One of the most interesting branches of Roman ceramics--the various uses of terra-cotta, we pass with a brief reference. The oldest statues are terra-cotta, and of the same material are water spouts, window frames, friezes, capitals, and pillars. Terra-cotta statues were made from the early days, when Etruria was the centre from which Rome supplied itself, down to the Empire, although in the interim the conquest of Magna Græcia and Greece had rendered the beautiful Greek marbles and bronzes accessible to the Romans. The architectural bas-reliefs were highly esteemed by the Romans themselves, and show that the Greeks, both at home and residing in Italy, applied themselves to this particular branch of art with devotion and success. The subjects are generally Greek, and are taken from both mythology and history. The gods of both greater and lesser orders appear under many of the characters ascribed to them, and the adventures of Ulysses and Achilles, the feats of Theseus, and the labors of Hercules, are a never-failing treasury of effective subjects. The result of all our inquiries may be summed up in this contradiction, that Roman ceramic art deserving of the name is Greek, and that the potters who were Roman have left little beyond household wares to attest their skill. With the fall of the Roman Empire the art, which had long been declining, disappeared from view. Pottery must, no doubt, have been produced. The household necessities of the people must have been satisfied, even amidst internal disruption and barbarian invasions; but there is no evidence that anything worthy of being called an art was kept alive. The revival of the ceramic art of Italy must be dated from the time of Luca della Robbia, in the fifteenth century. To account for the forms it took, an endeavor must be made to join it on to the different branches which preceded it elsewhere. The only danger to be incurred is that of being confused by the multiplicity and yet substantial unity of its sources. Without repeating what has been said in the chapter devoted to the fountains of European art, let it be remembered that, in the year 827, the Saracens conquered Sicily, and that they introduced into that island a manufacture similar to that found in Spain. They embellished the mosque of Palermo with tiles like those of the Alhambra, and these tiles were afterward imitated in works produced in Sicily itself. Afterward, in the fourteenth century, Moorish works were established at Calata Girone, or Caltagirone, in Sicily, and some pieces attributed to them are decorated with copper lustre upon stanniferous enamel. To this period belong the Siculo-Moresque vases in the Castellani collection, which date from the fourteenth century downward (Fig. 201). It is observable that the metallic lustre does not appear in the earlier pieces, which have an unmistakably Persian style of decoration. One specimen will suffice, viz., an oval vase covered