Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/253

 Primitive Grkeck; Mycenian Art. from a leather strap passed over the shoulder. In front of the chariot is the figure of a naked man, with a pointed beard ; he is facing the charioteer, and is apparently threatening him with a long sword. Faint traces of the harness appear on the horses' body. The empty space above and under the horse, as well as behind the Jehu, is filled with spirals. In a third stela the same division is cut up into two com- partments ; here, however, the decorative forms, which consist of a pair of circular medallions, are placed below ; the pattern resembles that of one of the gold plates discovered in these graves (Fig. 356). In the upper section, part of which is ¥(i;. 356. — Gold plate ftoni Tomti III. Aciual siio. broken off, is a chariot drawn by a horse in full gallop ; here chariot and driver are on a smaller scale than those depicted on the preceding cippi. Behind the chariot-box is an object respecting which opinions are divided. Is this the back part of the chariot, or a sword fastened at the side of it, as in certain Assyrian war-chariots, which the hero can snatch up in case of need ? Against this assumption is the fact that there appears, on the original, a continuous broken line between the chariot and the dagger-shaped object. We incline towards a third conjecture. The artist of this stela, lacking the skill of him who had carved the preceding cippus, was incapable of managing the sword at the warrior's side ; yet he wished to recall