Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-08

| They were removed to London, and. after
many changes Of location, were finally
| purchased by the British Government
| for 100000. On eXaminiu the figures of
the friezes one may remark the apparent
/ disprOpOrtiOn between the figures of
/ men in some Of the groups, and
/ between the horses and their
| riders on all of them, but this is
| explained by the habit Of the ancient
/ artists Of Indicating individual superior
I lty by superiority OF size OF gods and he
/ roes, and probably among the people them
| selves, while the small figure of the horses
! is thus TO be accounted for, viz: In the
! "pOlished Stone Age" of Europe horses are
! supposed to have been objects of chase,
/ and TO have formed an important part OF
/ the food supply of the cave jewellers. The
/ hgures OF them on bones and reindeer
/ horns, found in the caves, indicate the
| smallness of their size and the heaviness
| of their build. Their like may still be
| found in Europe in the C0ssack horses OF
the steppes of Russia, and in America IN
/ our "marsh tackles" and "Indian
| pOnies.'' These were fer a long
/ time thought to be descended from
! the horses brought over by the Spaniards
| of the expeditions Of COrteZ aud De Soto,
! butrecent discoveries in the phosphate
! beds' Of Carolina show the existence of
| the horse in America many ages before
I the time of It's discovery by Columbus.
I Int dIbutHOu. Uullb ny Ikl6IOS anu MAI
/ likrates, and 0Tnamented and directed
! by Phidias, the great sculptor of the stat
uary, may be regarded as the most beau
1 tiful building ever erected by the hand of
man. 1t stood on the AcropOlis, con-
/ zeal hill in the midst of the city Of Ath-
/ ems, and was surrounded by other tenn
! pies ard statuary Of wonderful beauty
and execution. 1t stood by itself, with
! an extensive area unOccupied around
/ it. 1t rose above this by three
! steps. The area inclOsed by the up
| per steps was a little more than 10l
feet by 22I feet, making in our measure
! about One-half acre. Two pOrticOs stood
one on the east end and the other on the
west. facing the grand entrance, in itself
a building Of great beauty, but chiefly in
tended as defensive works. The Parthe-
non was a DOric peripteral temple, fin
ished about 43S years before Christ. The
pOrticOs had eight columns, and between
them seventeen on the sides OF the adytum
or cell, which constituted the main body
of the building. These columns were six
feet in diameter and thirty-fOur feet high. |
The total height of the temple was sixty |
four feet. Within the perIstyle at either /
end were six columns, 515 feet in diane !
ter and of proportional height. The YES /
tibule of the celia was reached by two |
steps; the celia itself was 6214 feet wide |
within. The outer columns supported |
architrave, frieze and cOrnice. The /
frieze OF the outer colorado was broken |
by triglyphs, the end Of the cross beams
corresponding to our floor or ceiling
jOlsts, and the recesSes between them
called s'metOpes" contained sculptures in
high relief Of cOmbats between the Cen
taurs and Lapith9. In the the tympan of
the pedment were colossal statues, some
OF them entirely separated from the wall,
and it is worthy ct remark that though
these We're to be placed where
only their fronts could be seen the whole
figure was finished with equal nicely.
The circumstances Of the birth of
Minerva are represented on one pediment,
aud the contest between that goddess and
Neptune for the prOtpctOrship of Athens,
on the other. The figures Of the freiZe,
of which Mr.. Brandt has secured casts,
were placed on the outside of the celia, at
the same height OF the outer one, and were
over 500 feet in length. They represented |
the procession which took place at the
celebration of the Panatheneau festivals.
OF these there were two, the greater be-
ing observed every five years, the
less every three years. At the lat
ter We're three games, viz: races by
men and horses by tOrchlight; contests
between athletes. and finally a musical
competition. OF the athletes, Mr.. Brandt
has furnished us with beautiful statue
in the famous example of youth
scraping the dust from his limbs with a
strygil. All these casts are directly from
the original, and are therefore unques-
tiOnably correct copies of the works them
selves, and considered as means of artistic
instruction are quite as valuable. The
almost destructive injuries they have sus-
tanned came from the hands Of man-frOm
'"OnOclastic eXcesses Of the early Chris
tians. FROM Turkish hostility or neglect,
but chiefly From IN. bombardment
OF the AcrOpOlis by the Venetiars um~e' !
MOrreseni in the year 1887 The Turks
had converted the Paythenon into a
powder magazine, the explosion OF which
by bomb from the besiegers destroyed !
the greater part of the temple F1rtlj-
nately, however, III the year 1872 the Mar
quis de Nointel, Ambassador to the Porte,
had employed the artist Carry to maze
drawings of the sculptures Of the Aero
polls and of some of tie other buildings |
in the city, so that we are not entirely
without the means Of judging Of the eX-
tent and beauty of the works existing at
that time.
THE WALLS OF THE ACROPoLIs
have been thrown down more than once,
but some of the original stones remain,
aud are of such huge dimensions as 10
have created the idea among the ancient
Athenians of a CyclOpean origin, but they
wandering masOns or shepherd kings, by
one OF which titles the predecessors OF
the Helenes were known. These are
called the ancestors Of the Greeks in the
TimGus OF Plato, who are there lauded
as the warrior race which drove back the
invading Atlanteans and persisted with
them in the sudden submerGence OF that
island, now known as the Lost Atlantis
If this is mythical and not traditional
nothing more can be ascertained, but that |
it is probably a tradition of a real geOlOgi- |
cal catyclism is an idea apparently sus-
tanned by the discoveries OF later years. |
Mycene is considered the oldest town !
of Greek origin proper, its walls being con-
structed of hewn stone. The Treasury ,
of Alseus" was lined throughout with |
bronze.
Greek art, as did letters, probably came |
from Assyra and Egypt, but so much i'm !
proved by the Phpnecians that to them |
may be properly ascribed the honor OF I
starting that noble race on its upward !
course. But the Greeks themselves at |
tribute to Dedalus the origin of sculpture, !
while painting was elevated to an art by !
Cleanthus ofCorinth. The hard, stiff style /
of the drapery, and the eXpressiOnlesS !
characters of the figures themselves in !
dictate an Egyptian origin, and are IN |
strong contrast with the works of Phidias 1
and the later artists of Greece.
Phidias was the great artist of Greece, /
who, being invited to make a statue Of !
Minerva by Pericles, did 1t in gold and /
ivory, but having been accused of intro !
duclng his own portrait and that of Peri |
cles in the shield of the goddess, the citi- /
zens Of Athens banished him. He retired !
to Els, and i'll revenge made for that city |
a statue of Jupiter Olympus, which is |
considered the best OF his works. OF this /
statue, Mr.. Brandt has procured a copy |
of the head in plaster. Phidias died about |
1872 wears before Christ. Pliny mentions |
Nestocles, a statuary of Greece, as his |
great rival. Next followed, about 400 3. /
c., PraXiteles, ScOpas and Lycippus. The I
Venus de Medici is supposed to be repe- /
tition Of a statue of that goddess made by |
Praxiteles, and the NiObe is ascribed to /
both PraXiteles and ScOpas. After these, |
abo t the middle Of the third century, !
sprung up the school of Rhodes.
Of Greek paintings we nave no specl- |
mems, though wheE we consider the eX-
celence of the scUlptOrs, as shown by
their indispensable works, we may safe
" accept the accounts given Of it by
writers. That it was excellent, we may
infer from the character Of the works on
the walls of Pompeii, painted in the de-
cadence of Rome, evidently by artists Of
an inferior technical skill. OF the arts Of
lost races and the works of different
stages of art among the historic nations.