The palace at Mashita on the hajj road in Moab, built by the Sasanian Chosroes II. (614-627 A.D.), is ornamented on the exterior with very beautiful surface sculpture in stone. The designs of this are of peculiar interest as forming an evident link between Assyrian and Byzantine art, and they are not remotely connected with the decoration on Moslem buildings of comparatively modern date.1 Especially in Italy during the Middle Ages a similar treatment of marble in low relief was frequently used for wall-decoration. The most notable example is the beautiful series of reliefs on the west front of Orvieto cathedral, the work of Giovanni Pisano and his pupils in the early part of the 14th century. These are small reliefs, illustrative of the Old and New Testaments, of most graceful design and skilful execution. A growth of branching foliage serves to unite and frame the tiers of subjects.

Of a widely different class, but of considerable importance in the history of mural decoration, are the very beautiful reliefs, sculptured in stone and marble, with which Moslem buildings in many parts of the world are ornamented. These are mostly geometrical patterns of great intricacy and beauty, which cover large surfaces, frequently broken up into panels by bands of more flowing crnament or Arabic inscriptions. The mosques of Cairo, India, and Persia, and the domestic Moslem buildings of Spain are extremely rich in this magnificent method of decoration. In western Europe, especially during the 15th century, stone panelled-work with rich tracery formed a large part of the scheme of decoration in all the more splendid buildings. Akin to this, though without actual relief, is the very sumptuous stone tracery,-inlaid fush into rough flint walls,—which was a mode of ornament largely used for enriching the exteriors of churches in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is almos peculiar to that district, and is an admirable example of the skill and taste with which the medieval builders adapted their method of ornamentation to the materials which came naturally to hand.2

2. Marble Veneer.-Another widely-used method of mural decoration has been the application of thin marble Finings to wall-surfaces, the decorative effect being produced by the natural beauty of the marble itself and not by sculptured reliefs. One of the oldest buildings in the world, the so-called "Temple of the Sphinx" among the Gizeh pyramids, is built of great blocks of granite, the inside of the.rooms being lined with slabs of beautiful semi-transparent African alabaster about 3 inches thick. In the 1st century very thin veneers of richly-coloured marbles were largely used by the Romans to decorate. brick and stone walls. Pliny (H. N., xxxvi. 6) speaks of this practice as being a new and degenerate invention in his time. Many examples exist at Pompeii and in other Roman buildings. Numerous Byzantine churches, such as St Saviour's at Constantinople, and St George's, Thessalonica, have the lower part of the internal walls richly

1 Among the Mashita carvings occurs that oldest and most widely spread of all forms of Aryan ornament-the sacred tree between two animals. The sculptured slab over the "lion-gate" at Mycenae has the other common variety of this motive-the fire-altar between the beasts. These designs, occasionally varied by figures of human worshippers instead of the beasts, survived in a most extraordinary way long after their meaning had been forgotten; even down to the present day in some form or other they frequently appear on carpets and other

textiles of Oriental manufacture.

3 Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. (1847); Descr. de l'Égypte (Paris, 1809, d); Layard, Monuments of Nineveh (1849-53); Botta, Mon. de Nimice (1847-50); Texier, L'Arménie, la Perse, &c. (1840-52); Gruner, Die Bas-reliefs. zu Orvieto (1858); Champollion, Mon. de Égypte (1835-45); Mariette, Descr. de Denderah (1878-75); Rossellino, Monumenti d'Egitto, 1826.

a dado, the upper part of the building being covered with mosaic. The cathedral of Monreale and other SiculoNorman buildings owe a great deal of their splendour to these linings of richly-variegated marbles. In most cases the main surface is of light-coloured marble or alabaster, inlaid bands of darker tint or coloured mosaic being used to divide the surface into panels. The peculiar ItalianGothic of northern and central Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries, and at Venice some centuries earlier, relied greatly for its effects on this treatment of marble. St Mark's at Venice and the cathedral of Florence are magnificent examples of this work used externally. It is in every case a mere skin, and is in no way connected with the stability of the structure. Both inside and out most of the richest examples of Moslem architecture owe much to this method of decoration; the mosques and palaces of India and Persia are in many cases completely lined with the most lustrous and brilliant sorts of marble, of contrasting tints arranged and fitted together with consummate skill and knowledge of harmony.

