The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-17

own. ASSOCIATIONS, rcnuereu ~ bho VI
| peculiar Importance. There the Kings sat
in stato: there thov worshipped at the
S,re affairs OF the Magiau faith: there. accord
ing 10 Persian tradition. Darius laid IN tho
Ayests. written IN gold and silver letters upon
1900 tanned OK hides; and there six OF the
Achrmenian monarchs were laid to rost
With tho invasion Of Alexander and the con-
Nnrrntion OF one or more OF the palaces by his
command. Persepolis drops suddenly into
tho background; It's name all but vanishes.
and whom. after the blank interval OF Seleucid
domination. It renppears under the Parthian
dynasty. tho city has changed It's title and Is
known as Istnkhr
We havo no intention Of following Mr.. Cur
son In his detailed description Of tho ruins Of
Perscpolis although 1t deserves the careful
attention OF the artist and the archteologist.
A prolonged study OF tho romans has enabled
him to throw much light upon problems which
M attempt had been made TO solve. or which
had received erroneous solutions. All We can
do hero Is to note his ATTEMPT to corrolate those
works OF Achnmenia art witt the times and
circums tances in which they wcro produced.
and % SEQ in what respect We may obtain clue
to them from history. 1t seems to have been
essentially an art so far rs II can BIO traced. OF
sudden birth. Of briet-lvcd span. and
OF abrupt and premature decay. " was
about two hundred years. starting into
being with the union OF the Kingdoms OF
Persia. Media. Dabyonia. and Lydia into n
single empire by the great Cyrus. md perish
ing beneath the assault OF Alexander. Its OK
istonce in fact. was synchrouous with that OF
tho dynasty which fostered or created 1t. and
after expressing and imm ortalizing the trl-
umphs OF its members. It shared tho swift re-
vulslon o. their fail.
We have to ask. then. what was tho historical
environment OF Persia during this period. and
with what fallen peoples md styles was she
brought into direct contact2 The answer Is at
once ems and suggestive The campaigns OF
Cyrus left tho new born dominion the heir Of
the glores Of Nincvoh and Babylon aud
planted the conNusror upon those illustrious
thrones. For centuries thoy had sup
ported long line OF sovcreigns OF exceed
ing magnincence and power. the stately srlen-
dor OF whose courts was the talk OF the ancient
world. and 10 stamped not only on tile pages OF
Herodotus. but also on tho records OF Holy
Writ and on tho exhumes relics Of their glory.
Succeeding Victories threw open to the Per-
SLAMS tho stored wealth and tho highly de-
vsloped arts Of Asia Minor and brought them
into relations with the Hellenic colonies on
the maritime fringe. Cambyses. still further
widening the horizon OF ambition. found and
absorbed in Egypt. most ancient OF clviliza-
lions. the most elaborate and systematized OF
arts. Finally under Darius and XerHes. war
was waGcd between the invading ornaments
Of the Great King and those European Crock
republics already the cradle OF freedom
and soon 10 become the nursery OF the
purcst and freest art that the world has
seen. The East was repulsed by the West: but
in its retreat 1t carried of much plumber. and
by its wealth continued to command the ex
banding talents Of the rising Western nation
nlities. ChaldGa Assyria. Lydia. 1ona
Egypt, Greece: was the historical sequence OF
conflict. and the same succession marks the
order Of artistic influence and progression
Naturally the civilizations which were most
nearly akin exercised the most powerful con-
troll. Mr.. Curzon assures us that to no ono who
has studied ChaldRo- Assyrian art. as I'M
earthcd from the earlier Mesopotamia mounds.
or is familiar with the spoils OF Nimrod.
will the bulk OF the AchRmenian forms pre-
sent am novelty. He enumerstes in the order
OF their occurrence on the platform OF Per-
sepois tho indubitable legacies OF the art Of
Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar The artill-
cially built up terrace or mound. stone-faced.
surm ,unted by n battlement and ascended by
great flights OF steps. was the familiar sub
structure OF the royal palaces on the Tigris
The winged man faced bulls OF the Propylpa
OF Persepols. ARE almost fac SMILES OF the m on
strous gatekeepers OF Khorsabad. There Ia
the same pose. the same lofty tiara and curled
hair. the same backward sweep of the feather
ed wings. The Persepolitan typos. however.
mark later age and perccptible artistic re-
fnement. There Is less grotesque eSaggera-
ton in their form: the superauous fifth leg
has disappeared: the muscular develop
ment OF the limb is kept within rea-
sonuble bounds: the wings describe o
freer upward curve. and notable
difference In structural disposition con-
ssts in their invariably fronting the spec
tator parallel to the passage OF entry. instead
OF being placed ut right angles upon the outer
| walls. Nor are these colossi the sole fantastic
testament Of Assyria. The pictured conflict OF
tho kings with nondescript monsters had
already figured for centuries on cylinders and
bas-relefs in the legendary exploits of Izdu-
bar. Every attribute Of tho Persian monarch
has similarly been consecrated in Assyrian
symbolism or etiquette. The very features
| and stature OF tho king. his colossal height.
his curled hair and beard. his royal robe. are
| tho same, whether 1t be Assurnasrpal or
Darius who il depicted. The object OF the
| sculpture. tho rason det'e OF the place. is the
Same in either case. viz. the visible apotheo-
sis of majesty.
| As regards .ho influence OF Egypt upon Por-
| sia 1t may be said that nowhere has the trans
| lation OF history into art and architecture
| been more manifest or more rapidly effected
| than In the case Of these two countries. Cy-
| rus cannot have been long dead when he is
| already represented with the symbollral crown
| OF an Egyptian divinity upon his brow. There
| is ercn reason to beiievo that his body may
| have been embnlmcd. We learn from Diodo-
rus that Cambyscs carried away with him
| Egyptian workmen from tho Nile Very early
| must have been tho Egyptians set to work. for
In the reign OF his successor n novel form OF
| royal sepulture comes into vogue viz. tho
| hewing OF tombs in the face OF tho rock. Mr..
! CurZon Is OF the opinion that Darius derived
| this idea. foreign to tho habits OF his
| country and alien to tho precepts Of
| the Xoroasrian religion. from tho spectacle of
the rock tombs in tho val ey ot tho Nile. In
| both cases tho Lerme ic cpnccnlmont Of the
| roynl corpse. and the -culpturcd blazoLing OF
| his title and prowess. are the objects Of the
| a. chitect; although the differing religions OF
the two countries prescribed in the ono case