Colossal Statues

The arrival of the Bartholdi statute on our shores has excited quite an interest in Btatutes of colossul sizc, and the inquiry ia iften in. kIu hs to art works of tlil.i kind There have not been so many of them as to niake them common ac all, but still tly liuve uot been so rare as to render them as wonderfül as soroe of the papers of the prcseac day would lead us to believe. Jiven among the rudcst nations eftbrts at statuary are and ihvays have been common, the ntteinpt at this sort of art nelng apparently tirst directed toward deplcling sonie representaron of the god iield nidst in reverenee by the sculptors. As skill increased the talent of the artists was employed in portraying the features of thelr greatest military and civil leaders, and as the living inemory of these laded and their glory brigh tened in the legenda remembered and invented of tluiu, so the eftort to represent their furnia and features In statnary becanie also idealizcd. There is besides a natural dlapoelUon among children and savages to conceive of physical size as real rreatness, and the early sculptors of latter ages retaining it perhaps unconsciously to tlicniselves, the strttues of kinjrs, he roe, and gods were very frcquently made gigaiitic to distinguisli them ainong statiicg '?J}}v "ÏÏuSi8 )T.er,:..áS!.il1í?lIÍ3l";tl liefa it is no uiicoinmon thing, when the subject representa a king and his attendants, to have thü king timde four or live linies as larjje as thnse standing iinmedlately arouml hiin, in ord r to show that nu really was the kinr, wliile the presenlations ot the others wtre as mucli smaller ihnn the royal purtrait is they were inferinr to hini in rank. In oue Egyptian h is relief tlie idea is comically currieil out in a carviiiK representing the kin;: with several uoblemen of gradirillv N-sieuing rank, and snuie peasants All are u pon the aante picture plane, butthe kh g is aboul four times the size of the greattsl nübiéman, and the attending nobility iradually diuiinisli iu sizn according to tlieir rank, lili the peasauts are represenied as pigmies. ANCIEKT STONK STATUKS. Tliis dea w.is probably the origin of llie jfigantic stattie, and severa! countries boasied of laifre nunibers of tliem. In Persia, tlie heroic and 'igantic sutuary, ui the ruins of 8 sa and other Persian lities, but the malice of state eiieniies, together wilh the deeaying hand of time, na made identitication an mpossibihty. Numbers of cities in Hindostán have leyi-nds of rijjan tic image of their idols, umi in aoine cases íru;inent8 of these -tutues reman], but quite tïequently the Hinduo idols were eonstnictcd of other and inora perishable materials thanst me, n DÜ so, tor the most part, these statues are but legendary. The A.tecs of Mexico and Central America and the Feruvlans liave left manv 'videuees of their skill in sonc-c t ing, b t comparatively few statuea fouud, mul tliese are evidently conventional. In the mountain dtstricts ut i'ei u tliere aio mitny of these odd. lialt-bUtue, hull-mmiumcnt figures, trom pix to twenty teet high, carvud from a single block, but whether they were deglgnfd as sitíele of worshlp or stutucs of tlie A.tec ruler, or as ornaments for palaces, caunot now ascertuined. EOYPTIAN STATUB8. Some of the mo.-t notable stone statuee of ancient limes arethose of the Egyplian kiltgt, Hamese II , or the Oreat. appears 10 have been fond of bftving liimself reprewsnted lo thi miumtr, and the statues lie left are, some of thein, almost as perfecl is hen they caint' lïom the sculptor's hand". A peculiar thlng about the Ègypiia.ii statues aud inuiiiiinriils is the fact ilial evei y one is cut from a single solid block, DOt a sirn of a patcli or seain being anywhere observable This is the not only wlth the statues, but witli the obelisk also, some of which are neaily one hundred feet hih, bul each of a sing'e block. The engiueeriug skill required lo move thee euoriuouá masses of stone niiist have been v&ry considerable, but in the catacombs of Kgypt tliere reuiain pictures which show tnauy details of tlm work. In one picture a huge statue is belng drawn on beams by long lines of men, over 