

Notices respecting Neiv Booh. 30.") 



*' A Venus, of a similar grain, and agreeing with tlie charac- 

 ter of t!ie niarmo statuario, 



*' Zeuo, a bust, of a very coarse grain. 



'* A terminal head of Bacchus. 



*' A terminal head of Mercury. 



" A Jupiter Serapis. 



" Bacchus and Ampelus. 



" Marcus Aurelius, a bust. 



" There are others, but it is not requisite to enumerate them. 



" A marble of a much finer grain, and capable of a high polish, 

 is described by the antients, as found near the river Coralus in 

 Phrygia, as well as in some of the Greek islands : it is supposed 

 to be the variety known to statuaries by the name of marmo Gre- 

 co, and some ancient statues are described as being formed of 

 lliis marble. It is possible that specimens of it may exist in the 

 British Museum, but our sculptors are, as far as I know, incapa- 

 ble of distipguishing it at present, and it is much too hazardous 

 to assign the place of a particuhu- specimen from the contempla- 

 tion of a polished and often of a stained surface. Mr. Tennant 

 has found that the marmo Greco is a magnesian limestone. 



'• I am equally unable to point out specimens of that variety 

 knowni to the Italians by the name of marmo statuario, of which 

 tlie quarries are also lost, but which, with greater translucency of 

 surface, resembles the Parian marble in the largeness of its grain, 

 unless those which I have conjectured to belong to this variety, 

 when describing the specimens of sculpture in Parian, do in fact 

 ap;)ertain to the latter. 



" The quarries of Luna produce a compact white marble sus- 

 ceptible of a high polish, and capable of being wrought with tlw; 

 nio,*t minute accuracy. Ilcnce it is preferable for the finer ope- 

 rations of bas-rehef, either to the Parian, of which the aspect in- 

 terferes with the delicacy of finish and of surface required in these 

 works, or to the Pentelic, which was subject to accidents from 

 veins of mica and of serpentine, or to that of Carrara, in which 

 dark veins are of frequent occurrence. It was accordingly pre- 

 ferred by the antients, and among many other works, the Apollo 

 (Belvedere) is said to have been executed in Luna marble. We 

 have no other knowledge of the marbles of Hymettus and of Ara- 

 bia than their names. 



" Of all the marbles employed in the works of the antients, and 

 ot which many specimens have descended to our days, that of 

 Ciarrara is almost the oidy one which is at present held in esti- 

 mation, or is now accessible to modern sculptors. This marble 

 i^ of a very fine grain and compact texture ; it is also susceptible 

 of a high polish when required, and is consecpiently applicable to 

 every species of sculpture, except when^ as is too often the case. 



Vol. 48. No. 222. Oct. 1 810". U dark 