3. Wall-Linings of Glazed Bricks or Tiles.-This is a very important class of decoration, and from its almost imperishable nature, its richness of colour, and its brilliance of surface is capable of producing a splendour of effect that can only be rivalled by glass mosaics. In the less important form-that of bricks mouelled or stamped in relief with figures and inscriptions, and then coated with a brilliant colour in siliceous enamel-it was largely used by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians as well as by the later Sasanians of Persia. In the 11th and 12th centuries the Moslems of Persia brought this art to great perfection, and used it on a large scale, chiefly, though not invariably, for internal walls. The main surfaces were covered by thick earthenware tiles, overlaid with a white enamel, These were not rectangular, but of various shapes, mostly some form of a star, arranged so as to fit closely together. Very delicate and minute patterns were then painted on the tiles, after the first firing, in a copper-like colour with strong metallic lustre, produced by the deoxidization of a metallic salt in the process of the second firing. Bands and friezes with Arabic inscriptions, modelled boldly in high relief, were used to break up the monotony of the surface. In these, as a rule, the projecting letters were painted blue, and the flat ground enriched with very minute patterns in the lustre-colour. This combination of bold relief and delicate painting produces great vigour and richness of effect, equally telling whether viewed in the mass or closely examined tile by tile. In the 15th century lustre-colours, though still largely employed for plates, vases, and other vessels, especially in Spain, were but little used for tiles; and another class of ware, rich in the variety and brilliance of its colours, was extensively used by Moslem builders all over the Mohammedan world. The most sumptuous sorts of tiles used for wall coverings are those of the so-called "Rhodian" and Damascus wares, the work of Persian potters at many places. Those made at Rhodes are coarsely executed in comparison with the produce of the older potteries at Ispahan and Damascus (see POTTERY). These are rectangular tiles of earthenware, covered with a white " slip" and painted in the most brilliant colours with slightly conventionalized representations of various flowers, especially the rose, the hyacinth, and the carnation. The red used is a very rich harmonious colour, applied in considerable body, so as to stand out in slight relief Another class of design is more geometrical, forming regular repeats; but the most beautiful compositions are those in which the natural growth of trees and flowers is imitated, the branches and blossoms spreading freely over a large surface covered by hundreds of tiles

FIG. 2.-One of the Wall-Tiles from the Mosque of Ibrahim Agha, Cairo. 10 inches square.

of Damascus, has the design almost entirely executed in blue. It was about the year 1600 A.D., in the reign of Shah Abbas I., that this class of pottery was brought to greatest perfection, and it is in Persia that the most magnificent examples of its use are to be found. Nothing can surpass the splendour of effect produced by these tilecoverings, varieties of which, dating from the 12th to the 17th centuries, were largely used in all the chief buildings of Persia. The most remarkable examples for beauty of design and extent of surface covered by these tiles are the mosque at Tabriz, built by Ali Khoja in the 12th century, the ruined tomb of Sultan Khodabend (13031316 A.D.) at Sultanieh, the palace of Shah Abbas I. and the tomb of Abbas II. (ob. 1666 A.D.) at Ispahan, all of which buildings are covered almost entirely inside and out with this magnificent sort of decoration.

Another important class of wall-tiles are those manufactured by the Spanish Moors, called "azulejos," especially during the 14th century. These are in a very different style, being designed to suggest or imitate mosaic. They have intricate interlacing geometrical patterns marked out by lines in slight relief; brilliant enamel colours were then burned into the tile, the projecting lines forming boundaries for the pigments. A very rich effect is produced by this combination of relief and colour. They are mainly used for dados about 4 feet high, often surmounted

4. Wall-Coverings of Hard Stucco, frequently enriched with Reliefs.-The Greeks and Romans possessed the secret of making a very beautiful hard kind of stucco, creamy in colour, and capable of receiving a polish like that of marble; it would stand exposure to the weather. Those of the early Greek temples which were built, not of marble, but of stone, such as the Doric temples at Ægina, Phiga leia, Pæstum, and Agrigentum, were all entirely coated inside and out with this beautiful material-itself pleasant both in texture and hue, and an admirable surface for the further polychromatic decoration with which all Greek buildings seem to have been ornamented. Another highly artistic use of stucco among the Greeks and Romans for the interiors of buildings consisted in covering the walls and vaults with a smooth coat, on which while still wet the outlines of figures, groups, and other ornaments were sketched with a point; more stucco was then applied in lumps and rapidly modelled into delicate reliefs before it had time to set. Some tombs in Magna Græcia of the 4th century B.C. are decorated in this way with figures of nymphs, cupids, animals, and wreaths, all of which are models of grace and elegance, both in form and action, and extremely remarkable for the dexterous way in which a few rapid touches of the modelling tool or thumb have

FIG. 3.-Modelled Stucco Wall-Relief, from a Tomb in Magna Græcia. About half full-size.

produced a work of the highest artistic beauty and spirit (fig. 3). Roman specimens of this sort of decoration are very common, fine examples have been found in the baths of Titus and numerous tombs near Rome, as well

