adorned its pediments. Of these, some are doubtless the handiwork of PHEIDIAS himself.

2. The Reliefs from the Temple of the Wingless Victory (Niké Apteros), which, though somewhat later, show considerable analogy with the sculptures of the Parthenon in their workmanship and the treatment of the subjects represented.

3. The Sculptures from the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Phigaleia, the date of which is determinable within a few years.

In all these works the same style of art prevails: the traces of the elder school are not quite effaced, and the design is therefore occasionally less flowing and round, especially in the Friezes, which were to some extent limited by the architectural spaces allotted to them, and by the still prevailing law of symmetry. In the treatment of individual figures we observe a great general truthfulness ; vivacity of gesture where the subject demands it; repose and ease where, as in the representations of the Gods, it appears most fitting; and in the arrangement of the drapery a peculiar lightness and elegance. It is probable, that the age of the finest Art was not synchronous in all parts of the Greek world, and that Archaie forms remained longer in some places than in others: as in other things so here, we may suppose that the supply and the demand were mutually dependent one on the other; and that where, as at Athens, the demand for great artistic works was pressing, there the highest excellence would be earliest attained. Again, the character of the material in which different works of art were executed had its own advantage and disadvantage, and no doubt produced considerable effect upon the progress of art. It has been well said, "Let Pheidias have rude and obstinate stuff to carve though his art do that it should, his work will lack somewhat of the beauty which otherwise in fitter matter it might have had." To the elder period belong many coins of Athens, of Corinth, of Argos, of Sicyon, that with the type of the Chimæra, and the magnificent coin of Naxos with the head of the bearded Dionysus, and those of Agrigentum with two eagles and the hare. These, of which the Museum pos

1 Coins have everywhere this peculiar value, that they belong to the actual period they represent. Many of them are reduced copies of some of the greatest designs of the contemporary sculptors, and of which they represent the spirit much more faithfully than the copies executed in marble by sculptors of the Roman period.

sesses excellent specimens, may be considered to have been struck before the termination of the Peloponnesian war; and convey to us, though on a small scale, admirable illustrations of the period to which they refer.

Subsequently to the age of PHEIDIAS the use of bronze for statues became very general, especially in the Peloponnesus, which in the numerous representations of celebrated Athletes led directly to the individualizing of particular statues, and to the bringing out into more prominent relief those peculiarities which are individual to the man whom they represent rather than characteristic of the whole human

race.

After the Peloponnesian war, a new race of artists arose, who have been generally called the Later Attic school. Of these, Scopas of Paros and Praxiteles of Athens were the most celebrated. The mythical cycles of Aphrodite and Dionysus formed their chief subjects; and the representations of the ideal Apollo, under the graceful form of the Pythian Citharœdus, and of the group of the Niobe, are the most celebrated works which have proceeded from their hands.

Of the productions of the Later Attic school, the Museum possesses-1. The Eros of the Elgin collection, which belongs to the age of Praxiteles, or is possibly a little later than his time; 2. The sculptures from the tombs of Maussolus, if indeed the marbles lately acquired from Budrún are works of Scopas and Leochares; 3. The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates and some portions of the marbles procured by Sir Charles Fellows, from Xanthus in Lycia; together with coins innumerable, specimens in excellent workmanship from the Greek cities of Southern Italy, especially Thurii, Tarentum, Velia, Heracleia, and Metapontum-from the masterpieces of the Sicilian engravers at Syracuse and Panormus-and from Greece Proper, those of Pheneus and Stymphálus in Arcadia, of Opus, Thessalia, Cos, Crete, and Lesbos.

IV. OLYMP. 111-158, B.C. 336-146.

The FOURTH Period extends from the time of Alexander the Great to the destruction of Corinth. The character of its Art is a witness to the state of society during this period, which exhibits a decadence in harmony with the decay of freedom in the formerly republican states. Heeren has well shown how in the earlier times Art was in

intimate communion with the system and the Religion of the state. When these decayed, and extrinsic influences became intrinsic, Art, though still surviving in a few great minds, ceased to be the product of the mind of the people. The Schools of Art which flourished during this period exhibit a perpetual striving after effect, which ancient critics particularly remarked in the productions of the Rhodian and Sicyonian schools.

