Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/688

Rh colours were painted in tempera colours. The. colouring was usually conventional, and only aimed at imparting a pleasing appearance to the figure. It was necessarily applied after the firing, as many of the pigments used would have been altered or destroyed at the tiring temperature of the body. The tints were body-colours, applied without shading, and red, blue, yellow and black are those most commonly employed, the white slip serving for the nude parts and generally also for the ground-work. Blue and red were especially favoured for drapery, as in many of the Tanagra figures; the red ranging from scarlet to pink or rose purple. Black was only used for the eyes or details of features; yellow (varying to deep brown) for the hair, and also for jewelry. Gilding is rare but was frequently employed in later times for terracotta imitations of jewelry. In the primitive terraeottas and those of Cyprus or other centres which adhered to primitive methods, the decoration is in stripes of matt black and red paint applied in a conventional manner to human figures and animals alike. True glazes or 'enamels are occasionally found, as for instance in the later terraeottas of Sicily, where they are employed both for drapery and for flesh colours. Greek terracotta statuettes have been discovered in tombs, on the sites of sanctuaries, and in private houses. The tomb-finds are scattered all over the Mediterranean littoral, and the chief sites have already been noted; among the sanctuaries we may cite Olympia, the Acropolis at Athens, the temenos of Demeter at Knidos, the temples at Naukratis in the Egyptian Delta, many sites in Cyprus, and temples at Selinus in Sicily and Tarentum. The purposes for which these statuettes were used, (a) for religious rites, (b) in daily life, (c) in funeral ceremonies, have been the subject of much debate. Since the same types and subjects are common to each of these classes of discoveries it is obvious that the terraeottas cannot have been intended for one purpose alone even if their prima significance was religious. Numerous theories have been advancegon this subject, some authorities having maintained that their meaning was exclusively religious or mythological, that they originally corresponded to the Egyptian ushabti, and that these religious types were afterwards adopted for ordinary human figures symbolizing the life of the deceased beyond the tomb. The gradual change in popular taste from figures of deities to figures of a genre type is unquestionably a feature of the development of this branch of art, but that the development was affected by religious ideas is more open to doubt. It is more probable that it followed the lines of artistic evolution, and that the continued use of terraeottas as votive or funeral offerings became more or less a convention. In fact, the identity of the types, under whatever circumstances they are found, seems to indicate that the significance was given to them by the purchaser, who would decide for himself whether he offered them to some appropriate deity, deposited them in the tomb of some relative, or kept them for use and decoration in his own house.

