Misplaced Pages

#166833

22-552: Eagle Cave is an onyx cave located near Blue River, Wisconsin , in Richland County . Eagle Cave is known as Wisconsin's largest onyx cave and was the first cave to be commercially owned and operated in Wisconsin. The cave was discovered in 1849 and opened to the public in 1938. It is a popular camping destination, especially during the fall, winter, and spring months, when youth group campers are allowed to camp inside

44-542: A "sacred treasury" whose safety was ensured by the sanctity accorded to a cult object, as well as the presence of priestesses, priests, and maintenance staff at the temple. The two best-known examples, both from the Classical period, are those sculpted by Phidias : the 13-metre tall (43 ft) standing statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon at Athens , and the 12-metre (39 ft) seated statue of Zeus in

66-495: A fingernail. The English word "nail" is cognate with the Greek word. Onyx is formed of chalcedony bands in alternating colors. It is cryptocrystalline , consisting of fine intergrowths of the silica minerals quartz and moganite . Its bands are parallel, unlike the more chaotic banding that often occurs in agates . Sardonyx is a variant in which the colored bands are sard ( shades of red ) rather than black. Black onyx

88-550: Is a sculpture made with gold and ivory . Chryselephantine cult statues enjoyed high status in Ancient Greece . Chryselephantine statues were built around a wooden frame with thin carved slabs of ivory attached, representing the flesh, and sheets of gold leaf representing the garments, armour, hair, and other details. In some cases, glass paste , glass, and precious and semi-precious stones were used for detail such as eyes, jewellery, and weaponry. The origins of

110-540: Is known that at Olympia, skilled personnel were employed to ensure the upkeep of the Zeus statue. In the second century BC, the prominent sculptor Damophon of Messene was commissioned to repair it. Due to the high value of some of the materials used and the perishable nature of others, most chryselephantine statues were destroyed during antiquity and the Middle Ages. For example, of the statue of Athena Parthenos, only

132-637: Is much softer than true onyx and more readily available. The majority of carved items sold as "onyx" today are this carbonate material. Artificial onyx types have also been produced from common chalcedony and plain agates. The first-century naturalist Pliny the Elder described these techniques used in Roman times. Treatments for producing black and other colors include soaking or boiling chalcedony in sugar solutions, then treating with sulfuric or hydrochloric acid to carbonize sugars which had been absorbed into

154-414: Is not known whom they depict, although they are assumed to represent deities. The term chryselephantine is also used for a style of sculpture fairly common in 19th-century European art, especially Art Nouveau . In this context, it describes statuettes with skin of ivory and clothing and other details made of other materials, such as gold , bronze , marble , silver , or onyx . For instance, circa 1840

176-533: Is perhaps the most famous variety, but it is not as common as onyx with colored bands. Artificial treatments have been used since ancient times to produce the black color in "black onyx" and the reds and yellows in sardonyx. Most "black onyx" on the market is artificially colored. The name has also commonly been used to label other banded materials, such as banded calcite found in Mexico , India , and other places, and often carved, polished, and sold. This material

198-648: The Atlas Mountains ) were famously used by Mies van der Rohe in Villa Tugendhat at Brno (completed 1930) to create a shimmering semi-translucent interior wall. The Hôtel de la Païva in Paris is noted for its yellow onyx décor, and the new Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage in St.Petersburg uses yellow onyx in the lobby. The ancient Romans entered battle carrying amulets of sardonyx engraved with Mars ,

220-489: The Greek chryselephantine tradition is connected with these. Chryselephantine sculpture became widespread during the Archaic period. Later, acrolithitic statues, with marble heads and extremities and a wooden trunk either gilded or covered in drapery, were a comparable technique used for cult images. The technique was normally used for cult statues within temples; typically, they were greater than life-sized. Construction

242-497: The UK, and various states in the US. It has a long history of use for hardstone carving and jewelry , where it is usually cut as a cabochon or into beads. It has also been used for intaglio and hardstone cameo engraved gems , where the bands make the image contrast with the ground. Some onyx is natural but much of the material in commerce is produced by the staining of agate. Onyx

