Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1919-04-24
ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources Frem Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ
ed by the Egyptians and Greeks Of
Piiny's Day-ksah Prudently
waterprootsd the Ark.

Hhether paint was invented In an
ever to q need for preservRtive or to
meet desire for beauty is a question
fully as knotty as the ancient one about
the relative time Of arrival of the
chicken or the egg. II was invented
though, and 1t serves both purposes
equally; so whether 1t is an offspring
Of mother necessity or an adopted son
Of beauty remains forever q disputed
question.
The FIRST men, covering under the
fierce and glazing suns Of the biblical
countries. constructed rude huts OF
wood 10 shelter them. The peEishable
nature Of these structures caused rapid
decay, and 1t 10 probable that the &C.
cupants, seeking some artificial means
Of preservation. hit upon the pigments
Of the earth In their search. 1t is per-
haps natural to suppose that 1t was
the instinct of preservation that led
men to the search, although the glories
Of the sunsets and the beauties Of the
rainbow may have created desire to
initiate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
The earliest record Of the applica-
ton Of a preservative TO q wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and witheHt." The pitch was =
triumph Of preservation whatever 1t
lacked rs a thing Of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings Grst
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 tiRe Of
manufacture, assuring permaHencs BY
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting 20 much ~ II was the
earliest Manifestation Of eur ewn 1a-
miliar kals0nininR.
The 6rst Hebrew 10 mention paint
ing is Mosea In the thirty-third chap
ter Of the book Of Numbers he In
structs the rsraelitca when ys have
passed over the Jordan late the land
Of Canaan. then shall 70 drive ont all
the Inhabitants Of the Land from be-
fore you and destroy all their pic
turoe. :"
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs Of the peoples who sue
cessively sbtsiaed power over them
and in the apecryphal book Of the
Maccabees IL found this allusion to
the art Of decorating. For A. the mas
ter builder Of q new heuse must care
for tho whole building. bat he that
uRdertaketh to set II out and paint II,
must seek out things for tho adorning
thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to q
Greek for the discovery Of paint, the
illusions to 1t In the books Of Moses,
the painted mummy cases Of the Egyp-
tlans and the decorated walls Of Baby
Ion and Thebes tx Its origin at q
period long Rntecedent to tho Grecian
era. The walls Of Thebes were paint
cd 1900 years before the coming of
Christ and 096 years before "'Omer
smote his blcomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognised tho value Of
paint as preservative and made use
VI something akin to II on their ships.
Pliny writes ef the mode OF Boiling
wax and painting ships with II. after
which. he centinuss, neither the sea,
nor the wind, Aor the sun can destroy
the wood tAus protected"
The Romans. being essentially q
wariike people, never brought the dec
GRAFTON Of buildings to the high plane
II had reached with the Greeks. Fer
all that the ruins Of Pompeii show
many structures whose mural decora-
lions are In fair shape today. Tho
colors used were glazing. A black
background was the usual ono and the
worked thereon red, yell
Vow and blue.
In the early Christian era the use Of
for churches somewhat sup
planted mural painting. Still, during
the reign Of Justinian the Church of
Saint Sophia was built at Constantine
pie and its walls were adorned with
paintings.
In modern times the uses Of paint
have come to be az numerous as its
myriad shades and tiAts. Paint IL
unique in that Its name aas no syno-
nym and for II there Is no substitute
Bread 10 the STAFF Of life, but
paint IL the life Of the staff.
No one thinks Of the exterior OF q
wooden building now except in terms
Of paint coated. Interiors, tee, from
painted walls and stained furniture
dewH to the lswliest kitchen utensil,
all receive their protective covering.
Steel, 20 eftcn associated with convent |
70 eaforcias, 10 painteA before It goes
to give seliAity 70 the manufactured |
stone The huge girders Of the sky
scYapers are &asbed an ugly bat en-
eisnt red underneath the surface csat |
Of black. Perhaps the best exsMpis
Of the value Of paint on steel ID found |
In the venerable Brooklyn bridge, On
which q gang Of painters Is kept GO
Ing continually. 1t Is scarce possible |
to thimh Of q siAgls manufactured ar
Ode watch ases n>t 1sst paiAt some
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