108 
GREEK ANTIQUITIES. 
[UPPER 
The Greek Fictile Vases are" arranged in Wall Cases on the 
North and Eastern sides of the room, and in the detached 
Cases in the centre. The subjects represented mostly relate to 
Dionysiac festivals, to Venus and Cupid, or to funeral offerings. 
The figures are painted in red or white on a black ground, 
details being sometimes picked out in crimson or yellow. The 
black varnish is less brilliant than in the earlier styles, and 
the shapes of the vases less elegant ; the ornaments are more 
florid, the composition more pretentious and elaborate, and 
the drawing mannered and often careless. These charac- 
teristics mark the decline of the art of vase-painting. 
Cases 24 to 31 contain the black modelled ware, among which will 
be found many shapes imitated from vases in metal. 
Cases 32-41, and 44, 45, at the South end of the room, contain a 
series of Grseco-Roman terracotta reliefs, chiefly from the Townley 
Collection. They originally decorated the walls of Roman buildings, 
and present an interesting variety of mythological subjects. The 
figures are generally well composed and modelled. 
Cases 42, 43, contain several large terracotta figures of the same 
Grgeco- Roman style. On the West side of the room, Cases 46-51 
contain terracottas from Athens; Rhodes, Melos, the Cyrenaica, Sicily, 
Sardinia, Cyprus, and other parts of the Greek world. The most 
archaic specimens, chiefly from Athens and from Camirus in Rhodes, 
are arranged in Cases 46, 47. The greater part of the terracottas from 
Cases 46-51 are probably of Greek origin. Some of the most archaic 
from Camirus, Cyprus, and Sardinia, may be Phoenician. The terra- 
cottas from Cases 52-59 are principally from Magna Graecia. 
In these Cases are some fine specimens of drinking cups or 
rhytons, and vases moulded in the form of human heads, or 
other fantastic or extravagant shapes. 
In Cases 60-05, 68-72, and 1-23, the Blacas Collection 
is provisionally arranged. A separate account of this Col- 
lection is now published. 
The Table Cases in the centre of the room are not yet 
arranged. 
BRONZE ROOM. 
This loom contains the collection of Greek, Etruscan, and 
Roman Bronzes, with the exception of such as have been 
found in Great Britain, which are placed in the British Room. 
!' i chiefly composed of the Sloane, Hamilton, Townley, and 
