SCULPTURE
Sculpture
It is the branch of the visual arts that
operates in three dimensions.
Sculpture has been central in religious
devotion
in many cultures. It is usually an expression
of
religion or politics.
Sculpture can be made from almost any organic or
inorganic substance. The processes specific to
making sculpture date from antiquity and up to the 20th
century, underwent only minor variations.
In the 20th century the field of sculpture has been
enormously broadened and enriched by new techniques,
such as welding and assemblage.
Elements of Sculpture
Texture – refers to the touch of the
skin against the surface or the
body of a given sculpture
Space – refers to the portion or
area where the piece stands.
Materials
Used in
Sculpture
Medium – refers to the
materials used by the artist
in the completion of his
work.
Stone
Stone is a very challenging
sculpting material, one false stroke
of the hammer on the chisel and
the entire statue is left permanently
marred or even ruined. On a
positive note, stone is famous for its
ability to endure the ages and its
high quality.
The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly
referred to as the Sphinx of Giza or just
the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a
reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with
the body of a lion and the head of a
human.
Mount Rushmore with sculptures
of George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson,
Theodore Roosevelt, and
Abraham Lincoln (left to right)
Marble
A metamorphic rock derived from
limestone, which is easy for a sculptor to
work with. As marble ages, it becomes
more durable and stays harder which
gives it a long lasting effect. The harder
marble is an advantage as it makes it
weather-resistant and can be use for
sculpture outdoors.
Venus of Willendorf
Metal
The most famous metal for sculpting is
bronze, which is most often cast using the
wax replacement method.
The molten bronze is poured into the
mold, causing the heat of the metal to
melt the wax, which runs out of an
escape channel. The sand cast sculpture is then
cooled, cleaned and polished or
given a patina
Casting is a process in which a liquid metal is somehow delivered into a
mold (it is usually delivered by a crucible/container) that contains a
hollow shape of the intended shape.
Clay
Clay is a long standing favorite of sculptors, since it can be
worked using either a reductive method in a fashion
similar to carving, or built up using
an additive method, where separate pieces are
bonded before firing the item in a kiln to fix the
final shape. Sculptors often also use unfired clay to make
working models to consult while carving larger items.
Wood
Wood carvers sculpt the wood using knives or chisels
to create a statue or even small figurines; the
downside is in comparison to materials such as
bronze and stone is that it doesn’t last as long in an
outdoor environment as it is more vulnerable to
damage from decay or fire.
Glass
The use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or
three-dimensional artworks are intended to make a sculptural or
decorative statement.
Robert C. Fritz one of the founding fathers of the 1960s studio
glass movement.
Ice
Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that
uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures
from ice can be abstract or realistic and can
be functional or purely decorative.
Ice sculptures are generally associated with
special or extravagant events because of
their limited lifetime.
Ice Sculpture
Basic Sculpture
Techniques
CARVING
Carving involves cutting or chipping
away a
shape from a mass of stone, wood, or
other hard
material. It is a subtractive process
whereby material
is systematically eliminated from the
outside in.
Modeling consists of addition to,
or building up of form. The
materials used are soft and yielding
and can be easily shaped, enabling
rapid execution. Clay or claylike
substances are baked to achieve
increased durability.
Molds and Casts
A negative mold will be
formed as a model, and then a
liquefied casting substance such as
bronze will be poured into the
hollow mold. Once the casting
substance has hardened, the final
work is ready.
Sculptures that are cast are made from a
material that is melted down—usually a
metal—that is then poured into a mold.
The mold is allowed to cool, thereby
hardening the metal, usually bronze.
Casting is an additive process.
Assembling - Sculptors
gather and join different
materials to create an
assembled sculpture.
Assembling is an
additive process.
Kinetic and Mobiles
-Are moving three dimensional
-figures
It is constructed to take advantage of
the principle of equilibrium. It consists
of a number of rods, from which
weighted objects or further rods hang.
The objects hanging from the rods
balance each other, so that the rods
remain more or less horizontal.
FORMS OF SCULPTURE
FREE STANDING
FREE STANDING
It is unattached to the
background and has space on all
sides. It is
also referred to as sculpture in
round wherein it can be viewed
from all sides, and can
stand alone.
Relief, or relevo, is a sculptural
technique. The term relief is from the Latin
verb relevo, to raise. To create
a sculpture inrelief is to give the impression
that the sculpted material has been
raised above the background plane.
Three basic types of relief sculpture:
Low relief (bas-relief) The sculpture projects only slightly from
the background surface.
High relief (alto-relief), The sculpture projects at least half or
more of its natural circumference from the background, and may in
parts be wholly disengaged from the ground, thus approximating
sculpture in the round.
Sunken relief, (intaglio relief), where the
carving is sunk below the level of the surrounding surface and is
contained within a sharpenly incised contour line that frames it
with a powerful line of shadow.
Thank you for listening!
History of
Sculpture
The earliest sculptured objects, cut from
ivory, horn, bone, or stone, are 27,000 to
32,000 years old. A small ivory horse
with graceful, curving lines is among
the oldest of these objects; it was found
in a cave in Germany.
