skill
and mastery over his material and his store of observation gave him a
facility in giving this individuality a visible form which may not be so
obvious at first sight as the individuality of a Florentine or of a
modern head, but which is none the less there for those who have eyes to
see it, and who can accustom themselves to the subtle atmosphere of
ancient art, and to the moderation and restraint which are seldom, if
ever, violated in its most characteristic productions.

CHAPTER IV

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

We have already noticed the religious conceptions and impulses which led
to the substitution of images in human shape for the rude stocks and
stones of primitive worship. The beginning of the change seems to have
taken place at an early stage in the development of Greek art. In
pre-Hellenic times we find representation of gods and goddesses in human
form upon gems and other small works of art, and also in statuettes that
were either objects of worship or dedicated in shrines; but we have at
present no evidence as to whether monumental images of the gods were
made in human form, though some objects of worship, such as the
double-axe, were certainly set up in regular shrines. We know too little
about the religious beliefs and customs of this prehistoric age to be
able to judge whether such objects were regarded merely as symbols of
the deity or as having immanent in them some divine or superhuman power;
but survivals, especially of an early tree and pillar cult, are probably
to be traced in historic Greece, and even to the present day.

The Homeric poems, on the other hand, supply us with little or no
evidence as to the existence of any sculptural representation of the
gods. Although temples are frequently mentioned, we are not informed
that any of them contained a sacred image, with the apparent exception
of the temple of Athena at Troy. There we are told that the Trojan
matrons, in a time of stress, brought a robe to offer to the goddess,
and that the priestess Theano placed it "upon the knees of
beauteous-haired Athene." Unless, as is possible, this is a purely
metaphorical expression, it would seem to imply a seated statue; but it
is to be noted that the Palladium of Troy, the sacred image of Athena
which was stolen by Ulysses and Diomed, and which was preserved,
according to conflicting traditions, in one or another shrine in later
Greece, was a standing statue of a primitive type. The inconsistency i