Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/266

Representations of Human Lii-ic. 219 of Priam against the Greeks, then came the auxiliaries whom Priam had called to his aid, auxiliaries who were differently armed, and who fought with different tactics than the Trojans. The oblique line which represents the ground below the ram- parts and the houses is meant to indicate that the battle is being fought on the steep slopes overhung by the citadel. Nor is this all ; the artist, like he of Assyria, took pains to define the scene of action by the addition of certain picturesque details ; such would be the three or four trees rising at the side of the bowl, suggestive perhaps of a natural growth of olives. It may well be that the artist in this scene wished to call to remembrance some fearful assault made against Mycenae, which had been Fig. 359, — Ivory husL Hdijlil, oni., 074; ihickness, o m., 09. successfully repelled by one of her kings, the prince perhaps whose grave contained the goblet ; the acropolis which occupies the middle of the picture would naturally be that of Mycena;. The configuration of the ground, the appearance and distribution of the buildings, seem to favour the hypothesis. The Mycenian goldsmith, using all the means of expression at his command, showed us a portion of the unit which has been bodied forth by us under two different aspects (Pis. IX., X.). M. Chipiez, then, was forestalled by the anonymous artist, in the days of the Perseida:, that is to say more than 3000 years ago. The latter was a less accomplished draughtsman ; but he had the advantage of personal and intimate acquaintance with the model he wished to copy. This it is which makes us regret that we possess but a small portion of the picture which he gave of his native town and