Page 260 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

THE ART OF ANCIENT PERSIA
358 b.c.). But they continue an old-established tradition (Plate 122; Figure 33), and the
colours of the glazes arc the same as they always had been: blue, white, yellow, and
green. The subjects, too, arc similar: processions of lions, winged bulls, and dragons;
the dragons arc of a type peculiar to Persia. The panels measure seven by five feet.
Repetition is of the essence of Achaemenian art. When we look at a section of the
great stairway (Plate 182), we sec a number of varied groups. Their arrangement is,
however, strictly decorative; they arc not only separated by stylized trees which form
vertical bands, but their most striking feature is made to recur in the three registers; for
instance, the camel appearing at the right-hand top recurs at the extreme left edge of the
figure in the uppermost and in the bottom register. The stallion and the bull also recur.
The figures ranged round the animals and forming a group with each vary in disposition
and in their accoutrements, but hardly in pose. There is thus some play of variation
witliin a scheme strict enough to preserve homogeneity throughout tills extensive de­
coration. If we exclude the repetitive guardsmen, we find a similar interplay of sameness
and variety on the other side of the stair (Plate 182): a turned head, a hand affectionately
laid on the shoulder of a friend, a flower grasped firmly in one hand or delicately held in
another, prevent the design from becoming monotonous without ever weakening its
ornamental function. The interweaving of the separate parts by means of repetition goes
very far indeed. At the extreme end of the stairway (Plate 179B) we fmd again, above
the lion and bull, groups of tribute-bearers preceded by ushers, now divided among the
separate steps and drawn on a small scale. We touch here the essence of Achaemenian
art, its weakness as well as its strength.
For if we compare Achaemenian relief-work with that of earlier periods, we observe
that it is poorer in two respects. In both Egypt and Mesopotamia relief had become a
perfect vehicle for narrative. Complex events, like battles (Plates 84-6; 99-107), could
be adequately, even impressively, rendered.95 Other subjects, such as scenes of mourning
in Egyptian tombs, or hunting scenes in Assyria, are genuinely moving (Plates m-13).
Achaemenian reliefs neither tell a story nor do they express feeling. Their repertory
is restricted and they are apt to be monotonous, notwithstanding their exquisite
details.96
But we misconstrue the intentions of the Persian designers, if we put the Achaemenian
reliefs on a line with those of Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were not intended to be
scrutinized, and a comparison with Assyrian reliefs in particular is fallacious, because
these fulfilled a different function. In the Assyrian palaces the reliefs embellished corri­
dors, courts, anterooms, and audience chambers, where those who waited - foreign en­
voys or subjects - had ample opportunity to follow the pictorial narratives in all their
details. The Achaemenian reliefs were placed on the parapets of stairs, or in door-jambs -
places where one passed them by. Moreover, die stairways were constructed against die
outside of an artificial terrace, so diat the sculpture was reduced to a ornamental band at
die foot of the gateway and walls, with its turrets and the roofs of buildings overtopping
it. The reliefs merely served to emphasize an important architectural feature of die ter­
raced complex, the stairway entrance.
Achaemenian sculpture in the round possessed likewise an ornamental character,

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