DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0448
416
DJEBEL HAURAN
tures, chiefly of animal subjects, which adorned the temple of the two Maleichaths.
Examples of sculptures of this sort are to be seen in Plate 2 of “ La Syrie Centrale,”
where M. de Vogiie gives drawings of an altar flanked by figures of goats in high
relief, one on either side of the altar, and a block which may have been a section of a
frieze, carved with figures of a horse and a man on foot. Among the other frag-
ments found directly in front of the temple proper are several pieces of a horse, half
life-size, which was carved in the round. These show portions of a saddle and rich
saddle-cloth and other trappings, besides indications that the horse had a rider.
More characteristic of the region, perhaps, are the mutilated figures of lions and
eagles that must have held prominent positions
in the sculptured decorations of the temple.
They are in a sadly broken condition, but still
show character that is far from classic, the lions
particularly resembling those which are to be
seen below the columns of pulpits in many
medieval Italian churches. The manes are
indicated by curving locks in high relief, carved
in rows from the head to the back behind the
shoulders, and falling over the upper part of the legs. The faces of the lions have
been completely disfigured. The eagles, of heroic size, were in a standing position
with upraised wings; the feathers of the breast and legs were carved in a coarse
mechanical fashion, each row lapping regularly over the one below it like the tiles of
a roof; the long plumage of the tail and wings was equally stiff and conventional.
Shakka. lion. A sculptured
lion, almost exactly similar to those
at Si‘, but in a nearly perfect state
of preservation, lies in the court-
yard of the ruined convent at
Shakka. The head and body are
intact; the legs have been broken
off and have disappeared. Between
the stumps of the two front legs is
the head of a gazelle which the lion
was in the act of devouring. It
will be seen from the photograph
that the body of the lion is treated
in heavy rounded contours that
show no suggestion of anatomical knowledge on the part of the sculptor; the body
is encircled by a broad belt just behind the shoulders. The mane is indicated by the
Sculptured lion in convent at Shakka.
Lragments of sculpture at Si‘.
DJEBEL HAURAN
tures, chiefly of animal subjects, which adorned the temple of the two Maleichaths.
Examples of sculptures of this sort are to be seen in Plate 2 of “ La Syrie Centrale,”
where M. de Vogiie gives drawings of an altar flanked by figures of goats in high
relief, one on either side of the altar, and a block which may have been a section of a
frieze, carved with figures of a horse and a man on foot. Among the other frag-
ments found directly in front of the temple proper are several pieces of a horse, half
life-size, which was carved in the round. These show portions of a saddle and rich
saddle-cloth and other trappings, besides indications that the horse had a rider.
More characteristic of the region, perhaps, are the mutilated figures of lions and
eagles that must have held prominent positions
in the sculptured decorations of the temple.
They are in a sadly broken condition, but still
show character that is far from classic, the lions
particularly resembling those which are to be
seen below the columns of pulpits in many
medieval Italian churches. The manes are
indicated by curving locks in high relief, carved
in rows from the head to the back behind the
shoulders, and falling over the upper part of the legs. The faces of the lions have
been completely disfigured. The eagles, of heroic size, were in a standing position
with upraised wings; the feathers of the breast and legs were carved in a coarse
mechanical fashion, each row lapping regularly over the one below it like the tiles of
a roof; the long plumage of the tail and wings was equally stiff and conventional.
Shakka. lion. A sculptured
lion, almost exactly similar to those
at Si‘, but in a nearly perfect state
of preservation, lies in the court-
yard of the ruined convent at
Shakka. The head and body are
intact; the legs have been broken
off and have disappeared. Between
the stumps of the two front legs is
the head of a gazelle which the lion
was in the act of devouring. It
will be seen from the photograph
that the body of the lion is treated
in heavy rounded contours that
show no suggestion of anatomical knowledge on the part of the sculptor; the body
is encircled by a broad belt just behind the shoulders. The mane is indicated by the
Sculptured lion in convent at Shakka.
Lragments of sculpture at Si‘.