Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/137

 VARIATIONS OF STYLE AND COSTUME. 115 have never had much taste for enamel, they used it neither upon their vases nor their statues ; they laid themselves out to charm the mind rather by elegance and nobility of form than by beauty of colour. In all probability, stone, clay, and bronze were not the only materials used by the Cypriot artist. The island was rich in forests of cedar and cypress ; from their trunks and larger limbs excellent timber could be found for statues and votive figures ; but it is only in Egypt, in the warm sands and dry caverns of Memphis and Thebes, that wood has outlived the centuries. It is therefore to work in clay and wood alone that we must turn for evidence as to the progress of Cypriot art and as to the order in which various influences chased each other over its face. 4. Variations of Style and Costume. Of all the stone statues found in Cyprus, those whose rudeness of execution proclaims them the oldest have left but one impression upon travellers, they have reminded them of the monuments of Assyria. No doubt the practised eye easily sees they are not quite similar, but none the less there is a strong family likeness (see Figs. 73 and 74, and Plate I. Fig. 2). In the head-dress there are very marked analogies. So far as we can judge from its representation in stone, this was in Cyprus a conical cap of cloth ending in a point bent over backwards ; the stuff is generally ornamented with parallel stripes and has ear-pieces which are as a rule turned up, but in some cases hang over the cheeks (Plate II.). 1 The general shape is that of many Assyrian helmets," under the lower edge of the cap and just over the forehead and temples there is a fringe of small frizzled curls connected with the beard as in some heads in the Ninevite bas-reliefs (Fig. 73). 3 The beard itself is not divided into stories, like the Assyrian beard, but its curls have the same rigid symmetry, as if they had been made and arranged with the curling-tongs. The robe is long enough to cover the whole body ; a smaller cloak thrown obliquely over the 1 The head in Plate I. Figi 2 is about 16 inches high. The statuettes on Plate II. are respectively 84 inches and 9} inches high. 2 See Art in Chaldcea and Assyria, Vol. I. Figs. 13, 14, 26, 30. 31, &rc. 3 Ibid. Figs. 66, 113, &c.