, and one of the legs is unduly raised in the air ; whilst the runner looks as if he must fall to the ground head-foremost. As on the Vaphio vases, here too the animal is better drawn than the man. But the drawing of the bull itself is by no means faultless, the head being too small for the deep chest and ample sides. Despite these blemishes, the group reflects honour on its author. His technique is more expeditious and less concerned with detail than that of the worker in metal ; but like him he is thoroughly in earnest, and has a genuine feeling for life. CHAPTER XI. INDUSTRIAL ARTS. Pottery. Among the bequests which primitive communities have left us, the largest place must be given to objects depending upon what we have called industrial arts. Some societies, those that succeeded each other in and around the citadel of Troy for example, reveal themselves to us by monuments of this class alone. In the collection of objects that reach us from the oldest strata of the mound at Hissarlik, there is scarcely one which has anything to say to art pure and simple, e.g. that which is not content to administer to the most pressing wants of man, but impresses on the material it employs forms each one of which is the outward expression of thought or of a particular feeling. The main, nay, almost the sole interest which so rudimentary a plastic art offers to the historian, resides in the fact that it informs him of the beginnings and earliest progress of indispensable industries. It is not in the nature of art to attain to any degree of power and variety, except in regions where practical knowledge is suffi- ciently advanced, and the material to hand of a kind which may be easily worked. Too great an effort in this direction is sure to paralyze its inspiration. Art is prefaced by the handicrafts ; it can only unfold and grow where technique and all it implies are already widely diffused. We cannot, therefore, totally ignore productions that are the offspring of manual labour. On the other hand, we do not propose to dwell so long on this study as when Egypt, Chaldaea, and Assyria were in question. Wherever the manifold activity Pottery. 353 of the painter and sculptor multiplies without pause works in which the interpretation of the living, especially the human form, is manifestly original, the artisan never fails to imitate the artist. He adapts and reproduces the interpretation and types of the latter in his most carefully wrought pieces. We find, therefore, everywhere a reduced image, the small change, so to speak, of the creations of the nobler art ; be it in the furniture, pottery, or ornament. It even frequently happens that objects of current fabrication are almost the only information which help us to judge of this or that national tendency. This, owing to the chances of the excavations, is now scantily represented in the monuments of the higher plastic art. Thus it comes to pass that mutilated or nearly lost series can be completed or restored from ornaments which the tool of a craftsman distributed on the handle of a spoon and the hilt of a weapon, or from the decoration which his brush has laid on the walls of a light bowl of clay. The case is different here, where the treatment of the noblest organic types did not assume much importance until the end of the period about which we are busy. Just at the moment when the effect of that progress would have re-acted on industry in all its fullness, invasion and conquest scattered the artisans upon whom this influence would have been exercised to the four winds of heaven. On the other hand, the crafts could not benefit from art in those centuries during which the tribes that occupied the western coasts of Asia Minor and the isles of the HiPfean carried on their obscure existence and activity, for the simple reason that art was as yet unrevealed. Hence when the artisan, in obedience to the instinct which awakes in man even before he has emerged from barbarism, strove to adorn his handiwork, all he could do by way of orna- mentation was to form patterns based on a combination of lines, or, following the example of Nature, to imitate very simple organic forms. The number of such combinations is very small, for the lower forms of the physical world lend themselves to but few movements. The result of this is, that for the greatest part of the initial age of which we are endeavouring to present a general view, the decoration on industrial productions has an appear- ance of richness which is all on the surface. Even where it shows itself most ambitious, it can easily be reduced, through analysis, to an exceedingly small number of elements that never VOL. II. A A 354 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. vary. The working out of these involves the least possible variety ; so that the ornamentist falls into unending repetitions, which the slight changes introduced from one piece to another, bearing solely on detail and arrangement, do little to improve. It would be sheer loss of time to stop on the way in order to point out the varieties on any one design. We will confine ourselves to defining the principle of this decoration, showing, by a few well-chosen examples, how it was applied to the different materials which this industry employed to satisfy the demands of societies that, as they became richer and more settled in their habits, called forth greater proficiency and ingeniousness on the part of the craftsman. The pottery of the primitive period is represented, in the museums of Europe, by thousands of vases and countless frag- ments. This earthenware, which until lately was passed over by archaeologists with scarcely a word of mention, has now been submitted to minute study, and the most interesting types have been reproduced in works specially devoted to this branch of in- quiry. Thus, Schliemann in his llios , published hundreds of vases which he had dug up at Troy; whilst in the plates of MM. Fouque and A. Dumont will be found nearly all the pieces that have come from Thera. 1 Again, the collections of MM. Furt- wangler and Loeschke represent the works one by one of a more advanced stage of industry, which have been discovered up to 1886. These several publications supply us with a real treasury of Mycenian ceramics, in the sense formerly attached to the word. 2 This is not the place to enter into any detailed account of the subject ; antiquities of this class have been exhumed in such prodigious quantities since the publication of the Mykenische Vasen , that, were they printed, they would swell out that learned catalogue to double its present size. Accordingly, we shall content ourselves with pointing out the march followed by the art of the potter in its development around the zFgean, placing before the reader some typical specimens, in order that he may judge of the forms which it created and the successive modes of decoration which it adopted, between the distant age when the dweller of 1 A. Dumont and J. Chaplain, Lcs ceramiques de la Grece propre. 2 A. Furtwangler and J. Loeschke, Mykenische Thongefdsse. Mykenische Vasen. Pottery, 355 these lands set himself for the first time to model an earthen pot, and the epoch nearing historic days, towards the end of the Mycenian culture, when ornate pottery was manufactured. Considered as a whole, primitive pottery may be classed under three heads. The first comprises monochrome earthen- ware, which again subdivides itself into two sections : vases which retain the natural tone of the clay, and vases made black by a peculiar mode of baking. The paste of this pottery is often very impure, mixed with shells and crystals of quartz ; the external surface, however, is smoothed over with the polisher (Fig. 435). The use of the lathe was already known in that period, for it has served to fashion most of the pieces. Some few have Fig. 435. — Troy. Flint polishers. Actual size. incised patterns, traced with the style on the moist clay. They are of the simplest description, a mere rudimentary combination of lines. The shapes are bulbous, not unlike our domestic iron utensils, and present many varieties. They bear a strong family likeness to one another, owing to the fact that they were all made for common uses. We cannot be surprised, then, to see this same style of earthenware manufactured side by side with pottery exhibiting a more scientific technique. Luxury can please itself, and indulge in fancies of all kinds as to forms and shapes, but such licence is denied to work-a-day life. Remains of this common earthenware have been found mixed with potsherds of painted vases, on the site of cities where the ceramist wooed ornament with the greatest success. 356 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. The intervention of the brush characterizes the vases of the second class. The designs are painted either in dark red, brown, deep violet, or white, on a yellow or light red ground ; but the colours are always dull. Geometric ornament reigns supreme ; yet there is a tendency towards more complicated arrangements, and a marked inclination for curvilinear lines. Henceforward effort is made to copy the living form, and models, for the most part, are sought among inferior animals. Many of the bulging shapes, of which the oldest monochrome pottery is entirely com- posed, are continued in these vases ; but vessels of more elegant Fig. 436. — Broken pottery, with holes for suspension. Actual size. outline begin to appear alongside of them. The paste has been more carefully prepared ; the walls become thinner, and the vase itself consequently lighter ; in this respect some of the pieces approach those of Greek ceramics. Nearly all the vases of this class have been built on the wheel (PI. XX.). The height of the art of the Mycenian ceramist is reached with the vases of the third class. All are turned on the wheel, carefully polished, and the external surface overspread with a lustrous covering of various shades of red, brown, or black. To the glaze with which these vases are covered corresponds a notable change in the forms and shapes. These become taller and finer, and some of the jars and jugs are outlined with Pottery. 357 rare elegance. The decoration, too, has become more and more varied. The painter still delights in complicated arrangements of lines, scrolls, and spirals, but he has none the less greatly enriched his repertory with new forms, chiefly derived from the living world (PI. XXI.). Vases, however, in which the human figure is introduced, belong to the closing days of the Mycenian period. We will take the coarse, thick-walled monochrome pottery of Troy as subject-matter of this part of our study ; in the first Fig. 437. — Jug. Half-size. place because it is the only kind which the oldest strata have yielded, and secondly because it is found plentifully, without change of shape or form, in the upper layers, where it is mixed with potsherds of a different style of earthenware. The coarsest fragments belonged to huge vases, and were collected in the virgin soil of the oldest bed of rubbish. These wares are often imperfectly baked ; the paste is tender, easily scratched with the nail, and of loose texture, which detaches itself in particles. They appear to have been moulded, not turned. There is no trace of a handle. The potter had not yet learnt how to fix it to the bodies whilst the clay was moist, or to endow it 358 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. with the needful solidity and size for the hand to get through. They soon found out the inconvenience of carrying a vessel supported from the bottom, and they had. recourse to the following expedient. Additional thickness was given to the wall of the jar on three or four points below the lip, where horizontal or vertical holes were pierced, so as to admit of its being slung on a small cord and thus carried on the shoulder or the head, or hung on a Fig. 438. — Amphora. Actual size. hook (Fig. 436). The few specimens found whole are very like our common pots and pans (Fig. 66). Nevertheless, Schliemann publishes, as belonging to this bed, some jars which are provided with handles separately made. 1 The second layer introduces us to a much greater variety of shapes. Some of the most common types are printed below. P'irst comes a small jar without a spout for pouring off the liquid, whose thick w T alls and moulded lip rendered it unsuitable for a 1 Schliemann, Ilios. Pottery. 359 drinking vessel. It probably belongs to the early days of the settlement (Fig. 437). The paste has been smoked black. This, and a small globulous pot with vertical holes and projecting ears in place of handles, were made with the hand. The string for suspension was passed in and out of the four holes (Fig. 438). The vase tapers below, and was not meant to stand erect. There is an evident attempt to decorate the piece which can scarcely be called successful, in the shape of very irregular circles, which surround the body and are continued on the neck ; between them Fig. 439. — Troy. Jug. Actual size. Fig. 440. — Troy. Jug. Actual size. are chevrons, vertical strokes, and circular cavities. The hollow lines are not filled, as on certain black wares, with white earth, to bring out the outline. Both shapes and forms are clumsy in the extreme. .Some of the vases, though quite plain, exhibit a much more elegant contour ; the clay has been well sifted, and this has allowed the walls to be kept thinner. The use of the lathe is visible in pottery which becomes more and more light to the eye and hand. There is a decided improvement in the attachment of the handles (Fig. 439) ; the jars are more carefully made, and furnished with a spout which gains in length what it loses in thickness, so as to admit of its pouring off the liquid easily (Fig. 441). Elsewhere we find wide, open-mouthed jugs (Fig. 440), Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 360 either with a single (Fig. 442) or a double handle (Fig. 443). The surface of one of these is covered with red dots, made by the potter in trying to remove the traces which the smoke of the kiln had left on it (Fig. 444). 1 We call attention to a style of vase of which countless examples were collected at Hissarlik, Schliemann alone having dug up more than two hundred. 2 The shape had a long existence, and is met as late as the /Eolian city. It resembles an old-fashioned Fig. 441. — Troy. Jug. Actual size. champagne glass. It is funnel-shaped, and tapers into a pointed or slightly convex base, upon which the glass could not stand. It only admits of being laid down horizontally ; the drinker, there- fore, was obliged to empty it first, holding both handles. These are long, curved, and fixed to the body some way below the lip and at the bottom (Fig. 445). Schliemann is correct in recogniz- ing in this goblet the beiroLS d[A, for the name must have been applied to other and differently-shaped cups, to every one, in fact, provided with two handles. 2 As already remarked, such cups are found from the second stratum at Hissarlik up to the layer which corresponds with the end of the Mycenian period. The vases of this series Fig. 442. — Jug. Actual .size. are distinguished by a great variety of outline and by the position of the handles. We should weary the reader by attempting to represent, even with a unique specimen, each of the principal types of Trojan ceramics. Let us at any rate point out a dis- tinctive characteristic which returns again and again in the productions of this industry ; we allude to the more or less short handles or ears which facilitated prehension (Fig. 244). 