Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/234

226 with the green marbles of the East, called Egyptian green. The green is generally the cold color of the leek, but varies in shades, some appearing in the darkest olive. The veins which appear black sometimes run in a horizontal direction, and then suddenly break and appear nearly upright; in other cases they seem to have undergone a violent concussion, and become broken and shivered to small pieces. It is the business of the geologist to explain the cause of this appearance in one of the most solid of minerals; it is sufficient for the painter to note the character, so as to reproduce it as far as possible by means of his art.

The common Serpentine is found in great abundance in the Isle of Anglesea. It is not so bright or so varied as the precious; the dark shades of green are much broader, and the light veins not so fine and reticulated, and consequently the fossil remains that are white show more distinctly in small, long, square pieces of various sizes and forms. The black vein is so mixed with the darkest shades of green as to be scarcely perceptible in some instances, and this renders the marble somewhat dull and not fit for ornamental painting.

The mode of producing all the green marbles, both in oil and distemper color, must be the same as that directed for Verde antique. The ground must in all eases be black and the different shades of green may be formed by scumbling the white over the black, more or less thickly according to the variety of shade required, and, when the whole is finished, glazing with green according to the tint of the marble.

White-Veined Marble. The ground for this marble is white laid perfectly smooth. The first vein will be found, on inspecting a specimen, to be very faint; it is the broad vein of the mica seen through a great depth of the semi-transparent body of the white. The shadows of white always partake of a yellow hue, and thus the faint vein will appear of a reddish gray, which is formed by mixing white,