Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SCULPTURE (Lat. sculptura, from sculp...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 489 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SCULPTURE (See also:Lat. sculptura, from sculpere, to carve, cognate with Gr. yXb4ew) , a See also:general See also:term for the plastic See also:art of See also:carving, especially in See also:stone and See also:marble, but also in such materials as See also:wood (see WOOD-CARVING), See also:ivory (see IVORY), See also:metal (see METAL-See also:WORK) and gems (see See also:GEM). The See also:production of See also:bronze statues by the cire perdue (anglice, " lost See also:wax ") See also:process is described in the See also:article METAL-WORK; until (since its revival) See also:recent times but little practised in See also:Europe outside of See also:Paris, it has now invaded most countries where See also:fine casting is appreciated, and where naturalistic rendering is desired. There are signs, however, of its being ousted for a certain class of handling by the " galvanoplastic " method—a See also:system of See also:copper See also:deposit by an See also:electrical process—whereby " going over " the work after it has been reproduced in metal is avoided. For the See also:execution of a marble statue the sculptor first See also:models a finished preliminary See also:sketch on a small See also:scale in See also:clay or wax. He then, in the See also:case of a See also:life-See also:size or See also:colossal statue, See also:model. has a sort of See also:iron See also:skeleton set up, with stout bars for the arms and legs, fixed in the pose of the future figure. This is called the " See also:armature." It is placed on a stand, called a See also:chassis, with a revolving See also:top, so that the sculptor can easily turn the whole model See also:round and thus work with the See also:light on any See also:side of it. Over this iron skeleton well-tempered modelling-clay is laid and is modelled into shape by the help of wood and See also:bone tools; without the sustaining assistance of the ironwork a soft clay figure, if more than a few inches high, would collapse with its own See also:weight and squeeze the See also:lower See also:part out of shape. While the modelling is in progress it is necessary to keep the clay moist and plastic by squirting See also:water on to it with a sort of See also:garden See also:syringe capped with a finely perforated See also:rose. When the sculptor is not at work the whole figure is kept wrapped up in See also:damp cloths. A See also:modern improvement is to mix the modelling-clay, not with water, but with stearin and See also:glycerin; this, while keeping the clay soft and plastic, has the See also:great See also:advantage of not being wet, and so the sculptor avoids the chill and consequent See also:risk of See also:rheumatism which follow from a See also:constant manipulation of wet clay. This method, however, has not been very extensively adopted. When the clay model is finished it is See also:cast in See also:plaster.

A " piece-See also:

mould "' is formed by applying patches of wet plaster of Paris all over the clay statue in such a way that they can be removed piecemeal from the model, and then be fitted together again, forming a See also:complete hollow mould. The inside is then rinsed out with plaster and water mixed to the consistency of cream till a skin of plaster is formed all over the inner See also:surface of the mould, and thus a hollow cast is made of the whole figure. The " piece-mould " is then taken to pieces and the casting set See also:free. If skilfully done by a See also:good formalore or moulder the plaster cast is a perfect facsimile of the See also:original clay, very slightly disfigured by a See also:series of lines showing the See also:joints in the piece-mould, the sections of which cannot be made to See also:fit together with See also:absolute precision. Many sculptors have their clay model cast in plaster before the modelling is quite finished, as they prefer to put the See also:finishing touches on the plaster cast—good plaster being a very easy and pleasant substance to work on. The next See also:stage is to copy the plaster model in marble. The model is set on a large See also:block called a " scale stone," while the ' Moulds made in one or few pieces, from which the cast can only be extracted by destroying the mould, are called " spoil-moulds." A large number of casts can be made from a " piece-mould," but only one from a " spoil-mould."marble for the future statue is set upon another similar block. The plaster model is then covered with a series of marks, placed on all the most salient parts of the See also:body, and the front of each " scale stone " is covered with another series of points, exactly the same on both stones. An ingenious See also:instrument called a pointing See also:machine, which has arms ending in metal points or " needles " that move in See also:ball-socket joints, is placed between the model and the marble block. Two of its arms are then applied to the model, one touching a point on the scale stone while the other touches a See also:mark on the figure. The arms are fixed by screws in this position, and the machine is then revolved to the marble block, and set with its lower See also:needle touching the corresponding point on the scale stone. The upper needle, which is arranged to slide back on its own See also:axis, cannot reach the corresponding point on the statue because the marble block is in the way; a hole is then drilled into the block at the See also:place and in the direction indicated by the needle, till the latter can slide forward so as to reach a point sunk in the marble block exactly corresponding to the point it touched on the plaster mould.

This process is repeated both on the model and on the marble block till the latter is drilled with a number of holes, the bottoms of which correspond in position to the number of marks made on the surface of the model. A comparatively unskilled scar pellino or " See also:

chisel-See also:man " then sets to work and cuts away the marble till he has reached the bottoms of all the holes, beyond which he must not cut. The statue is thus roughly blocked out, and a more skilled scarpellino begins to work. Partly by See also:eye and partly with the constant The scarpel/ino. help of the pointing machine, which is used to give any required measurements, the workman almost completes the marble statue, leaving only the finishing touches to be done by the sculptor. In the See also:opinion of many artists the use of the See also:mechanical pointing-machine is responsible in a great measure for the loss of life and See also:fire in much of modern sculpture. Among the See also:ancient Greeks and See also:Romans and in the See also:medieval See also:period it was the See also:custom to give the nude parts of a marble statue a considerable degree of See also:polish, which really suggests Polish on the somewhat glossy surface of the human skin very marble. much better than the full See also:loaf-See also:sugar-like surface which is See also:left on the marble by most modern sculptors. This high polish still remains in parts of the pedimental figures from the See also:Parthenon, where, at the back, they have been specially protected from the See also:weather. The See also:Hermes of the Vatican See also:Belvidere is a remarkable instance of the preservation of this polish. See also:Michelangelo carried the practice further still, and gave certain parts of some of his statues, such as the See also:Moses, the highest possible polish in See also:order to produce high See also:lights just where he wanted them; the See also:artistic See also:legitimacy of this may perhaps be doubted, and in weak hands it might degenerate into See also:mere trickery. It is, however, much to be desired that modern sculptors should to some extent at least adopt the classical practice, and by a slight but See also:uniform polish remove the disagreeable crystalline See also:grain from all the nude parts of the marble. A rougher method of obtaining fixed points to measure from was occasionally employed by Michelangelo and earlier sculptors. They immersed the model in a tank of water, the water being gradually allowed to run out, and thus by its sinking level it gave a series of See also:contour lines on any required number of planes.

In some cases Michelangelo appears to have cut his statue out of the marble without previously making a model—a marvellous feat of skill. In modelling bas-reliefs the modern sculptor usually applies the clay to a slab of See also:

slate on which the See also:design is sketched; the slate forms the background of the figures, and thus keeps the See also:relief absolutely true to one See also:plane. This Re/%f method is one of the causes of the dulness and want tguv. of spirit so conspicuous in most modern sculptured reliefs. In the best See also:Greek examples there is no absolutely fixed plane surface for the backgrounds. In one place, to gain an effective See also:shadow, the Greek sculptor would cut below the See also:average surface; in another he would leave the ground at a higher plane, Technka/ methods of the sculptor. Pointing the marble.

End of Article: SCULPTURE (Lat. sculptura, from sculpere, to carve, cognate with Gr. yXb4ew)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SCULPTURE
[next]
SCURVY (Scorbutus)