1 See Layard, Nineveh; Texier, L'Arménie, &c.; Prisse d'Avennes and Bourgoin, L'Art Arabe (1869-77); Hessemer, Arabische BauVerzierungen (1853); Owen Jones, Alhambra (1842); Murphy, Arabian Antiquities of Spain (1818); Monumentos Arquitectonicos de España (1859-82), article "Alhambra "; Parvillée, Architect. et décor. Turques, xv Siècle (1874); Coste, Mon. mod. de la Perse (1867).

of ecclesiastical and domestic goods frequently contain items such as these: "stayned cloths for hangings," "paynted

FIG. 5.-Italian Stamped Leather; 16th century cloths with stories and batailes," or "paynted cloths of beyond sea work," or "of Flaunder's work." Many good artists working at Ghent and Bruges during the first half of the 15th century produced very fine work of this class, as well as designs for real tapestry. Several of the great Italian artists devoted their utmost skill in composition and invention to the painting of these wall-hangings. The most important existing example is the magnificent series of paintings of the triumph of Julius Cæsar executed by Andrea Mantegna (1485-1492) for Ludovico Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, and now at Hampton Court. These are usually, but wrongly, called "cartoons," as if they were designs meant to be executed in tapestry; this is not the case, as the paintings themselves were used as wall-hangings. They are nine in number, and each compartment, 9 feet square, was separated from the next by a pilaster. They form a continuous procession, with life-sized figures of unrivalled grace and beauty, remarkable alike for their composition, drawing, and delicate colouring,-the latter unfortunately much disguised by the most coarse and tasteless "restoration." Like most of these painted wall-hangings, they are executed in tempera, and rather thinly painted, so that the pigment might not crack off through the cloth falling slightly into folds.1 Another remarkable series of painted cloth hangings are those at Rheims cathedral, admirable for their noble breadth of design and rich colouring. In some cases actual dyes were used for this sort of work. A MS. of the 15th century 3 gives receipts for "painted cloth," showing that sometimes they were dyed in a manner similar to those Indian stuffs which were afterwards printed, and are now called chintzes. These receipts are for real dyes, not for pigments, and among them is the earliest known description of the process called 1 See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Painting in North Italy, i. p. 404, 1871; and Waagen, Art Treasures, 1854.

2 Leberthais, Toiles peintes de Reims (Paris).

3 Merrifield, Treatises on Painting, 1849.

"setting" the woad or indigo vat, as well as a receipt for removing or "discharging" the colour from a cloth already dyed. Another method employed was a sort of "encaustic process; the cloth was rubbed all over with wax, and then painted in tempera; heat was then applied so that the colours sank into the melting wax, and were thus firmly fixed upon the cloth.

8. Printed Hangings and Wall-Papers.-The printing of various textiles with dye-colours and mordants is probably one of the most ancient of the arts. Pliny (H. N., xxxv.) clearly describes a dyeing process employed by the ancient Egyptians, in which the pattern was probably formed by printing from blocks. Various methods have been used for this work - wood blocks in relief, engraved metal plates, stencil plates, and even hand-painting; frequently two or more of these methods have been employed for the same pattern. The use of printed stuffs is of great antiquity among the Hindus and Chinese, and was certainly practised in western Europe in the 13th century, and perhaps earlier. The South Kensington Museum has 13th-century specimens of block-printed silk made in Sicily, of very beautiful design. Towards the end of the 14th century a great deal of block-printed linen was made in Flanders, and largely imported into England.

Wall-papers did not come into common use in Europe till the 18th century, though they appear to have been used much earlier by the Chinese. A few rare examples exist in England which may be as early as the 16th century; these are imitations, generally in flock, of the fine old Florentine and Genoese cut velvets, and hence the style of the design in no way shows the date of the wallpaper, the same traditional patterns being reproduced for many years with little or no change. Machinery enabling paper to be made in long strips was not invented till the end of the last century, and up to that time wall-papers were printed on small square pieces of hand-made paper, difficult to hang, disfigured by numerous joints, and comparatively costly; on these accounts wall-papers were slow in superseding the older and more magnificent modes of mural decoration, such as wood-panelling, painting, tapestry, stamped leather, and painted cloth. A little work by Jackson of Battersea, printed in London in 1744, throws some light on the use of wall-papers at that time. He gives reduced copies of his designs, mostly taken from Italian pictures or antique sculpture during his residence in Venice. Instead of flowing patterns covering the wall, his designs are all pictures-landscapes, architectural scenes, or statues-treated as panels, with plain paper or painting between. They are all printed in oil, with wooden blocks worked with a rolling press, apparently an invention of his own. They are all in the worst possible taste, and yet are offered as great improvements on the Chinese papers which he says were then in fashion.

