Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/576

560 SAEACENIC ARCHITECTURE. Part III. chandise, and the general insecurity of the roads along which it is conducted, has received a great development in that country. Inter- nally, their usual form is that of a square courtyard, surrounded by a range of arcades generally two stories in height, each arch opening mto a small square cell at the back. Externally they present only a high plain wall, surmounted by battlements and Hanked by towers at each angle, and sometimes also by additional towers in the longer faces. The principal architectural ornament is lavished on the gateways, which are almost always liigher than the contiguous walls, and often display 993. Palace at Ispahan. (From " Nineveh, and Persepolis Restored.") great beauty of design combined with considerable elaboration of detail. It is not, however, only in these larger monuments that the Persians show an appreciation of the beautiful and a power of expressing it. As in most Eastern nations, the feeling seems innate, and all the minor objects they fabricate exhibit it, as well as the more important ones, and it is to the former that we must probal)ly look in future for ex- amples of Persian art, for her political position is such that she will hardly be able soon to attempt anything great or important in archi- tectural art. There are still, however, resident in that country rem- nants of those races who built the palaces of Babylon and Nineveh ; and, if an opportunity were afforded them, they might still do some- thing if allowed to do it in their own way. It is to be feared, how- ever, that European influence is extending through that country too fast for art ; and that if they attempted anything it will be only in the bastard Italian style, which, with the round hat, seems destined to make the tour of the globe.