beauty of the anthemion and its ready adaptability, has doubtless rendered it one of the best known types of ornament. Like the Egyptian and Assyrian prototype the Greek anthemion is usually arranged with alternate flower and bud, connected by a curved line or more frequently by a double spiral. Illustrations are given on the opposite plate of a few typical examples, where the rhythm and beauty of composition are indicative of the culture and perfection of Greek craftsmanship.
Another feature, which at a later period received considerable development, was the scroll given on the preceding page, which is a fine example from the roof of the monument to Lysicrates. The scroll cut with V shaped sections, springs from a nest of sharp acanthus foliage, the same features being observed in the nest of foliage which supports the tripod upon the apex of the roof ([plate 6]). This scroll is formed of a series of spirals springing from each other, the junction of the spiral being covered by a sheath or flower; the spiral itself being often broken by a similar sheath.
This spiral form, with its sheathing, is the basis of the Roman and Italian Renascence styles, and sharply differentiates them from the Gothic ornament, in which the construction line is continuous and unbroken.
The rosette, a survival of the traditional Assyrian form was frequently used upon the architrave (fig. 6), and the funeral stele (fig. 5 [plate 5]) where its circular and radiating form contrasts so beautifully with the functional straight lines of architectural design. The extraordinary vitality and versatility of the Greek craftsmen may be traced through a magnificent series of coins dating from B.C. 700 to B.C. 280. The interest of subject, beauty of composition and largeness of style, combined with the utmost delicacy of technique, of these gold, silver and electrum coins are a reflex on the artistic feeling for beauty of the early Greeks.
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. [Plate 7.]
