Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/121

Themes of Chald.eo- Assyrian Sculpture. 103 his work was the newspaper of the day, explaining- the political events of his time to those who could understand no other writing. There is complete coherence between his figures and the inscribed texts they accompany. Look, for instance, at the series of slabs from the Palace of Sennacherib, in which his Jewish campaign is retraced. 1 The final scene is thus described in words within a cartouche above the heads of the figures : " Sennacherib, king of Assyria, seated upon his throne of state, causes the prisoners taken in the town of Lachish to pass before him." 2 In order to show the details of the magnificent chair upon which the king is seated we have reproduced only the two principal actors, in the sovereign and his grand vizier (Fig. 47). If we had been able to place the whole composition before our readers they would have seen how thoroughly the inscription describes it. Behind the general who is presenting the vanquished to the king, appear the prisoners, some prostrate, others kneeling or standing up- right, but all turned towards their conqueror with gestures of supplication. The spaces to be covered were vast, but the warlike kings of Assyria cut out enough work for their sculptors to keep them always busy. Every campaign, and every battle, every siege or passage of a river, seemed to them worthy of commemoration by the chisel. Those to whom the work was given were forced therefore to multiply figures ; the task was complicated and yet had to be finished with extreme rapidity. The sovereign was in a hurry to enjoy the spectacle he had promised himself, he wished to inhabit for as many years as possible the dwelling whose walls, like so many magic mirrors, would reflect his own prowess and glory. And so the sculptor had to produce much and produce fast ; we can therefore understand how it was that his creations never lost a certain look of improvisation. They had the good qualities of such a mode of work ; namely, force, vitality, and abandon, but combined with all its defects, inequality, incoherence, and frequent repetition. In order to cover the surface abandoned to the sculptor as quickly as possible, the work had to be divided ; every one who 1 British Museum. The whole series is illustrated in Layard, Monuments, 2nd series, plates 20-24. 2 Sir H. Layard's translation is different" (Discoveries, p. 152). That quoted in the text has been kindly furnished to us by M. Oppert.