Marble sculptures

Xanthian marbles—a collection of marble sculptures brought to the British museum from Xanthus in 1838... 

Margolis, S.V. Authenticating Ancient Marble Sculpture," Sci. Amer.. 104 (June 1989). 

Apart from the Minoans and, later, the Mycenaeans, the Early Cycladic people played an important part in the development of Mediterranean metallurgy. In fact, the Cycladic islands of the central Aegean came into extraordinary prominence in the third millennium B.C. The islands were the home of a flourishing culture with prominent settlements, a rather abundant population, well-developed pottery, and striking achievements in marble sculpture. Production of silver, lead (5), and copper from their ores was developed early, along with a rather vigorous trade. 

Margolis. Stanley V. 1989. Authenticating ancient marble sculpture. Scientific American 260 104-110. 

A. Oddy, The conservation of marble sculptures in the British museum before 1975, Stud. Conserv., 2002, 47, 145-154. 

Brittle fracture is used for shaping and machining ceramics after they have been fired. Ceramics can be modified to make them machinable this is controlled fracture and is the approach we adopt with machinable glass-ceramics such as Macor (Chapter 26). Of course, many ceramics already are machinable and can be shaped into intricate and beautiful forms as illustrated in the carved marble sculpture shown in Figure 18.1. 

FIGURE 18.1 Marble sculpture in a fountain outside the Pantheon in Rome. 

Sr/ Sr measured using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) can often be successfully used to provide an additional signature. Oxygen and carbon isotopes have also been used to match broken fragments of marble inscriptions, to identify later repairs to statues, and identify probable fake marble sculpture. 

Figure 35.5. The cup-hearer. 15 x 10 x 7cm. The silica aerogel sculpture weights 20 g, but the marble sculpture weights 350 g (photograph and copyright MICHALOUS, 10/2006).

One of the most important restorations of a masterpiece of the last few years was the cleaning of Michelangelo s David. In order to decide the best cleaning treatment protocol of the beautiful marble sculpture, a colossal, multidisciplinary diagnostic campaign was carried... 

Marble. Art Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Ancient Sculpture, The J. Paul Getty Museum, MaHbu, Calif., 1990. 

Getty Museums (1990), Marble Art historical and scientific perspectives on ancient sculpture a symposium, /. Paul Getty Museum (April 28-30, 1988), Malibu. 

The materials known to be sensitive to such attack are primarily those presenting a relatively thin facade of a substance that reacts readily with dilute acids (especially sulfuric). These include zinc (galvanized steel), certain paints, unprotected carbon steel. Copper (bronze) and carbonate stones (marble, limestone, some sandstones) may be attacked by acids, but their "sensitivity" will depend on the stock thickness and the intended service life. In the case of outdoor sculpture, for example, works of permanent value will be "sensitive" to deposited acids. 

The minerals calcite and aragonite are polymorphs of calcium carbonate. Calcite is the more stable of the two, and aragonite is most often seen in objects made of speleothems, the rocks formed in solution caverns. Aragonite is also an important constituent in many materials of organic origin, such as mollusk shells and the outer skeletons of sand dollars and coral. Calcite is the major component of the rocks limestone and marble, and as such is found in collections as sculpture, building stone, in mosaics, and in inlay or in tarsia. 

A particular product (commodity) (material) must become the subject of money, which exists as the attribute of every exchange value. The subject in which this symbol is represented is not a matter of indifference, since the demands placed on the representing subject are contained in the conditions - conceptual determinations, characteristic relations - of that which is to be represented. The study of the precious metals as subjects of the money relations, as incarnations of the latter, is therefore by no means a matter lying outside the realm of political economy, as Proudhon believes, any more than the physical composition of paint, and of marble, lie outside the realm of painting and sculpture.27... 

Beryllium is found in emeralds, which are a variety of the mineral beryl. Perhaps the best-known alkaline-earth metal is calcium, an important mineral nutrient found in the human body. Calcium is essential for muscle contraction. Bones are made up of calcium phosphate. Calcium compounds, such as limestone and marble, are common in the Earth s crust. Marble is made almost entirely of pure calcium carbonate. Because marble is hard and durable, it is used in sculptures. 

The properties of the solid materials marble Q and wax o make these sculptures possible. Particles in a solid are tightly packed giving definite shape and volume to the solid. 

Another simple test that distinguishes acids from bases is the reaction of acids with ionic compounds that contain the carbonate ion,, to form carbon dioxide gas, water, and another compound, as shown in Figure 14.3. A similar reaction, also shown in Figure 14.3, is the source of the destructive action of acidic pollution on marble and limestone sculptures. Bases do not react with carbonates. 

Calcium carbonate is the major component in limestone and marble. In the presence of acids in the environment, marble and limestone sculptures and buildings can be damaged or destroyed. 

Marble, also an important building and sculptural medium in the Greek world, has been widely studied petrographically chemically 1 0-152) through measurement of the isotopic ratios and The original studies using... 

The finely dispersed matter offers much in terms of the other aspect of art, that is the beauty. The latter can be affected by shapes or color or both. Examples of such artistic impressions can be seen in electron micrographs of monodispersed particles and their surfaces. Even more importantly, pigments, marbles, metals, and so on. are made of fine particles, without which we would have no paintings, sculptures, and other works of art, which so much embellish our lives. 

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