Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/101

ART. are still in existence, and offer object-lessons in primitive culture. Among them there is almost no social organization, and life is reduced to extremely simple conditions. Even here, however, evidences of artistic appreciation are by no means rare.

The chief modes in which primitive man expressed his love for beauty are by ornament and in the dance. Painting, plastic art, literature, and music were not, however, entirely lacking. A passion for bodily adornment is characteristic of primitive man. He smeared his body with red, yellow, black, and white cosmetics, tattooed and scarred himself, loaded himself with nose, lip, and ear rings, necklaces of shell and bone, bracelets and anklets, and arranged his hair in the most fantastic fashions; clothing, even, was worn more for adornment than as a covering to the body. As civilization advanced, ornament migrated from the body to the implements and utensils and to the clothes, displaying itself in rich and variegated garments such as are to be seen to-day in the royal attire of Oriental monarchs and in the holiday dress of peasants. From clothing it passed to the decoration of the home, to places of worship, and to public buildings. This is a natural sequence of the widening of the individual's interests in the development of a highly organized society.

An expression of the primitive artistic impulses, which has a greater social significance than ornament, is to be seen in the dance, which was more truly a matter of æsthetics than it is in civilized communities. The essential element in it was energetic and rhythmic movement. It was either simply gymnastic, giving free play to muscular activities, or mimetic, reproducing the actions of beasts and birds and portraying the emotions of love and war. The paintings, drawings, and carvings of primitive tribes furnish a less important means of expression. They are represented by the rock pictures of the Australians, the bone carvings of the Eskimos, and the drawings of the Bushmen. They are remarkable for their careful and faithful representations of natural objects — largely animals — with which the artist was familiar. Their excellence is to be attributed to the careful observation and the manual dexterity which distinguishes the hunter from the agriculturist. Even the drama and the art of poetry are represented among primitive peoples. A limited number of poems have been collected which are real expressions of emotion and which attempt metrical form. Love and nature are seldom employed as themes. The poet sings, by preference, of himself. But the form, rather than the matter, seems to be the essential æsthetic element; since the words are, in many instances, replaced by meaningless syllables, while the rhythmical movement of the verse has been carefully preserved and retains its original emotive value. The drama grew' naturally out of the dance and song. Pantomimic dramas came very early. They have been found among the Australians, the Eskimos, and the Tierra del Fuegians. With the drama comes the song, which is likewise related very intimately to the dance. It has even been said of some primitive peoples that they never dance without song and never sing except in the dance. Thus we see that music, too, has a prominent place in their lives. It is without doubt true that the voice was the first musical instrument, and that the cadences of emotional utterance, the sounds of nature, and the construction of crude musical instruments — the drum, the flute, and the trumpet — all conduced to the development of music. Primitive music is characterized by melody in which the rhythmic element (made precise by the dance) is far in advance of the harmonic element. The intervals are fewer in number than with us and not so sharply defined, while polyphony is practically unknown. See.

Consult: Grosse, The Beginnings of Art (New York, 1897); Tylor, Anthropology (New York, 1889); Hirn, The Origins of Art (London, 1900).

ART, See.

ARTA, iir'ta (the ancient Ambracia). An episcopal city of Upper Epirus (Map: Greece, C 2), situated ten miles from the northern coast of the gulf to which it gives its name, and 39 miles south of Janina. It stands on the left bank of the river Arta, the ancient Arachthus, whence the modern name, which was first used in the Thirteenth Century. It has a considerable trade in wine, agricultural products, tobacco, oranges; and manufactures, chiefly of cloths and leather. The ancient Ambracia (Ambrakia) was settled by the Corinthians about B.C. 640, and later became an independent republic. It was the capital of Epirus under Pyrrhus; its decline was begun by its seizure in B.C. 189 by the Romans, and its importance was utterly destroyed when Nicopolis was settled, B.C. 31. The city received a new lease of life under the Byzantine emperors, and in the Thirteenth Century was the capital of the Despot of Epirus. After various changes of rulers, Arta became in 1449 a Turkish possession, and remained such. It was ceded to Greece as a result of the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. Population, in 1896, 7582.

ARTA, (anciently, Lat. Sinus Ambracius). An arm of the Ionian Sea, 25 miles long and 10 miles wide, forming part of the boundary between Epirus and Greece. A bar at its entrance detracts from its usefulness. It is noted as the landing-place of Philip V. of Macedonia (B.C. 218), during the war with the Achæan League, and for the naval battle of Actium (q.v.) fought at its mouth 31 B.C.

AR'TABA'NUS (Gk. Ἀρτάβανος, Artabanos) (?-226 A.D.). The last king of Parthia. After his kingdom had been devastated by the army of Caracalla, Artabanus gave battle to Macrinus, near Nisibis (217). After two days of desperate fighting, the Romans were defeated and peace was concluded. During the war Artabanus lost his best troops, and the Persians seized the opportunity of recovering their independence. Led by Artaxerxes (Ardashir), the founder of the dynasty of the Sassanidæ, they defeated the Parthians in three great battles, in the last of which Artabanus was taken prisoner and killed (A.D. 226). This ended the kingdom of the Arsacidæ, which had existed about 475 years.

AR'TABA'ZUS (Gk. Ἀρτάβαζος, Artabazos). The name of several distinguished Persians in the times of the Achæmenidæ. When Xerxes advanced against Greece, it was an Artabazus who led the Parthians and Chorasmians. He later warned Mardonius against engaging in battle at Platæa, and on the first indications of