VASEVATICAN. 



787 



M-ere made of clay, and were rude in form ; but as 

 luxury and refinement increased, they were executed 

 with greater elegance, 

 and made of more cost- 

 ly materials. The 

 earth of which urns 

 and vases were made 

 was light and porous, 

 and of a yellowish red 

 colour. Before under- 

 going the action of fire, 

 an instrument, con tain- 

 ing a portion of black 

 liquid pigment, was em- 

 ployed by the artist in 

 drawing the outline of 

 the figures and com- 

 position. They were 

 then done over with a sort of varnish of a reddish 

 tint, and baked. In the annexed cuts fig. 1 repre- 

 sents a very ancient urn or vase, done after this man- 

 ner, in the possession of J. P. Anderdon, Esq. Two 

 others in the British Museum are represented in figs. 

 2 and 3. The height of the first is 6 inches; that 

 of the second 3 inches. Fig. 4 represents another 

 ancient vase, also in the British Museum. Its 

 height is 12 inches. 



The Grecian artists gave to every vase the shape 

 best adapted to its use, and most agreeable to the 

 eye. Sometimes they took the parallelopipedon; 

 in other instances, a shape either circular or slightly 

 curved, to prevent the eye from being intercepted by 

 angles or corners. These shapes admitted, at the same 

 time, of greater variety, notwithstanding which, its 

 primitive character was always perceived. It was 

 only in times subsequent to the decline of the arts 

 that these simple contours were departed from, and 

 the pyramidal or angular figure substituted. Very 

 rich and precious substances were employed by 

 those who could afford such profusion. Vases 

 were frequently set up as prizes in the public 

 games. A great number of these vessels have been 

 preserved to the present day, and offer to artists 

 models of the most beautiful forms. The an- 

 nexed cut represents two perfume vases. Of all the 

 works in this department 

 of Grecian art which have 

 come down to our times, 

 there are none so richly 

 meriting attention as the 

 ancient vases in terra-cotta, 

 so long and universally, 

 but improperly, designated 

 as Etruscan, from the cir- 

 cumstance of their original describers (Montfaucon, 

 Dempster, Gori, Passeri, Caylus and D'Ancarville) 

 having regarded them as monuments of Etruscan 

 art. But the fact is, that the greater number of 

 these vases are not found in Etruria. It is to the 

 sepulchres of Nola, of Capua, of Santa Agatha, &c., 

 as well as to different cities of Graecia Magna, that 

 we are indebted for the largest and finest collec- 

 tions. The Athenian tombs have also furnished 

 many ; and Mr Hamilton is correct in designating 

 them, as he has done in one of his prefaces, em- 

 phatically Grecian. The tombs or sepulchres in 

 which these exquisite vases were commonly found, 

 were situated near the walls of towns, ordinarily 

 built of brick or rough stone, and of just sufficient 

 size to admit the body, with some five or six vases 

 standing round it, or hung on the walls by nails of 

 bronze. The number, size and beauty of these 



vases varied, doubtless, according to the rank of 

 the party inhumed. The paintings of these an- 

 cient Greek vases are extremely interesting, on 

 account of the subjects represented, and of the 

 beauty of the workmanship. The subjects most 

 frequently to be found are sacrifices, processions 

 and representations which bear relation to the 

 mysteries of Bacchus or Ceres. There are, occa- 

 sionally, but not so often, exhibitions of family 

 feasts or of public games. Sometimes, also, the 

 mythics of the heroic ages are introduced. They 

 did not serve as receptacles of the ashes, but the 

 most probable opinion is, that they were sacred 

 vases which had been given to those who were 

 initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus and Ceres, 

 and were employed at the festivals of these divini- 

 ties. Most of the subjects represented have refer- 

 ence to these mysteries. Some of these vessels 

 may have been distributed on other solemn occa- 

 sions. While the possessors were alive, it is pro- 

 bable that they were placed in the halls or vesti- 

 bules of their houses, and, after their owners' death, 

 they accompanied them to the tomb. In Lower 

 Italy, the art of imitating them is carried to great 

 perfection, as many an unfortunate purchaser has 

 found. Large collections of these vases are con- 

 tained in Naples (briefly but instructively described 

 by Andrew di Gorio R. Museo Borbonico, Galleria 

 dei Vast, Naples, 1825), in London and Paris, in 

 Vienna, Petersburg, &c See the Introduction a 

 I'Etude des Vases Antiques, by Dubois-Maisonneuve 

 (Paris, 1817, folio), and the small treatise Dei Vasi 

 Grechi, delle lor Forma e Dipintura, e dei Nomi e 

 Uso loro in Generale (Palermo, 1823, 4to.). The 

 celebrated W. Tischbein published, in 1791, at 

 Naples, a splendid work containing drawings of 

 such vases. See also Lanzi's De Vasi antichi 

 dipinti volgarmente chiamati Etruschi (Florence, 

 1806). For the Portland or Barberini vase, see 

 the article Portland Vase. 



VASSAL (homo fidelis, vassus, feoffee) ; a per. 

 son who has bound himself to fidelity and service 

 towards another, especially in war, for which he 

 receives the promise of protection and the enjoy- 

 ment of an estate, a rent, office, privilege (out of 

 which, in the later period of the feudal system, a 

 real dominium utile originated). The origin of the 

 word is not certain. It is not probable that it is 

 derived from the Gaelic gwas: it is more probable 

 that it comes from the Arabico-Spanish of the tenth 

 century, the expression guazil (servant) having 

 been in common use in the Moorish dominions in 

 Spain, which then possessed a higher civilization 

 than the rest of Europe. The vassal of the king 

 had again his vassals, and the more powerful of 

 these again theirs ; hence, in Italy, the degrees of 

 capitanei, valvasi, valvasini. A vassal who was 

 hound to serve his lord against every one else in 

 war, was called vassus ligius. See Feudal System, 

 and Villenage. 



VATHEK BILLAH. See Caliph. 



VATICAN; the most extensive palace of 

 modern Rome, built upon the Vatican hill, from 

 which it has received its name. Immense treasures 

 are stored up in it. It is not a regular building, 

 but contains twenty-fKvo court-yards, and, as is 

 generally said, 11,000 rooms. Several popes have 

 laboured on this edifice, which was not completed 

 until the time of Sixtus V. who died in 1590. 

 Here are the celebrated collections of pictures, and 

 the museums, in which all the periods of the arts 

 have deposited many of their most perfect produii- 

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