Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/254

 236 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^a. the statue, measures 15 m. 25 c. in height (Fig. 365).^ The figure is sculptured in high relief, almost in the round ; the back alone adhering to the rock. The huge frame, 10 m. high, surrounding the niche properly so-called, is rounded off towards its apex. The centre of this deep niche is occupied by a square base, upon which rises a high-backed arm-chair, with a rounded symmetrical salience on each side. The archaic goddess is seated in this arm-chair, the feet apparently supported by a footstool ; the body bends forward, and the stumpy arms are raised towards her breasts, which are quite distinct. The head, now only a round shapeless mass, is very salient and erect, and forms one body with the rock, upon which the rain which trickles down from the cliff above has left indelible and characteristic traces.^ The existence of this statue, whose features and costume are so corroded as to be hardly traceable, was noticed by ancient writers who busied themselves with the antiquities of this region. In the account of Pausanias — himself a native of Lydia — relating to the monuments of Mount Sipylus, we find a passage twice repeated, which if hardly pressed may seem applicable to the figure we are considering. The first runs thus : *' The Magnesians settled on the northern slopes of Mount Sipylus have a statue of the mother of the gods, the oldest goddess of all, on the Codine rock."^ And the second : '' I myself beheld the Niobe of Mount Sipylus ; which is nothing but a steep cliff when seen close, with no resemblance to a woman, mourning or otherwise. But at a short distance, there appears a womanly form which * looks ' as if immersed in grief and dissolved in tears." * Of all the citations, the first is the ^ Our woodcut (Fig. 364), by M. St. Elme-Gautier, was partly drawn from a photo- graph of M. Svoboda, kindly forwarded to me by M. Dugit, and partly from Mr. Martin's sketches. ^ We borrow Weber's description (Le Sipylos^ p. 37), who has had ample oppor- tunities to examine the monument under different aspects, induced by varying light. He has detected details therefore impossible to obtain by a single visit. MM. Weber, Sayce, Simpson {loc. cit.) and Dennis {loc. cit.) are in accord that the goddess is seated ; contrary to MM. Van Lennep and Martin, who hold to a bust which rests upon a pedestal. Without having seen the monument, but arguing from analogy, we are in favour of a seated goddess. Our judgment is based on the fact that quarter or half figures are unknown in primitive art, and are only found in a comparatively late age. ^ Pausanias y iii. 22 ; fiyrpos Oeiov apxaLOTarov aTravTOiv ayaX/jta. (OfjLYjpos, tom. iv. p. 362), was called Kousinas by the Byzantines ; and he is of opinion that it is the same as KoSSiVov TreVpa.
 * Pausanias, i. 21 : 8o^eis 6pav. Sipylus, remarks M. Pappadopoulos Kerameus,