3 To this 1 Odyssey. 2 It is also Helbig’s opinion (Das homcrische Epos'). Schliemann and Helbig have shown that the same drinking-cup is indifferently called by Homer, according to the requirements of the verse, fit nag dfityiKuneWov, Se7 rag, K-vneXXov, and d\ei(To%’. The epithet a /u^uiTuv, “double-eared,” that is to say “double-handled,” is often affixed to aXurror, the better to define it. 3 SCHUEMANN, IlioS. Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. 362 should be added the quaint fashion of joining vases together, whether jugs, or cups in pairs, as at Cyprus. 1 Short handles, fashioned in the mass, were discarded as soon as the potter knew how to model or stamp handles in separate pieces. The Trojan ceramist lacked the resources which colour alone can supply to enliven the surface of his wares. His efforts in this domain were confined to incised figures, chiefly borrowed from the living form. We have already adverted to those vases in the shape of a porcupine or swine (Figs. 383-385) ; but what Fig. 443. - Double-handled vase. Actual size. tempted him above all was the portrayal of the characteristic forms of woman. Here, he is content with tracing on the body of the vessel two cones which vaguely recall the salience of the breasts ; there, dots set close together around the neck to suggest a woman’s necklace (Fig. 446). The imitation is often carried further, when the vase presents the rudiments of a human face, along with eye- brows and nose. The mouth is rarely indicated (Fig. 447), but the breasts are always distinctly drawn ; the vulva and navel, however, much more seldom. A necklace and scarf to cover 1 Sc H LI EM ANN, IlioS. Pottery. 363 the bosom serve further to indicate the character of the image (Figs. 244, 369). On one vase the arms are even crossed in front on the body. 1 The most complicated piece is a vase which represents a woman carrying a tureen on her head, and pressing against her breast a double-handled cup, which she holds up with both hands. Two rows of beads are about her neck (P ig. 448). The incised style of ornament which we see on the whorls shows a great stride forward (Figs. 54, 56, 449). True, some are quite plain (Fig. 54), but the vast majority of specimens offer Fig. 444. — Double-bandied vase. Actual size. patterns of the most varied kind, crosses, squares, rays starting from the centre, fancifully broken lines, twigs, chevrons, dots, stars, and the like. Animal forms — insects, porpoises, and quadrupeds — are rudely figured on some of these whorls. 2 We also find a ball similarly ornamented ; but, unlike the fusaioles, it has no hole in the middle. These when decorated must have served as ornaments. We cannot make good our hypothesis as far as Troy is concerned ; but we have evidences from graves discovered in Italy, where 1 SCHLIEMANN, IllOS. 2 Ibid. 3 6 4 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. the position of the fusaioles clearly indicates that they served to ornament the dead . 1 The ceramic art of prehistoric Thera, ere its hamlets were engulfed by volcanic eruption, is in advance of the Trojan earthen- ware. Nevertheless, it still exhibits holes for suspension in place of handles, showing that the dawn of art had not long been left behind. Several shapes, however, are common to both styles of Fig. 445. — Depas amphikupellon. Half-size. vases ; such would be those jars furnished with protuberant appendages in imitation of a woman’s breasts. Nevertheless, those strange shapes which we meet at Hissarlik are absent at Thera ; the prevailing forms seen here approximate those which the potter of the classic age will prefer ; whilst colour, which makes its appearance for the first time, opens a new path to ceramic art, and places the Thera vases on a very high level 1 Gesell, Fouiiles dans la necropole de Vulci. Pottery. 365 alongside of it. Here the painted vase may be said to have been brought into being. In the hands of the painters and ceramists of Chalcis, Corinth, and above all Athens, it will become a work of art of the highest order. Although the clay is still impure, the proportion of vases made on the wheel is far greater than at Troy ; they are recognizable from the circles which the potter made with the finger or a stick whilst the paste was still moist, as he turned the spindle and Fig. 447. — Fragment of vase. shaped the clay with his right hand, seated on a low stool. He has become so skilful in handling the clayey mass as to be able to turn out huge vessels with ease. We have a proof of this in a fragment which at first was taken for a twisted column ; but in Mycenian Art. 366 Primitive Greece : place of the ascending spire which characterizes that species of support we have seven superimposed toruses (Fig. 450). It can only be a base, and from the cup hollowed in the upper cylinder we divine its having supported an enormous vase, in the shape of a cylinder or inverted cone, proportional to the pedestal. There are other instances in Mycenian ceramics, but on a smaller scale, of very similar supports. Apart from vases of abnormal size, such as this base and the great pithoi or casks, almost all the vases are decorated with the brush in brown, red, and bluish white. The colours are generally dull. Vases exhibiting red designs had the surface overspread with a yellow grey slip which served to bring out the vivid tint of the form (PI. XX. 1). The engobe or slip was obtained, as already stated, by dipping the vases in a yellow or brown bath, which coloured the surface inside and out. The prevailing patterns are very simple ; annular bands running round the body, neck, or foot ; squares arranged in con- MY C E N IAN POTTERY PAINTED AND UNGLAZED VASES Fig. 449- — Troy. Fusaioles. Actual size. Pottery. 3 6 9 tinuous rows interspersed with dots ; volutes, undulating lines, rings and spirals intersecting one another. Vegetable forms are by no means rare. Leaves arranged into graceful chaplets, run, here on the body of a cylindrical vase, there inside a dish ; whilst flowers, perhaps irises, have been met on the mural paintings (Figs. 208, 209) of Tiryns. Occasionally animals are also introduced. A spherical vase shows us a goat or doe at full speed (PI. XX. 1), and on a fragment there is an animal of the stag species amidst shrubs. 1 Another painted vase is Fig. 450. — Base of vase. Height, 35 c. ; diameter at the base, 20 c. given by Dumont, on which birds were probably reproduced , all that remains, however, are some long feathers from the tail. 2 “ The several decorative forms which we have enumerated present a certain unity. We see the most widely-opposed designs united together on the same piece. Similarities of make, proving community of origin, appear in all these vases. The taste they reveal is already instinct with refinement, a sincere striving after proportion and symmetry. With very simple elements they suc- ceed in forming combinations of a somewhat elaborate character. 1 A. Dumont, Les ceramiques, 2 Ibid. B B VOL. II. 370 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. . . . These works are primitive ; but they testify to a curious mind, already on the alert, longing to invent new forms, and undoubtedly well gifted.” 1 The following question naturally arises : was the pottery which has been brought out from under volcanic ashes of native make, or taken there by some trading and industrial people that would have forestalled the Phoenicians by some centuries ? Difficult though it may be to advance even a conjecture on the name of the people that fulfilled perhaps such a function, the fact that no potter’s clay is to be found at Thera is not without significance ; what pottery is used in the island at the present day is imported from Milos or Anaphos ; but the geolo- gist is aware that it was not so in ancient times, ere the island was torn asunder by the eruption. We have said on what sure grounds M. Fouque rested his theory, as to the vases in question having been manufactured on the spot. He even thinks that he can put his finger, on the map, whence the potters got the requisite plastic clay . 2 This piece of information is not without importance : it pre-disposes the historian to picture to himself the coasts and islands of the Archipelago as inhabited, about the time when Thera was partly destroyed, by tribes which the sea placed in constant communication with one another, none of which, how- ever, held a sufficiently commanding position, to provide for the needs of less-favoured tribes, or have its productions ac- cepted on a wide area. Every district, whether on the mainland or in the isles interposing between Europe and Asia, had its local manufactory. These assumed more or less importance according to the fertility of the soil or the materials placed at the disposal of the artisan. Paros, Naxos, and the adjacent islands have an abundance of marble. Here, owing to the ease with which the rock can be worked, sculpture had its being. But along these coasts, marble served to fashion objects other than idols ; of it were also made vases of great capacity, which had this advantage over clay wares, that they required no baking and would last longer. In this way is explained why the art of the potter remained so long stationary in the islands. Like those of the marble figurines, the shapes of the baked wares from Antiparos are all heavy, and the decorations so 1 A. Dumont, Les e'er antiques. 2 See ante, Vol. I. p. 148. Pottery. 37 extremely simple, as to look older than either the Trojan or the Thera style of pottery. They show no painting of any kind, and no attempt is made to imitate vegetable or animal forms, whether engraved or in relief; all we see is the herring- bone pattern, 1 traced with the nail or a pointed tool. Holes for suspension appear in place of handles. The patterns incised on the island-fusaioles are less elaborate than on the corre- sponding examples from Troy. A single tomb at Amorgos has yielded no less than five hundred of these whorls ; but all are plain. Some specimens, however, reach us from Melos on which the style has traced an ornament composed of a series of chevrons. 2 On the other hand, vast numbers of marble vases have been exhumed from these graves ; the shapes they exhibit are not without elegance, and recall those of the Trojan Fig. 451. — Stone jar. Height, 9 c. and Thera ceramics. Such would be a small jar of grey marble ; the craftsman has utilized a dark vein that runs through it to form a horizontal band around the body (Fig. 451) ; this gives the vase the air of being painted. Elsewhere he appears to have been inspired by metal-work, notably for two boxes (pyxides); the one discovered at Amorgos, 3 and the other at Melos (Fig. 452). The ornament is the same in both ; it consists of scrolls arranged, like metallic wire, along the sides and the top of the box. The resemblance to a bronze piece is all the greater that one of the boxes is dark green, and the second deep grey. The interest of the specimen which we print below resides in the central design on one of the faces representing a house with a double-sloped roof. The fine hatched lines seen above the slanting beams which form the loft represent a bed of rushes 1 Bent, Researches among the Cyclades {Journal of Hellenic Studies ). 2 Dummler, Athenische Mittheilu7igen. 3 Dummler, Mittheilungen von den griechischen Inseln. 372 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. thickly stacked. Nothing could well be more simple than a cup from Amorgos (Fig. 453) ; advance is shown in the next piece from the same place (Fig. 454). It is a stone spoon furnished with a ring, also of stone, into which was inserted a wood or bone handle. In order to preserve the spoon, which has got notched around the edge, a narrow band of silver has been put around it. If the employment of marble was no inconsiderable factor in retarding the development of the ceramic art among these Fig. 452. — Stone box. Munich Museum. Length, 12 c. isles, in the end it none the less improved its methods. Thus the necropolis at Amorgos shows a decided progress on that of Antiparos. 1 The pottery is still very coarse, and its sole orna- ment is composed of incised lines ; but by its side painted vases make their appearance. Most of the single pieces, it must be owned, are most simple and of no great variety of form, and not a few have tubular holes instead of handles. When these occur, they are narrow and clumsy, and not frankly detached from the body. Despite traces of inexperience, which I have pointed 1 Dummler, Athenische Mittheilungen. Pottery. 373 out, the introduction of colour to enliven the best-executed vases shows a notable change in the habits of the ceramist. Hence we note with some surprise that his repertory is poorer than that of his colleague of Thera ; wholly composed of the simplest combinations of geometric patterns, chevrons, lozenges opposed to each other at the apex, vertical or slanting strokes, crosses, bands running round the vase at different heights, and the like. Occasionally the neck and body of the vase are decorated by what we take to be a very free and conventional rendering of leaves. Animal forms are conspicuously absent. The status of these islands was not calculated to forward the march of industry. With the advent of the Achaean dynasties, however, whose wealth and exploits were sung by the Epic bards, affairs took a different turn. Centuries before the erection of the walls of Tiryns, Mycenae, and Orchomenos, around which Fig. 453. — Stone cup. Diameter, 95 c. Fig. 454. — Stone spoon. Total length, 55 c. were gathered troops of dependants and slaves, small groups had been settled there whose handicrafts were about on a level with those of Antiparos. The result of Schliemann’s excavations at Tiryns has established the fact that the site had been occupied ere the Cyclopes cast a wall around the rock . 1 Not only did Schliemann come upon the foundation walls of the earliest settlement, but he also found stone vases and rude hand-made pottery, slackly baked. The clay wares are not painted ; what ornament there is has been moulded on shapes of the simplest description. Some of the vases, however, before they went into the kiln, were immersed in a coloured bath which changed the natural tone of the clay. The dawn of coloured decoration appears on a vase with white lines. Idols, whether of marble or clay, are inexpressibly coarse. The excavations in Argolis have re- vealed nothing to fill up the gap between this primitive pottery and that of the Mycenian shaft-graves. The biggest and most remarkable vases, painted in dead colours, came out of these 1 Schliemann, Tiryns. 374 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. sepultures. They represent the highest effort of the fabric whose productions make up our second class. Vases of this style are worthily represented by a tinted specimen from the sixth grave, which we reproduce (PI. XX. 3). 