3G8 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[October, 



tiire, or thiit which united substances of difteront colours, and puly- 

 lithic statues, or tliosc composed of several stones.* These kinds of 

 sculpture, which are rejected by modern artists, had a great sway 

 amonff those of antiquity, even in the brightest periods of tlie art, and 

 v.ere held in greater estimation than monochromic sculptvue, or that 

 which made use of only one colour. As the periods in whicii the 

 greater port of the sculptmal substances have been used are unknown, 

 a chronological arrangement becomes impossible, and we have there- 

 fore arranged tlieni alphabetically in their several classes. 



C'l.AY. — This iiiictuons and binding earth was used in the tirst essays 

 in modelling, as in tlie case of Dilmtudes, 1)00 years before Christ. In 

 Greece there still existed, in the time of Pausanias, many very ancient 

 statues and bas-reliefs in terra-cotta. 



WOOBS MENTrONED IN THE ANCIEN'T AUTHOTiS. 



Box. — Statues were made of this, and the living tree also was cut 

 into the iignres of men an<l animals. We see instances of this appro- 

 priation of the box and the yew in the ancient paintings of the ilu- 

 seinn of Portici, now at Naples, where these trees are represented cut 

 and disposed in i ompartments, ser\ing as ornaments in the Roman 

 gardens, in the same way as they are used in modern times. Tablets 

 of box, and also those covered with wax, were useiA for drawing in 

 the time of Apelles.+ CEnAB, was regarded as incorru]itible. A resin 

 ■was also extraeteil from this tree, which was applied to wood and 

 ether objects wished to be |ireserved. It was often used as u kernel 

 or core of statues of gohl and ivory — according to some authors the 

 Diana of Ephesns was of this wood. CiTHOX. — This was a kind of 

 cedar, and was used in making vabiable tables of large dimensions. 

 Mr. Monges read at the Inslitnte, some years agi,, an interesting paper 

 on this wood and on the taljles. CoUK. — The bark of this tree was 

 one of the first substances used for small figures. Cypress. Euoxy 

 ■was much esteemed. Dipoenes and Sc.yllis of Egina made many sta- 

 tues of it, and as a religious idea was attached to' the colonr (jf certain 

 objects, it was probably used as a substitute for black marble. Fio- 

 TBEE, being white and easily worked, was also used for certain divini- 

 ties. Fir. was used for the wood-work of the horse of Troy. Lime- 

 tree. LoTi-s. Mapi.e. Myrtle. — At Lemnos, there was, according 

 to Pausanias, a statue of Venus erected by Pelops in female mvrtle. 

 This was probably a kind of log or rude idol, covered with' real 

 drapery. Oak. Oi.ive. Palm replaced the cork, although, fnjm its 

 fibres and knots, it could not have been favourable to sculpture. Wild 

 Pear-tree. — Of this wood there was a Juno at Samos. Peach. Pine. 

 Poplar. Yix'e. — The wild vine, and that of Cyprus, were particularly 

 used. The Diana of Ephesns was, according to some authors, of this 

 ■ivood. Although there are vine stocks of large dimensions, it is not 

 easily to be conceived how statues could be made of them, on account 

 of the number of knots; the wood also is stringy, and not easily 

 worked. Yew. Willow. Osier, and Sallow. — An Esculapius ofSparta, 

 •and a Juno of Samos, are mentioned as being made of wicker, but they 

 nuist have been as rude as scarecrows. The colossal figures called 

 Arg-a, thrown yearly into the Tiber, were made of these trees ; as also 

 the immense Colossus in which the Germans burned their prisoners 

 in honour of Teutates. 



metals and other materials. 

 Adamant. — A statue of Venus is spoken of as composed of ada- 

 inanl, and attracting a mass of iron. Ai-richalcum or Oiuchalcum, 

 ■was an alloy of copper and gold, esteemed for its brilliancy and hard- 

 ness. To prevent bronze from changing, ami to give it a gootl colom-, 

 it was rubbed with the amurca of olive, or with bitumen. Bronze, or 



* This prevailed even down to the jieriod of the decline of Roman art, and 

 the examples are so many that it is ahnost visplcss to refer to any indindnal 

 instances. Among others is the well known pantlier in tiie Museum at 

 Naples, of wlilte marlile with lilack marble spots, a I'lautilla in the Mnscmn 

 of the Camiiidoglio .it Home, also in white marble, but witl'. a movcahlo wig 

 of black raailile. The hair of tlic Venns de Mcdicis was gilt. In tlie Innvr'c 

 is a pol\;lu-i)niic statue of Home, of •svhich the hodv is in porplivrv, and the 

 head and arms in gilt In-onze. In the frieze of tl'ie rarthenoniii tlie Klgin 

 collection, are the lioles by which ornaments and instruments in gilt bronze 

 were affixed. Tlie ground-work also of the has-reliefs -ivas iialnted skv I>lne, 

 in order to throw out the tignres. At I'oniiieii, in the temide of Is'is, was 

 also found a mnrlile Venus witli gilt li,\ir, and most of the cornices of tlie 

 rooms are of a red or hhie ground. Tlic same is oljservahlc in most of tlic 

 ancient tem])lcs of Sicily. The li.air of tlie statues of the daughters of Ballms 

 at Herculaneum is painted red. The Minerva in ttie British 'Museum, with a 

 black behnet, is a nmdern restoration. — [Note of Translator.] 



