DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0282
230 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
We see, then, that the glyptic art of Mycenae in its later
period, as represented by the vaulted tombs, had developed
a uniform style, whether it "wrought in gold or in stone.
The lion-relief stands between the gold votives (at least the
older ones) from the acropolis graves and the Vaphio cups.
It resembles the former in the flatness of the relief and in
the lack of anatomical detail, while it approaches the latter
in the characteristic delineation of the muscles.
Of quite equal importance with these cups is the Kampos
statuette, — indeed, its size makes it in some respects more
important, — and so in many instances are the
statuette animal figures of the engraved gems. This eon-
and gems . n .
tmuous progress and homogeneous style, attested
in works of varying material and provenance, prove that
not only the lion-relief, the Vaphio cups, the Kampos
ah works of statuette and the engraved gems are the work of
native art natjve artists, but that the gold offerings from
the acropolis graves (in their totality) could not have been
fabricated elsewhere than in Greece. Had they been of
foreign origin, their influence upon native art must have
been very different from what we actually see. Instead of
immediate growth and progress, for a time in all probability
we should have to look for deterioration, unless we assume
that native artists were able at once not only to copy with
fidelity the exotic art but to perfect it as well.
We do not, however, deny that among the gold votives
from the acropolis there may be some actually imported
Oriental from the Orient or imitations of such imports pro-
admitted dueed in Greece. For the influence of the Orient
■—and by the term we mean chiefly Egypt and
the countries of the Semitic world, Syria, Babylonia and
their neighbors — is shown not only by the golden images
of Aphrodite with her doves and the dove-temples in gold-
We see, then, that the glyptic art of Mycenae in its later
period, as represented by the vaulted tombs, had developed
a uniform style, whether it "wrought in gold or in stone.
The lion-relief stands between the gold votives (at least the
older ones) from the acropolis graves and the Vaphio cups.
It resembles the former in the flatness of the relief and in
the lack of anatomical detail, while it approaches the latter
in the characteristic delineation of the muscles.
Of quite equal importance with these cups is the Kampos
statuette, — indeed, its size makes it in some respects more
important, — and so in many instances are the
statuette animal figures of the engraved gems. This eon-
and gems . n .
tmuous progress and homogeneous style, attested
in works of varying material and provenance, prove that
not only the lion-relief, the Vaphio cups, the Kampos
ah works of statuette and the engraved gems are the work of
native art natjve artists, but that the gold offerings from
the acropolis graves (in their totality) could not have been
fabricated elsewhere than in Greece. Had they been of
foreign origin, their influence upon native art must have
been very different from what we actually see. Instead of
immediate growth and progress, for a time in all probability
we should have to look for deterioration, unless we assume
that native artists were able at once not only to copy with
fidelity the exotic art but to perfect it as well.
We do not, however, deny that among the gold votives
from the acropolis there may be some actually imported
Oriental from the Orient or imitations of such imports pro-
admitted dueed in Greece. For the influence of the Orient
■—and by the term we mean chiefly Egypt and
the countries of the Semitic world, Syria, Babylonia and
their neighbors — is shown not only by the golden images
of Aphrodite with her doves and the dove-temples in gold-