Not from a vain or shallow thought
His awful Jove young Phidias brought.

Not from a vain or shallow thought
His awful Jove young Phidias brought.

The marble index of a mind forever
Voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.

The marble index of a mind forever
Voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.

I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.

I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.

The stone unhewn and cold
Becomes a living mould,
The more the marble wastes
read more

The stone unhewn and cold
Becomes a living mould,
The more the marble wastes
The more the statue grows.

A Mercury is not made out of any block of wood.
[Lat., Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius.]

A Mercury is not made out of any block of wood.
[Lat., Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius.]

So stands the statue that enchants the world,
So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,
The read more

So stands the statue that enchants the world,
So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,
The mingled beauties of exulting Greece.

I did my sculpture as a painter. I did not work as a sculptor.

I did my sculpture as a painter. I did not work as a sculptor.

And the cold marble leapt to life a God.

And the cold marble leapt to life a God.

Then marble, soften'd into life, grew warm.

Then marble, soften'd into life, grew warm.