BRONZE.
Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, has been in use from a remote period in the history of the arts. Its adaptability for casting, its durability, utility and colour have rendered this material one of the most useful and valuable. Of the many fine examples of the early Egyptian and Assyrian bronze now in the British Museum, the most beautiful are the bronzes of Siris, two fragments of armour, with reliefs in repoussé (fig. 4). The many Greek statues in the round, of their Gods and heroes, show the most skilful technique and beauty of form. The Etruscans were clever workers in this material, and they used a most expressive treatment of incised lines, which differentiates their decorative bronzes from those of Greece, with their delicate low reliefs. The bronze mirrors (fig. 2) and the Cista are typical examples of the Etruscan treatment. The finest known cista is that called the “Ficoroni Cista,” by Morios Plantios (3rd century B.C.) and is now in the Collegio Romano; a description, with illustrations of this example is in the “Magazine of Art,” April, 1884. Descriptions of this cista and of the many fine examples in the British Museum are given in “Murray’s Handbook of Greek Archæology.” Of small decorative bronzes, Naples Museum alone has over 13,000 examples, consisting of candelabra, tripods, tables, chairs and couches, which, eighteen centuries ago, were used by the wealthy Roman citizens. Of bronze equestrian statues, the most renowned are those of Marcus Aurelius, at Rome, A.D. 175; Bartolomeo Coleone, at Venice, A.D. 1488, by Andrea Verrocchio; and Alessandro Leopardo; and that of Gattamelata, at Padua, 1453 A.D., by Donatello.
A remarkable bronze figure of the Renascence period is that of Perseus, by Benvenuto Cellini, 1500-1570, at Florence, and the figure of Neptune on the fountain at Bologna by Giovanni da Bologna, 1524-90.
The bronze doors of San Zenone, at Verona, (see [plates 1] and [3] in “Aratra Pentelici” by John Ruskin), and those of the Baptistery, at Florence, by Andrea Pisano and Ghiberti (see Renascence) are typical examples of early Renascence bronzes. The casting of these Bronzes was by the “Cire Perdu” method, that is, by forming a core of firm material nearly the size and shape required, then covering with sheet wax and finishing with the detail required, with sticks of wax projecting to form vents for the escape of steam in casting. The wax is then brushed over with a composition of fine clay and ground crucibles to some thickness and the mould thus formed is connected with the inner one by bronze rods. The wax is then melted out, leaving a cavity Into which the liquid bronze is poured, the core and mould being afterwards removed. Bronze is also cast in piece moulds taken from the model; the piece mould is then lined with sheet clay and put together and the core run in. The clay is then removed and the bronze run in as in the former process. The sand process for casting has now reached a high degree of perfection in which the core and mould are formed by pressure in a fine tenacious sand.
WROUGHT IRON. [Plate 34.]
WROUGHT
IRON.
The decorative qualities of iron, with its strength, durability and comparative cheapness, have rendered it one of the most useful metals in the applied arts. Used from an early period for implements of war and the chase, it gradually became associated with architecture and furniture, reaching in the 15th and 16th centuries a remarkable degree of beauty and skilful craftsmanship that has never been excelled. Many fine Norman hinges of wrought iron are still in existence, having a straight central bar or strap, with small scroll terminations; these central straps were strengthened with crescent-shaped pieces, terminating in small serpent forms, probably a survival of the Viking traditions. This form of hinge was succeeded by the Early Gothic hinge, which was a series of spirals springing from the straight bar or strap, the spiral being welded or fastened with collars; these spirals were enriched with the three-lobed foliage or trefoil, typical of the Early Gothic period; fine examples of this hinge occur on the west door of Notre Dame, Paris, where this typical spiral has the trefoil leaf, with birds, dragons and small rosettes in stamped iron. This stamped characteristic may be seen, but in a less degree, in the fine hinges of Leighton Buzzard Church, Eaton Bray Church, Bedfordshire, and the Eleanor grill in Westminster Abbey, by Thomas de Leghton, in 1294. In the 14th and 15th centuries, when panelled doors took the place of the earlier doors, this Early Gothic style of hinge was not needed (fig. 5) so that we find no trace of it in that period, but the art of wrought iron was continued with the hammered and chiselled hinges and lock plates of the most varied and delicate workmanship, which enriched the beautiful Gothic chests of the 14th and 15th centuries. The simple wrought screen, which was so largely used in the 13th century was now elaborated, especially in Italy, and fine examples of quatre-foil grilles with massive wrought framing and a rich frieze of foliage, cupids and animals in pierced and hammered iron are to be seen at the cathedrals of Orvieto, Prato and Siena, dating from about 1337 to 1350, and at Santa Croce, Florence, 1371; but it was in Spain and France that the screen reached its culmination. The Spanish screens or “Réjas” in the cathedrals of Seville, Toledo and Granada have a fine range of turned and chiselled vertical bars some 30 to 50 feet high, with an elaborate frieze and cresting.
Beautiful wrought and chiselled gates were erected in France about 1658, for the Louvre and the Royal Chateaux of Anet and Econeu. There are some fine wrought gates at Hampton Court by Jean Tijon, who published some drawings of them in 1693, and many good simple gates of the last century are still in position in many parts of the country.