Sculpture Sculpture

(Latin sculptura, from sculpo - I cut out, cut out), sculpture, plastic (Greek plastika, from plasso - I mold), a type of fine art, based on the principle of a volumetric, physically three-dimensional image. As a rule, the object of the image in sculpture is a person, less often - animals (animalistic genre), even less often - nature (landscape) and things (still life). Setting a figure in space, transferring its movement, posture, gesture, black and white modeling, enhancing the relief of the form, the texture of sculpting or processing of the material, the architectonic organization of the volume, the visual effect of its mass, weight ratios, the choice of proportions, the specific character of the silhouette in each case are the main expressive by means of sculpture. The volumetric sculptural form is built in real space according to the laws of harmony, rhythm, balance, interaction with the surrounding architectural or natural environment and on the basis of the anatomical (structural) features of a particular model.

There are two main types of sculpture: round (statue, sculptural group, figurine, torso, bust, etc.), which is freely placed in space and usually requires a circular view, and relief, where the image is located on the plane that forms its background.

According to the content and functions, the sculpture is divided into monumental, monumental and decorative, easel and so-called small sculptures. Developing in close interaction, these types of sculpture have their own characteristics. Monumental and monumental-decorative sculpture is designed for a specific architectural-spatial or natural environment and is addressed to the masses of spectators, placed primarily in public places - on the streets and squares of the city, in parks, on the facades and in the interiors of public buildings. It is designed to concretize the architectural image, complement the expressiveness of architectural forms with new shades ( cm. Synthesis of arts), is able to solve large ideological-figurative problems, which is revealed with particular completeness in urban monuments, monuments, memorial structures, which are usually characterized by the majesty of forms and durability of the material, the elevation of the figurative system, the breadth of generalization. Easel sculpture, not directly related to architecture, is of a more intimate character and is usually placed in exhibition halls, museums, and residential interiors. This determines the features of the plastic language of sculpture, its size, favorite genres (portrait, genre, nude, animalistic genre). Easel sculpture, to a greater extent than monumental, is characterized by an interest in the inner world of a person, subtle psychologism, and narrative. Small-scale sculpture includes a wide range of works intended mainly for residential interiors, and in many ways merges with decorative and applied art. Small sculptures also include works of medal art and glyptics. The purpose and content of a sculptural work determine the nature of its plastic structure, and this, in turn, affects the choice of sculptural material. The technique of sculpture largely depends on the natural features and methods of processing the latter. Soft substances (clay, wax, plasticine, etc.) are used for modeling. Solids (various types of stone, wood, etc.) are processed by cutting (cutting) or carving, removing unnecessary parts of the material and gradually revealing a volumetric form, as it were hidden in it. Substances capable of passing from a liquid to a solid state (various metals, gypsum, concrete, plastic, etc.) are used for casting sculptures using specially made molds. To reproduce sculptures in metal, they also resort to electroforming (obtaining exact copies by an electrochemical method). In unmelted form, the metal in sculpture is processed through forging, embossing, welding and cutting. To create ceramic sculptures, special types of clay are used, which are usually covered with painting or colored glaze and fired in special ovens. Color in sculpture has been used since ancient times: well-known painted sculpture of antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance. The appeal to polychromy in sculpture or a departure from it to a single-color tint, toning and natural color of the material is associated with the general direction of the development of art in a given country and in a given era. The emergence of sculpture, dating back to the primitive era, is directly related to human labor activity and magical beliefs. In the Paleolithic sites (Montespan in France, Willendorf in Austria, Malta and Buret in the USSR), images of animals and women - the progenitors of the genus, were found, which are distinguished by the sharpness of life observations with generalization and roughness of forms. Neolithic sculpture (round, usually small in size) was carved from soft rocks, bone and wood; reliefs were executed on stone plates and walls of caves; schematization of forms prevailed in the depictions of figures. Sculpture often served as a means of decorating utensils, tools of labor and hunting, and was used as amulets. Sculpture received further development during the period of decay of the primitive communal system, in connection with the growth of the division of labor and technological progress; The brightest monuments of this stage are golden reliefs of the Scythians, terracotta heads of the Nok culture, typologically diverse wooden carved sculptures of the peoples of Oceania.

In the art of the slave-owning society, sculpture stood out as a special type of activity with specific tasks and its own masters. The sculpture of the ancient Eastern states, which had ritual and magical significance, served to perpetuate a strict social hierarchy, the power of gods and kings, which was affirmed in works of grand scale and laconic strict style. , majestic statues of pharaohs, portraits of nobles, summed up in volume, retained the idea of \u200b\u200bthe original block of material. In the sculpture of other ancient Eastern despotism that developed in similar ways (Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria), peculiar features were the brightness of the coloring (Sumer), the introduction of numerous details into the relief, including elements of the landscape (Assyria).

Sculpture has a different, humanistic character Ancient Greece and partly of Ancient Rome, addressed to the mass of free citizens and in many respects is a plastic materialization of ancient mythology. In the images of gods and heroes, athletes and warriors, the sculptors of Ancient Greece embodied the ideal of a harmoniously developed personality, asserting their ethical and aesthetic ideas. The holistic, plastically generalized, but somewhat constrained sculpture of the archaic period was replaced by the sculpture of the classics based on the exact knowledge of anatomy, the free setting of the figure in space, which nominated such great masters as Miron, Phidias, Polycletus, Scopas, Praxitel, Lysippos. In their work, the humanistic essence of Greek sculpture was revealed most fully: the assertion of the significance of the human personality, plastic beauty human bodycombined with the ideal generalization of the image. In Hellenistic art, the balance and harmony of classical sculpture are replaced by drama, pathetic passion, intensity of images and external spectacular forms. The realism of ancient Roman sculpture was especially fully revealed in the art of portraiture, striking with the sharpness of the individual and social depiction of characters. The relief with historical and narrative plots, adorning triumphal columns and arches, was developed; a type of equestrian monument was formed (the statue of Marcus Aurelius, later installed by Michelangelo on the Capitol Square in Rome).

The Christian religion as the main form of the world outlook largely determined the character of European medieval sculpture. As a necessary link, sculpture is included in the architectural fabric of cathedrals of the Romanesque era, subject to the harsh solemnity of their tectonic structure. In Gothic art, where reliefs and statues of apostles, prophets, saints, fantastic creatures, and sometimes idealized images of real faces literally fill the portals of cathedrals, galleries of the upper tiers, niches of turrets and ledges of cornices, sculpture plays a particularly prominent role. It kind of "humanizes" architecture, enhances its spiritual saturation. In Ancient Russia, the art of relief reached a high level (Kiev slate reliefs, stone carved decoration of the temples of the Vladimir-Suzdal school). In the Middle Ages, sculpture was widely developed in the countries of the Middle and Far East; especially great is the world artistic value of sculpture in India, Indonesia, Indochina, monumental in character, combining the power of building volumes with the sensual sophistication of modeling.

