1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



S9 



Commercial Buildings or Rooms, In Mincinf; Lane. Allliongh in such 

 a liorribly, viilgiir and " Viistlv ungenlcel" silimtion, it is one that 

 would gr^ice aristorratic Piccidilly. Luckily it is not in tlmt quartPr, 

 or it would malte tlie Dukfi of Wellington's liouse look miMiicr and 

 duwdii-r by comp;irison with it tlinn it now does, — and, as has been 

 observed, that neat and spruce and trim thing seems to have been 

 built fur the residence of Mrs. Frv, rather than for that of the Con- 

 queror of Waterloo. The former Apsley House wasjust as dignified in 

 appearance, and liad at least the merit of being unsophisticated, and 

 free from any minikin alTectation of style at all. Nay evenPhilpot Lane 

 can show a nobler specimen of architectural taste — but I must stop: 

 Pliilpot Lane is not to be mentioned with impunity to ears polite. I 

 liave blundered sadlv in naming it, for it will now be discovered that 

 I reside there nivselt', — which being the case, mv opinions will hence- 

 forth be considered those of some low vnlgar-miniled huckster, some 

 dealer in oranges, and of course not worth one farthing — no, not even 

 one of the new half-fartbings. 



THE XANTHIAN MARBLES. 



By M. RoHDE Hawkins, Esq. 



Abridgment of a Paper read at the Royal Institute of British Architects. 



The object of the present paper is to give some acccouut of the 

 iculptures and architectural fragments which have been brought from 

 Xanthus, and placed in the British Museum during the last two years. 

 It will not therefore be out of place to give some account of the cir- 

 cumstances which have led to their discovery, and of the meaisures 

 which iiave been taken in order to procure and convey them to this 

 countrv. 



In February 1S38, Mr. Charles Fellows, while travelling in Asia 

 Minor, determined to explore more particularly its south-western 

 corner, opposite to the island of Rhodes, this district having formerly 

 been the site of ancient Lycia. His chief inducement was that this coun- 

 try had not before been visiti'd bv any Europeans with the object of 

 investigating its remains ; and little was known of it beyond the exiist- 

 ence ot some few towns lying along the sea coast. Of these, Telmes- 

 »us, now called Macry, Antiphellus, Myrus, and Patara (these three 

 latter still retaining their ancient names), had alone, up to this year, 

 been examined scientifically. In that year, however, Mr. Fellows de- 

 termined to proceed into the interior, and to examine more fully 

 whether there were any remains of the cities of ancient Lycia. He 

 started, therefore, from Patara, and after travelling up the country for 

 about 10 miles, he came to the ruins of the city of Xanthus, which he 

 describes in the following words: — 



The ruins are wholly of tombs, triumphal arches, walls, and a theatre. 

 The site is extremely romantic, upon beautiful bills, some crowned with rocks, 

 others rising perpendicularly from the river which is seen winding its way 

 down from the woody uplands, while beyond, in the extreme distance, are 

 the snowy mountains in which it rises. On the west the view is bounded by 

 the picturesquely formed but bare range of Mount Cragus, and on the east 

 by the mountahi chain extending to I'atara. A rich plain, with its meander- 

 ing river, carries the eye to the horizon of the sea towards the south-west. 



The monuments and tombs are the most striking objects in this city, 

 of which the most interesting were standing at the period of Mr. Fel- 

 lows' visit. The first was a stele, about 21 feet high and 7 feet 

 square, covered on the top by a btoad overhanging lid, immediately 

 under which were eight has relievos, representing the well-known 

 classical story of the Stealing of the Da.ughters of King Pandarus by 

 the Harpies. They are now placed, by the exertions of Mr. Fellows, 

 in the British Museum, and are well deserving of attention, both 

 from the very early period at which they were probably executed, and 

 from the character of their workmansh ip, which is unlike any sculp- 

 tures hitherto preserved in the Museum . The second monument was 

 of a dilferent form, being of that (leculjar style of architecture which 

 abounds in Lycia, but is never seen in any other country. This monu- 

 ment is also now deposited, together with the sculpture, in the British 

 Museum, having been procured for it during the last expedition to 

 Xanthus; there can be no doubt but that it will be reconstructed. It 

 will be here interesting to give the description of this tomb, as given 

 by Mr. Fellows in his Tour in Asia Min or. 



