Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/102

 44 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. the use of mouldings does not appear to have advanced to any great extent. In the Assyrian palaces the sculptured slabs and colored surfaces took their place. At Persepolis the bead, hollow and ogee mouldings may be noticed in the bases, while the volutes of the capital were treated with plain sinkings. G. Ornament. — The Assyrian sculptures in alabaster exhibit considerable technical skill and refinement, while the repousse pattern work on bronze bowls, shields, and gate fittings is also notable. From the decorative treatment of Assyrian architecture can be traced much of the peculiar and characteristic detail used by the Greeks, and on the sculptured slabs (No. 13 b, f. h), already mentioned at Nimroud and Nineveh, are represented buildings with columns and capitals of Ionic and Corinthian form in embryo. Further, it may be said, that Greece took from Assyria the idea of the sculptured friezes, the colored decorations, and the honeysuckle (No. 12 j) and guilloche ornaments, the latter being seen in a pavement slab from the palace at Nineveh (Koyunjik), now in the British Museum. In the next chapter it will be seen that Greece adopted much of her decorative art from the preceding styles of Egypt and Western Asia, which are thus of extreme interest in enabling the evolution of architectural forms from the earlier periods to be traced. 5. REFERENCE BOOKS. Dieulafoy (M.). — " L'Art Antique de la Perse." 5 vols., folio. Paris, 1884-1889. Flandin (E.)et Coste(P.). — " Voyage en Perse." 6 vols., folio. Paris, 1844-1854. Layard (A. H.). — " Monuments of Nineveh." 2 vols., folio. 1853. Layard. — " Nineveh and its Palaces." 2 vols., 8vo. 1849. Perrot and Chipiez. — " History of Art in Chaldasa and Assyria, Persia, Phrygia, and Judasa." 5 vols., 8vo. 1884-1892. Place (Victor). — " Ninive et L'Assyrie." 3 vols., large folio. Paris, 1867-1870. Ragozin (Z. A.). — "Chaldea." 8vo. 1888. (A most interesting account of the people and their history.) Texier (C.). — " L'Armdnie, la Perse, et la Mesopotamie," 2 vols., large folio. Paris, 1842-1852. Whyte-Melville. — " Sarchedon" (Historical Novel). A visit to the Assyrian galleries and basement of the British Museum will afford much interest and information to the student and will impress him with the dignity and importance of the style.