After the time of Sapor I. there is a manifest decline in Sassanian art.  The reliefs of Varahran II. and Varahran III., of Narses and Sapor III., fall considerably below those of Sapor, son of Artaxerxes.  It is not till we arrive at the time of Varahran IV. (A.D. 388-399) that we once more have works which possess real artistic merit.  Indications have already appeared in an earlier chapter of this monarch’s encouragement of artists, and of a kind of art really meriting the name.  We saw that his gems were exquisitely cut, and embodied designs of first-rate excellence.  It has now to be observed further, that among the bas-reliefs of the greatest merit which belong to Sassanian times, one at least must be ascribed to him; and that, this being so, there is considerable probability that two others of the same class belong also to his reign.  The one which must undoubtedly be his, and which tends to fix the date of the other two, exists at Nakhsh-i-Kustam, near Persepolis, and has frequently been copied by travellers.  It represents a mounted warrior, with the peculiar head-dress of Varahran IV., charging another at full speed, striking him with his spear, and bearing both horse and rider to the ground. [PLATE XXXIX.] A standard-bearer marches a little behind; and a dead warrior lies underneath Varahran’s horse, which is clearing the obstacle in his bound.  The spirit of the entire composition is admirable; and though the stone is in a state of advanced decay, travellers never fail to admire the vigor of the design and the life and movement which characterize it.

[Illustration:  PLATE XXXIX.]

The other similar reliefs to which reference has been made exist, respectively, at Nakhsh-i-Eustam and at Firuzabad.  The Nakhsh-i-Rustam tablet is almost a duplicate of the one above described and represented, differing from it mainly in the omission of the prostrate figure, in the forms of the head-dresses borne by the two cavaliers, and in the shape of the standard.  It is also in better preservation than the other, and presents some additional details.  The head-dress of the Sassanian warrior is very remarkable, being quite unlike any other known example.  It consists of a cap, which spreads as it rises, and breaks into three points, terminating in large striped balls. [PLATE XXVI., Fig. 2.] His adversary wears a helmet crowned with a similar ball.  The standard, which is in the form of a capital T, displays also five balls of the same sort, three rising from the cross-bar, and the other two hanging from it.  Were it not for the head-dress of the principal figure, this sculpture might be confidently assigned to the monarch who set up the neighboring one.  As it is, the point must be regarded as undecided, and the exact date of the relief as doubtful.  It is, however, unlikely to be either much earlier, or much later, than the time of Varahran IV.