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Charles Kean [1856], Shakespeare's play of the Winter's Tale, arranged for representation at the Princess's Theatre, with historical and explanatory notes, by Charles Kean. As first performed on Monday, April 28th, 1856 (Printed by John K. Chapman and Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S33200]. To look up a word in a dictionary, select the word with your mouse and press 'd' on your keyboard.
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NOTES ON GREEK VASES.
Many of the dresses in this play will be recognised in “Hope's
Costume of the Ancients,” but in every instance, the original
sources—either the actual vases or authorised engravings from
them, by Millin Tischbein, and the Antiquarian Society of Herculaneum
—have been referred to. Hope, unfortunately, did not arrange his materials with sufficient
reference to the different varieties of style and period;
hence, in his work, many ornaments and devices peculiar to
extreme antiquity have been engrafted on examples of a comparatively
modern date and vice versâ. He too often employed his engraver to represent ancient sculpture
like the figures on the painted vases, adding his own patterns
to surfaces that were really plain. For these reasons his work cannot be implicitly relied on; but
he has rendered great general service by forming so extensive
and suggestive a collection. Since Mr. Hope's publication, many important discoveries have
been made. Numerous vases found at Athens, Corinth, Vulci,
and many parts of South Italy, have greatly contributed to extend
our knowledge of ancient manners and life. So great has been
the variety of incidents represented on these vases, that Dr.
Theodor Panofka, a German antiquary, has published a series of
pictures, illustrating, to the minutest particulars, the lives and
customs of the Greek men and women from the cradle to the
tomb. Like the Egyptians, the Greeks were fond of representing the
incidents of life around them. These subjects, blended with their
fables, decorated their walls and vases. The latter served as prizes
in the games, marks of special favour, and gifts of costly price.
The victor was, not unfrequently, buried in his own prize. Many
vases in the British Museum were found with human ashes in
them. They were not manufactured after the year 146, B.C. It is to superstition and to the veneration of the ancient Greeks
for the departed, that we are indebted for their preservation. The Greeks, as in modern India, were accustomed to bury with
their dead all articles of value most prized by the deceased during
life time. The tombs were closed, and severe anathema inscribed
on the entrance, imprecating the most awful curses on all who
should, intentionally or otherwise, violate their sanctity. Hence,
so many treasures and works of art have been found intact.
During the changes and accumulations of succeeding ages, the
tombs were often lost sight of and forgotten. In the time of
Julius Cæsar, painted vases, when accidentally discovered, were
sold at enormous prices. Thousands of painted vases have been discovered in the Necropolis,
at Vulci, within the last twenty years, and many tombs are
annually found in South Italy far beneath the level of the soil.
Their paintings are especially interesting, both to the antiquary
and observer of human nature. The intention of the artist is
generally made still clearer by Greek inscriptions giving the
names of the persons, and sometimes places represented. The name Etruscan vases should rather be exchanged for Grecian,
because they were made in Greece, generally at Corinth, and thence
exported to all parts of Italy. Thus only a small portion, namely,
those found in North Italy, could be properly styled Etruscan. These few words, connected with a class of art that has given
us a true insight into the domestic habits and refinements of the
ancients, because the work of their own hands, at their highest cultivation,
have been appended in the desire to awaken attention to an
entertaining branch of study, and to afford some proof that the following
quoted authorities are based on a well-grounded foundation.
COSTUMES.
The Tiara from a Figure of Minos on a Vase at Munich.
Leontes, (First Dress)—From a Figure of the Lycian King, Jobates,
on a Vase in the Hamilton Collection. Engraved in
Tischbein's Hamilton Vases, vol. 1., pl. 1.Leontes, (Second Dress)—The black Himation, or Mantle, was
the peculiar sign of mourning among the Greeks of the most
refined period.Antigonus, (First Dress)—From a Figure of Priam, on a Vase
in the Museum of the Vatican. Museum Gregorianum,
vol. 2, tav. 60.Camillo (Second Dress)—From Figure of a Pædagogos, on a
Vase belonging to the Duc de Blacas, at Paris. Panofka,
Musée Blacas, pl. 7.Autolycus, (First Dress)—Wears the felt cap, still used in Asia Minor.Autolycus, (Second Dress)—Hamilton Vases, vol. 1, pl. 43.Autolycus, (Third Dress)—From a Vase, engraved in Gerhard's
Auserlesene Vasenbilder, taf. 166.Cleomenes and Dion—From Figures of the Dioscuri consulting
the Oracle at Delphi. Engraved in Gerhard's Denkmäler
und Forschungen, taf. 59.First Attendant—From a Figure published as Ulysses, by Millin,
in his Peintures de Vases Antiques, vol. 1., pl. 14.Second Attendant—From a Figure on a Vase in the British
Museum, representing the story of Pelops and Hippodamia.Second Lord—From a Figure of Castor on the celebrated Vase,
painted by Meidias, in the British Museum.Polixenes, (First Dress)—From a Figure on a large Vase at Naples,
representing a company of tragedians at full dress rehearsal.
