among the Jntlents. 27 



Lysippus lived in the time of Alexander, a period whe» 

 the inhabitants of this island had neither enough of riches 

 nor tranquillity to decorate their city with works of art. 

 Besides, the style of the design and of the sculpture by no 

 means answers to that of Lvsippus ; his horses were lighter, 

 their manes floated in long tresses, in order to indicate the 

 swiftness of a race. It was here he displayed his talents for 

 working tresses of hair, which he expressed so naturally and 

 so gracefully as to charm every eye. The horses of Chio 

 are in a heavy style j their design represents strength rather 

 than agility ; their manes appear as if cut, which proves that 

 the artist did not know how to design horses ; at least, we . 

 may see from the ringlets of their tails that he was not very 

 expert at this kind of work. Their heads, however, deserve our 

 admiration ; their nostrils extended and their foaming mouths 

 seem to breathe the fury and impetuosity of the horses of the 

 sun ; and, without leaning too much to conjecture, we may 

 say that we find more in them of the style of Polycletes and 

 JNTiro* than that of Lvsippus. The works of these two artists 

 were vigorously designed ; we perceive in them starting mus- 

 cles, and in general more strexigth than gracefulness. Neither 

 the one nor the other knew how to work tresses of hair, 

 and both of them lived at a period when the inhabitants of 

 Chio were in a state of profound peace, and enjoytxl a kind 

 of naval superiority. They were enriched by commerce, 

 and had consequently leisure and the means of thinking of 

 the embellishments of their capital. This period lasted fron^ 

 the 75th to the 92d Olympiad : it comprehended a space of 

 70 years, and was the happiest time this city ever enjoyed. 

 If we fix upon this sera as that in which these horses must 

 have been founded, they would now be 2248 years oldf. 

 They would thus be more antient than any other bronze 

 monumeiit we know of, and they must have existed in the 



* This conjfcture seems to lis too daring; for we have no evidence wlint- 

 ever in modern times as to the particular style in whicii the aiiimais oi iVIyro 

 pr Lysippus v/ere executed. — Nule by M. MiUin. 



+ It seems impossible to assign so distant an ara to these kurses ; thev rallicr 

 Kern to liavc been aiouldtd ;it a time when the art had begun to decline. — Id. 



time 



