The Historians' History of the World 02

The art of design also preserves in the ruins of Persepolis a character peculiar to itself, a character of sobriety and dignity. Sculpture here appears formed on the habits of a court, and of an oriental court. No female or naked figure is to be traced, the seclusion of the harem being religiously respected. Of the male figures, none are portrayed in any violent or constrained attitude, not even when the monarch is represented destroying a monster; and it is only in the conflicts of animals with one another that the artist has displayed his power of expressing strong excitement. Where everything had reference to a court, no attitude was admissible which was not sanctioned by court etiquette. At the same time, this air of composure and dignity does not degenerate into stiffness; the design of the artist appears to have been, not to excite an impression of the beautiful, but a feeling of veneration—an end which has been fully attained. It is to be observed that no statue, nor any vestige of one, appears to have been discovered, and Persian sculpture seems to have been confined to the carving of reliefs, more or less prominent; and in the case of the monstrous figures which guard the entrance, amounting to half-relievos. How different are these historical relievos of Persia from those of the Egyptians, the favourite themes of which are battles and triumphal processions! There the object of the artist has been to exhibit the characters of action and energy; here, those of repose. In its subjects, also, the Persian sculpture is distinguished from that of the Egyptians, as well as that of the Indians. While it occasionally delineated superhuman beings, such as feroohers and izeds, it abstained from the deities themselves. On the other hand, it is in close and perfect harmony with the architecture it accompanies. As the latter was lofty and grand, but not colossal, so was the former, and both characterised by a high degree of simplicity. It was the most obvious and natural idea with which the ancient artist could set about his work, to make the one the handmaid of the other, and the sculptor may be said to have given animation to the labours of the architect, by representing under emblematical figures the design of his works. Accordingly, as the different parts of the edifice combined to form a whole, so the various groups of sculpture composed one general design, and all, down to the most minute decorations, were in strict unison with one leading idea, associated with the religious opinions of the nation. With the exception of the fabulous animals, everything was copied from nature; and from the parts of these monsters were borrowed nearly all the ornaments, consisting for the most part of the heads of unicorns and claws of griffins; and chimerical as these fabulous creations may at first sight appear, they are all capable of being reduced to four or five elementary forms of real animals—the horse, the lion, the onager or wild ass, the eagle, and the scorpion, to which we may perhaps add the rhinoceros.

In proportion, however, as the mythology at the command of the sculptor were limited, so his circle of observation, as applied to real nature, was extensive. He appears to have been familiar with the nations of more than one quarter of the globe, and to have distinguished with exactness their features and profiles, the thick lips and woolly hair of the negro being no less accurately marked than the limbs of the half-naked Indian. The same mechanical accuracy also and perfect finish, which distinguishes the architectural details, is observable in the labours of the sculptor. We may still count the nails in the wheels of the chariot in the great relievo; and the hair of the negro is so carefully wrought, that it is impossible to confound it with that of the Asiatics. This sort of scrupulous care, which marks also the inscriptions, appears in all countries to have distinguished the infancy of the art.b

BRIEF REFERENCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS

[The letter a is reserved for Editorial Matter.]

Chapter I. Land and People

b Eduard Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums.

c Max Duncker, Geschichte des Alterthums.

d The Holy Bible.

e Herodotus, The History of Herodotus (translated from the Greek by William Beloe).

f Xenophon, The Cyropædia (translated from the Greek by J.S. Watson and Henry Dale).

Chapter II. The Median or Scythian Empire

b Herodotus, op. cit.

c Theodore Nöldeke, article “Persia,” in the Encyclopædia Britannica.

d A. H. Sayce, The Higher Criticism and the Monuments.

e The Holy Bible.

f R. W. Rogers, History of Babylonia and Assyria.

g Ctesias, Persica.

h Berosus, Βαβυλωνικά.

i Strabo, Γεωγραφικά.