282 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Taet II. 



could imitate the varied tones of the flesh. These required to 

 be 'painted upon the surface of the white marble. 



64. Various proofs of the Greek custom of colouring statues 

 have been well brought forward by Quatremere de Quincey, 

 Raoul-Rochette, and other writers, who have carefully studied 

 the subject; but I may mention one more evidence of the 

 natural flesh-colour having been used, derived from the bas- 

 reliefs on the ash-chests of the Etruscans ; in many of which 

 the colours are perfectly preserved to this day. And this is 

 the more remarkable, as the Etruscans at the same time con- 

 tinued the custom of giving the uniform red hue of a primitive 

 age to the recumbent figure on the lid of the very same ash- 

 chests. They also retained with the monochrome colour, the 

 stiff character of that period; which a religious prejudice 

 prevented their altering, or which at least was sanctioned by 

 early habit. 



But the figures sculptured in relief on the chest itself were 

 all painted flesh-colour, with the draperies and other ac- 

 cessories of their natural hue ; it is therefore impossible to 

 deny that the custom of giving the human figure its natural 

 flesh-colour was commonly adopted. The art, the subjects 

 they chose, and the whole taste of the Etruscans was (it is 

 well known) a mere copy of the Greek ; and the authority of 

 their sculptures is of the greatest weight in this question. 

 These ash-chests also- give several curious specimens of the 

 mode of colouring the echinus and other Greek mouldings. 



The coloured wooden statues at Seville, and some other 

 places in Spain, particularly Valladolid, are derived from the 

 custom handed down from olden times ; and every one who 

 has seen it admits the admirable effect of Torrigiano's figure 

 of St. Jerome at Seville. If, however, nothing exists at the 

 present day sufficiently good to warrant the adoption of the 

 practice, this may readily be accounted for by the inferiority 