Monumenti inediti dell' Instituto di Roma. Atlas,
vol. 3, tav. 31.Polixenes, (Second Dress)—From a Figure of Castor on a large
Vase at Naples, belonging to M. Jatta, representing the
Dioscuri with Talos.Mariner—From a Figure of Charon wearing the Exomis, a one-sleeved
dress, on an Athenian Lecythus Vase, found at
Athens. Engraved in Stackelberg, Gräber der Hellenen,
pl. 47.Old Shepherd—Wears the Bardocucullus, a Hood seen in statues
of Telesphorus, the same as the Capote of the modern Greeks.The Clown wears the thick casing still used by the Shepherds of Asia Minor.Heralds, Squires, and Officer of the Court—From a Vase
in the Louvre, representing the departure of Achilles and
Patroclus, and the combat between Achilles and Telephus.The Elders of the Council—Paintings in Tischbein's Hamilton
Vases, pls. 3, 20, and 54. And Gerhard's Vases et Coupes,
taf. 23 and 24.Guards—From a Vase in the British Museum, representing the
departure of Lycaon. Engraved by G. Scharf, in Dr. Smith's
smaller Dictionary of Antiquities, s. v. Arma.Officers—From a Vase at Naples, representing the Fall of
Troy. Museo Borbonico, vol. xiv., tav. 41.Mamillius, the King's Son, from a Vase in the Collection of
Mr. Rogers. The Toy from an actual Greek one in terracotta,
preserved in the British Museum.Trumpeters—with the Lascion or curtained shield, from Vases
in the British Museum, Nos. 756, 757, and 873.Men with Skins over their Heads, from an Ancient Cameo.
Tassie's Gems, No. 4867.Attendants on Polixenes—From a Painted Vase, representing
King Midas with his Attendants. Published in the Atlas of
the Monumenti dell' Instituto di Roma, vol. 1., pl. 50 and
a Vase at Rome. Engraved in Gerhard's Auserlesene Vasenbilder,
taf. 166.The Butler, or Symposiarch—From a Vase at Berlin. Engraved
in Gerhard's Vases et Coupes, taf. 20.Musicians—From the Frieze of the Parthenon—Pompeian Paintings.
The walls of a Tomb in the Necropolis at Tarquinii,
and Painted Vases in the British Museum.Florizel and Bithynian Shepherds—Adapted from the dress
of the beautiful Phygrian youth, Atys. Zoega's Bassi-rilievi,
tav. 13; and Hope's Costumes, pl. 19.Florizel—From a Figure of Paris on a Vase found at Ruvo, now
in the Karlsruhe Collection. Engraved in Gerhard's Vases,
Apuliens, taf. D.Time was personified by the Greeks under the name &grX;&grR;&grO;&grN;&grO;&grST;
Cronos, a later version of &grK;&grR;&grO;&grN;&grO;&grST; and under that of &grA;&grI;&grW;&grN;
Ævum. The one was represented in Ancient Art, with the
head veiled and holding the Falx or pruning hook; the other
of terrible aspect, with key and sceptre. Both Figures were
provided with wings. Vide Pompeian Painting, Museo
Borbonico, vol. ix., tav. 26. The Apotheosis of Homer in
the British Museum, and a Sculpture in the Villa Albani, at
Rome, engraved in Zoega's Bassi-rilievi, tav. 59.The Group of Selene, the Moon, sinking into the Ocean, and
the Stars setting, is composed from Greek Bas-reliefs relating
to Endymion; Paintings found in Tombs at Canosa, and a
beautiful Vase Painting in the Musée Blacas, at Paris.The Rising Phœbus—From the centre of the Shield of Achilles,
by Flaxman, and a Vase in the Imperial Collection of Vienna.
Engraved in Gerhard's Archäologische Zeitung, No. 20.Hermione—From a Painted Vase in the Royal Museum at Berlin,
representing the Marriage of Hercules and Hebe. Engraved
in Gerhard's Vases Apuliens, taf. 15.Perdita—From a Painted Vase at Naples, representing a Sacrifice
to Venus. Millingen. Peintures Antiques de Vases Grecs,
pl. 41.Paulina—From a personage of high rank on a Vase in the Hamilton
Collection. Tischbein, vol. 1., pl. 9.Emilia—From Vase Paintings. Engraved in Gerhard, Antike
Bildwerke, taf. 17, and Tischbein's Hamilton Vases, vol. 1.,
pl. 15.Satyrs—From a Statue of Silenus in the Palazzo Gentili, at
Rome. Gerhard, Antike Bildwerke, taf. cv., No. 3.Swineherds—From a Mosaic found in the Tablinum of the
house of the Tragic Poet at Pompeii. Museo Borbonico,
vol. ii., tav. 56.Rustic Boys with Bells—From Bassi-rilievi in the Capitol and
the Vatican, at Rome. Foggini Museum Capitolinum, vol.
3, pl. 49; and Visconti Mus. Pio. Clem., vol. 4, tav. 20.
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