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Show GENEUAL REMAUKS ON IOONOGUAPTIY. 111 well moulded; but tbc crouching statuette of a " cribc,"- el1~~ bra ted at tbe r~ouVJ.·o as "lo petit bonhommo"- is the erowmng masterpiece of primitive art revealed through Mari tte's xhuma~ tions. It is from this venerable tomb of the Vth dynasty, 5000 years old, which the ]atct· constructors, (above 2000 years ago,) of the ancient Avenue of Sphinxes leading to the Memphitc S rapcum had cut tln·ough and wallod~up again. The material is white limcstoHc, colored red; which oven to its trifling abrasions is reproduced as a most appropriate frontispiece to this work [Plate I.]. The p1·ofile view [Plate Jl., fig. 1] exhibits tho oxcellcnco of its workmanship, no los. than the purest typo of an ancient Egyptian. Beneath it [fig. 2], Mr. Gliddon has repeat d the same h ad, with tho solo addition of the moustache and short beard, a.nd tho mutation of tho hoad~ch . s into tho quilted-cotton fll ~u ll-cap of the modem pcasan Lry; and thus we behold th p l'fcct pr sorvation of a tyr1ical form of man through 5000 years of time, in the familiar c:iligy of a living Fellah! "Wo aro not reduced to mere conjectures," comments the Consurvfltor of the Tmp01·inl Louvre Museum, "concerning tho figure of the crouching Scribe, placed in the middle of tho h11ll (Salle civile. )61 It was found in tho tomb of SK1um-KA with the figlu·es collected together in the hall of tho most 11ncicnt monuments (Salle de8 llfonume111~.) It appertains, therefore, to tho Vth or the Vlth dynasty. 'L'ho fi gure, so to s11y, is speaking: this look which ~mnzes w~s obtai nod by t~ very ingenious combin~tion. In 11 pioco of opaque white qu11rlz is encrusted n pupil of vory tra.nsptlront rock-crystal, in tho centre of which is pl11ntcd 11 little metallic ball. 'l'ho whole cyo is fixed in tl bronze le11f which ~nswers for both eyelids. The saml llllcl vory h~ppily proscrvod tbo color of ~u tho figures in this tomb. Tho movement of tho knees ~ncl tho slope of tho loins arc 11bovc all romarlmblo for their correctness. 1111 tho traits of tho f11co 11ro strongly stamped with individuality; it is evident th11t this statuette WIIS 11 portmit." These, with the beautiful head of another Egyptian, long m tho Louvre, but unclassecl until 1854, [Plate VI.JG2 of p rhaps the same period, exceed in artistic inter stall the monuments of the ilo-vallcy; and the speaking cxprcRsion of their countenances invariably catches tho eye of every visitor of tho EO'yptian Gallery at Pal'is. Not tbat they approach ideal sculptmcd beauty, such as we arc accustomed to meet with in Greek statuary; on tho contml'y, there is not a spark of idca.lity in either of tho two representations; t}Jcit· Gl n~ RouoEi, Notice Sornmaire de& J!folltlnlm8 tgyptiens expo8~8 datu lei galeries du llfuale du Louvre, P11ris, 1 Smo., 1866, p. 06. One further observation, ins toad of being any w~y ombelli shed in our Plate I., our copy, obtained through tho hello typo, is dofoctivo in tho logs; which, projecting in ndvaucc of the upper pnrt of tho body, a.rc hoavior and less pl·oportion~ tc tlu1n in tho stone original; but possessing no measurements for their reduction, we have not felt at liberty to dovi11tc from M. Dcvcrifl's photograph. oz Tho following is M. DlwenrA's note on this gem of 11ntiquc art:-" Busto pt·ovenant d'uno st11tuo rlo !'ancien ~rt momphitc, oontempor~inc des pyramides. Pierro caloairo, pointuro rouge, gmndeur n11turcllc." P~ris, Louvre Museum, 80th 1\by, 18lili. |