SCULITUKE. 



SCULPTURE, 



37(1 



and the presentation, by him, of captives and spoils to the deities of 

 Thebss. 



All colossal works in Egypt are of basalt, porphyry, granito, or 

 audatour, though Herodotus (ii. 143) tell* u that at Sals and at 

 Thebes there were statues, of large dimension*, of wood. We are not 

 aware that any large statue* have been found made of metal The 

 Hrituh Museum possesses three bronie figures which merit attention, 

 as they exceed the usual dimensions of such Egyptian works, being 

 about throe feet high, and gilt. The substance or thickness of the 

 metal is not great, and the interior is filled up with stucco or 

 platter. The gilding, tome of which is well preserved, both in surface 

 and colour, seem* to have been applied as a wash, the bronze having 

 lirnt been entirely covered with a coat of plaster about as thick as a card. 



The clean execution and exceedingly fine surface observable in the 

 sculptures of Egypt have attracted the attention of practical judges, 

 and led to the conviction that the Egyptians must have had great know- 

 ledge in the arts of hardening or tempering metal, to enable them to 

 execute such highly-finished works in the most obstinate and brittle 

 materials. It is a remarkable fact that when the colossal head before 

 alluded to as the Young Meuinon was placed in the British Museum, 

 and it was necessary to cut some holes in it for the insertion of iron 

 cramps to unite some of the broken fragments, the hardness of the 

 granite was so great that six or eight blows rendered the mason's tools 

 (which were tempered more highly than usual) totally useless. 



The facilities that are now afforded the student and public for 

 examining authentic monuments of Egyptian art in the extensive and 

 valuable collection in the British Museum, render it unnecessary to 

 dwvlj at greater length upon the peculiarities of that school of design. 

 That their works are wanting in the grace, the flow of Hues, and the 

 beauty united with repose, that constitute the charm of the best 

 Grecian sculpture, must at once be admitted ; but the simplicity and 

 clearness of intention in their more extensive compositions, and the 

 sublime grandeur, repose, and dignity of their colossal statues, BO 

 appropriate to their mystic and religious purposes, will always ensure 

 their being considered amongst the most interesting monuments of 

 past ages. 



Amyrian Sculpturr. Until so recently as 1843, nothing was known 

 nf the arts of the ancient Assyrians beyond the references to the splen- 

 did palaces filled with statues and painted bossi-rilievi on the walla, of 

 rast size and admirable workmanship, in the Old Testament and in 

 ancient Greek authors. But in that and following years a surprising 

 number of the monuments themselves were brought to light by the 

 fortunate researches of MM. Botta and Layard, and their successors, 

 and transferred to the British Museum and the Louvre. The build- 

 ings in the buried ruins of which the Assyrian sculptures were found 

 have been described, and the sculptures themselves noticed, under 

 NINEVEH, ARCHITECTURE OP ; here, therefore, it will only be necessary 

 to indicate briefly their character. All the sculpture yet found, with 

 the exception of a few bronzes, consists of slabs, often of colossal 

 dimensions, on which are carved figures in relief, and with which the 

 wall* of the palaces were faced both inside and out. In date they are 

 believed to range from the reign of Sordamipalus, B.C. 930, to the 

 destruction of Nineveh, B.C. 625. As Nineveh was founded 1200 years 

 earlier, they do not therefore represent the archaic period of Assyrian 

 art. The existing examples appear to belong to three distinct periods. 

 The earliest are those brought by Mr. Layard from the great palace 

 and adjoining buildings in the north-west quarter of Nimroud, and 

 now in the British Museum ; they belong to the age of Sardonapalus, 

 or about 930902 B.C. They consist of colossal human-headed winged 

 lions and bull*, personages from the Assyrian mythology, and other 

 single figures ; of representations of battles, sieges, the passage of 

 rivers, the chase, the great king sacrificing, &c., cuneiform inscriptions 

 being often carved quite across the slabs, without any regard to the 

 figures. As works of art, they do not take a very high rank : the 

 drawing of the human form is inaccurate, the muscles are exaggerated ; 

 there is utter ignorance of perspective ; and the artists were evidently 

 bound, like the Egyptian sculptors, to certain strict conventional rules. 

 Yet it is impoiiubTe not to be struck in these older works with a certain 

 largeness and severe grandeur of style and power of imitation. Here, as 

 indeed throughout, Assyrian art seem* to hold a sort of middle place 

 between Egyptian and Grecian art. The slabs found at Khorsabad by 

 M. Botta, and deposited in the Louvre, belong to a middle period, that 

 of the 8th century B.C. Less severe and perhaps inferior in grandeur 

 to the older works, they exhibit more refinement of execution. The 

 Kouyunjik monuments in the British Museum are of the third period, 

 or between B.C. 721 and 625. The slabs contain historical records, 

 bunting scenes, 4c., similar to those of earlier date, with some rather 

 different in character, representing Sennacherib superintending the 

 construction of some great architectural works, and directing the 

 removal of colossal human-headed bulls. The scenes represented in the 

 f this third period are more varied in character, the execution 

 H more careful, the figures are more minute and more accurate in 

 the details, in the nimAl i especially, the minute accuracy and know- 

 ledge of animal nature are quite remarkable, but the largeness and 

 grandeur of the older works are wanting. The slabs of each |>criod 

 are chiefly of alabaster, but some of the latest date are of the harder 

 native limestone. All of them appear to have been painted with the 

 most brilliant colours they were the figures pourtrayed with ver- 



milion, exceeding in dyed attire, all of them princes to look at, 

 described in the sacred scriptures. 



