au 



SCKtTI.K. 



SCULPTURE. 



IMH 



a* being for the most put injudicious and unnooeary, 

 with the exception of dimmed joints and a few other put* which fre- 

 quently require being amputated for the aake of raring the patient'* 

 (iff. Ourtid hare been employed for the ame purpose*, imtead of 

 the knife ; but a* they effect the object in view lea* certain!, 

 painfully and tediously, and cause extensive ulcen, they are dinued 

 by all tie beet curgeoo* of the present day. Some author* adriae 

 making iouea, and keeping them open, in order to prevent any ill 

 effect* from the healing of the scrofulous ulcer*. Issues may perhaps 

 be unnecemary for any purpoee of thin kind; but they are eminently 

 metal a a part of the local treatment of scrofulous joint* and abscesses. 

 Wlwn all hope of recovering a diaeaaed portion of the body i* at an 

 end, the question immediately prevent* itself whether such part ought 

 not to be removed by an operation. In considering the propriety of 

 amputation, it in necnwary to determine how far the continuance of 

 the affectiorw bring* the patient'* life into hazard, and whether he Ins 

 till .nnVi.-nt Rtrength left to uiulergo the operation. When another 

 important joint, or a vital organ, a* the lungs or bowels, is already the 

 neat of incurable dumwo, -m-h .] ration it nugatory, and in such cases 

 unquestionably it h.'uld not l>e perfonned. Great caution however i* 

 required in making our final decision ; for every practitioner of ex- 

 perience ha* seen instances where the symptoms of visceral disease 

 appeared almost to preclude hope, and yet have yielded on the removal 

 of the local irritation, and a cure ha* been the happy result. 



(Cooper, S*rg. Diet. ; Cyclop, of Prart. Merl. ; Ancell, Trtatite on 

 Titbrmlotit ; Dr. Bennett, Prineiplet and Practice of Meiiieivr ; Paget, 

 ftunjieal Pathology ; Lugol <m Scrofula, by Dr. Rankin ; B. Phillips, O 

 Srn./H/d ffurf itt TrtoJmrnt.) 



Si'HUPLE (impiilnm, diminutive of irrpiu, a term for a sort of 

 pebble, probably used in counting) is now used only as the third 

 part of a dram, or the 24th part of an ounce, in the apothecaries' 

 division of the troy pound. It was used originally as the 24th part of 

 the Roman uncia ; afterwards as the sixtieth part of an hour, or what 

 i* now called the minute. The sixtieth part of a minute was called 

 acrupulum secundum, the sixtieth part of a scrupulum secundum was 

 Kcnipulum tertium, Ac., whence our terms second, third, &c. applied to 

 the sexagesimal divisions of the minute. It is worth noting that the 

 ancient form of the word is also scripulum and scriptulum, which 

 might suggest a different derivation of the word as a weight or 

 measure. It may be worth while to add, that the scrupulum is 

 described by lexicographers as a small pebble, such as found its way 

 between the sandal and the foot, whence the use of the word to 

 denote a difficulty or objection. 



SCUDO. [MONET.] 



SCULPTURE, in its strict sense, is the art of carving or cutting any 

 material into a proposed form or shape. In its more general accepta- 

 tion it is the art of representing objects by form ; and is thus applied 

 to carving, modelling (or the plastic art), casting, whether in metal or 

 other materials, and to gem-engraving. Sculpture is practised in 

 various ways ; namely, in forming entire or insulated figures, as statues 

 or groups, called in technical language, " the round ; " or in represent- 

 ing objects more or less raised without their being entirely detached 

 from a background. This latter is termed " relief," and the degrees of 

 relief are defined by modern writers and artists by the expressions 

 allo-rilitrn, when the object is so salient as to be nearly " round ; " 

 Aowo-nViVro, when it is slightly raised from the background; and 

 Mtzso-rilirco, when a medium is preserved between the extremely high 

 and the very flat " relief." There is another variety of this manner of 

 working " basso-rilievo," which is only or chiefly found in Egyptian 

 sculpture ; the outline is sunk into the plane or ground, and the parts 

 are then formed and rounded on the principle of basso-rilievo. By 

 this mode of working there is usually no projection beyond the profile 

 or face of the original ground ; to gain effect therefore in this kind of 

 relieted intaglio, the Egyptian artists frequently painted the sculpture. 



It is not necessary to enter into a discussion of the various opinions 

 respecting the comparative antiquity of the arts of painting and 

 sculpture. Pliny's story (' Hist. Nat.,' xxxv. 12) of the daughter of 

 Dibutades having traced the outline of her lover's profile on the shadow 

 cast on the wall, and of this outline being afterwards filled in with 

 clay by her father, would give the priority to drawing ; and it seems 

 obvious that drawing an outline must be antecedent to modelling, or 

 rutting in rrli'f; but a little consideration will suffice to establish the 

 probability that imn/ated objects and figures were made in the very 

 earliest times. So many materials offered themselves upon which the 

 imaginative faculty could be exercised, that there can be little doubt 

 that rude attempts at forming clay, or any other plastic substance, 

 into a defined shape, were amongst the first exercises of human 

 Ingenuity ; and the easy task of thus repeating or copying the real 

 form of an object, compared with that of representing by lines (and on 

 a flat surface) its partial and perspective appearance, is quite sufficient 

 to lead to the inference that this was the earliest mode of imitation. 

 The ancient* appear to have availed themselves of every known 

 material that wa* capable of being employed in sculpture. I 'liny. 

 Paiisanios, and other writers supply some curious information on this 

 subject, for, in describing works of art, they usually mention the 

 materials in which they were executed. 



