DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0307
274 ARCHAIC SCULPTURE.
in which this pleasant low relief is carved, and its general style, call to mind
Athenian work.
Remoter Northern Greece, as scanty historical records show, also produced
masters of note. Here originated the celebrated painters, Aglaophon and Po-
lygnotos, called the father of Greek painting; and Neseus, teacher of the far-
famed Zeuxis. Among sculptors from this part of the world were masters like
Paionios of Mende, Polygnotos, said to have been skilled in bronze as well as
color, and possibly Alcamenes, Pheidias' reputed scholar and rival. Moreover,
these shores of Thrace and the mountains of Chalkidike were rich in metal,
and Thasos had quarries of marble; while the people that had settled there
were of the artistically gifted Ionian race. Thus the materials necessary were
at hand, and monuments prove that they were not neglected by this people.
In this remote part of the Greek world, inhabited by Ionians and other
Greek tribes, we find more Oriental customs than in the remaining states.
The reception which Xerxes received in Thrace and Chalkidike was charac-
terized by a magnificence and splendor quite unknown to the frugal Greeks in
the south, farther removed from the luxurious East. Judging from monu-
ments, Northern Greece appears to have inherited also the spirit and methods
of the near Orient in its art, which shows a character different from that of
the works found in the Peloponnesos and Attica, but resembling that of Asia-
Minor sculptures.-*S2 Ancient coins at first roused attention to peculiarities
of style not to be met with in coins of Southern Greece.-»s3 The oldest of
these are stamped with figures of unusual broadness and heaviness : they have
schematic treatment of details, but skilful technique, doubtless inherited from
Asia Minor, where a long practice had developed skill of hand. Coins of later
date, from Acanthos in Chalkidike, show the same broad and heavy forms,
although somewhat moderated. In these an undue fulness of the whole
design, and a fatty appearance in the details, are to be seen ; thus a lion's
mane, and the folds in his neck, though technically excellent, are rendered in
a schematic and decorative manner, spread over the whole surface of the coin.
A succession of Northern-Greek coins, well represented in the British Mu-
seum, and marked by these peculiarities, has, moreover, been traced from far
back in the sixth century B.C., through the time when archaic art was develop-
ing freer forms (480-450 B.C.), and clown to a riper period.
But not coins alone witness to the artistic activity on these shores : reliefs
recently discovered, and increasing in number, likewise throw light upon it.
One of these, a fragmentary tomb-relief, found in Abdera (Thrace), and now
preserved in Athens, represents the head of a youth, with a part of his
shoulder. The generous fulness, and soft masses of regularly laid hair, in this
work, are more pleasing to the eye than the rigid, harsh muscles and severe
locks of such archaic works as the /Eginetan statues. On nearer observation,
in which this pleasant low relief is carved, and its general style, call to mind
Athenian work.
Remoter Northern Greece, as scanty historical records show, also produced
masters of note. Here originated the celebrated painters, Aglaophon and Po-
lygnotos, called the father of Greek painting; and Neseus, teacher of the far-
famed Zeuxis. Among sculptors from this part of the world were masters like
Paionios of Mende, Polygnotos, said to have been skilled in bronze as well as
color, and possibly Alcamenes, Pheidias' reputed scholar and rival. Moreover,
these shores of Thrace and the mountains of Chalkidike were rich in metal,
and Thasos had quarries of marble; while the people that had settled there
were of the artistically gifted Ionian race. Thus the materials necessary were
at hand, and monuments prove that they were not neglected by this people.
In this remote part of the Greek world, inhabited by Ionians and other
Greek tribes, we find more Oriental customs than in the remaining states.
The reception which Xerxes received in Thrace and Chalkidike was charac-
terized by a magnificence and splendor quite unknown to the frugal Greeks in
the south, farther removed from the luxurious East. Judging from monu-
ments, Northern Greece appears to have inherited also the spirit and methods
of the near Orient in its art, which shows a character different from that of
the works found in the Peloponnesos and Attica, but resembling that of Asia-
Minor sculptures.-*S2 Ancient coins at first roused attention to peculiarities
of style not to be met with in coins of Southern Greece.-»s3 The oldest of
these are stamped with figures of unusual broadness and heaviness : they have
schematic treatment of details, but skilful technique, doubtless inherited from
Asia Minor, where a long practice had developed skill of hand. Coins of later
date, from Acanthos in Chalkidike, show the same broad and heavy forms,
although somewhat moderated. In these an undue fulness of the whole
design, and a fatty appearance in the details, are to be seen ; thus a lion's
mane, and the folds in his neck, though technically excellent, are rendered in
a schematic and decorative manner, spread over the whole surface of the coin.
A succession of Northern-Greek coins, well represented in the British Mu-
seum, and marked by these peculiarities, has, moreover, been traced from far
back in the sixth century B.C., through the time when archaic art was develop-
ing freer forms (480-450 B.C.), and clown to a riper period.
But not coins alone witness to the artistic activity on these shores : reliefs
recently discovered, and increasing in number, likewise throw light upon it.
One of these, a fragmentary tomb-relief, found in Abdera (Thrace), and now
preserved in Athens, represents the head of a youth, with a part of his
shoulder. The generous fulness, and soft masses of regularly laid hair, in this
work, are more pleasing to the eye than the rigid, harsh muscles and severe
locks of such archaic works as the /Eginetan statues. On nearer observation,