Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/77

 62 History of Art in Antiquity. of which was used by the Pharaoh alone when he repaired to the , temple. But the hypostyle hall at Persepolis» instead of being fan appendix or annex for the prince to walk through, was his • throne-room in which he sat on state occasions. The architect, then, had not the same reasons to devise a kind of state avenue on the main axis of his building ; he was content with the simpler, albeit marvellous effect which a grove of columns would produce ' on the beholder wherever he stationed himself. If the characteristic device, the pair of bulls that appears at the summit of these columns, is quite peculiar to Persian architecture, we recognize an Egyptian form in the cornice surmounting all these doorways real or simulated, the sole relics of the external shell of the paUice (Fig. 14). As in the Delta, the cornice is composed of three very distinct parts, and the result is, on the whole, a profile very similar to the Egyptian ; on closer examination, however, there appear slight differences of make, certain mouldings which the craftsman who made these gateways and windows vras not likely to meet in the valley of the Nile.* Thus» for the torus bound with a fiUet, in which some would see a bundle of reeds, he substituted a baguette made up of alternating eggs and discs (Fig. 15). He left untouched the curve of the necking properly so called, but he divided it into consecutive grooves that scar its surface. The only detail which is an exact reproduction of the Egyptian form is thie finishing band. Whibt all these openings owe to the cornice they support their decidedly Egyptian physiognomy, the gigantic bulls and other man-headed animals adorning the jambs of the principal entrances, the pylon that gave access to the platform (Plates II., III.), and the great doorways to the palace point to another style of architecture, and vividly recall Nineveh. Reminiscent, too, of Assyro-Chaldxan art is the habit of decorating in places the base of walls by means of figured sculptures, where the king is repre- sented surrounded by his attendants and subjects, or as over- throwing his enemies. The prevalence of similar bas-reliefs about ramps that ran up the sides of great staircases (Fig. 16) was due to the fact that Persepolitan palaces, like those on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, stood on platforms upheld by artificial. 603-605. Digitized by Google
 * With r^ard to the Egyptian cornice, see HisL of Art, torn. L pp. 104, 51X,