Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/437

 4i6 History op Art in Antiquity. systematic order, which precludes all idea of a sincere and realistic imitation of life. If, from the manner of understanding the task laid upon him the sculptor refrained from exhibiting the human form in the fire of impassioned movement; if thereby he doomed his work to a certain degree of sameness, his gods, such as he depicted them, did not furnish him with the means of remedying the blemish. The super- natural world, for which the cuhure of Egypt and Chaldaeo- Assyria knew how to invent so wonderful a variety of forms, is represented here by a single type, and that not even of native growth, but borrowed, with slight modifications, from the plastic art of Baby- lonia and Nineveh. The image under notice always appears in the same situation, • the centre of the crowning of the facades and the upper part of the bas-reliefs. 1 1 is that of a man of diminutive stature, whose costume consists of the regal head-dress and robe, with girdle whose ends float far behind;' but his feathered petticoat puts him at once outside and above humanity. The huge ring, doubt- less an emblem of the solar disc, which is passed round his middle, the ample plumage of his outstretched wings, which uphold him in mid-air, help farther to emphasize his divine character. The wings are elegant in design, and fan-like about the sculptures of the facades (tail-piece, end of chapter v.) ; but those exhibited over the tombs are much more simple (Fig. 112, Plate I.), and constructed on a clumsy plan enough (Fig. 200). The god, who, from the tenor of the inscriptions, can be no other than Ahurd- Mazda, holds a ring in one hand, whilst the other is outstretched, as if addressing his worshippers, or in the act of blessing. The size, gesture, and attributes of the figure are everywhere the same, and the part it plays in the composition is never a conspicuous one. The lofty moral standard and purity of belief of the Persians are worthy of all praise; at the same time, it must be acknowledged that this essentially spiritualistic sim{)licity of creed and ritual was not calculated to foster flights of the imagination and sur r tustoire du globe aili hors de l'£.gypte^ 8vo, 1888, Bruxelles. ' These streamere appear aheady here and there in the artistic manifestations of Assym. {/list. 0/ Art, tom. ii. Fig. 18), and what perhaps may explain their origin is the cylinder, where they reach down to the hands of the worshippers^ and serve as a material link between them and the deity (Joe. cit, Fig. 153). Digitized by Gopgle
 * With regard to the symbol in question, consult Goblet d'.Vlviella, Rethtrches