Note (return) — THE TEMPLE ON THE ACROPOLIS BURNT BY THE PERSIANS.

The trees serve also to mark the end of the preceding scenes, and to contrast the land, upon which they stand, with the sea, of which we behold a portion on either side, while a pair of corresponding, semi-human dolphins (VIII : VIII¹) are just leaping into the element which is to form their home. These dolphins are not quite accurately drawn in Stuart and Revett, for what appears as an under jaw is, as Dodwell 105 rightly pointed out, a fin, and their mouths are closed; the teeth, which are seen in Stuart's drawing and all subsequent reproductions of it, do not exist on the monument. The correct form of the head may be seen in the British Museum publication.