Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/288

Representations of Human Life. 235 not approximate the truth ; both come from the same shop. To deduce therefrom that they were fashioned by the same hand would be somewhat hazardous ; and on this point we may hesitate to be assertive. We have already indicated a point of difference between the twin compositions ; namely, that one only is enframed by a band. Had we here the work of one pair of hands only, it seems natural to infer that the same arrangement would have obtained in both vases. The variant is better accounted for on the basis of a second craftsman, who, although required to assist in carrying out a common work, yet preserved his own individuality. Nor is this all : the pieces are also distinguished by difference of make. Thus, the incised lines on the vase with the hunting-scene have not had their edges beaten down, they have been left in the rough ; whereas, on the other goblet, these slight asperities have been smoothed and rounded off, as if with the deliberate intention of effacing the traces made by the tool.^ Again, the two artisans used their tool somewhat differently in beating up the figures. The portions in relief on the first cup are connected by a curve with the background ; but on the second they are allied thereto by a straight edge which is perpendicular to the field. There, the outline of the living forms is sharper and harder ; it recalls the methods of the goldsmith rather than those of the sculptor. In the first instance, the manipulation is less finished, more careless, and the details have not been attended to, but for that very reason it is instinct with greater breadth and movement ; the work, whilst preserving a more sketchy character, is chalked off with a fire and sureness of hand which testify to the knowledge and spirit of the master. This is apparent in many ways. Thus, the limbs of the bulls chased by the men are more firmly knit together than those of the corresponding cattle taken out to grass ; they are more intimately united to the body, whose movement they espouse and continue. On the second vase, the points of junction of the hind quarters are weak and conventional ; the legs seem to hang loose in a limp, helpless kind of way from the body, as if they had been tacked on and did not belong to it. We cannot be surprised at these bulls being larger and fleshier. The difference in the outward appearance arises from their mode of existence ; a domestic animal puts on more flesh than one in ^ TSOUNDAS, 'E^ij/i£p/c.