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.Löwenmensch, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, now in Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany, the oldest known anthropomorphic animal-human statuette, Aurignacian era, c. 35–40,000 BPVenus of Willendorf, c. 24,000–26,000 BPVenus of Laussel c. 27,000 BP, an Upper Palaeolithic carving, Bordeaux museum, FranceCreeping Hyena, c. 12–17,000 BP, mammoth ivory, found in La Madeleine, FranceSwimming Reindeer c. 13,000 BP, female and male swimming reindeer – late Magdalenian period, found at Montastruc, Tarn et Garonne, FranceUrfa Man, in the Şanlıurfa Museum; sandstone, 1.80 meters, c. 9,000 BCEA Jōmon dogū figure, 1st millenium BCE, JapanThe Trundholm sun chariot, perhaps 1800–1500 BCE; this side is gilded, the other is 'dark'.The Guennol Lioness, 3rd millennium BCE, 3.25 inches (8.3 cm) highOne of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BCEThe Burney Relief, Old Babylonian, around 1800 BCEPart of the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, c. 640 BCE, NinevehFacsimile of the Narmer Palette, c. 3100 BCE, which already shows the canonical Egyptian profile view and proportions of the figureMenkaura (Mycerinus) and queen, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, 2490–2472 BCE. The formality of the pose is reduced by the queen's arm round her husbandWooden tomb models, Dynasty XI; a high administrator counts his cattleTutankhamun's mask, c. late Eighteenth dynasty, Egyptian MuseumThe Younger Memnon c. 1250 BCE, British MuseumOsiris on a lapis lazuli pillar in the middle, flanked by Horus on the left, and Isis on the right, 22nd dynasty, LouvreThe ka statue provided a physical place for the ka to manifest. Egyptian Museum, CairoBlock statue of Pa-Ankh-Ra, ship master, bearing a statue of Ptah. Late Period, c. 650–633 BCE, Cabinet des MédaillesCycladic statue 2700–2300 BCE. Head from the figure of a woman, H. 27 centimetres (11 in)Cycladic Female Figurine, c. 2500–2400 BCE, 41.5 cm (16.3 in) highMycenae, 1600−1500 BCE. Silver rhyton with gold horns and rosette on the foreheadLifesize New York Kouros, c. 590–580 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe 'Naxian Sphinx' from Delphi, 570–560 BCE, the figure 222 cm (87 in) highPeplos Kore, c. 530 BCE, Athens, Acropolis MuseumLate Archaic warrior from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaea, c. 500The Amathus sarcophagus, from Amathus, Cyprus, 2nd quarter of the 5th century BCE Archaic period, Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Riace Bronzes, very rare bronze figures recovered from the sea, c. 460–430Hermes and the Infant Dionysos, possibly an original by Praxiteles, 4th centuryTwo elegant ladies, pottery figurines, 350–300Bronze Statuette of a Horse, late 2nd – 1st century BCE Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Winged Victory of Samothrace, c. 190 BCE, LouvreVenus de Milo, c. 130–100 BCE, Greek, the LouvreLaocoön and his Sons, Greek, (Late Hellenistic), perhaps a copy, between 200 BCE and 20 CE, white marble, Vatican MuseumLeochares, Apollo Belvedere, c. 130–140 CE. Roman copy after a Greek bronze original of 330–320 BCE. Vatican MuseumsEtruscan sarcophagus, 3rd century BCEThe 'Capitoline Brutus', dated to the 3rd or 1st century BCEAugustus of Prima Porta, statue of the emperor Augustus, 1st century CE. Vatican MuseumsTomb relief of the Decii, 98–117 CEBust of Emperor Claudius, c. 50 CE, (reworked from a bust of emperor Caligula), It was found in the so-called Otricoli basilica in Lanuvium, Italy, Vatican MuseumsCommodus dressed as Hercules, c. 191 CE, in the late imperial 'baroque' styleThe Four Tetrarchs, c. 305, showing the new anti-classical style, in porphyry, now San Marco, VeniceThe cameo gem known as the 'Great Cameo of France', c. 23 CE, with an allegory of Augustus and his familyArchangel Ivory, 525–550, ConstantinopleLate Carolingian ivory panel, probably meant for a book-coverThe Harbaville Triptych, Byzantine ivory, mid-10th centuryBaptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège, Baptism of Christ, 1107–18The tympanum of Vézelay Abbey, Burgundy, France, 1130sFacade, Cathedral of Ourense 1160, SpainPórtico da Gloria, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, c. 12th–13th centuriesWest portal of Chartres Cathedral (c. 1145)South portal of Chartres Cathedral (c. 1215–20)West portal at Reims Cathedral, Annunciation groupNicola Pisano, Nativity