Also found on cave floors are little stone
female figurines carved with emphasis on
the reproductive organs, the breasts,
and the buttocks.
Venus of Willendorf This so-
called Venus figurine from
the area of Willendorf,
Austria, is one of the earliest
known examples of
sculpture, dating from about
23,000 bc. The figure,
which is carved out of
limestone, is only 11.25 cm
(4.5 in) high, and was
probably designed to be
held in the hand. It is
believed the Venus may be a
fertility symbol, which
would explain the
exaggerated female anatomy.
Egyptian
Sculpture
Among the oldest Egyptian sculptures
is a piece of slate carved in low relief,
known as the Palette of King Narmer
(3100? bc), Egyptian Museum, Cairo). It
portrays the victory of Upper over
Lower Egypt, depicting the kings,
armies, servants, and various animals.
The kings (pharaohs) were also
commemorated in magnificent
life-size statues, set in funerary
temples and tombs
This painted limestone statuette
depicts King Akhenaton and
Queen Nefertiti, rulers of Egypt
during the Amarna period.
During this period, the Egyptians
worshiped one god, Aton, who
embodied both the male and
female principles of the universe.
WALL CARVINGS
Which are either
in bust or high
relief, usually
found in the walls
of tombs.
STATUES – life
size figures
of men and
women in
sitting or
standing
Death Mask of
Tutankhamun
The death mask of
Egyptian pharaoh
Tutankhamun is made of
gold inlaid with colored
glass and semiprecious
stone. The mask comes
from the innermost
mummy case in the
pharaoh’s tomb, and
stands 54 cm (21 in) high.
GREEK SCULPTURE
“ Man is the measure of all things”
Greek art in particular
was very influential in
the development of
Western art, and
because knowledge of
the Classical period is
almost a prerequisite
to observation of the
evolution of Western
art.
The Greeks believed that “all men by
nature desire to know,” as stated by
Aristotle; this philosophy was held by Greek
sculptors. During the Classical period,
Greek sculptors focused their energies on
naturalizing effects on the human figure.
The later rediscovery of Greek art and its
drive for perfection of the human form
resulted in the resurgence of classical
tendencies in other cultures centuries after
the fall of the Greek Empire
Phidias was an Athenian sculptor,
the son of Charmides, and is
generally acknowledged as the
greatest ancient Greek sculptor
and instigator of the classical
style of the 5th and 4th centuries
BC.
He gained most of his fame for his two
enormous chryselephantine (gold and ivory)
sculptures: One of Athena in the
Parthenon, and the other of Zeus at Olympia.
These statues had such a profound impact
that they determined all subsequent
conceptions of Athena and Zeus.
PRXITELS /PRAXITELES
Was the first sculptor who
portrayed the feminine body
nude, to his name Venus
de Meduci and all other
Aphrodite’s were derived
from him
LYSIPPUS / LYSIPPOS
was a Greek sculptor
of the 4th century BC.
Together with
Scopas andPraxiteles,
he is considered
one of the three
greatest sculptors of
the Classical Greek
era, bringing
transition into the
Hellenistic period.
G Reflecting the increasing stability of the age as
O well as the growing power and ambition of the
Christian Church, the Gothic cathedral was
T designed as a miniature symbol of God's universe.
H
Each element of the building's design conveyed a
I theological message:
C
namely, the awesome glory of God. The ordered
nature of the structure reflected the clarity and
rationality of God's universe, while the sculptures
(reliefs and column statues), stained glass
windows and murals illustrated the
scriptural messages of the Bible. Craftsmen
involved included the greatest sculptors in
Europe, but they remained largely anonymous.
This is the central panel
of the Marienaltar in the
Herrgottskirche,
Creglingen, Germany. It
was carved from lime
wood in 1502-1505.
The faces echo the “Man
of Sorrows”, a common
theme in Late Gothic
sculpture. The intricacy
of the drapery reflects
the complex patterns of
the vines above the
figures.
Gothic sculptures were born
on the wall, in the middle of the
12th century in Île-de-France,
when Abbot Suger built the
abbey at St. Denis (ca. 1140),
considered the first Gothic
building, and soon after the
Chartres Cathedral (ca. 1145).
Prior to this there had been
no sculpture tradition in
Ile-de-France so sculptors were
brought in from
Burgundy.
ROMAN SCULPTURE
The study of ancient
Roman sculpture is
complicated by its relation
to Greek sculpture. Many
examples of even the
most famous Greek
sculptures, such as the
Apollo Belvedere and
Barberini Faun, are
known only from
Roman Imperial or
Hellenistic “ copies."
Romans, focused on verism, the
attempt to create images that
exactly reflected the subject.
This meant including wrinkles
and blemishes, as well as
depicting their subjects at
the correct age. Every
statue was designed
individually, so the subject could
be easily recognized through
the image.
She-Wolf of the Capitol
Although She-Wolf of the Capitol (circa 500 bc) is actually an Etruscan sculpture, it is associated with
Roman art. The bronze statue, which stands 85 cm (33 in) high, is the symbol of the city of Rome. The
mythological Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been kept alive by a wolf in order to fulfill their
destiny as founders of the city. The figures of the infants were created during the Renaissance, but the wolf is
Etruscan.