Etnunin X-nljitun: The Etruscan is the next school of sculpture 

 that claims attention. The history of this nation is involved in great 

 obscurity. The appellations of Tuscan and Etruscan were foreign to 

 them, and Etruria was a Human term. The more ancient name by 

 which they were called was Jbuau* ('Pcurymi). Their later history is 

 chiefly known from their connection with other nations. [ETKURIA, 

 in GBOO. Uiv.J An examination of their sculpture, as founded on the 

 numerous existing monuments, almost seems to connect them, in ,-i 

 greater of less degree, with the Greeks. Whether the Etrurians at 

 any time possessed a mythology and style of design on which Greek 

 "myths" and forms were subsequently engrafted, or whctln ' 

 nation retained principles originally common to both, is not important 

 in this part of our inquiry. The supporters of the more remote anti- 

 quity and superior intelligence of the Etrurians have supposed it 

 possible that this people, instead of being taught by them, were at one 

 time the instructors of the Greeks, amongst whom, in consequence of 

 their wars, internal divisions, and other disturbing causes, the arts 

 were neglected, and probably suffered to fall to decay, while Etruria 

 hod enjoyed a state of comparative repose, favourable to the a<h 

 ment of the arts. Among the great difficulties with which this part 

 of the subject is embarrassed, is that of establishing with any certainty 

 the dates of the settlement of Greeks in Etruria. It certainly id 

 remarkable that the cinerary urns found in sepulchral chambers often 

 have represented on them subjects whose meaning is unknown, and 

 which seem to have no affinity at least with the pott-llvmeric Greek 

 mythology ; and so far the practice of art and a class of symbols seem 

 to have existed in Etruria, either essentially its own, or, if ever shared 

 with others, so ancient that all record of it was lost, excepting as it 

 appears on these older Etruscan monuments. 



The history of the known Etruscan school of sculpture is therefore 

 necessarily founded on the character of the majority of existing speci- 

 mens ; and in these the recurrence of similar subjects and personages, 

 resemblance of costume, and the common form of many of the letters 

 of the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, distinctly establish the fact of 

 some communication between the two nations. Lan/.i (' Notizic sulla 

 Scultura degli Antichi') divides the art of Etruria into epochs or 

 periods, and considers the second to be that which was influenced by 

 colonies from Greece ; and it is this influence which is so observable in 

 the monuments referred to. 



In observing, however, that all or nearly all the specimens of Etru- 

 rian art that have reached our times indicate a connection or inter- 

 course at some period between that country and the Greeks, it may be 

 well to repeat a remark that has incidentally been made in a former 

 part of this history, to caution the student from too hastily attri- 

 buting to different nations a common origin of design, from the mere 

 similarity of certain forms and corresponding particulars of execution 

 which may perchance bo recognised or discovered in tlleir priiuithi! 

 attempts at art. It must always be borne in mind that this appearance 

 is often nothing more than the general characteristic of all art in its 

 infancy ; the same, or nearly so, in Greece, in ludia, in Etruria, as in 

 all other countries. Lanzi observes, in speaking of the sculpture of 

 this school (' Notizie sulla Scultura degli Antichi'), that a di>tim-- 

 tioii must be mode between works in the Etruscan style and wurks 

 simply executed by Etrurian artists. The " Etruscan style " was a 

 peculiar manner of treating art. It was designated by the Latins 

 " Tuscauicus;" and all works executed in this manner were termed 

 " opera" or" sigua Tuscanica." That this distinctive character of school 

 existed, and was recognised as a peculiar feature in art, is confirmed 

 by a passage in Quintiliuu, in which that writer is particularizing the 

 style of some of the great sculptors of Greece, and showing the changes 

 or progress that distinguished the earlier from the later masters. Mr 

 says, " Gallon and Egesias made their statues hard " (a technical term 

 meaning stiff and severe) " and nearly approximating to the Tuscan 

 figures. Calamis made his works less rigid." (Quiutil., ' Orat.,' lib. xii., 

 10.) The peculiar characteristics of the Etruscan style, tin 

 Tmicanica, are an affectation or exaggeration in the general actions 

 and attitudes, and meagreness of treatment in the details. In the heads, 

 whether of mole or female figures, the hair is usually stringy ; or 

 plaited, and falling in long tails or lengths. The hands are placed in 

 the least natural position for the purpose on which they arc employed, 

 and the ends of the fingers are often turned up in the most unnatural 

 and therefore ungraceful manner. The draperies ore cast without any 

 regard to masses or agreeable forms, and always appear as if they luid 

 been put on wet and starched, and had stiffened in drying ; the edges 

 .lie very much shown, and in the falling or perpendicular views appear 

 in regular and corresponding zig-zag lines. Many points of resemblance 

 to the above works of the eiijna Tuscanica will be found in early Grsjet 

 i jccially that of the -Kginctan school With these, however, this 

 indication of primitive style passed away as the knowledge of art 

 advanced, while the Etruscan manner was retained, and even imitated 

 in many works of a much later period than the original Tuscan, and 

 by artists belonging to schools of a more perfected taste. Asa general 

 remark, it may be observed that productions in the Etruscan style ore 

 very deficient in beauty. They neither exhibit the repose and sim- 

 plicity which, notwithstanding its other deficiencies, give dignity to 

 Egyptian, nor the fine forms and sentiment which ennoble Grecian 



