§ 59. COLOURED GREEK BUILDINGS. 273 



Ludius. So degraded had taste long become, that the paint- 

 ings of Pirseicus, representing cobblers' stalls, asses, eatables, 

 and the like, " sold for higher prices than the largest works of 

 many masters" (Pliny, xxxv. 10) ; and the same vulgar affec- 

 tion for commonplace ornaments introduced bronze trees 

 laden with lamps in lieu of fruit, which Pliny (xxxiv. 3) tells 

 us were much admired ; and which may be considered on a 

 par with the iron trees in some modern gardens, that shower 

 down water on an unsuspecting visitor, through their hollow 

 branches. 



59. Painted sculpture ornamented the temple; and this 

 was composed of figures in high or low relief in the frieze, 

 pediment, and metopes ; which, like the architectural details 

 of the whole edifice, were coloured. The interior was also de- 

 corated with painted patterns, many of which are still visible 

 in the Parthenon, and other buildings ; and some of the archi- 

 tectural details were merely painted on the surface of the stone, 

 instead of being (as usual) first sculptured and then coloured ; 

 which may be seen in many Ionic capitals and fragments of 

 entablatures at the Athenian Acropolis, and other places. 

 That the bas-reliefs and the figures of the tympanum were 

 coloured is well known ; and indeed if this were not proved 

 by the vestiges of colour which remain, it would be suffi- 

 ciently obvious that those accessories could not have been 

 left colourless, as glaring contrasts to the rest of the painted 

 building ; and if some have been unwilling to believe it, the 

 authority of ancient authors, and the remains themselves, 

 have decided a question which ought never to have been 

 uncertain. 



The same custom was extended to the plastic works of the 

 Greeks, on some of which traces of colour may still be seen ; 

 and the grapes and fishes made in clay by Posis, at Eome, 

 were chiefly indebted to their colour for being such faithful 



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