EXJCTNESS OF THE GREEK SCULPTORS. 31 



closest scrutiny of the horses' feet in these marbles with a 

 practised — might I add a professional — eye, leads to the 

 unhesitating conclusion that they are exact copies of nature 

 in every respect, but nature never adorned or protected 

 by an iron or bronze furniture. So true do they appear 

 to real life, that we can almost fancy the animals in their 

 spirited movements have chipped their hoofs at the sides 

 (or quarters) ; and they are of a shape and perfectness 

 which one seldom sees in hoofs that have been shod for 

 any length of time. 



These unrivalled relics of antiquity offer additional 

 proofs that metal shoes were not in use. The ancient 

 Greeks were very careful in representing the different 

 costumes worn by the riders of these horses, even to the 

 fashion of their foot covers. Not only this, but they 

 had their marble statues adorned with metals in many 

 instances, which again were not unfrequently gilt. ' For 

 the fragments show that the weapons, the reins of the 

 horses, and other accessories, were in metal, probably 

 gilt.'' The horses appeared to have had bits in their 

 mouths, and the holes yet remain at the commissures of 

 the lips wherein they have been fixed ; but no evidence 

 is to be found that any metal was attached to the hoofs. 

 In a bas-relief of Castor and Pollux in the Townley gal- 

 lery of the British Museum, instead of metal bridles for 

 the two horses, red paint appears to have been used. No 

 paint, however, is to be discovered on the feet of any 

 horses to indicate that shoes were worn. 



In the Temple collection (case S^) in the British 



' Description of the Collections of Ancient Marbles in the British 

 Museum. Part IV. page 26. London, 1830. 



