Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/309

 The Hypostyle Hall of Xerxes. 297 Xerxest and take in at a glance the other palaces staged at the sides and behind this superb building. Well might the heart of the prince swell with pride as he contemplated a spectacle not to be matched anywhere in the habitable world. As to the visitor, who for the first time set his foot on that platform, the impressions he took away with him of the power and majesty of kings whose whim could produce creations so marvellous and rare, would remain with him as long as life lasted. The Hypostyle Hall of Xerxes. Proceeding beyond the Propylxa to the south-east, a platform is traversed, some fifty-four metres long, about which appear no traces of ancient buildings, if we except a rectangular reservoir excavated in the rock (Fig. 143)/ whose rim is more than one metre above the present level. The basin was originally sunk into the artificial soil, and, along with the fountains, served to water the trees and flowering shrubs planted on the espla- nade. Its cornice was composed of a fillet, cavetto, and baguette. There may, perhaps, have been a pendant to this on the other side of the royal way ; but the calcareous stratum does not crop up to the surface on that part of the esplanade, hence if there existed a reservoir, it was of stone or brick, and has disap- peared along with the earth surrounding it. There is a detail, well brought out in the general plan (I'ig. 143), that tends to favour the hypothesis of a garden that would have extended in and out of the IVopylrca,' as far as the palace nearest to them. The facades both of the palace and of the Propyhea are parallel to each other ; but the transverse axis of the latter is not in the centre of the hypostyle hall, and if carried right through would leave on the left, towards the north-cast, the middle intercolumnation. We can scarcely imagine such a disposition as this to have been premeditated and freely chosen. It is likely that the Fropyla;a were the first built, and that when the palace came to be raised, the ground or some other local condition did not lend itself to the original plan being carried out ; so that the great colonnade was traced without giving much thought to establish rigorous sym- metry between it and the central porch. A few shrubs planted • I he basin is 5 m. 70 c. long, by 4 HI. 80 & wid^ and 90 c deep. Digitized by Google
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