and Adoration of the Magi from the pulpit of the Pisa BaptisteryThe Bamberg Horseman 1237, near life-size stone equestrian statue, the first of this kind since antiquity.Lid of the Walters Casket, with the Siege of the Castle of Love at left, and jousting. Paris, 1330–1350Siege of the Castle of Love on a mirror-case in the Louvre, 1350–1370; the ladies are losing.Central German Pietà, 1330–40Claus Sluter, David and a prophet from the Well of MosesBase of the Holy Thorn Reliquary, a Resurrection of the Dead in gold, enamel and gemsSection of a panelled altarpiece with Resurrection of Christ, English, 1450–90, Nottingham alabaster with remains of colourDetail of the Last Supper from Tilman Riemenschneider's Altar of the Holy Blood, 1501–05, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, BavariaLorenzo Ghiberti, panel of the Sacrifice of Isaac from the Florence Baptistry doors; oblique view hereLuca della Robbia, detail of Cantoria, c. 1438, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, FlorenceDonatello, David c. 1440s, Bargello Museum, FlorenceDonatello, Judith and Holofernes, c. 1460, Palazzo Vecchio, FlorenceFrancesco Laurana, female bust (cast)Verrocchio, Doubting Thomas, 1467–83, Orsanmichele, FlorenceMichelangelo, David, c. 1504, Galleria dell'Accademia, FlorenceMichelangelo, Dying Slave, c. 1513–16Stucco overdoor at Fontainebleau, probably designed by Primaticcio, who painted the oval inset, 1530s or 1540sBenvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the head of Medusa, 1545–54Giambologna, Samson Slaying a Philistine, about 1562Giambologna, The Rape of the Sabine Women, 1583, Florence, Italy, 13' 6' (4.1 m) high, marbleBust of Louis XIV, 1686, by Antoine CoysevoxPierre Paul Puget, Perseus and Andromeda, 1715, Musée du LouvrePedro Roldán, Entombment of Christ, 1670Franz Anton Bustelli, Rococo Nymphenburg Porcelain groupJean-Antoine Houdon, Bust of Benjamin Franklin, 1778, Metropolitan Museum of ArtBertel Thorvaldsen: Jason and the Golden Fleece (1803)John Flaxman, Memorial in the church at Badger, Shropshire, c. 1780sHiram Powers, 1851, The Greek Slave, Yale University Art GalleryGandhara frieze with devotees, holding plantain leaves, in purely Hellenistic style, inside Corinthian columns, 1st–2nd century CE. Buner, Swat, Pakistan. Victoria and Albert MuseumFragment of the wind god Boreas, Hadda, Afghanistan.Coin of Demetrius I of Bactria, who reigned circa 200–180 BCE and invaded Northern IndiaBuddha head from Hadda, Afghanistan, 3rd–4th centuriesGandhara Poseidon (Ancient Orient Museum)The Buddhist gods Pancika (left) and Hariti (right), 3rd century, GandharaTaller Buddha of Bamiyan, c. 547 CE, in 1963 and in 2008 after they were dynamited and destroyed in March 2001 by the TalibanA bronze ding from late Shang dynasty (13th century–10th century BCE)A tomb guardian usually placed inside the doors of the tomb to protect or guide the soul, Warring States period, c. 3rd century BCELifesize calvalryman from the Terracotta Army, Qin dynasty, c. 3rd century BCEGold stag with eagle's head, Xiongnu tomb on the Mongolian frontier, 4th–3rd century BCETomb figure of dancing girl, Han Dynasty (202 BCE—220 CE)Bronze cowrie container with yaks, from the Dian Kingdom (4th century BCE – 109 BCE) tradition of the Western HanNorthern Wei dynasty Maitreya (386–534)Tang dynasty tomb figure in sancai glaze pottery, horse and groom (618–907)Seated Buddha, Tang dynasty c. 650.The Leshan Giant Buddha, Tang dynasty, completed in 803.A wooden Bodhisattva from the Song dynasty (960–1279)Chinese jade Cup with Dragon Handles, Song dynasty, 12th centuryGuanyin Bodhisattva in Blanc de Chine (Dehua porcelain), by He Chaozong, Ming dynasty, early 17th centuryBlue underglaze statue of a man with his pipe, Jingdezhen porcelain, Ming Wanli period (1573–1620)A Chinese guardian lion outside Yonghe Temple, Beijing, Qing dynasty, c. 1694Dogū with 'snow-goggle' eyes, 1000–400 BCE6th-century haniwa figureKongo Rishiki (Guardian Deity) at the Central Gate of Hōryū-jiPriest Ganjin (Jianzhen), Nara period, 8th centuryTaishakuten Śakra, 839, Tō-jiUnkei, Seitaka Doji, Kamakura Period, 1197, Kongōbu-jiTsuba sword fitting with a 'Rabbit Viewing the Autumn Moon', bronze, gold and silver, between 1670 and 1744Izumiya Tomotada, netsuke in the form of a dog, late 18th centuryEagle by Suzuki Chokichi, 1892, Tokyo National MuseumYamada Chōzaburō, Wind God in repoussé iron, c. 1915The 'dancing girl of Mohenjo Daro', 