FIG. 62.—BRONZE LION, BY BARYE.
During the last half-century simple statues erected to the memories of noted politicians and military men in public parks, streets, and open places, have been added to by more realistic groups. It would be beyond the scope of this work to attempt categorical descriptions of such bronzes to be seen in the public places of our great cities, and it would be still more difficult to rightly classify them either in their order of merit or of the appropriateness of their selection. It seems justly fit that those who have been associated with the metallic art should be commemorated in copper and brass. To Pittsburg belongs the honour of having remembered the father of the art of hammering into shape the metals. In that city, on a massive pedestal, stands a colossal bronze figure of Tubal Cain, who, in his brief life's history given in Genesis, is spoken of as an "artificer in brass." He fittingly heads the list of metallurgists and scientists, to many of whom monuments have been erected.
The use of bronze in monuments is not confined to figures of great men, for bronze and brass ornament often adds to the magnificence of a national memorial. As examples of the use of bronze for that purpose mention may be made of the bronze lions, after Landseer, at the four corners of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. The use of bronze, as adding to the adornment or appearance of an antiquity in stone, is exemplified in the two bronze sphinxes at the base of Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment.
The bronzes of comparatively modern days are mostly the work of the founder, cast after the sculptor has done his work. Some of the early examples of Etruscan and Egyptian art consisted of bronze or brass hammered into form by hand, or made of plates riveted together. Others appear to have been beaten or embossed into high relief in a mould. Some of the cleverest castings of bronze, however, are found in the work of Eastern nations, the best examples being idols and temple ornaments (see [Chapter XIV]).
Replicas in Miniature.
The so-called miniatures range from important reproductions for household and gallery ornament to the quite miniature bronzes which adorn the mantelpiece or cabinet. Many of the statues and groups of ancient and modern forms have been copied. There is, however, another school of art which to many is very attractive. Just as pictures of animal life are appreciated by many, so the sculptures and bronzes of well-known animal artists have been justly appreciated. In France there are the works of Antoine Louis Barye, who was born in Paris in 1795. It is said that Barye discovered his real bent from watching the wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes. Some of his great works were exhibited early in the nineteenth century, and his beautiful models have been much copied. Three of the most popular are shown in Figs. 61, 62, and 63. There is the tiger which he exhibited in 1830, and the lion and the beautifully formed stag. Such works of art are worthy of a place in any collection of metal, for they represent an important French school. Of men who have made names for themselves there are many whose statues are found in private collections. A very favourite one is that of Robert Burns, whose colossal statue was erected at Ayr on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the poet's birth. Burns is reported to have said on his deathbed: "They'll think mair o' me a hundred years after I am dead," a truism none will deny.