500 in cach line, who are pullin on ropea, belngjfulded in their eubrts liv a leader standiDg on the base of the Btatue und inotiiiii'uig to a man by his sidc, who clashes a pair of symbols as a inal to pull. Others re-arranged the beauia as the statue passes alone, while niiicr-, with jurs, empty oil on the wood lo dlmiiilgh tüe írictlon. Ií ASIESES AND i:lii. Rnmeses II., r the (reat, the l'haraoh ol tlie bible, was fond of seeing lúa Ukeni ifl i-Unir, sloce there are süü remainiig half a dozen búge síonei of hiui. wuicli neklnT time nor Ilie rage of '¦¦- ti n;il erifi i baa been able to des roy. One al Tiltiles s t" Sywuite griiiic, t.-oinated to weigji 887 tons. It is l'orty-two iirl ;iiul eljfbt inclies !n helght, and twenty-two teet and tour inclies across the sliouldars. Tlie figure Is eated on i ihioni'or cliair, Ín a convcutioiial pofition wltb the llanda ou tlie kuees, and the emblema of royalty displayed at the fect, ou the head, and on tlie -thione. Tliere Is it Mi-niihis a copy of thii statue, o( exactly the tamt ni.e and appeanuicc, tlu: only dilTerence belween the tw.o bt'lng the material - tliat of the Memplii statue being a single solid block of white liinestone. It Is uot so wellpreserved as the Thebea statne, tba material belogiófter, umi (lieiefore more liablr to njury. The Vocal McmnoD isa 8atuil stituo on tlie liinks ol tlu: Nile at Thebi'M, the piiiliurity of ita name aiislnjí trmn tlie faet that n t morníii and eveniuí: a singular hniiiiiiiní noisc N beard to iísue fnnn ii. The cause of this phenomenon is nol known, but is believed to be the uiiequa) contractiou aud expansión of ceitain parts of the stone. There re two of these statue?, exact copies of each other, forty-seven feet liijrh, and eijfhteen feet and three inclies across the shoulders. TUK KI'IIINX. TUu spliinx is nol otten thought of in coniiection with statuary but il Is one ot the most womlerful statues In the wbfld, whether coiisidered with regard to it size, tlie workmanship diplayed, or tlie skili requiied in movin; o immense a nmss of stone. It is believed to he contení pora iy with the pyramlds, but for ajfes tlie purpose of itó erección has been lost. The sliifting sands of the desert have buried it almost to the chin, bul several dttempts at irreat labor and expense have been made to uncover euoujrh ot' it to niake accurate measuremenU. None of theae have been entirely successful, sinoe the desert wlnds blow back the sand almost as fast as it is taken out; btitenough has been done to approx hnate the dimensión of this enonuous statue. The head is 38 feet 6 inclies from the top to the chin, while from the top or the heud to the pedestal on which the body rests is 90 feet. The body is that of a couching lion, and U 146 feet long, while tlie paws project in front of the head nearly 50 feet. The breadth of the shouldr8 is 36 feet, and, so far as has yet been discerned, the entiro statue Is of one block. An enterprising investigator bored an experimental hole in one of the 8houlders to a depth of 27 feet, but found solid stone without a seam. How the mas was ever carved, or, being carved, how it was moved nnd placed in position, will never be known. PBECIOU8 STATUKS. Among the statues of antiquity there were several the metnory of whieh has come down to us as among the inost notable of any age. Among these is the statue of Minerva, iu the Parthenon at Athens. It was the woik of the celebrated Phidlas, and the liistorians all state tlmt it was of gold and ivory. This was certainly an exagtreration, since too mucli gold and ivory would be required for sucli a statue. The statue was likely made with wooden or metal frumework, overlald with tlie precious materials mentloned. It was of colossal size, beliiif thiity-seven feet. The goddess was rolted in tunlc, her head covered with the :cjc', a lance in her right hand, iu her left a tatué of Victory over five feet hisrh. Her helmct was surrounded by a sphinx and two grifflns, and over the visor were eight statues 6E horses iu tull gallwp. The sliield at the feet of the goddes was waTconsidered a marvel of tli'e sculptor's skill. Several copie of the head of