صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

monument which was recently found in the excavations at the Agia Triada (on the Via Sacra) at Athens.

Facing the door, on entering the temple, is a manificent statue, supposed to be of Apollo, with a serpent below. This beautiful and almost perfect piece of workmanship was found in the island of Andros, and is believed to be of the period of Lysippus.

Next to it is a Roman Sarcophagus, behind which is the Torso of an emperor perhaps Nero. Next to the right is a highly interesting sepulchral monument from the Agia Triada, with a Greek and a Phoenician inscription. Next to it stands a Juno; and next a Caryatid. Next stands the finest piece in the temple, representing Ceres and Proserpine with a youth between them imploring their blessing. This piece is supposed to be of a date anterior to the time of Phidias. Then stands a Roman figure in the Egyptian style. Then is an Apollo, of excellent workmanship, and very ancient; next to which is a statue of Mercury, half destroyed by water. Then stands an exquisite figure of a Siren, found at the Agia Triada; and then a Roman Sarcophagus.

On the other side of the temple, in the interior, there are some exquisitely lovely monuments, of which that standing next to the sarcophagus is especially to be noted. The one next to it is also deserving of the closest attention. It is in high relief, and may be identified by the form of a cat, without the head. The eighth from the tomb is one of the very finest monuments in the temple. It is in very high relief and represents a parting scene-a -a lady dying after having given birth to a child. It would be impossible to conceive any more touching picture than that which is here represented.

It may be remarked, before taking leave of the Temple of Theseus, that every monument in it is well worthy of attention, and that those outside should also be visited. One of these, half-buried in the earth, represents a gigantic Apollo. The Temple of Theseus will repay many visits.

The following notes may be of use

to persons visiting the Collection of Antiquities at the Varvakeion, but it is to be observed that as these objects are not, for the most part, numbered, it is difficult to describe them in such a manner as to insure their being identified. The Varvakeion collection is at present (January 1872) disposed of in six rooms and a passage. In the passage stand four Herma, and at the window at the end are a number of masks brought from the theatre of Bacchus.

In the 1st Room, to the right of the entrance door, are sepulchral monuments of various shapes, some retaining the traces of colouring. In the corner is a broken monument, with vivid colouring. In this room there are many vases which were found in Attica. In the cabinets are arms, mirrors, &c., well executed in bronze; and above are two vases having figures in relief, one of them found in Attica, the other in Boeotia. There are likewise some polychrome vases of an ancient period-probably four centuries

B.C.

In the 2nd Room (which is entered by passing through the third) there stands, to the rt. on entering, a cast of the Apollo of Tenea-representing the Archaic style of art. Near the window at the farther end are some fine vases of each of the three marked periods. These may thus be roughly identified. To the first period belong such vases as have red, dark-brown or black figures drawn on a ground of lightred or clay-colour. To the second period belong such as have black figures on a red ground. To the third period belong such as have red figures on a black ground. By keeping these three points in mind one may readily classify, in general terms, all Greek vases. Many of these vases belong to a very remote period-some probably dating from 1000 years B.C., while all of those in this collection are believed to belong to a time before or coeval with the Christian era. It is to be regretted that the vases in this room are not by any means arranged in the order of time to which they belong. Besides the excellent collection of

vases, there are in this room two fine | near the Temple of the Winds. The marble heads-that to the right was 6th head from the left, opposite to the brought from Cyprus. To the right of door, bears a striking resemblance to the door, on entering, is a cabinet Napoleon I. In this room there is a containing antiquities from Tegea. great variety of patterns of oil-lamps, The coins in the cabinets are of no &c. At the end, opposite the entranceespecial interest. door, is a Diana, from Ephesus; then a Minotaur (from the Gymnasium of Ptolemy), of beautiful workmanship, and meant for a fountain; then a Minerva, from Euboea; and next to it a Venus, from Cheronea.

In the outer, or 3rd Room, there are some most beautiful statues. To the left of the door of the inner room, towards the window, the third head is that of a Roman emperor, probably Nero. Those near it are likewise of Roman emperors, and were brought from the theatre of Dionysus. In front of them is a beautifully carved marble table, from the island of Thera. It is the only table in the Athens collection. On the opposite side of the room, the 3rd head from the window represents the bearded or Indian Bacchus one of three such in the row-and dating from a time anterior to that of Phidias. Near it is a head of a winged Mercury. Next to this stands a remarkable head, with very thick hair and very low forehead. Next to it is a Siren. Then stands a Pan and Capid, from the island of Melos; next to which is a female head, with one of the eyes painted as it was found. The Greeks, it may be stated, were in the habit of painting the eyes of all statues. The 5th from the window is a very lovely female head, and next to the window is a globe, brought from the Dionysiac Theatre.

In the 4th Room there is an unrivalled collection of 30 heads, all of Masters of Gymnasia, which were found together, about 10 years since,

In the 5th Room are several terracotta and bronze figures, of which 3 (in a glass case), brought from Egina, deserve especial notice. They preserve their original colouring. The central group of the three represents a Bacchante and a Satyr. In the cabinets are some very curious Greek implements, amongst them marble presses for smoothing (ironing) clothes. Near the window is an ancient bath, as is also a figure of Victory from Cyrene.

In the 6th Room are some Egpytian antiquities, and a very valuable collection of implements of the stone period, presented by Mr. Finlay.

The student of art, after having studied the collection of antiquities in the Theseum and the Varvakeion, should also inspect those at the Ministry of Public Instruction; in the Temple of the Winds; and at the Communal School at the Piræus. It is to be hoped that these various collections will ere long be gathered together in the new Museum.

[Greece.]

[graphic]

Newly excavated Street of Tombs on the road from Agora of Athens to Eleusis.

