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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On 12/7/2010 2:25 PM, Christopher Crockett wrote: > <description of engraving technique> > what a curious method of work --one wonders why he would work *each side* in > progressive stages, rather than finish one side, then go on to the next, > finish that, then go on... Actually, on a gem this is quite logical. Different tools are often used for the different stages of production. The artist might well sketch everything out first with the diamond point (a chip of stone set into a metal rod), then use a large drill to rough out all of the large masses, and after that use smaller drills to add the details on each figure (here, on each side). Since changing drills was probably less easy than it is now, it would have been reasonable to finish with each tool before moving on to the next. If that was the case here, then the work stopped just after the third side had the large masses cut, and before the fourth side was engraved or detail was added to any. > this one's a Hoot: > http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/Gudea2.jpg Now you know the secret of my photographic choices-- anything that strikes me as fun or interesting gets shot. I thought that the Gudea would help demonstrate to students just how valuable hard stone was in the Ancient Near East, but the old hippie in me also likes the idea of the common folk grinding away the ruler over time. best, Genevra ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html