THE SCULPTOR.
1. Sculpture is one of the fine arts. In its most extended sense, it includes not only modelling figures in clay, wax, and plaster of Paris, and carving them in wood, stone, and marble, but also casting them in bronze, lead, or iron, as well as enchasing and engraving.
2. The productions of this art are known under various denominations, but the principal are statues, busts, and bas-reliefs. The first of these are entire representations of men or animals in full relief; the second are upper parts of statues; and the last are figures more or less elevated from the body or ground on which they are formed.
3. The different degrees of elevation in reliefs, are expressed by various terms borrowed from the Italian. A figure is said to be in alto relievo, or high relief, when but a small proportion of it is buried in the back-ground; in mezzo relievo, or middle relief, when one half of it is above the surface; and in basso relievo, or low relief, when but little elevated, like figures upon coin. Bas-reliefs are usually applied as ornaments to buildings, and to the pediments of statues.
4. The subjects of sculpture, with a few exceptions, are the same as those of painting; and the course of study essential to proficiency in either, is very similar. They both require much taste and practice, and a thorough knowledge of the human form and other objects frequently represented. The young artist begins with imitating the most perfect models of Grecian art; and, after having become well acquainted with their beauties, he proceeds to the imitation of nature.
5. When any considerable work in stone or marble is to be done, the sculptor forms a model of clay or wax, to guide him in the execution. The soft material is moulded to the proposed form with the hands and small instruments of ivory. The model is by far the most difficult part of the work, and it is here the genius of the artist is to be displayed. The process of copying the model in stone or in any other substance, is an operation merely mechanical, and can often be done by another person as well as by the scientific sculptor himself.
6. The model having been prepared, the block of marble or stone is marked at certain points corresponding to its chief elevation and concavities. The material is then wrought to the rough outline of the figure, by means of strong steel points, drills, and other perforating tools; and the asperities are afterwards removed with chisels, and with rasps and files of different shapes. When a high polish is required, it is produced by friction with pumice-stone, tripoli, and straw ashes.
7. Marble and stone are carved in a similar manner; but the latter, being softer, can be wrought with less difficulty. The defects which may be met with in the stone are repaired with a composition of plaster of Paris and the same stone, pulverized and mixed with water.
8. Casts in plaster of Paris and bronze are taken from models, statues, busts, bas-reliefs, and living persons. To do this, it is necessary to form a mould from the subject to be copied. This is done by spreading over it some soft substance, which can be readily forced into all the cavities, and which will harden by drying or cooling. Plaster of Paris is the most usual material employed for this purpose.
9. When the subject is a bas-relief, or any other one-sided figure of a similar kind, the mould can be withdrawn without injury, in a single piece; but if it is a statue, or any other figure of like form, it is necessary to divide the mould into several pieces, in order to a safe removal. These pieces again united constitute a perfect mould. While the artist is forming the mould on the face of a living person, the latter breathes through tubes inserted into the nostrils.
10. In taking casts from such a mould, the internal surface is oiled to prevent adhesion, and then plaster mixed with water is poured into it through a small orifice. The mould is afterwards turned in every direction, that the plaster may cover every part of the surface; and when a sufficiency of it has been distributed to produce the requisite strength, and the plaster has acquired the proper solidity, the several pieces are removed from the cast, which, of course, is an exact resemblance of the subject on which the mould was formed.
11. Superfluous portions of the material, produced by the seams in the mould, are removed with suitable instruments, and applications of fresh plaster are made, where necessary to repair blemishes. The cast is finished by dipping it in a varnish made of soap, white wax, and water, and afterwards rubbing it with soft linen. The polish produced in this manner, approaches that of marble.
12. The durability of plaster casts, exposed to the weather, is greatly increased by saturating them with linseed oil combined with wax or rosin. They are made to resemble bronze by the application of a soap composed of linseed oil and soda, and colored with the sulphate of copper and iron.
13. Moulds are, also, formed of a warm solution of glue, which hardens upon cooling, and such are called elastic moulds. This material is sometimes preferred on account of its more easy separation from irregular surfaces. For small and delicate impressions in bas-relief, melted sulphur is sometimes employed; also a strong solution of isinglass in proof spirits. All three of the substances last mentioned yield sharper impressions than plaster of Paris.
14. Statues designed to occupy situations in which they may be exposed to the weather and mechanical violence, are often made of bronze cast in moulds. The external portions of the mould are made on the pattern, out of plaster, brick-dust, and water. The mould is then covered on the inside with a coating of clay as thick as the bronze is intended to be, and the several pieces are afterwards put together, or closed. The internal cavity is next filled with a composition like that on the other side of the clay.
15. When this has been done, the several pieces forming the outside of the mould are separated, and the clay carefully removed. These having been again united, and the core or internal portion of the mould secured in its true position, the whole is bound with iron hoops, and thoroughly dried. The melted bronze is poured into the cavity formed by the removal of the clay, through an aperture made for the purpose. The cast is afterwards rendered smooth by mechanical means.
