Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/159

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

VARIATIONS OF STYLE AND COSTUME. 137 has most in common with the Greek schools of Ionia, Pelo- ponnesus and Attica (Fig. 90 ; and Vol. I. Plate I. Fig. 3). 1 The distinctive features of the type in question are as follow. The cranium is high, the skull narrow, the forehead slightly re- treating. The eyes are large and prominent, the cheek-bones salient, and the cheeks often hollow ; the nose is strong and large at the end (Fig. 91), the chin large and heavy. The small, plump mouth is not without a dash of sensuality. Taking it altogether the type lacks elegance and nobility ; it has neither the grave and honest look of the Egyptians, nor the truculent energy of the FIG. 90. Limestone head. Height 6 inches. Piot Collection. Assyrians, nor the purity of line which Greek artists set before themselves from the very beginning, a purity which can be divined even under the halting execution of their early works. These Cypriot heads have neither vigour nor refinement. They betray a soft heaviness of character which agrees well with the history of the race to which they belong. From no single monu- ment do we get a better idea of the type than from the colossal head found at Athieno by Cesnola (Fig. 78). It belongs to the 1 Height of the head, n| inches. VOL. II.