Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-05-19

the same laborious care and exquisite finish, a.
those most exposed to the eye of the critical spec
tator. The columns, capitals, and bas.rellefs, a.
well as the graceful angular and curved mould,
ings, and all the decorative me mbers Of Greek
and Roman architecture, were elaborated with
the most scrupuious care, and The incest attention
to precision Of workmanship, and one knows moi
which most to admire, the symmetry and exqui>
site beauty of proportion of the whole, or the &C.
curate and beautiful finish of the details In gen.
erai, The ends and upper and under surfaces only
of the wall stones were dressed before laying,
the inner and outer faces being cut to the line Of
the wall and polished, after the masonry waf
completed. BY this means, a truer general sur.
face was obtained, and the danger Of accident to
the corners and faces of the stones during the
progress of the building was obyiated. The an
Gent stone-cuttcrs seem to have been particular
ly skiltuI in giving not only outline but finish BY
the chsel, and in the finest ancient statuary, mas
ny parts are finished by that implement, which
the timidity Of modern sculptors would Only ar
proach with the tilc or pumco store
! The stonecutters employed by the Gothic ar
chltects Of the middle ages wrought with sir,
gular boldness and skill, though, as they gene,
rally employed coarser material, as sandstone
or granite their works have not the exquisite deli
cacy of finish, which admirably distinguishes
the productions of the stonc-cutters of Greece.
The Gothic style of architecture is redundant in
ornament, ard the most caprcols and fancful
decorations, composed of slender lines and bold
and abrupt curves, intermingled with grotesque
figures and foliage, were carved in stone, with
as much freedom as expert designer could
sketch them on paper
| But the triumph Of the ancient artists seems TO
be in the engraved gems, used by the ancients
for seal rings, personal ornaments, decorations Of
saddles, and other trarpings, and various other
namental purposes. The styles ofexecution were
two. In the one, generally called cameo, the
/ figures mr. oil nf IN hpf
called lntaglio, they were sunk. Gems in intas
Clio are the most common, and that style was pres
terred, both because it was best fitted to give an
: impression, and because the figures were less ex'
posed to accidental injury. Cameo was employ,
cd TO the greatest advantage, when cut upon q
stone having layers of different colours so that
by cutting away the whole of one layer, except
the figure, the latter would appear of different
I colour from the ground, and thus the relief would
be heightened. The common shell canoes SO
much worn by ladies' ornaments are limitations,
ana sometimes close ones, OF the ancient stone ca
mcos, and indeed shells were often wrought by
the anccnts in the same manner. These carved
gems are usually from one to two inches in di,
ameter, though some have been found below,
as well as much above these dimensions. The
subjects are portraits, NEUROLOGICAL representa-.
ton, and copies of celebrated statues and pic.
lures, and nothing can be imagined more ex
Guislte both in design and execution than these
minute figures. They are believed to have been
executed by means of the revolving drill, and
are commonly ofbcryl, cornelian, agate, or onyx,
though examples in other stones are not wanting.
The ancient lapidaries were not acquainted with
tile art of cutting and polishing the diamond,
though they made use Of its powder in cutting
other gems, and it is said not to have been cut
and polished before the middle of the fifteenth
century. The art ofcngsaving gem: is still prac-
tiscd with great success, and the ablest antigua
ries are sometimes deceived by modern copies.
The economical asses of precious stones few.
The diamond is valuable for its property of cut
ting glass, and both this and other gems have
been lately used to point metallic pens, and etch-
ing needles for engravers. For the latter pur.
pose, they are turned in a lathe, a splinter of
diamond serving for a chise. Some of the more
transparent crystals are cut for lenses for spec.
tacles, and these, though otherwise inferior TO
the best glass, are preferred for some purposes,
because tney are not liable to scratch. The dia-
mond has also been recently employed with great
advantage in the formation of lenses for small
microscopes.
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