In the XII-XVI centuries. Western European sculpture, gradually getting rid of its religious and mystical content, moves to a more direct depiction of life. Earlier than in sculpture in other countries, in the second half of the XIII - early XIV centuries. new realistic tendencies appeared in Northern Italy (Niccolo Pisano and others), in the XV-XVI centuries. Italian sculpture, relying on the ancient tradition, increasingly tends to express the ideals of Renaissance humanism ( cm. Revival). The embodiment of bright human characters, imbued with the spirit of life-affirmation, becomes her main task (the work of Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, A. Verrocchio). An important step forward was made in the creation of free-standing (that is, relatively independent of architecture) statues, in solving the problems of placing monuments in an urban ensemble, and a multifaceted relief. The technique of bronze casting and chasing is being improved, and the technique of majolica is being used. One of the pinnacles of Renaissance art was Michelangelo's sculptural works, full of titanic power and intense drama. Mannerist sculptors (B. Cellini and others) are predominantly interested in decorative tasks. Among the sculptors of the Renaissance in other countries, Klaus Sluter (Burgundy), J. Goujon and J. Pilon (France), M. Lacher (Austria), A. Kraft, F. Stoes and T. Riemenschneider (Germany) stand out.

In Baroque sculpture, Renaissance harmony and clarity give way to the elements of changeable forms, emphatically dynamic, often full of solemn splendor. Decorative tendencies are rapidly growing: sculpture literally intertwines with the architecture of churches, palaces, fountains, parks. During the Baroque era, numerous ceremonial portraits and monuments were also created. The largest representatives of baroque sculpture are L. Bernini in Italy, A. Schlüter in Germany, P. Luzhe in France, where classicism develops in close connection with the baroque (features of both styles are intertwined in the works of F. Girardon, A. Kuazevox, and others). The principles of classicism, rethought in the Age of Enlightenment, played an important role in the development of Western European sculpture in the second half of the 18th - first third of the 19th centuries, in which, along with historical, mythological and allegorical themes (A. Canova in Italy, B. Thorvaldsen in Denmark) the portrait acquired importance (J. B. Pigalle, E. M. Falconet, J. A. Houdon in France). Emotional tension, the search for new means of expression are characteristic of sculpture of the era of romanticism (P. J. David d "Angers, A. L. Bari, F. Rud in France).

In Russian sculpture from the beginning of the 18th century. there is a transition from medieval to secular religious forms; developing in line with the common European styles - baroque and classicism, it combines the pathos of establishing a new statehood, and then educational civic ideals, with an awareness of the plastic beauty of the real world. The monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg by Falcone became a symbol of Russia's new historical aspirations. Fine examples of park monumental and decorative sculpture, wood carving, ceremonial portrait appear already in the first half of the 18th century. (B.K. Rastrelli and others). In the second half of the XVIII - the first half of the XIX centuries. an academic school of Russian sculpture was formed, represented by a galaxy of outstanding masters. Patriotic pathos, majesty and classical clarity of images characterize the work of F.I.Shubin, M.I.Kozlovsky, F.F.Schedrin, I.P. Martos, V.I.Demut-Malinovsky, F.P. Tolstoy, S. S. Pimenova. A close connection with architecture, an equal position in synthesis with it, the generalization of the figurative structure are typical of the sculpture of Russian classicism. In the 1830s-40s. in Russian sculpture, the striving for the historical concreteness of the image (B. I. Orlovsky) and genre specificity (P. K. Klodt, N. S. Pimenov) is increasingly transcending.

In the second half of the XIX century. the general process of democratization of art is reflected in Russian and Western European sculpture. Classicism, which is now being reborn into salon art, is opposed by the realistic direction ( cm. Realism) with its openly expressed social orientation, recognition everyday life, worthy of the artist's attention, an appeal to the theme of labor, to the problems of public morality (J. Daloux in France, C. Meunier in Belgium, etc.). Realistic Russian sculpture develops under the strong influence of the painting of the Itinerants. The characteristic for the latter depth of reflection on the historical fate of the motherland is also distinguished by the sculptural work of M.M. Antokolsky. In sculpture, plots taken from modern life, a peasant theme (F.F.Kamensky, M.A.

In art the second half of XIX in. the collapse of the synthesis of architecture and art, the decline of monumental-decorative and monumental sculpture; various naturalistic trends spread. Attempts to overcome the crisis of sculpture were outlined in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, when, within the framework of the Art Nouveau style, the desire for the synthesis of arts was revived, in which sculpture (especially associated with the interior, facade design, i.e. relief, easel and decorative sculpture) occupies an important place. The development of sculpture of this time was influenced by contemporary artistic trends (impressionism, symbolism), it is widely based on the traditions of the past (Greek archaic, classical, Renaissance). A powerful influence on all national schools is exerted by O. Rodin, closely connected with the study of nature and reflecting the contradictory nature of his era, who created bright in terms of strength of emotional impact and significant ideological concept works. Partly under the influence of Rodin, the work of the greatest masters of French sculpture of the 20th century developed. - E. A. Bourdelle, A. Maillol, C. Despio. The most significant representatives of this type of art in other countries in the first half of the XX century. were E. Barlach (in Germany), I. Meštrovic (in Croatia). Various destinations Russian sculpture of this period is expressed by S. M. Volnukhin, I. Ya. Gintsburg, P. P. Trubetskoy, A. S. Golubkina, Konenkov S. T., A. T. Matveev, N. A. Andreev. In sculpture, the plastic expressiveness of forms acquires the main importance (M. Rosso in Italy, A. Giacometti in Switzerland, G. Kolbe in Germany).

In the XX century. the development of sculpture takes on a contradictory character. Experimentalism of modernist painting trends of the 20th century. penetrated into sculpture; especially strong was the influence of cubism (P. Picasso, A. P. Archipenko, A. Laurent), which led to the inclusion in the works of sculpture of a variety of non-traditional materials. Representatives of constructivism were N. Gabo, A. Pevzner, surrealism - H. Arp, abstract art - A. Calder and others. called an object, denying the value of the artistic and plastic form. Decorative forms created from the latest materials (I. Noguchi, USA) or giant stylized figures of people (G. Moore, Great Britain) fit into the modern urban environment.

