, 1886-12-19
HOW SCULPT0R'S WORK.
FACTS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN
ABOUT STATUE MAKING.

ABOUT STATUE MAKING.
Various Methods OF C~ar,ing-How Some
Artists Differ from other--The Bees,
Known System DeserIbed-The Men
who Help the scuiptors.
Several great sculptors, Michael Angelo
among them, have occasionally hewn
their statues straight out Of the block OF
marble, without going through the pre-
llmina'y courses of modelling in clay and
casting in plaster. But this is rarely done,
for, in the first place, the work would be
too long for any artist who has n regard
for his time, and, in the second, the hew-
ing OF the marble demands "A special prac-
teal experience which makes il an art
apart. \ sculptor would probably spoil
"a hundred blocks of marble before max
ing MS much as n statuette IL foot high
We're he to trust only to himself In the
matter Even Michael Angelo, when he
tried to dispense with the '~'statuary' or
practitioner, succeeded only in making
fragments of figures. Not being nn adept
In Judging of the size of the block he
needed, he was constantly finding tina
he had miscalcnlated and that an arm, u
leg or head must remain unfinished in
consequence.
The ~"statuary," who Is often an artist
OF great merit and possessed of rs much
talent in his way as the sculptor In his,
sets the plaster model on a platform,
measures it and places 1t side by side with
n block Of marble of the requisite height
md breadth. This do lie, he applies to the
model an instrument OF mathematical
precision, by which he obtains the de.
tailed measure Of every part and angle OF
thu . H.. 49, I-
marble and roughly sketches ON the out
side of il, by means OF points, IL sort Of out
line OF the figure OF group. Upon each Of
the spots where he has marked II point
with his pencil II workman horcs u hole
with mn awl, taking great care. however,
not TO bore 4 fraction Of m inch deeper
than lie IL told When the ''stutuary"
has inspected all the sides Of the block,
aud when the holes have all been bored
according to his directions, the marble
looks as though it had been riddlrd iy
bullets.
FONTS IN STATUE MAKING.
y second workman then appears with
II ehisel and IA hammer to hew away the
fragments Of marble between the different
holes and along the pencil lines drawn AS
guide marks. This work is more or less
easy ns the attitude of the statue is simple
d" ""' 'N 'u' VI q
,l"''rn pcISpnhge s'"hulhs p~Incidly with
Of our day and with nothing eccentric in
the position of his less, the tasi. oilers no
~ulii'ui',cS ana may De lntrus'cd To a.
veiS ordinary workman. But il the sub
jet he u group or "A figure Ia IN attitude.
Tor instance like that Of Ajax Defying the
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~ any p"' +" I""'''o'" NUM- anu every
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"""u "l'ii 'n' I,l"i'en. Nn'" inc WORK Is
S'' upon i,s peuestnl "nu uncovered
ur 'I"N -, ~ SO,iI luN,
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- v"i"S9 ivr'"''s
the case when the "%statuury'' is himself
a FIRST class nrtist and cnn trust himself