the robot and the witch 25
Talos might have symbolized or alluded to lost- wax casting in the Bronze
Age. Like other bronze figurines and large bronze statues of antiquity,
Talos himself would have been wrought by a lost- wax method. 33
A finely detailed early fifth- century BC red- figure cup in Berlin, the
Foundry Vase, illustrates artisans creating two lifelike bronze statues
using foundry tools and techniques, including the sophisticated lost- wax
method. The statue of an athlete is in process, with parts of the body
as yet unconnected (fig. 1.9, plate 3; compare figs 6.3– 11 for images of
Prometheus constructing the first man in sections). On the other side of
the vase, we see workers finishing a larger- than- life, realistic statue of a
warrior (fig. 1.10).
The ancient lost- wax technology is incompletely known, but one
method involved making a rough clay model or a wooden armature,
which was coated with beeswax. Then the finer details were carved and
molded in the wax by the sculptor. This wax model was covered with a
thin clay slip, followed by successively thicker layers to make a mold. The
Fig. 1.9 (plate 3). Foundry scene, artisans making a realistic bronze statue of an athlete, in
pieces, surrounded by blacksmith tools. Attic red- figure kylix, from Vulci, about 490– 480 BC,
by the Foundry Painter. Bpk Bildagentur / Photo by Johannes Laurentius / Antikensammlung,
Staatliche Museen, Berlin / Art Resource, NY.