Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-10-04

SPECIMENS or THE WORK or
scULPToRs IN REMOTE AGES.

| Among the statues, images of heroes
and the gods. and Of symbolic figures
that sculptors have fashioned Of stone or
metal from remote ages. some are dis
tinguished and attract special attention
on account of their great size. Some are
found In distant and almost inaccessible
| places. others are In cities and museums,
while few exist only in the pages Of
history.
Under the successors OF Alexander the
taste for colossal statues enjoyed
boom" Colossus came into being il
numerous places. The most famous was
Apollo at Rhodes. This was by pupil
Of Syslppus, and Is ranked among the
seven wonders of the world Pliny
writes that It was seventy cubits, or
about one hundred and thirty-two feet
tall It is said to have been placed on
piers at the entrance of the port, as
shown in the illustration, so that vessels
sailed between the legs when entering
or leaving Rhodes. Ffty-one years after
being erected 1t was overturned by an
earthquake. and lay prostrate for 600
years. when, In 672, il was destroyed by
Arabs and the metal exchanged with
Jews for goats
The first colossal figure met in travel
ing through north Egypt is the sphinx,
beside the pyramids Of Gizeh The body
Is of lion, with human head crouch
ing in plain Of sand. It has the appear.
mce Of being the guardian Of the pyra-
Iaids. The sphinx Is ninety feet above
the sand. The face. including the hair.
fstwenty six feet high. In the Sixteenth
century Prospectus Alpinus, who beheld
IL intact, wrote highly Of the beauty Of
the features, and Abdallatiff, learned
Arab physician. who saw It 400 years be-
fore, praised warmly the sweetness of
the mouth and expression carried in the
smile. This Is all lost now, as the nose
Is gone and the rest Of the face badly de-
faced. The Sphinx is supposed 10 have
been chiseled 1850 years B. c., by order
of Thoutmosis Nv, to honor the memory
of his father. Some historians, however,
take the ground that the Sphinx existed
in the time Of Cheops, prior to the great
pyramids bearing the name OF the prince.
The sound giving statue Of Memnon,
which was early overturned by an earth
quake. but restored by Septimius Severus,
easily follows the Sphinx. This colossus
is now without face, the forehead, nose
and mouth having disappeared. The
chest. arms and legs are also broken and
crumbling. Not far away is the statue
Of Amenophis. The two great figures are
near Ramesseum. on the left bank Of the
Nile, and are each sixty feet in height
They are all that remain Of the palace of
Amenophis I'll. Each statue ison base
of red granite as high as a four story
house. Il was in Nero,s reign that the
musical propensities Of the Memnon came
to light. Refer to almost any one of the
ancient histories, and the melodious
sounds that the Memnon gives forth at
sunrise will be found spoken Of. Tacitus
compares them to the ring made bv
breaking the string Of Tyre. On the
Memnon legs and base are seventy-two
inscriptions, the earliest In Nero's time,
dated A. D. "A, and the last 1SO years
after, In the reign Of Septimius Severus.
The most famous inscription Is that Of
the Emperor Adrian, who In 190 went
with the Empress Sabina to upper
Egypt Their names, half in Latin and
half In Greek, are still distinctly visible.
The renown of the speaking Memnon
was much increased under the Antho-
nys. and PILGRIMS came to make offer
ings at Its feet. never doubling that the
sounds were other than the voice Of
Memnon, the hero Of Homer, the king Of
the east, saluting his mother, Aurora.
ff.r,