In each of the sections at the bottom is a standing figure. In those
of the end wall (5) are a satyr and a bacchante; in the two nearest
the middle of each side wall are Amazons, in the rest female figures
with implements of sacrifice. The Amazons, armed with battle-axe and
shield, are full of life; they are distinguished by the colors of
their mantles and their Phrygian caps.
In the narrow sections on the end walls (4), and all but four of the
others, were Psyches gathering flowers. Only a part of the scenes are
preserved; in each are three figures, grouped with a pleasing variety
and rendered with singular delicacy of touch. In one, the Psyches are
sprightly children (Fig. 164); in another, young girls; and in a third
we see a lady sitting at ease and plucking the flowers close at hand,
while two maids gather the blossoms beyond her reach.
The two narrow sections nearest the middle panel of each side wall
contained mythological scenes, of which three are preserved. The
subjects are taken from the cycle of myths relating to Apollo and
Artemis. In one of the pictures both the divinities appear. Apollo
has just slain the Python, which lies coiled about the Omphalos, the
sacred symbol of the god as the giver of oracles at Delphi. His bow
and quiver are hanging upon a column in the background, and he moves
forward with vigorous step singing the Paean with an accompaniment
upon the cithara. At the right, Artemis, with a quiver and long
hunting spear, leans upon a pillar looking at her brother. Nearer the
Omphalos are a priest and a female attendant, with a bull intended for
sacrifice; the relation of these to the rest of the scene is not clear
(Plate VIII.).
The companion picture takes us to a sanctuary dedicated to Artemis. At
the left a gilt bronze image of the goddess, in hunting costume,
stands upon a pillar, to the side of which a bow, quiver, and boar's
head are fastened. On one side of the round altar in the middle is a
white hind, sacred to the goddess; on the other, moving toward it with
a sword in the uplifted right hand, is a kingly figure, the face
turned with a wild and threatening look toward a frightened attendant;
another attendant, back of the hind, seems not yet to have noticed the
sacrilegious intruder. The composition is full of dramatic power; the
subject can be none other than the slaying of the hind of Artemis by
the impious Agamemnon (Plate VIII.).
The third of these small paintings presents a scene not infrequently
met with on Pompeian walls, Orestes and Pylades at Tauris in the
presence of King Thoas, and of Iphigenia, who is now a priestess of
Artemis. The conception is akin to that of the painting in the house
of the Citharist (Fig. 182), but the picture is partially obliterated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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