1 The piece was broken into so many bits as to make a restoration impossible. On the light red ground, which is carefully polished, the brush has outlined a griffin in brown. White was used to paint the body and the eye. The wing, which was attached to the back of the neck, is almost entirely obliterated. The vase was spherical in shape, and must have closely resembled the annexed Fig. 455. — Mycena*. Vase from Tomb I. One-fourth. example, which we engrave as standing at the tail end of this ceramic art (Fig. 455). The spout is very short, and the attach- ment of the handle to the body clumsy in the extreme. Broad bands surround the body ; the spirals seen on the shoulder, like those we have met on stone vases, are imitated from metal- work (Fig. 452). About the neck are protuberances which bring to mind the similar appendages of the Trojan and island pottery. Dull-coloured fragments of terra-cotta have only been found, either in the Mycence shaft-graves, or the lowest beds of rubbish of the town itself, or the acropoles of Tiryns, Daulis, Orchomenos, 1 Our plate is a reduction of PI. VIII. of Mykenische Thongeftisse. For reasons of size we were obliged to restrict our choice to such of the fragments that have been pieced together to represent the griffin. Pottery. 375 /Egina, and Athens. They are comparatively rare in comparison with the countless potsherds of lustrous ware representing a later style of pottery. With the introduction of new processes ceramic art acquired a development which was at once rapid and ex- tensive. Forms and shapes became more gorgeous, varied, and interesting. As far as we can see, there is nothing in the terra-cottas we have passed in review which greatly differs from the fragments Fig. 456.— Pitcher from Ialysos. Height, 195 c. collected by us in Asia and Egypt . 1 The decorations on the vases of apparently Aegean fabric offer greater variety than on the scanty terra-cotta fragments that reach us from Anterior Asia. In both instances, however, the colours employed are always dull, and the mode of applying them is precisely the same. A great improvement became apparent in the external aspect of the vases with the introduction of a glaze ; this, on being fired, imparted greater splendour to the tone of the ground and of the painted figures. This style of pottery was not perfected in a day, nor 1 History of Art. 376 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. did it preserve the same level of excellence throughout its term of existence. We cannot, without infringing on the limits within which we wish to confine ourselves, divide the lustrous vases into four groups , 1 as specialists have done, but will consider the whole series as forming but one class. The two first sections comprise pottery exhibiting new methods in the decorative scheme. The paste is gritty and coarse, and the ground and designs lack brilliancy. The third group represents the perfection of the art ; the paste is pure and of a fine texture ; the walls are thin, and Fig. 457. — Amphora from Ialysos. Height, 43 c. the yellow tone of the ground is of a beautiful warm colour. The tint of the decorations ranges from pale yellow to darkest brown ; certain details are painted in white. The colours are true in tone, a quality they owe to the intense heat to which the vases have been subjected (PI. XXI.). Most of the vases yielded by the Mycenae graves, and almost all those that have come from the sepulchres at Nauplia, Menidi, Spata, and Ialysos, belong to this group. The fabrication of polished pottery, then, extends from the day when the graves of the slab-circle were 1 Mykenische Vasen. Pottery 377 built, down to the time when cupola-buildings became general throughout Eastern Greece. That many generations went on making it is further implied by the prodigious number of frag- ments of this ware found all over the /Egean. Moreover, the unequivocal differences to be observed in the designs and execution could only have been produced slowly and by degrees, e.g. during the lapse of a long time. Then decadence fell upon the art. Like the fortunes of the Achaean dynasties in their decline, Fig. 458. — Stirrup-handled amphora. Ialysos. Height, 23 c. ground and figures — everything — grow pale on the vase. The grounds, instead of their former warm deep tone, are of a light dirty red or olive green, and the painted designs grow dull and confused. Fragments of this pottery, polished within and without, are especially collected at Mycenae, and the unmistakable falling off in the style and workmanship permits us to read as in an open book the gradual decay and impoverishment of the community. Such differences, however, can hardly be detected away from the vases themselves. The majority of the pieces 378 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Ai> which we shall place under the eye of the reader or describe, are taken from what MM. Furtwangler and Loeschke term the “ third style.” Lustrous or polished pottery offers greater variety ; it is more finely shaped and carefully executed than either monochrome or dull-coloured earthenware. Spherical forms still obtain, but they have lost somewhat of their former clumsiness. The com- pressed body, the graceful curve of the handle, the elongation of Fig. 459. — Cypriote amphora. Height, 20 c. Fig. 460. — Pilgrim’s bottle. Ialysos. Height, 27 c. the neck, the wide-open orifice, impart an air ot elegance to the vase which is pleasing to the eye (Pig. 456). Now the amphora makes its appearance ; it is distinguished by a long, egg-shaped body, a near approach to an inverted cone, a pointed base and cylindrical neck, and two short handles rising from the shoulder ; a shape, in fact, admirably calculated to stand wear and tear (Fig. 457)- The amphora frequently assumes great dimensions, and is provided with handles of corresponding size and solidity. Now, too, appears for the first time a type peculiar to Mycenian ceramics; we allude to the “stirrup-handled” or “false-necked Pottery. 379 amphora” (. Bugelkannen ), 1 either with a single (Figs. 166, 191) or a double neck (Fig. 458). The real neck occurs at the side, through which the liquid is introduced into the vase and poured off. Such vases were probably intended to hold perfumes for exportation ; the precious liquid would gurgle to the last drop through the lateral orifice. We may consider as a variety of double-handled amphorae, vases of globular shape, with cylindrical foot turned separately (Fig. 459). Sometimes the spherical shape of the vase is compressed, and the base flat and circular ; at other times the form is that of a pilgrim’s bottle, a form which Fig. 461. — Crooked jar. Attica. Height, 13 c. found much favour with the Cypriote potter, and was obviously suggested by a gourd, which it closely resembles. It is found with or without a handle (Fig. 460). In the forms hitherto described, the main axis of the vase is parallel to the vertical, forming a more or less open angle. Such would be the specimen (Fig. 461), where the arching of the handle corresponds to the curving in of the neck and shoulder. Of all the shapes seen in Mycenian pottery, the first place must be given to a jug preserved in the Borely collection at Marseilles. 1 English archaeologists employ, now the German term, now the English paraphrase “false-necked,” to this style of amphorae. We found a stirrup-handled vase in Caria ; but the question may be asked whether the whole of Carian pottery is not of Mycenian manufacture. Primitive Greece: Mvcenian Art. 380 Its elegant, charming contour cannot fail to strike the beholder (F'ig. 477). On seeing it some ten years ago amidst the many objects collected by Clot- Bey in Egypt, I at first felt somewhat embarrassed as to its origin ; but on examining at closer quarters the character of the decoration, i. e. the brown black paint, and above all the design, position, and mode of attachment of the handle, my doubts fell away one by one. That we have here a very clever and faithful reproduction of metal-work must be obvious to everybody. 1 Recipients covered all over with small holes have been recognized as chafing-dishes. Vases of this class, Fig. 462. — Chafing-dish. Ialysos. Height, 18 c. though unpainted, were carefully made ; whilst the feet, three in number, shaped like paws, and the protuberances scattered over the surface, impart to the vessel a certain degree of originality (Fig. 462). They were probably used in funerary ceremonies to burn strong perfumes, so as to minimize the effect of smells exhaling from the vaults, when these were re-opened to let in fresh bodies. The next specimen, in the shape of a basket, with a band of spirals round the shoulder, is also three-footed (F'ig. 463). Ialysos sends us a painted, well-executed vase, which is funnel-shaped (Fig. 464). Some, with small handles, 1 M. Furtwangler was the first who published this vase, with a notice, in Arch. Anzeiger, 1893. Pottery, 38i are of the nature of mugs (Fig. 465) ; others are rather tall cups, with a long handle arching over the lip (Fi g. 466), and in all likelihood served to draw the wine from the crater. The last of this division is a goblet with a long stem and two handles ; in shape not unlike a champagne glass. It doubtless was brought out and sent round the board at festive banquets (Fig. 467). These few types suffice to show that the Mycenian ceramist had a refined taste, and was by no means destitute of the Fig. 463. — Three-footed vase. Height of Fig. 464. — Funnel-shaped vase, handle, 25 c. Height, 38 c. inventive faculty. Any one may judge for himself of the truth of our words by turning to MM. Furtwanglers and Loeschke’s plate, where will be found, on a reduced scale, the leading forms which they met on their path. The plate contains as many as 120 specimens, and they cite others for which they could find no room. All these vases, not excepting the false-necked amphorae, are endowed with good shapes, which fitted them for domestic uses, hence they have been adopted by the clever and refined potters of the classic age. True, the latter have disappeared ; but the fact is probably due to some whim of fashion, or change in the habits Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. of the potter’s customers. A comparative study, then, of the forms successively assumed by the products of the art, would lead to conclusions approximately the same as those arrived at Fig. 465. — Talysos cup. Height, j 56 c. Fig. 466. — Cup from Attica. Height, 13 c. from the study of Mycenian architecture. The continuity which exists in the art-history of Greece from the earliest days down to historic times, will become more and more evident to higher criticism as discoveries are multiplied. The work of the ceramist, owing on the one hand to the properties inherent to the material upon which his art is exercised, and on the other to the un- Pottery. 3 8 3 changeableness of needs, almost everywhere alike, which he has to satisfy, is limited to a very small number of combinations. Geometric design alone, with its play of lines, admits of many arrangements, and when, in addition to these, forms derived from the living world are introduced into the composition, their number and variety will become well-nigh endless. Such types will give rise to interpretations the number of which will depend on the Fig. 470. — Three-handled amphora. Height, 41 c. particular bent of the artist’s mind ; this will either incline him to a literal rendering of his model, or a happy selection of the fairest and most impressive features, and thus lead to the creation of ideal forms. Shapes, then, are much more stubborn than ornament, 384 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. and do not lend themselves as kindly to be modified. The style of art of every race changes with the passage of time, and tends to strike out new paths for itself as soon as it finds that its old forms pall on public taste. The Mycenian decorations, whether on the walls of buildings or of vases, have a distinct character of their own, which vastly differs from that of classic art. With the single exception of Thera, we have found none but linear designs both on the vases from continental Greece, exhibit- ing incised forms, and the oldest wares of the Cyclades. The prevailing ornaments at Mycenae, even on dull-coloured vases, are geometric combinations (Fig. 455), and they also largely figure on the polished or lustrous specimens. Sometimes the patterns are made up of parallel, vertical, or horizontal bands, Fig. 471. — Box from the Athenian acropolis. doubtless suggested to the ornamentist by girdles, necklaces, or the folds of the dress. Such bands correspond to the main divisions of the human body, and were designed to recall them to the eye (Figs. 459-461, 466). The predilection of the artist for those scrolls copied on metal-work which constitute the ordinary decoration of the stone vases is as great as ever (Fig. 452). They return on pieces of quite another form (Figs. 463, 468). Others exhibit now a guilloche ornament (Fig. 469), now scales interspersed with points (Fig. 470), and now chevrons. Sometimes we see lozenges connected with one another at the apex, along with hirsute bands which recall certain vegetables, and enframe beings taken from the living world (Fig. 458). We have seen leaves and flowers introduced in the ceramic products of Thera (PI. XX. 2). As the painter gained greater Pottery. 385 proficiency in his art, he was induced to give more and more prominence to forms derived from the inexhaustible store of the vegetable kingdom. A vase introduces us to a whole Fig. 472. — Broken cup. Orchomenos. plant, perhaps the imiscari comosum , whilst another shows a species of iris (Figs. 471, 472). Again, an ivy wreath fills the field of a fragment from the first shaft-grave at Mycenae (PI. Fig. 473. — Circular box. Attica. XXI.). 1 Elsewhere we find a few heart-shaped leaves either arranged into chaplets, or isolated (Figs. 457, 473). At other 1 Mykenische Thongefcisse. C C VOL. II. 3 86 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. times we come across blossoms whose curlecl-back petals, strongly- accentuated pistil and stamens approach the typha (Fig. 474). Covering the Marseilles ewer are dentilated leaves which belong to sea-weeds, and which from the mouth of the trilobate are Fig. 474. — Three-handled amphora. Ialysos. Height, 53 c. made to radiate towards the circumference, their extremities being lost amidst the rugosities of the rock (Fig. 477). The transition between plants and animals is bridged over by those zoophytes, sponges or corals, whose quaint outlines Fig. 475. — Mycenae glass-paste. appear on several vases (Figs. 429, 476-478). So, too, the ceramist has drawn from the depths of the sea polyps, whether cephalopods, or the nautilus argonaut a, and octopus or cuttle-fish. As to the argonaut, we have already made his acquaintance on a Tirynthian fresco (Fig. 237), and numerous glass-pastes Fig. 476.— Vase exhumed in Egypt. British Museum. Pottery. 