J830.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



463 



humiui cluimcter ami piissiims slvidowed out in ;iU the reiilizatiim of 

 ideul beauty ; the idealism of poetry, transposed into tlie niateiiaUsm 

 of sculpture. 



Thus, in the colossal statue of the goddess Minerva, situate witliin 

 the sacred inclosnre of the Parthenon, we recrgnize " the martial, 

 blue-eyed maid" depicted in Homer. Pre-eminent wisdom, high 

 martial energy, and the celestial beauty of a virgin goddess, accom- 

 jianied and guanled by tlie sternest and severest virtue, are the chief 

 characteristics of this noble production, — executed in ivory and gold, 

 by the masterly hand of Phidias, and inferior only to the Jupiter Olym- 

 pins, as ;i work of art. 



Then again, in the Apollo Belvidere, there is embodied the indwell- 

 ing energy of an indignant god. The "Lord of the unerring bow" is 

 represented sliooting with his arrows the great serpent Python. You 

 all know the attitude of this exquisite statue. 



" The shaft hatli just beau shot ; the arrow Ijright 

 With an imiuortars vengeance, in his eye 

 And nostril, beautiful disdain ; and might 

 And majesty, flash their full lightnings by; 

 Develoinng in tiiat one glance, the Deity." 



In the Juno, we see that imperial dignity and matronly grace, which 

 belong to her station as Queen of Heaven, and wife of Jove : in the 

 Bacchus, all the self-sufficiency of the most luxurious ease : in the 

 Venus, the Cnidian Venus especially, all the softened and tender 

 graces of the most attractive loveliness: and in fact, the whole range 

 of the Grecian divinities stand out the emblems and exponents of the 

 several attributes ef humanity, heightened and perfected by that ex- 

 traordinary appreciation of simple and expressive beauty in which 

 the Greeks so eminently excelled. 



But such being the acknowledged characteristics of the sculpture of 

 this period, it may be asked how it was thit the Grecian artists ob- 

 tained so thorough and intimate an accjuaintance with the human 

 form, in all the varieties of its full developement, and physical ex- 

 cellence. 



It may be asked, how it was that they, above all other nations, 

 maintained that harmony, fitness and proportion, which endowed their 

 creations with all the force of expression, and made tliem the almost 

 breathing symbols of intelligence and will. 



To this we answer, that the Greek sculptors possessed advantages 

 altogether peculiar to the nation (jf which they formed a p;irt : — as it 

 has been well observed, "they not only derived the highest advantages 

 from a religion which disposed men to embody all the charms of na- 

 ture in dehnite forms, and from a cast of mind requiring for eujov- 

 meut the distinctness of beauty rather than the visionary and the dim ; 

 but ha<l all the benefit of studying the human frame, in its niost perfect 

 freeness, elegance and grace. Not only were the Greeks beautiful by 

 nature, but the course of their lives, even from earliest infancy, was 

 calculated to improve the form. The public exercises gave, in addi- 

 tion to the polished manner, and elevated attitude of a citizen of the 

 most g'orious state on earth, something of the wild and airy grace of 

 an Indian bounding in the chase, or of a stag delicately pacing tlirough 

 his native forests."t These public games,. indeed, gave a siugidarand 

 decided impulse to the progress of Grecian sculpture. The Gvnniasia, 

 or schools in which the candidates for distinction at the (jlynquan 

 games were trained, was the constant resort of men of rank and talent : 

 at these places, and in the Olympian contests themselves, the com- 

 batants, for the sake of greater ease and elasticity, exhibited without 

 the usual accompaniments of dress. 



By these means, the Grecian artists would become accustomed to 

 the contemplation of the human form, in all its changing attitudes and 

 expressions: and intimately conversant with the varying evolutions of 

 the muscles, joints, and sinews of the frame, whether in "the stillness of 

 repose, or the vigour of action. 



By dwelling for instance on the athletic proportions of a brawny 

 wrestler, — his firm compactness of frame — his well-knit joints— his 

 largely developed muscular masses : there would be afforded to the 

 observant sculptor the model from which he might create a Theseus 

 or a Hercules, or any other of the fabled demi-gods of the heroic age : 

 in which his aim would be to make physical strength and power the 

 leading and distinguishing characteristics. 



Or again, by nnising on the light and agile forms of the unrobed 

 victors of the race, their supple and elastic limbs, their roumled joints, 

 and general elegance of shape, the artist might obtain his original, 

 for the swift-footed Mercury, or the more matured and majestic 

 Apollo. 



