II. PERIOD BETWEEN OLYMP. 50-80, B.C. 580-460.

The earliest works of the SECOND period appear to have been a continuation of those we have mentioned in the last, viz., those peculiar representations which were called Acroliths (à«póλ001), figures in which the kernel or central block was of wood, and the hands, head, and feet of stone, or some other materials. The character of the art of this period appears to denote, in the Gods, majesty, tranquillity of posture, and great strength of limbs in the Athletes, bodily energy and an attempt at portraiture, so far as the positions in which they are placed recall the posture and action of individual combatants.

To this period belong the earliest Greek monuments preserved in the National Collection, viz.,

1. The casts of the sculptures of Selinus, from the Metopes of the Temple on the Acropolis at that place.

2. The casts of the sculptures from the Tympana of the Temple of Pallas at Ægina.

3. The Harpy Tomb from Xanthus.

4. Some of the native Lycian sculptures, as for instance the two lions in alto rilievo, which are probably older than the sculptures of the Harpy Tomb.

The style of art on these sculptures exhibits the following peculiarities:-The forms of the bodies are very muscular; the joints and sinews prominent; the proportions generally compact; the gestures, when the figures are in action, are vehement. The drapery of the statues is arranged in regular and almost geometrical folds; the hair is braided symmetrically on each side the face; and the figures themselves walk buoyantly, leaning forward on the fore part of the foot; the physiognomy has a marked and distinct treatment, in that the forehead is slightly retreating, the nose and chin sharp and angular, the eyes flat and elongated, and the cheeks lank and hollow.

The coins demonstrate the same characteristic treatment as the sculpture the figures represented on them are often doubtless copies of statues dedicated in the cities or localities to which they belong. The incuse coins of the Græco-Italian cities of Sybaris, Siris, Posidonia (Pæstum), Taras (Tarentum), Caulonia, and Metapontum recall the angular countenances of the Æginetan sculptures;

and the earliest coins of Athens exhibit the symmetrical arrangement of the hair.

III. PERIOD BETWEEN OLYMP. 80-111, B.C. 460–366.

The THIRD Period is the golden age of Greek art, and to it all the finest works of ancient times are referable.

During this period arose a spirit of sculpture which combined grace and majesty in the happiest manner, and, by emancipating the plastic art from the fetters of antique stiffness, attained, under the direction of PERICLES and by the hand of PHEIDIAS, its culminating point. It is curious to remark the gradual progress of the arts, for it is clear that it was slowly and not per saltum that the gravity of the elder school was changed to the perfect style of the age of PHEIDIAS: indeed, even in his time a slight severity of manner prevailed—a relic of the rigidity which characterised the art of the earlier ages. In the same way the true character of the style of FHEIDIAS was maintained but for a little while after the death of the Master himself: on his death, nay even towards the close of his life, its partial decay had commenced; and though remarkable beauty and softness may be observed in the works of his successors, Art never recovered the spiritual height she had reached under PHEIDIAS himself.

In the rebuilding of the Parthenon, which was the chief seat of the labours of PHEIDIAS, he is believed to have filled the office of master of the works, and to have had under him a large body of artists. He, himself, worked chiefly at colossal statues in gold and ivory (chryselephantine), of which the two most celebrated were, the colossal statue of Pallas Parthenos in the Parthenon, and that of Zeus Olympius. No portion of these statues now remains. These figures were remarkable for the richness of decoration with which all the details of the costume, throne, pedestal, &c., were elaborated, while at the same time the grandeur of the general conception was not impaired.

The finest remains of this period of art are,

1. The Sculptures of the Elgin collection, which consist of sixteen out of ninety-two sculptures which once adorned the Metopes of the Parthenon; of fifty-three original slabs, and many casts, of those which were placed in the cella of that temple; and of fourteen fragments, more or less perfect, of the large statues which once

adorned its pediments. Of these, some are doubtless the handiwork of PHEIDIAS himself.

2. The Reliefs from the Temple of the Wingless Victory (Niké Apteros), which, though somewhat later, show considerable analogy with the sculptures of the Parthenon in their workmanship and the treatment of the subjects represented.

3. The Sculptures from the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Phigaleia, the date of which is determinable within a few years.