389 (Fig. 475, and tail-piece of chapter). We have seen it disporting itself amidst the sea-weeds and madrepores which carpet the surface of submerged rocks, and which compose the decoration of one of the most curious vases of the art (Fig. 429). We find it again on a fellow vase, which is so strikingly alike to the above in point of execution as to look as if it had come from Fig. 477. — The Marseilles ewer. the same workshop (Fig. 476), and it rears its head on the Marseilles ewer (Figs. 477, 479). By far the best representation of the octopus is seen on a stone vase from Mycense (Fig. 478). The workman, it would appear, took the eledone for his model, which differs from the polyp in having but one set of breathing apparatus instead of two. The rendering of the animal is true to nature ; its eight suckers, its pair of big eyes, and the bag which forms the body are all in place ; whereas the treatment of the decoration on a 390 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. vase in the Tshinli-Kiosk Museum at Constantinople is carried to the extreme limits of conventionalism. The vessel was found by Hambdi-Bey — during the excavations which he carried on in the yTlolian necropolis of Pitane — to whom I am indebted for the annexed drawings (Figs. 480, 482 )d The first represents the vase itself, and the second shows the ornament drawn out at length. It is a stirrup-handled amphora, painted in red with touches of black, on a pale yellow ground. The lateral spout is broken. The above amphora is one of the many specimens that have come from the shaft-graves of Peloponnesus and Mycenae ; together they enable us to comprehend the different kinds of pottery made by the inhabitants, or such as were obtained from foreign sources, during a thousand years or thereabouts. The products of local manufacture must have far exceeded imported wares ; nevertheless, the technique of the vase under notice points to its having come from an important centre. Mono- chrome pottery is abundantly found at Pitane, in Mysia ; the clay, which is almost black, is as coarse and the forms as rude as at Troy. This primitive earthenware was, it seems, immedi- ately followed by vases overspread with a white lustrous slip, on which the subject was painted with a light red colour. Like the Camiros examples, they exhibit sphinxes, flowers of the lotus, and the like. A few vases, found at rare intervals, generally small, with red ornaments, wreaths, and palmettes upon a black ground, take us to the red pottery, with reliefs, of the Roman period. The highest effort of the painter is beheld in the elaborate subject represented on this vase. The respiratory organs of the creature are not indicated. The eyes are replaced by spirals, and the body is unnaturally elongated. Mollusks, fish, birds, and quadrupeds move in and out of the huge fellow’s tentacles. At the extremities of these, and around the body, are undulating lines apparently designed for sea-waves. The question may be asked whether these creatures, severally, have been dropped there intentionally, or merely for the sake of filling the space, and if so, whether the painter did not choose the arrangement to convey an allegorical meaning not very hard to grasp. I showed the vase to the eminent zoologist, M. Houssay, who is known to archaeolo- gists for his co-operation in the expedition of Dieulafoy to Susiana. 1 The drawings in question were made under my supervision by a pupil of the Turkish School of Art, founded and directed by Hambdi-Bey. Fig. 478. — Mycense. Stone vase. Diameter, 18 c. Pottery. 393 According to him, we have here a whole theory of spontaneous generation, a graphic exposition of a naive hypothesis, by which the awakening intelligence of the men of that period strove to explain the origin of living beings, an hypothesis which was afterwards taken up by Ionian philosophers, and invested by them with an outward show of science. If the theory be tenable, Fig. 479. — Decoration on cover of ewer. the composition should be considered as the earliest expression of beliefs traceable through successive ages down to our own day. Such beliefs are still current among the fishermen of our coasts, who firmly believe that ducks are produced from barnacles. Time was when the tales relating to the metamorphoses of the barnacle were retailed by travellers, and even by sober-minded naturalists. 1 1 Upon the belief in question see Max Muller, New Lessons on the Science of Language. 394 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. Here the soft, flabby mass of the polyp — and a gigantic polyp it is — would represent plastic clay, and thus symbolize matter which, under the action of salt water, teeming with life, is changed into all manner of animals. The curves which, like a network, surround the entire soft mass, would indicate the powerful and manifold effluvia belched forth by this generating body, the eddying of the flood which it emits after having drawn it in and fecundated it. The cluster of spirals in place of eyes would stand for gyrating motion. The filaments that fringe the outlines would represent the dawn of organisms just as they begin to settle and emerge from the mass. This creation, or rather transformation, is effected on several points of the funnel- like body, whence the cuttle-fish continually sends forth fresh water on its bronchia or gills, as well as in the curling wavelets produced by the motion of the tentacles on the surface of the water. Of the animals floating amidst the feelers of the polyp, some, notably on the left, borne along by the current induced by the rhythmic contractions of the respiratory apparatus, receive their definitive form whilst passing through what may be termed the central focus, when the operation has failed to take place within the liquid mass. Such creatures as are already complete, geese or flamingoes, are seen to wing their way towards free air, infinite space, where they will unfold their pinions ; special types having been selected to make plain the idea of the artist. On the left appears an actinia , or sea-nettle, which has just been detached from the polyp, and is starting on an existence of its own. A porcupine, lately a sea-urchin, appears on the right ; he is now provided with paws to enable him to move on the earth. Near to him there is a horse, with as yet only the fore-quarters ; then comes a hippocampus ( hippocampus antiquorum ), a small fish abounding in the Mediterranean, and on the high-road to being turned into a quadruped. M. Houssay would ascribe the same intent to the decoration on the external face of a vase from Crete, which was evidently used as a receptacle for human bones (Fig. 481). Here, too, the scene is laid in the liquid element, for actinia are seen at the bottom of the water, above which float sea-weeds ; fish swim around large clustering leaves whereon ducks are perched. These leaves play the part which superstition attributes to cirriped shells or limpets (/epas anatifera). Three of the leaves have just opened, and given passage to as many i Pottery. 397 ducks, in the act of emerging from a groove seaming their centre. To make the relation between bird and foliage clear to all, each bird preserves the distinguishing feature of the leaf out of which it came. Thus the dark oblong mark that forms the centre of the leaf returns on the two ducks left of the top leaf. This elongated black lozenge is absent from the lower leaves, and no sombre markings appear about the birds perched on them. The middle duck, on the left, is larger than the others because older, and therefore more complete. None of the creatures have reached their full development ; this is shown by the articu- lated filaments on the back of the ducks, which in time will grow into wings. So, too, the fish are still imperfect and without scales. The vase admits of fewer personages than the amphora, but the import is the same. The painter, after a fashion of his own, has chalked out on clay a new chapter of Genesis, which Thales was subsequently to write. 1 We may be accused, perhaps, of having credited the Mycenian artist with conceptions far above his intellectual capacity ; but does it follow that because the men of that time had no books they were therefore devoid of ideas, and had not tried to unravel the problem of the origin of things, which, to a mind unconscious of the narrow limits of human knowledge, would seem an easy matter enough to solve ? By accepting M. Houssay’s conjecture, certain details beheld on these two vases, especially that from Pitane, which would be hard to grasp on any other basis, are satis- factorily explained. Why are birds placed in the depths of the sea ? Why is the butterfly opposed to the actinia ? Why is the porcupine there, unless it be for reasons which we think to have grasped ? The moment we place ourselves in that order of ideas, we comprehend as we never did before the evident pleasure which the painter appears to have felt in the portrayal of marine animals. On the exterior of a tall, double-handled cup he depicted a cuttle-fish, or rather the slim-bodied calamar (Fig. 483). But he contented himself with expressing the two great feelers which distinguish the species, and suppressed the six smaller ones that surround the mouth. The decoration upon 1 Max Miiller has published a figure representing a dead tree covered with half- open shells, from which emerge tiny birds ; some fall on the earth and fly through the air, whilst others tumble into the sea and immediately begin to swim. It was extracted from a book printed in London as far back as 1597. 39§ Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art, a jug from Ialysos occurs again and again on the products of this ceramic art ; it consists of a number of cylinders interspersed with pellets, and continued up to the necking or the handle with four or more spirals. The two central ones are connected with each other, but all are joined to the collar or handle of the vase (Fig. 456). Some have identified cylinder and wrigglings with the serpula, a species of worm of the family of the Annelida , Fig. 481. — Ossuary from Crete. Length, 99 c. which lives in the moist sand of the sea-shore ; but the resem- blance is very far-fetched indeed. If the form represented by the potter bears a general resemblance to the serpula, the inlanders or zigzags are his own addition. This annelid returns with the actinia on a stirrup -handled vase, where a large fish forms the principal object (Fig. 484). Birds, outside of these vases, where they are associated with the sea element, are rare enough. A fragment of pottery discovered atj Spata has a bird shockingly ill-drawn (Fig. 485). The image Fig. 482. — ritane. Decoration of amphora drawn out. Pottery. 401 seems traced by a hand utterly devoid of practice in geometric drawing. The body of the bird is a mere round ball. The design is more correct on the handle of a Mycenae vase (Fig. 489). Quadrupeds are seldom found, except on vases of the decadence. A fragment shows us oxen feeding, and flowers scattered in the held (Fig. 486). The drawing is mediocre, and scarcely better on another sherd, on which are figured a hare chased by a dog (Fig. 487). The bodies are elongated, as on the daggers. As to the human figure, it is only seen on vases of the latest style of this art ; such would be a fragment picked up at Mycenae. The head and feet are gone, and the body is apparently covered with a cuirass, or close-fitting coat of mail. The legs, from the Fig. 483. — Goblet from Ialysos. Height, 85 c. knees downwards, are protected by leggings and thongs. The costume is known to us from mural paintings (Fig. 430). The same style of dress occurs on the body of a crater, whose fragments were found at Mycenae, in the ruins of a house south of the slab- circle (Fig. 488). This vase deserves special attention as the only representative of its class. The design is painted with pigments varying from yellowish-brown to dark red, with dashes of dull tones to indicate the dress and armour. The shields are light brown, in imitation of leather. The head is covered by a helmet with two projecting horns in front, and a plume hanging down behind. White dots are sprinkled over helmets and girdles. The exposed parts are merely outlined and not coloured. The vol. ir. d D 402 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. left arm, which carries the shield, is conveniently covered by it. To have shown them both at once was a feat far beyond the capability of the draughtsman. It has been impossible to reproduce all the personages. The group is repeated with slight variations on the other side of the Eig. 486. — Chip from My cense. handle, and is rather well drawn ; at the point of junction with the body of the vase is a calf’s head in relief ; birds, one on either side of it, front each other (Pig. 489). There are notable Pottery. 403 differences enough from one group to the other. On the first, the soldiers appear in marching order ; the lances are carried on the shoulders and the shields hang down at the side, like those of people that have nothing to fear. The lances of the second group have been brandished, and are now directed against the foe ; the first foot is pressed forward, so as to follow the movement of the body. The shields are carried higher. All the warriors are dressed alike. They seemingly wear sandals, fastened by many thongs, and a short fringed tunic, which reaches to about the middle of the thigh. Like the heads on the Vaphio vase (Fig. 374), the upper lip is closely shaven, and a pointed beard falls below the chin. As will be noticed, there are many analogies between the two sets of figures ; yet there are also Fig. 487. — Fragment from Mycenae. some divergences. Thus, the men on the reverse wear a simple skull-cap instead of a helmet, which here is a trifle more elaborate than that of the ivories and bronzes (Figs. 349-351, 359 > 373 ) '> but its rough appearance may be intended to represent the hairs of the skin of which it is made. Fastened to the lances of the marching warriors, just below the points, is an object resembling a bag ; the pouch-like appendage must be meant for a knapsack. If in the scene on the reverse no bag is attached to the lance, this is easily grasped. Before the engagement soldiers would very naturally rid themselves of a weight which would have been in their way ; nor are the shields quite the same. They are almost spherical in the first group, and appear to be oval-shaped in the second. 404 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. It was no manoeuvring scene which the painter designed to depict here, but a battle-scene in good earnest. This is proved by the long-robed woman who stands behind the warriors and raises her hand to her head in token of distress. Her attitude is analogous to that of the corresponding figure on the Vaphio vase (Fig. 358) ; and like this, her relation to one of the men is pro- bably that of mother or wife. As to the connection between the two bodies of troops, it is rather difficult to make out. Were they advancing towards each other we should understand easily enough that the two forces are about to fall upon one another ; but all the warriors are moving in the same direction, from left to right. Again, if we consider them in the light of hostile troops, how are we to account for the fact that the body which is menaced by the lances levelled in its direction should look as unconcerned at the impending danger as if they were on parade-ground ? It is more likely that the two groups stand for two corps of the Mycenian host. The light troops are already engaged in the struggle ; behind them, the hoplites, with crested helmets and huge shields, are advancing in close array to support the van- guard. The theme depicted on this vase is sufficiently divergent from the ordinary ornaments of the ceramic art of that period to have raised the question as to its having any right to be placed within the range of Mycenian pottery. The best-informed judges, however, have no misgivings on the subject. As they pertinently observe, these are not the only evidences of the same nature we have to judge from, 1 and if no guess can be hazarded in regard to them, it is because the graves in which they were found are mute and poor graves, the end of that period being as yet unrepresented by sepulchres of importance. Pot- sherds collected in the upper layers of detritus, at Mycenae and 1 iryns, are the sole relics that have come down to us of the ceramic art of the last days of the Achaean world. The technique observable in the vase just referred to is that which characterizes the unequivocal products of the art we are considering. To the analogies that have been adduced as vouchers of this relation- ship, may be added one more, namely, the curious crescent-shape assumed by the woman’s skirt below the knee ; this has often been noticed on the bas-reliefs and gems, but the fashion was not 1 Mykenische Vasen. Fig. 488.