Хребти божевілля
VI
Theminutestdetailsofelaboratevegetation,orofanimallife,wererenderedwithastonishingvividnessdespitetheboldscaleofthecarvings;whilsttheconventionaldesignsweremarvelsofskillfulintricacy. Thearabesquesdisplayedaprofounduseofmathematicalprinciples,andweremadeupofobscurelysymmetricalcurvesandanglesbasedonthequantityoffive. Thepictorialbandsfollowedahighlyformalizedtradition,andinvolvedapeculiartreatmentofperspective,buthadanartisticforcethatmovedusprofoundly,notwithstandingtheinterveninggulfofvastgeologicperiods. Theirmethodofdesignhingedonasingularjuxtapositionofthecrosssectionwiththetwo-dimensionalsilhouette,andembodiedananalyticalpsychologybeyondthatofanyknownraceofantiquity. Itisuselesstotrytocomparethisartwithanyrepresentedinourmuseums. Thosewhoseeourphotographswillprobablyfinditsclosestanalogueincertaingrotesqueconceptionsofthemostdaringfuturists.
Thearabesquetraceryconsistedaltogetherofdepressedlines,whosedepthonunweatheredwallsvariedfromonetotwoinches. Whencartoucheswithdotgroupsappeared—evidentlyasinscriptionsinsomeunknownandprimordiallanguageandalphabet—thedepressionofthesmoothsurfacewasperhapsaninchandahalf,andofthedotsperhapsahalfinchmore. Thepictorialbandswereincountersunklowrelief,theirbackgroundbeingdepressedabouttwoinchesfromtheoriginalwallsurface. Insomespecimensmarksofaformercolorationcouldbedetected,thoughforthemostparttheuntoldaeonshaddisintegratedandbanishedanypigmentswhichmayhavebeenapplied. Themoreonestudiedthemarveloustechnique,themoreoneadmiredthethings.
