6 THE FINE ARTS. 
fighting, seated at table, holding his court, &c. Frequently too he appears 
holding a staff as a sceptre, and with a retinue of canopy-bearers and 
eunuchs behind him (pl. 2, jig. 18). In battle a figure, probably a 
guardian deity, frequently stands behind him holding a defensive weapon 
over his head (fg. 19), or he is followed simply by a shield-bearer (jig. 17) 
with a peculiar head-dress (fig. 16). Female figures are rarely seen, but 
often those of animals, as lions, horses, and bulls, the latter also with human 
faces. Several reliefs represent sieges, fortresses, &c. The skill shown in 
the drawing of the bodies, the delineation of the hair, &c., is highly praised. 
The ruins of Persepolis, from which the above cited reliefs are taken, 
exhibit a great quantity of architecture adorned with sculptures. Strange 
symbolical forms of beasts executed in high relief stand as royal insignia 
at the entrances; and similar ones are frequently made use of for architec- 
tonic purposes. Among the principal figures are the unicorn with and 
without wings and an enigmatical beast with a royal head-dress, also the 
griffin and the lion. Groups in which a mythological hero vanquishes a 
monster of this kind are frequently represented in relief. Very remarkable 
are the reliefs on the grand stairway in the ruins of Persepolis, where the 
provinces of the kingdom are represented bringing the yearly presents to the 
king. The costumes are characteristic. The noblest, that worn by the king 
himself, is the Median dress, the stola of the Magians. To the ordinary 
belongs the coat with empty sleeves, the Persian kandys, resembling the 
Hungarian pelisse. Among head-dresses are the tiara with side-ribands, 
such as is worn by the king (jig. 19), the kedarzs, and the kyrbasia (fig. 17). 
A peculiar covering for the head is represented in the Numidian halfbust 
(fig. 18). 
The circle of the plastic arts with respect to mythology is among the Persians 
very limited, and we find only the image of Ormuzd, a half-figure hovering 
in the air and ending below in wings, together with the symbolical animal ; 
all else belongs to historical representation. Strict propriety demands 
everywhere careful clothing and majestic movement, which even in combat 
with monsters is not disturbed; to the same reason is to be attributed the 
entire absence of female figures. The folds of the garments are regular 
throughout, and the hair is very carefully treated. The drawing is executed 
with firmness and precision ; the features bear a dignified impress, together 
with the stamp of nationality ; the postures and gestures present a pleasing 
variety, and even the figures of animals are grandly and vigorously sketched. 
The work in the very hard stone is everywhere neatly executed, and the 
treatment of the reliefs is peculiar. Although Grecian artists worked for 
the Persians (Pliny names e. g. Telephanes), still in everything there is 
manifested a native style of art the result of centuries of cultivation. 
C. The Babylonians and Phencians. 
The Babylonians, early brought together under monarchies and favored 
by the protected situation of their low-lying river-land, began at a very 
remote period to erect buildings of importance; and this of course was 
accompanied by the cultivation of the plastic arts, although sculpture 
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