A HANDBOOK

FOR

TRAVELLERS IN GREECE.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

A. Interest of Greek Travel; Mode of Travelling, &c.-B. Routes from England to Greece.-c. Requisites and Hints before starting; Luggage; Clothes; Presents; Letters of Introduction; Money; Passports, &c.-D. Climate and Seasons for Travelling.-E. Maxims and Rules for the Preservation of Health; Malaria; Quarantine.-F. Travelling Servants; Roads; Hire of Horses, &c.-G. Shooting; Fire-arms; Animal and Vegetable Productions, &c.-H. Yachts, Boats, &c.-1. Accommodation for Travellers; Provisions, &c.—s. Geographical Outline of Greece.-K. Practical Observations on Hellenic Architecture.-L. Outline of Greek History.—м, Sketch of the Present Condition of the Greek Church.-N. Observations on the Modern Greek Language.-o. Character, Manners, and Customs of the Inhabitants of Greece, and of the Greek Provinces of Turkey.

a. INTEREST OF GREEK TRAVEL; MODE OF TRAVELLING, &c. A JOURNEY in Greece is full of interest for a traveller of every character, except indeed for a mere idler or man of pleasure. There the politician may contemplate for himself the condition and progress of a people, of illustrious origin, and richly endowed by Nature, which, after a servitude of centuries, has again taken its place among the nations; there can he best form an accurate opinion on that most important question-the present state and future destinies of the Levant. The struggles of Greece must command the sympathy of all thoughtful minds-if not for her own sake, yet from the effects which may be expected to result from them in the Fast. "We do not aspire to prophesy of the future fate of Constantinople, but when we think of all those Turkish subjects who speak the Greek language and profess the Greek religion; when we think of the link which the same religion has made between them and the Slavonic tribes below and beyond the Danube; we cannot but look upon the recovery of the Christian nationality of Greece as one of the most important of modern events, or watch the development of this young kingdom without feelings of the most anxious expectation. We cannot believe that the Mahommedan tide, which was arrested at Lepanto, will ebb back no farther than Navarino."-Quarterly Review.

Nor can the artist feel less interest than the politician in the countries which we have undertaken to describe. To quote Mr. Lear:-"The general and most striking character of Albanian landscape is its display of objects, in themselves beautiful and interesting, and rarely to be met with in combination. You have the simple and exquisite mountainforms of Greece, so perfect in outline and proportion-the lake, the river, and the wide plain; and withal in Albania you have the charm of Oriental architecture, the picturesque mosque, the minaret, the fort, and the serai, [Greece.]

B

which you have not in Modern Greece, for war and change have deprived her of them; you have that which is found not in Italy, a profusion everywhere of the most magnificent foliage, recalling the greenness of our own island-clustering plain and chestnut, growth abundant of forest oak and beech, and dark tracts of pine. You have majestic cliff-girt shores, castlecrowned heights, and gloomy fortresses; Turkish palaces glittering with gilding and paint; mountain-passes such as you encounter in the snowy regions of Switzerland; deep bays, and blue seas, with calm, bright isles resting on the horizon; meadows and grassy knolls, convents and villages, olive-clothed slopes, and snow-capped mountain peaks-and with all this a crowded variety of costume and pictorial incident, such as bewilders and delights an artist at each step he takes."

But it is to the classical scholar that the greatest share of interest in Greece belongs. In the language and manners of every Greek sailor and peasant he will constantly recognize phrases and customs familiar to him in the literature of ancient Hellas; and he will revel in the contemplation of the noble relics of Hellenic architecture, while the effect of classical association is but little spoiled by the admixture of post-Hellenic remains. In Italy the memory of the Roman empire is often swallowed up in the memory of the republics of the middle ages; the city of the Caesars is often half forgotten in the city of the Popes. But it is not so in Greece. We lose sight of the Venetians and the Turks, of Dandolo and Mahommed II., and behold only the ruins of Sparta and Athens, only the country of Leonidas and Pericles. For Greece has no modern history of such a character as to obscure the vividness of her classical features. A modern history she does indeed possess, various and eventful, but it has been (as was truly observed) of a destructive, not of a constructive character. It has left little behind it which can hide the immortal memorials of the greatness of Hellenic genius. At Rome the acquisition of a clear idea of the position and remains of the ancient city is, more or less, the result of study and labour; whereas, at Athens, the idea flashes at once on the mind, clear as the air of Attica, and quick and bright as the thoughts of the Athenians of old. After a walk of a few hours, every well-informed traveller may carry away in his mind a picture of the city of Pericles and Plato, which will never leave him till the day of his death. So recently as Dr. Wordsworth's visit in 1832, there was "scarcely any building at Athens in so perfect a state as the temple of Theseus."

In all parts of the country the traveller is, as it were, left alone with antiquity: Hellas tells her own ancient history with complete distinctiveness. "In whatever district the stranger may be wandering-whether cruising in shade and sunshine among the scattered Cyclades, or tracing his difficult way among the rocks and along the watercourses of the Peloponnesus, or looking up to where the Achelous comes down from the mountains of Acarnania, or riding across the Baotian plain, with Parnassus behind him and Kitharon before him-he feels that he is reading over again all the old stories of his school and college days-all the old stories, but with new and most brilliant illuminations. He feels in the atmosphere, and sees in the coasts and in the plains, and the mountains, the character of the ancient Greeks, and the national contrasts of their various tribes. Attica is still what it ever was-a country where the rock is ever labouring to protrude itself from under the thin and scanty soil, like the bones under the skin of an old and emaciated man. No one can cross over from 'hollow Lacedæmon' to the sunny climate and rich plain of Messenia, without sympathizing with the Spartans who fought so long for so rich a prize. No one can ride along the beach at Salamis, while the wind which threw the Persian ships into confusion is dashing the spray

« السابقةمتابعة »