16. It is conjectured with much reason, that sculpture was one of the arts practised before the deluge, and that it was transmitted to posterity by the survivors of that catastrophe. The first images were probably made for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of the dead; but, in process of time, they became objects of adoration. As the Chaldeans were unquestionably the first idolators after the flood, so are they supposed to have been the first who made progress in sculpture.
17. The first notice of this art in the Mosaic writings, is found in the passage relative to the teraphim, or idols, which Rachel, the wife of Jacob, carried clandestinely from her father's house; and the first persons mentioned in the Bible, as artists, are Aholiab and Bezaleel, who formed the cherubim which covered the mercy-seat, together with some other furniture of the tabernacle, and the sculptured ornaments of the garments of the high-priest.
18. From the same authority, we learn that the nations expelled from Canaan, by the Jewish people, were not ignorant of sculpture and painting; for Moses repeatedly commands the latter to destroy the pictures and molten images which might be discovered in their progress through the land. The Israelites crossed the river Jordan about 1500 years before the commencement of our era.
19. From this time to the end of the Jewish polity, we often meet in the Scriptures with indications of the fine arts; but the splendor of Solomon's temple, clearly points out the days of that prince as the period in which they had attained their greatest perfection in Judea.
20. The Babylonians, Assyrians, and Phœnicians, became considerably skilful in sculpture, at a very early period, as we learn from early history, and some existing remains. The same remark is also applicable to the inhabitants of Hindostan. But writers have been more particular in noticing the style of design among the Egyptians, because the progress of the arts among that people is more easily traced, and because it is supposed to elucidate that of most other ancient nations.
21. The chief objects of sculpture, among the Egyptians, were pillars, and other architectural ornaments, idols, the human figure, animals, and hieroglyphics, engraved in a kind of bas-relief on public edifices, and the forms of animals. Most of the great works of this nation are supposed to have been executed during and after the reign of Sesostris, who lived in the days of Rehoboam, king of Israel, or about 1000 years before the Christian era.
22. But of all the nations of antiquity, the Greeks were the most distinguished for sculpture. They derived the first rudiments of the art from the Phœnicians, or Egyptians, although they assert that they themselves were its inventors. Its existence, in a rude state, among that people, preceded that of letters or scientific architecture.
23. Dædalus, who lived about 100 years after Moses, was the first sculptor among the Greeks, of any notoriety. The statues made before his time, were stiff, formal figures, having the arms attached to the body, and the legs united, like the mummy-shaped productions of Egyptian art. He separated the legs of his statues, and placed them, and the upper extremities, in a natural position. He also was the first sculptor who made the eyes of his statues open. On account of these improvements, the Greeks said, that his divine genius made statues walk, and see, and speak.
24. The disciples and imitators of Dædalus were called his sons, and artists, generally, Dædalides. Soon after this period, schools of design were established in the island of Ægina, at Corinth, at Sicyon, and in Etruria, in Italy: but it seems that no good representations of the human form were effected until near the time of Phidias, who was born 444 years before Christ.
25. This most distinguished of all the votaries of sculpture, flourished at or near the same time with the dramatic poets, Æschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles; the philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Anaxagoras; and the statesmen and commanders, Pericles, Miltiades, Themistocles, Cimon, and Xenophon. This was the most refined period of Grecian history, and of all others, the most favorable in its moral and political circumstances, for the development of genius.
26. Phidias was the author of the ideal style, which, in the fine arts, may be defined, the union of the perfections of any class of figures. Among the distinguished productions of this artist, the colossal statues of Minerva and Jupiter Olympius, made of gold and ivory, have excited the greatest astonishment. The former, executed for the Parthenon of Athens, was twenty-six cubits in height; and the latter, for a splendid temple at Elis, was about the same height, although seated upon a throne.
27. The favorite disciples of Phidias, were Alcamenes, of Attica, and Agoracritus, of Paros; and at the same time with them, flourished Polycletus, of Argos, Miron, of Bœotia, and Pythagoras, of Rhegium. The beautiful style soon succeeded to the ideal; the authors of which, were Praxiteles and Scopas, who brought the art to the highest perfection,—since, in their productions, they united beauty and grace. After the days of these two artists, sculpture began to decline; although it continued to be practised with considerable success, for some centuries after this period.
28. The great superiority of the Greeks in the art of sculpture, is ascribed to various causes; among which are classed, their innate love of beauty, and their own elegance of form, combined with the frequent opportunities of studying the human figure, in places where youth were in the habit of performing athletic exercises in a state of nudity. To these may be added, the practice of awarding to citizens a statue of their own persons, for eminent services to the state, and for excelling in exercises at the public games.
