we direct our attention to the columns before us, which are reduced models of a portion of the celebrated Temple of Karnac at Thebes. This temple was, perhaps, one of the largest and most interesting in Egypt; the principal portions said to have been erected by Rameses II. about 1170 B. C. It seems to have been a fashion with the Theban kings to make additions to this temple during their respective reigns; and, as each monarch was anxious to outvie his predecessor, the size of the fabric threatened to become unbounded. Temples and tombs were the grand extravagances of the Egyptian kings. The sums that modern rulers devote to palaces which add to their splendour whilst living, were given by the remote princes of whom we speak, and who regarded life as only a fleet passage towards eternity, for the construction of enduring homes when life should have passed away. Inasmuch as, if the career of an Egyptian king proved irreligious or oppressive, the priests and people could deny him sepulture in his own tomb, it is not unlikely that many Egyptian kings lavished large sums upon temples, in order to conciliate the priestly favour, and to secure for their em

balmed bodies the much-prized sanctuary. It is to be observed, however, with respect to the names and inscriptions found on Egyptian monuments, that they are by no means always to be taken as an authentic account of the illustrious remains within. Some of the Egyptian kings have been proved guilty of erasing from tombs the names of their predecessors, and of substituting their own; an unwarrantable and startling deception that has proved very awkward and embarrassing to Egyptian antiquaries.

Column from Karnac.

The portion of Karnac here modelled is taken from the Hall of Columns, commenced by Osirei the First, and completed by his son, Rameses the Great-a most illustrious monarch, who flourished during the twelfth century before Christ, whose deeds are frequently recorded, and whose statue is found in many parts of Egypt. Before entering the temple we stay to notice the representations of animals and birds on the frieze above the columns, which is the dedication of the temple to the gods. Entering between the

columns, on the lower part of which is the name of Rameses the Great, and, in the middle, a representation of the three principal divinities of Thebes receiving offerings from King Osirei ;—and, after thoroughly examining this interesting restoration, we return again into the outer court. Regaining the nave, a few steps,

directed to the left, bring us to

The over

Architecture and sculpture have here made a stride. We have noted even in Egypt the advance from early rude effort to a consistent gigantic system of art, that covers and almost darkens the land under the shadow of a stern hierarchical religion. We step at once from the gloom into the sunshine of Greek art. whelming grandeur of Egypt, with its austere conventionalities is exchanged for true simplicity, great beauty, and ideality. Just proportions, truth, and grace of form and appropriate ornament characterized Greek architecture. The fundamental principles of construction, as will readily be seen, were the same in Greece as in Egypt, but improved, added to, and perfected. The architecture of both countries was columnar; but, compare the Greek columns before us with those which we just now saw in Egypt, taken from the tomb of Beni Hassan; the latter are simple, rude, ill-proportioned, and with slight pretension to beauty, whilst, in the former, the simplicity still prevailing, the rudeness and heaviness have

departed, the pillars taper gracefully, and are finely proportioned and elegant, though of great strength. The specimen of Greek architecture before us is from the later period of the first order, namely, the Doric; and the court is taken, in part, from the Temple of Jupiter at Nemea, which was built about 400 years B. C., still within the verge of the highest period of Greek Art, Passing along the front, we notice on the frieze above the columns the names of the principal Greek cities and colonies.

We enter the court through the central opening. This portion represents part of a Greek agora, or forum, which was used as a market, and also for public festivals, for political and other assemblies. Around the frieze in this central division are the names of the poets, artists, philosophers of Greece, and of their most celebrated patrons, the list commencing immediately above the place of entrance, with old blind Homer, and finishing with Anthemius the architect of Saint Sophia at Constantinople. The names, it will be remarked, are inserted in the Greek characters of the period at which the various persons lived. The monograms within the chaplets on the frieze are formed of the initial letters of the Muses, the Graces, the Good and the Wise; on the walls are also pictures representing the Olympian Gods and Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the Judgment of Paris, Destruction of Ilium, and Escape of Æneas and Anchises, Hades and the Argonautic expedition. The colouring of this court, with its blue, red, and yellow surfaces, blazoned with gold, produces an excellent effect. It is the object of the decorators to give to the whole of the architectural specimens in the Crystal Palace, those colours which there is reason to know, or to believe, they originally possessed; to restore them, in fact, as far as possible to their pristine state, in order that the imagination of the spectator may be safely conducted back in contemplation to the artistic characteristics of distant and distinctive ages. In this court are arranged sculptures and models of temples. Amongst the former will be recognised many of the finest statues and groups of the Greek school, the Laocoon (16); the Farnese Juno (6); the well-known Discobolus (4) from the Vatican; the Ariadne, also from the Vatican (27); the Sleeping, or Barberini Faun (19); and, in the centre, the unrivalled Venus of Melos (1). * We make our way round this court, beginning at the right hand. After examining the collection, we pass between the columns into the small side court, (next to Egypt), answering to a stoa of the Agora. Around the frieze are

* These numbers refer to the Handbook of the Greek Court.

found the names of the great men of the Greek colonies, arranged in chronological order. The visitor has here an opportunity of contrasting the architecture and sculpture of the Egyptians with those of the Greeks. On one side of him is an Egyptian wall inclining inwards, with its angular pictorial decorations, and the On the other side passive colossal figures guarding the entrances.

are the beautiful columns and bold cornice of the Greek Doric, surrounded by statues characterized by beauty of form and refined idealized expression. In this division will also be found the busts of the Greek Poets, arranged

in chronological order, commencing on the right-hand side from the nave: these form a portion of the Portrait Gallery of the Crystal Palace.

Making our way through the opening in the back, opposite the Nave, we enter a covered atrium, commonly attached to the portion of the agora here reproduced. The massive antæ, or square pillars, and the panelled ceiling -the form of the latter adapted from the Temple of Apollo at Bassæ in Arcadiagive the

Portrait of Homer.

ceed, to the right, down this atrium, occasionally stepping out to examine the sculpture arranged in the gallery, and the restored and coloured frieze of the Parthenon of Athens, which extends its length along the wall. The coloured portion has been executed under the direction of Mr. Owen Jones, the golden hair and the several tints being founded on authentic examples which still exist on analogous remains of ancient Greek art. This frieze represents the Panathenaic procession to the temple of Athene Polias, which formed part of the display at this greatest of the Athenian festivals, and took place every fourth year. Dividing the frieze, is one of the most interesting objects in the Crystal Palace, a model of the western front of the Parthenon itself, about one-fourth the size of the original structure. This is the largest