Amazing Kinds Of Art & Sculpture &
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| stones Sculpture |
Sculpture
is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It
is one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used
carving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of
material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and other materials
but, since Modernism,
there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A
wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving,
assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast.
A
basic distinction is between sculpture in the round, free-standing
sculpture, such as statues, not attached (except possibly at the base)
to any other surface, and the various types of relief,
which are at least partly attached to a background surface. Relief is
often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or
bas-relief, high relief, and sometimes an intermediate mid-relief.
Sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt.
Relief is the usual sculptural medium for large figure groups and
narrative subjects, which are difficult to accomplish in the round, and
is the typical technique used both for architectural sculpture, which is
attached to buildings, and for small-scale sculpture decorating other
objects, as in much pottery, metalwork and jewellery. Relief sculpture
may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, often also
containing inscriptions.
One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in some form of association with religion. Cult images are common in many cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art, like the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were evidently rather small, even in the largest temples. The same is often true in Hinduism, where the very simple and ancient form of the lingam is the most common. Buddhism brought the sculpture of religious figures to East Asia, where there seems to have been no earlier equivalent tradition, though again simple shapes like the bi and cong probably had religious significance.
The materials used in sculpture are diverse, changing throughout history. The classic materials, with outstanding durability, are metal, especially bronze, stone and pottery, with wood, bone and antler less durable but cheaper options. Precious materials such as gold, silver, jade, and ivory are often used for small luxury works, and sometimes in larger ones, as in chryselephantine statues. More common and less expensive materials were used for sculpture for wider consumption, including hardwoods (such as oak, box/boxwood, and lime/linden); terracotta and other ceramics, wax (a very common material for models for casting, and receiving the impressions of cylinder seals and engraved gems), and cast metals such as pewter and zinc (spelter). But a vast number of other materials have been used as part of sculptures, in ethnographic and ancient works as much as modern ones.
One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in some form of association with religion. Cult images are common in many cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art, like the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were evidently rather small, even in the largest temples. The same is often true in Hinduism, where the very simple and ancient form of the lingam is the most common. Buddhism brought the sculpture of religious figures to East Asia, where there seems to have been no earlier equivalent tradition, though again simple shapes like the bi and cong probably had religious significance.
The materials used in sculpture are diverse, changing throughout history. The classic materials, with outstanding durability, are metal, especially bronze, stone and pottery, with wood, bone and antler less durable but cheaper options. Precious materials such as gold, silver, jade, and ivory are often used for small luxury works, and sometimes in larger ones, as in chryselephantine statues. More common and less expensive materials were used for sculpture for wider consumption, including hardwoods (such as oak, box/boxwood, and lime/linden); terracotta and other ceramics, wax (a very common material for models for casting, and receiving the impressions of cylinder seals and engraved gems), and cast metals such as pewter and zinc (spelter). But a vast number of other materials have been used as part of sculptures, in ethnographic and ancient works as much as modern ones.
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