DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4423#0229
THE ORNAMENTS, MOULDINGS, AND ENTABLATURES, 173
The Hypeebola Oenament.
The Hyperbola Ornament, as shown in Plate II., Figs. 15 and 16, is a simple outline
filled in with three colours, alternating in red, blue, and yellow, and is frequently employed
both in Egypt and in Greece, the only difference being, that in Egypt, as in Fig. 15 it is
always outlined with straight lines and painted on a flat surface, and in Greece, as shown in
Eig. 16, the same arrangement of the colours is found with the curved lines of the hyperbola
traced upon a curved surface.
The Meander.
The Mseander, Plate II., Figs. 17 and 18, painted in two colours, belongs both to
Egyptian and to Greek Architecture ; the example, Fig. 17, is a painted dado copied from
the tombs of the Kings, and Mr. Owen Jones suggests that it might be intended to represent,
in diagram, a papyrus grove. Fig. 18 is the Greek Maeander traced from the cornice in the
Pronaos of the Temple of Theseus.
Ideas approaching to the beading and to the dentils of Greek Architecture are also
frequently found forming parts of painted cornices in Egypt. Plate II., Fig. 19, is an
example of a painted dentil cornice from the tombs of the Kings.
We thus see that the first ideas of the several forms of the Greek Ornaments are
all of them found painted upon the flat surfaces of the walls in the Temples and in the
tombs of Egypt, and in Greece these same Ornaments, translated into the language of
the Geometry, are mathematically engraved upon the curved surfaces of the mouldings,
and in the Doric order are simply relieved by colour, the same as in Egypt. The
only exceptions to the above statement are the spiral fines of Greek Architecture, such as
the volutes of the Ionic capitals, the volutes of the consoles, and the spiral lines of the
Ornaments; and of these no trace appears to be found in Egypt—they belong to a later
period of Art.
PLATE III.
THE EGYPTIAN OEIGIN OF THE GREEK CEILINGS.
The designs of the ceilings of Egyptian Architecture were generally suggested by
the ancient ideas of astronomy, and were either composed of the signs of the zodiac, or
of stars fixed upon imaginary lines, as in Fig. 1, which is a portion of the painted ceiling
in the tomb of Rameses at Thebes. Sometimes the ceilings are divided into squares by
black lines, and one star is painted in each square, or else they are divided into compartments
The Hypeebola Oenament.
The Hyperbola Ornament, as shown in Plate II., Figs. 15 and 16, is a simple outline
filled in with three colours, alternating in red, blue, and yellow, and is frequently employed
both in Egypt and in Greece, the only difference being, that in Egypt, as in Fig. 15 it is
always outlined with straight lines and painted on a flat surface, and in Greece, as shown in
Eig. 16, the same arrangement of the colours is found with the curved lines of the hyperbola
traced upon a curved surface.
The Meander.
The Mseander, Plate II., Figs. 17 and 18, painted in two colours, belongs both to
Egyptian and to Greek Architecture ; the example, Fig. 17, is a painted dado copied from
the tombs of the Kings, and Mr. Owen Jones suggests that it might be intended to represent,
in diagram, a papyrus grove. Fig. 18 is the Greek Maeander traced from the cornice in the
Pronaos of the Temple of Theseus.
Ideas approaching to the beading and to the dentils of Greek Architecture are also
frequently found forming parts of painted cornices in Egypt. Plate II., Fig. 19, is an
example of a painted dentil cornice from the tombs of the Kings.
We thus see that the first ideas of the several forms of the Greek Ornaments are
all of them found painted upon the flat surfaces of the walls in the Temples and in the
tombs of Egypt, and in Greece these same Ornaments, translated into the language of
the Geometry, are mathematically engraved upon the curved surfaces of the mouldings,
and in the Doric order are simply relieved by colour, the same as in Egypt. The
only exceptions to the above statement are the spiral fines of Greek Architecture, such as
the volutes of the Ionic capitals, the volutes of the consoles, and the spiral lines of the
Ornaments; and of these no trace appears to be found in Egypt—they belong to a later
period of Art.
PLATE III.
THE EGYPTIAN OEIGIN OF THE GREEK CEILINGS.
The designs of the ceilings of Egyptian Architecture were generally suggested by
the ancient ideas of astronomy, and were either composed of the signs of the zodiac, or
of stars fixed upon imaginary lines, as in Fig. 1, which is a portion of the painted ceiling
in the tomb of Rameses at Thebes. Sometimes the ceilings are divided into squares by
black lines, and one star is painted in each square, or else they are divided into compartments