Donatello. A remarkable bronze figure of the Renascence period is that of Perseus, by Benvenuto Cellini, 1500-1570, at Florence, and the figure of Neptune on the fountain at Bologna by Giovanni da Bologna, 1524-90. The bronze doors of San Zenone, at Verona, (see plates 1 and 3 in “_Aratra Pentelici_” by John Ruskin), and those of the Baptistery, at Florence, by Andrea Pisano and Ghiberti (see Renascence) are typical examples of early Renascence bronzes. The casting of these Bronzes was by the “Cire Perdu” method, that is, by forming a core of firm material nearly the size and shape required, then covering with sheet wax and finishing with the detail required, with sticks of wax projecting to form vents for the escape of steam in casting. The wax is then brushed over with a composition of fine clay and ground crucibles to some thickness and the mould thus formed is connected with the inner one by bronze rods. The wax is then melted out, leaving a cavity Into which the liquid bronze is poured, the core and mould being afterwards removed. Bronze is also cast in piece moulds taken from the model; the piece mould is then lined with sheet clay and put together and the core run in. The clay is then removed and the bronze run in as in the former process. The sand process for casting has now reached a high degree of perfection in which the core and mould are formed by pressure in a fine tenacious sand. [Illustration: WROUGHT IRON. Plate 34. ] WROUGHT IRON. The decorative qualities of iron, with its strength, durability and comparative cheapness, have rendered it one of the most useful metals in the applied arts. Used from an early period for implements of war and the chase, it gradually became associated with architecture and furniture, reaching in the 15th and 16th centuries a remarkable degree of beauty and skilful craftsmanship that has never been excelled. Many fine Norman hinges of wrought iron are still in existence, having a straight central bar or strap, with small scroll terminations; these central straps were strengthened with crescent-shaped pieces, terminating in small serpent forms, probably a survival of the Viking traditions. This form of hinge was succeeded by the Early Gothic hinge, which was a series of spirals springing from the straight bar or strap, the spiral being welded or fastened with collars; these spirals were enriched with the three-lobed foliage or trefoil, typical of the Early Gothic period; fine examples of this hinge occur on the west door of Notre Dame, Paris, where this typical spiral has the trefoil leaf, with birds, dragons and small rosettes in stamped iron. This stamped characteristic may be seen, but in a less degree, in the fine hinges of Leighton Buzzard Church, Eaton Bray Church, Bedfordshire, and the Eleanor grill in Westminster Abbey, by Thomas de Leghton, in 1294. In the 14th and 15th centuries, when panelled doors took the place of the