Modernist trends are consistently opposed by Soviet sculpture, which is developing along the path of socialist realism. Its formation is inseparable from Lenin's plan of monumental propaganda, on the basis of which the first revolutionary monuments and memorial plaques were created, and later many significant works monumental sculpture. In the monuments of the 20-30s. (sculptors A. T. Matveev, S. D. Merkurov, B. D. Korolev, M. G. Manizer and others), in monumental and decorative sculpture that adorned large public buildings, metro stations, all-Union and international exhibitions (" Worker and Kolkhoz Woman "V. I. Mukhina and others), the socialist world outlook was clearly manifested, the principles of nationality and partisanship of art were realized. Central in the sculpture of the 20-30s. the theme of the revolution (Matveev and others), the image of a participant in revolutionary events, a builder of socialism become. In easel sculpture, a large place is occupied by the portrait (Andreev, Golubkina, S.D. Lebedeva, V.N.Domogatsky, etc.), as well as the image of a man-fighter (I.D.Shadr and others), a warrior (L.V. . Sherwood), worker (G. I. Motovilov). Animalistic sculpture is developing (I.S.Efimov, V.A.Vatagin), sculpture of small forms is noticeably renewed (V.V. Kuznetsov, N. Ya. Danko, and others). During the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 the theme of the Motherland, Soviet patriotism, embodied in the portraits of heroes (Mukhina, Lebedeva, N.V. Tomsky), in tensely dramatic genre figures and groups (V.V. Lishev, E.F. Belashova and etc.). The tragic events and heroic accomplishments of the war years were especially vividly reflected in the sculpture of memorial buildings of the 40-70s. (E. V. Vuchetich, J. Mikenas, G. Yokubonis, L. V. Bukovsky and others). In the 40-80s. sculpture plays an active role as a decorative or spatial organizing component in the architecture of public buildings and ensembles; it is used in the creation of town-planning complexes, in which, along with numerous new monuments and monumental compositions (M.K. Anikushin, E.D. Amashukeli, V.Z. Borodai , L. E. Kerbel, A. P. Kibalnikov, O. K. Komov, Yu. G. Orekhov, T. Sadykov, V. E. Tsigal, Yu. L. Chernov, etc.) an important place belongs to the landscape sculpture, sculptural decoration of residential areas, etc. A keen sense of modernity, the search for ways to renew the plastic language are characteristic of easel sculpture in the second half of the 50-80s. (A. G. Pologova, L. M. Baranov and others). Common to many national schools of Soviet sculpture are the desire to embody the character of modern man - the builder of communism, an appeal to the themes of friendship between peoples and the struggle for peace. The same tendencies are inherent in the sculpture of other socialist countries, which put forward a number of major masters (K. Dunikowski in Poland, F. Kremer in the GDR, A. Avgustinchich in Yugoslavia, J. Kishfaludi-Strobl in Hungary, etc.). In Western European sculpture, the reaction against fascism and war triggered the activation of the most progressive forces and contributed to the creation of works imbued with high humanistic pathos (sculptors M. Madzakurati, J. Manzu in Italy, V.V. Aaltonen in Finland). Sculpture by leading artists promotes progressive ideas of our time, recreates historical and contemporary events with particular breadth, epicness and expression, while representatives of various modernist movements break a live connection with reality, moving away from actual life problems into the world of subjective fiction and formalistic experiments.

Enku (Japan). "Hermit". Tree. 17th century Kannonji Temple. Nagoya.

Michelangelo (Italy). "Night". Detail of the decoration of the New Sacristy (Medici chapel) of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Marble. 1520 - 1534.

A. Mayol (France). "Chained Movement". Bronze. Early 20th century Metropolitan Museum. New York.

"Unbroken". Fragment of the memorial ensemble in memory of the victims of the fascist terror in Salaspils (Latvian SSR). Concrete. 1967. Sculptors L. Bukovsky, J. Zarin, O. Skarainis.
Literature: G. I. Kepinov, Technology of sculpture, M., 1936; DE Arkin, Images of sculpture, M., 1961; M. Ya. Libman, On sculpture, M., 1962; A. S. Golubkina, A few words about the craft of a sculptor, M., 1963; I. M. Schmidt, Conversations on sculpture, M., 1963; S. S. Valerius, Progressive sculpture of the XX century. Problems and trends, M., 1973; Landsberger F., Vom Wesen der Plastik. Ein kunstpddagogischer Versuch, W., 1924; Rich C., The materials and methods of sculpture, N. Y., 1947; Malraux A., Le musée imaginaire de la sculpture mondiale, (v. 1-3, P.), 1952-54; Read H. E., The art of sculpture, 2nd ed., N. Y., 1961; Mills J. W., The technique of sculpture, L., (1965); Rogers L. R., Sculpture, L.-N. Y.-Oxf. 1969; Bazin G., The history of world sculpture, L., 1970; his, Le monde de la sculpture des origine and nos jours, P., 1972; his, A concise history of world sculpture, Newton Abbot, 1981; Albreht H. Y., Sculptur im 20. Jahrhundert, Köln, 1977, Wittkower R., Sculpture: processes and principles, L., 1977; Kotula A., Krakowski P., Rzezba wspotczesna, Warsz., 1980.

Source: "Popular Art Encyclopedia." Ed. V.M. Polevoy; Moscow: Publishing House "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986.)

sculpture

Sculpting, one of the types visual arts... Sculpture, unlike painting, has a real, not depicted volume. There are two main types of sculpture: round sculpture and relief... A round statue "lives" in free space, you can walk around it from all sides, feel a rough or smooth surface with your hand, feel the roundness of a shape. The relief is similar to a three-dimensional drawing on a plane.
The main subject of the image in sculpture is a person. Only sometimes the masters depict animals and birds, inanimate objects. In a round sculpture, in contrast to painting, it is very difficult to reproduce nature; it is impossible to convey the peculiarities of an airy atmosphere. However, sculptors are able to express in their bodily form any feelings and ideas - from lyrical and soulful to grandiose and majestic. The master does not seek to exactly copy the forms that he sees in life. In sculpture, as in any work of art, it is necessary to select the most important and essential, remove unnecessary details, and, on the contrary, highlight, emphasize, exaggerate something. The sculptor does not copy, but creates, creates new formrelying on knowledge of nature.

Any sculpture is very sensitive to light. It will look different from top and side light, cloudy weather and bright sun. Sculptors take this into account in their work. A sculptural work is created with a view to a specific environment: a street or a city square, a museum hall, a park alley, a room in a house. The place where the sculpture will stand determines its size, the material from which it will be made, and the features of its shape.
Depending on the purpose, sculpture is subdivided into monumental and easel. Monumental sculpture is a monument erected in honor of a historical event or depicting an outstanding person. They embody the ability of sculpture to express great ideas in generalized images. The park sculpture serves to decorate the natural environment: the skillful hand of the sculptor seems to compete with nature to create perfect forms. The figurines made on the machine are referred to as easel sculpture. They are intended for small spaces, for museum halls.
All sculptural materials can be divided into soft (clay, plasticine, wax) and hard (stone, wood, ivory). Working with soft materials, the sculptor sculpts, increases the volume of the future statue. The oldest material for plastic, known since primitive times, viscous and soft clay, takes any shape under the fingers of the master. Products made of baked clay are called terracotta (from Italian terra cotta - burnt earth). Since ancient times, sculptures for tombs and temples have been carved from solid stone. Hard rocks of stone (granite, basalt, etc.) are difficult to process, it is impossible to cut into them small parts... Therefore, in such works, the mass of a stone block (a sculpture of Ancient Egypt) is most strongly felt. Limestone is a softer stone. In the Middle Ages, it was used for embossed decorations portals cathedrals. The ancient Greeks were the first to start working on marble: shimmering like a breathing stone, close in color to flesh color, was well suited for statues of naked gods and heroes.
To the great sculptor of the Renaissance Michelangelo The famous saying is attributed to the fact that it is very simple to create a sculpture: you need to take a stone and "remove all unnecessary". Indeed, a master working with hard materials “liberates” the future sculpture “from the captivity” of a stone or wooden mass. To work a stone, you need to have physical strength and have a confident hand. One mistake and the job will be ruined. First, the largest pieces are chipped off the stone using a tongue-and-groove, a tool that looks like a large nail. Then they work with a Trojan - a large incisor with a flat serrated end, which is used to smooth out the roughness. Scarpel, a smaller cutter, cut out small parts. With the help of a drill (special drill), holes are drilled (curls of hair, pupils of the eyes, etc.). Upon completion of the work, individual parts of the sculpture are polished to a shine.
From time immemorial, sculptors have used wood. For millennia, it remained the favorite material of folk craftsmen, who made funny toys and small decorative figurines from it. Tools for working with wood are basically the same as for stone: various knives, cutters, saws and hammers. While woodcutting is easier than cutting stone, it has its own challenges. Wood can only be cut in the direction of the grain; the implementation of the plan may be hindered by some twig that "appeared" in the most inappropriate place. Finally, so that the wooden sculpture does not dry out and does not crack, the finished statue is divided into two parts, hollowed out from the inside, and then the halves are re-connected. Wood, like no other material, "suggests" the shape of the future work. The sculptor can transform the intertwining of wood twigs into the hands of statues, the scattered roots of an old stump into the curved paws of a monster ... Wood is a warm, "living" material - as if it fills the sculpture with special organic power.
Metals stand out among the materials of the sculpture: bronze, copper, cast iron, gold. In the process of making a bronze (or other metal) sculpture, they first make a model of it from wax, gypsum, clay, etc. The model is coated with plaster, obtaining a hollow detachable form, into which molten metal is then poured.