— Decoration on fragments of crater. Actual size, 23 c. Pottery. 407 retained by the art of the following age. If the potter who painted the valiant men of Mycenae stands on a much lower platform than the engraver or the goldsmith, he yet reveals himself their countryman and contemporary, and as having to a certain extent been influenced by them. His drawing is far more faulty ; but it also possesses some of the qualities of theirs. Taken as a whole, the proportions are good, the modelling of the parts is firm, and what is more, we find movement, that distinctive characteristic of Mycenian work, frankly indicated ; look, for instance, at the least injured of the figures brandishing the lance. Fig. 489. — Handle of crater. These vases close this division of ceramic art. What we find intermingled with their remains, near to the soil surface, both within Cyclopaean fastnesses and avenues leading to certain tombs, are fragments of a later epoch, belonging to what archaeologists call the “ dipylon vases.” We cannot dismiss the products of this industry without at least adverting to questions which face the historian, even though he is not in a position to solve them. Where was polished or glazed pottery — destined to so brilliant a future — first manufactured ? What was the extent of the area over which it disseminated its products ? Was its fabrication carried 408 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. on in a single locality, or in many workshops distributed around the /Egean, each one of which was distinguished by processes and tastes of its own ? To the first question it is difficult for the present to give an answer. Vases painted with dead colours were known to the civilization of the Cyclades, which is generally considered older than that of Argolis. Several fine examples of this fabric have been discovered in those quadrangular troughs, made of tufa, and fastened down w T ith a large slab, which Thucydides identified with Carian sepultures , 1 whether at Thera, Cyprus, Amorgos , 2 or Melos . 3 The use of a varnish or glaze to heighten the colour of the vases would appear to have been early, for fragments of lustrous pottery were found at Thera in the houses buried under puzzolana . 4 They did not find out, however, until much later how to make the most of the invention. As already remarked, the objects that have come from the oldest establishment at Tiryns show that industry was less advanced at the beginning of the archaic period on continental Greece than in the islands ; a fact easily understood, in that the isles were less distant than the mainland from polished communities of long standing, such as Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. Whether we consider the question from the result of the excavations, or bear in mind that the march of ancient culture was from east to west, we find no reason for placing the beginnings of the painted vase in Argolis. Nor would the question be advanced by calling to our aid the peculiarities of style which characterize Mycenian pottery ; for here again, if the probabilities alone are considered, a diametrically opposed con- jecture is reached. What struck us most, as we examined the decorations of these vases, is the predilection shown by the painter for marine organisms, flexible sea-weeds unfolding with the wave, polyps and shells that live and die on the piece of rock where they had their being, mollusks with long tentacles which the fisherman sees floating amidst a veritable forest of weeds. We have even caught on the wing, as it were, the intent of the artist who chose the liquid element to explain the first manifestations and metamorphoses, the mysterious arcana of life, its infinite diversity and perpetuity. On what spot was it most likely that 1 Thucydides. See also observations by Furtw angler, Mykenische Vasen. 2 A ihenische Mittheilungen. 3 Ibid. 4 Mykenische Vasen. Pottery. 409 such beliefs would originate and stimulate his curiosity ? Was it not on the sea-shore, among a population that lived on the sea, and of the sea ? The Mycenians, however, had only a distant view of the ocean ; and their neighbours of Argos, Tiryns, and Nauplia, though somewhat better situated in that respect, were after all, like the other inhabitants of that fertile plain, husbandmen and artisans rather than mariners. Until our view is controverted by a close analysis, made with the help of the microscope, of the pottery in question, as M. F'ouqud has done for the Thera vases, we shall provisionally place in the islands, rather than on terra firma, the point of departure of the style which is defined by the prevalence of designs derived from marine plants and animals, and which some have proposed to call Pelasgic. Where did this preference first show itself? Was it in Crete, where vases bearing unequivocal marks of this style are found in plenty ? 1 Or Rhodes, in the Ialysos necropolis for example, whence has come our finest collection of lustrous pottery ? I know not ; but I cannot forbear looking towards those islands as to the site that will make good my forecast. If the origin of the so-called Mycenian style remains an open question, this does not apply to the boundaries of the vast area where, no matter the localization of the productive centres, this fabric sold its products. It would appear that, thanks to the elegance and variety of their shapes, as well as the quaintness of their decoration, they were long in vogue, and accepted in distant marts. The best-preserved of these vases have been especially furnished by the necropolis of Ialysos, whilst those of Attica and Peloponnesus, Egypt, Phoenicia , 2 Thessaly , 3 the 1 The Cretan pottery is imperfectly known. M. Joubin has made a catalogue of such pottery or fragments of Mycenian pottery as he came across in public and private collections on different points of the island. The octopus is often repre- sented. He printed two vases that contained bones, analogous to those published by Orsi in the Bulletin de correspondcince hellenique , 1892. See also E. Fabricius, Alterthumer auf Kreta , IV. Funde der mykenischen Epoche in Knossos. M. Haus- soullier was the first to draw attention to the Cnossian vases, as far back as 1880. 2 The Guimet Museum preserves a false-necked amphora of Mycenian style, said to have come from the necropolis at Sidon. 3 Furtwiingler, in 1886, wrote that he knew of no Mycenian vases from Northern Greece. Since then the gap has been filled up by P. Wolters, who has published a whole series of vases found by him in the graves situated in the Thessalian district of Pagasae (Atkenisc/ie Mitthcihmgen , 1889). 410 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. western coasts of Asia Minor, Rhodes, and Cyprus, including the Ionian islands, Eastern Italy, and Sicily (Figs. 490, 491), are scantily represented. One is even reported to have been carried by trade to Spain in ancient times. 1 Such vases not only furnished the graves of the islands of the Archipelago, but also those at Kalymnos and Carpathos, whence have come examples in every respect as remarkable as the Ialysos and Mycenae wares. 2 The earliest excavations at Hissarlik yielded hardly any pottery of this style ; but in 1890, and especially 1893, entire lustrous vases (Fig. 492), and sherds without number, were dug up ; one and all are distinguished by decorations and technique proper to Mycenian ceramics. 3 The fragments in question are found in the stratum which corresponds with the third settlement, e.g. the citadel that rose on the ruins of the burnt city. The last campaign has cleared considerable portions of the castle wall, and shown that the third city extended over a much larger area, and therefore was more important than had been deemed possible at first. Furthermore, comparison between the vases has proved that we should consider the third citadel as coeval with the Mycenae of the first known period, and coinciding with the dynasty buried in its acropolis, whose wealth and influence harmonize with the part which tradition attributed to the Atridae. In this view of the case, we should have here the real Homeric Pergamus. Were the fragments which we find mixed with the ruins of Ilium supplied by Mycenae ere she besieged and destroyed it? Shall we admit, with MM. Furtwangler and Loeschke, that all or almost all the vases that 1 On Mycenian vases discovered at Oria, in the territory of Otranto, see Mykenische Vasen ; for Sicily, ibidem ; and above all, the researches of P. Orsi, which he prosecuted in the Plemmirion peninsula, near to Syracuse, and which he published partly in the Bollettino di paletnologia italica , 15th, 1 6th, and 17th years, partly in the Monumenti antichi delV Accademia dei Lincei, 1893. We shall deal elsewhere with the results of these discoveries. 2 The vase to which I refer was pointed out to me by Furtwangler. It consists of a box and cover belonging to the latter end of Mycenian fabrication. It is figured in Gascon de Golos’ work, published at Saragosa. The author connects said box, but erroneously, with the Ceramica Iberica , for the character of this antiquity is unmistakable. The place where it was found is not specified, but it was somewhere in Spain. 3 Paton, Vases from Calymnos and Carpathos (Hellenic Studies, 1887). Accord- ing to Furtwangler (February meeting of the Archaeological Society, Berlin, 1888) the vases from Carpathos belong to the third style of glazed pottery, and those from Kalymnos to the fourth style, which is seldom seen outside of Mycenje. Pottery. 4 T 1 bear the mark of the style which we have defined were manu- factured in Argolis ? 1 I find it even harder to accept this theory than that which would place in Argolis the cradle of this ceramic Fig. 490. — Amphora. Sicily. art. The vases were of course not all made where we now find them. The fact that a certain number have been discovered in Egypt would suffice to prove that they must have been extensively Fig. 491. — Mug. Sicily. Fig. 492. — Stirrup-handled amphora. Troy. exported ; but until the microscope declares that the clay of the Argolic pottery is exclusively found in the Argolic plain, we submit 1 Bericht , 1890. Dorpfeld sent me photographs of at least fifty fragments of similar style yielded by the last campaign. 412 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. that we have no ground for assuming a unique centre of fabrica- tion. The resemblance between these vases, it is urged, is so close as to look as if they had all come from the same workshop. Such resemblances, although undeniable, are not without differ- ences both in the designs and execution. These, according to MM. Furtwangler and Loeschke, are to be explained by difference of dates ; 1 but whilst allowing for change of taste and fashion, why should not the varieties in question be due to the particular sites where they were manufactured ? The affinities observable in these products, even on the hypothesis of multitudinous work- shops, are not at all surprising. If these vases travelled as far as the mouth of the Nile, it follows that the ^gean was at that time ploughed in every direction by crafts that served to connect its lines of coast with one another. If they plied steadily to and fro, from Crete or Rhodes to the European and Asiatic continents, if between the single groups there was a constant flow of exchange, why should not skilful artisans, who had been trained in the best workshops, have tried to improve their lot by wandering abroad to some other island or continent, wherever a munificent prince was likely to employ them ? The one thing which is indubitable, is that Mycenae, with its many commercial tracks and outlets on the Gulfs of Argos and Corinth, cannot have failed, during its palmy days, to be one of the principal centres, perhaps the principal one, of this manufacture ; and, for technical reasons, its products were most sought after. Tradition had preserved the memory of princes whose lordship was exer- cised over a portion of Peloponnesus and the islands ; and the ruins of Mycenae are certainly the most extensive and imposing of any ancient city, representing the ambitious efforts of the ancestors of the Greek race. A species of halo attached to the products that issued from the workshops of the wealthy and celebrated capital of the Atridae. The Mycenae artist was, no doubt, for a century or two, the arbiter and ruler of taste, the man who set the fashion in matters pertaining to elegance, throughout the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. 1 Myke?rische Vase ft. Glass. 4i3 Glass. We have more than once alluded to glass-pastes, pierced with holes, so as to admit of being made into bracelets and neck- laces, now shaped as beads and discs (big. 493), now adorned with incised forms to serve as seals, now used as inlays either for furniture (Figs. 241, 494) or personal ornaments, or inserted Fig. 493. — Glass-paste. Actual size. in the stone friezes of royal buildings (PI. XIII. 1). Several representative specimens have already been figured by us (Figs. 240, 241, 335, 336, 382 ; tail-pieces of Chapters IV., V., VI., VIII., IX., X., XI., XII.). The term “glass” used here is some- what misleading, and requires a word of explanation, lest the reader should form a wrong conception in regard to it. The material in question is not colourless glass like ours ; nor is it glass which, though artificially tinged, retains its transparency. The objects designated by this name consist of a semi-pellucid paste, always coloured white or blue. We have published several examples of the stone moulds in which the material was impressed. 1 On such spots where these pastes are met with, specimens of similar ornaments may be counted by the hundred. As many 1 History of Art ; Schliemann, Mycence. 414 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. as eighty pieces were picked up at Spata which had all been stamped in the same mould. They probably mark the site of an ancient workshop. If they knew how to produce blown glass, it was not until the end of the Mycenian period, and the new process does not appear to have been carried very far. Fragments of glass, apparently from drinking-cups, with a whitish or greenish ground, and black or yellow bands, have been excavated at Mycenai. 1 But slender tubes, found either isolated or as border to small Fig. 494. — Glass handle. plaques, could be made without the hollow cone of the glass manufacturer (Pigs. 495, 496). Like the art of the potter, glass-making requires the inter- vention of fire ; but a much higher temperature is necessary to fuse sand than clay, which is only baked. This, no doubt, is the reason why glass objects made their appearance long after vases shaped by the hand, or even cast on the wheel. No glass has been found at Troy. But prodigious quantities of glass-pastes are found on spots where the art was practised, 1 Schliemann, Myceme. Glass. 