Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/432

 Themes and their Situations. 4" objects, which may be incense-burners ; they stand between him and a man leaning on a staff, seemingly engaged in conversation with the monait:h. To the extreme right, forming a pen- dant to the lance-bearer, is an attendant carrying a vase. In both doorways a sumptuous canopy is placed over the head of the monarch, and where the upper part of the stone has not been knocked off, hovers the image of Ahurft-Mazda, with outstretched wings. The decoration of the lateral doorways is more simple. It portrays the combat of the king with a monster, the appearance of which changes from one opening to the other (Fig. 71). The king's dress has undergone a slight modification ; he is certainly attired in the Median robe, but, for greater convenience, it is caught up at the belt in front, and thrown back from above the knee, which is thus left uncovered. Nor does he wear the high tiara, which in the heat of the affray might have got out of gear. The head is bound by a simple fillet which keeps the hair in form. Very similar groups adorn the lesser doorways of the inhabited palaces (Fig. 72), On the main portals looking outwards on the porch, we again find the king with all the attributes of regal dignity, but as the space would have been too narrow for the elaborate decoration exhibited at the sides of the colossal door- ways of the Hall of a Hundred Columns, the scene was simplified. Of course the monarch holds a sceptre in his hand ; but he is no longer seated upon a stage, whence his eye could travel down the assembled multitude in civilian and military dress. His feet touch the ground ; he stands erect, as though coming out of the ' palace to meet the thousands of men on their way to him, either loaded with offerings, or to dischaige the duties of their office. He is about to expose his august head to the light of day, so that a fan would be inadequate protection; a second attendant, therefore, presses forward to cover and shield him- with a parasol (Fig. 191). The representation of royal existence is completed in the interior of palaces. Thus, at the further end of the Palace of Xerxes, on one of the jambs still in siiu amidst the sur- rounding ruins, are two figures that carry objects for the royal toilet ; the first holds a flask and a napkin, the next a two-handled bucket and a kind of censer. Both are impubes^ attached to the service of the private apartments (Fig. 199). Greater variety and richness occur here than anywhere else, where even the frames of niches and false windows are embellished with sculptures. Digitized by Gt)