| 翻訳と辞書 |
| Corinthian bronze ： ウィキペディア英語版 |
Corinthian bronze
Corinthian bronze, also called Corinthian brass or æs Corinthiacum, was a highly valuable metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of copper with gold or silver (or both), although it has also been contended that it was simply a very high grade of bronze, or a kind of bronze that was manufactured in Corinth.〔(Aes ), from ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', John Murray, London, 1875.〕 It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no known examples of Corinthian bronze exist today.
==Classical antiquity==
Of the known types of bronze or brass, not distinguished in classical antiquity and interchangeably known in Latin as ''aes'' and in Greek as χαλκός, Corinthian bronze was the most valuable. Statues, vases and vessels, or other objects formed of this metal were priceless, of greater value than if they had been made of silver or gold.〔Brewer, E. Cobham. "(Corinthian Brass )." ''Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.'' 1898.〕 Pliny the Elder distinguished it into three kinds, depending on the metal that is added to the copper base: in the first, gold is added (''luteum''); in the second, silver (''candidum''); in the third, gold, silver, and copper are equally blended.〔〔(Pliny's chapter on Corinthian Brass ) from ''Natural History''. English translation.〕 Plutarch and Cicero both comment that Corinthian bronze, unlike many other copper alloys, is resistant to tarnishing. Pliny also refers to a fourth, dark alloy, known as hepatizon.
According to legend, Corinthian brass was first created by accident, during the burning of Corinth by Lucius Mummius Achaicus in 146 BC, when the city's immense quantities of gold, silver, and copper melted together. Pliny〔Pliny ''HN'', xxxiv. 7.〕 however, remarked that this story is unbelievable, because most of the creators of the highly valued works in Corinthian bronze in Ancient Greece lived at a much earlier period than second century BC.〔 According to Pliny, the method of making it had been lost for a long time,〔Yeo, Richard (1999). "Brass", p. 435 in ''The Edinburgh Encyclopedia''. ISBN 0-415-18026-0.〕 although some sources describe the process by which it is created, involving heat treatment, quenching, leaching, and burnishing, in a process similar to depletion gilding.〔 The lost ability to give an object made from bronze the appearance of gold or silver may be one strand behind the later alchemical quest to turn base metals into precious metals.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Corinthian bronze」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|