Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/84

 62 HISTORY OF ART IN PHOENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. nearly all the Carthaginian coins, where he is remarkable for his light and graceful form, he occurs only once on a stele, so far as we know, and then he is so stiff and awkward as to be scarcely recognizable. 1 We find two mice on a single stone ; they may have been included among the victims offered to Tanit. 2 Lastly, fishes of different kinds are not uncommon ; dolphins are the most FIG. 55. Votive stele from Carthage. French National Library. numerous, they are used either singly, or in couples facing each other, as on the coins. 3 Many of the above remarks might be repeated in speaking of the motives taken from the vegetable kingdom. These are faithful enough on the whole, but they are little varied. The lotus-flower was such a common motive throughout the east, that it could hardly be anything but conventional at Carthage ; on the pediment FIG. 56. Votive stele from Carthage. French National Library. of one of the steles, however, we find it firmly drawn and by no means without elegance (Fig. 58). On the other hand, the well laden pomegranate-tree in Fig. 59 has been drawn from nature. Elsewhere we have no difficulty in recognizing the tamarisk with its thin branches and bending foliage ; the gourd, which played a 1 BERGER, Les Ex-voto, 6^. p. 17. 2 Ibid. p. 18. 3 /&*/.- pp. 19-20.