Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/167

 History of Art in Antiquity. all, forced upon them the exclusive use of brick, and the notion of overiaying them with vivid hues vitrified and made permanent by the action of fire, was the fact that they were close upon a stoneless region. Data tend to show that the art of the enamellist had its birth in Chaldaea; nevertheless, Dieulafoy found glazed tiles at Susa, which he attributes to the time of the old Elamite kings. The tokens by which he reaches this conclusion are open to doubt; in any case, when the palaces of the Achsmenids were erected, enamelling had doubtless been current for centuries among the Susians, whence the art spread, and the taste for it became universal in Persia. We ha.vc before observed that Susiana is but the prolongation of Chaldaea, from whom, in very early days, she learnt the art, and passed it on to Persia ; we should not marvel, then, at its having been more flourishing there than on those elevated tablelands, where it was a foreign importation. At Susa, then, earth impressed in moulds everywhere replaces hewn stone. Thus, near the principal gateways of the enceinte within which were embraced the royal palaces, Dieulafoy found fragments of bas-reliefs of red clay, that doubtless stood on either side of the entrances. The quality and tone of the frai^- ments in question cannot be distinguished from the burnt bricks of the wall they formerly adarned. By piecing them together figures in relief more or less complete are obtained ; such as lions and bulls, with or without wings, fantastic animals, amongst which is one with the horns of a moufflon, resembling in every respect the e.xemplar of unknown origin figured by us some years ago, which we then attributed to Chaldaa. It is now in the Cabinet des AnticjiK^s of the Hibli(jtht:que Nationalc,' and belongs to the class of monsters which the Greeks designated under the general appellation of " Susian animals."* ' J/is/. of Art, torn. ii. Fig. 277. ' See the oU-citcd description of the mantle of Alctmanes of Sybaris, in the treatise entitled : nAssyria, was not a iK^Milar art, which, thanks to a flourishing industry and active commerce, difliiaed its products all over Anterior Asia, it being little more than the humble slave of the royal whims ; I should, therefore, hesitate to ascribe thcrt to any article that does not bear the signs of having been purposely made for the prmce, either to decorate or furnish one of his palaces. I ask myself, therefore^ if the type referred to may Digitized by Google