Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/159

 VARIATIONS OF STYLE AND COSTUME. 137 has most in common with the Greek schools of Ionia, Pelo- ponnesus and Attica (Fig. 90 ; and Vol. I. Plate I. Fig. 3). 1 The distinctive features of the type in question are as follow. The cranium is high, the skull narrow, the forehead slightly re- treating. The eyes are large and prominent, the cheek-bones salient, and the cheeks often hollow ; the nose is strong and large at the end (Fig. 91), the chin large and heavy. The small, plump mouth is not without a dash of sensuality. Taking it altogether the type lacks elegance and nobility ; it has neither the grave and honest look of the Egyptians, nor the truculent energy of the FIG. 90. Limestone head. Height 6 inches. Piot Collection. Assyrians, nor the purity of line which Greek artists set before themselves from the very beginning, a purity which can be divined even under the halting execution of their early works. These Cypriot heads have neither vigour nor refinement. They betray a soft heaviness of character which agrees well with the history of the race to which they belong. From no single monu- ment do we get a better idea of the type than from the colossal head found at Athieno by Cesnola (Fig. 78). It belongs to the 1 Height of the head, n| inches. VOL. II.