Egyptian, Persian, and Greek gods—Indian epic poetry—The rock-hewn temples and Buddha—Stucco ornamentation—Causes of the gorgeousness of Indian art—Persia and the Persians—Their five cosmical elements—Historical development—The Zend-Avesta—Persepolis and its oldest monuments—Zoroaster—The Persian trinity—Light and darkness—Why no temples were constructed—The Babylonians and Ninivites—Their principles of ornamentation—Their wall decorations
60 |
| CHAPTER VI. |
| EGYPTIAN ART. |
| The sphinx the emblem of Egyptian art—Long and short chronologists—Lepsius and his list of Egyptian dynasties—State of Egypt under Menes, who ruled 3892 B.C., according to Lepsius—Division of Egyptian art into periods—The forty-two holy books of the Egyptians—Their gods of the first, second, and third orders—The Egyptian trinity—The pyramidal period—The hieratic style—The Ptolemaic style—Their mode of ornamentation and symmetrophobia |
103 |
| CHAPTER VII. |
| HEBREW ART. |
| The Hebrews are a mixed race—Social and political condition of the Jews during 6,000 years—Description of the country and aspect of nature—Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel—Architecture a sure measure of a nation’s social and political development—Egotistical character of nomadic traders—The temple and palace of Solomon, the only architectural efforts of the Jews—Sketch of their history, divided into eight periods—The tabernacle a tent—The first temple constructed on its plan—Ben David on the mysterious empty room above the Holy of Holies—Causes why the Jews had no art, and never attempted to have any |
132 |
| CHAPTER VIII. |
| GREEK ART. |
| Meshiah (humanity) was first freed by the Greeks in form, and by Christ in spirit—Aspect of nature—India, Egypt, and Persia as the component parts of Greek development—The different dialects of the Greeks—Their mythology—Traces of intelligible facts and historical events in the Greek myths—Zeus and his character—Prometheus and Faust—The nine muses and their leader—Greek life a continuous festivity—Greek poetry and philosophy—Greek artistic development—The Olympian, Pythian, Nemæan, and Isthmian games—Greek architecture: the temple—Building materials—Site of temples—Proportion—Plan of temples—The Doric, Ionic, and Korinthian orders and their subdivisions—The Attic style—Greek pottery and Greek sculpture—Different periods—The British Museum and Greek art—Onatas, Ageladas, Kalamis, Pheidias, Praxiteles, Skopas, and Lysippus—The Parthenon—Aphrodite no longer draped—The groups of Niobe, Laokoön, and the Farnese bull—Causes of the decline of Greek art |
153 |
| CHAPTER IX. |
| ETRUSKAN ART. |
| The first settlers in Etruria—Their gods of the first and second orders—The ritual of thunder—Temples and tombs—Subdivision of tombs—Cinerary chests—Excavations at Præneste—Pottery and metal works—Their style either Archaic or Etruskan—Division of Etruskan works of art into five principal categories |
212 |
| CHAPTER X. |
| ROMAN ART. |
| Characteristic differences between Greeks and Romans—The triple theocracy of Rome—The mythical period of the seven kings of Rome—Rome as republic—Roman mythology—Rome under the emperors—Roman public games—Roman literature the outgrowth of Greek literature—Polylithic wall decorations—The arch, cross-vault, and cupola—Periods of Roman art and their subdivisions—Temples—Fora and theatres—The mausoleum of Augustus—Hadrian, the divine architect—Triumphal arches—The baths of Caracalla—The advent of Christianity |
228 |
| CHAPTER XI. |
| EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. |
| North and south of our globe—Buddhism and Christianity—Christ’s divine teachings—Romanesque and Byzantine art-forms—Symbols, allegories, emblems, and myths—Catacombs at Rome and Naples—The sacredness of the number seven—Christian art in its essence and different phases—The spiritual element predominates—The first Christian churches—Constantine—Ravenna and its early churches—St. Sophia in the Byzantine style—Migration of northern nations—Their religious notions—The Teutons turn Christians—Wood and ivory carvings—Art in its relation to the progressive development of mankind—Summary and conclusion |
264 |
| Bibliography for the study of the historical development of Art |
301 |
| Index |
305 |
MANUAL
OF THE
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ART
Gazing at the heavens on a starry night, we see, in addition to myriads of sparkling worlds floating in the air, a great quantity of nebulæ—either decayed systems of worlds, or worlds in formation. Worlds which have lost their centre of gravity and fallen
