ing nodule, the artist struck it with a round stone in place of a
mallet. A succession of carefully calculated blows with these rude tools
pulverised the obtrusive knob, which disappeared in dust. All minor
defects being corrected, the monument still looked dull and unfinished. It
was necessary to polish it, in order to efface the scars of point and
mallet. This was a most delicate operation, one slip of the hand, or a
moment's forgetfulness, being enough to ruin the labour of many weeks. The
dexterity of the Egyptian craftsman was, however, so great that accidents
rarely happened. The Sebekemsaf of Gizeh, the colossal Rameses II. of
Luxor, challenge the closest examination. The play of light upon the
surface may at first prevent the eye from apprehending the fineness of the
work; but, seen under favourable circumstances, the details of knee and
chest, of shoulder and face, prove to be no less subtly rendered in granite
than in limestone. Excess of polish has no more spoiled the statues of
Ancient Egypt than it spoiled those of the sculptors of the Italian
Renaissance.

A sandstone or limestone statue would have been deemed imperfect if left to
show the colour of the stone in which it was cut, and was painted from head
to foot. In bas-relief, the background was left untouched and only the
figures were coloured. The Egyptians had more pigments at their disposal
than is commonly supposed. The more ancient painters' palettes--and we have
some which date from the Fifth Dynasty--have compartments for yellow, red,
blue, brown, white, black, and green.[40] Others, of the time of the
Eighteenth Dynasty, provide for three varieties of yellow, three of brown,
two of red, two of blue, and two of green; making in all some fourteen or
sixteen different tints.

Black was obtained by calcining the bones of animals. The other substances
employed in painting were indigenous to the country. The white is made of
gypsum, mixed with albumen or honey; the yellows are ochre, or sulphuret of
arsenic, the orpiment of our modern artists; the reds are ochre, cinnabar,
or vermilion; the blues are pulverised lapis-lazuli, or silicate of copper.
If the substance was rare or costly, a substitute drawn from the products
of native industry was found. Lapis-lazuli, for instance, was replaced by
blue frit made with an admixture of silicate of copper, and this was
reduced to an impalpable powder. The painters kept their colours in tiny
bags, and, as requi