The method of printing wall-papers of the better sort is probably the same now that it has always been. Wooden blocks with the design cut in relief, one for each colour, are applied by hand, after being dipped in an elastic cloth sieve charged with wet tempera pigment, great care being taken to lay each block exactly on the right place, so that the various colours may "register" or fit together. In order to suit the productions of the paper-mills these blocks are made, in England 21 inches wide, and in France 18 inches wide; the length of the block is limited to what the workman can easily lift with one hand,-2 feet being about the limit, as the blocks are necessarily thick, and in many cases made heavier by being inlaid with copper, especially the thin outlines, which, if made of wood, gold or silver printing the design is first printed in strong size; would not stand the wear and tear of printing. In "flock" and the flock (finely cut wool of the required colour), or metallic powder is then sprinkled by hand all over the paper; it adheres only to the wet size, and is easily shaken off the ground or unsized part. If the pattern is required to stand out in some relief this process is repeated several times, and the whole paper then rolled to compress the flock. Cheaper sorts of paper are printed by machinery, the design being cut on the surface of wooden rollers, under which

the paper passes. The chief drawback to this process is that all the colours are applied rapidly one after the other, without allow ing each to dry separately, as is done in hand printing. A somewhat blurred appearance is the usual result. Though at first wall-papers were a mere makeshift and feeble imitation of rich textiles, yet, with a good feeling for the harmonies of colour and a regard for the technical necessities of the process, very rich and beautiful effects may be produced at a comparatively small cost if handprinting be adopted. Imitations of stamped leather are now produced with great success, though of inferior durability. Very thick tough paper is used for this, and treated in the same way as the real skins mentioned above. Fig. 6 is a good English example of 18th-century wail

nations. In the 6th century B.C. Egyptian colonists, introduced by Cambyses into Persepolis, largely influenced the painting and sculpture of the great Persian empire and throughout the valley of the Euphrates. In a lesser degree the art of Babylon and Nineveh had felt considerable Egyptian influence several centuries earlier. The same influence affected the early art of the Greeks and the Etrurians, and it was not till the middle of the 5th century B.O. that the further development and perfecting of art in Greece obliterated the old traces of Egyptian mannerism. After the death of Alexander the Great, when Egypt came into the possession of the Lagida (320 B.C.), the tide of influence flowed the other way, and Greek art modified though it did not seriously alter the characteristics of Egyptian painting and sculpture, which still retained much of their early formalism and severity. And yet the increased sense of beauty, especially in the human face, derived from the Greeks was counterbalanced by loss of vigour and force; art under the Ptolemies ceased to have a real life and became a mere dull copyism of earlier traditions.

The general scheme of mural painting in the buildings of ancient Egypt was very complete and magnificent. Columns, mouldings, and other architectural features were enriched with patterns in brilliant colours; the flat wallspaces were covered with figure-subjects, generally in horizontal bands, and the ceilings were richly ornamented with sacred symbols, such as the vulture, or painted blue and studded with gold stars to symbolize the sky. The wall-paintings are executed in tempera on a thin skin of fine lime, laid over the brick, stone, or marble to form a smooth and slightly absorbent coat to receive the pigments, which were most brilliant in tone and of great variety of tint. Not employing fresco, the Egyptian artists were not restricted to "earth colours," but occasionally used purples, pinks, and greens which would have been destroyed by fresh lime. The blue used is a very beautiful colour, and is generally laid on in considerable body-it is frequently a." smalt" or deep-blue glass, coloured by copper oxide, finely powdered. Red and yellow ochre, carbonblack, and powdered chalk-white are most largely used. Though in the paintings of animals and birds considerable realism is often seen (fig. 7), yet for human figures certain

This is naturally the most important and the most widely

the earliest.

Egyptian Paintings.-Egypt is the chief storehouse of ancient specimens of this, as of almost all the arts. Owing to the intimate connexion between the sculpture and paint ing of early times, the remarks above both as to subjects and treatment under the head of Egyptian wall-sculpture vill to a great extent apply also to the paintings. It is A very important fact, and one which testifies clearly to the enormous antiquity of Egyptian civilization, that the earliest paintings, dating more than 4000 years before our era, are also the cleverest both in drawing and execution. In later times the influence of Egyptian art, especially in painting, was very important among even very distant

Museum. Taken from Loftie's Ride in Egypt. conventional colours are employed, e.g., white for females' flesh, red for the males, or black to indicate people of negro race. Heads are painted in profile, and little or no shading is used. Considerable knowledge of harmony is shown in the arrangement of the colours; and otherwise harsh combinations of tints are skilfully softened and brought into keeping by thin separating lines of white or yellow. Though at first sight the general colouring, if seen in a museum, may appear crude and gaudy, yet it should be remembered that the internal paintings were much softened by the very dim light that was sparingly