174 



SCULPT URE SCURVY. 



contemporaries in the grandeur of the forms, and, 

 above all, in strength of expression. Both united, 

 reflect much splendour on the age, and in Thor- 

 waldsen's works especially, much truth, united 

 with a beautiful conception of nature, and a noble 

 composition, is visible, so that he deserves to be 

 called one of the greatest masters of all ages. (See 

 his Hebe, plate LXXXI. fig. 20.) We ought also 

 to mention the names of Dannecker in Stuttgard, 

 whose Ariadne equals the ancient in beauty, Scha- 

 dow, Rauch and Tieck in Berlin, and Chaudet and 

 Houdon in Paris. Count Cicognara has published 

 a continuation of the works of Winckelmann and 

 Agincourt (Storia della Scultura dal suo Risorgi- 

 mento in Italia, &c.) until Canova (2d ed., Prato, 

 1824, 4 vols., with copper-plates). 



Modelling Before any object is executed in 



stone, it is the practice of sculptors to complete a 

 representation of their design by modelling it in 

 clay, or some other soft material. The genius of 

 the artist is displayed altogether in the model ; for 

 the process of afterwards copying the model in 

 stone is chiefly mechanical, and may often be exe- 

 cuted by another person, as well as by the sculptor 

 himself. When a clay model is taken, if the pro- 

 posed figure be large, a frame of wood or iron is 

 erected, to give support to the limbs and different 

 parts of the figure. Upon this frame a proper 

 quantity of wet clay is distributed and wrought 

 into the form of the intended statue. The mould- 

 ing of the clay is performed with the hands, and 

 with various instruments of wood and ivory. 

 When the model is complete, copies may be taken 

 from it, either by casting them in plaster, or in 

 metal, or by chiselling them in marble. To execute 

 a statue in marble, which shall exactly correspond 

 to a pattern or model, is a work of mechanical, 

 rather than of inventive skill. It is performed by 

 finding, in the block of marble, the exact situation 

 of numerous points, corresponding to the chief ele- 

 vations and cavities in the figure to be imitated, 

 and joining these by the proper curves and surfaces 

 at the judgment of the eye. These points are found 

 by measuring the height, depth, and lateral devia- 

 tion of the corresponding points in the model; after 

 which, those in the block are found by similar 

 measurements. Sometimes the points are ascer- 

 tained by placing the model horizontally under a 

 frame, and suspending a plumb-line successively 

 from different parts of the frame, till it reaches the 

 parts of the figure beneath it. Sometimes an in- 

 strument is used consisting of a moveable point, at- 

 tached by various joints to an upright post, so that 

 it may be carried to any part of the statue, and in- 

 dicate the relative position of that part in regard to 

 the post. Machines have also been contrived for 

 cutting any required figure from a block, the cutting 

 instrument being directed by a gauge, which rests 

 upon the model in another part of the machine. 

 Marble is wrought to the rough outline of the sta- 

 tue by the chisel and hammer, aided by the occa- 

 sional use of drills and other perforating tools. It 

 is then smoothed with rasps and files, and, when 

 required, is polished with pumice stone and putty. 

 The hair of statues is always finished with the 

 chisel; and for this object, very sharp instruments, 

 with different points and edges, are necessary. The 

 ancient sculptors appear to have relied almost 

 wholly upon the chisel, and to have used that in- 

 strument with great boldness and freedom, such as 

 could have been justified only by consummate skill 

 in the art. The moderns, on the contrary, approach 



the surface of the statue with great caution, and 

 employ safer means for giving the last finish. Some 

 of the most celebrated antique statues, such as the 

 Laocoon, the Apollo Belvedere, and Venus de* 

 Medici, are thought to have been finished with the 

 chisel alone Although marble has been the com- 

 mon material of sculpture, both in ancient and mo- 

 dern times, yet other substances have been occ ( a- 

 sionally made subjects of the chisel. Statues of 

 porphyry, granite, serpentine and- alabaster, are 

 found among the remains of antiquity. Other 

 materials, of a less durable kind, were also emplov- 

 ed. Some of the principal works of Phidias were 

 made of ivory and gold, particularly his colossal 

 statues of Jupiter Olympius and Minerva, at Athens. 



Bronze Casting Statues intended to occupy 

 situations in which they may be exposed to vio- 

 lence, are commonly made of bronze. This material 

 resists both mechanical injuries and decay from the 

 influence of the atmosphere. The moulds in which 

 bronze statues are cast, are made on the pattern, 

 out of plaster and brick dust, the latter material 

 being added to resist the heat of the melted metal. 

 The parts of this mould are covered on their inside 

 with a coating of clay, as thick as the bronze is in- 

 tended to be. The mould is then closed, and filled 

 on its inside with a nucleus or core of plaster and 

 brick dust, mixed with water. When this is done, 

 the mould is opened, and the clay carefully re- 

 moved. The mould, with its core, are then 

 thoroughly dried, and the core secured in its central 

 position by short bars of bronze, which pass into it 

 through the external part of the mould. The whole 

 is then bound with iron hoops, and, when placed in 

 a proper situation for casting, the melted bronze is 

 poured in through an aperture left for the purpose. 

 Of course, the bronze fills the same cavity which 

 was previously occupied by the clay, and forms a 

 metallic covering to the core. This is afterwards 

 made smooth by mechanical means. 



SCUPPERS ; certain channels cut through the 

 water-ways and sides of a ship at proper distances, 

 and lined with sheet-lead, in order to carry the 

 water off the deck into the sea. 



SCUPPER-HOSE; a leathern pipe or tube 

 nailed round the outside of the scuppers of the 

 lower decks, and which, by hanging down, prevents 

 the water from entering when the ship inclines un- 

 der a pressure of sail. 



SCURVY (scorbutus) ; a disease of a putrid na- 

 ture, prevalent in cold and damp climates, and 

 which chiefly affects sailors and such as are shut up 

 in besieged places : owing, as is supposed, to their 

 being deprived of fresh provisions, and a due 

 quantity of acescent food, assisted by the prevalence 

 of cold and moisture, and by such other causes as 

 depress the nervous energy, as indolence, confine- 

 ment, want of exercise, neglect of cleanliness, much 

 labour and fatigue, sadness, despondency, &c. 

 These debilitating causes, with the concurrence of 

 a diet consisting principally of salted or putrescent 

 food, will be sure to produce this disease. It seems, 

 however, to depend more on a defect of nourish- 

 ment than on a vitiated state ; and the reason that 

 salted provisions are so productive of the scurvy is, 

 most probably, because they are drained of their 

 nutritious juices, which are extracted and run off 

 in brine. As the disease is apt to become general 

 among the crew of a ship, when it has once made 

 its appearance, it has been supposed by many to be 

 of a contagious nature ; but the conjecture seems 

 by no means well founded. The scurvy comes on 



