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cast in bronze, and this is the last and most per- manent operation of sculpture, inasmuch as that which is merely of marble is liable to destruc- tion, but this is not the case with bronze. There- fore the picture painted on copper, which with the methods of painting can be reduced or added to, is like bronze, which when it was in the state of a wax model could be reduced or added to. And if sculpture in bronze is durable, this copper and enamel work is more imperishable still; and while the bronze remains black and ugly, this is full of various and delectable colours of infinite variety, as we have described above. If you wish to confine the discussion to painting on panel I am content to pronounce between it and sculp- ture, saying, that painting is the more beautiful, the more imaginative and the more copious, and that sculpture is more durable, but has no other advantage. Sculpture with little labour shows what in painting seems to be a miraculous thing to do: to make impalpable objects appear pal- pable, to give the semblance of relief to flat ob- jects, and distance to objects that are near. In fact painting is full of infinite resources of which sculpture cannot dispose.

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Sculpture is not a science, but a mechanical art, because it causes the brow of the artist who prac- tises it to sweat, and wearies his body; and for

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