BURIED CITY'S GLORIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

BURIED CITY'S GLORIES.

THREE MARBLE STATUES. TREASURES OF HERCULANEUM. Professor Majuri, who is in charge of the excavations in Herculaneum, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, had discovered three exquisite statues of outstanding archaeological and artistic merit in one of the richest and most beautiful private residences of the ancient city. Herculaneum, like Pompeii, was overwhelmed and buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. All three statues are made of white marble and stand about 4ft. high. They represent a drunken Jlercules, a satyr, and a hunting scene. The workmanship of the statues is perfect, and the marble, owing to the long timo it has been underground, has assumed a delicate patina similiar to old ivory.

Especially beautiful is the group representing a hunting scene. A young deer, brougtit to bay by a pack ot hounds, is shown fighting for freedom. Four hounds have attacked simultaneously. Onn has climbed on to its back and tears at its ears, another clings to its neck, halfhanging from its lower lip, and tho other two savagely bite its left thigh and right foot. Tho workmanship is exquisite in every detail, and the group has a palpitating vivacity. The desperate effort of the deer is excellently rendered—its neck rigid, its muscles bulging, its frightened eyes almost out of their orbits. It is considered by experts one of the most realistic pieces of sculpture of the ancient era.