Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/172

, Decoration. i6i we ask if this is not another instance that, as at Susa, gold was likewise applied to surfaces. Granting the employment of gilding, there was no reason why it should have been restricted to that part of the monument where it has been so fortunately preserved ; so that we may assume that the horns of the bull at Susa were gilt as well. It is possible that rosettes and mouldings about doorways and windows were picked out with the precious metal. Why should the buildings at Perse- polis, whose inscriptions were set off in gold, have been less richly decorated than at Susa ? Assuming that it was so^ we may, with- out appearing too bold, heighten here and there certain well- chosen portions with gold that would mingle equally well with the white, grey, or black of the stone, and the deep blues of the enamel ; the air and rain would soon mellow its tone, so that, whilst accentuating certain details, it would never make them obtrusive or break the fine harmony of the whole. Nevertheless in the restorations we have proposed (Plates VI., IX.), we have used this mode of decoration with extreme reserve, and nowhere lias the stone been tinted. This was counselled, on the one hand, by the quality of the stone, which is compact, finely grained, and well prepared ; whilst, on the other hand, traces of embellishment of this nature are too rare to warrant the supposi- tion that they were intended to recall the early temples of Greece. These, built of a tufaceous stone more or less coarse, had not only the relief of friezes and frontals made gay, but the dull colour of the rough stone throughout enlivened by a coating of stucco. The polychromy of the royal architecture of the Achxmenidx- was at once more judicious and richer ; it depended less on the handling of the brush than on the variety' of the materials. Each one of these has its special colour, resulting from its identity and, as it were, personal vibration. However much one may try to infuse differ- ence of colouring by additional pigments, the liquid tones rubbed in with the brush will preserve through it all values that are practically the same, and the impression they leave upon the vision is tame and unexhilarating. It may be likened to an orchestra that should contain none but brass or stringed instruments, where, no matter the number of the musicians and their proficiency, a certain paucity and monotony of sound will be inevitable. M Digitized by Google