The Express.
London, England, 1864-05-07 00:00:00

FINS ART&

SCULPTURE BY PHOTOGRAPHY.

Science has long been invading the territory of art,
when the only illuminating power was thought to be she
sacred fire of genius. The portrait painter has been almost
compelled to resign his palette to the optician-chemlid, who
steps in with his lens, his camera, and his solutionv, and in
the twinkling of an eye presents us with egperfect likeness--
not a flattering one it may be, but what is geordly better
esteemed, a tree one. Skill has more to do with this
than art proper perhaps, but there is the great fact
that a wide domain of art has been taken possession of
by science, although the old haunts of the true arida-
erns of art remain es fastnewas of romantic btoty in-
atmeerible to all who are not gifted with the password. Bet
'demos is a grasping raster, and not contect with making
the sun paint pigeons and disk.e the secrets of his own
nature, asks us ow to look cc while light ie made to model
a statue, or at leer to perform • principal part in this-Pro-
' =abeam operatiow..At first sight this seems an absurd
and impossible piece of assumption, but we are assured by
51r. Claudia, the eminent scientific photographer, who has
seen the proem in action, that it is all in good faith,
and of the excellent proofs of the work we
can answer for, after having seen several ad-
mirable statuette portraits, busts, and medallion
actually modelled without the sitter having ever beau seen
at all. The image of • statue produced by the stereoscope
must have frequently struck every one by the perfect illu-
sion of solidity it gives to the eye; but how to convert this
into "the round," as artiste call it, was the problem which
smarted tell M. Willies, after an outlay of some
30,000 W. upon perfecting the proems sad the apparatus, has
plod it. A company is established for the purpose in
Perim ; and Mr. Claudet, as we understand, is prepared to
lake statuette portraits and busts with the same rapid foci-
lity almost, and with as little inocovenience to the sitter,
es with the common torte do rititc. AU of three eta-',
tours which we have eon are remarkable for a
certain exact individuality of face and figure attitude,
which is familiar to photographic portraits ; they are also
agreeable as portraits. The proms is thus described as it is
carried on at the establishment in Paris:—" The part which
is devoted particularly to the photo-sculpture 0)11111114 of a
large circular room about 30 feet high and 40 feet in diameter,
surmounted with a cupola, all of glass, to admit the greatest
possible amount of light. AU round the circular wall sup-
portiog the cupola are, at equal intervals, twenty-four round
holes of about three inches is diameter, being the apertures
of twenty-four camesx °Scone placed behind the wall, in
• kind of dark corridor surrounding the building ; for we
have to explain that twenty-four photographs of the
person sitting in the centre of the large round
operating room are to be taken at the same
moment, in order to supply the modelling appa-
ratus with twenty-four different views of the person. By a
very simple and ingeeions contrivance, the twenty-four
camera obscene. is each of which Las been placed a pre-
pared plate, are open and shut at the same moment. Pho-
tographs are placed, in their proper order, in the outer
circle of a large vertical wheel, which can revolve at will
merely by the impulse of the hand ; so that each photograph
can be placed as loog es and whoever it is ineoensary before
the glass of a magic lantern ; and the image of
this photograph is projected upon • sorer of ground
glans, at the distance which will give the dinned
dimension. The modeller, having prepared Lis block
of clay, sad placed it close to the ground glass,
oo • stead capable of tensing upon its axis, holds la bin
hands • pantograph, the point of which on follow, cm the
ground glass, the outline of the image of the photograph,
while a knife, Axed on another part of the pictograph, cuts
the soft block of clay, and gives it the outline of the pho.
tograph. When this is doom the next photograph is
brought before the magic lantern, the block of clay is
turned 1-24th of the whole circle marked on is stand,
soother profile is imparted by the pantograph to the block
of clay, and so on ustil the block has received all round the
twenty-four outlier of the twenty-four photographs."
We have thin a rough combination of the exert outline of
all parts of the figure, which has to be harmonised by touch-
ing and smoothing over the undefined parts, which are easily
distinguished, and thus giving to the whole a touch of art,
as well as the stamp of truth derived from the photograph.

HOILIIIYAN'S TL is choice and strong, moderate
la pales, sag wholesome to aso. These advastaaoshave swam!
tor tha tea a game prefereaca. It la sold In packet& by :.=fo
agoalla—t4lvatimatent.l