en the work passes completely out of the sculptor's hands and is
carried forward by his assistant,--the work on which the latter is
employed, however, obviously requiring not the least exercise of
creative power, which is essentially the attribute of the artist. To
perform the part assigned him, it is not necessary that the assistant,
should be a man of imagination or refined taste,--it is sufficient that
he have simply the skill, with the aid of accurate measurements, to
construct the framework of iron and to copy the small model before him.
But in _originating_ that small model, when the artist had nothing to
work from but the image existing in his own brain, imagination, refined
feeling, and a sense of grace were essential, and were called into
constant exercise. So, again, when the clay model returns into the
sculptor's hands, and the work approaches completion, often after the
labor of many months, it is he alone who infuses into the clay that
refinement and individuality of beauty which constitute his "style," and
which are the test of the greater or less degree of refinement of his
mind, as the force and originality of the conception are the test of his
intellectual power.

The clay model having at last been rendered as perfect as possible, the
sculptor's work upon the statue is virtually ended; for it is then cast
in plaster and given into the hands of the marble-workers, by whom,
almost entirely, it is completed, the sculptor merely directing and
correcting the work as it proceeds. This disclosure, I am aware, will
shock the many, who often ingeniously discover traces of the sculptor's
hand where they do not exist. It is true, that, in some cases, the
finishing touches are introduced by the artist himself; but I suspect
that few who have accomplished and competent workmen give much of their
time to the mallet or the chisel, preferring to occupy themselves with
some new creation, or considering that these implements may be more
advantageously wielded by those who devote themselves exclusively to
their use. It is also true, that, although the process of transferring
the statue from plaster to marble is reduced to a science so perfect
that to err is almost impossible, yet much depends upon the workmen to
whom this operation is intrusted. Still, their position in the studio is
a subordinate one. They translate the original thought of the sculptor,
written in clay, into the language of marble. The translator may do h