Or once more: by gazing on the forms of the (irecian maidens, 

 when — according to their national customs, they danced perfectly un- 



veiled before assembled thousands at their celebrated festivals — 

 Praxiteles might have caught that rav of inspiration wdiich subse- 

 quently expanded itself into the finished graces of the Cnidian Venus: 

 and wlio can doubt that Phryne in rising from the bath, exposed to 

 the eyes of all Greece, at the celebration of tlie Eleusinian games first 

 suggested to the artist the beauteous form of the Venus Anadyomene. 

 In short, in almost every solemnily and religious rite — in every public 

 game and ath'etie combat, in the Olympian — the Panathenaic festivals 

 and others — in all these various ways full op])ortunity was aflbrded to 

 the Grecian artists, to become thoroughly acquainted with the diversi- 

 fied characteristics and varj'ing expressions of the human figure : and 

 hence, in a great measure, the secret of that unrivalled perfection to 

 which sculpture attained in Greece. To this we may add, that they 

 possessed so exquisite a sense of the beautiful — so just and profound 

 an appreciation of what was really the perfection of shape and figure, — 

 tliat they were not contented with copying exactly, even from ttic ad- 

 mirable models continually presented to their minds — they never 

 represented Nature as they found her embodied in any one form — but 

 they sought after an ideal perfection mure complete than is to be 

 found in any one — even the fairest and the noblest of Nature's works: 

 — they derived potions from the many — adopting every recognized 

 and admitted excellence — and rejecting every acknowledged and pal- 

 pable defect ; and grouping and combining those features alone in 

 each, which reached the standard of that perfect Ideal to which it 

 was their proudest ambition to attain, 



EncyclopseiUa Metropolitana, vqI, 1, p, 305, 



ON THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON YORKSHIRE PAVING. 



Report communicated by Colonel Fenshawe, Royal Engineers. 

 (From the Papers oj the Corps of Royal Engineers.) 



A report having been received from the Mauritius that the York- 

 shire stone coping which had been supplied for that station was cither 

 of a bad descri]ition, or not calculated to withstand the great power 

 of the sun in that climate, a considerable portion of it liaving blistered 

 and peeled, references were consequently made to other trojiical sta- 

 tions and to Bermuda, where stone of this nature had been used. 



From Barbadoes the reply was that the experience of that command 

 liad in no case shown that S(jlar heat has had the ertl>ct of blistering or 

 peeling Yorkshire paving, and that the defect complained of was more 

 attributable to the quality of the stone than to the climate. 



The Jamaica Report stated tliat on examination of the Yorkshire 

 flag-stone measuring 11 inches wide and 3 inches thick, used in coping 

 the wall that surroinids the barracks at Up-Port camp, being about 

 2,000 yards in length, and having been laid ten years, some few stones 

 were found partially honey-combed to the depth of i to I of an inch, 

 which is attributed to the bad quality of the stones rather than to the 

 etleet of the climate, — the deteriorated Hags having been in all proba- 

 bility obtained from the upper beds of the quarry, the greater part 

 being to all appearance perfectly sound and showing no indication of 

 blistering or peeling. 



The Bahama Report stated that upon a careful examination of the 

 Yorkshire stone used for flooring and pavement in situations exposed 

 to the heat of the sun, it was not perceived to have blistered or peeled, 

 or to have been otherwise affected beyond what might be expected 

 from common wear and tear. 



The Bermuda Report stated that in many instances Yorkshire stone 

 exposed to the weather has not suHered sensibly from such exposure, 

 whilst in others it has been blistered and peeled off in laminae from ^ 

 to y'^ of an inch in thickness. 



A quantity not set, and so exposed from four to five years, has un- 

 dergone no sensible change, which is likewise the case with that on 

 the top of the tower in the main ditch, laid about eight years since. 



Exposed to the alternate action of the sea and sun at the landing 

 places in the dock-yard at Ireland Island, the Yorkshire flagging had 

 failed. 



Yorkshire flagging is of very different qnaiities. The best is found 

 in the lower [}art of the quarry ; that from the upper part is usually 

 composed of several lamiuE, disposed to spilt, and will in all proba- 

 bility fail. But there seems no reason to doubt, from the above ex- 

 [lerience, that by a proper selection of ipiarrv, or of stone at tlie 

 quarries, the Yorkshire flagging will be found to withstand the effects 

 of a tropical climate. 