Sculpture - one of the types of fine art that artistically recreates the surrounding world using a volumetric form. Unlike painting and graphics, sculpture is three-dimensional and can be viewed from all sides, it is three-dimensional, like the things that surround us in everyday life.

To bring sculpture to reality, it was painted. This was the case, for example, in Ancient Egypt. In European art, along with painted sculpture, the natural color of the material from which the statue was created was also appreciated. In addition, there is a sculpture made from different materials. It is decorative, sometimes it looks like a precious thing. Such was the statue of Olympian Zeus - one of the seven wonders of the world, created from ivory and gold.

M. Antokolsky. Nestor the chronicler

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. Apollo and Daphne

Bas-relief from the Kiev Golden-Domed Cathedral

Portal of the Cathedral in Strasbourg (France)

Sculpture happens round, if it can be walked around, or placed on a plane - then this relief... There are several types of relief: if the image rises slightly above the background - in front of us bas-relief, if it protrudes very strongly and becomes an almost round sculpture - high relief, and if the relief is deepened, it is - counter-relief.

The sculpture can be small - it is small plastic; medium size and play an independent role - then, like painting and graphics, it is called easel; monumentalassociated with an architectural building, natural environment (monuments, park sculpture, etc.).

The sculpture also differs in its technique. It can be carved out of hard stone, cast out of plaster, carved out of wood, sculpted out of soft material - clay, plasticine, wax, made out of metal.

1. Remember what sculptural monuments there are in your city, village. Which one seems to you the most successful and why?
2. Remember the biography of the person in whose memory the monument was erected. By what means does the sculptor express the universal human significance of his feat? What highlights this person's personality?
3. Imagine that you have to design a monument to your favorite poet or writer. What will be your idea?

Student work. Round animal sculpture: cat, dragon, bear, dog

Create a sculpture using the tools and materials described in the tutorial. Analyze your own sculptural work as an example of small plastics according to the following plan:

• Title of the work, its author.
• The material in which the work is performed (plasticine, clay, etc.).
• Why did you choose this particular subject for your sculpture?
• What exactly did you try to convey - the calmness of your character or, conversely, his movement? Do you think you succeeded?
• From which side, in your opinion, is this work best viewed? What accents did you use to emphasize this particular spatial concept of your work?
• View your sculpture from different angles. Do different angles add anything to the revelation of the image? Perhaps from a different angle, he creates a completely different impression?
• Can you imagine your sculpture enlarged? Where would you place it?

Stages of work on the sculpture

Molding - creation of a sculptural image from a soft plastic material. The material for modeling is clay or plasticine.

Clay - natural material. It is extracted from the ground and diluted to a soft state with water. Green or gray clay is more suitable for modeling. Clay products fired in a special oven at a temperature of 900 ° C are called ceramic.

Plasticine - artificial plastic mass. It is soft, does not dry out like clay, objects sculpted from it do not deform or crack. It can be multi-colored. But at elevated air temperatures or in the sun, plasticine softens and melts.

For modeling use stack - a wooden or plastic spatula 15–20 cm long, one end of which is sharpened like a pencil, and a board on which the work is performed. With a stack, cut off excess clay, smooth the surface, make depressions in the form. It is better to work on the sculpture on a board that rotates around its axis. Otherwise, you will have to run around the table yourself or rotate the unfinished work in different directions, and this can damage it.

Tools and materials

1. Before starting work, decide which character you want to dazzle - the Little Mermaid or the painted fox, the little hobbit, or Captain Flint, or someone else.
2. First, make pencil sketches, sketches of your character from different sides. After all, the sculptural image is three-dimensional, and even before you start sculpting, you must imagine how your hero will look from all sides.
3. If the sculpture is more than 20 cm in size, then it is necessary to make a frame, fix it on a stand, it must be strong, it must not deform. It can be a piece of wood or a metal wire attached to a horizontal plank.
4. At the beginning of the work, you need to determine the size of the image, the material that is most suitable for the conceived composition is clay or plasticine.
5. A creative approach to the task requires paying special attention to details that will help to fully reveal the character's image: appearance, proportions, characteristic features.

Stages of work on the sculpture

Completed work

Johann Georg Pinsel (XVIII century) - one of the most famous sculptors who worked in Ukraine. However, little biographical information about Pinzel has survived. Apparently, he was originally from southern Germany or the Czech Republic. It is known for sure that in 1750 the master settled in the town of Buchach (Ternopil region). He died in 1761 or 1762. But numerous works by Pinzel have survived, each of which testifies to his enormous talent. The master took part in the design of the Cathedral of St. Yura in Lvov, the town hall in Buchach, made statues for the churches of small towns. Pinzel's sculptures are made of wood, painted and gilded. The images created by the master - Abraham, Samson, Saint Anna and others - are full of strong and vivid feelings, extreme tension and true tragedy.

Pinzel. Saint Florian

Donatello (full name - Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi (c. 1386-1466) - the great Italian reformer sculptor. Lived and worked in Florence and also in Parma. He visited Rome, where he became interested in sculpture. It was Donatello who again began to create round statues that could be viewed from all sides. Him best works - "David", a monument to the condottier (commander) Gattamelata in Parma - they glorify a person, his beauty, his courage. But the last statues of the master ("Mary Magdalene", "Judith") are very tragic.

Donatello. Madonna and child

15 famous and significant sculptures

Art cannot be complete without sculpture.

The carving and sculpting of people, animals and various objects appeared in the history of mankind almost simultaneously with rock painting. Sculptures are the same pictures, only bodily, which means they express emotions a little differently. What the statues tell us is much easier for us to perceive, because they are tangible and more like us than works of any other art form.
In this article, we have collected 15 famous and significant sculptures created at different times from different materials for different purposes. Please share your favorite sculptural art in the comments.

David

Michelangelo

The five-meter statue of the biblical hero David, created by Michelangelo when he was only 28 years old, is perceived as a symbol of the Florentine Republic and one of the heights not only of the Renaissance art, but also of human genius in general.
The most replicated sculptural image in the world.

Thinker

Auguste Rodin

Another extremely popular image was created by Auguste Rodin in 1882. Initially, the sculpture was supposed to be called "The Poet" and be part of the "Gates of Hell" composition based on the "Divine Comedy". The sculpture was modeled on a Frenchman named Jean Bo, a muscular boxer who performed mainly in Paris, in the red-light district.

