Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/181

 FIGURES OF DIVINITIES. 159 intentions of the artist are more frankly declared. The statuette here reproduced was buried for many long ages in the ground, and the daub of colour to which so much importance has been attached may be the result of some accidental contact. For the moment, then, we shall not insist upon this fantastic type and the ideas it was meant to express, but proceed with our study of the various envelopes put on by the famous deity to whom the great temples of Cyprus were dedicated. So far we have seen her either nude or nearly so ; but as the modeller became familiar with his work and conquered one FIG. 107. Terra-cotta statuette. Height 6 inches. New York Museum. technical difficulty after another, he endeavoured to show her in another aspect ; he wished to load her with the rich jewels and embroidered vestments which the temple priests hung on some of the statues, and even about that sacred cone to which the place of honour in the sanctuary was assigned. Thenceforward the images of our goddess may be divided into two series both of which survived until the day they came under the influence of Greek art. The oldest members of the group of draped figures appear to be those with cylindro-conical bases. In spite of their con- ventional character, they are not without a certain elegance.