Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/182

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A History of Art in Ancient Egypt.

of nature and the works of man which they enframe, there isa striking general sympathy.^[1]

The peculiar character of Egyptian architecture is owing to its laternal extension, and to those wide-spreading bases and foundations which suggest the inclination of the superincumbent walls. In looking at one of these buildings, we feel that it is capable of infinite extension horizontally, and that but one of its dimensions, that of height, is limited by its essential forms. These characteristics give a look of sturdy power to Egyptian

Fig. 60. The Libyan chain, above the necropolis of Thebes.

architecture which is peculiar to itself, and suggests an idea of unbounded durability.^[2]

↑ Egyptian landscape is well characterised in these lines of M. Ch. Blanc, taken from the Voyage de la Haute Égypte (p. 116): "Pour le moment, notre plaiser se borne à regarder un paysage simple, monotone, mais grand par sa simplicité même et par sa monotonie. Ces lignes planes qui s'allongent et se prolongent sans fin, et qui s'interrompent un instant pour reprendre encore leur niveau et se continuer encore, impriment à la nature un caracterè de tranquillité qui assoupit l'imagination et qui apaise le cœur. Par une singularité peut-être unique au monde, les variétés qui viennent rompre de distance en distance la vaste uniformité de la terre égyptienne se reproduisent toujours les mêmes." [We have refrained from translating this piece of word painting, lest its suggestive rhythm should vanish in the process.—Ed.]
↑ Similar notions are expressed by M. Ch. Blanc in his Grammaire des Arts du Dessin (book i. ch. viii.). "The wide-spreading base is the distinguishing characteristic of the Egyptian monuments. Wall, pier, and column, all the constructive members of Egyptian architecture, are short and thick set. To add to this appearance of solidity the relative size of the base is increased by that tendency towards the pyramid which is to be found in every Egyptian building. The pyramids of Memphis, one of them the greatest building upon earth, stand upon enormous

[1] Egyptian landscape is well characterised in these lines of M. Ch. Blanc, taken from the Voyage de la Haute Égypte (p. 116): "Pour le moment, notre plaiser se borne à regarder un paysage simple, monotone, mais grand par sa simplicité même et par sa monotonie. Ces lignes planes qui s'allongent et se prolongent sans fin, et qui s'interrompent un instant pour reprendre encore leur niveau et se continuer encore, impriment à la nature un caracterè de tranquillité qui assoupit l'imagination et qui apaise le cœur. Par une singularité peut-être unique au monde, les variétés qui viennent rompre de distance en distance la vaste uniformité de la terre égyptienne se reproduisent toujours les mêmes." [We have refrained from translating this piece of word painting, lest its suggestive rhythm should vanish in the process.—Ed.]

[2] Similar notions are expressed by M. Ch. Blanc in his Grammaire des Arts du Dessin (book i. ch. viii.). "The wide-spreading base is the distinguishing characteristic of the Egyptian monuments. Wall, pier, and column, all the constructive members of Egyptian architecture, are short and thick set. To add to this appearance of solidity the relative size of the base is increased by that tendency towards the pyramid which is to be found in every Egyptian building. The pyramids of Memphis, one of them the greatest building upon earth, stand upon enormous

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