How Sculptors Work

Several great sculptors, Michael Angelo among them, have occasionally hi'v 11 their statues straight out of tho block of marble, without going through the preliniinary courses of modeling in clay and casting in piaster. Hut this is rarely done, for, in the first place, tho work would be too long for auy artist who has a regard for his time, and in the second, the hewing of tho inarble demands a special practical experience whieh niakes it an art apart. A sculptor would probably spoil a hundred blocks of marble beforo making as much as a statuette a foot high, were lie to trust only to himself in the matter. Even Michael Angelo, when ho tried to dispense with the "statuary," or "practitioner," succeeded ouly in makiug fragmenta of figures. Not being an adept in judging of the size of tho block ho needed, he was constantly finding that he had miscalculated, and that an arm, a leg, or a head must remain unfinished in conse(juence. The "statuary " who is oftnn an artist of great merit, and possussed of as much talent in his way as tho sculptor in his, sets the piaster model on a platform, rneasures it, and places it Bidé by side with a block of marble of the requisito height and brcadth. This dono, he applies to tho model an instrument of mathematical precisión, by which he obtains the detailed measure of every part and anglo of the statue. Ue then returns to tho marble, and roughly sketches on the outside of it, by means of poiuts, a sort of outline of the figure or group. Upon each of the spots where he has marked a point with his pencil, a workman bores a hole with an awl, taking great care, however, not to bore a fractioa of an inch deepcr than he is told. When the "statuary" has inspected all the sides of the block, and when the holes have all been bored according to his direct' ns the marble looks as though it had been riddled by bullets. A second workman then appears with a chisel and a hammer to hew away the fragments of marble between the different holes anl along tli peneil linog drawn as guide marks. This work is more or less easy as the attitude of tho statue is simple and fanciful. If tho figure be one of a modern personage standing placidly with his arms by his sides, attired in the clothes of our day and with nothinjr C(;ntric in tho ]osition of his legs, the task offers no difficulties and may bo entrusted to a very ordinary workman. Uut if the subject be a group or a figure in an attitude, for Instance like that of Ajax Defying the Lighttiing, tho chisel can not be eutrusted to any but a practicad hand, and every blow of tho hammer must be truck with the greatest precaution. The appearance presented by the inarble when the preparatory hewing has euded, is that of somo person or persons thickly wrapped up in a shroud. The outlines of head and body can be vaguely tletected under the white covering, but nothing more. And it is not until the "statuary" himsalf has sot to work with his finer chisel and more delicate hand, that a tangible form begins to emerge lrom the hard mass. First the ead, then the shouldors and trunk, then the legs, and then the arms and hands appear. The arms and hands, if outstretched, are reserved to the last; if detached first from the block, tho oscillatíonj caused by the chisel in hewing tho other parts of the inarble might shake and crack them. This is a very necessary precaution, and it is even usual to keep the arms, the fingers and other projecting parts of marble statues continually supported by props of wood, until the moment when the work is set upon its pedestal and unoovered. When the statue is handed over to the sculptor so that he may give the tinal touches to it, there sometiines romains scarcely any thing for him to do. This is the case when tho "statuary" is himself a first-class artist and can trust himself to imitata to a nicety the slightest details of form and expression in the piaster model. But such examples are rare, less because of the incapacity of the "statuaries" than by reason of the natural desiro whicu every artist has to termínate in person the work he has conceived and begun. The statue is usually returned to tho sculptor in a half finished state, the fine touches, which will constitute the special beauty of the work, yet remaining to be done. The most delicate of tools are then employed; ilender chisels with the finest points; toy hammers of scarcely any weight, little graters that fit on, something like thimbles, to the top of the forefinger. And to polish the marble and smooth it, chamois leather, sand-paper, spongos steeped ia oil and the palm of the hand are used. When the work presents a nude figure, the amount of care needed for the correct modeling of the limbs and muscles is inconceivable. Works like the Laocoon, the Dying Gladiator and tho Apollo Belvedere must have oost the makers more trouble and anxiety than