29. The fine arts were nearly extinguished in Greece, by the conquest of the Romans; who, with ruthless rapacity, seized upon, and transferred to their metropolis and villas, the superb works of taste with which the country abounded. By these means, however, a taste for the arts was produced among the Romans, who encouraged with great liberality the Greek artists who resorted in great numbers to their city.
30. The arts at length declined at Rome, and finally became nearly extinct in that city, soon after Byzantium was made the capital of the Roman empire, in 329 of the Christian era. The new capitol was enriched by the most valuable statuary of the old metropolis, and by a farther pillage of Greece. Artists were also encouraged with a munificence similar to that of former times; and many new subjects in painting and sculpture, in illustration of the Christian scriptures, were executed as embellishments for the sacred buildings of the city.
31. The art of sculpture necessarily declined during the time of the unsettled state of Europe, which followed the conquests by the barbarous nations. It, however, was not altogether lost, but was occasionally practised, although in a very rude manner, in several kingdoms of Europe. In the eleventh century, after the terrors of the northern invasions had passed away, and the governments had become more established, the arts of design began a regular course of improvement, which has been denominated their revival.
32. This improvement was promoted by means of the frequent intercourse which had sprung up between the commercial cities of Italy and the Greek empire. In 1016, the Pisans founded their great church, called the Dome of Pisa; and, in its construction, they employed many noble pillars and other fragments of Grecian edifices. They also engaged upon the work several Grecian sculptors and painters, who exerted in their service the little skill which had come down from antiquity.
33. The specimens of ancient art thus introduced at Pisa, and the works of these artists, at length incited several Italians to emulation; among whom was Nicolo Pisano, who became the restorer of true taste in the arts, in the thirteenth century. At this period, the crusades had diffused such a zeal for the Christian religion, that magnificent churches were built in every part of Italy, in the designing of which, and in their decoration with sculpture, Pisano and his scholars were universally employed.
34. John Pisano, the son of Nicolo, was also an architect and sculptor of eminence; and by him was built, for King Charles, a castle, and several churches, at Naples. He also executed several pieces of sculpture, and superintended the construction of some edifices in Tuscany. This sculptor, who died in 1320, had several pupils, of whom Agostino and Agnolo Sanesi were the best sculptors of the time.
35. In 1350, an academy of design was formed at Florence by the union of several painters, sculptors, and architects. This institution was called after St. Luke, whom tradition makes a painter by profession. The society was afterwards munificently patronised by the Medici, a noble and wealthy family of that city.
36. From this school, there soon proceeded a great number of skilful artists, among whom were the sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, and Brunileschi; and after these, others perhaps still more distinguished, until it produced Michael Angelo Buonarotti, who, as a universal genius in the arts of design, has excelled every other artist, whether ancient or modern.
37. This great man was born in Florence, in 1474. His father, having discovered his talent for designing, made him a pupil of Dominic Ghirlandaio, who instructed him in the first principles of the art of drawing. He studied statuary under Bartoldo; and, in his sixteenth year, copied the head of a satyr in marble, to the admiration of all connoisseurs. On account of his great promise, he was liberally patronised by Lorenzo de Medicis, who, besides allowing him a pension, gave him a lodging in the palace, and a place at his table. After the death of this prince, he enjoyed the same favors from his son, Pietro de Medicis.
38. His reputation as an artist having been established at Florence, he was called to Rome by Julius II. From this time, he remained chiefly in the service of the popes, for whom he executed many inimitable works, both of sculpture and painting. He was also an architect of the first order; and, as such, was employed on St. Peter's Church, as well as on several other public edifices. He died in 1564, at an advanced age.
39. Sculpture, having been brought to as high a state of perfection as it was ever likely to be carried, began to decline in Italy, as it had done before, under similar circumstances, in ancient times; but as barbarism did not again occur to overwhelm it, it did not entirely disappear. It continued to be practised, although in a very inferior degree, until it was again revived by Antonio Canoya, near the close of the eighteenth century.
40. The French nation, from its vicinity and intercourse with Italy, obtained from that country the means of improvement in every branch of the fine arts. Accordingly, native artists of considerable merit occasionally appeared. The kings of France, also, often employed Italian architects and sculptors on their great public works. In the reign of Francis I., Leonardo da Vinci, and two other artists from Italy, established a school of fine arts similar to that of St. Luke, at Florence; and the genius of the people, added to national munificence, have kept a respectable school of sculpture to the present time.
41. Considerable ability in sculpture has likewise been exhibited by native artists of Spain, Germany, Holland, England, and some other countries of Europe; but whatever skill has been displayed in any of these countries has been derived, in an indirect manner, at least, from Italy. In the United States, the fine arts have been cultivated with considerable spirit. An academy for this purpose has been established both in New York and Philadelphia, and a picture gallery has been connected with the Athenæum in Boston, in which the annual exhibition of paintings is respectable.