Walking man

Alberto Giacometti

The most expensive sculpture in human history. In 2010, the 183-centimeter sculpture "Walking Man", executed by a Swiss sculptor in 1961, was auctioned off by Sotheby's for a record $ 104.3 million.
The sculpture is considered one of the most important in the work of this master, its image is also featured on the 100 Swiss franc banknote.

Venus de Milo

probably Agesander of Antioch

The famous ancient Greek sculpture, created around the middle of the second century BC, was found on the island of Melos in 1820 by a French sailor who decided to search for antiquities on the coast for sale. The hands were then safe and sound, but were lost at the time of the conflict between the French (who found) and the Turks (the owners of the island).

Nika of Samothrace

An ancient Greek marble sculpture of the goddess Nike was found on the island of Samothraki at the Kabir sanctuary in April 1863. The statue was erected by the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes in memory of the victory they won over the fleet of the Syrian king. She stood on a steep cliff above the sea, her pedestal depicted the bow of a warship. Mighty and dignified Nika in clothes fluttering from the wind is presented in an irrepressible movement forward. It is currently in the Louvre.

Pieta

Michelangelo

Pieta is a common name for images of the scene of the mourning of the Virgin Mary for her son. The best of them was made by Michelangelo at 24. The impeccable composition, emotionality, humanity and deep symbolism of the sculpture made it a model of the High Renaissance culture.

Nefertiti

One of the most famous sculptural cultural monuments of Ancient Egypt. Nefertiti was the wife of the reformer Pharaoh Akhenaten. The bust is entirely made of limestone and completely painted. The special preservation of the beautiful colors, which give a great contrast between Nefertiti's brown complexion and the crown jewels, make him a unique piece of art. Egypt and Germany, where the bust of the queen is kept, have been quarreling over her for many years, but they cannot come to an agreement.

Capitoline wolf

Etruscan bronze sculpture, stylistically dated to the 5th century BC, never left Rome, a city founded by those who were fed by a she-wolf. During the time of Benito Mussolini, the Capitoline wolf was used as a propaganda symbol that embodied the desire of the fascist regime to revive the Roman Empire.

Motherland

Vuchetich and Nikitin

One of the tallest statues in the world is located in Volgograd and is perhaps the main symbol of the struggle of the Soviet people against fascism. The 52-meter figure of a woman stepping forward is calling her sons to fight the enemy.

Another place

Anthony Gormley

Landscape installation "Another place" - sample contemporary art, evoking philosophical reflections and suggestive of melancholy. Exactly one hundred cast-iron sculptures in height human's height deployed in 2006 on a 3km beach line north of Liverpool. They face the sea, and during high tides, some of the sculptures are partially or completely submerged.

Calais citizens

Auguste Rodin

The sculptural group Citizens of Calais, commissioned by the municipality of Calais, was completed by Rodin in 1888. During the Hundred Years War, the English king Edward III laid siege to the city, and after a while famine forced the defenders to surrender. The king promised to spare the inhabitants only if six noble citizens came out to him in rags and with ropes around their necks, giving themselves up to be executed. This requirement was met. The first to volunteer to give his life to save the city was one of the main wealthy, Eustache de Saint-Pierre. Queen Philip of England was filled with pity for these emaciated people, and in the name of her unborn child she begged forgiveness to her husband for them.
Rodin insisted on the rejection of the pedestal in a revolutionary way, although his will was fulfilled only after the death of the sculptor, and the figures are on the same level with the audience.

Pissing boy

The main attraction of Brussels. The exact time and circumstances of the appearance of the statue are unknown. According to some reports, the statue already existed in the 15th century. Some Brussels residents say that it was installed as a reminder of the events of the Grimbergen war, when the cradle with the son of Gottfried III of Leuven was suspended from a tree in order to inspire the townspeople with the view of the future monarch, and the child from there urinated on the soldiers fighting under the tree. According to another legend, the statue was originally intended to remind the townspeople of the boy who put out the ammunition laid out by the enemy under the city walls with a stream of urine.
Starting in 1695, the statue was repeatedly stolen, the last time the statue was stolen in the 1960s, after which it was once again replaced with a copy.

Terracotta Army

At least 8099 sculptures of Chinese warriors and their horses constitute this property of China. Terracotta statues, each of which is absolutely individual, were buried in a battle formation together with the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, who unified China and connected all the links of the Great Wall in the 3rd century BC.
The soldiers were supposed to support the power of the emperor in the afterlife.

Golden buddha

The world's largest solid gold statue is located in the Bangkok temple of Wat Traimit - it is about three meters, and it weighs more than five tons.
During the war with Burma, the statue was intended to be covered with plaster, and then no one could reveal the secret of this Buddha. Until 1957, little attention was paid to the statue - until it was moved to a new location. According to rumors, during the transportation it started to rain, in front of which the statue, due to its weight, also fell from the crane carrying it; it was sheltered from the rain, but the water still washed away the coating from one of the sites enough for one of the monks to notice the strange shine. According to another version, the plaster was cracked from the fall.

It arose in ancient times and remains to this day a very popular decoration of cities, temples, as well as a way of self-expression of the master. Many sculptures are landmarks themselves. There are many examples of world-famous statues that are visited by millions of tourists every year.

Today there are different types sculptures, which will be discussed in this article.

Definition

Before starting a conversation about sculpture as a form of art, you need to understand what it is and define the term. Sculpture is not just one of the types of fine art, but one of its most important elements, the main feature of which is that the works have a three-dimensional form made of hard or plastic materials.

Painting, graphics and sculpture are art forms that are very close in many ways. That is why many painters and painters were also excellent sculptors.

A bit of history

As mentioned above, the sculpture originated in time immemorial. The first figurines and small statues began to appear in the prehistoric period of the Stone Age. In those days, sculptures were used as religious idols.

Also, everyone knows the ancient sculptures of enormous size, located on the island. Easter. There are many rumors and legends still circulating around them.

With the appearance of the first ancient civilizations (Ancient Egypt, Sumer, Phenicia, etc.), sculptures became a more frequent attribute. They were not only a religious subject, but also often became an adornment of large temples, palaces of rulers and an adornment of cities.

Sculpture as a form of fine art reached its incredible heyday in the antique period. The ancient Greeks and Romans highly appreciated this craft. They decorated their cities, houses and temples with sculptures, and their masters were the best in the then known world.

In the early Middle Ages, there was some lull in this area, but by the end of this historical stage, sculpture began to develop with renewed vigor. A particularly strong boom began in the Renaissance, when painting and sculpture were taking off.

From the modern era to the present day, sculpture remains one of the brightest and most sought-after forms of art.

Types of sculpture (classification)

There are several ways and principles by which the sculpture is divided into varieties. If divided by genre, then there are: portrait, symbolic, allegorical, historical and others.

Also prominent are circular sculptures that can be viewed from all sides, and relief sculptures (high relief, bas-relief, counter-relief), where only part of the figure has volume.

The sculpture can be divided into types according to the materials from which it is made, according to historical periods, geographical characteristics, etc. There are a lot of classifications.

