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Notices respecting Neiv Books. S07 



nian work of the best age of sciilptnre, and not a copy by any more 

 modern artist ; and that if it was executed neither by Myron him- 

 self nor under his direction, it is yet not likely to have been miieli 

 inferior to t!ie orii^inal, while it may serve, at the same time, as 

 some proof of the esteem in which that work was held at Athens. 



But the most numerous examples of Pcntelic marble are to be 

 foimd in those works of Pl)idias which form the collection of Lord 

 Elgin, and which afford easy access to examination. In the pre- 

 sent corroded and tarnished state of the surfaces of these statues 

 we cannot trace the nature or the defects of this variety, but an 

 examination of its texture and composition in the broken frag- 

 ments, serves to excite the deepest regret, that the genius of the 

 greatest sculptor whom the world has seen, should for want of 

 better m;;terials liave been condemned to bestow irs energies on 

 so perishable and so defective a stone. This marble is of a loose 

 texture and moderate-sized grain, coarser than that of Carrara, 

 but finer than that of Paros; in colour it is exceedingly imperfect, 

 being tinged with gray, brown, and yellow, and mottled with 

 transparent parts, whicli give it the appearance of having )>eeil 

 stained with oil. But its most formidal>le defect is its laminated 

 structure, and the quantity of mica with which it is contaminated: 

 to this we are to attribute tlie corrosion and almost entire ruin of 

 so many of the specimen^:, the action of the weather dissolving 

 those parts of the stone wliere the mica is mo^t abundant, and 

 eating deep fissures through many parts of the work. It is pe- 

 culiarly unfortunate tiiat the two most admirable specimens, spe- 

 cimens which are calculated to excite in the minds of artists a 

 mixed feeling of wonder and despair, the horse's head and tiie 

 Theseus, should be those whicli have sufl'ered most. Had they 

 been fortunately executed in ihe more uniform and durable stone 

 of Carrara, these v.orks might still have been preserved to us in 

 all their original perfection of drawing and surface. Even the 

 hammer of the Turk would have rebounded with little injury hem 

 the nuubles of this texture, v^hile the micaceous stone of Pente- 

 licus splitting in the direction of its laminje, has permitted the 

 complete mutilation of many valuable sculptures. 



" We have no geological information with regard to the rela- 

 tions of these stones. The great resemblance of tbe Pentelic 

 marble to that of Glen Tilt-in aspect and composition, renders it 

 probable that like this it lies in mica slate, forming beds parallel 

 to aril', interstratified with that rock : that the others have similar 

 relations to the primary rocks, we should have concluded on ge- 

 neral geological i)rinciplcs, had we not alieady seen that the white 

 marble of ,sky wiiich has given rise to this discussion belongs to 

 liio secondary strata. 



" VVc have now to examine tl>c white marblefe which have beetx 

 U 2 discovered 



