DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0106
64
ASSYRIAN PERIOD
tional pattern. The cuneiform inscription is carved across the
panel with no regard for the figure or the design. The majority
of these reliefs that picture hunting, military, and traveling
scenes, like the garden scene of Assurbanipal (Pl. ioa), are
primarily narrative. To picture his exploits in war and in the
chase seemed to be the aim of the Assyrian; and, as he was not
endowed with the unfailing sense of design that was the gift
of the Egyptian, his walls are covered with episodes rather than
with decorations.
Among these scenes, however, are some superb representations
of animal life. As we have said, hunting was one of the chief
pleasures of the Assyrian, and all aspects of this sport King
Assurbanipal carved on the walls of his palace. Pl. 2.3 a shows
preparations. Some of the attendants are carrying nets to hold
the game, others are holding in leash the muscular hunting dogs
that are struggling to free themselves for the dash. So eager
are the animals that we ourselves enter into the spirit of the chase,
and realize that the wild asses on the plateau must flee swiftly
if they are to escape these bloodthirsty dogs. But the Assyrian’s
greatest sport was the lion hunt. Sometimes we see the king
mounted, spearing one lion, while another, wounded, fiercely
attacks a fleeing riderless horse. The vigorous movement, the
excitement of the moment, the rage of the beasts — to show this
was the sculptor’s purpose, in which he was supremely successful.
In Pl. ll b we see a Dying Lioness, pierced with arrows that have
paralyzed her hind legs. Her face shows pain and terror. She is
fighting her last fight, dragging herself along the ground, refusing
to submit. The agony and pathos are so real that we are involun-
tarily drawn into sympathy. The fierceness and grimness of
these hunts was something in which the Assyrian reveled, and it
guided the artist’s hand as he chiseled the scenes.
Sculpture in the round does not appear to have been as popular
as relief work. One reason for this was the difficulty of obtaining
suitable stone. The most characteristic examples are the colos-
sal human-headed bulls or lions that flanked the doorways of the
palaces (Pls. 2.2. a and 2.3 s), though, strictly speaking, these
figures combine the features of high relief and sculpture in the
round, as they are attached to the background. All the details,
such as the muscles, hair, and wings, are conventionally treated.
An interesting feature here, that must relate itself to the Assyrian
instinct for realism, is the presence of five legs. This does not
mean that the animal had five legs, but that the sculptor wished
to represent him standing from the front view, showing two
ASSYRIAN PERIOD
tional pattern. The cuneiform inscription is carved across the
panel with no regard for the figure or the design. The majority
of these reliefs that picture hunting, military, and traveling
scenes, like the garden scene of Assurbanipal (Pl. ioa), are
primarily narrative. To picture his exploits in war and in the
chase seemed to be the aim of the Assyrian; and, as he was not
endowed with the unfailing sense of design that was the gift
of the Egyptian, his walls are covered with episodes rather than
with decorations.
Among these scenes, however, are some superb representations
of animal life. As we have said, hunting was one of the chief
pleasures of the Assyrian, and all aspects of this sport King
Assurbanipal carved on the walls of his palace. Pl. 2.3 a shows
preparations. Some of the attendants are carrying nets to hold
the game, others are holding in leash the muscular hunting dogs
that are struggling to free themselves for the dash. So eager
are the animals that we ourselves enter into the spirit of the chase,
and realize that the wild asses on the plateau must flee swiftly
if they are to escape these bloodthirsty dogs. But the Assyrian’s
greatest sport was the lion hunt. Sometimes we see the king
mounted, spearing one lion, while another, wounded, fiercely
attacks a fleeing riderless horse. The vigorous movement, the
excitement of the moment, the rage of the beasts — to show this
was the sculptor’s purpose, in which he was supremely successful.
In Pl. ll b we see a Dying Lioness, pierced with arrows that have
paralyzed her hind legs. Her face shows pain and terror. She is
fighting her last fight, dragging herself along the ground, refusing
to submit. The agony and pathos are so real that we are involun-
tarily drawn into sympathy. The fierceness and grimness of
these hunts was something in which the Assyrian reveled, and it
guided the artist’s hand as he chiseled the scenes.
Sculpture in the round does not appear to have been as popular
as relief work. One reason for this was the difficulty of obtaining
suitable stone. The most characteristic examples are the colos-
sal human-headed bulls or lions that flanked the doorways of the
palaces (Pls. 2.2. a and 2.3 s), though, strictly speaking, these
figures combine the features of high relief and sculpture in the
round, as they are attached to the background. All the details,
such as the muscles, hair, and wings, are conventionally treated.
An interesting feature here, that must relate itself to the Assyrian
instinct for realism, is the presence of five legs. This does not
mean that the animal had five legs, but that the sculptor wished
to represent him standing from the front view, showing two