From the feet, Hercules.
[Lat., Ex pede Herculem.]

From the feet, Hercules.
[Lat., Ex pede Herculem.]

In sculpture did ever anybody call the Apollo a fancy piece? Or
say of the Laocoon how it might read more

In sculpture did ever anybody call the Apollo a fancy piece? Or
say of the Laocoon how it might be made difference? A
masterpiece of art has in the mind a fixed place in the chain of
being, as much as a plant or a crystal.

A sculptor wields
The chisel, and the stricken marble grows
To beauty.

A sculptor wields
The chisel, and the stricken marble grows
To beauty.

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

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

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.

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.

And the cold marble leapt to life a God.

And the cold marble leapt to life a God.

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.

The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break read more

The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone