Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/194

 I 64 A History of Art in Ciiald.-ea and Assyria. nothing- could be more natural than the action of the two lions that show themselves at the two upper angles. They hang tightly to the edge of the stone with their extended claws, giving rise to a happy, piquant, and unstudied effect. The scabbard in our next illustra- tion is no less happily conceived ; the lions at its foot who seem about to climb up the sheath with the playfulness of kittens, should be noticed (Fig. 82). Again, we find the lion introduced into those embroideries on the royal robes of which we have already had occasion to speak. In the example figured here (83) he is fighting an animal whose feet and legs are those of a bulh although its stature is greater and its form more slender than those of the antelope. It appears to be a unicorn, a fantastic animal that has always played a great part in oriental fables. The lion's head with its powerful muscular development, its fine mouth, and picturesque masses of floating hair, has often furnished ceramists, gold and silversmiths, and art workmen of every kind with motives for use upon their creations. A fine example of this is reproduced on the title-pages of these volumes. It belongs to the Luynes collection in the French National Library. The material is gold, and a small staple attached to the neck shows that it once belonged to some object now lost. Our repro- duction is of the same size as the original. In spite of its small dimensions its workmanship is no less remarkable for freedom and no- bility of style than the colossal head from Nimroud. Something of the same qualities but with more finish in the details is to be found in a terra-cotta fragment covered with a green glaze which now belongs to the collection in the Louvre. These objects, which have come down to us in considerable r*& ^F- y' ts>'fy FlG. 82. — Sword and scab- bard. From a Khorsabad bas-relief. Louvre. numbers, must have been used as applied work, in the decoration