Flaxman.-Egyptian sculpture.-Style.

England, was indebted principally to Flaxman for the revival of a purer taste in the application of basso-relievo to architecture. In works of decoration, intended to be executed in the precious metals, in which, as before observed, moderately embossed and general richness of surface is so desirable, in order to display the material as well as the work; he, however, united his own purity of taste and composition with an approach to the mixed style of relief practised by the Florentine masters, who, in this branch of sculpture, perhaps, never equalled his shield of Achilles.

Egyptian Scalptare.

THE Chaldeans, whose persons are deficient in grace and beauty, are supposed to have been the first sculptors. Specimens of this art, found in Egypt, are perhaps the most ancient extant. The dryness of the climate has preserved them wholly from the ravages of time

Owing to the prevalence of animal worship in Egypt, the most frequent and most successful performances of their artists were figures of animals.

In the history of Egyptian art, a distinction must be made between the old and the later styles. The former appears in the earliest monuments, down to the conquest of Egypt (525 B. C.) by Cambyses, who is supposed to have established the Mith ratic worship in Egypt. What seems to have chiefly suggested this idea, is the discovery of a curious representation of a sacrifice to the sun, in an artificial cavern, near the ruins of Babien, in

Temple of the sun.-Characteristics of Egyptian sculpture.

Upper Egypt. It is hewn out of rock, in the middle of the mountain; it is above fifty feet wide, and as many in height, and between five and six feet in depth. The sun appears encompassed with rays, forming a circle fifteen or twenty feet in diameter. Two priests of the natural stature, their heads covered with long caps, terminating in points, stretch their hands towards the sun; the ends of their fingers touch the rays. Two little boys, clothed like the priests, stand by their sides, and reach to them two great goblets. Below the sun there are several lambs killed, and extended on piles, consisting each of ten pieces of wood; and below the piles are seven jars. On the other side of the sun, there are two women and two girls, in full relief, joined to the rock by parts of their backs and feet only. Behind and above

The tiara on the

these and the boys are several hieroglyphics. heads of the priests, very much resembles those of the Persians in a procession, in the bass-reliefs found at Chilminac, near Persepolis. The hawk and ibis are purely Egyptian. This is a very curious monument, and it is certainly very different from the other excavations of Upper Egypt.

The works of art in Egypt may be designated respectively, as the Old Egyptian, the Persian-Egyptian, the Grecian-Egyptian. and the Roman-Egyptian, or Roman imitations of the Egyptian

manner.

the

The attitudes of their figures, whether sitting or standing, are awkward and unnatural-the bones and muscles feebly indicated; eyes flat and oblique-not sunk as in the Grecian statues, but almost even with the head; the eyebrows, eyelashes, and the border of the lips marked by sunk lines; the nose thick and flat, the cheek-bones high; the chin small, receding, and pointed; the line of the mouth, at the angles, drawn upwards; the mouth always shut, and the lips full, and separated by a simple incision;

Three kinds of remains.-Palace of Medinet Abon.

the ears placed very high; the heads of both sexes large and coarse; the feet broad, clumsy, and without articulation of the toes. The eyes are occasionally composed of different materials from the statues, such as metals and precious stones.

Their architectural relievi were cut or sunk in the stone, and then slightly relieved from the ground. Relievi, properly so called, were only executed by the Egyptians in bronze, cast in moulds. The period preceding the time of Cambyses, is considered by Memes, as the only period of real Egyptian sculpture. These remains may be classed under three divisions: colossal figures; figures about the natural size, single or in groups; and hieroglyphical and historical relievi. The colossal remains are very numerous. The sphinx is of most frequent occurrence, the dimensions varying from seventy to one hundred and twentyfive feet in length.

Of this era is the immense statue of red granite found on the site of the Memnonium, which was thrown down by Cambyses. Its stature is forty-six feet.

The space between the Memnonium and Medinet Abon, which is about a mile and a quarter, is covered with colossal fragments. Here appears to have been what Diodorus Siculus called the tomb of Osymandes. The palace of Medinet Abon has, still in a tolerable state of preservation, a peristyle, fifty-five paces long and sixty-five in breadth, formed of two rows of columns, placed on the four sides of the court. The columns are forty-five feet high, and seven in diameter; the materials good, and the execution fine. In the hieroglyphics, the large figures have two inches relief; the smaller ones, one inch. On the exterior of the palace-wall, a bass-relief represents a chase of lions, and an invasion of foreigners, whose dress very much resembles that of the Hindoos. The Egyptians oppose the descent by sea and land, and the barbarians

Excavations at Philo, &c.-Relievi.

seem to be routed. Under this is seen a marshalled army-some heavily armed, others armed in a lighter manner.

Many sculptures are found in the excavations of Philo, Elephantis, Silulis, and at El Malook, in the tombs of the Theban kings. These excavations are often suites of magnificent chambers, hewn from white calcareous rock. A singular peculiarity marks the statues—a pilaster runs up behind each, the whole height, not only when the statue is connected with the surface of a wall, but also when it is wholly detached. Relievi are found in great abundance, occupying often the entire walls of the temples. In these, there is much skill in the mechanical workmanship, but they are very deficient as performances of art; proportion and perspective seem to have been utterly unknown.

Statues of wood have been discovered by modern travellers. Metal appears to have been sparingly used, at least only very small figures have been found, of a composition similar to the bronze of modern times. In the tombs small images of porcelain and terra-cotta are frequent.

The works of art produced by this nation were gloomy and grave, but full of deep sentiment, connected, by the hieroglyphics which covered them, with poetry and history, and with the belief of immortality. But as the kingdom of the dead seemed to them the true existence, so their art is more related to death than life their figures are stiff and motionless, like mummies ; even their images of Isis have this character.

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Sculpture of the Persians, Hindoos, and Assyrians.

Oriental Sculpture.

THE Persians, who loved splendor, ornamented their buildings with many sculptural decorations, as the ruins of Persepolis prove. In Assyria the art flourished under queen Semiramis. We find mention of brazen statues of Semiramis, Belus, and Ninus. In the mountains of Kurdistan, very ancient works of sculpture are found, which the inhabitants consider as the images of Chosroes and his beloved Shereen; he was surnamed the just, and is still cited as a model for kings. They are said to be the work of the poet and artist, Ferhad. The fancy of the Hindoos was very rich, but inclined towards the symbolical and allegorical, so that they never attained to a pure style of art. Their sculpture is highly expressive, exhibiting a mosaic of ideas, though almost destitute of beauty of form.

The excavations in the islands near Bombay abound with sculptures. Along the sides of the grand temple cut in the rock at Elephanta, are from forty to fifty colossal statues, from twelve to fifteen feet high, of good symmetry, and though not quite detached from the rock, boldly relieved; some have helmets of a pyramidal form, others crowns decorated with jewels and devices, and others have bushy ringlets of flowing hair. Many of them have four hands, some six, holding sceptres, shields, symbols of justice and religion, warlike weapons, and trophies of peace; some inspire horror, others have aspects of benignity. The face of the largest bust is five feet long, and the breadth across the shoulders is twenty feet.

At the west end of this great pagoda is a dark recess, 20 feet square, totally destitute of ornament; the altar is in the centre,