Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/212

The Origin of Dokic Architecture. 171 to by his predecessors. His stone pilaster was a faithful copy of the one garnished with timbers, whose narrow lateral face corresponds with the thickness of the plank or plat-band which completed the defence of the wall at the sides. Doors, battlements, and other architectural members would lend themselves to comparisons no less curious between the old and new state of things. These remarks may be fittingly closed with a few words on the decorative scheme. We cannot ascribe to chance the fact that all nations who inhabit sunlit regions should make a lavish use of vivid colours, which they impartially spread over the wide surfaces of their buildings. There is a relation of cause and effect between intense light and a taste for brilliantly-hued decoration, which latter is awakened by the action light exercises over the visual organ. What is different Fin. 320.— Mycenian anta. Hellenic anta. from one race to another are the processes used to satisfy this innate craving. These are determined by the nature of the materials to hand. The Euphrates valley has no stone, and timber, such as the palm, is both scarce and of indifferent quality. There the necessity was' felt at an early date of varying the outward look of the crude or baked clay mass, which invariably formed the body of every structure, with the intervention of colour. Enamel was invented, and the heat of the oven made it one with the brick. The case was different in Greece, where stone and woods of excellent quality abound. Beams and planks without number could be had for linings and framings. To secure their durability, however, they required frequent layers of paint, and here and there metal plates. In Hellas, then, it was wood, as in Assyria it had been clay, which needed the interference of colour for all the exposed divisions of the edifice. The habit once formed,