Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/457

 432 History op Art lyt Antiquity. and Median nobles, on the left wing of the stairs, every other figure moving towards a central point is turned back as if engaged in conversation with his neighbour; his hand is stretched out to htm, or placed'upon his shoulder or his chest (Figs. 192, 207). The intention is worthy of praise, but the result is by no meand satisfactory. The inconsistency between the character of the move- ment — ^which struggles hard to be at ease and natural, but woefully fatls^and the persistency with which it reappears at regular inter- vals, without a change, from one end of the wall to the other is very apparent On the opposite wing to the right, the subject lends itself more easily to a solution of the inner workings of the artist. The gift-bearers represent nations distinguished by peculiarities of physiognomy and costume ; the gifts they are about to lay at the feet of the sovereign are as different as the countries which produced them, including animals of diverse species, yet it cannot be said that the sculptor made the most of these several elements. Dress and equipment change from one subject to another, but the type of the face does not change with the costume ; the figures, no matter their functions, tribute-bearers bending under the weight of their oblations, and animal drivers, all have the same bearing. Then, too, the animals are patterns of perfect good behaviour, not one falling out of line ; rams and oxen are without the least inclination to butt, and horses have no mind to rear. Men and animals advance with even, measured step as if on parade. The same impression is produced by taking one by one the principal figures. Thus the king is represented in three or four attitudes and never more. On the sepulchral facades he is upright in the act of worshipping. On the jambs of the doorways he slays monsters, or is seated on a throne, or comes out of his palace; but whether he contends against lion or griffin, his dress is invariably caught up in the same fashion, with exactly the same number of plaits, and the same number of curls is exhibited about head and chin. On these peaceful occasions, when he shows him- self to his people in serene majesty, a sceptre is grasped in the left hand and a flower is carried in the other. If repetitions are plentiful and symmetrical arrangement forms the rule, it is not because the sculptor lacked the imaginative faculty; he gave abundant proof of it in the plan of his vast decorative com- position, where every detail concurs so admirably to express unity of idea and unity of sentiment. The true explanation of faulty Digitized by Google