thU statue exisi in various autique genis, but tlie materials of the statue were too precious to remain long in the suape givcn ui ven them by IMndias, and became the prey of the tirst invader. Another re iiiaikable Phidian statue was the Athene Proujachus, ulso a statue of Minerva, iu the Acrópolis at Athens. It represented the Aliieuian deiiy fully armed tor war, with lier arm raised and 11 spear in her hand. This work stoud in the open air .nul was h landmark to the ships approacliing the Athenian coast The ma terial was brouze, but the exact height of the statue is not known, since the ie arw a pedestal, quite as mucli of a marvel as the statue, and it is not known how nnioli was statue and how niiich was pedestal, tbougu the cullective height of both was seveuty feet. TUK JÚPITER OLTMPU8. It was in his Júpiter, however ttaat Phidias realized his master pleee. Hé took as a model for the work Homer's descriptlon of the god, and all the ancient iii-tnruns who inention the statue do 80 in terins Unit impress the sublimity of the creation in the most striking marnier upon the reader. Pausanias says: "The god, made ot' ivory and gold, is seated on a throne, his head crowued with a branrh of olive; his riglit hand presented a Victory of ivory and gold, with a crown and flllot; his left hand a scepter, studded irh all kinds of metáis, in whieli an e gle sat; the andáis of tie god were KuM; so was his drapory, on which were variou8 animáis, with flowers of all kinds, especiiilly lillies; his throne was richly wrought with gold and precious gtoneR. There were also statues of tour Victorie, alighting one at each foot of the throne; thnse in front rested each on a sphinx that hudseized aThib in youth ; beljwihe sphinxes the chlldren of Niobe were slain by the arrows of Apollo and Arterais." This statue, sixty feet lp height, is considered by all crltlcs. ancient and modern, and by Phidias himself, to be "tiie most lenowned work of ancient times, not for stnprnilous magnitude alone, but more fir careful majesty and sublime beauty." Ancient historians teil us of many statues of colossal and gigantic size in Home; and one in particular is always cited - i ooltos'il stuttie of Nero in the golden house he built after the buriiing of Rome. It was of ivory and gold, but its size i. not known. The book of Daniel conlüliis an account of a collossal idol set up by Nebuchanezzar, the ancient Napoleon of Asia. It was of gold, and "the lieight thereot' was th ree-score cubits," and the bieadlh thereof six cubits," and "he set it up in the pluin of Dunt, n the Province of Babyion" Reducing the cubit to our measurements gives the height ot the idol as 105 feet and the breadtu 10 feet six inches; but nothing more of it is known. COL08SUS OF HUODES. Tliis celebrated statue was of bronze, nul is commonly cited as one of tlie wonders of the world. It was the work ot Chares, a noted sculptor, who spent twel ve years in iniikiii it. It stooil only sixty six yearg, and was overthrown by an eartliquake B. C, 224. lts heiglit was 105 feet, without pedestal. Xts tlinmb nieasuied a fathom round. The statue wa9 hollow, and the cuvity was fllled with stones. After tbe eartliquake tlie CoIopsus helped the Rhodians out with a swindle as gigantic aa itself, whicli they perpétrate on the rest of the Greeks, subscriptions for replucing the statue belnjr colleoted to more than tive times ttie valué of the work needed. and then the money diverted to other uses. The statue lay on Iho grouud for 894 years, when, the islam! t)einr conqueied iy the Saraci'ns, the fallen (JoloBsus wus sold for oíd brasa to a Hebrew junk dealer of those days, wlio cut it up and lo;:ded 900 camels with the brass, and made afortune out of bis gpeculatlon. Allowing 800 pounds for each camel load, the total weight of the bronze was 720,000 pounds, and this afler the statue had been subjected to the rust and waste from the theft of nlne centunes. The pedestal was triangular, and there was a staircase to ascend to the top Khode8 was famous for lts statues, however, as Pliny mentions a hundred other colossuses, not o large, In the various quarters of the city.