The golden throne of the monarch stood under an embroidered canopy or awning supported by four pillars of gold inlaid with precious stones.

[PLATE XXXV.] Couches resplendent with silver and gold filled the rooms.

The private chamber of the monarch was adorned with a number of objects, not only rich and splendid, but valuable as productions of high art.

Here, impending over the royal bed, was the golden vine, the work of Theodore of Samos, where the grapes were imitated by means of precious stones, each of enormous value.

Here, probably, was the golden plane-tree, a worthy companion to the vine, though an uncourtly Greek declared it was too small to shade a grasshopper.