sculpture

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Click images to enlarge
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.

Blue is taken from the Swedish arms. Red and white recall the Danish flag, known as the Dannebrog. Effective date: 15 December 1899. >>