Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/109

 8o Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. the wealth of designs, closely packed in fields divided into small compartments, will give a gauffered-like appearance. It is a style which we meet again in Arabic architecture, where it ex- hibits far greater refinement of workmanship. Phoenicia affords many examples of such facings and continuous ornamentation ; ^ but they will fall in disrepute during the classic age. Tomb II. Before the excavations of 1876, the only apparent part of Tomb II. was its lintel; all the rest lay buried under accumu- lations of silted-up earth and ruin. The work of excavating it was commenced by Mdme. Schliemann, but only completed sixteen years later (1892), by M. Tsoundas, who has not yet given to the world the result of his researches. Nevertheless, the drawings and photographs which he and Dr. Dorpfeld have obligingly placed at our disposal will enable us to convey an idea of the general characteristics and main divisions of this building. The most striking difference between this tomb and the Treasury of Atreus is its having no side-chamber ; its dimensions, however, are nearly as great, and the diameter of the circular chamber, if somewhat less, is made good by the greater length of the dromos (Fig. 282). Nowhere is the wall that blocked up the passage better preserved than here ; it still rises to a height of two metres ten centimetres, and from the blocks of sandstone composing it and the distribution of the joints, we gather that it was built after the side-walls of tufa (Fig. 283), that is to say, after the filling up of the passage. Fig. 118 gives a general view of the fa9ade ; its lower portion, in plan and elevation, appears in Fig. 198. Fig. 284 is intended to show the sealing-holes, which served to fix the semi-columns to the wall. The alabaster capital (Fig. 274, on the right) which was picked up at the foot of this fagade was at first supposed to belong to our column ; the greatest diameter of the capital, however, is 355 centimetres, and could not possibly be fitted to ^ History of Art