Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/352

322 Painting genre pictures. The most celebrated Greek genre painter was Pyreicus, who painted shops and still life of every description. Caricature was also in great favour in this degenerate age. (a) Greek Mosaics and Wall Decorations. Although there are no existing remains of Greek mosaics, the art appears to have been known amongst the Greeks, and to have been employed for pavements and the linings of walls. From the slight traces which remain of purely decora- tive Greek painting — on the ceiling of the Propylsea, for instance — it is evident that the Greeks were thoroughly skilled in the true principles of ornamental art. Much discussion has arisen as to the original appearance of this famous ceiling, which is, however, generally believed to have been painted in such a manner as to imitate orna- ments in relief. At the Crystal Palace, Owen Jones endeavoured to carry out the principles supposed by him to have been in favour amongst the Greeks, and certainly obtained a very beautiful result, although its value as a reproduction has been much questioned. In the same collection an opportunity is afforded of studying coloured and uncoloured Greek architectural sculpture side by side. 3. Etruscan Painting. The enthusiasm with which the Etruscans cultivated the art of painting is manifested in the numerous tomb- paintings which have been discovered in the cemeteries of Tarquinii, Clusium, etc., in which the gradual develop- ment from the conventional Egyptian style to the perfected Greek may be traced. In the earlier specimens we see