Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1919-04-05
ANT|QITY OF
DECORATIVE Art
Strange s lrces From Which
PiCment'Uscd by Modern
Paints Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Elective Processes Employ
ed by thrsT7yptians and Greeks OF
Pliny's eay-Noah Prudcntly
Wat proofed the Ark.

Whether pint was invented IN an
swer to nee for preservative or 10
meet a desir for beauty is a question
fully as knott MS the ancient one about
the relative time of arrival Of The
chicken or fe egg. 1t was invented,
though, andlt serves both purposes
equally; so tnether II is an offspring
of mother necessity or an adopted son
of beauty realms forever a disputed
question.
The first nen, covering under the
fierce and gfring suns Of the biblical
countries, constructed rude nuts Of
wood to shelter them. The perishable
natur, of thee structures caused rapid
decay. and { is probable that the oc-
cu~nfs, se9lng some artificial means
of preservation, hit upon the pigments
Of the earlhIs their search. 1t is per
haps nature to suppose that It was
the instinct.of preservation that led
men TO the search, although the glories
of the sunsds and the beauties of the
rainbow MAJ have created desire to
initiate thoS wonders In their own
dwellings,
The earliest record of the appllca-
ton of a heservative to q wooden
structure Tdes from the ark, which
was. according to the Bible, pitched
within and Without" The pitch was
trlrsSph of, s-F-' .rA-atian whatever it
lacked as a. e 8r'beauty,
Decoration applied TO buildings first
comes TO likht with ancient Babylon,
whose wallsiwere covered @ith repre-
sensations % hunting scenes and OF
combat. Hfese were done I'm red and
the method followed was to paint the
scene on ne bricks at the time Of
manufactu.a- assuring permanence by
baking Strictly speaking, this was
not painting so much as it was the
earliest MAJ Hesitation of our own IA
miliar kaIs(, thing.
The first !. v0rew TO mention paint
ing Is Mos6. In the thirty-thlrd chap
ter of thel book OF Numbers he in
s'ructs thesssraeIites, when ye have
passed oveEthe Jordan into the land
of Canaan. Ahen shall We drive out all
the inhaiittnts of the land from be-
fore you I'D destroy all their pic
lures. - ~
AT later Eads the Jews adopted
MANY cus,opt, PNthe pcoples who sue.
cessively Of T. Book them
and In tbsShs follov.fNytn -,,.,-,;If the
sfTccH0ecS ar fo'ss--t4-'
the art OF S0s:@ Z. R.--ias the mas,
ter builder house must care
Tor the wizard Moding, but he that
undertaken 4th Wait out and paint II.
must seek 1 +. J1gs for the adjoining
thereof" Pierce
Although Aioner gives credit TO
Greek for the discovery of paint, the
illusions td II in the books of Moses,
the paintedlmumm cases Of the Egyp-
tians and the decorated walls of Baby
Ion and Thehes fix it's origin at a
period longl antecedent 10 the Grerian
era. The Walls of Thehes were pP int
ed 1000 YEARS before the coming OF
Christ andi 996 years before "'Omer
,mote his alaamln Tyre"
The Creeks Recognized the value Of
paint as a breservati,e and made use
Of something akin TO il on their ships
pliny writes of the mode e boiling
wax and phlnting ships with it. after
Which. he continues, neither the sea.
nor the Wild, nor the sun can destroy
The wood thus protected"
the Rolhans, being essentially q
wnrl!Ke pe9ple. never brought the dee
ora,ion of Buildings to the high plan"
il had readhed with the Greeks. For
all thar nj plins of PompPii show
many struf 'lnNwhOse mural decora
items are ~ shape today. Tn
calors usen- izHe glaring. A black
background was the usual one and the
comblnetiobs worked thereon red. yet
low and blue.
In the edrIy Christian era the use nf
Inossics fdr churches somewhat sup
planted nihral painting. SIN. drrin-
the reign lof Justinian the Church a.
saint Sophia was built AT Constantine
pie and it's walls were adorned witt
paintings.
In moddrn times the uses OF paint
ilnye cou,@ to he as numerous AS It's
MYRIAD shades and ints. Paint is
uniaup in That its name has no synu
nvm and Tor Il there IL no substitute
..o,;,1 hlrOad is tho S.off of Iife kut
paint is tile life of the staff.
No one thinks of the exterior Of &
wooden htiiiding now except in terms
of naini toaied. Interiors, 100. from
raipted 1alls and stained furniture
down 10 the Iowliesi Kitchen utenSil
all receive their protective covering
Steel. so bitten associated with cemPn
reinforcing, is tainted before il gup'
10 give sbiidity to the manufacture
stone The huge orders of The sky
srrepers hre dnubpd m ugly hui Ell
cIent red underneath the surface coa
Of >black Perhaps the hest pXamrl,
nf The value of pnint on steel IS foun'
In the Venerable BrOoklyn bridge, ol
which gang Of painters is kept 20
Ing continually II Is scarce roSsil'l'
to think bf- single manufactured al
,Icle wniIh does not meet paint some
where luI thx course OF It's rousrrur
Ton. 81 has paint grown 'nto u
very MARROW Of our lives.
1~-
Thousands of vonug men who have
-. a..AoA L. hnr,ns--rr-h ocn r,arnnfs n u