Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/384

 346 HISTORY OF ART IN PHCENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. Ganneau thinks that perhaps there is a close connection between this central action and the narrative on the outer band, that one may be either the commencement or the d&notiment of the other. 1 In this, however, we must differ from him. We cannot see how the prologue or epilogue of the history we have narrated is to be found in the medallion. Until the discovery of some bowl with the history, of which we here have only a part, upon it as a whole, we must, then, give up all hope of explaining the scenes used to fill up the centre of the second cup from Prseneste. As for the zone on which eight pacing horses are figured, it may we think be looked upon as pure decoration ; and so too with the birds introduced into both zones. They are no more than the determinatives of sky, just as fishes were the determinatives of sea, or at least of water. 2 We have spoken of this bowl at some length on account of its peculiar character ; we shall not dwell so long on the rest. The Praeneste bowl is unique in its way ; it is the only one on which anything like a narrative can be traced, but it belongs to the same class as the cups on which single scenes from war, from the chase, or from ordinary life are figured. Among these we must give the first place to a silver platter discovered in Etruria, at Caere. This platter formed part of the furniture of the very ancient tomb known as the Regulini- Galas si tomb (Fig. 268). The outer band which, for want of room, we have been unable to re- produce represents a parade of chariots, horsemen and foot- soldiers ; in the central medallion, between four papyrus stems, the determinatives of water, we see a bull attacked by two lions ; above the group hovers a bird of prey. But the most curious zone is the one embracing this medallion. It represents a lion hunt, and by a glance at our engraving our readers will see how the artist has done his work 'better than we can tell them in words. An interesting detail is the group between two palm trees, which shows us a man seizing a rampant lion by the tongue while he buries his falchion in its side. This group is Meso- potamian in character, but on the other head, the lion at the top of our woodcut, with his paw on the head of an overthrown hunter, is quite Egyptian. Much the same group and gesture is to be met with on a detail of furniture from the Ramessid period 1 CLERMONT-GANNEAU. L' Imagerie phenicienne, p. 150. 2 /&'</. pp. 42-43.