Sculpture and architecture

Almost immediately, as civilizations began to emerge, and large temple and palace buildings appeared, these two types of art began to merge into a symbiosis. Architecture and sculpture are often part of a single object.

Moreover, their "cooperation" is expressed not only in the fact that sculptures are often used as decoration of the interior of a building. Just look at the buildings in the Gothic or Baroque style, and everything becomes clear. For example, remember the well-known Cathedral parisian notre dame, which is completely dotted with various sculptures, not only bas-relief, but also circular.

And there are a lot of such examples. In modern architecture, sculptures are no longer often used as decorations for buildings, but there are many structures that, although nominally are buildings, are actually sculptures. An example is the Statue of Liberty, inside of which there is an observation deck (today it is prohibited to enter it) and not only.

Sculpture in the form of a human figure

People have always been interested in humanity, so it is not surprising that sculptors most often sought to capture exactly the figure of a person, a part of the body, or to give their creation an anthropomorphic form. Only in the 20th century, tendencies that depart from this principle began to appear more and more often.

The best masters depicting people were considered the ancient Greeks, Romans and masters who worked during the Renaissance. Among the famous creations, one can single out the sculpture "Laocoon and His Sons", made by the ancient Greek masters Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus. Also known is the creation of "The Dying Gaul", the author of which is considered to be Epigon, but there is no exact information about this.

Of course, there are many more examples. There are more famous ones, but the fact remains: many sculptors today willingly create sculptures of people.

Modern stage

Today, extravagant styles and types of painting and sculpture appear more and more often, thanks to which new masters seek to attract attention and shock the public. However, thanks to this, the world of sculpture has become more diverse, interesting and modern.

Suffice it to recall the creations of the famous Colombian sculptor and artist Fernando Botero, whose products are now adorned in many large cities and capitals of the world. His "chubby" made a splash in the art world.

Apart from him, of course, there are other contemporary masters, whose sculptures are extravagant, but at the same time, something fresh and new in art. This is the main trend in Newest history humanity.

It's no secret that outstanding works of art are sold at art auctions for big money, but few people know that the most expensive sculpture was estimated at 141 million 800 thousand US dollars. It is called "The Pointing Man" and was created in 1947 by the famous sculptor Alberto Giacometti.

Besides the fact that sculptures can be very expensive, they are sometimes very large. The tallest statue in the world is the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in Myanmar. Its height is about 130 meters if you count with the pedestal. Without it, it has a height of over 115 meters.

Modern people are used to seeing antique sculptures in a natural color, but as recent studies have shown, the Greeks and Romans painted them in various colors, and quite brightly. It was just that over time, the paint burned out in the sun and was erased under the influence of other natural phenomena.

Many ancient sculptures have survived to our time with various kinds of flaws: chips, the absence of some parts, etc. Art historians, museums and master sculptors of the 19th-20th centuries at first tried to restore the missing parts on their own, but over time, after numerous restoration failures, people realized that that it is better not to restore the works of antiquity, but to leave in the form in which they were found.

Influence on culture

No matter what type of sculpture belongs to, it is still an object of art, therefore it has a direct impact on it. It is one of the strongest means of self-expression, decoration of cities, interior, exterior, etc.

Since ancient times, sculptures have had a huge impact on art and culture in general, being a part of them. They are still considered an important element in the life of mankind.

Many famous statues are now symbols of a religion, a city, or even an entire country. Recall at least the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer, which today not only symbolizes Rio de Janeiro, but the whole of Brazil.

Roughly the same can be said about the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Motherland-Mother statue in Volgograd. And there are a lot of such examples. Almost every major city has its own remarkable sculpture or several.

In addition to the famous and symbolic statues, there are also ordinary urban sculptures, which do not represent great historical or cultural value, but were created exclusively to decorate city streets. They are usually made from inexpensive materials like bronze, iron, etc.

Finally

Painting, graphics and sculpture are art forms that have emerged a very long time ago, but still exist today. Moreover, interest in them does not decrease at all, but to some extent even increases.

In modern society there are a large number of people interested in art, and the creations of the old masters, as a rule, are under the protection of the state and society.

People have always liked to contemplate the beautiful, pleasing not only for the eyes, but also for the brain, giving it topics for reflection, so many sculptures not only depict something, but demonstrate some kind of plot, idea and thought. Looking at such works of art, people involuntarily begin to think about what the author wanted to convey and convey to people.

Sculpture not only has not disappeared as an art form, but continues to actively develop now. New types, styles, materials, etc. appear. Sculptors from all over the world are trying their best to stand out and promote their creativity.

In a highly competitive environment, modern sculptors have to be more creative in their work or hobby. This, according to many, is the engine of contemporary art in general, and not just sculpture.

(the convex figure protrudes less than half);

high relief (the convex figure protrudes by half);

counter-relief (the figure is not convex, but, on the contrary, recessed)

Depending on its purpose, the sculpture is divided into:

• monumental sculpture (monuments, monuments) associated with the architectural environment. Differs in the significance of ideas, a high degree of generalization, large size;
• monumental and decorative sculpture includes all types of decoration of architectural structures and complexes (atlantes, caryatids, friezes, pediment, fountain, garden and park sculpture);
• easel sculpture, independent of the environment, has dimensions that are close to nature or smaller, and a specific in-depth content. Designed for perception at close range.

The method of obtaining the sculpture depends on the material:

• plastic - increasing the volume of the sculpture by adding a soft material (clay, wax)
• sculpting - cutting off excess parts of solid material (stone and other materials)
• casting - the product is created by pouring molten metal (bronze, for example) into the mold

Regarding the material and method of execution of the image, sculpture, in the broadest sense of the word, falls into several branches: modeling or modeling - the art of working with soft material, such as wax and clay; foundry or toreutics - the creation of relief works from metal by stamping, embossing or casting; glyptics - the art of carving on precious stones; the branches of sculpting include works of stone, wood, metal and solids in general; in addition, the production of stamps for coins and medals (medal art).

Small sculpture

The height and length of the piece can be increased to 80 centimeters and meters. It can be reproduced industrially, which is not typical for easel sculpture. Decorative and applied arts and small-scale sculpture form a symbiosis with each other, like the architecture of a building with a round sculpture decorating it, making up a single ensemble. Small-scale sculpture is developing in two directions - as the art of mass things and as the art of inimitable, single pieces. Genres and directions of small sculpture - portrait, genre compositions, still life, landscape. Small, spatial and volumetric forms, landscape design and kinetic sculpture.

Other types of sculpture

Kinetic sculpture - a kind of kinetic art in which the effects of real movement are played out. Ice sculpture is an artistic composition made of ice. Sand sculpture is an artistic composition made of sand. Sculpture materials - metal, stone, clay, wood, gypsum, sand, ice, etc .; methods of their processing - modeling, carving, artistic casting, forging, embossing, etc.