It is a sarcophagus, entirely of marble, standing on the side of a hill rich 

 with wild shrub. The roof is somewhat grey, and the fractures of ihc lower 

 parts are tinged with the shade of red whh;h the marble assumes after lung 

 exposure to the weather, and in places with yellow blended with brown. Ou 

 the top, or hog's-raane, is a huntmg scene ; some figures arc running, others 

 are ou horseback galloping, with spears iu ti"ieir hands and mantles blown by 



the wind, chasing the stag and wild boar, which h»« turned to attack the 

 pursuer ; the whole of the figures, although in a small frieze, arc well formed 

 and finished. On each of the sloping sides of the roof are two stones pro- 

 jecting about a foot, as found on oil these tombs, hut which upon this are 

 i:arvcd into lions' head crouching on their paws ; upon one side of the roof 

 is a group in which a warrior, carrying a shield, is in the act of stepping into 

 his cliariot, which is of the early simple form, with wheels of four spokes 

 only, and is driven by a man leaning forward, with liis arms stretched out 

 holding the reins and a whip or goad : four beaiuifully formed horses, pranc- 

 ing in various attitudes, are drawing the car. The cliariot and horses appear 

 sculptured on the other side of the roof, differing only in the attiludesof the 

 li','ures. In the upper panels at the ends or gables arc traces of small carved 

 li;;ures. On the side of the tomb is a group of figures, which I will describe, 

 hcginninij from the left hand. A finely formed figure in a simple robe, his 

 hands folded before him, and with a head of bushy hair, stands, as if in at- 

 tendance behind the chair or clawed seat of the principal figure, who, clothed 

 in rich folded drapery, with short hair, sits in the attitude of a judge, with 

 one arm somewhat raised ; before him stand four figures ; the fir^t is muti- 

 lated, hut appears similar to the second, who has long hushy hair, confined 

 round the head, and looking like a wig; his attitude is that of a counsellor 

 pleading for the others; the loose robe falls gracefully from one shoulder, 

 and is thrown over, so as ahnost to conceal one arm ; two other figures, dif- 

 fering only in having the hair shorter and the arms hanging down, stand 

 apparently waiting the decision of the judge, and complete the well-formed 

 group. At the end on a larger scale, are two figures of warriors, clothed 

 only with girdles of armour round their loins, and petticoats reaching nearly 

 down to their knees. The background on tire same stone contains a long, 

 but, from mutilation, partially illegible inscription, v\hich I did not attempt 

 to copy. On the opposite end ot the tomb are two other figures of the same 

 size; one, clothed in a loose robe, stands in a commanding altitude fronting 

 the spectator, with an arm raised over the head of a naked figure also 

 standing. 



On the other side, under a single line of inscription, is an animated battle- 

 scene ; men on horses are fighting with others on foot ; all have helmets, and 

 those on foot have shields ; some fight naked, others with a loose shirt or 

 blouse descending below the thighs, and confined by a belt to the waist. 

 The horse of the principal figure is ornamtnted with a [iluine, and the rider 

 has a kind of armour to protect his legs. The groups upon the two sides are 

 three feet six inches high, tiy nine feet in length. 



The hog's-mane does not at either end extend to the full length of the 

 roof; and at each extremity of it is a niche for attaching another stone. It 

 is probable that there may have been at each end, when the tomb was per- 

 fect, some ornament, perhaps a helmet, or figure of an animal corresponding 

 in character with the other sulijects. It is not surprising that so beautiful a 

 tomb should have been broken open in all parts ; hut as each chamber it now 

 exposed, I trust that it may not receive further injury. 



Mr. Hawkins next proceeds to give some account of the last monu- 

 ment brought over to this countrv from Xanthus, and of the rea- 

 sons which induced him to restore it in the manner shown in the 

 drawing exhibited ; the only part of the building which was visible 

 above ground was a basement, 33 feet long by 22 feet wide, formed 

 of rough blocks of the limestone of the country. In making the exca- 

 vations Ionic bases, shafts, and capitals of columns were found; these 

 were all of small dimensions, the columns not being more than Mi in. 

 diameter at the bottom. A considerable quantity of egg moulding 

 was also found ; it was pierced on the top with a morlice hole to re- 

 ceive the base of the column, and the circle of the base is also marked 

 upon it, but near to these marks, in almost every instance, tliere oc- 

 curred an irregularly shaped sinking, this was accounted for by finding 

 draped statues of dancing females, the plinth of which liad been let 

 into the egg moulding; thus far there was ascertain-'d ihat the slatiiej 

 and columns came alternately, and that thev were placed upon the 

 egg moulding. Sculptured fritzes of four different sizes were formed 

 — 3 ft. 4 in., 2 ft., 1 fl. 7 J in., and 1 ft. 5i in. respectively in w idtli— the 

 two larger were in stones not exceeding 5 feet in length, and there- 

 fore too short and also too large to have been placed over the columns, 

 thev are therefore placed round the base. It becomes, however, ne- 

 cessary to give some aulhority for as>igning to a building so lofty a 

 base. Now the tomb of Miusolus, at Halicarnassu", has always been 

 considered to have had a similar arrangement. In the work of Canina 

 there is a beautiful restoration, which, w itii the exception of the pyra- 

 midal top, is precisely similar to this building.' There is also in 

 Caria a monument still existing which, although of later date, has still 

 the same characteristics of a lofty base surmounted with columns, Mr. 

 Hawkins alluded to that atMylassa, given iu the loni.in Auti(|uities, this 

 although unornamented with sculpture, has still the same arrangement 

 of building; and there exist mmy tombs, at Alinda in Caria, and at 

 Hierapolis in Plirygia, of the form of the base, but not having at the 



» The restorutlon of Caiiinu's, !iowev*r, Is taken from a medal which has a head of Ar- 

 lumsiu on one sl'te und the Mausoleum on the olber, but It U noiT ahvays coasidered to 

 be a lorgery of tile l&th century. It is Iheret'ore ot Do re.tl vtilu*. except to show what was 

 the generally received idea ot the Ulausoleiim ut that time, wilea the Italian arctlltrcU 

 werv certainly giving a great atteotlOD to the workB of antiquity. 



13* 



