St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1919-04-11
ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ.
ed by the Egyptians and Greeks Of
Pliny's Dsy-Nosh Prudently
Waterproofed the Ark.

Whether paint was invented IN an.
swer 10 n need for prcscrvatiyc or 10
meet o desire for beauty Is question
fully us kuotty as the ancient one about
the relative time Of arrival Of the
chicken or the egg II was invented
though, and n serves both purposes
equally so whether lt Is an offspring
of mother necessity or an adopted son
of bcnuty remains forever disputed
question
The FIRST men. covering under the
force nnd glarlng suns ~ the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts of
wood to shelter them The pcrishublc
nature n these structures caused rapid
decay. md II II probable that the oc.
rupanis, seeking some artificial means
of preservation. hit upon the pigments
~ the earth IN their search. II is per.
hnps natural to suppose that II vus
~" instinct of preservation that led
men 10 the search, although the glorIcs
of the sunsets and the beauties Of the
rainbow may have created desire a.
initiate those wonders IN their own
dwellings
The earliest record of the uppliDn.
tlon of n prcseryuliye to u wooden
structure dates from the arb. which
was, according To the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pllol WIS
triumph ~ preservation Whatever u
lacked us thing ~ beauty
Decoration applied 10 buildings first
comes io light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-.
srniationH ~ hunting srrnrs uud ~
combat These were done lu rcd nnd
the method fullpwod WIS io puiul the
scene on the bricks NJ the time ~
manufacture, assuring pcrmuucucc by
baking strictly speaking this was
not painting ~ much ~ u was the
earliest manifestation ~ our own nu
millur kulsumIulug
The FIRST Hebrew to mention pulni.
inR n Moses IN the ihlrly.thirl chap
ter ~ the book uf Numbers be- IN.
Etrucls the iHmrllirs. "Nhrn yo have
passed over the Iurtlun Into the lnud
~ Canaan then shall yc drive out nll |
the inhabitants uf the land from be-.
fore you aud destroy all their pie. |
lures
Al later periods the Jews adopted |
many customs ~ the peoples who sac. |
ccssiyoly obtained power over thom
und IN the upucyphnl book ~ the
Mncrnhros is found this ullusiuu a. |
the nri ~ decorating, "i'or ns the mus
ter builder of new house must care |
for the whole building. hat be- that |
tu Hrt be- uut uud paint o. |
must sr"k uut thlus, for thr udomiug /
thereof
Although Homer gives cirdit a. /
Greek fur the discovery ~ paint, the /
nllusiuus to 30 iu Ihr hooks of Moses. /
the painted mummy vasrH ~ the EsNp !
tluus nud ihc decorated wallis of HnbS.
Ion AMI 1hvhvs uN iis urisin ut
period long uuisgedrut a. the Grrriuu
era The walls of rhphrs were paint
cd 1900 years before the coming of
Christ aud pnG years before 'umrr
smotr hls hluomlu' lyrr"
The Greeks recognized the value of
paint us q prrfrruliNo aud made u.e
m something akin @" it uu their ship.
lliuN writes uf the mode OF boiling |
AuN uui painting ships with o. uiirr
which hr continues. neither the sea-
1ur t.H wind. nor the sun yuu destroy
he oud thus protected"
Tho kuWJUs, lvlug essentially a
war Ikr people, never brought the dr,.
nmtiun uf buildings to the high plane
Il hal reached with the Greeks Tor
An that the ruins of rumpcU show
many structures whose mural drrurt.
lions ur, ia fair shape uluN The
'ulors used were rlurng A hlark
background was the usual uur and tlv
worked thereon urd. yel
ow and hlur
lu lhe early Christian era tlr usc Of
uvsairs Tor chur,Nv, somewhat sup
,Mu,rl mural painting SIul. durul
.he TyiEu uf lueluiau the Church uI
saint sophia was built at Constantine.
Pile aud It's wall. were adorned with
paintings
Ia modern times the uses uf paint /
have come to hy "a, humorous o., It's
myriad shades aud IinJs Paint is
luiquc 'u that ils uamr lus mo- syuu.
iym auf Tor it there IS nu substitute
BREAD is the stan ot life, but
paint rs the NE of the stan
No one thinks of the exterior of a
wooden budding now except m terms
II paint coated. Interiors too from
'ainted wallis and stained furniture
Town tn the loWlirst kitchen uteusu.
m receive their protective covering
steel, so often associated with cement
q enforcing. Is painted before 10 goes
q give solidly to the manufactured
tone The huge giricrs of the sky.
crupers are duuhcd an ugly but ETH
.ieut red underneath fAc surface coat
Il black Perhaps the best example
II the Nulu. of paint on steel is found
n the venerable Brooklyn hrldgv. uu
'hich gang ot painters is kept so.
ng continually. II is scarce pus,inlc
O think OF single manufactured ar
icle which does not meet paint suma-
where In IA, course ~ lbs CousIuc. :
ion. so has paint grown INTO the
arN marrow ~ ann lINae ,