In all these works the same style of art prevails: the traces of the elder school are not quite effaced, and the design is therefore occasionally less flowing and round, especially in the Friezes, which were to some extent limited by the architectural spaces allotted to them, and by the still prevailing law of symmetry. In the treatment of individual figures we observe a great general truthfulness s; vivacity of gesture where the subject demands it; repose and ease where, as in the representations of the Gods, it appears most fitting; and in the arrangement of the drapery a peculiar lightness and elegance. It is probable, that the age of the finest Art was not synchronous in all parts of the Greek world, and that Archaic forms remained longer in some places than in others: as in other things so here, we may suppose that the supply and the demand were mutually dependent one on the other; and that where, as at Athens, the demand for great artistic works was pressing, there the highest excellence would be earliest attained. Again, the character of the material in which different works of art were executed had its own advantage and disadvantage, and no doubt produced considerable effect upon the progress of art. It has been well said, "Let Pheidias have rude and obstinate stuff to carve though his art do that it should, his work will lack somewhat of the beauty which otherwise in fitter matter it might have had." To the elder period belong many coins of Athens, of Corinth, of Argos, of Sicyon, that with the type of the Chimæra, and the magnificent coin of Naxos with the head of the bearded Dionysus, and those of Agrigentum with two eagles and the hare. These, of which the Museum pos

Coins have every where this peculiar value, that they belong to the actual period they represent. Many of them are reduced copies of some of the greatest designs of the contemporary sculptors, and of which they represent the spirit much more faithfully than the copies executed in marble by sculptors of the Roman period.

sesses excellent specimens, may be considered to have been struck before the termination of the Peloponnesian war; and convey to us, though on a small scale, admirable illustrations of the period to which they refer.

Subsequently to the age of PHEIDIAS the use of bronze for statues became very general, especially in the Peloponnesus, which in the numerous representations of celebrated Athletes led directly to the individualizing of particular statues, and to the bringing out into more prominent relief those peculiarities which are individual to the man whom they represent rather than characteristic of the whole human

race.

After the Peloponnesian war, a new race of artists arose, who have been generally called the Later Attic school. Of these, Scopas of Paros and Praxiteles of Athens were the most celebrated. The mythical cycles of Aphrodite and Dionysus formed their chief subjects; and the representations of the ideal Apollo, under the graceful form of the Pythian Citharœdus, and of the group of the Niobe, are the most celebrated works which have proceeded from their hands.

Of the productions of the Later Attic school, the Museum possesses-1. The Eros of the Elgin collection, which belongs to the age of Praxiteles, or is possibly a little later than his time; 2. The sculptures from the tombs of Maussolus, if indeed the marbles lately acquired from Budrún are works of Scopas and Leochares; 3. The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates and some portions of the marbles procured by Sir Charles Fellows, from Xanthus in Lycia; together with coins innumerable, specimens in excellent workmanship from the Greek cities of Southern Italy, especially Thurii, Tarentum, Velia, Heracleia, and Metapontum-from the masterpieces of the Sicilian engravers at Syracuse and Panormus-and from Greece Proper, those of Pheneus and Stymphálus in Arcadia, of Opus, Thessalia, Cos, Crete, and Lesbos.

IV. OLYMP. 111-158, B.C. 336-146.

The FOURTH Рeriod extends from the time of Alexander the Great to the destruction of Corinth. The character of its Art is a witness to the state of society during this period, which exhibits a decadence in harmony with the decay of freedom in the formerly republican states. Heeren has well shown how in the earlier times Art was in

intimate communion with the system and the Religion of the state. When these decayed, and extrinsic influences became intrinsic, Art, though still surviving in a few great minds, ceased to be the product of the mind of the people. The Schools of Art which flourished during this period exhibit a perpetual striving after effect, which ancient critics particularly remarked in the productions of the Rhodian and Sicyonian schools.

The great theatres of the Art of the Fourth Period were those cities where the Macedonian Princes resided, whose custom of representing the Kings, their ancestors, in the character either of Deities or of mythical Heroes afforded great scope for the display of artistic power. The works of Art of this period now remaining are probably more numerous than those of the earlier ages, but are at the same time difficult of assignment. The coins are especially abundant, and of these the Museum possesses a large collection; and those of the Kings of Macedon, of the Seleucidæ in Syria, of the Ptolemies in Egypt, and of the Tyrants in Sicily, deserve attention as excellent illustrations of the style prevalent under those rulers respectively. Though in many instances remarkable for dexterous treatment, none of these coins exhibit the grandeur and simplicity of the Art of Pheidias or Lysippus. At the same time it is right to bear in mind that, with few and rare exceptions, the best coins and monuments are all genuinely Greek, little of extraneous influence appearing till a much later time. Even in remote districts, the Art and the civilization of the Greeks appear to have been self-originated and self-developed; a native growth withdrawn from external influences, and slow to adopt any modifications tending even remotely to assimilate the conquering with the conquered races. The Greek Colonial Cities, in regions remote from Greece, were Oases in deserts of barbarism.

V. PERIOD, B.C. 146 TO FALL OF ROME.

To distinguish the FIFTH and last division of ancient Art from those which have been already described, it may be called the Roman Period-a nomenclature which will serve to show that, though the sculptures and other monuments were often the workmanship of Greek artists, yet that they were due to Roman influence, and furnished to supply Roman wants. The Romans, unlike their half-brothers the Greeks, had no inherent love of art, and little