d to raise the veil upon the mysteries of the
studio, and enable those who are interested in the subject to form a
just conception of the amount of assistance to which a sculptor is
fairly entitled, as well as to correct the false, but very general
impression, that the artist, beginning with the crude block, and guided
by his imagination only, hews out his statue with his own hands.

So far from this being the case, the first labor of the sculptor is upon
a small clay model; in which he carefully studies the composition of his
statue, the proportions, and the general arrangement of the drapery,
without regard to very careful finish of parts. This being accomplished,
and the small model cast in plaster, he employs some one to enlarge his
work to any size which he may require; and this is done by scale, and
with almost as much precision as the full-size and perfectly finished
model is afterwards copied in marble.

The first step in this process is to form a skeleton of iron, the size
and strength of the iron rods corresponding to the size of the figure to
be modelled; and here, not only strong hands and arms are requisite,
but the blacksmith with his forge, many of the irons requiring to be
heated and bent upon the anvil to the desired angle. This solid
framework being prepared, and the various irons of which it is composed
firmly wired and welded together, the next thing is to hang thereon a
series of crosses, often several hundred in number, formed by two bits
of wood, two or three inches in length, fastened together by wire, one
end of which is attached to the framework. All this is necessary for the
support of the clay, which would otherwise fall by its own weight. (I
speak here of Roman clay,--the clay obtained in many parts of England
and America being more properly potter's clay, and consequently more
tenacious.) The clay is then pressed firmly around and upon the irons
and crosses with strong hands and a wooden mallet, until, from a clumsy
and shapeless mass, it acquires some resemblance to the human form. When
the clay is properly prepared, and the work advanced as far as the
artist desires, his own work is resumed, and he then laboriously studies
every part, corrects his ideal by comparison with living models, copies
his drapery from actual drapery arranged upon the lay-figure, and gives
to his statue the last refinement of beauty.

It will thus be seen that there is an intermediate stage, even in the
clay, wh