Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/419

 396 History of Art in Antiquity. • / — - — ^ FiC. 190. — PersciK)lis. Uas-relief on ilcx)r-franic of ihc Hall of a llundutl Columns. Flanhin aixl Custe, /Wse aHeientu, Hale CLVI. modern Persians even now foredoom to perish in a san- guinary sport in which they dehght' I n the crowning friezes the Hon is por- trayed stalking with proud mien (Fig. 70), or in worship- ping attitude before the emblem of AhurA- Mazda (Fig. 65). In sculptures of this description the king nowhere appears, yet every figure pro- claims him as it were, awakes the idea of his power and majesty, and prepares the mind to V behold his august per- •■ "• son at the y • threshold of I -V those halls where he holds his court, or at that of his privateapart- ' Chardin (edit. Langl^s), torn. viii. p. 272 ; Fi.ANDiN, Hela- iion, torn. ii. p. 169. Both tra- vellers testify to the precautions taken to ensure the triumph of the lion, the emblem of royalty. Digitized by Google i