Mr Wilson on the State of the Arts in Italy. 101 



other buildings. In connection with the arts which the archi- 

 tect summons to his aid, I shall now notice that of ornamental 

 sculpture ; and here again we must acknowledge the superior 

 skill of the Italians. The chief encouragement to ar- 

 tists of this description, is that given by foreigners, especially 

 by English travellers in Italy. Copies of ancient sculptures, 

 vases, chimney-pieces, and other ornamental articles, are exe- 

 cuted in the most perfect manner, and at a very cheap rate. 

 Such is the skill of the Italian workmen, that a native of Car- 

 rara actually cut a bird-cage in marble, which he presented 

 to his sovereign the Duke of Modena, who, by the return he 

 made, rather shewed his sense of the folly of the sculptor, than 

 of his patient perseverance in the production of so useless a 

 specimen of his skill. 



But whilst the sculptor displays his skill in these compara- 

 tively trifling departments, he is equally successful in the exe- 

 cution of architectural details on the most gigantic scale, whe- 

 ther in solid marble or in veneer. By this latter art he pro- 

 duces magnificent columns plain and fluted, the core of which 

 is of coarse stone, but the joining of the marble-coating is so 

 perfect, that the finished pillar seems a mass of solid marble. 

 The marble is attached in a rough state to the core by 

 means of a cement composed of resin and marble dust, which 

 is so tenacious, that it admits of the hammering, chiselling, 

 and polishing necessary in finishing the work. By means of 

 this system of veneering, the interior walls of churches and 

 other buildings are encrusted with rich and varied marbles, 

 and tables and other articles of furniture are manufactured 

 at a very cheap rate. The art which I have just described is, 

 in fact, that of pietra dura on a gigantic scale. 



With the sculpture of the Italians in alabaster, you must 

 be all acquainted. This art is chiefly practised at Pisa, Florence, 

 and Leghorn. The material, besides being used in sculpture, 

 is ingeniously applied in Rome to the manufacture of false 

 pearls. The piecesof alabaster, after being turned and filed into 

 the proper shape, are enveloped in a brilliant paste, made 

 with the scales of a very small fish found near the shores of 

 the Mediterranean. 



To return to the subsidiary arts of architecture, I may re? 



