BRONZING. A combination of metals which has received the name of bronze was employed by the ancients in the fabrication of different utensils, and in casting busts, statues, and other subjects, either Urger or • smaller than life. The Egyptian., Greeks, and Romans, nations which stilmisted long and were familiar with the most refined state of the arts, used this compound metal in the greater part of the decorations of those magnificent temples and palaces, whose ruins only have, remained to later eras. But amidst the general wreck there are still some fragments preserved, which indicate the perfection which was attained in the employment of bronze. The wealth of some ancient cities was esti mated by the number of their brazen statues; and Delphos, Athens, and Rhodes, are reported to have each possessed three thousand. Some distinguished Romans adorned the public edifices of their city in this manner ; and so strong a propensity was excited for multiplying such works, that an observation became current, that, " in Rome, the people of brass were not less numerous than the Roman people." It has been remarked, that the works which we now execute in iron or steel were little known to the ancients ; that their arms and armour were usually of brass, or the compound now alluded to ; and a set of surgeons' strumenta consisting entirely of bronze was found not long ago at Pompeii.
Bronze is extremely hard, sonorous, more brittle than brass, and more fusible than copper, from which, and its not being liable to tarnish, it is peat. liarly adapted for casts of statues. Various nations have compounded the metals employed in different pro portions. The Egyptians are said to have taken two-thirds brass and one-third copper. According to Pliny, the bronze of the Grecians was formed in the same way, with the addition of one-tenth part of lead and a twentieth of silver ; which proportions were adopted by the Romans. In modern times, bronze is generally composed of two-thirds of cop per and one-third . of brass, and sometimes small quantities of lead and zinc have been added, These latter render the cast more compact and brilliant; and the combination of different substances occasions the readier fusibility of the whole than when reps rate. The ancient bronzes, however, present a dif• ference in appearance and composition from those executed by the moderns, and the fact is ascertained in respect to the metallic proportions by skilful che mists on analysis. An illustration of this fact is sometimes given in the four celebrated horses of bronze, supposed to be the work of Lysippue, a Greek artist; which were brought from Venice, by command of Bonaparte, to the Thuilleries at Paris.
The casting of bronze statues is a nice and diffi• cult art, requiring long experience and the judicious management of a great apparatus. An exact model must be made of the subject to be cast, and nicely coated over with wax not less than en inch thick, on which the artist works the impression meant to be taken. A mould is then formed, ,consisting of several hollow pieces. of wood or other resisting sub stance, filled with a mixture of clay and ,and, which is applied to the model, in order that its outline may be received. The mould beirig united together, is perforated by a number of channels, and the melted metal being discharged from a furnace by means of these into the interior, thus produces the cast. When cold, the external covering is taken off, and the sul• jects appear as if covered with spines, which are the channels filled with metal ; they are removed by saws, ' files, and chisels, and any imperfections on the sur face being corrected, the whole is completed. But this in detail is a tedious, laborious, and expensive process ; and the difficulty of producing beautiful works in bronze, conspires to give them a high value in the estimation of the lovers of the arts. In ge neral, the natural colour of the composition remains unaltered, and with the lapse of time, tends to black, or particular shades of green ; but some artists render it black artificially, or give it a green colour from the first. It is the delicacy of the workman ship, however, that constitutes the value of bronzes, not the colour, because it is the former alone which constitutes the difficulty, and calls for the skill of the artist. Colossal figures are sometimes obtained in bronze ; but more usually, when of very large dimen sions, they are formed by the union of several pieces, and are hollow within ; as is also the case with some of those of smaller size. Considerable premiums have been offered by the Society for the Encourage ment of Arts, for promoting the execution of bronze figures in England, but few have been claimed. Nevertheless, British artists have produced several very creditable works, if we take the low condition of scultsture in view ; but either from want of skill or practice, neither the bronzes of this Island nor of the Continent rival the masterpieces of antiquity. Perhaps it is only the best specimens which are pre served, and many of inferior note have been allowed to decay, or cease to attract attention ; and in this way we may partly account for our own inferiority.