The Meeker herald., 1919-04-26
ANTIQUITY OF
0ECoRAIIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ
Cd BY the Eoyptians and Greeks 81
Pllny's Day-Noah Prudsntiy
interpreted the Ark.


v,... .,.. ,,r.,,.a In an.
"' ~.
meet desire to' beauty 10 question
fu'ly az knotty as the ancient one soou'
the relative time OF arrival OF the
chicken or the egg. 1t was Invented
though, and 1t serves both purposes
eouaIlv. ~ whether II IN an ofYspripe
a, ro,h.r n.cs..,tv or an .donted son
=. 49,. ...I,. ,o,.,.. a,.n,,.d
y. "
question.
Inc urst men, covering unue1 '"e
fherce and glartng suns OF the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts OF
wood to shelter them. The perishable
nature of these structures caused rapid
decav and II Ia probable that the oc.
,,,r.r,s ..or,,. .om. sr,,ac,,, raar,
~ ~. a.. -,-...,-
80" =.
Oh u"e ea'e :" '"e'' SHAWN.
maps natural 10 suppose thst IL was
the Instinct of preservation that led
men to the search, although the glorles
of the sunsets and the beauties Of the
rainbow may have created q desire to
initiate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
The earliest record Of the applica-
ton of a preservative to a wooden
structure dates from the ark. which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was II
triumph of preservation whatever 1t
lacked as a thing of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings drst
comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-
sensations Of hunting scenes and of
combat. These were done in red and
the method followed was to paint the
scene on the bricks at the time OF
manufacture, assuring permanence BY
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting 30 much as II was the
earliest manifestation of our own IA.
miIIar knlsomining.
The first Hebrew to mention paint
ing Is Moses. In the thirty third chap.
ter Of the book Of Numbers he in.
structs the IsraelItes, when re have
passed over the Jordan Into the land
Of Canaan. then shall We drive out all
the Inhabitants of the land from be-
fore you and destroy all their pic
lures. :"
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs of the PEOPLES who sue
cessively obtained power over them
and In the apocryphal book of the
Maccabees is found this ailusion to
the art of decorating, For as the mas.
ter builder Of a new house must care
for the whole building, but he that
undertaken to set IL out and paipt IL.
must seek out things for the adorulng
thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to q
Greek for the discovery Of paint. the
illusions to II in the books Of Afoses
the painted mummy cases of the Exyp.
t,aus and the decorated wallis NJ Rshy.
lon and Thebes tx II, origin NJ q
period long antecedent To the 0rec,.n
era. The walls Of Theb~s were nsin,.
ed 100 ye.rs before the comm, =,
Christ and ee8 yenrx before !. .Omer
smo,e his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value of
paint as preservstiys and made u.e
Of somethinr akin to II on their shins
Piiny writes of the mode Of boIlips
wax and painting sh,ps with II. after
which, he continues, "pcIther the sea,
nor the wind. nor the sun can destroy
the wood thus protected"
The Romans being essentially q
warliks people, never brought the dec.
Grafton Of buildings to the high plane
Il had reached with the Greeks, For
all that the ruins Of PompeiI show
many structures whose mural decora
tions are In fair shape today, The
colors used were glaring. A bIaeh
background was the usual one and the
combinations worked thereon red. vel
low and blue.
In tho carly Christian era the use Of
mosaics for churches somewhat SUP
planted mural painting. Still, durinl
the reign Of Juatinian the Church n