246 ATHENS. 
CHAP, sharp an edge, the different ornaments having all 
. . v . ' the delicacy of works in metal ." Lusieri, for whom 
and for the other artists this passage had been 
opened, said, that he considered the workmanship 
of the frieze and cornice, and of the Ionic capitals, 
as the most admirable specimens of the art of 
sculpture in the world ' : he came daily to examine 
it, with additional gratification and wonder. He 
directed our attention to the extraordinary state 
of preservation in which the Caryatides of the 
Pandroseum still remained : passing the hand over 
the surface of the marble upon the necks of 
these statues, it seemed to retain its original 
polish in the highest perfection. Within this 
of the building, so late as the second century, was 
preserved the olive-tree mentioned bj^4pollodorus' f 
(1) Mr. Cripps has preserved, iu his MS. Journal, a iiote, dic- 
tated by Lusieri, relative to a very curious discovery made by that 
artist with regard to the sculptured ornaments of the Erecthcitm. 
The author also well remembers its being pointed out to him by the 
same person, upon the spot. Lnuieri found among the most delicate 
intertexture of the wreaths and foliage, small brass nails, and bits of 
antique glass, which had been fastened on to heighten the general 
delicacy and exquisite finishing of the work. This circumstance has 
been noticed by no other traveller. Perhaps, according to our notions 
of taste, as founded upon the Grecian School, these works appear 
more beautiful in their present nakedness than they would have done 
if we had beheld them as they were originally finished, when they 
were painted and gilded, and studded with glass beads, or invested 
with other extraneous ornament. 
(2) Vid. Pausan. lib. i. c. 37. p. 64. Lips. J6fl6. 