Execution technique

When undertaking any work, the sculptor, first of all, makes a drawing or photograph, then makes a mathematical calculation of the work (determines the center of gravity of the product, calculates the proportions); then he sculpts a small model out of wax or wet clay, conveying the idea of \u200b\u200bhis future work. Sometimes, especially in the case when the conceived statue must be large and complex, the artist has to make another, larger and more detailed model. Then, guided by a layout or model, he begins to work on the work itself. If the statue is to be executed, then a board is taken for its foot and a steel frame is affirmed on it, bent and fitted in such a way that not a single part of it goes beyond the boundaries of the future figure, and he himself served as a skeleton for it; in addition, in those places where the body of the figure should have a significant thickness, wooden crosses are attached to the frame with steel wire; in the same parts of the figure that protrude into the air, for example, in the fingers, hair, hanging folds of clothing, wooden crosses are replaced with twisted wire or hemp saturated with oil and rolled in the form of bundles. By placing such a skeleton of a statue on a tripod, stationary or horizontally rotating machine called filly, the artist begins to cover the frame with molded clay so that a figure is obtained, in general terms, similar to the model; then, removing excessively applied clay in one place, adding its imperfection in another and trimming the figure part by part, he gradually brings it to the desired similarity to nature. For this work he is served with palm or steel tools of various shapes, called stacksbut even more the fingers of his own hands. During the entire continuation of modeling, it is necessary, in order to avoid the appearance of cracks in the drying clay, to constantly maintain its moisture and for this, from time to time, moisten or spray the figure with water, and, interrupting work until the next day, wrap it in a wet canvas. Similar techniques are used in the production of reliefs of significant size - with the only difference that instead of a frame, large steel nails and bolts are used to strengthen the clay, driven into a board shield or a shallow box that serves as the base of the relief. Having completely finished sculpting, the sculptor takes care of making an accurate photograph of his work from a material stronger than clay, and for this purpose he resorts to the help of a molder. This latter removes from the clay original the so-called black uniform (á creux perdu) from alabaster, and a plaster cast of the work is cast on it. If the artist wants to have a cast not in one, but in several copies, then they are cast according to the so-called pure form (à bon creux), the manufacture of which is much more difficult than the previous one (see Molding).

The creation of not a single more or less large work of sculpture, whether it be stone or metal, is not complete without preliminary sculpting of the clay original and casting of its plaster cast. True, there were sculptors, such as Michelangelo, who worked directly from marble; but imitation of their example requires an extraordinary technical experience from the artist, and yet he risks, with such bold work, falling into irreparable mistakes at every step.

With the receipt of a plaster cast, a significant part of the sculptor's artistic task can be considered completed: it remains only to reproduce the cast, as desired, in stone (marble, sandstone, volcanic tuff, etc.) or in metal (bronze, zinc, steel, etc. .), which is already a semi-craft work. In the manufacture of a marble and, in general, a stone sculpture, the surface of the plaster original is covered with a whole network of points, which, with the help of a compass, a plumb line and a ruler, are repeated on the block to be finished. Guided by this punctuation, the artist's assistants, under his supervision, remove unnecessary parts of the lump using a cutter, chisel and hammer; in some cases, they use the so-called dotted frame, in which mutually intersecting threads indicate those parts that should be broken off. Thus, little by little, the general form of the statue emerges from the unworked block; it is finished thinner and thinner under the hands of experienced workers, until, finally, the artist himself gives it the final finishing, and polishing with pumice gives various parts of the surface of the work a possible similarity with what nature itself represents in this respect. To get closer to it optically, the ancient Greeks and Romans rubbed their marble statues with wax and even slightly painted them and gilded them (see Polychrome).

Use of materials

Bronze

The most important material for sculptures, along with marble, is bronze; marble is most suitable for reproducing delicate, ideal, mostly feminine forms; bronze - to convey the forms of courageous, energetic. Moreover, it is a particularly convenient substance in the case when the work is colossal or depicts a strong movement: figures animated by such a movement, when executed in bronze, do not need supports for legs, arms and other parts that are necessary in such figures, carved from a fragile stone. Finally, for works intended to stand in the open air, especially in northern climates, bronze is preferred because not only does it not deteriorate from atmospheric influences, but also receives, due to its oxidation, a greenish or dark coating on its surface that is pleasant to the eye, called patina... A bronze statue is made either by casting molten metal into a pre-prepared mold, or knocked out of metal plates with a hammer.

One of the ways to produce bronze sculptures is the hollow bronze casting method. Its secret lies in the fact that the initial shape for the statuette is made in wax, then a clay layer is applied and the wax is melted. And only then the metal is poured. Bronze casting is the collective name for this entire process.

As for knockout work (so-called work repussé), then it consists in the following: a sheet of metal is taken, it is softened by heating it over a fire and, hitting the inside of the sheet with a hammer, give it the required bulge, first in a rough form, and then, with the gradual continuation of the same work, with all the details, per available model. This technique, for which the artist must possess special dexterity and long-term experience, is used mainly in the execution of bas-reliefs of not particularly large dimensions; in the manufacture of large and complex works, statues, groups and high reliefs, they resort to it at the present time only when it is necessary that they have a relatively low weight. In these cases, the work is knocked out in parts, which are then connected with screws and fasteners into one piece. Since the 19th century, embossing and casting have in many cases been replaced by the deposition of metal into molds using electroforming.

Tree

History

Ancient world

The first manifestations of artistic creativity in the field of sculpture lie in the darkness of prehistoric times; there is no doubt, however, that they were caused, as they were later evoked among young tribes, by the need of a person who had not yet emerged from a wild state to express the idea of \u200b\u200ba deity with a sensory sign or to preserve the memory of dear people. This reason is hinted at by the poetic legend of the ancient Greeks about the invention of plastics, a legend according to which Bark, daughter of a Corinthian Wutadawishing, when parting with her beloved, to keep his image as a souvenir, she outlined the outline of his head by the shadow cast by the sun, and her father filled this silhouette with clay. What were the initial experiences of sculpting in the prehistoric era - about that we can judge the idols found by European travelers when they first visited the islands of the Pacific Ocean, for example, in the Hawaiian Islands. They are simple pillars with faint, monstrous hints of a human face and limbs. The history of sculpting begins about thirty centuries BC. e., from the oldest of the cultural peoples of the ancient world, the Egyptians.

Ancient Egypt

The sculpture of Egypt, throughout its historical life, remained an inseparable companion of architecture, obeying its principles and serving to decorate its buildings with statues of gods, kings, fantastic creatures and plastic paintings corresponding to the purpose of the building. At the beginning (in the Memphis period), under the influence of the popular idea of \u200b\u200bthe afterlife, she showed a decisive inclination towards realism (portrait statues in mastaba and burial grottoes, a statue of Pharaoh Khafr and Sheikh el Beleda of the Cairo Egyptian Museum, Scribe of the Louvre, etc. .), but then froze in conventional, once established forms, almost not subject to change until the very fall egyptian kingdom... Amazing patience and dexterity in overcoming technical difficulties when processing such hard materials as diorite, basalt and granite, the characteristic reproduction of the tribal type, the majesty achieved through colossality and giving strictly proportional figures symmetry of forms and solemn tranquility - these are the distinctive qualities of the Egyptian statues of Thebes and Sais. periods, however, suffering from a lack of expression of individual character and real life (the huge figures of Ramses II in Abu Simbel, the statue of Memnon, etc.). The Egyptian sculptors were very skillful when depicting the gods to combine human forms with the forms of the animal world, but they reproduced the figures of animals even more skillfully (a pair of lions on the stairs of the Capitol in Rome). Reliefs, colored with different colors, covered in abundance, like carpets, the walls of Egyptian buildings, depicting the feats of the pharaohs and memorable events national history - in temples and palaces, episodes from everyday life and the celebration of the gods - in burial structures. The method of execution of these reliefs was special: the figures in them either acted slightly against a deep background (flat-convex reliefs, coilanaglyphs), or, conversely, went a little deeper into the background (flat-sunken reliefs). The lack of perspective, the conventionality of the composition and drawing, and other shortcomings do not prevent these images from being, to the smallest detail, a detailed narration about the life, beliefs and history of the people.

