The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-05-15
ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ
ed oy the Egyptians and Greeks of
PIiny's Day-Noah Prudentiy
Waterproofed the Ark.

Whether paint was invented In an
swer to a need for a preservative or to
meet q 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. 1t 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 a disputed
question.
The first men, covering under the
fierce and glaring suns of the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts OF
wood to shelter them. The perishable
nature of these structures caused rapid
decay, and it Is probable that the oc-
cupants, seeking some artificial means
of preservation, hit upon the pigments
OF the earth in their search. It is per-
haps natural to suppose that it 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 a desire to
initiate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
The earliest record of the applica-
ton of a preventative to a wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was
triumph of preservation whatever 1t
lacked as a thing of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings first
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 permaHence by
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting so much as 1t was the
earliest manifestation of our own IA
miliar kaisOmining.
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 we have
passed over the Jordan into the land
OF Canaan. then shall ye drive out all
the inhabitants of the land from be-
ore you and destroy all their pic
,ureS. -
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs Of the peoples who sue
cessiveIy obtained power over them
and in the apOcryphal book Of the
A1accabees is found this alIusiOn to
the art of decorating, "For as the mas
ter builder of new house must care
for the whole building, but he that
undertaken to set it out and paint it,
must seek out things for the adjoining
thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to a
Greek for the discovery of paint. the
illusions to it In the books of Moses,
the painted mummy cases of the Egyp-
tians and the decorated walls of Baby
lon and Thebes fix its origin at
period long antecedent to the Grecian
era. The walls of Thebes were paint
ed 1000 years. before the coming Of
Christ and 996 years before "'Omer
smOte his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value of
paint as a preservative and made use
of something akin to 1t on their ships.
Pllny writes of the mode of boiling
wax and painting ships with it. after
which, he continues, neither the sea,
nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
the wood thus protected"
The Romans, being essentially q
warlike people, never brought the dec
grafton of buildings to the high plane
it had reached with the Greeks For
oil that the ruins of Pompeii show
many structures whose mural decOra-
lions are in fair shape today. The
colors used were glaring. A black
background was the usual one and the
combinations worked thereon red, yell
low and blue.
In the early Christian era the use of
mosaics for churches somewhat sup
planted mural painting. Still, during
the reign of Justinian the Church of
Saint Sophia was built at Constantine
pie and It's walls were adorned with
paintings.
In modern times the uses of paint
have come to be as numerous as its
myriad shades. and tints. Paint is
unique in that its name las no syno-
nym and for 1t there Is no substitute
material. Bread is the staff of life, but
paint is the life of the staff.
No one thinks of the exterior Of a
wooden building now except in terms
of paint coated. Interiors, too, from
painted walls and stained furniture
down to the lowliest kitchen utensH
all receive their protective covering
Steel, SO often associated with cement
reinforcing. is painted before 1t goes
to give solidity to the manufactured
stone. The huge Orders Of the sky
scrapers are daubed an ugly but Ell
cient red underneath the surface coat
of black. Perhaps the best example
OF the value of paint on steel is found
In the venerable Brooklyn bridge, or
which gang of painters is kept go
ing continually. 1t is scarce possible
to think Of single manufactured ar
ticle which does not meet paint some
where In the course Of its construc
ton. So has paint grown into tht
very marrow of our lives.