Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/447

 422 History of Art im Antiquity. which they were a component part Bricks bearing guards upon them abounded ; two cupboards in the Louvre are brimful of pieces that were not required in the restoration. By dint of patience, M. Dieulafoy succeeded in making up nine figures, with here and there an additional bit of plaster, carefully painted with the brush in imitation of genuine pieces, so that from his restoration — which may unhesitatingly be accepted as a faithful delineation of the original— a just idea may be formed of the effect it produced when in place and entire.* Unfortunately none of the heads of these figures have preserved their contour and exact profile, hence they were restored after the sculptures at Persepolis.* M. Dieulafoy thinks that the figures under consideration were placed, not on the supporting wall, as at PersepoUs, but in the porticoes and the external faces of the walls surrounding the great hall of the palace, so as not to expose them to the outer air. In his restoration they stand about 14 m. 40 c. above the ground, so that the heads are nearly 16 m. from the floor.* As the total heiglit of the figures is only 1 m. 50 c, I fail to be con- vinced of the correctness of such an arrangement They would surely have looked very insignificant from below, and the eye of the spectator would have been unable to grasp details of costumes wrought with so minute a care, as if intended for close inspection. With r^rd to the lion frieze that forms a pendant. to the Archers' in the Louvre, Dieulafoy is of opinion that it decorated the crowning of the Propylaea which rose in front of the palace— a conjecture which carries conviction with it,* inasmuch as the relief of the animals is not only higher than that of the where the restored parts of each figure are indicated by hatchings. ' All the heads, without a single exception, have been restored. One figure only, the last in the row to the left, near the court, has preserved the beginning of the nose and the under eyelid. On the other hand, the crown of the head of several figures is intac^ and four have kept their beards (side of court). AU the rest of tlie row are much more built up. the Palace of Artaxerxes, at a depth of more than four metres below the floor of that edifice. Hence the oondurion b Ibiced upon us that they belonged to the primitive biuldmg. The excavations, however, have shed no light respecting the position the materials in question occupied in the Palace of Darius. by their fall ; proving that they came from a considerable height. The tinted side was turned to the ground (DlEULAfOV, A Susr, pp. 132, 133) . Kj ^. od by Google
 * See the twin pictures exhibited side by side with the frietes, against the windows,
 * The tiles that served to compose the Archers' Frieze were rccovere.l in front of
 * The tiles of the frieze were found in a court, the flooring of which was broken