The list of materials used for tarred works comprises every sub stance, hard or soft, that could by possibility be employed for the pur pose, including porphyry, basalt, granite, marble, alabaster, ivory, bone, and wood of all kinds. The three first named were used chiefly by the Egyptians, who seem, in all their monuments of art, to have worked with the view of securing the durability of their productions, employ ing, whenever they could do so, and especially for works of importance, materials likely to resist the action of the atmosphere. When the introduction of some of the superstitions of Egypt into Rome led to the adoption of the Egyptian style of sculpture, it became the fashion to execute works of art in the above materials ; but this did not occur till the reign of Hadrian, before and after which time they are seldom met with.
The variety of marbles known and used by the ancients is almost infinite. (Pliny, Hist. Nat.,' xxxvi. 7.) Those preferred for their superior texture, colour, or applicability to sculpture, were, first, the Parian, which was found in the island of Pares. It is called also Marpessian, from the mountain from which it was brought ; and some times Lygdinum or Lychneum, perhaps from its bright sparkling appearance. In the second rank was the Pentelic marble, which was procured from Mount Pentelicus, in the neighbourhood of Athens. It was highly esteemed by the sculptors of antiquity. Its colour, like that of the Parian marble, is white; but it usually has a cold bluish tone, arising from the grey, and sometimes greenish, streaks that run through it ; while the general hue of the marble of Pares is warm and creamy. The Italians often called the Pentelic marble marmo ealino, from the salt-like appearance of its grain or crystals. The marble of Mount Hymettus in Attica was also much esteemed ; it resembled in colour the Pentelic. After the conquest of Greece by the Romans, this marble was imported in great quantities into Italy. Lucius Cras sus introduced it most extensively in the decoration of a palace which he built on the Palatine; an instance of unusual luxury, which was much reflected upon at the time. The marble of Theses seems, to have been much used, especially for architectural purposes. It was employed for covering and encasing edifices, and for lining reservoirs and fish-ponds. The Italian marble was procured from Luua, in the range of mountains near which are the modern towns of Massa and Carrara. These quarries seem to have been unknown till about the time of Julius Caesar, when they were extensively worked. The grain of the Carrara marble is finer than that of the Greek marbles above men tioned. Its colour is usually a rich white, and it bears a close
resemblance to fine lump sugar. It is seldom found quite pure ; veins and spots of black, grey, and red and yellow (oxides of iron) occur in it. The Romans also worked quarries in Africa which produced lime stone and white marble with veins of pale grey. The quarries in Greece are no longer worked, and the chief, or it may. be said, the only supply of statnary marble is at present from Italy. These were the principal white marbles which were employed by the sculptors of antiquity, and in which some of the finest remains of art are executed.
Among the varieties of wood in which objects were carved, we find oak, cedar, cypress, sycamore, pine, fig, box, and ebony. Cedar was thought to be very durable, and on that account was used, Pliny says, tor images of the gods ; the same author especiall v distinguishes cypress, cedar, ebony, and box, for their capability of resisting the injuries of time. (Plin., Hist. Nat.,' xvi. 40.) Pausanias saw several statues of wood during his travels in Greece, and the following instances will serve to show that this appaiently humble material was employed for representing the most elevated personages in the ancient mythology. The statue of Apollo Archegetes was composed of ebony, as was the statue of Diana Limnitis. At Lacecimmon the statue of Venus was of cedar. A statue of Apollo made of box adorned the treasury of the Sicyonians in the Altis. In the temple of Castor and Pollux at Argos were their statues, those of their children, and of their mothers, all made of ebony. All these works in wood have perished, notwithstanding Pliny's observation, " 3laterire ipsn reternitas " (' Hist. Nat.,' xiii. 5). A few however of smaller dimen sions have been found in tombs. They are chiefly figures of Egyptian idols; and the wood of which they are made seems to be sycamore. Gold, silver, iron, tin, copper, lead (and their compounds), wax, and plaster, were all used for the purpose of casting. [BRONZE ; Fon:misc.] A mixture of gold and silver, in the proportion of one to five, formed a composition termed Electrum. According to Homer, Helen presented to the temple of 3linerva at Lindus, in Rhodes, a cup made of electrum, of the exact form and size of one of her own breasts. A mixture of copper and tin, with sometimes, but not always, small portions of other metals, formed what the Greeks called Chalcos (XdAnor) ; the Romans, .f3; and modern artists (from the Italians), Bronze.