Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/396

 358 HISTORY OF ART IN PHCENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. their existence because they afford a strong corroboration of what history tells us as to the character of Cypriot society. We have now mentioned all the most interesting of these cups or bowls ; ail those, that is, on which some popular fable, or some incident of real life, is figured. In almost every case realistic and fantastic elements are mixed up together ; it is the proportion only FIG. 276. Patera from Curium. New York Museum. Diameter 8 inches. that varies. Look for instance at this silver-gilt cup from Curium (Fig. 276) ; we may take it as an example of the predominence of what we have called empty forms. In the centre we find the everlasting group of a winged genius subduing a lion (Fig. 272). In the principal zone, the outermost, the artist has brought together almost all the motives we have o o