t Box is used by the wood engravers ; pear-tree was used by Albert IJurer ; 

 and bamboo is used by the Cbiuete in tbeir plates for urintine. — FNote of 



Ttaii5iatw.j ■ f I b L 



Copper. — -The manner in whicli we employ this metal, gildino- it, or 

 covering it w itb a colour which it should derive only from time, pre- 

 \ents us from investigating those mixtures wliicb \vould give it greater 

 brilliancy or beauty. At present, however, at Paris, nnich more care 

 is used in the proportions of the alloys. Bronze or brass, more soliil 

 than copper, is only this latter metal united to tin or zinc in certain 

 [U'oporfiuns; the ancients wlio executed an innnense (piantify of 

 statues and works in bronze, made a great variety in tbeir alloys. The 

 brass, bron/e or copper most celebrated, were those o{ Ci/jjrun (Ku- 

 pros), from w liieh is derived the name of copper — of Curnilli, the 

 alloy of wdiich is attributed to chance, to the melting and mixturi> of 

 several metals during the Ijurning of that city; but it appears that 

 this is hardly possible, and that the bronze is nuu'e ancient. In tlie 

 time of Pliny it was imitated with an alloy of copper, gold, and silver. 

 ■ — of Delos and of Egina was much esteemed, as well as that of Tar- 

 tessns in Betica ; Polycletes preferred the bronze of Delos, and Alyro 

 tliat of Egiira. The difteront kinds of copper, of Crirduia or of Aiai/iiis, 

 of Salliisf, found in the Alps, and of Lift/, mined in tiaul, were nnicli 

 scnight after, and derived their names from the proprietors of the 

 nunes who worked them in the time of Casar. There was also a 

 black bronze, and also that which, being of a liver colour, was called 

 liepatizun, from liepar, a liver. It was believed for a long while that 

 the ancients dipped bronze in water to harden the arms wdiicli were 

 made of it; but M. d'Arcet has jnoved that tempering softens bronze, 

 ;nid that it is only by alloying eop|ier with tin in cert:un proportions, 

 and by forging it, that it acquires hardness and elasticity, and becomes 

 sonorous. Electku.vi, which is mentioned in Homer, was either 

 natural or artificial. It was made by mixing a lif'tb of silver with four 

 littbs of gold. 'I'bis alloy was niucli esteemed, because it was found 

 to shine more with lights than either gold or silver. Pliny says tliat 

 vases made of it assumed the colour of the iris or rainbow. The name 

 of electrnm was also given to yelhjw amber. Gold. Iro.\. — Several 

 st-atues of this material ari> mentioned, both wrouglit and cast.* Lead, 

 — The statue of Mannnnrius, who made the ancilhE or sacred bucklers 

 iu the time of Numa, was of this metal. Obrizuji was the purest 

 gold, which, after having passed several times through the fire, ac- 

 quired a brighter colour. Some statues were made of massive gold, 

 but in general they were embossed (called Sphurelaloii) from a thin 

 plate. Gold was thus used in statues where it was joined to ivory ; 

 and often statues in metal or wood were only plated or gilt. Gold of 

 several colours were used, and sometimes also painted ornaments or 

 precious stones were used in conjunction with it. Silver is frequently 

 mentioned by authors as a material for statues; it is, however, less 

 adapted for sculpture, and was less used than gold, of which several 

 preparations were known. Tix is emnnerated by Homer among the 

 metals in the shield of Achilles; but it is more than doubtful whether 

 this description and others relating to the arts were written by the 

 great poet. 



Ivory was used in great quantities and at a very early date for 

 statues, both bv itself, and in conjunction with gold. It seems, -.ic- 

 cording to some authors, that the ancients found out tlie means of 

 mouhling it, or at least of softening it. By sawing in the length, and 

 by cutting out hollow'ing cylinders in the ivory, they obtained plates 

 large and thick enough to be used even for colossal statues, of wliiidi 

 the core or interior framing was of wood. The humidity of these 

 statues was kept u]) by the application of oil, either externally or 

 internally. The tooth of tlie liippopotamus w;rs also used for small 

 statues, probably in the ]dace of ivory. Bone, and among others that 

 of the camel, were approjiriated to the same use. The Palladium was 

 reputed to be made of the bones of Pelops.'t' 



Wax was employed as w<dl as pUisler for models and moulds. 

 Statues or ligures were also made of it; and the Homans used it for 

 the busts of their ancestors (thence called ctroi), wliich on days of 

 ceremony w ere decorated with clothes and ornaments. 



Pitch. — A statue of Hercules of pitch is cited -.is having been made 

 by Dedalus. 



Yellow Amber, Succindm, or Electrum. — Of this a statue of 

 Augustus was made. Incense and Spices. — A statue of Sylla was 

 made of such eom|ionnds, and burned at his funeral, Empedodes, 

 I lie Pythagorean, and Olympic victiu-, distributed to the people a bull 

 made of myrrh. Mention is even made in the ancient authors of great 



* It is iiiucli to be regietted that iron is not used as a material for statuary 

 in England, seeing dial it lias been so niucli used at Berlin and I'aris. — [.Note 

 of 'I'raiislator.] 



■f Our aullior makes no mention of the use of mot!ier-of-iiearl. The pearl 

 itself iu diri't'ienl forms was used e\tt*iisi\c!y hy the jewellers, and lialf jiearls, 

 under the name iif tympana, were used for ear-rings. At l^inipcii ear-rings 

 have been found of the form of scales, the scales being represented bv pearls. 

 —[Note of Translator.] 



