Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/170

 Decoration. 159 any case his version is at variance with the testimony of MM. Flandin, Coste» and Dieulafoy ; they all declare that, despite minute search, they were unable to detect pigments on either figure, vrall of facade* or mouldings of the structures.^ The fine polish of the stone of door and window frame militates against the notion that paint was added thereto, since it would have stultified the work done with the chisel. Nor has sign or token of colour in this situation revealed itself at Susa, where, unlike Persepolis, until the other clay, her remains have lain buried in the ground ; so that had it been in existence, traces of it would have been found during the excavations. Nevertheless, if we are justified in discarding the hypothesis Fig. 74. — Susa. EniuneUed brick. Louvre. Drawn by St. Elme Gautier. of a systematic colouring that everywhere would have veiled the bare stone, the inborn taste of the native artist for brilliant hues as means of expression would ere long assert itself, and prompt him to enliven here and there the greys and whites of the limestone with tones of a firmer, warmer, and more radiant accent, so as to be a joy to the eye. M. Houssay has ascertained that the letters of the long inscription on the tomb of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustem stood out blue on the natural grey of the stone, whilst on the enamelled slabs of Susa they were painted white on yellow or blue grounds (Fig. 74). Such effects as these were above all his original drawing, is deposited in the KUioth^ue de I'lnstitttt (ten pages are devoted to the ruins of Pcrstpolis). In the printed text I'landin expresses himself in the same terms as his travelling? companion (pp. 134, 135). So Diia i.AKov {^LArt antique^ torn. iii. p. 20). Stolze, on the other hand, is silent on the subject. Digitized by Google
 * The Avowed agimm of Coete may be read in the manusccipt which, along with