Stone Carving

When the head of the statue presents a just value with the whole, and is well allied with the neck, the sculptor proceeds upon the torso and arms, without losing sight of the general plan and construction. Indeed, the whole is ever borne in mind, and no given part is ever dwelt upon at the expense of another. Thus an equal tone is maintained, and harmony achieved in every form and value.

This method seems to have been the one adopted by Michel angelo, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, and the brothers Pisano before them, who have left sound traces of their labour.

The Greeks.

Nothing definite has come down to us of the system employed by the Greeks, but all their works show beyond a doubt that they were primarily master carvers on stone. Of course, even they had to make use of sketches in plaster to embody the original form of their creations, but Parian and Pentelic marble, of which the most famous museums are full, was the medium of their divine art, and never was the medium better employed and immortalized. The work of the Greeks was the product of the bottega. Every artist's studio was a school; academies with definite programmes did not exist. At a tender age the future sculptor exercised himself in working upon stone and marble, and this was the first step in his art. Then he drew and modelled under the supervision of the master, who, with paternal love guided the hand of the student and developed his intelligence. From the simple plane to the minutest decorations the students advanced. Often they worked hand in hand with the master upon his statue, and thus they developed into artists —carvers and sculptors.

In this fashion were created the masterworks of the past. The Parthenon, in which sculpture and architecture are united in one glorious harmony, is the expression of the highest art. Pheidias, the sculptor, worked hand in hand with Ictinus, the architect, and under them a legion of master carvers wrought on the Parian marble reliefs, statues and groups that are a glory to this day. Take, for example, the great relief that covered the wall of the inner portico; it was the chisel of the carver that glorified it. The artist, indeed, contributed in the conception of the work with sketches and designs in charcoal upon the marble; but, working on relief and background, it was the carver that left his impress upon it. A study of the friezes in the Parthenon shows, by its unequal quality, that the carving was executed by various hands: some groups present all the perfection of the Pheidian hand; others, though still of a high order and holding their own with dignity, are lacking, however, in the precision noted elsewhere.

Nevertheless, a small fragment of any Parthenon frieze would be enough to build the reputation of an artist.

Miehelangelo.

It is well known how Michelangelo created his David. Already the immense block of marble that he used for his statue had suffered sacrilege by the tools of another sculptor. To Michelangelo was granted to create therefrom a miracle of sculpture. The marble was placed upon a pedestal, a house was erected about it, and the artist gave himself up to his task. A sketch was made, smaller by one-tenth, finished in all the minutest anatomical details. From this, with the help of scans and measurements, with carving and reliefs, Michelangelo wrested out of the stone his immortal work, made possible only by the daring of his youth and the supreme mastery be had over his material.

Upon observing the works of Michelangelo it often seems as though the rough and varying form of the raw block of marble as it came from the quarry gave to him the conception of the figure and group. This is more apparent in the four statues of the Slaves which were brought to light not many years ago. In two of them in particular are still to be seen the planes and cavities as they were wrought by nature in the marble quarry.

There is also the Madonna de'Medici, created in Michelangelo's maturity and which seems to have attained the apex of an artist's and carver's potentiality, both in the largeness of conception and the compactness of form, insuring solidity. No particular of the work is isolated; harmony is maintained throughout. Yet even in this group is to be found the suggestion of the mountain. The principal line has still the imprint of the natural plane, and religiously Michelangelo seems to have maintained it, even though he made it serve the purposes of his group: it is the line that de scends from the right shoulder of the Madonna to the sole. It is also to be observed how well allied he kept the foot of the Child in its firmness and strength, making every detail serve toward the ultimate harmony of the finished statue. Only through thor ough cognizance of his substance and a mastery of his tools was it possible to the artist to achieve his perfection.