The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-29
The Priene Marbles.

Dilettanh and the energy of the Keeper of
the Classical Antiquities in the British |
Museum, our national collection has obtained
a very valuable addition to its great mass of
treasures. We allude to the marbles which
have recently arrived from Priene, and which,
in accordance with vote of the learned So
ciety to which they were consigned, have
within the last week become the property of
the nation. These marbles would at any
time have been highly priced but they are
now of special Importance to the department
of the British Museum in which they will
soon be exhibited inasmuch as there is no
slight affinity between them and those Hall
carnassean marbles which have recently found
their place there. 1t is intended, we believe,
as soon as the scattered fragments have been
to some extent put together, to exhibit
several specimens of the sculptures from
Priene in the room which has lately been
allotted to the remains of the Mausoleum.
Among those specimens will probably figure
a capital, and portions of a cornice orna-
mented with projecting lions heads, which
bear o strong resemblance to corresponding
parts of the Mausoleum, and the same room
will then offer two good illustrations of Ionic
architecture to both of which dates can be
assigned with certainty. Before proceeding
to say anything more about these marbles it
may be as well to make a few remarks about
the spot from which they come, and the
society to which their arrival is dra. 1t may
be that every sch Oolboy ought to know where
Priene stands, and who are the Dilettanti by
whose direction it has recently been explored,
but even at the risk of carrying our owls to
Athens we will venture to offer some slight
information on both subjects. To begin
with the society-in the year 1884 ''some
gentlemen who had travelled in Italy, de-
sirous of encouraging at home taste for
those objects which had contributed so
much to their entertainment abroad,
formed themselves into a society,
under the name of the Dlettanti." The
preface to one of the society's publications
from which we quote goes on to say that sit
would be disingenuous to insinuate that a
serious plan for the promotion of arts was the
only motivefor forming this society, friendly
and social intercourse being the first great
object in view, but it also affirms that under
no circumstances has it ever abandoned the
cause of virtu." In the year 1894 the Dilet-
tanti discovered that they had a considerable
balance of money in hand, and they deter
mined to spend it on an exploring expedition
to the East. Accordingly, Mr.. Chandler, the
well-known editor of the MGrn1Ora Or0niee-
STA, sent out with a couple of artistic
companions to Greece and Asia Minor, and
the results of the journey, which occupied
rather more than two years, were made known
to the public by means of bulky work
published by the society. Among the places
explored by Mr.. Chandler was the ruined
city of Priene, to which considerable space
is devoted in the society's volume of Anti-
guSties of Ionia. But all that was done at
that time was to deineate and describe
the ruins Mr.. Chandler left the shattered
marbles lying where he found them. That
was rather more than century ago. In the
autumn of 1868 the society determined to
send new expedition to Priene, under the
direction of Mr. Pulan-ths time not only
to explore, but to annex. This was done, and
at later period Mr.. Newton, at whose dis
posal considerable sum of money had been
placed in aid of this enterprise by a we'll
known lover of art, joined the explorers at
Priene, in order to make arrangements for
the transport of what Mr.. Pullan had acquired.
But after the marbles which were selected
for removal had been made ready for their
journey, it was found necessary to
wait q considerable time before they could
be removed. Between Priene and the
nearest station of the Smyrna and Adm Rail
way stretches a roadless plain, into the soil OF
which even ordinary carts are apt to sink
during the spring and early summer. AS to
the wagons in which the ponderous blocks OF
MARBLE some of them weighing from two tc
three tons, were conveyed, it was impossible
for them to undertake the journey till the
month of August. 1t required long series
of journeys, each occupying eight days, t.
transport the thirty tons of marble to th'
railway station. There they were CAREFUL,
packed and sent on to port from which the,
were conveyed, first to Malta, and then t.
England Very soon after their arrival tn
Society of Dilettanti, whose property the
were, generously made them over to the ma
ton.
AS regards Priene, much might be said il
reference both to the history and the topo
graphy of the city. In the days of it
splendor it's appearance must have been a
striking as the views from its terraces wer
magnificent. Even now, when one of tn
principal features of the landscape has dis
appeared, the view which may be enjoye
from the site of its ruined temple is singr
larly beautiful. Behind stand the cliffs u
which a narrow footpath leads to the Aero
polls, and higher still rise the mountai
heights of Mycale. In front the ground ono
occupied by the old city, terrace below te
race, falls away to the plain. There tn
Meander silently winds its may way throug
the rich alluvial soil, and beyond it th
Jagged peaks of Latmos rise above the cav
in which of old Endymion slept. But, beal
tiful as is the view now, it must have bee
fairer still in the days when Priene was
maritime port, the sea occupying the spat
in front of the city which is now pa,
of the valley of the M@ander. {
all the rivers of Asia Minor the MI
ander was the most remarkable fl
its production of new land. VIII
it conferred on one spot it natural
took away from another, and SO well were
habits in this respect known that it twas Il
dictable for removing the soil when its marg
4,,.OolIad in. and tha napaOn xubn ranOvar