Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/793

* SCUDERY. 719 SCULPTURE. She soon bocanie inoiiiiiiciit in society and lier salon was niiR-li l'i('ciut;iit('d. licr novels are: IbrahiiH (4 vols., Ili41) ; Ail mil cue uii k- yitiiid Cyrus (10 vols., l49-53) ; (7<7ic' (10 vols.. 154- CO) ; Aliiiahidc (ItiUO): anil Mulhildv (1007). For a generation after its publieation the (liaiid Ci/rus, which in classic guise depicted French society, was known and studied in all circles that aspired to literary rclincnient. The longest novel of the world was also the most prolitahle of the period. The (J mud Cynis is not a story, but a franiewiirk for conversation, rclleetion, analytic portraiture. She painted French aris- tocracy in the (jriind Cyrus and the bourgeoisie of the new culture in Ctclie. The characters of her stories were easily recognized as (xirtraits of prominent persons of the day. Her later novels, Spanish and Italian in scene, are insignificant, though regarded as novels they are her best. She tactfully yielded to the literary ideals of the school of 1000, voiced in Hoileau's Dialogue des Iwros, and passed the last forty years of an honored life with the connnon esteem of people as different in temper and ideals as Racine and La Fontaine, Conde and iladame de Sevigne. Her Correspondancc is of niucli literary interest. Con- sult : Cousin, La societe fniinvise au XVIIciiie sU-cle (Paris, 1858) ; Sainte-Beuve, Causerien, vol. iv. (ib., 1857-02) ; Le Breton, Le romaii ax, XVIIcine sicclc (ib., 1890); and Mason, The ^yomen of the Frcneh Salons (New York, 18i)l). Summaries of the stories and keys to the cluirac- ters may be found in Korting, firschirhle dcs franzosischen Romans iin llteii Jahrhundert (Oppeln, 1891). SCULPIN (of unknown etymology), or Sea Robin. One of the small, strange, spiny marine fishes of the family Cottida> (q.v. ), about 250 species of which inhabit rocky shores in north- ern regions and are known as "miller's tlnuubs,' 'dragonets,' 'father-lashers.' 'Irish lords' (qq.v.) ; while the name is given in California to certain fishes of the related family Scorpsenidie. Some, like the 'searaven' (q.v.), are large and brilliant, but most of them are mottled in brovns, yellows. ■.Iff^rfffnfc -ms A SCULPIN {Hemftripterus Amerieanus). and blacks. They are grotesque in shape and re- semble 'bullhead' catfish with a warted body, many fleshy appendages, and the fins grotesquely elongated and fluttering with 'rags.' These fishes lurk about rocky and weedy places, seeking small animals for food, and are a source of annoyance to fishermen, whose bait they steal. They render service as scavengers about fish-curing stations and furnish an abundance of food for larger fishes. SCULPTURE (Lat. sculptura. from sriilprrr. to carve, cut out of stone). A term including all methods of producing a purely artistic result in solid form, as distinguished from architecture, in which utilitarian work is benutllied, and the representation of solid form on a Hat surface, for which see Uk.wvi.m;; I'ai.nti.g. I'ROCE.SSKS ANU AlArEKiAL.s. Tile processes u.sed in sculpture, each of which involves the practice of a separate art, arc of radically dif- ferent character. There is, lirst, carving with the sharp tool in a substance sulliciently solid and hard to resist the tool, such as stone of dif- ferent kinds, ivory in all ages or wherever a little luxury was possible (and, as a substitute for ivory, bone), and woo<l. Thesi' arc the mure common materials; but there is nothing hard which has not been used for sculpture. There are statuettes in rock crystal; Chinese carvings in jade are famous; cameos in antiquity and in modern times are wrought in onyx, and intaglios or inci.sed scul|)turcs are cut in chalcedony, sanl, and amethyst. Artists working for Koman nobles under the ICmpire and modern artists in France, imitating and surpassing them, have worked in several hard materials in a single composition so as to produce a polychronnitic ell'eet. Artistic form is also produced by means of modeling in soft material; wax is peculiarly sus- ceptible of free handling and will retain per- fectly the form given to it; it has been employed, therefore, in statuettes, busts, and medallions at many epochs in the history of art. Moreover, as it will receive and retain coloring very [x'r- fectly. it has been a common medium for poly- chromatic sculpture. Clay, the material of ce- ramic art, is ('(jually susceptible of artistic treat- ment when no intention exists of fixing its form by heat. It is used in this way by the artist for the original small study as well as for model- ing the whole figure or group to be produced. If the clay be of a kind good for the pur|)oscs of the potter, the piece as originally modeled may be fired and produce a terra-cotta bust or statu- ette. Sucli sculpture in terra-cotta is identified with some splendid periods of art. See TliKHA- CoTT.. The metals are used in two ways: First, they are cast, and for the purposes of the artist in cast metal the ])lastic materials mentioned in the last i)aragraph above arc eminently fitted. The mold for a casting in bronze or silver can be made directly or at one remove, from the clay model: and this mold may sulfice few one or for many castings, according to the system adopted. These castings may be finished by hand; the tile, the chasing tool, even the cutting edge of what is really a chisel nuiy all be called into use to jierfect the forms at the sculptor's will. In very recent times some of the great Eiirop(!an iron foundries have tried to <lo artistic work in the hard material we call cast iron: but this they could only do by singular perfection of nudding :ind casting — in short, by mechanical skill and foresight, as the material hardly allows of finishing by hand. Bronze is by far the most common material for this purpose and has lent itself for thousands of years to the work of the sculpt(n" on a very large scale, and also in minute pieces of ornamentation. Silver and gidd, and in modern times tin, either pure or slightly hardened by the admixture of annther metal, aro materials constantly in use. The artistic gold- smith work for ecclesiastic and civil display has alw;iys been a fruitful field for the sculptor. See
 * [i:tai,-Work : Founding.

-Metal may al.so be used in a quasi-plastic way,