4i5 the process admitting of rapid production. I hus 1300 pieces of this material were collected in the Spata tomb alone. In the old layers of Troy, however, Schliemann found but six glass objects. 1 Two knobs for walking-sticks, of green paste orna- mented with white lines, may have been imported ; as to the small beads said to have come from the same stratum, may they not have slipped down in the excavation from the upper layers ? No glass has been traced in the prehistoric houses of Thera, or Fig. 495. — Glass-paste rosette. Fig. 496.— Glass paste. in the oldest cemeteries of Antiparos and Amorgos. If glass is still very rarely met with in the royal tombs at Mycenae, it abounds in the period represented by the cupola and bee- hive graves, whether at Mycenae, Spata, Palamidi, or Ialysos. 2 Glass manufacture was in all likelihood learnt from the Egyp- tians. But the pupil did not attain the teacher’s high standard. Unlike Phoenician artificers trained at the same school, he did not teach himself to fashion those elegant glass flasks Fig. 497. — Glass-paste. Fig. 498. — Glass-paste. which Sidonian and Syrian traders sowed broadcast all over the coasts of the Mediterranean. No such ambitious aims were astir in the Mycenae or yEgean workshops ; no effort was made to obtain from this material the fanciful forms and iridescent tints which form the distinguishing features of Venetian glass, the secret of which was derived or stolen from Syria. But the taste for cheap glass ornaments became none the less 1 Schliemann, Ilios. 2 Schliemann, Mycenae . 416 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. general, and crucibles without number poured the coloured molten paste into moulds ready prepared to receive it. Almost all the glass objects that have been brought out of the graves were of native make. The style of ornament they exhibit is that which other products of Mycenian art have brought to our knowledge. The same favour is shown to inflected and parallel lines (Figs. 215, 494), to rosettes ( I 7 ig. 495), and imita- tions of different flowers, palm blossoms for instance (Fig. 496) and buds of the lotus (Fig. 497) ; but above all, to marine forms. Here fish are seen swimming in deep waters (Fig. 240), there we have clustering shells, the trocus tuberculatus (Fig. 498), and the purple-giving murex (Fig. 500) ; whilst the argonaut recurs again and again on countless objects (Fig. 479, and tail-piece Fig. 499. — Glass-paste. Fig. 500. — Glass-pastes. end of Chapter XI.). Bivalves, oysters and mussels, are also met with. The presentment of deities (Figs. 335, 336) and of fictitious beings is the same as that on other instances of this art ; thus, the plumed sphinxes of the ivories are beheld on many a glass-specimen (Fig. 41 1). 1 Glass-paste was sometimes introduced into somewhat elaborate inlays to heighten and vary the effects of colour ; but it was more frequently employed to adorn the person, in the shape of ornamental buttons (Fig. 500). To glass-pastes, royalties — men and women — added a small proportion of gold buttons and squares. 1 In order to give a more complete idea of this decoration, it would be well to reprint here those glass specimens which in our third volume were attributed to Camiros, whilst they come from the Ialysos graves. Then, too, instead of placing them as we did among the Phoenician products, they should be classed with the instances of Mycenian art. Upon the Ialysos glass-ware, which is in every respect similar to that of Mycenae and Spata, see Mykenische Vasen. Glass. 417 The former, as a rule, were covered with thin gold-leaf, either pressed down with the fingers or by artificial means, so as to bring out the design which the mould had impressed on the soft material. At the time of their discovery, many of these gold leaves still adhered to the buttons. 1 Small plates, with a tiny tube at the top through which was passed a piece of wire for threading them, were utilized either to form necklaces (Figs. 495, 496, 499) or as trimming to skirts and bodices. Some of the pieces appear to be divine simulacra. The larger ones, representing a thoroughly conventionalized human form, could be carried about like the marble idols (Fig. 335). But the smaller served the double purpose of amulets and dress- trimming (Fig. 336). Mycenian paste never advanced beyond glass-ware. Amber, owing to its semi-transparency, may be considered as a natural substitute for glass. In the days of Homer, amber was mixed with gold to form necklaces which the Semite sold to Greek ladies. 2 If no trace of it appears at Troy, it is already found in the royal graves at Mycenae, whilst the large beads from Menidi must have belonged to necklets. 3 Chemical analysis has shown that these beads were made of Baltic amber ; 4 a fact which, like the jade of Central Asia picked up at Troy, suggests a whole series of intermediaries across the European continent, between the Baltic and Mycenae, and serves to explain why the material was so seldom utilized by the Greek artisan. Figurines cut in large pieces of amber, of which a goodly crop has been yielded by the necropoles of Upper and Central Italy, and even as far south as Apulia, are non-existent here. U nlike older nationalities, who found pleasure in the play and accidents of colour, Greece never set great store by glass or amber. Both materials absorb light, but do not reflect it back ; and the result is a weak, uncertain outline. Glass and amber are unsuitable for sculpture, in that they cannot be made to frankly imitate or accentuate the form ; now, what more than anything else dis- tinguishes the Grecian mind, is its lively feeling, even at that early date, for the beauty of the living form. 1 Mykenische Vasen. 2 Odyssey. 3 Schliemann, Mycence_ ; Das Kuppelgrab. 4 Schliemann, Tiryns. VOL. II. E E 418 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. Ivory , Bone , Wood , and Stone. The timber frames which support the flat roofs of Mycenian palaces, the wood wainscoting and square beams used as linings to the inner w r alls of these habitations, imply workmen very skilful in the art of carpentry. The decoration of these panels must have been analogous to that seen on less perishable materials. Wood, more or less richly carved, necessarily entered into the composition of those pieces of furniture — chests and caskets — inlaid with glass, ivory, and metal plates. The Mycenae wood- carver was no doubt quite as clever as the worker in bronze and ivory. We are obliged, however, to accept him on trust, for his work has entirely perished, save a box cover, which the dry soil of Egypt has miraculously preserved these many thousand years. 1 Gold and ivory are more resisting. Bone rendered many services which now are demanded of steel, ere the domestication of metal was widely diffused. Of it were made stilettoes, and those awls found in such quantities in the oldest layers of ruin at Troy (Fig. 501). Some are veritable needles, with a hole pierced at the thickest end. 2 The purpose of the small object covered all over with rings is obscure. From bone, too, were derived knife-handles, cases, and utensils of all kinds. It was soon discovered that the finer and more precious material of ivory could be made as serviceable as bone. Some pieces of it were picked up by Schliemann in what he calls the first city, 3 but he found many more in the second or burnt town. 4 A trade having its point of departure in Africa supplied the ever-increasing demand for ivory to all the markets of Greece, where a taste had been created by the accumulation of wealth. Tiryns is represented by a unique specimen; 5 but from the 1 Nevertheless, a wooden fish was found within a building of the burnt city at Troy. The scales appear to have been cut with a pointed flint. Schliemann also mentions two sides of a small square box which he picked up in the fifth Mycenae grave ; each of the sides showed, carved in relief, a lion and a dog (Mycejice). The design is that of our lid. A second but tiny fish made of wood has also come from Mycenae. 2 Schliemann, Ilios. :i Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Tiryns. Ivory, Bone, Wood, and Stone. 419 royal tombs on the Mycenae acropolis have come pieces with- out number . 1 Henceforward, the bone stilettoes and needles which we meet at Troy are replaced by ivory ones. That the fashion for ivory became general towards the end of the Mycenian period, may be inferred from the fact that the graves at Menidi Fig. 501. — Awls and bone stilettoes. Actual size. and Spata have yielded a much greater quantity of objects of this material than the royal tombs at Mycenae. The dead at Spata were very small folk indeed, in comparison with those buried within the slab circle of the royal city of Agamemnon ; yet in the Spata sepulchre no less than seven hundred and 1 Schliemann, Mycence. 420 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. thirty pieces of ivory were collected. 1 But ivory was plentiful at Mycenae, both in the upper layers and the rock-cut tombs. 2 Asia Minor and Greece received ivory in an un wrought state, and fashioned it to suit their taste or needs. A knife-hasp from Troy is quite as rudely executed as the pottery and clay idols amongst which it was found (Fig. 502). We ask, without being able to answer the question, whether the animal portrayed on it was meant for a pig or a dog. But upon the ivories and glass from Mycense, Menidi, and Spata, where the work is freer, the forms peculiar to Mycenian art are well defined. The decorations consist of purely geometrical figures, metopes and triglyphs (Fig. 223), and the unending variety of scrolls and spirals (Fig. 241) ; a whole network of lozenges with curvilinear sides, which the painter used to veil the vast expanse of his inner walls (Pigs. 215, 216), including more or less complicated rosettes (Figs. 230, 231). The same animals, real or fictitious, are repeated on ivory and stone, or painted on terra-cottas. Then follow a whole series of marine animals, bivalves sometimes shown like an open oyster (Fig. 503), and argonauts. 3 At other times wild animals are represented struggling with their usual prey ; now, a lion brings down a bull (Fig. 396), now a dog hangs from a goat at full speed (Fig. 398). Here we come upon a crouching bull (Fig. 394), and rams moving in file or lying down (Figs. 399-401) ; there upon griffins (Figs. 407, 408) and sphinxes (Figs. 280, 409, 410). The design of the bas-relief over the Lions Gate returns upon a knife (Fig. 368). 4 The portrayal of men’s figures, their costume and head-dress, is known to us from other monuments (Figs. 359, 373), whilst in the women’s dress are more particularly beheld the distinctive peculiarities of this art (Figs. 347, 348, 377-381). Finally, not a few ivory columns reproduce the exact proportions of what we have called the Mycenian order (Pigs. 201, 202, 205). Panels, furniture, and instruments were not the only instances wherein ivory was introduced ; combs, too, were richly decorated with it (Fig. 280), and above all, the handles of mirrors (Pigs. 1 Bulleti?i de corresponda?ice hellenique. 2 Schliemann, Myce?ue . Vaphio has given little or no ivory. 3 Bulletin de correspondence hellenique. The same forms recur on ivory plaques discovered at Myceme. 4 See Schliemann, Mycenee. Ivory, Bone, Wood, and Stone. 42 1 377 , 381). The wood-carver, by dint of exercising himself in his occupation, had gained remarkable proficiency, and was able to draw from it pieces of great dimension, a plate thirty-eight centi- metres long for example (Fig. 205), and the handle of a dagger some thirty centimetres in length (Fig. 368). When he had to piece several plates together, he used fine ivory nails or mortises, Fig. 502. — Knife-handle of ivory. Actual size. and he managed his work so deftly as to render the joints invisible. 1 By this time stone and bone, which had so long furnished these tribes with all their implements, play but a very subordinate part at Mycenae and the neighbouring centres. Arrow-heads are still made of it (Fig. 2), as well as mortars for crushing grain, 2 and grindstones for sharpening metal instruments, the latter having Fig. 503. — Ivory from Spata. Actual size. replaced the hatchets, knives, and rude hammers of a by-gone age. 3 Then, too, boxes and vases, more or less ornamented, either marble or schist, which we have met more particularly among the Cyclades, have become extremely rare (Figs. 451, 454). We 1 Bulletin de correspondance hellenique. 2 ’E (prj/jEpig, 1889. 3 In these ellipsoid stones, shaped like the half of an egg, Tsoundas recognizes grindstones for tools of large dimensions ; whereas Schliemann identified them with broken hand-mills. The stone is generally trachyte, and sometimes argillaceous schist. 422 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. can only call to mind one single example (Fig. 483). Coloured stones, however, which pleasure the eye, and the valuable alabaster with its creamy tones, are as popular as ever. The alabaster vases from Mycenae and elsewhere are distinguished by careful execution and the fine proportions of their shapes. 1 It would appear that, like the alabastra of a subsequent age, they were designed to hold perfumes. One such recipient was found at Vaphio, with a silver spoon in it. Metal. Considered as a whole, the industry of the oldest layers of Mount Hissarlik is still a stone industry ; but metal, although as yet rare, begins to make its appearance. The objects which Schliemann brought out from the first village were silver, lead, and brass ; he would appear to have found traces of gold, but no bronze. 2 The inhabitants, therefore, still belonged to the copper age, which everywhere seems to have preceded that of bronze. Trojan copper was apparently harder than what is manufactured at the present day ; a property due to the presence of impurities which they knew not how to eliminate by refining. According to the layers, the native ore contains small quantities of silver, gold, and iron, in variable proportions, and sometimes arsenic or antimony. It has been shown that Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, and Cyprus passed through a copper stage. 3 Affairs must have followed the same march in the Hige an. No tin was sighted in the first village of Hissarlik ; the saw found at Thera, under the ashes of the volcano, is copper, not bronze (Fig. 31). 4 The locality 1 Schliemann, Mycence. For Vaphio, see 1889. 2 Schliemann, Ilios. 3 Relating to the order in which metals made their appearance and were successfully employed, see M. de Montelius’ essay, l' Age du bronze en Orient et en Grke and S. Reinach’s critical article on the same. For Egypt and Chaldsea, consult Prof. Gladstone, On Copper and Bronze of Ancie?it Egypt and Assyria , and Berth elot, Sur quelques metaux et mineraux provenani de V antique Chaldee. Diimmler’s researches upon the copper age deal with the oldest Cypriote necropoles. 