175).

The Theban catacombs of the Ramesside period supply abundant examples of contrivances of this kind; and, having noted them, we end by not knowing which most to wonder at--the obstinacy of the Egyptians in not seeking to discover the natural laws of perspective, or the inexhaustible wealth of resource which enabled them to invent so many false relations between the various parts of their subjects.
[Illustration: Fig.

174 .-- Pond and palm-trees, from wall painting in tomb of Rekhmara, Eighteenth Dynasty.] When employed upon a very large scale, their methods of composition shock the eye less than when applied to small subjects.

We instinctively feel that even the ablest artist must sometimes have played fast and loose with the laws of perspective, if tasked to cover the enormous surfaces of Egyptian pylons.
[Illustration: Fig.

175 .-- Scene from tomb of Rekhmara, Eighteenth Dynasty.] [Illustration: Fig.