Subjects and Types.-The earliest beginnings of the statuettes proper show, as might be expected in primitive Greek art, a very limited range of subjects. As in other materials, so also in clay, the female deity reigns supreme. The primitive Hellenic type of goddess adopts two forms, both derived from an original in wood, the board-form mu/is, and the column form xlwv or géavov, both of which we find also in sculpture. The limbs are wanting, or are at best rudimentary, the figure terminating below in a spreading base. Both types are found in Rhodes, but on the mainland of Greece the columnar type died out after the Mycenaean period, and only the board-type remained, this being specially popular in Boeotia, where both standing and sitting figures occur, painted in the same style as the local vases. This type was adhered to for the bodies of figures even when the head was modelled in a more advanced style of art. The column-type is also well exemplified in Cyprus. The standing and seated goddesses are the two principal types in archaic Greek art (Pl. II. fig. 4), and are widely distributed and of universal popularity; though the conception of the goddess may vary with the locality, the types are almost identical, and the attributes are but slightly varied. A certain proportion of these deities are differentiated as nature-goddesses, either as a nude goddess in a shrine or a seated figure with a child in her lap who may be described as the Earth-Mother. Both types are of oriental origin. Another common archaic type is the funeral mask or bust, hollow at the back, which is found both in central Greece and Rhodes. Being almost always feminine it seems probable that these are not images of the deceased, but the Chthonian goddesses Demeter and Persephone, playing in the tombs the role of protectress against evil influences. We may also mention here the little figures of animals, women and children variously occupied, and jointed dolls (veupbwrazn-a) which can only have served the purpose of children's toys. In Athens, Melos and Rhodes, many of these have been found in children's graves. The evidence of finds and other indications seems to show that these archaic types were not affected by the rapid development of Greek art in the 5th century, but continued in vogue until the end of that period. Certainly there are very few terraeottas of developed style which can be assigned to an earlier period than the 4th century, and many figures of archaic type can be shown from the contents of the tombs in which they are found not to be earlier than the 5th century B.c. The reason for this is probably hieratie. Owing to their religious associations old conventional types continued in use, whereas painted vases and the majority of sculptures of a higher class were not affected by such considerations. Therefore we are not surprised when we come to the later terraeottas of the fine period, or 4th century, to find the standing and seated feminine types still prominent. But the change in style is also accompanied by a change in conception, and in place of the goddess we now have the Greek lady»-in place of the mythological the genre. The transformation wasquite a simple one, and it needed little change to convert a nursing goddess into a mother with her little one, or a Persephone holding a flower into a girl of Tanagra. The change in fact was artistic rather than religious; an evolution rather than a revolution. The figures were still placed in tombs and shrines, though the old associations were less strongly felt. In order to know what were the characteristics of the best Greek work in terracotta we must turn our attention to its most typical products, the Tanagra statuettes (Pl. II. fig. 4). » Here we have analmost unlimited variety of feminine figures illustrating the daily life of Greek women. In most cases the arms are more or less concealed by the mantle which is drawn closely across the figure, even covering the hands; but many hold a fan, a mirror, a Wreath, or a theatrical mask in one hand, while with the other they gather together the folds of their draperies. The long tunic or chiton and the mantle or himation, which all without exception wear, formed the typical dress of the Greek matron and girl; and to this was added for outdoor wear a large shady hat. The seated types follow on the same lines, but are not so common. These figures range in date from about 350 to 200 B.c., and their inspiration is probably drawn rather from the painting than the sculpture of the period. The terraeottas of Eretria in Euboea and of Myrina in Asia Minor stand next in artistic merit, but are of more markedly Hellenistic character; they are freer from ancient tradition, but tend to degenerate into exaggeration of pose and conception. Here the types of divinities so conspicuously absent at Tanagra reappear; in particular Eros or Cupid, the one deity who universally caught the popular taste in the Hellenistic age, and in the many representations of whom we see the prototypes of the Pompeian Amoretti; Aphrodite, Dionysos and Victory are also popular themes. At some times the Tanagra types are repeated here, as, with varying artistic success, in other parts of the Mediterraneanlittoral. Though no other Greek site has produced terraeottas of such artistic merit as the two just discussed, there are others where the art enjoyed great popularity, either for a comparatively brief period or through the whole histor of Greek art. Some of these centres of manufacture have alreadly received mention or at least allusion, but we may briefiy call attention to a few others. From Sicily we possess a complete series, from archaic to later times, the earlier being best represented at Selinus, where a great variety of richly coloured figures have been found; there are also many fine heads of 5th century style, and later figures of Aphrodite, Eros and other deities imitating the later types of Hellenistic art. At Naukratis in the Egyptian Delta the later terraeottas are strongly influenced by Egyptian ideas, and figures like Bes and Horus are found in conjunction with orientalized Aphrodite-types. In the Cyrenaica on the north coast of Africa the influence of Tanagra is apparent, but the style is for the most part degenerate. The terraeottas of Tarentum stand apart from those of other sites, being markedly funereal in character; many represent Dionysos reclining at a banquet. Elsewhere in Southern Italy the types correspond to those of Sicily and other Mediterranean sites. Terracotta work in relief, apart from definitely architectural examples, is almost limited to two small classes, both belonging to the beginning of the 5th century. These groups, known respectively as “ Melian" and “ Locrian ' reliefs, consist of small plaques, possibly intended to be inserted in the walls of temples or shrines. The subjects of the Locrian reliefs, which mostly relate to the myth and cult of Persephone, seem to indicate that they at least were of a votive character. They occur at Locri in Southern Italy, and similar examples dedicated to Athena have been found on the Acropolis at Athens. The Melian reliefs exhibit a wider scope of subjects, mainly mythological; the work is exceedingly delicate and refined in character. Some are simple plaques; others have the figures cut out without background, or only the outer contours. They have been found on various Greek sites, the majority in Melos (Pl. I. fig. 2).

There is a class of vases which comes rather under the heading of terracotta than of pottery, from its technical character and general appearance. These are found at Canosa, Calvi, Cumae and elsewhere in Southern Italy, and belong to the Hellenistic period (Pl. II. fig. 5). They combine in a marke degree the characteristics of the vase and the statuette, some bein vases with moulded reliefs or small figures in the round attached; others actual figures or colossal heads modelled in vase form, with the addition of mouth, handle and base. They are often of gigantic size, and do not appear to have served any practical purpose; probably they were made specially for the tomb. They are covered with a white slip like the statuettes, and are often richly coloured. Some even have subjects painted in some permanent process like en caustic. The