Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/530

 Gknkkal Characteristics ok thk Mvcknian Pkriod. 473 the flow of two divergent currents, we might almost say of two opposed arts, the offspring, no doubt, of the parent-mind, and as such mutually helpful on occasion to each other, but yet not moved by quite the same spirit. There is an aristocratic and royal art, kept alive by architects who build princely residences, painters who decorate stately megarons, sculptors who glorify kingly exploits or personify the power of the monarch in the bold symbol of a fierce lion watching at the city gates, metal- workers who chisel in the precious metals the image of the scenes of battle and the chase of their master. Then there is a popular art, which is carried on by simple artisans, who necessarily work for all sorts and conditions of men ; such as cabinet-makers, who enrich chairs, couches, and the like with bone and ivory, so as to invest the domestic abode with an air of elegance and refinement ; nor should jewellers who turn out inexpensive ornaments be left out of the reckoning. These must have been fully employed amidst youthful communities, as fond of outward show as children and savages. I picture them not unlike those wandering jewellers, Wallachian by birth, but originally from Pindus, with whom I often came across during a tour I made in Roumelia, as they pounded on from village to village, with a pair of bellows, crucibles, and moulds, with chisels and pincers, taking from the women-folk of each household the little stock of the precious metal which has been put together for many a month against their coming. Their portable stove is lit on the village green, and presently each one receives her due in the form of ear-rings, pendants for necklaces, clasps and plates to fasten on the breast. The shapes and forms are of course very few, but the customers are quite satisfied with types to which their eyes have grown accustomed. And above all, there is the potter's art, which may be called the poor man s pre-eminent art. Its shapes are as many as the needs it has to satisfy ; its works are exposed to countless accidents, but fortunately they can be easily replaced. The imagination of the potter is thus kept on the alert ; for he must be able, under exceptional con- ditions, to produce easily and on the spur of the moment. The juxtaposition of ceramics with sculpture will make us realize the difference of intent and tendency between the two. We pointed out the noble and ambitious efforts of sculpture, its marked preference for the display of strength and fervid move-