Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/203

 l62 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. tufa or marble. Although the cyma does occur as a separate member of the cornice in buildings of the class whence we have taken our type, its weight suffices to keep it in position. There is yet another point in common between the wood cornice we have restored and the corresponding member of the stone edifices of the following age. If there are no traces of painting on the Selinous plat-band and tie-beam, remains of colour have been discovered in many other temples, at -/Egina and elsewhere. It may be remarked that the style of the tinted ornament which has come from the regions under notice exhibits in a general way those characteristics which we ascribe to the brazen cuirass covering the joints of the wood-frame ; namely, a slightly modified pattern of spirals, for which authority exists in Mycenian art. We have here another instance of those V IS TTrriJ^W VkV
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-^ — EzLa Fig. 314. — Mycenian palace. Second epoch. Plan of the wood-frame at the height of the frieze. transmissions which form a connecting link between the archi- tectonic work of the classic age and that of the archaic period. Rdating to the Doric frieze, we think that our theory with which we account for its composition will appear more simple and satisfactory than any previously put forward. As already re- marked, the dimensions of the pillars in the Tirynthian frieze average those of an ordinary beam ; hence, in the construction, they must originally have coincided with the heads of the longi- tudinal joists which rest on the wall coping (Fig. 314). The architrave, in the elevation of the wall, is supported by two single pillars alone, which carry aloft a pair of huge timbers thrown athwart the vestibule. Had the ornament been reserved as a facing to the beam-ends alone, it should, strictly speaking, only appear twice in the portico frieze, above the columns ; such an arrangement, however, would have robbed this architectonic member of the rhythmic succession of slabs and pillars. Hence, i