Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/394

Painting. 34 1 The remains of. mural paintings have all been found at Tiryns and Mycenae, and external evidence leads us to infer that they all belong to the close of the Mycenian period. The Mycenaii hearth discloses as many as five different coatings of coloured stucco (Fig. 239), thus showing how often the painting had to be renewed to make good the damage caused by the smoke beaten back by the wind into a room void of chimney.^ There existed at Tiryns and Mycenae older, and perhaps simpler, frescoes than these ; but whether they have been destroyed with the buildings they once adorned — whose materials have been re-used — or whether they have disappeared under more facings of stucco, the fact remains that no trace of them has come to light. Those fresco scraps which have miraculously escaped the universal destruction which befell ancient painting must represent the last state of the edifices of either acropolis. They were preserved from the influence of the weather by the covering of debris which was suffered to remain undisturbed after the fall of the Achaean dynasties. As in the stelae and engraved gems, here also scenes of battle and of the chase seem to have had the lion's share. From the Mycenae megaron have come numerous stucco fragments, but much damaged by the action of the fire. They appear to have formed a great picture, representing perhaps a chariot-race or a pageant (Figs. 238, 430). With the exception of a single piece which perhaps fronted the procession, all the figures move in the same direction, from right to left. Unfortunately, the best- preserved fragments, with remaining bits of colour, only contain the lower portion of animal and human figures. The men would seem to be without shoes ; hence the strings that surround the calf of the leg may have served to fasten sandals which left the upper side of the foot exposed. Two fragments make up, one the head (Fig. 238), and the other the torso of a warrior (Fig. 430). Traces of plumes falling on the back of the neck imply a low helmet, of which we have not even the outline. The pointed beard which falls below the chin, has been met again and again in other monuments (Figs. 374, 375). The arms are bare, and the wrists encircled by a pair of bracelets. The body is covered by a tunic, with sleeves a few inches long. From a slight difference of tone we are led to infer the presence ^ History of Art