Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/98

So A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud.-ea. adoration (Fig. 87) ; x it was a conventional gesture common to all ancient peoples, whether Egyptians, Assyrians, or early Christians, for we meet with it in the Roman Catacombs. It will be remembered, on the other hand, that among the Phoenicians, the sole people with whom the Sardi had continuous intercourse, this sign was so universally employed as to render its symbolic meaning self-evident to the unlettered. Among the stelae in our possession dedicated to Tanit, numbering several thousands, hundreds are seen with hand outstretched and uplifted, the stelae bearing no inscriptions save this betokening sign of prayer. Such an emblem was familiar to the Sardi, who could not have failed noticing it on every Phoenician tomb and sanctuary in the island. What more natural, therefore, that its usage should have been introduced in remote hilly regions ? 2 Or that the artist should have given prominence to the right hand, the better to convey the idea it symbolized? It is a childish expedient observable in all primitive art, where we see the more important personages, such as kings, heroes, and gods, given higher statures than the surrounding figures. 1 M. Pais has met with only four figures whose left hand is raised. Loc. sit, p. 100. 2 MM. Baux and Gouin explain differently this hand gesture; according to them, " the chief characteristic of the Teti figures, is peace and tranquillity. The arm, as a rule, is carried at ease, the attitude quiescent, the palm of the right hand stretched towards the spectator ; to remove all doubt, moreover, upon the peaceful meaning of this sign, the artist was careful to make the right hand dispropor- tionately large. Some warrior statuettes have yet another detail from which the intention of their creator may be gleaned ; namely, in the abnormal size and multiplicity of the visual organs, four, five, and even six eyes looking out of the same figure. These criteria enable us to conclude that Teti was not a sanctuary, and were we required to find a formula descriptive of these statuettes, it would be : "Watchfulness and armed peace;" agreeably with the appellative: "The city of the watch." We regret that we are unable to share the opinion of observers known for their devotion to Sardinian antiquities. Granting their argument to be sound, how is the presence of so many objects in one spot to be accounted for, save upon a principle of religiosity? These are concrete ideas unknown to art in its infancy; the formula is too complicated, implying a double meaning and subtle antithesis ; as who should say : " I wish for peace but am ready for war." What more simple than to recognize in the raised hand the bearing it possesses, without exception, among the nations of antiquity? If a weapon is carried in the other arm, is that so wonderful ? Until recently the field labourer was wont to work with his blunderbuss by his side. Why should he have laid aside lance or javelin because he presented himself before his gods ? Another error, at least it appears so to us, is not having differentiated icons from idols; the former are images of ordinary humanity; in the latter, although possessed of arms and eyes larger and in number greater than reality, the hand is never raised (Figs. 51 and 52).