3rd millennium BCE (replica)Ashoka Pillar, Vaishali, Bihar, c. 250 BCEStupa gateway at Sanchi, c. 100 CE or perhaps earlier, with densely packed reliefsBuddha from Sarnath, 5–6th century CEThe Colossal trimurti at the Elephanta CavesRock-cut temples at ElloraJain shrine with Rishabhanatha, Parshvanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira, 6th centuryHindu, Chola period, 1000Typical medieval frontal standing statue of Vishnu, 950–1150Khajuraho TempleMarble Sculpture of female yakshi in typical curving pose, c. 1450, RajasthanGopuram of the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, densely packed with rows of painted statuesSculpture of Guardian at the entrance of the Mandapam of Sri Jalagandeeswarar Temple, Vellore, Tamil NaduApsara and Gandarva pedestal, Trà Kiệu, Cham art, Vietnam, c. 7th–8th centuryRelief sculpture from Borobudur temple, Indonesia, c. 760–830Vairocana Buddha from Borobudur temple, Indonesia, c. 760–830Bronze Avalokiteshvara torso from Chaiya, Southern Thailand, Srivijayan art, c. 8th centuryBronze Avalokiteshvara from Bidor, Perak, Malaysia, c. 8th-9th centuryVishnu from Prasat Rup Arak, Kulen, Khmer art, Cambodia, c. 800–875Head of Jayavarman VII, Khmer art, Cambodia, c. late 12th centuryBuddha in Ananda Temple, Bagan, Myanmar, c. 1105Stone bas-relief of apsaras from Bayon temple, Cambodia, c. 1200Prajnaparamita Singhasari art, East Java, Indonesia, c. 13th centuryPhra Achana, Wat Si Chum, Big Buddha image in Sukhothai, Thailand, c. 14th century'the Buddha calling the earth to witness', The Buddha's hands are in the bhūmisparsa mudrā (subduing Māra) position. Ho Phra Kaeo temple, Vientiane, LaosThe Mshatta Facade, from a palace near Damascus, 740sThe Pisa Griffin, 107 cm high, probably 11th centuryPart of a 15th-century ceramic panel from Samarkand with white calligraphy on a blue arabesque background.Mughal dagger with hilt in jade, gold, rubies and emeralds. Blade of damascened steel inlaid with gold.Nok terracotta, 6th century BCE–6th century CEIfe head, terracotta, probably 12–14th centuries CEYoruba bronze head sculpture, Ife, Nigeria c. 12th centurySculpture of a 'Queen Mother' from Benin, 16th century.16th-century ivory mask from BeninOne of the Benin Bronzes, 16th–18th century, Nigeria.Mask from Burkina Faso, 19th centuryMambila figure, NigeriaStone statue from Addi-Galamo, Tigray Province, 6th–5th century BCEA jar spout from the early Kingdom of AksumThe Obelisk of Axum, 4th century CEA processional cross, Zagwe dynasty, 12th centuryChurch of Saint George, Lalibela, 10th–13th centuries CEOne of the seven life-size saints carved into the wall of the Church of Bet Golgotha, Lalibela, 15th century (traditionally believed to have been made during the reign of Gebre Mesqel Lalibela)A ceramic jug of the Kerma cultureA shabti of the Nubian King Taharqa, from a pyramid of Nuri, Sudan, Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, 690–664 BCEStatue of the Kushite Pharaoh Aspelta, Napata period (c. 620–580 BCE)Column and elephant - part of the temple complex in Musawwarat es-Sufra, 3rd century BCETraces of paint on a relief depicting Prince Arikhankharer smiting his enemies, from the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush, early 1st century CERelief of a ruler, a Candace of Meroë named Kandake Amanitore, 1st century CEOlmec Baby Figure 1200-900 BCEOlmec Jadeite Mask 1000–600 BCEOlmec Colossal Head No. 3 1200–900 BCELa Mojarra Stela 1 2nd century CEChalchiuhtlicue from Teotihuacán 200–500 CETeotihuacan mask 200–600 CETeotihuacan- Detail of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent 200–250 CEA funerary urn in the shape of a 'bat god' or a jaguar, Oaxaca, 300–650 CEMoche portrait vessel with stirrup spout, Peru, 100 BCE–700 CEK'inich Janaab Pakal I of Palenque, Maya, 603–683 CEAhkal Mo' Naab III Of Palenque, 8th century CEUpakal K'inich 8th century CE, PalenqueJaina Island type figure (Mayan) 650–800 CEClassic Veracruz culture face 600–900 CEAtlante from Tula, c. 1000 CEDouble-headed serpent, Turquoise, red and white mosaic on wood, Aztec (possibly) Mixtec, c. 1400–1521,Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore, 1927–1941. L–R, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.Robert Gould Shaw Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1884–1897, plaster versionLee Lawrie, The Sower, 1928 Art Deco relief on Beaumont Tower, Michigan State UniversityDaniel Chester French, Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.The K'alyaan Totem Pole of the Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan, erected at Sitka National Historical Park to commemorate the lives lost in the 1804 Battle of SitkaFrederic Remington, The Bronco Buster, 1895, limited edition #17 of 20, 1909.Paul Manship, Dancer and Gazelles, 1916, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DCGertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, The Scout, 1924, commemorating Buffalo Bill in Cody, WyomingFrançois Rude, a Romantic Jeanne d' Arc, 1852, LouvreJean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ugolino and His Sons, 1857–1860, Metropolitan Museum of ArtEdgar Degas, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, cast in 1922 from a mixed-media sculpture modeled c. 1879–80, Bronze, partly tinted, with cottonAuguste Rodin The Burghers of Calais 1889, Calais, FranceAlfred Gilbert, the so-called Eros, 1893, the world's first aluminium statue, Piccadilly Circus, LondonDetail of the grave of Cyprian Kamil Norwid in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków by Czesław DźwigajSculpture on the Discoveries Age and Portuguese navigators in Lisbon, PortugalAntoine Bourdelle, Day and Night, marble, 1903, Musée Bourdelle, ParisCamille Claudel, The Waltz, 1905 cast of the second versionJan Štursa, Before the Bath, 1906, National Gallery in PragueAristide Maillol, The Night (La Nuit) 1909, Tuileries Garden, ParisAmedeo Modigliani, Female Head, 1911–12, TateJoseph Csaky, Groupe de femmes (Groupe de trois femmes, Groupe de trois personnages), 1911–12, plaster, lostAlexander Archipenko, La Vie Familiale (Family Life), 1912, destroyedConstantin Brâncuși, Portrait of Mademoiselle Pogany, 1912, white marble; limestone block, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Exhibited at the 1913 Armory ShowOtto Gutfreund, Cellist, 1912–13Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917Jacob Epstein, Day and Night, carved for the London Underground's headquarters, 1928.Käthe Kollwitz, The Grieving Parents, 1932, World War I memorial (for her son Peter), Vladslo German war cemeteryJacques Lipchitz, Birth of the Muses, 1944–1950Barbara Hepworth, Monolith-Empyrean, 1953John Chamberlain, S, 1959, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC.Henry Moore, Three Piece Reclining figure No.1, 1961, YorkshirePablo Picasso, Chicago Picasso, 1967, Chicago, IllinoisGeorge Rickey, Four Squares in Geviert, 1969, terrace of the New National Gallery, Berlin, Germany, Rickey is considered a Kinetic sculptorAlexander Calder, Crinkly avec disc rouge, 1973, Schlossplatz, StuttgartLouise Nevelson, Atmosphere and Environment XII, 1970–1973, Philadelphia Museum of ArtSir Anthony Caro, Black Cover Flat, 1974, steel, Tel Aviv Museum of ArtJoan Miró, Woman and Bird, 1982, Barcelona, SpainGeorge Segal, Street Crossing, 1992, permanently installed on a public sidewalk at Montclair State University, in Montclair, New JerseyMark di Suvero, Aurora, 1992–1993Louise Bourgeois, Maman, 1999, outside Museo GuggenheimTony Smith, Free Ride, 1962, 6'8 x 6'8 x 6'8 (the height of a standard US door opening), Museum of Modern Art, New YorkLarry Bell, Untitled 1964, bismuth, chromium, gold, and rhodium on gold-plated brass; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenTony Smith, Light Up, 1971, Hillman Library at the University of PittsburghJohn McCracken, Untitled slab painting, 1981, resin and fiberglass sculpture, Smithsonian American Art MuseumDonald Judd, Untitled 1977, Münster, GermanyRichard Serra, Fulcrum 1987, 55 ft high free standing sculpture of Cor-ten steel near Liverpool Street station, LondonDonald Judd, Untitled, 1991, Israel Museum Art Garden, JerusalemBruce Nauman, Human/Need/Desire, 1983, Neon sculptureRichard Long, South Bank Circle, 1991 Tate Liverpool, EnglandJean-Yves Lechevallier, Fettered wing. 1991Anish Kapoor, Turning the World Upside Down, Israel Museum, 2010Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. 1991Rachel Whiteread, Holocaust Monument 2000 Judenplatz, ViennaGuardians of Time, light sculpture by Manfred Kielnhofer at the Light Art Biennale Austria 2010The Spire of Dublin officially titled the Monument of Light, stainless steel, 121.2 metres (398 feet), the world's tallest 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. Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery) from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost.