Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/269

Assyrian Sculpture. 237 they have not yet been made the subject of any such publication as that devoted by Mr. Layard to remains from the time of Sennacherib and Assurnazirpal. Some idea of them may be formed, however, from the numerous fragments figured in these pages (Vol. I., Figs. 5, 27, 28; below, Figs. 162, 172, 174, 177-180, 188). Speaking generally, the sculptors of Assurbanipal were the pupils of those of Sennacherib, with, perhaps, a larger endowment of taste and skill. Under them Assyrian art aimed higher than ever before. It was fascinated by movement, and endeavoured to render its accidents and unforeseen turns. From this point of view we must draw particular attention to the pictures repre- senting the campaign of Assurbanipal against the Elamites. In these the figures are more numerous and more closely packed than Fig. 124. — Chaldaean Cylinder. Hematite. 1 Fig. 125. — Assyrian Cylinder. 2 anywhere else, and the chisel has attacked episodes more compli- cated and more difficult to treat. Here, for instance, is a chariot upset upon the battle-field ; it is turned completely over, while the struggling horses pull different ways, and the occupants are thrown out head foremost. There are many technical defects and mistakes of drawing, but the attempt is none the less interesting. Some of the reliefs show the same confused accumulation of figures as in the time of Sennacherib. Now and then we find as many as six horizontal divisions, each from ten to fourteen inches high. But their height obeys no regular or constant rule. The central division, with the king in his chariot, is two feet high. No attempt is made to distinguish planes by varying the size of the figures, to mark the successive moments of the action by dividing the groups, or to give prominence to the main incidents ; the confusion is unbroken. Here, as in all the battle pieces, a 1 French National Library, No. 710. 2 Florence Museum.