Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/151

 Till-: Egyptian Orders. 129 comparison there would be nothing surprising, but the papyrus, with its attenuated proportions and yielding frame, would seem to be. of all vecretables, the least likelv to have inspired the architects of Karnak and Luxor. The lotus seems to us to have no more right than the papyrus to be considered the unique origin of the forms which we are considerino-. All those resemblances, of which so much has been made, sink to very little when they are closely examined. It re- quires more than good will to recognize the formless yb//'(?/^i- which cluster round the base of the stalk in those large and well-shaped triangular leaves with parallel ribs, which decorate the "bases of Egyptian columns. Moreover, these leaves reappear in other places, such as capitals, in which, if this explanation of their origin is to be accepted, they could have no place. They frequently occur, also, at the foot of a wall. As tor the true circular leaf of the lotus, it is not to be found, except, perhaps in a few Ptolemaic capitals. Its stem, concealed almost entirely by the muddy water, is very slender, and is hardly more suggestive than that of the papyrus of a massive stone column. The bulbous form of the lower part of the shaft would be a constant form if it were an imitation of nature, whereas it is, in fact, exceptional. With the capitals, however, it is different. Those which are to be found at Thebes are referred, by common consent, to the lotus- bud. And yet, perhaps, they resemble any other bud as much as that of the lotus. It is, however, when they are fully open, that one flower is easily distinguishable from another by the shape and number of their petals, as well as by the variety of their colours. Like babies in their cradles, unopened buds are strangely alike. But seeing the place occupied by the lotus in the minds of the Egyptians, "in their wooden architecture and painted decorations, it is natural enough to believe that it gave them their first hint for the capital in question ; we have, therefore, not hesitated to use the epithet lotiform which has been consecrated to it by custom. As for the campaniform capital we find it difticult to allow that it represents the open flov'er of the lotus. From a certain distance it no doubt resembles the general lines of some flowers, but those belong to the family of the Catupanulaceci^ rather than to that of the nymphseace^e. The profile of this inverted bell, however, does not seem to have been suggested by the wish to VOL. II. s