Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/340

 Glyptic Art. 287 Glyptic Art. Rude make and imperfect drawing are no sure guides in helping us to single out those intaglios which by right ought to be ascribed to the archaic period. In some instances, the engraving no doubt is clumsy enough to betray a prentice hand as yet supremely ignorant of methods and tools, yet we come across others quite as rudimentary, but which nevertheless point to a later date. At first they were jumbled together and confused with those that will form the subject-matter of the present study. What permits us to distinguish between the different sets is the nature of the grave furniture found alongside of these gems, and the images engraved on them. To prevent mistakes of the same nature, we will first define the style of the oldest intaglios by a survey of such well-authenticated gems as have been picked up either in the graves or among the ruins of edifices belonging to the Mycenian period. These gems will furnish us with the criterion we are in need of: they will tell us what were the materials and tools which the engraver employed, the themes he affected, and how he interpreted the living form. Then, and only then, when all the elements of this indispensable definition have been brought together, will it be possible to compare these typical intaglios with a number of other gems that have found their way into collections, public or private, but whose origin is unknown. Fortified with these comparisons, the series we are building up will be enriched with a considerable number of specimens, respect- ing whose affinity we need feel no concern. It was whilst travelling about the pleasant isles of the Archi- pelago, that Ross collected the first gem specimens of a time that went before the classic age.^ Other explorers followed him in search of those strange intaglios to which this pioneer, who opened up so many paths to science, had drawn attention.^ ^ Ross, Reisen aufden griechischcn Inseln, 2 F. Lenormant, Intailles archdiques de VArchipel grec). Newton, Essays on Art and Archceology, Milchofer, Die An/dnge der Kunst in Griechenland : Die Inselsieine, Rossbach, Zur dltesten Griechischen Kunst and Griechische Gemmen dltester Technik ; Intagli arcaici delta Grecia e delV Etruria. Furi'Wangler and I^OESCHKF, Mykenische Vasen,