Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/265

 Glyptic Art. 247 forms and details of costume bring to memory the rock-cut carvings of Cappadocia, and intaglios with Hittite characters ; that which invests monuments with their special physiognomy, namely, treatment and workmanship, point to Chaldaea as the country of their birth. In dealing with this group of documents, therefore, it behoves us to exercise extreme caution, and pause before we venture to pass an opinion. Thus, for instance, M. Menant has no hesitation in ascribing the cylinder (Fig. ;^7S)^ in the Louvre, to Syro-Cappadocian art ; " because," he observes, " of the four small figures, which move like those at Boghaz-Keui,and the characteristic bull's head." ^ But the quick walking pace of the lads, far from being peculiar to Hittite art, is encountered all over the world ; Fig. 377.— Cylinder. J. Menant, Les Fierres gravees de la Haute Asie^ Fig. 114. Fig. 378.— Cylinder. Menant, Les Pierres graveis^ Fig. 3. whilst the flounced petticoats and wide-brimmed hats of the principal figures betray Chaldaean technique ; nor is the outline of the conical caps like the Pterian tiara. The practice of introduc- ing into a large composition subordinate forms, whether human, animal, or symbolic, was common to Assyrian and Chaldaean artists ; and arose from their disinclination to leave any part ^ M. Imhoof Blumner has a cylinder which in general disposition closely resembles Fig* 378. Like ours, four small figures stand beneath an interlaced band carried right across the seal ; two large figures face each other, with a bull's head between them. But the main scene is occupied by four pictures, instead of three, as in our cylinder; two of which wear the long Assyrian robe, and the remaining two the characteristic flounced petticoat of Chaldaea. The birds above the interlacing are replaced by crouching winged sphinxes, and the frogs by a "crux ansata" and a crescent moon. Nobody can dream for a moment of ascribing a Hittite origin to this seal ; its resemblance to the Louvre exemplar is so striking that we incline to view them both as Assyrian. M. Imhoof Blumner writes that the cylinder under notice came from the collection of the late Dr. Barnaby, of Aleppo, which he had recruited from Bagdad, Damas, and the environs ; but it is doubtful whether many pieces came from Anatolia. ' M6.SANT, Les Pierres gravkes df In Haute Asie, torn, ii pp i 17-1 18.