Passing over the intermediate age of bar barism, we arrive at the epoch of the revival of art in Italy, under the Pisani and others, about the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The celebrated bronze gates of the Baptistery at Florence, by Ghiberti, which M. Angelo said were fit to be the gates of Paradise, are among the more remarkable works of the time. In the succeeding century we find Guglielmo della Porta practising the art with great success ; and he is distinguished by Vasari for adopting a mode of casting that was considered quite original, in executing his colossal statue of Paul III. The metal when run from the furnace, was carried downwards by a duct, and then admitted to the under side or bottom of the mould, and thus, uteri upon by a superior pressure, as in a common fountain, was forced upwards till the mould was entirely filled. It is necessary in this pr,,_ cess that the mould should be kept in a state• of great heat, in order that the metal may no cool before the whole is run. But among the artists who are celebrated for their skill in bronze-casting, Benvenuto Cellini holds a dis tinguifaed rank : there are few collections that cannot boast some specimens of his smaller productions, while the larger works that remain, particularly at Florence, prows that his high reputation was not undeserved.
In his process the metal was allowed to flow at once from the furnace into the channels or ducts of the moulds.
The modern practice of the English, French, Italian, and German artists does not differ materially in its principle, from that of the earlier Italians. The process is described under FOUNDING.
• Bronze for cannon in England is composed of 00 copper and 10 tilt. Bronze for cymbals and tamtans is composed of 78 copper and 22 tin ; in France, of 100 copper and 11 tin. English bell-metal consists of copper SO, tin 10.1, zinc 5.0, lead 4.3, = 100. Reflectors for telescopes consist of 60 parts of copper and 33 parts of tin ; they resemble steel in colour, are very hard and brittle, and suscep tible of a fine polish. Bronze for medals is formed of 100 copper, and 7 to 11 of tin and zinc.
At the Mediaeval Exhibition of 1850, there were many bronzes of great beauty displayed. Vases, chains, keys, fibula:, lamps, busts, sta tuettes, censers, fountains, inkstands, ewers, —these were among the specimens exhibited.
The articles of bronze imported are class( by the customs' authorities under three grout —1st. works of art, 2nd. other articles i bronze, and 3rd. bronze powder : the fir group is stated at from 200 to 300 cwt annually ; the second and third groups ha` a value of about 20001. annually.