It was not only on these rock-cut sculptures that the gods appeared thus perched on the backs of animals; the motive was carried far afield by small and easily-portable objects, on which it very often occurs. It is to be found on many of the cylinders; we reproduce two as examples. Each of these shows us an individual in an attitude of worship before a god standing on a bull’s back. The main difference between the two is one of style. The cylinder engraved in Fig. 124 dates from the early Chaldæan monarchy, while its companion (Fig. 125) is ascribed by M. Ménant to the Assyrian dynasty of Calah.[270]
By their simplicity of arrangement and the nudity of their field, the sculptures of Bavian and Malthaï belong in some sense to the archaic period, but their figures are designed with that finer sense of proportion that distinguished Assyrian art from the reign of Sennacherib onwards. It was, however, in the palaces that the new tendency towards grace and slenderness chiefly made itself felt. We have no sculptures to speak of from the time of Esarhaddon, but no monarch has left us monuments more numerous or in better preservation than his son Assurbanipal. A visit to London is necessary, however, for their proper examination, as they have not yet been made the subject of any such publication as that devoted by Mr. Layard to remains from the time of Sennacherib and Assurnazirpal. Some idea of them may be formed, however, from the numerous fragments figured in these pages (Vol. I., Figs. 5, 27, 28; below, Figs. 162, 172, 174, 177–180, 188).
Fig. 124.—Chaldæan Cylinder. Hematite.[271]
Fig. 125.—Assyrian Cylinder.[272]
Speaking generally, the sculptors of Assurbanipal were the pupils of those of Sennacherib, with, perhaps, a larger endowment of taste and skill. Under them Assyrian art aimed higher than ever before. It was fascinated by movement, and endeavoured to render its accidents and unforeseen turns. From this point of view we must draw particular attention to the pictures representing the campaign of Assurbanipal against the Elamites. In these the figures are more numerous and more closely packed than anywhere else, and the chisel has attacked episodes more complicated and more difficult to treat. Here, for instance, is a chariot upset upon the battle-field; it is turned completely over, while the struggling horses pull different ways, and the occupants are thrown out head foremost. There are many technical defects and mistakes of drawing, but the attempt is none the less interesting.
Some of the reliefs show the same confused accumulation of figures as in the time of Sennacherib. Now and then we find as many as six horizontal divisions, each from ten to fourteen inches high. But their height obeys no regular or constant rule. The central division, with the king in his chariot, is two feet high. No attempt is made to distinguish planes by varying the size of the figures, to mark the successive moments of the action by dividing the groups, or to give prominence to the main incidents; the confusion is unbroken. Here, as in all the battle pieces, a very singular convention may be noticed. There are no dead or beaten Assyrians. If we may believe the artist, the kings of Nineveh won all their battles without losing a man!
The hunting scenes are arranged with more judgment. In certain respects we might place them in the same class as the great reliefs from Nimroud. By right of their dignity and breadth, the latter must be considered the masterpieces of Assyrian sculpture, but these later works can boast an amount of energy and vitality and a truthfulness of handling that are worthy of no stinted praise. The master by whom the conception was thought out abandoned the overloaded backgrounds that his immediate predecessors had brought into vogue. He concentrated his attention on the figures, to which he gave all the value he could. They stand out with singular force against a field whose unbroken surfaces happily suggest the immensity of the naked plains on which the hunts took place. We have already shown how well the distinctive features and movements of the dog, the lion, and the wild ass are rendered; in our Fig. 126 we give another example of the same kind. A sentiment of real interest is stirred in us on behalf of these wild goats with their young, who run and feed on the steppe while horsemen and beaters prepare to drive them into the treacherous nets.