Of molding we have already spoken. We may now remark on the materials in use for these various purposes. In sculpturing, or cutting designs or tbrures, we generally find marbles have been employed, the most fatuous having been the " Parian," from the isle of Paros, and the Pentelic, from the mountain of that name in Attica. Beside3 these, the ancients used numerous marbles—white, and latterly colored; the late classi cal sculptors sometimes employing both white and black, or colored, in lumps on the same work, the colored marble being used for the dress or hair as it might be. The Egyptians, besides the use of these materials and various kind4 of fine and coarse grained stone, employed porphyry, purple and black, an exceedingly hard and difficult material to handle: The modern sculptors have used the white marble of Carrara in Italy, an excellent material, but liable to veins and discolorations, which are unfavora ble to the art. " Terra cotta," or burnt clay, was extensively in use both in ancient and modern times; the clay being molded to the utmost delicacy while soft and then baked to a red color. Singularly fine reliefs remain to us from the Etruscans and Greeks, as well as from Egypt and elsewhere, as.may be seen in the British museum. It has also been extensively used in modern times. The Egyptians modeled little figures in porce lain clay, and colored and enameled them after the fashion of porcelain, and vast num bers of such are in most of our museums. The word " toreutic," from the Greek word toreuo, to pierce or bore, is usually applied to sculpture in metal. For this the metal most appropriate and most generally used both in ancient and modern times, is " bronze," a mixture of copper and tin. It is also known as " brass." Other metals, in small quantities, were also introduced, and various kinds of bronze have resulted from this variety, as well as from the proportions of the two principal metals, the method of fusion, etc. Egina, Delos, and, Corinth made different kinds of bronze, each of excellent quality. this favorite metal, gold, silver, copper, and even lead, and mixtures of lead and tin, "pewter," have been used for artistic sculpture. In the celebrated period of Greek sculpture, gold and ivory were used together. These statues, two of which were made by Phidias, were called " chryselephantine," that is, of gold and ivory.
The ordinary modes of proceeding in sculpture have been very various; whether the more celebrated sculptors of ancient times cut out their designs at once without the previous rehearsal of a model, we do not know. It is, however, very probable. The Egyptian bas-reliefs may still be seen in some of their tombs, lined out, and cor rected afterward by a master's hand previous to execution. Michael Angelo, the most powerful of modern sculptors, is known to have worked many of his statues, without the use of any model, out of the blocks. Florence and the .Louvre (Paris), contain marble sketches or unfinished figures thus roughed out. The length and size of the chisel-marks show how boldly thisgreat master vent to work to within one-eighth of hn inch of his final surface. As, however, there can be no putting on of any of the sub stance of stone once reduced by inadvertence, the artist commonly makes his sketch or design, in small, in clay. This is subsequently enlarged and then studied from " the
life;" that is, men, horses, draperies, etc., the most suitable to the artist's present pur Rise are selected, and with these before him he corrects his design and perfects it while 1 the material is soft. A mold is then taken, as..in the case already described, and with a plaster instead of a metal cast before him, the artist proceeds to work on his marble. The cast being placed on one block and the marble on one precisely similar, workmen proceed to place a needle on a measuring-rod, the rod resting against the block till it touches a point of the cast. The needle is then applied to the block on which the mar ble stands, and this is bored into till the needle touches it as it did the cast. In this way the distances of the various surfaces of the future figure from the outside of the unshaped marble are ascertained, and the workmen rough out the figure down to those measurements. The sculptor then gives the final and delicate touches that finish it him self. Finally, it is brought smooth with pumice-stone or sand. Michael Angelo and some of the ancients actually polished their statues. This, however, is generally objected to, as the sharp points of reflected light injure the general effect of the form.
We must notice one other question relative to sculpture before proceeding to a short review of the art historically, that is color. The ancients—that is, Egyptians, Nine vites, and others—did color their statues, intending, probably, to do so up to " life"— that is, to a direct imitation. The Greeks, too, employed color on their statues, cer tainly on their architecture. To what extent they colored their statues, is not very easy to determine. Partly, indeed, time has so altered, and partly so obliterated the color ing material, that we can only form an approximate judgment. It seems probable that the coloring was conventional, that is, that color was used to add to the splendor and distant effect of the work, rather than to attempt any positive imitation of real life. A head in the Elgin room of the British museum has been colored, the hair full red. The eyes arc completely cut out, so as to show dark and shadowy hollows, even with the face colored. Gilding, too, was used for the hair. Color was extensively used in the middle ages. Many, if not most, interior sculptures were colored during that period. Quite in our own days Mr. Gibson has colored female statues. It is open to doubt whether they can be called successful as far-as the color goes. Other means, however, were used to give color in late classic times, as may be seen in the Vatican, where a bust retains both enameled eyes and black eyelashes inserted into the marble. To the mix ture of marbles to obtain the effect of color we have already alluded.
Speaking of sculpture generally, we may say that a great deal has come down to us. Of the best work known, that of Phidias, our readers will see notices under the head of the ELGIN MARBLES. The majority of portable works are statues. Of these, some calcula tions reckon as many as 60,000 of one kind and another.