New-York tribune., 1878-11-08
ANCIENT ARTS OF CYPRUS.

General Di CesnOa delivered last evening ~
Cbickering Hall the first of series OF four lectures
ON "Cyprns it's Ancient Arts and History" Inc
lecture attracted large audience which lnciuooN
mauy weil-known mon in professional me- LII Htcl-
ature and the arts Upon the platform were Sea'ou
Chief Justico c. F. DAILY. President j. A. +. Barnard,
of Columbia College +. G.. Stedman, the Rev Drs'
II. w. Bellows aud William Adams, and others
THE INTRODUCTION AID THE ADDRESS.
The lecturer was introduced by Professor
Roswell d. Hitchcock who said:
sThe Muse OF History is won't TO be represented WIN
a scroll Ia one hand and trumpet III the oVheI' III
future 10 make the picture more complete there must
be added spade, placed at her feet Byt we eau cu'
our way back through the centuries THIS evening We
are to be instructed by VINO has done for cyprus
what George smit did for Assyra. The Cyprus OF TO-
day ia sod enough TO boar the weight OF British cannon
We may trust that It be sOhd enough ~ pcI 'o
exodus In good time. 1t is my great pleasure anu pF
Iege tonight 10 Introduce TO you General Ceshoa-'
Italian, The American"
The lecturer was received warmly, and secured the
close atteptr,n of the audience. IIo spoke with o
marked Italian accent, which, however became
scarcely noticeable after few moments In TINS ieo-
ture ne described Cyprus as the meeting point OF
Hellenic anu Semitic influences. A VIVID description
was gwen OF the island which has now become 50 Ia
nous in The latest chapter of European history Turn
ing to m art history he traced the subtle influences OF
PhpDcian art the aesthetic tastes OF the people oI
Cyprus and showed the forms in winch they found ex
precision. He dwelt at length on the deVeOpmch' VI
PhGnecan commerce. the colonies that iesu'seu ioni
their trade and the art Of which Cyprus received tue w
press he closed with a description OF uhe 1nuueAce OF
Fgvptan and Assyrian arts. The lecture was illustrated
with drawings from figures in the Metropolitan Museum
OF Art These were printed on the program'ne-a tea-
ture which added greatly 10 the convenience oil his
hearers.
OUTLINE OF THE COURSE OF LECTURES.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. said the lecturer, III response
10 the gracious invitation of number OF our most em
nent eltzeus here tonight to begin course of lee
lures upon the history and ancient arts Of Cyprus and
hope that before part shall have awakened more
Intelligent interest in that grand and unique collection
which some Of fellOwcitiZens, hlled viii q lONe
for ell that pertains TO TIT and science
have beens the Of securing to the City OF New
York; thonument in all time to come OF their
Vise foresight and splendid HOersly. propose in tue
course Of these lectures to show the different influences
of Egyptian AssyT1an PbWncian and e9ljy Greek arts
a. exhibited in the ancient monuments discovered IN
Cyprus ana now in the Metropolitan Museum OF Art OF
New-YUrk shall have, also. TO treat of the early his
tory and literature of that famous Island, which in an
cent times the radiaing point OF civilization
and the place where Greek ideas. Greek art ana greek
forms Of worship were first developed.
II was in Cyprus that Hellenic and Semitic settle
ments first came in contact When the Greeks first came
u
any developed Of their because they had none;
and their religious forms OF worship were crude ana
such as belonged to the primitive phase OF Hellenic
mind. We must therefore become first well acquainted
with the ancient history OF Cyprus We wish TO under
,and much of tho eally Greek history Which Is yet OBJ
tcure for Cyprus Is universally acknowledged to
have been the central meeting point Of races
1t was to Cyprus that the PEGnIcans OF
sdon first brought their wares for sale
there they displayed their arts, their gods, their
fashions and those also OF the empires or Egypt ana
Assyria For evidence OF the early influx ofSEgyptlon'
Assyrian and PhGnican influences upon the Greek
mind there was no place Ike Cyprus. The French and
German Governments sent as early 1916, some Of
their best scholars explore and make excavations in
Cyprus but only lay that the result so anIously
looked for obtained by private enterprise Now that
we possess large number OF very ancient monuments
Of Cyprus manufacture have the best visible and tang
able proofsu aid that obscure literary testimony which
modern scholars have laboriously sought for. We
possess now the best cewt 70 those primitive forms IN
which, az Sydney Colvin rightly says Semitic and
Egyptian ideas and arts and types Of worship, as
modified by the PhUnciaas penetrated the receptive
faculties Of the Greeks.
Greek art germinated in Cyprus; this cannot be
denied; and the historical scholar must study the
pncieat history and OF Cyprus II no
wishes 70 understand thoroughly the ancient art
0 Greece. But wbat Trustworthy information,
what accurate knowledge had we only cen
try ago OF the ancient Egyptians, Assyltans snd
Ph9nioiansl Very little. indeed, Of either To the
and patient labOrs OF such artlovng men as
Belzoni Layard BOtta the OF the historian CEam
poliOn RaWlnsOn and others Is due our power to-day
60 contemplate and understand the advanced civiiza-
tions ers two nations OF anuqulty-EHypt ana
Assyrta-which fortunately for us recorded Their his
tory on more durable material than our present parch-
fuent Men disappear but their art and literature re-
main and after the lapse thousands OF years the earth
A made 10 give up her buried treasures, which
speak to in the most tangible manner OF the cum
Mug hand which executed and the brain which devised
them" We must not wonder then that The sndden and
unexpected departure Of all the CypOte antiquities for
New-York has been and is still regarded by German.
French and English scholars European misfortune.
Greek art, The London Times sand, Is one of
The nObest bCquoss OF antiquity 20 modern times.
but like all other products Of human activity,
Il has a history and progress which can only be
traced and studied in connected series OF monu-
ments The antiquities which have discovered
In the Island OF Cyprus represent PhTnciGn works Of
art some q? which more than 1000 years Old aud
their great vaue in this, that tlcso monuments form
the link which the Asiatic and Egyptian arts
with that OF Greece Cyprus AT is therefore, an ins
pensable stage in the wonderful progress which begins
somewhere IN the East but the exact place do not
yet know and eliminates in the sculptures Of the Par
theDOn-the masterpieces Of the Immortal Phidias
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE PHGNlCiANS.
It's of the Pheuicians the first cOlonists of Cyprus
many of whose sculptures in sone and works Of art IL
gold silver and bronze IL my good fortune to bring
90 light during eleven years Of explorations in that
Island that INT nd to speak TO you this evening Asuy
modern scholars hitherto believed that the ancient
Greeks bad been the inventors or great many or The
useful things they transmitted TO us, but my
discoveries in Cyprus have shown that the Greeks
merely derived them from older civilizations. WGen
systematic excavations shall be made among the ruins
of sidon and Tyre, and we have more PnGnician re-
mains IN our possession. e,l confident that We will
cease to exclusively before the shrine OF
Greek genius and eventually will have to rowrte the
history OF ancient art before proceed further al