4 Fouque, Santorin. Metal 423 where the men of old first began to mix tin with copper is unknown. If the inhabitants of Anterior Asia obtained their tin from the Altai' Mountains before the Phoenicians brought it to them from Spain and Britain, it would be natural to suppose that Chaldsea preceded Egypt in the manufacture of this alloy ; for she was nearer to the mines of Khorassan, 1 on the Persian frontier, where the source of tin is placed by some. Tin, burdened with the expense of transport from vast distances, remained long a rare and costly article, so that Trojan bronzes, like the oldest bronzes of the Delta, are very poor in tin ; they contain but from three to six parts of it per cent. 2 Bronze appears in the second village under many forms. Tools and weapons were of stone ; but the chieftains already owned vases, instruments, and arms of brass. These gave them an enormous advantage over the rank and file, who were destitute of metal. Gold, silver, and lead are among the finds that have been exhumed from these ruins. Ingots of the precious metals, of nearly constant weight, were perhaps already used for the pur- poses of exchange. Schliemann found six flat bars of silver, shaped like knife-blades, thickly oxidized and stuck together, of the respective weights of 1 7 1 to 174 grammes. 3 Should they not be considered as the fractions of the Homeric talent ? He traced no iron in the burnt city, during the whole of the excavations which are summed up in the Ilios. Two iron balls, which he picked up in 1890, were attributed by him to the second settle- ment ; 4 but remembering how the third village built itself over the second on a surface not previously levelled out, we can easily understand that objects belonging to the later inhabitants may have got mixed with the relics of the earlier population. A single find cannot upset the conclusions suggested by the earlier researches. The second village was unacquainted with iron ; its appearance in the Troad coincides with the third establishment, which, to judge from its pottery, was coeval with Mycenae. The civilization of the Cyclades, even where its pottery is still incised, as at Antiparos, is already in possession of bronze. 5 1 The mines of Drangiana mentioned by Strabo correspond as far as locality is concerned to Khorassan. 2 Schliemann, Ilios. 3 Ibid. 4 Bericht , 1891. 5 Journal of Hellenic Studies. Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 424 In this period gold is seldom met with, hut silver less rarely. Tiryns and Mycenae have an abundance of bronze, compounded with ten to thirteen per cent, of tin. As will be observed, the proportion is much larger than at Troy ; it is that which gives Fig. 504. — Gold cup. Length, 19 c. the best alloy, and will scarcely ever be exceeded . 1 Lead is exceedingly common. All the necropoles containing glazed pottery make a brave show with their silver and gold ; but the royal cemetery at Mycenae stands immeasurably above them all. One Fig. 505. — Silver vases. Height, 20 c., and 17 c. cannot form a better notion of the prodigious wealth displayed here than in picturing to oneself the royal body, as it lay in the pit, surrounded by friends and relatives, clothed in its regalia made up of diadem, mask, pectoral, leggings around thigh and calf, with buttons and plates innumerable sewn on to the drapery, 1 SCHLIEMANN, TiryflS . Metal. 425 and shoulder-pieces ; in a word, covered, like a golden statue, with glittering metal from head to foot . 1 No iron has been traced in the royal tombs at Mycenae. It does not make its appearance there until the end of the archaic period, and then only as an article of luxury, in the shape of rings that were placed in the graves alongside of gold ones . 2 Bronze continued to be preferred to iron long after this, because they had not yet found out how to modify it into steel. The only Fig. 506. — Gold diadem, a trifle over half-size. iron they knew of was soft iron ; but this, when worked into a point or edge, soon gets out of order by contact with a hard material. We are not a little surprised to find gold and silver vases at Iroy. Although their dimensions testify to the wealth of their owners, they are very simply shaped, and without orna- ment. I he most elegant, perhaps, is a gold vessel, with two handles, the shape of which approaches a modern sauce-dish 1 ’Rfprifjepic, 1889. 2 Tsoundas, Mwijmt; ’E fripepig, 1889. 426 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. (Fig. 504). Next in order are two silver vases, with covers, and vertical tubular holes at the sides instead of handles (Fig. 505). Their shape is that of the Egyptian canopi ; but the appendages at the sides, which so often recur on Trojan ware, prove that these were manufactured on the spot (Fig. 436). The vases, whether of gold or silver, were all found, along with other ornaments, under a heap of ashes. 1 The pieces were stuck Fig. 507. — Gold diadem. One-third of actual size. to one another, and in the midst of them was a bronze key, which has been identified as that of the treasure-coffer. This is what Schliemann calls the “Treasure of Priam”; but his account of how he discovered it is by no means clear. 2 The objects would seem to have been stowed away just before the catastrophe, in the depth of the mud wall which constituted the upper part of 1 Schliemann, Ilios. 2 Ibid. Metal, 427 the rampart. Hiding-places for storing objects of value could be easily contrived, and as easily masked with a square brick of clay. The most magnificent article in this collection is a diadem of purest gold (Fig. 506), formed by a number of small chains, which in the middle are about the depth of the forehead, but are considerably longer at the sides, where they hung down Fig. 508. — Portrait of Madame Schliemann. in front of the ears, and fell about the shoulders. The side bands consist of seven chains, having fifty rings each, and a spear-shaped leaf, grooved lengthwise, after every four rings. These chains are joined together by four cross ones. The long chains terminate in pendants which in rudeness approach the coarsest idols (Figs. 322-324). The short chains, fifty in number, have twenty-one rings apiece, and pendentives, like the longer 428 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. ones. Altogether, the rings of these chains and leaves amount to 1750 ancl 364 respectively. The general arrangement of the second diadem, though simpler, is identical. From a large gold bar depend eight long chains, four on each side, strung together with fine wire. At the end of each one hangs an amulet ; whilst the short chains terminate in small pendentives which imitate two spear-shaped leaves growing together on one stem (F'ig. 507). Leaves and tiny plates were all cut with puncheons out of thin gold laminae, and the extremely fine wire which we find here must have been passed through a drawing-frame. The otherwise rich and varied Mycenae ornaments have nothing approaching these diadems. The wealth and undefined character of the design, though savouring somewhat of barbarism, lend themselves kindly to enframe a fair young face. Mdme. Schliemann’s portrait, given above (Fig. 508), shows how these diadems were worn. To complete the effect of the attire, the draughtsman has added other ornaments that lay together in the biggest of the silver vases, that which contained the most valuable objects of the treasure ; ear-rings, made up of the same chains and pendants as the diadems, a necklace composed of many chains which Schliemann strung together M ETAL, 429 from 8700 small rings, pierced prisms, discs, buttons, and tiny bars. Bracelets would have encircled the arms, could these have been visible in the picture. Five of these bracelets are shaped like that of Fig. 509 ; the sixth is simply a wire welded into a circle, terminating in a knob or hook, do this Treasure also belonged hair-pins, a pair of elegant ear-rings and gold studs, the one with a hollow stem into which was inserted the solid and pointed one of the other (see Figs. 512, 1, 3, 6). I feel no hesitation in accepting the pieces which constitute Fig. 510. — Gold ear-ring. Actual size. this treasure as coeval with the burnt city. Under a seeming gorgeousness, we have quite a rudimentary simplicity of forms. The goldsmith has more nimble fingers than the potter ; but his inventive faculty is no whit better. Such is no longer the case for other ornaments found in small quantities, between the south gate and the domestic abode of the chieftain, whereon are beheld two decorative forms, the rosette and spiral, to be met with in every instance of the metal-work of this art. The objects consist of ear-rings (Fig. 510), with pendants that have been recognized as idols ; but the bar that holds the chain is adorned 430 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. by three rosettes ; spirals and rosettes also form the decoration of a bracelet (Pig. 51 1), and four spirals set in pairs that of a gold ornament (Pig. 512, 5). From Mycenae have come count- less round discs of gold-leaf. Troy, however, has furnished but Fig. 5 1 1. — Gold bracelet. Seven-eighths of actual size. three similar examples (Fig. 513). The same analogies are observable in a pair of charming hair-pins (Fig. 512, 2, 4). The design of one out of the two, though skilful, is perhaps somewhat heavy ; it is composed of four rows of double spirals, * Fig. 512. — Gold ornaments. Actual size. with side volutes, and six tiny jugs atop a rectangular plate. Penally, the processes of the Mycenian metal-worker are recog- nizable in an eagle formed of two small plates, held together by gold rivets (Fig. 514). The surface is decorated with incised lines traced with the point. The hole in the middle of the body Metal, 43 i shows that it was mounted on a stem. The shape of the figure is thoroughly conventional ; the crooked beak, however, clearly betrays the bird of prey. Schliemann also ascribes these small objects to the second village ; but I find it hard to believe that they came out of the Fig. 513. — Gold disc. Actual size. same workshop as those of the great treasure. Most of these separate finds were discovered in 1878, e.g. before Dorpfeld had become his collaborator. Examination of the style furnishes, as it seems to me, a decisive criterion. Taking as basis the character of the pottery yielded by the third town, we have demonstrated P ig. 514. — Gold eagle, facing and in profile. that it was contemporary with Mycenae. Are not we authorized, until proof is shown to the contrary, to ascribe to the third establishment pieces that so strikingly recall the great system of Mycenian ornaments ? Our best information in regard to the metal-work of this art has been more especially supplied by 432 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. the graves on the acropolis. With the exception of the Vaphio goblets, and a silver vase from one of the tombs of the lower Fig. 515. — Gold ewer. Seven-eighths. city (Fig. 374), nothing of primary importance has been found outside of these sepultures. Setting aside plain or slightly Fig. 516. — Gold cup. Three-fifths. decorated vases as useless for our purpose, the one thing it behoves us to make quite clear, is the taste of the goldsmith, his choice of shapes and forms. Metal. 433 The pottery discovered by Schliemann may be divided into Fig. 5 1 7. --Gold cup. Three-sevenths. Mycenae. two classes : vases meant to contain and pour off liquids, and drinking-vessels. Some specimens of the first class are already Fig. 518. — Gold cup. Four- fifths. well shaped. No decoration is apparent on a silver ewer ; 1 yet, 1 Schliemann, Mycence. VOL. II. F F Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art* remembering that silver is more easily oxidized than gold, it may well be that ornament analogous to that exhibited on a small Fig. 519. — Gold cup. Three-eighths. Mycenae. gold flagon would be found under the ashes incrusted on the surface (Fig. 515). The model of the charming Marseilles ewer Fig. 520. — Gold cup. Half-size. must be sought among cenochoai of this type (Fig. 477). The huge copper vessels found alongside of the gold and silver vases under notice are not so elegantly shaped. Metal. 435 The inventive faculty of the goldsmith is shown at its best in bottles and drinking-cups. Among vases of this class no two specimens are precisely alike. Many have but one handle, and mouths more or less open. Here, ribs or channellings adorn the surface (Fig. 516); there, we behold a series of arcatures in imitation of a Roman portico (Fig. 517). Elsewhere the field is occupied by leafy branches, surmounted by an open flower (Fig. 518). More complicated work is shown on another gold vase Fig. 521. — Gold cup. Seven-tenths. (Fig. 519). Externally, a triple horizontal band or zone surrounds the body and divides it into two compartments, each occupied by fishes in relief, modelled in repousse work. Then, there are tall drinking-cups or glasses provided with a foot. One of these is quite plain ; but on the handle is chiselled a dog’s head biting the rim of the vase (Fig. 520). The handles of some of the bowls are quite plain (Fig. 521). Under the lip, however, are modelled three lions at full speed. Finally, there is a cup which deserves special attention (Pig. 522). Its two horizontal handles are formed by thick plates held together by a small cylinder. The Mycenian Art. 436 Primitive Greece : lower portion of the handles is fastened by a broad gold band — which divides itself into three ribbons about the middle of its length — to the solid circular foot. Two doves, one on each of the horizontal plates, are turned to the cup and front each other. It was in the nature of things that this vase should have called Fig. 522. — Gold cup. Three-eighths. up to Schliemann’s mind the remembrance of the cup of Nestor, which the poet describes in the following lines : “ Hecamedes then placed a magnificent cup on the table, which the old man had brought with him from his own land. It had four handles, and the Fig. 523. — Gold ewer. Actual size. surface was studded with bosses. On each of the handles were two doves pecking; the cup had two supports .” 1 Nestor’s cup 1 Iliad. We have followed Helbig (Das Homerische Epos) in our rendering of the line Ivio Vvtto Trvd/xevtQ i)frav, the sense of which was already obscure in antiquity. Schliemann takes it to signify a double bottom, that of the vase proper and the foot itself. Helbig advances valid reasons why such an interpretation should be set aside. Metal. 437 had four handles in place of two, and it is plain from the above lines that it was much larger than ours ; but apart from these points of divergence, its general appearance must have been very Fig. 524. — Silver patera. Diameter, 12 c. near the specimen we engrave below. The principal figures, the doves placed about the mouth of the vase, were borrowed by the potter from the goldsmith. Thus, Cypriote fictile vases without Fig. 525. — Bronze ewer. Height, 27 c. handles exhibit doves in the same position. 1 New types appear with the tombs that belong to the latter end of the Mycenian period. If a small oenochoe from Menidi (Fig. 523) is but a 1 Reinach, Chroniques , M ETAL. 445 ornaments exclusively worn by women. There can be no doubt that the diadem-character we have attributed to the two large bands is correct (Figs. 529, 530). Not only are their shape and dimensions in harmony with such a destination, but very similar diadems are represented on terra-cotta figurines and intaglios (Figs. 331, 337, 376, 416). “Finally,” says Schliemann, “around the head of another of the three bodies was found a splendid and artistically-worked diadem, to which was still attached part of the skull.” 1 Besides semi-ovals, rich gold ornaments made of leaves Fig. 537. — Gold plaque. Two-thirds. arranged in the shape of a cross were also sewn on to the apparel; numerous specimens came out of Graves I. and III. 2 In the centre of each cross is a hole for the thread which served to fasten it on to the robe. In addition to these, Schliemann picked up in Grave III. as many as 701 large round gold plates (Figs. 53 I_ 534 )* He found them “as well below as above and around the bodies.” 