SECTION 10

#1732772953167

264-408: The building known as the "Workshop of Phidias". They are the only finds directly associated with the great sculptor's most famous works and thus provide useful information on their creation. Few examples of chryselephantine sculpture have been found. The most prominent surviving examples are fragments of several smaller than life-sized burnt statues from the Archaic period, discovered at Delphi . It

286-512: The cave and participate in their cave exploratory program. The cave exploratory program has been operating since 1954. This article about a location in Richland County, Wisconsin is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Onyx Onyx comes through Latin (of the same spelling), from the Ancient Greek ὄνυξ ( onyx ), meaning ' claw ' or ' fingernail ' . Onyx with pink and white bands can sometimes resemble

308-492: The god of war. This was believed to bestow courage in battle. In Renaissance Europe, wearing sardonyx was believed to bestow eloquence. A traditional Persian belief is that it helped with epilepsy . Sardonyx was traditionally used by English midwives to ease childbirth by laying it between the breasts of the mother. Chryselephantine Chryselephantine sculpture (from Greek χρυσός , chrysós , 'gold', and ελεφάντινος , elephántinos , 'ivory')

330-486: The hole that held its central wooden support survives today in the floor of her temple. The appearance of the statue is nevertheless known from a number of miniature marble copies discovered in Athens, as well as from a detailed description by Pausanias . Pausanias also described Phidias's statue of Zeus at Olympia. Here, some of the clay moulds for parts of Zeus's garments made of glass or glass-paste have been discovered in

352-472: The sculptor Pierre-Charles Simart produced a copy in ivory and gold, based on ancient descriptions, of the Athena Parthenos of Phidias for patron Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes . The result was somewhat disappointing: "... it cost Luynes a hundred thousand francs to prove that Simart was not Phidias." Another 19th-century version of this figure by American sculptor Alan LeQuire stands in

374-504: The technique are obscure. There are known examples, from the 2nd millennium BC, of composite sculptures made of ivory and gold from areas that became part of the Greek world, most famously the so-called " Palaikastro Kouros " (not to be confused with the Archaic Kouros statues), from Minoan Palaikastro , c.  1450 BC. It is likely the only enshrined Minoan cult image that has survived. It is, however, not clear whether

396-566: The temple at Olympia , considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . Chryselephantine statues were not only intended to be visually striking; they also displayed the wealth and cultural achievements of those who constructed them or financed their construction. The creation of such a statue involved skills in sculpture, carpentry, jewellery, and ivory-carving. Once completed, the statues required constant maintenance. It

418-561: The top layers of the stone. These techniques are still used, as well as other dyeing treatments, and most so-called "black onyx" sold is artificially treated. In addition to dye treatments, heating and treatment with nitric acid have been used to lighten or eliminate undesirable colors. Onyx can be found in various regions of the world, including Greece, Yemen, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Latin America,

440-408: Was modular , so that some of the gold could be removed and melted for coin or bullion in times of severe financial hardship, to be replaced later when finances had recovered. For example, the figure of Nike held in the right hand of Phidias 's Athena Parthenos was made from solid gold with this very purpose in mind. Indeed, in times of prosperity, up to six solid gold Nikae were cast, serving as

462-683: Was also used for trays and pin dishes – produced mainly in Austria – often with small bronze animals or figures attached. Onyx is mentioned in the Bible many times. Sardonyx (onyx in which white layers alternate with sard - a brownish color) is mentioned in the Bible as well. Onyx was known to the Ancient Greeks and Romans . The first-century naturalist Pliny the Elder described both types of onyx and various artificial treatment techniques in his Naturalis Historia . Slabs of onyx (from

SECTION 20

#1732772953167

484-570: Was used in Egypt as early as the Second Dynasty to make bowls and other pottery items. Use of sardonyx appears in the art of Minoan Crete , notably from the archaeological recoveries at Knossos . Brazilian green onyx was often used as plinths for art deco sculptures created in the 1920s and 1930s. The German sculptor Ferdinand Preiss used Brazilian green onyx for the base on the majority of his chryselephantine sculptures. Green onyx

#166833