The New York herald., 1878-11-15
THE LECTURE SEASON.

GENERAL Di cisNoLA UPON The ANCIENT HIS
TORY AND ART or CYPRUS.
The well known cypriote explorer General L. p. di
ccsnola. last evening delivered chickering Hall the
second of his lectures upon the ancient
art and history Of Engand's possession. He
began by recalling the points he had made
in his previous lecture to prove that
there was in Cyprus advanced civilization,
with skiful saulptors aud engraver long before the
Greeks emerged from barbarous state. This done
he set out TO show how the Phoncians spread them
selves in The island after the Trojan war; SUPER
seding the previous settlers and opening up the mines
and other natural of the country. but leav
ing the higher development OF the iine arts to the
Greeks. The Cypriote Tal, the lecturer said, in
ancient times considered better than the immortal
poem OF Homer. 1t had been said. indeed that Homer
himself born in the island and the assertion had
never been dsproved. The Had referred to was. the
speaker said, more popular and had influence
the poets ana painters OF Greece than those Of
the great blind bard began with the story that the
earth. beginning to be burdened with mankind prayed
Jupiter for mode OF tightening IT, The ectSrer
briefly skctched the course Of the poem which ends
with the VARS OF Troy
INVASION
The settlement OF the island by the Greeks the es-
tablishIncnt of the early Kingdoms and the conquest
OF Ptoleny. who expelled these Inonarchs, were de-
scribcd in brief and entertaining manner with
passing ausioD TO the cunei!orn inscription in the
British Museum. giving the names of seven Of those
ancient kings who rcgned many centuries before the
birth Of Christ Speaking OF the massive gold brace
let's Of a king which arc now in the Metropolitan
Museum OF Art the lecturer noted the fact xat the
characters with which they inscribed were
known until unearthed ut Cyprus. The arst inscrip,
all attempts to dccipher it until Profcs-
6amusl Burke, Of the British Museum,
found that while tina characters peculiar
and heretofore unknown. the language was Greek,
and that the tablet recorded grant Of lands and
worded after fashion which would do credit to =
Philadephia lawyer 1t was not until the time of the
great Persian wars the lecturer remarked tina. the
island became conspicuous i'll history Briefly tracing
the events Of these wars and the part borne
by the different colonies Of Cyprotes, who
fought with the Greeks the Persans ac-
cording to their respective origin, interests
sculpture as it found after the termination Of the
contest In the remains discovered i'll the island
Cypriate art, and which neither Assyrian
nor Egyptian. All the statuary was sculp-
tnrcd in the round an art known TO neither
OF the nations named lii an interesting
dissertation upon the traces of Egypt and Of Assyra
found in Greek art the lecturer remarked that the art
of the former nations always suggestive OF the
idea Of slavery. whereas Greek art connected
with the idea or freedom yet of freedom within
tain bounds which the experience Of ages had proved
to be necessary.
cYpRlAIE POTTERY.
The programmes distributed among the audience
being Illustrated with pictures of objects in the
Cesnola collection. in this city, the speaker
fcrrcd from time to time to one another of
these as showing the contltion or art IN the
island at the periods under discussion That all the
found in the island are OF local manufacture
he positive although among them could be traced
continuous progress in the potters art nthosc
found ut Athens. One OF the most important manufac
lures OF Cyprus in the early ages that flquid per-
fumes 4hd the first efforts Of her pottars directed
to making receptacles for these. Many vases OF a
later period showed Enthusiastically the connection Of
the Cypriotes with Athens. One vase pictured upon
the programme the General pointed to positively
of Ph@nician workmanship shown by the orna
mentaton, consisting of perpendicular lines with
circles short and entertaining account Of
Soil, to which city Solomon retired Of the two
temples there, Of Paphos and the white column TO
which st. Paul is said to have been bound and hogGed
by order q the high priests Of Venus together with
number Of pithy anecdotes. served TO cnliven the
lecture and to Ighten the more profound portions
The next lecture of the course will be given on
Thursday evening next.