Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/439

 384 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. and do not lend themselves as kindly to be modified. The style of art of every race changes with the passage of time, and tends to strike out new paths for itself as soon as it finds that its old forms pall on public taste. The Mycenian decorations, whether on the walls of buildings or of vases, have a distinct character of their own, which vastly differs from that of classic art. With the single exception of Thera, we have found none but linear designs both on the vases from continental Greece, exhibit- ing incised forms, and the oldest wares of the Cyclades. The prevailing ornaments at Mycenae, even on dull-coloured vases, are geometric combinations (Fig. 455), and they also largely figure on the polished or lustrous specimens. Sometimes the patterns are made up of parallel, vertical, or horizontal bands, Fig. 471. — Box from the Aibenian acropolis. doubtless suggested to the ornamentist by girdles, necklaces, or the folds of the dress. Such bands correspond to the main divisions of the human body, and were designed to recall them to the eye (Figs. 459-461, 466). The predilection of the artist for those scrolls copied on metal-work which constitute the ordinary decoration of the stone vases is as great as ever (Fig. 452). They return on pieces of quite another form (Figs. 463, 468). Others exhibit now a guiUoche ornament (Fig. 469), now scales interspersed with points (Fig. 470), and now chevrons. Sometimes we see lozenges connected with one another at the apex, along with hirsute bands which recall certain vegetables, and enframe beings taken from the living world (Fig. 458). We have seen leaves and flowers introduced in the ceramic products of Thera (PI. XX. 2). As the painter gained greater