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RELIEF

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 61 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RELIEF , a See also:

term in See also:sculpture signifying See also:ornament, a figure or figures raised from the ground of a See also:flat See also:surface of which the sculptured portion forms an inherent See also:part of the See also:body of the whole. The See also:design may be in high relief—" See also:alto-relievo" (q.v.), or See also:low relief— " bas-relief" or "basso-relievo" (q.v.); in the former See also:case the design is almost wholly detached from the ground, the See also:attachment, through " under-cutting," remaining only here and there; in the latter it is wholly attached and may scarcely rise above the surface (as in the See also:modern See also:medal), or it may exceed in See also:projection to about a See also:half the proportionate See also:depth (or thickness) of the figure or See also:object represented. Formerly three terms were commonly employed to See also:express the degree of relief — altorelievo, basso-relievo and mezzo-relievo (or half-relief) ; but thetwo last-named have been merged by modern See also:custom into " low-relief," to the disadvantage of accurate description. The term relief belongs tc modern sculpi use. I o low relief .13 under-stood by us See also:Pliny applied the word anatlypta, but it is to be observed that See also:embossing and See also:chasing came within the same See also:category. It may be considered that less sculptural skill (independently of manipulative skill) is needed in high relief than in low relief, because in the former the true relative See also:pro-portions in the See also:life (whether figure or other object) have to be rendered, while in the latter, although the true height and, in a measure, breadth can be given, the thickness of the object is reduced by at least one-half, sometimes to almost nothing; and yet in spite of this departure from actuality, this See also:abandonment of fact for a pure See also:convention, a true effect must still he produced, not only in respect to See also:perspective, but also of the actual shadows See also:cast. And insomuch as the compositions are often extremely complicated and have sometimes to suggest retreating planes, the true See also:plane of the material affords little See also:scope for reproducing the required effect. In the beginning the essential See also:idea of the relief was always maintained: that is to say, the sense of the flatness of the slab from which it was cut was impressed throughout the design on the mind of the spectator. Thus the Egyptians merely sunk the outlines and scarcely more than suggested the modelling of the figures, which never projected beyond the See also:face of the surrounding ground. The Persians, the Etruscans and the Greeks carried on the See also:art to the highest perfection, alike in sculpture and architectural ornament, and they applied it to See also:gem sculpture, as in the case of " See also:cameo." Similarly, the inverse treatment of relief—that is, sunk below the surface, in See also:order that when .tsed for See also:seals a true relief is obtained—was See also:early brought to See also:great completeness; this See also:form of See also:engraving is called " See also:intaglio." The degree of projection in relief, broadly speaking, has varied greatly with the periods of art. Thus, in See also:Byzantine and Romanesque art the relief was low. In See also:Gothic it increased with the increased See also:desire to render several planes one behind the other.

With the See also:

advent of the See also:Renaissance it became still more accentuated, the heads and figures projecting greatly; but such high relief is sometimes found in early See also:work, especially in See also:metal-work. Although we see a return to See also:lower relief in the See also:Henri II. See also:period, it becomes stronger in the See also:Louis XIII. See also:style, very full in Louis XIV. and Louis XV., but in Louis XVI. is considerably reduced. (M. H.

End of Article: RELIEF

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