DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0154
VEIL—The Cemetery.
[chap. ii.
A panther, or large animal of the feline species, sits
behind, rampant, with one paw on the haunch, the other on
the tail of the sphinx ; and beneath the latter is an ass, or
it may be a deer, of smaller size than the panther. Both
are painted in the same curious parti-colours as those
described.
On the opposite side of the doorway (for there is a door
in this wall, opening into an inner chamber), in the upper
band, is a horse, with a boy on his back, and a " spotted
pard" behind him sitting on the ground. In the lower
band is another similar beast of great size, with his tongue
lolling out, and a couple of dogs beneath him. All these
quadrupeds are of the same curious patchwork of red,
yellow, and black.5
To explain the exact signification of these figures I pre-
tend not. In quaintness and peculiarity of form, they
5 These harlequin figures are not
unique. They have been found also in
a painted tomb at Cervetri, and to a
lesser extent are to be seen in the
tombs of Tarquinii, where, however, they
cannot pretend to so high an antiquity.
[chap. ii.
A panther, or large animal of the feline species, sits
behind, rampant, with one paw on the haunch, the other on
the tail of the sphinx ; and beneath the latter is an ass, or
it may be a deer, of smaller size than the panther. Both
are painted in the same curious parti-colours as those
described.
On the opposite side of the doorway (for there is a door
in this wall, opening into an inner chamber), in the upper
band, is a horse, with a boy on his back, and a " spotted
pard" behind him sitting on the ground. In the lower
band is another similar beast of great size, with his tongue
lolling out, and a couple of dogs beneath him. All these
quadrupeds are of the same curious patchwork of red,
yellow, and black.5
To explain the exact signification of these figures I pre-
tend not. In quaintness and peculiarity of form, they
5 These harlequin figures are not
unique. They have been found also in
a painted tomb at Cervetri, and to a
lesser extent are to be seen in the
tombs of Tarquinii, where, however, they
cannot pretend to so high an antiquity.