Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/179

 138 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. abacus and echinus of the capital, could be cased in metal above and below. This cuirass lends itself to all the refinements of bronze repousse work, and is enriched with designs borrowed from the carving seen on sepulchral facades or other instances of Mycenian industry. With respect to the antae bounding the porch, the elements and materials of which they are composed are identical with those of the first edifice ; but here the arrange- ment shows advance. Each anta consists of three plane faces, separated by semi-cylindrical shapes ; cross-beams serve to main- tain the joists in position, and to enrich the design of the single compartments. The greatest change is manifest in the entabla- ture. Metal, whether in the shape of discs, angular pieces, or strips, covers nearly the entire cornice, the salience of which is much greater here than in the first type ; whilst the presence of the frieze is quite a new feature. In setting it up we have followed that of the Tirynthian megaron, which, as we know, was embellished with incrustations of blue paste (PI. XIII. i, and Figs. 226, 227).^ Examination of the frieze in question convinced Dr. Dorpfeld that so splendid a piece of work could not have been designed for the place where it was discovered,^ e.g. on the left wall of the vestibule leading to the megaron. The metopes seen on these slabs are four inches thinner than the triglyphs ; the result is a broken line which is not in harmony with the straight wall, nor are they in direct contact with it. Between the foot of the slabs and the edge of the floor, as also between their reverse face and the wall, are voids that have been made good, here with rubbish, there with earth. Hence we may safely infer that when the frieze was set up, wall and floor were already in existence. Moreover, the triglyphs show a dowel on their lower edge (Fig. 226). This tenon-shaped appendage is meaningless where the frieze now stands, and must have served to fix the frieze, either to a stone base, or a timbered plate. Dr. Dorpfeld advances the conjecture that the palace was partially destroyed by fire, and again rebuilt and inhabited for a certain time. The frieze doubtless fell on the floor during the conflagration. The situ- ation of the slabs in the vestibule of the megaron points to their having replaced a wood wainscoting which had been destroyed or removed, and left the wall uncovered below. 1 See ante, Vol. I. p. 290. 2 Tirym.