Page 57 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

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PART one: MESOPOTAMIA
' and mud must needs be used for a variety of purposes - for pots and tablets, for gutters,

pipes, window-grills, for figurines and relief - and that consequently modelling was the
commonest of all Mesopotamian techniques. However this may be, Mesopotamian works
in metal, although rare (for they were usually melted down in later times), show a re­
markably high quality, and stonework displays modelled forms [eg. Plates 46 and 47)
in all subsequent periods. The abstract style of the Second Early Dynastic Period liever
reappeared.
It was succeeded by a style which is not merely a modification, but, in its most strik­
ing aspects, the antithesis of the earlier one (Plates 21-5). Instead of sharply contrasting,
clearly articulated masses, we see fluid transitions and infinitely modulated surfaces. In­
stead of abstract shapes, we see a detailed rendering of the physical peculiarities of the
model. By a new and subtle treatment of the surface the base of the skull is differentiated
from the neck, the bony forehead and temples from the soft checks. This maimer, what­
ever its virtue, is a denial of the values which the older style realized by the tautness of
its simplified surfaces. In second-rate works the attention now given to die differentia­
tion of surfaces produces a disintegration of plastic coherence. In the best works this
danger is avoided and a new sensitivity to subtle changes in physical substance imparts
life to figures which lack the vigour and intensity of the earlier images.
Conversely, some details of the older style appear crude in the light of the new; the
flat ridges which once rendered the mouth arc replaced by delicately curved lips which
rise at the comers in a contented, somewhat complacent, smile (Plate 22c). A double
chin adds to the impression of material well-being, and folds of fat are sometimes indi­
cated between chest and stomach. Collar-bones and nipples are now also shown. The
square section formerly given to the bare body is rounded out, the kilt is rendered with
all the detail of its fleece-like surface and loses its stark geometric outline. In plate 23 the
realistic tendency has even affected the rendering of accessories, like the wicker-work
seat, and the kilt is entirely free from stylization (cf. Plate 19). A certain precious­
ness appears in the treatment of the beard, where the curls, turning at the tips, are separ­
ated by a series of drill-holes. This device is also found in a figure of Lugalkisalsi from
Warka,32 400 miles to the south, and illustrates the uniformity of style through the
whole of Mesopotamia; for the figure of plate 23 comes from Mari on the middle
Euphrates. The fashion of shaving the head while growing a luxuriant beard was pre­
valent33 at Mari, but it is also found at Assur34 and Khafaje.35 It is worth while to com­
pare tliis detailed rendering of the beards with the succession of ridges which served in
the earlier style. The heads also have been transformed; the proportion between skull
and face has changed entirely. In the older style the cranium was unnaturally reduced in
volume because the whole treatment of the head aimed at giving a plastic setting for the
face with its piercing eyes. In the later style the natural proportions are restored.
!
The change of style need not be a result of the influence of modelled works to which
we have referred. It is quite likely that the Early Dynastic sculptors, having followed
abstraction to its utmost limits, began to explore the possibilities offered by the opposite I
:
approach. But the causes of the change must in any case remain an open question. Wc
know only that the realistic style is found throughout the country in the Third Early

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