Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/238

 2l6 A HISTORY OF ART ix CHALD.KA AND ASSYRIA. by winged griffins, may readily be distinguished. That these griffins are not repeated on the left of the relief, is due perhaps to the haste or laziness of the sculptor. He may have thought he had done enough when he had shown once for all how these FIG. 85. Winged Sphinx carrying the base of a column ; from Layard. pedestals were composed. However this may have been, the lions in this relief play exactly the same role as that attributed by us to the little model found by George Smith, and to the winged sphinx discovered by Sir Henry Layard before one of the doors at FIG. 86. Facade of an Assyrian building ; from a bas-relief in the British Museum. Height 10 inches. Nimroud. A base in the form of a vase or cushion is inserted between the back of the animal and the bottom of the shaft. In the pilaster if we may believe that tine artist took no liberties