PERSIAN SCULPTURE.
In extent and variety the remains of ancient Persian sculpture fall behind those of Assyria, and far behind those of Egypt. Besides the facades of the royal tombs and the guarding cherubim of the propylma, the sculptor's art is almost exclusively limited to the carving of capitals and the decoration of the grand stairways.
Architeclural Forms: Ionic and Assyrian facades of the tombs near the site of Persepolis reproduce the porch of a Persian palace with architectural features which remind us of the Ionian forms of Asia Minor. We see here the triply-stepped architrave, the row of dentils, and the figured frieze, over which, upon a high platform, stands the king in an act of worship before the fire-altar. The figures which support the throne portray the subjects of the king—not merely his twenty satrapies, but also Assyrians, Aledes, and even Scythians and Ethiopians. It was the Persian's method of recording his pride of conquest, as we read in an inscription of Darius: " Behold the images of those who support my throne, and you will recognize them: then you will know how far the Persian lance can reach." The cult of Ahura-Mazda is signified in the figure in the winged disk above the altar. This symbol was derived from Assyrian, and ultimately from Egyptian, sources.
!ringed Assyria was also borrowed the winged bull, which receives the following modifications: The figure has four legs instead of five, and a striking curve is given to the wings; it is no longer a monolith, but is built up from separate blocks, and the entrance-portal which it decorates is separated from the palace and has become a distinct architectural structure.
Opitals rf the Persians developed a columnar architec ture, the sculptor was employed in designing the capitals of the columns. lie succeeded in devising a form of capital which appears to be character i.tically Persian. It consists of two bulls' (or lions') heads and shoulders, placed back to back and with the front legs bent under or—in the case of the lion-headed capitals—stretched out in a horizontal position. Upon the common back of the two animals rested the transverse beam of the ceiling. In the time of Xerxes a more complicated form was used, in which Assyrian and Egyptian influences are manifest. (Sec ARCHITECTURE, Pi. 3.) Pas-rehefr; C:•rus and remaining types of Persian sculptures, the bas-reliefs which decorated the grand stairways and por tals of the palace, may be grouped in four classes. In the first class we place representations of the monarch; the most interesting of these is the bas-relief of Cyrus (pl. 2, fig. 12), from the ruins of Pasargadre. An in
scription above the figure reads, " I am Cyrus the king, the Achremenid," and is written in three languages—Persian, Median, and Assyrian. From the Egyptian headdress, it is probable that we have here Cyrus the son of Cambvses rather than Cyrus the founder of the Achcemenidze. The out spread wings and the flat treatment of the drapery are suggestive of Assyrian models. In the monuments from the neighborhood of Persep olis we find the monarch seated upon his throne or upon an elevated platform, in the act of worship or walking with his attendants (jig. 14). In our illustration, taken from the palace of Darius at Persepolis, the king is seen bearing his long sceptre and a lotus-blossom. One of the attendants holds over him a parasol; the other bears a napkin and a fly brush. Overhead is the divine symbol. We see in these figures a freer treatment of the drapery than in the bas-relief of Cyrus, and some indi cation of the bodily form beneath.
second class represents the victory of man over the brute forces of nature. In the instance before us (fig. 13) we see figured a man—possibly the king—in combat with a hybrid monster who combines the terror of the lion with that of the bull, the eagle, and the scorpion. In other cases the animal is simply a lion or a bull. The subject became a favorite one with the gem-cutters, as appears from a number of gems and cylinders. As a composition the group betrays an architectural stiff ness and fails to excite in us a vivid sense of a deadly combat: the figures appear, rather, to be posing for effect.
/in/our/I/v.—The third class of subjects are the processions either of royal guards or of servants bringing provisions, or the long file of represen tatives of conquered nations. The monotony of these processional scenes is relieved by variations of costume, and even of physiognomy, or by the introduction of animals.
Lion and the fourth class belong the representations of the lion attacking a bull or a stag (6/. 3, fig. 3); this class of subjects was specially adapted to the triangular spaces in the facades of the great stairways. Though somewhat stiff and conventional in treatment, these sculptures are not altogether devoid of vigor.
general, Persian sculpture lacks the energetic expres sion which characterized Assyrian sculpture; it has lost, also, in variety of subject and in the attention to ornamental detail. On the other hand, the Persians reached a more natural treatment of the human form and its drapery, and understood better than the Assyrians the subordination of sculptural relief to architectural forms.