Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/138

 ii8 HISTORY OF ART IN PIKI.NICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. The Tuscan capital, as described by Yitruvius, must have been very much like this. In the same group we may place the capital of a square pier at Hyblos (Fig. 43), which has a quite peculiar profile. The shaft ends in a bold torus, which, again, is allied to the abacus by a scotia. 1 In some other examples we recognize the principle of the Ionic capital. Several have been brought from Cyprus, where they crowned columns which once, in all probability, formed parts of tombs. They are very ornate. The simplest, which was found at Trapeza, near Famagousta, has two large volutes rising from a single base and crossing each other at the foot, and surmounted by an abacus divided into three fascias. It is ornamented on FIG. 51. Cypriot capital. Louvre. 2 both faces (Fig. 51). A capital from Athieno is still more curious in its arrangements. Above the chief pair of volutes there are two more turned the other way up. The space between their curves is filled up with a graceful ornament of lotus flowers and stems. A less happy note is struck by the sharp point of the triangle which rises between the tw r o large volutes. The three fascias of the abacus have perpendicular markings or grooves (Fig. 52). In a third capital we find the same design carried out in a slightly more elaborate fashion. There are three pairs of volutes instead of two ; the lotus bouquet is a little fuller and more complex, and the abacus is decorated with chevrons instead of 1 REN AN, Mission, p. 175. - Height, 30 inches ; length of abacus, 49 inches : thickness, 12 inches.