sculpture

Roman citizens salute Roman Emperor Trajan in a replica relief from Trajan's Column from AD 113. The 30 m/98 ft column stands in Trajan's Forum in Rome, Italy.

A statue of the Virgin, in the Piazza delle Erbe, Verona, Italy, by Italian sculptor and architect Andrea Pisano (c. 1290-c. 1348).

A glazed terracotta altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with angels, and a chalice and dove overhead, by the Italian sculptor Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529).

Baroque sculpture is shown at its dramatic height in the Triton Fountain, Piazza Barberini, Rome, Italy, by the Italian painter and sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680).

The Thinker (dated 1905) by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, developed from a design for a large sculptured door for the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France, which was commissioned in 1880.

Head of the boy David in bronze by the Florentine sculptor Donatello. The bronze is an example of the influence of classical Greek sculpture on the art of the Renaissance period.

Colossal stone head, near Altamirano in the state of Guerrero, Mexico.

Artistic shaping of materials such as wood, stone, clay, metal, and, more recently, plastic and other synthetics. Since ancient times, the human form has been the principal subject of sculpture around the world; the earliest prehistoric human artefacts include sculpted stone figurines. Many indigenous cultures have maintained rich traditions of sculpture. Those of Africa (see African art), South America, and the Caribbean in particular have been influential in the development of contemporary Western sculpture.

Historically, most sculpture has been religious in intent. Chinese, Japanese, and Indian sculptures are usually Buddhist or Hindu images. African, American Indian, and Oceanic sculptures reflect spirit cults and animist beliefs. In Western art literal or romanticized representations of the human form predominated until the 20th century, when most modern sculptors moved to more abstract interpretations of the human form, focusing on movement, emotion, and meaning.

There are two main techniques traditionally employed in sculpture: carving, involving the cutting away of hard materials such as wood or stone to reveal an image; and modelling, involving the building up of an image from malleable materials, such as clay or wax, which may then be cast in bronze. In the 20th century various techniques for ‘constructing’ sculptures have been developed, for example metal welding and assemblage.

Ancient sculpture Prehistoric peoples sculpted small figurines; those surviving are generally fecund female nudes, carved in stone, which perhaps relate to a fertility ritual or the cult of the mother goddess, such as the limestone Willendorf Venus (c. 21000 BC; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

The oldest sculptures of figurative art, found in 2003 in a cave in the Swabia region of southwestern Germany, are a set of 30,000-year-old carved ivory figurines, depicting real creatures (such as birds and horse) as well as half-human/half-animal figures. The carvers of the statues are thought to be modern humans who migrated into the Danube area over 30,000 years ago.

Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculpture mainly took the form of monumental reliefs in palace and temple decoration. Many of the standing sculptures were intended to be seen only from the front and sides, whereas most Greek sculpture was intended to be viewed in the round (to be seen from all sides). The development of vigorous poses (contrapposto) and emotional expressiveness elevated Greek sculpture to the pinnacle of artistic achievement (see Phidias, Praxiteles, and Parthenon), and much of subsequent Western sculpture has been imitative of Greek ideals. Lifelike portrait sculpture was introduced by the Romans.

Medieval sculpture Sculpture of the medieval period is epitomized by niche figures carved in stone for churches (for example, Chartres Cathedral, France) and by delicate ivory carvings. The work of Nicola Pisano began a great tradition of Italian sculpture.

Renaissance sculpture The work of Renaissance sculptors sought to emulate the classic ideal and culture. Greek supremacy was challenged by the resurgence of free-standing sculptures, notably Michelangelo's David (1501-04), and by superlative bronze casting, for example, Donatello's equestrian monument of Gattamelata (1447-50; Piazza del Santo, Padua). In the work of Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, and Andrea del Verrocchio, figure sculpture attained a new dignity and power. The work of Benvenuto Cellini and Giovanni Bologna (1524-1608) exemplified the Mannerist style.

Pedro Berruguete, a pupil of Michelangelo, introduced the Renaissance to Spain. In France, Jean Goujon developed Mannerism. However, it was the High Renaissance style of Michelangelo that was later encouraged by Louis XIV, who commissioned numerous busts and figure groups, notably by François Girardon.

Baroque and rococo sculpture Relief rather than free-standing sculptures came to the fore. The great technical skill of such sculptors as Giovanni Bernini seemed to defy the nature of the materials they used. The style was represented in France by Etienne Falconet, and in Spain by Alonso Cano.

Neoclassical sculpture Sculpture of the 18th and 19th centuries concentrated on smooth perfection of form and surface, notably the work of Antonio Canova. Towards the end of the 19th century, sculptors began to expand the limitations of the subject of the human form to express their own individual styles, perceptions, and emotions. The last great exponent of sculpture in the classical tradition was Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), although he broke with the romantic vein in classical sculpture. Rodin focused on realism, expression, and emotion, and created works that emerged from unworked material, giving them an unfinished quality. Rodin's contemporary Edgar Degas focused on naturalism, movement, and light in his figures, capturing them in fleeting poses. Frederic Remington also focused on movement, creating realistic, animated bronzes for his portrayals of folk heroes of the American West. The work of Aristide Maillol and Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) emphasized formal qualities, rejecting both realism and Impressionism.

20th century Many 20th century sculptors explored a variety of misrepresentations of the human form. Alberto Giacometti rejected the sculptural tradition of simulating round curves and smooth flesh, and created unusual thin, rough-textured figures, regarded as expressive of the alienation of people in the modern era. Sculptors such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Jacob Epstein used traditional materials and techniques to create figures and forms inspired by ‘primitive’ art and nature. The work of Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska also reflects such influences. Some sculptors, such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jacques Lipchitz, and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, experimented with distorted proportions in their figures, with often disturbing results. Indeed few 20th century sculptors, unlike many of their early predecessors, glorified the human form; many explored and expressed darker themes, such as horror, trauma, alienation, irony, and a sense of the absurd.

Abstract sculpture was pioneered by Alexander Archipenko and Ossip Zadkine, both exponents of cubism, and Constantin Brancusi and Giacometti, who developed three-dimensional abstract forms from natural materials. Followers of the nonrepresentational school include Lipchitz, Jean Arp, Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner (pioneers of Russian constructivism), Reg Butler, and Anthony Caro. Among more traditional sculptors whose work powerfully expresses the modern idiom are Marino Marini in Italy and Frank Dobson (1888-1963) in England.

Other sculptors have broken with the past entirely, rejecting both carving and modelling. Today the term sculpture applies to the mobiles of Alexander Calder, assemblages of various materials, ‘environment sculpture’ and earthworks (pioneered by Carl André), and ‘installations’. Prominent sculptors of the late 20th century include Damien Hirst, Anthony Gormley, Christo, and Andy Goldsworthy.

Another development has been the sculpture garden; for example, Hakore open-air museum in Japan and the Grizedale Forest sculpture project in the Lake District, England.