Handbook of archaeology, Egyptian - Greek - Etruscan - Roman . ed out. Some wonderful examples of camei in sar-donyx have been produced in this age. The celebrated sardonyxcameo of the apotheosis of Augustus, now in Paris, is considered amasterpiece of the glyptic art. Some very fine camei are attributedto the age of Hadrian, which has been considered the most flourish-ing period of Eoman art. The glyptic art maintained a tolerabledegree of excellence till the time of Septimius Severus, when, toge-ther with the other arts, it began gradually to decay. From Eomeit spread almost over the whole w
Handbook of archaeology, Egyptian - Greek - Etruscan - Roman . ed out. Some wonderful examples of camei in sar-donyx have been produced in this age. The celebrated sardonyxcameo of the apotheosis of Augustus, now in Paris, is considered amasterpiece of the glyptic art. Some very fine camei are attributedto the age of Hadrian, which has been considered the most flourish-ing period of Eoman art. The glyptic art maintained a tolerabledegree of excellence till the time of Septimius Severus, when, toge-ther with the other arts, it began gradually to decay. From Eomeit spread almost over the whole west of Europe; but at the time ofthe last emperors nothing remained except the mechanical part: the MATERIALS OF TEE ART. 255 genius and spirit of the art, the correctness of design and taste, thenobleness of expression, and even many of the practical advantagesof which the ancient masters had availed themselves for conveyingtheir grand ideas on stone, had all vanished together. The lastexpiring attempts at the art were the rude and ill-drawn venus marina. Sard. MATERIALS OF THE ART. The mechanical process of the glyptic art has not been describedin any work which has come down to us from ancient times ; a fewscanty remarks are found in Pliny. It is generally believed thatthe ancients used the same process as the moderns, in employingthe drill (terebra), the punch (ferrum retusum), the wheel, diamondpowder, and the diamond point, for cutting into the stone. Theartist engraved the stone partly with iron instruments, smearedwith Naxium, or emery and oil, which were sometimes round, some-times pointed and drill-formed, but partly also with a diamond pointset in iron. The adjustment of the wheel, by which the instrumentswere set in motion, whilst the stone was held to them, was probablysimilar in antiquity to what it is now. For polishing the stone,naxium, or emery powder, which was also called smyrris, was used. 256 HANDBOOK OF ARCHAEOLOGY. It seems that the ancie
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