The great theatres of the Art of the Fourth Period were those cities where the Macedonian Princes resided, whose custom of representing the Kings, their ancestors, in the character either of Deities or of mythical Heroes afforded great scope for the display of artistic power. The works of Art of this period now remaining are probably more numerous than those of the earlier ages, but are at the same time difficult of assignment. The coins are especially abundant, and of these the Museum possesses a large collection; and those of the Kings of Macedon, of the Seleucidæ in, Syria, of the Ptolemies in Egypt, and of the Tyrants in Sicily, deserve attention as excellent illustrations of the style prevalent under those rulers respectively. Though in many instances remarkable for dexterous treatment, none of these coins exhibit the grandeur and simplicity of the Art of Pheidias or Lysippus. At the same time it is right to bear in mind that, with few and rare exceptions, the best coins and monuments are all genuinely Greek, little of extraneous influence appearing till a much later time. Even in remote districts, the Art and the civilization of the Greeks appear to have been self-originated and self-developed; a native growth withdrawn from external influences, and slow to adopt any modifications tending even remotely to assimilate the conquering with the conquered races. The Greek Colonial Cities, in regions remote from Greece, were Oases in deserts of barbarism.

V. PERIOD, B.C. 146 TO FALL OF ROME.

To distinguish the FIFTH and last division of ancient Art from those which have been already described, it may be called the Roman Period-a nomenclature which will serve to show that, though the sculptures and other monuments were often the workmanship of Greek artists, yet that they were due to Roman influence, and furnished to supply Roman wants. The Romans, unlike their half-brothers the Greeks, had no inherent love of art, and little

creative genius. On the other hand, as collectors they have never had their equals, and a taste for magnificence prevailed at the commencement of the Empire which despised doing things by halves. The last days of the Republic had seen the first real beginning of artistic knowledge at Rome; and the magnificent views of Augustus and his immediate successors led to the erection of edifices in which the masterpieces of Grecian art were collected and preserved. Hence arose the manufacture of new statues by Greek sculptors for Imperial masters, chiefly, if not always, copies of celebrated early Greek works. Of these, the Museum possesses a considerable number, the best statues in the Towneley Collection being, as we shall see hereafter, copies of Greek works in Roman times.

The age of Hadrian is remarkable for a partial revival of ancient Greek art, arising almost entirely from the personal influence of that Emperor.

The most original works of the Imperial period were—1. Sculptures on Public Monuments, such as the Reliefs on the Arch of Titus, representing the Apotheosis of that Emperor, and his triumph over the Jews. The Reliefs on the Column of Trajan are historical, and show considerable power in the treatment of the drapery, and the costume of the different conquered nations. 2. The portraitbusts and statues of individual Emperors, belonging generally to their respective reigns, some of which exhibit the Emperor under the character of a God or Hero. Many of these, as those of Antinous, have great artistic skill. 3. Bas-reliefs, used as the decorations of Sarcophagi, often extremely curious, as preserving, under a rude treatment, the interpretation of early Grecian myths by a Roman representation.

Under the Antonines, the decay of art was still more manifest, the coins of the period, like the busts of the Emperors, displaying the same want of simplicity, and a similar attention to trivial and meretricious accessories. Thus, in the busts, the hair and the beard luxuriate in an exaggerated profusion of curls, the careful expression of the features of the countenance being at the same time frequently neglected; while under Commodus, Severus, and his family, we dis

1 The lines of Virgil express the feeling of the Romans even at the close of the Republic:

"Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra

Tu regere imperio Populos Romane memento."

cover the use of perukes and false hair, and a drapery not unfrequently adorned with coloured stones. The reliefs on the Triumphal Arches of this period exhibit a mechanical style.

We here close what we have thought it necessary to say on the Progress of Greek Sculpture, and the subdivisions which its different styles admit; reserving till we come to the Vase Room such remarks as it may be worth while to make upon the subject of ancient painting. We proceed now to the description of the monuments themselves, and take first those preserved in the PHIGALEIAn Room.