Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/493

Rh kk. IX. Ch. V ANi. 477 conception of beauty of outline essential to an important architectural style. It is still worthy of more attention than it has hitherto received, even for its own sake. Its great title to interest will always be its ethnological value, being the direct descendant of the Sassanian style, and the immediate parent of that of Russia. At the same time, standing on the eastern confines of the Byzantine Empire, it received thence that impress of Christian ai-t which dis- tinguished it from the former, and which it transmitted to the latter. It thus forms one of those important links in the chain of archi- tectural history which when lost render the study of the subject so dark and perplexed, but when appreciated add so mimensely to its philosophical interest.