heat and moisture. Its incapacity to harmonize with other
colors constitutes a serious defect in this gem, but for other
ornamental purposes it may be used with an agreeable effect.
It is found in masses, rarely in crystals, in Siberia, Tartary,
China, Persia, Thibet, and other oriental countries, in some
parts of Europe, and in Brazil. Marco Polo, during his travels,
discovered it on the Oxus, and, on the authority of Haiiy, the
best quality is obtained from Bokhara and from China, where
it is made into various articles for personal ornaments.
This stone, has been employed, both in ancient and modern
times, for architectural decoration, with striking effect. The
Chaldseans and Assyrians employed it with ivory, for the wall
surfaces of their magnificent palaces; it was used in the Middle Ages for the embellishment of ecclesiastical buildings, as
may be seen in many of the churches of that period, one of the
most conspicuous examples being the chapel of San Martino,
Naples. An apartment in one of the royal palaces of St.
Petersburg has the walls entirely covered with lapis-lazuli and
amber. It is used also for mosaic, inlaid work, vases, and for
decorating furniture, and was formerly employed for the
pigment known as ultramarine, which is at the present
time derived from cobalt, or manufactured by artificial
methods.
The lapis-lazuli is objectionable for engraving, on account of
the pyrites disseminated through the mass rendering it difficult
to work. It was, however, used for intagli and carnei during
the Roman period, though rarely any antique engravings of
superior workmanship appear on this material, unless the fine
specimen of Alexander the Great, with Apollo, Venus, and
Cupid on the reverse, belongs to the age of this conqueror, as
is pronounced by some antiquaries, in opposition to King, who
thinks it is a production of the Middle Ages.