3 They must have been glued on to the garment, so as to fill up the spaces left by the prin- cipal ornaments, thus enfolding the corpse on all sides. The designs on these beautiful plates may be divided into two 1 Schliemann, Mycence. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 2 Ibid. 446 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. classes. Some are dependent on metal technique, and consist of curvilinear figures variously combined (Figs. 112, 356, 531). Others are derived from the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and repeat those lower animals for which the ceramic painter showed so marked a predilection. The rosette stands midway between these two forms (Fig. 281). The second class is re- presented by leaves with radiating markings (Fig. 532), by cuttle-fish (Fig. 533), and butterflies (Fig. 534). All the plates have been stamped in a mould ; from it cannot be obtained the freedom and fanciful play of the brush. Accordingly, the rendering of the leaves and animals is much more conventional than the corresponding figures on the vases. It is the same Fig. 538. — Gold plaque. Two-thirds. Mycenae. with the plates whereon are represented animals in profile (Figs. 397, 404, 406, 412). Thus, Grave III. yielded no less than twenty-nine, and Grave IV. fifty-three replicas of the octopus, 1 whose feelers are arranged with geometrical precision. The same remarks apply to the plates decorated with butterflies (Fig. 535). The linear ornament seen on most of these gold plaques returns on smaller and slightly-convexed discs, the relics, it would appear, of the decoration once beheld on sword-sheaths. 1 The same style of ornament re-appears on the buttons whose strange shape caused archaeologists to mistake their true purport and origin (Fig. 536), fortuitous resemblances having been exaggerated into real analogies with this or that Celtic or Merovingian type of gold- work. The buttons consist of a gold-leaf stuck on a wood or bone core, upon which the design had been previously traced 1 Schliemann, Mycetice. Metal. 447 with the point, the metal being forcibly pressed down so as to penetrate the hollows and marry the reliefs of the core. The main design consists of a lozenge with a rosette at the upper and lower end ; bounded, now by a row of discs, now by four pointed rosettes ; beyond it, again, is a plain band ornamented at the four angles by two bosses. The idea of these buttons must have been suggested by large-headed nails, which served to fix plates of ivory, crystal, or glass to pieces of furniture. Plates, designed to be fastened on to the robe, are of all conceivable shapes ; some are triangular, and enriched with complicated scrolls (Fig. 537) ; others are quadrangular, and exhibit flowers which vaguely recall certain species of lilies Fig. 539. — Ear-ring from Tomb III. Actual size. (Fig. 538). Let us not forget the gorgeous gold pectoral from the fifth grave (Fig. 108), showing an ornament already found at Troy (Fig. 512, 5). It consists of a small tube, through which was passed a string, with spirals on either side, made with thin gold wire (tail-piece, Chap. XL). Spirals form the ornament of large gold ear-rings (Fig. 539). Some still preserved the little ring which passed through the lobe of the ear. 1 2 Hair-pins were no less elaborately designed. It will be enough to cite the specimen, with a semi-circular frame, within which is a woman with outstretched arms." The graves of the lower city were intended for people of no great importance ; so that the ornaments they yield cannot compare, in size or weight, with those of the royal tombs. The most prevalent designs on these small ornaments are those seen on glass-pastes (Fig. 540). Such would be a sphinx with floating 1 Schliemann, Mycencc. 2 Ibid. A better drawing appears in Jahrbuch , 1892. Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. 448 plumes, as like to that figured on a glass-paste from Spata as it is possible to imagine (Fig. 411); or a couple of argonauts, separated by a granulated dower, and set face to face (tail-piece, end of list of plates). So too, at Vaphio, we find rings and signets surrounded by a cable or twist of gold wire. In the latter was sometimes inserted an intaglio, sometimes a number of pieces of glass held in tiny compartments. Again, rock-crystals or pastes filled round cavities which pervaded the surface of a gold ball, having a hole right through the middle. It must have been the central piece of a necklet. A second ball is covered with dots, like the husk of a horse-chestnut, and there is an instance of a disc with bosses similar to those of the diadems (Fig. 540). Rosettes are plentiful. In a word, we have here the same forms as those which the royal tombs have revealed to the world. It would appear, however, that towards the end of the period, the metal-worker was led to choose simpler and lighter designs. Glass-ware begins to play a more prominent part in the ornaments ; these, whilst preserving their former gorgeous aspect, are now of less intrinsic value. 1 Among the ornaments found near the corpses, some are far too flimsy to have been worn in life. Such would be gold leaves covering leg and thigh (Pig. 106), or gold bands doing duty 1 Relating to hair-pins, with a silver or bronze stem, see ’E ii/jEpig, 1889. The same remark applies to gold and silver objects, found in small quantities in the graves at Palamidi. Metal. 449 as baldrics/ as well as many a bracelet, ear-ring, and such-like ornaments. The Mycenians, then, were already accustomed to prepare what might be called sepulchral ornaments. 1 2 Other pieces, on the contrary, such as diadems, semi-ovals, or pendants, and many more, are sufficiently massive to have stood the wear and tear of a long life, ere they were buried with their owner. Many of these ornaments are much worn. We are not a little surprised to find that the Trojan goldsmith knew how to solder gold upon gold ; that, unlike his modern colleague, he did not employ either a silver, borax, or glass alloy, which always leaves an unsightly dark mark at the point of junction, but that he managed his soldering in such a way as to be unperceptible to the naked eye. 3 The process, however, was unknown to the artisans who executed the gold objects contained in the tombs situated on the acropolis. Thus, whilst the handles of a vase from Troy (Fig. 504) are soldered, nails, big and small, are invariably used at Mycenae for the same purpose. The art of soldering was either imported into Hellas, or re-discovered about the time when the bee-hive tombs were built. Thus, the vertical stem of the Vaphio vases, which serves to connect the horizontal bands of the handle with one another, is soldered on to this. Soldered, too, are other gold ornaments ol the same epoch (Fig. 540). 4 When the two metals, silver and gold, are introduced into one piece, they are either hammered together and nailed one upon the other, or incrusted (Fig. 524), gold laminae being inserted in small cavities cut for the purpose in the silver plate (Fig. 374). It would appear that in early days the Mycenae metal-worker found some difficulty in carrying out the process just described ; for Schliemann discovered a thin leaf of copper between the silver and gold plates constituting a long-horned ox-head. 5 Nor had they any knowledge of what we call gilding, or how to solder copper and bronze. Vases made of these metals are composed of plates joined together with countless nails. As to the handles, they are always fastened to the body with broad-headed nails. 0 The charming process of incrustation, which was fully de- scribed by us in dealing with the Mycenae daggers and a vase 1 Schliemann, Mycence. 2 Tsoundas, M vKrjrai . 3 Schliemann, llios. 4 * Ert/jiepic , 1889. 5 Schliemann, Mycence . 0 Ibid. VOL. II. G G 450 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. from the lower city (Pig. 374), seems to have found great favour with the native goldsmith (Pis. XVI I. -XIX.). To the products of this art may be added a silver bowl from which M. Koumanoudis removed a thick layer of oxide with which it was covered when exhumed from the Mycenian acropolis. A curious design, a box out of which emerge leafy branches, is represented on the body three times over. Running round the cup, below the image, is a ring of small inlaid discs or round plates. 1 This style of work is also represented at Vaphio by a dagger-blade of bronze, 2 and a broken sword at Thera (Fig. 541). The two faces of the blade are inlaid with diminutive gold axes, which detach them- selves from the green patina overlaying the surface. 3 1 U. Kohler, Mykenischer Silbergefdsse. 2 *E 1889. W orsaae, Des ages de pierre et de bronze dans Pancien et le nouveau monde , PI. VIII. coloured. Pig. 541. — Broken sword. Actual size. Weapons and Tools, 45 * The foregoing examples show how great was the variety of the materials used by the goldsmith, and how cleverly he managed to obtain harmonies and contrasts of colour. He seems to have possessed scales . 1 That he knew how to compose different alloys is incidentally proved by a copper blade from Vaphio, which still preserves one of its bronze crustae ; chemical analysis has shown that this contains a very large amount of tin, or an alloy compounded with silver and lead . 2 In this way was obtained a soft white metal, which must be the Homeric xcta-frirepog. Until the discovery of tin mines in Spain, the metal was imported in much too insignificant quantities to have been used pure. Along with metals and glass, the goldsmith showed a decided partiality for semi-precious stones. Several large balls of rock- crystal, used perhaps as sceptre- pommels , 3 and thin plates of varying shapes, intended no doubt to be utilized as inlays, have been brought out of the graves, thus showing that the article was in high demand. Weapons and Tools. Archaic Greece knew of but two kinds of arms, stone arms, and weapons made of bronze. As time went on, the latter replaced the former ; nevertheless, even when the metal-wealth of Mycenae was exceedingly great, she did not give up the older and familiar weapon, and arrows continued to be furnished with points of obsidian (Fig. 2), although long before that weapons used in a hand-to-hand fight had been of bronze. Between the point when metal makes its appearance, and that when it invents forms of its own, there is a transition period, during which the shapes proper to stone are imitated. This period is represented at Troy by bronze axes that are but copies of stone ones . 4 The first step onward is made by arrow- heads, apparently fixed by a nail into a notch cut in the wood, and unprovided, therefore, with a socket . 0 The rough edges seen here are perhaps reminiscent of the flint points of yore. 1 Schliemann, Mycence ; ’E<^jU£|ote, 1889. 2 ’E T)flE()t'c, 189I. 1 2 Ibid . Weapons and Tools. 453 has a vertical rib down the middle. The broad guard terminating the handle was an admirable protection for the hand ; in it are holes for the nails, which served to fix it to the blade. To judge from the objects found in the grave, this sword appears to belong to the end of the Mycenian period, and would thus represent its Fig. 543. — Spear-head. Length, 293 c. last phase. The Thera specimen, with its elegant decoration, cannot be much older. 1 The Mycenae spear, like the lance of the Homeric heroes (Fig. 543), is provided with a socket, into which was fixed the shaft. As to daggers, quite a goodly crop 1 For fuller details upon the bronze swords in question, see Undset, Die altesten Schwertformen . 454 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. has reached us from the graves on the acropolis ; of these the finest examples are given in Pis. XVII. to XIX. They also occur in the lower city of Vaphio. The Mycenae axe is sometimes single, 1 sometimes double-edged, with a hole in the middle for the handle. 2 A curious specimen from Vaphio is crescent-shaped ; it is represented on an intaglio, where it is carried by a long- robed personage, perhaps a sacrificial priest (Fig. 424, 4). 3 The two large holes with which the crescent is pierced serve to explain a passage in the Odyssey that had long baffled the in- genuity of commentators. 4 * It enables us to grasp why Ulysses’ arrow sped right through a dozen or so of axes set in a line Fig. 544. — Bronze axe. Height, 145 c. in the courtyard of the palace. They were similar to the one we print above (Fig. 544)/ No remains of defensive armour have been found at Troy, Cyprus, or the Cyclades. A gold plate, with a lion’s head en- graved on it, which Schliemann mistook for a funereal mask, has been identified as the central ornament of a shield. 6 The edge of the plate still preserves the holes for the nails that served to fix it to a wooden board ; as an emblematic and decorative 1 Schliemann, Mycefia. 2 Ibid. 3 A Lydian ornament is similarly shaped {History of Art). 4 Odyssey. 5 The connection between the two sets of axes has been pointed out by C. Bet.gfr, Berl. phil. IVochenschrift, 1 890. c Schliemann, Myce?ice , Weapons and Tools. 455 figure, it served its purpose admirably. The Mycenian shield is figured on scores of monuments, now in the shape of a semi- cylinder, covering the entire body (PL XVIII., Figs. 414, 416), now of a sphere curved in at the sides (PL XVIII., Figs. 418, 426). Its dimension is somewhat less on a Mycenae vase (Fig. 488), where it is carried by warriors, apparently protected by breast- plates, which no doubt consisted of several folds of cloth. A bit of coarse stuff found in Tomb V. presumably belonged to a breast- plate of this nature. 1 It had stuck to a hilt in very poor condition, but which still preserved three enormously large-headed nails. The helmets seen on bronzes and ivories are always very simply shaped (Figs. 349-351, 358, 359, 373), but more elaborate on an intaglio (Fig. 421, 6), and on a vase from Mycenae (Fig. 488) ; there it is furnished with horn-like appendages. On the stelae are represented war-chariots in very rudimentary fashion (Fig. 360). They are better drawn on the intaglios (PL XVI. 9, and Fig. 413), but so small that all we can make out are the two wheels, the very diminutive box, and the long shaft which parts the horses. 2 To attempt enumerating one by one, or figuring the thousand and one instruments and tools that have been collected in the course of the excavations, is altogether out of the question. The destination of some of them is not clear. Such would be those huge bronze spoons furnished with a socket, 3 and used perhaps to remove ashes and live coals from the sacrificial altar, or as a kind of frying- pan for toasting the sacred barley, etc. A second find gives us another big spoon of bronze, 4 and a number of small silver ones ; of these, one is shaped like a cyathus. Keys were certainly known at Mycenae, since one has been found at Troy. The specimens, however, which Schliemann collected at Hissarlik were not from the graves, and as several of them are iron, they cannot be placed in the epoch under consideration. 5 Finally, it is hard to assign a probable destination to tiny bronze wheels which were found with the keys just referred to. Schliemann had quite a collection of stave-pommels, made of 1 Upon the use of linen breast-plates, see Prof. Studniczka’s observations in A the 7 iische Mittheilungen . 2 Schliemann, Mycence. 3 ’E 07 //xfp