For modelling, clay, wax, and stucco, or plaster, appear to have been 

 universally adopted; and works of great antiquity* formed of these 



substances, are (till prwerved. The clay model was usually leaked, by 

 which it acquired a hardneo scarcely inferior to stone. Moulds were 

 also made of clay, and being subjected to the above process, were safely 

 used as forms into whieh softer substance* could be pressed, and thus 

 object* were multiplied without difficulty. The almost counties* 

 number of figure*, batsi-rilievi, lamp*, tiles, architectural ornaments, 

 vase*, domestic utensils, stamps, Ac., which are found ,,i this material 

 (called terra-rolta, baked earth), proves the extent of its employment in 

 the earlier age* of art. The object* usually composed of torra-cotta 

 are of small dimensions, but there are instances of its being used for 

 work* of conaiderable *ize. In the Museo Borbonico at Naples are 

 two statues, of Jupiter and Juno, above six feet high, and two others, 

 one of an actor and the other an actress, above four feat high. They 

 were found at Pomin-ii. The larger figure* are inferior in their forms 

 to the other*, but whether the faults of proportion arise from the 

 shrinking or contraction of the clay in baking, or were errors in tin; 

 original modelling, it is not easy to determine. The specimens of 

 tcira-fotta preserved in England are for the most part of 

 but there are some v, ry ln-mtiful objects, both for execution and sub- 

 ject, in the Townley collection of the British Museum. It apjiears 

 highly probable that the ancients always, or 



their trrra-cotla works. In many instances the colour still remains, 

 and the draperies of figures, and portions of architectural ornament, 

 often exhibit well preserved designs of border patterns. The employ- 

 ment of wax for modelling and casting can be traced to a very remote 

 period. The Roman* also employed it for making statues, or perhaps 

 only busts. It was a custom in some families to preserve ]>ortraits of 

 their ancestors made of wax. [PORTBAIT.] 



A great proportion of the ornamental work, rilievi, Ac., in the build- 

 ings of Pompeii is of ttucco or plaster. Few collections of antiquities 

 are without specimen* of figures and ornaments modelled iu this 

 material. Some in the British Museum are examples of great delicacy 

 and sharpness of execution. Many of them are painted ; red is the 

 prevailing colour. 



The list of materials used for carrcrl works comprises every sub- 

 stance, hard or soft, that could by possibility be employed for the pur- 

 pose, including porphyry, basalt, granite, marble, alabaster, ivory, bone, 

 and wood of all kinds. The three first named were used chiefly by the 

 Egyptians, who seem, in all their monuments of art, to have worked 

 with the view of securing the durability of their productions, employ- 

 ing, whenever they could do so, and especially for works of imjvi 

 materials likely to resist the action of the atmosphere. When the 

 introduction of some of the superstitions of Egypt into Rome led to 

 the adoption of the Egyptian style of sculpture, it became the fashion 

 to execute works of art in the above materials ; but this did not occur 

 till the reign of Hadrian, before and after which time they are seldom 

 met with. 



The variety of marbles known and used by the ancients is almost 

 infinite. (Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' xxxvi. 7.) Those preferred for their 

 superior texture, colour, or applicability to sculpture, were, first, the 

 Parian, which was found in the island of Faros. It is called also 

 Marpessian, from the mountain from which it was brought ; and some- 

 times Lygdinum or Lychnemn, perhaps from its bright sparkling 

 appearance. In the second rank was the Pentelic marble, which was 

 procured from Mount Pentelicus, in the neighbourhood of Athens. It 

 was highly esteemed by the sculptors of antiquity. Its colour, like 

 that of the Parian marble, is white; but it usually has a cold bluish 

 tone, arising from the grey, and sometimes greenish, streaks that run 

 through it ; while the general hue of the marble of Paros is warm and 

 creamy. The Italians often called the Pentelic marble marmo ealino, 

 from the salt-like appearance of its grain or crystals. The marble of 

 Mount Hymettus in Attica was also much esteemed ; it resembled in 

 colour the Pentelic. After the conquest of Greece by the li' 

 this marble was imported in great quantities into Italy. Lucius Cras- 

 sus introduced it most extensively in the decoration of a palace which 

 he built on the Palatine ; an instance of unusual luxury, which was 

 much reflected upon at the time. The marble of Thasos seems . to 

 have been much used, especially for architectural purposes. It was 

 employed for covering and encasing edifices, and for lining reservoirs 

 and fish-ponds. The Italian marble was procured from Luna, in the 

 range of mountains near which are the modern towns of Massa and 

 Carrara. These quarries seem to have been unknown till about the time 

 of Julius C:csar, when they were extensively worked. The grain of the 

 Carrara marble is finer than that of the Greek marbles above men- 

 tioned. Its colour is usually a rich white, and it bears a close 

 resemblance to fine lump sugar. It is seldom found quite pure ; veins 

 and spots of black, grey, and red and yellow (oxides of iron) occur in 

 it. The Romans also worked quarries in Africa which produced lime- 

 stone and white marble with veins of pale grey. The quarries in 

 Greece are no longer worked, and the chief, or it may. be said, the 

 only Bupply of statuary marble is at present from Italy. These 

 were the prineijial white marbles which were employed by the 

 sculptors of antiquity, and in which some of the finest remains of art 

 are executed. 



Among the varieties of wood in which objects were carved, w find 

 oak, cedar, cypress, sycamore, pine, fig, box, and ebony. Cedar was 

 thought to be very durable, and on that account was used, Pliny says, 

 tor images of the gods; the same author especial! v distinguishes 



