Whence came the inspiration, the perception of beauty, which made the ordinary potter an artist, no man can tell. It is not possible that the men who worked at the potter's wheel in Athens, or in Samos, or in Crete, were "educated," as we say it, to such a fine sense of the beautiful. We, with all the education we can put into our people, do not equal them. We can no more explain this than we can tell how such a wonderful growth of beautiful cathedrals shot up into life in France in what we call the "Middle Ages." Nor was this perfection only to be found among the potters who worked in Greece. It brought forth works fit for gods in Cyrenaica, on the northern coast of Africa, in great abundance; of which farther on we give an example in the _Cup of Arcesilaus_. The wandering potters who went into Italy, and there produced those beautiful vases, were Greeks. We have been in the habit of calling them "Etruscan vases," because they have been found in largest numbers and in most perfect preservation in Etruria. But it is now well known that the real Etruscan potters never reached the same technical skill, or had any such eye for form, as was common among the Greeks. [Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Greek Rhyton, in the Louvre._] I have mentioned the tombs--that many of the finest Greek vases have been found in those of Italy, and particularly in the part once called Etruria. In Fig. 30 is shown one of these tombs discovered near Naples. In it may be seen the remains of the body, with vases of various shapes standing or hanging on the wall. Most of the vases found with the dead in Greece were buried in the soil, and are thus less perfect than those found in Italy. [Illustration: FIG. 36.--_Greek Amphora, Panathenaic._] GOOD AND BAD.--While, then, we can exalt the Greek vase to a foremost place in the perfection of form, let us say that there are very many Greek vases and pots which are _bad_, _common_, _vulgar_. So that no buyer, no student, must admire with his eyes shut. Hardly any considerable collection is without these bad things. Therefore, whoever seizes upon a Greek vase with the belief that it is beautiful because it is Greek, may wake some day to dash his god to pieces as false. [Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Amphora, from the Louvre._] Let us guard, too, against another chance for disappointment. Nearly all the best vases extant have lain for centuries underground; they have lost the freshness and fineness of their polish; their coloring is often defaced; they are, perhaps, scratched or chipped. Seeing these rather dilapidated examples of the fictile art with eyes of extravagant expectation, one may feel disappointment or disgust. But let him look on till he sees and feels the subtile springing lines which shot from the brain of the potter, and inspired his hand to shape the vase. [Illustration: FIG. 38.--_Amphora._]