The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1919-05-30
ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
Crude but Effective Processes Employ
cd by the Egyptians and Greeks Of
Piiny's Day--Noah PrudentIy
Waterproofed the Ark.

Whether paint was invented In an
swer to need for preservative or to
meet a desire for beauty Is 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 it serves both PURPOSES
equally; so whether it 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 perlshable
nature of these structures caused rapid
decay. and 1t is 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 glorles
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 preservative to a wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was a
triumph of preservation whatever it
lacked aa q thinV NJ hAoutv
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 permanence by
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting so much as 1t was the
earliest manifestation of our own ia
miliar kalsomininR
The FIRST Hebrew to mention paint |
ing Is Moses. In the thirty third chap |
ter or the book OF Numbers he in
StructS the ISraeliteS, when We 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
haccabees is found this allusion to
the art of decorating, For as the mas
ter builder of new house must care
FOR the whole building, but he that
to set 1t out and paint it,
must seek out things for the adjoining
thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to a
ireek for the discovery of paint, the
to 1t In the books of Moses
ne painted mummy cases of the Egyp-
lans and the decorated walls of Baby
lon and Thebes fix its origin at n
'erlod long antecedent to the Grecian
IRA. The walls of Thebes were paint
"a 1000 years before the coming of
Christ and 996 years before "Omer
mote his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value of
'aint as preservative and made use
4 something akin to it on their ships.
Tiny writes of the mode of boiling
wax and painting ships with lit. after
Which, he continues, neither the sea,
or the wind. nor the sun can destroy
he wood thus protected"
Inc Romans, being essentia lily n
'arlike people, never brought the dec
ration OF buildings to the high plane
mad reached with the Greeks. For
IL that the ruins OF Pompeil .thow
,any structures whose mural dee .ora-
ons are in fair shape today. The
olors used were glarlng. A black
ackground was the usual one and the
ordinations worked thereon red, vel
wv and blue
In the early Christian era the use of (
losaics for churches somewhat sup
lanted mural painting. Still, during
he reign of Justinian the Church of
amt Sophia was built at Constantine
lie and Its walls we're adorned with
In modern times the uses of pa Int u
ave come to be as numerous as its t
lyriad shades and tints. Paint is p
niQue In that its name aas no synn-
YIN and for 1t there is no substitute
lateral. Bread is the staff of life. but
amt Is the life of the staff. f
No one thinks OF the exterior of n Z
fooden building now except in terms =
paint coated. Interiors, too, frol. =
ainted walls and stained furnitureV
own to the lowiest kitchen utepciI n