Mesopotamia

Then, from the first centuries following the invasion of the Dorians into the Peloponnese, there were no reliable sources of information and monuments, but from the end of the 7th century BC. e. there appears evidence of the wide artistic activity of the Greeks, mainly focused on the manufacture of luxurious altar offerings in temples, vessels for wine and other household utensils. Their production was carried out in particular by Samos and Chios craftsmen, who achieved great success in the technique of metal working.

The skill of reproducing the forms of the human body is also increasing, especially in the personification of gods and heroes. Previously, the gods were depicted in the form of rough wooden idols (the so-called xoans), with numb, sometimes barely outlined and inseparable from the body members. Then the sculptures became more animated, and their bodies were made of wood, and their heads and hands were made of marble (such sculptures are called acrolites). The first experiments with chrysoelephantine plastics also appeared. Marble and bronze are gradually becoming widespread: bronze was originally in the Ionian and Asia Minor policies, marble - in other Greek cities.

The process of creating statues, erected in honor of the winners in gymnastic competitions and which were not a sculptural portrait, but idealized figures, forced Greek sculptors to carefully study the naked human body. Sculptural schools appear everywhere, on Aegina, in Argos, Sikyon, Athens and other places, and among sculptors Depoin and Skillid, Callon, Onat, Agelad and some others are famous.

VI-V centuries BC e.

6th century and the beginning of the 5th - Greek sculpture loses its eastern influence and begins to develop independently. The most important monuments of this era include the metopes of the oldest of the Selinunta temples in Sicily, the pediment groups of the Aeginian temple of Athena, kept in the Munich glyptotek and depicting scenes of the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans.

Another great master of the same school, Praxitel, loved, like Scopas, to depict deep sensations and movements caused by passion, although he was best at perfect-beautiful youthful and semi-childish figures with a touch of barely awakened or still hidden passion (Apollo Saurocton, Aphrodite of Cnidus, Hermes with the baby Dionysus in her arms, found at Olympia, and so on).

In contrast to the Athenian idealist masters, the sculptors of the Peloponnesian school of the same era in Argos and Sikion worked in a naturalistic spirit, creating mainly strong and handsome male figures, as well as portraits of famous figures. Among these artists, Lysippos, a bronze sculptor, a contemporary and favorite of Alexander the Great, who became famous for his portraits, who created a new canon of proportions of the human body with his statue of an athlete-apoxy (that is, dusting off the palestra), and created, among other things, the typical image of Hercules, took precedence ...

In the last period of the independent existence of the Greek people, from the era of Alexander the Great to the conquest of Greece by the Romans, there was a decline in the creativity of sculptors. They do not lose either knowledge or technical skill inherited from previous sculptors, they even bring this skill to greater subtlety, but they introduce substantially new elements into art, do not open new directions for it, but only repeat, combine and modify the old, caring only about reproducing the impression on the viewer by the colossal size of their works and the picturesqueness of a complex grouping of figures, and the works are often characterized by exaggerated pathos and theatricality.

At this time, the Rhodes and Pergamon sculptural schools flourished: the first belongs to the famous Laocoon group (in the Vatican Museum, the work of Agesander and his sons Athenodorus and Polydorus) and the "Farnese bull" of the Neapolitan Museum (work of Apollonius and Tavriscus); the second - "The Dying Gaul" of the Capitoline Museums, "The Stabbing Gaul" of the Villa Ludovisi (ital.)russian and a magnificent relief frieze of the monumental Pergamon altar (located in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin).

Ancient Rome

In this last phase of its development, the art of Greek sculpture passed to the Romans. The people, called upon to develop the foundations of state life and to rule over the ecumene, had no time for art and aesthetic pleasures at first; therefore, at first, he was content with what he received in terms of the arts from the Etruscans, and what the native masters learned by them produced. In Etruscan art, first the Eastern, and then the Greek influence was reflected; but this art has retained forever a share of its primitive dryness and roughness, although technically it achieved significant success - it developed the methods of making terracotta figures and reliefs and casting various objects from bronze; most of all, it was famous for its crafts of an artistic and industrial nature. After Greece fell, and the works of her sculptors were brought in bulk to Rome, to which, moreover, her artists began to flock, it was quite natural that the Hellenic perfect art forced out of eternal city the mediocre art of Etruria. Greek masters began to work for the Romans and find among them disciples and imitators. However, the works that came out at that time from both Greek and Roman hands are for the most part only of secondary importance: they are more or less successful copies of the famous creations of Greek plastic art or imitation of them. As the best of such works, one can point to the statues of Venus of Medici, Venus of Capitoline, Vatican Ariadne, Apollo of Belvedere and others. However, Roman sculptors did not limit themselves to the role of simple imitators: caring little about idealization, they tried to convey nature with precision and strength. This is the nature of their historical statues and busts that fill modern museums (for example, the statues of Augustus in the Vatican, Marcus Aurelius and Agrippina in the Capitoline Museums). The same desire is reflected in the statues with which the Romans decorated public monuments to perpetuate the glorious events of Russian history, exploits and victories that extended the dominion of Rome to far reaches (reliefs on the triumphal arches of Titus, Septimius Severus, Marcus Aurelius, on the columns of Trajan, Antonin and Constantine) ...

There was hardly any other nation that spent as much marble on sculpting as the Romans; but the result of their work was often very mediocre, and they themselves, in a hurry to multiply their works, apparently paid more attention to their quantity than to the quality, which was rapidly declining, and in the era of Constantine the Great fell very low.

In this situation, the sculpture was found by Christianity, which triumphed over paganism. The new religion did not present conditions favorable for the development of this branch of art: plastic images and forms seemed to the first Christians too material, too sensual and, moreover, dangerous from the point of view that they could lead believers back to the pagan cult. Therefore, in the first centuries of Christianity, sculpture, having ceded its supremacy to painting and mosaics, played only a subordinate role, being used primarily for decorative purposes.

Sculpture of Black Africa

Sculpture of Mesoamerica

Middle Ages

The most important monuments that have come down to us from that time are sarcophagi with reliefs that symbolically personify a new worldview or reproduce biblical scenes. However, there are also several ancient Christian statues (a bronze statue of St. Peter in the Peter's Cathedral in Rome, marble statues of St. Hippolytus in the Lateran Museum). In appearance, all these monuments differ little from the late pagan ones; the technical execution of them is very weak, but one can feel the influx of new ideas and sincere faith in them.

In the dark time of the early Middle Ages, sculpture was in complete decline: in Byzantium and in the East in general, it was expelled from use for large enterprises and produced only small things, such as ivory diptychs, crosses, frames of sacred books and icons, and in the West, where he also had to satisfy almost exclusively the needs of a religious cult, vegetating on the soil of vague, dead ancient legends.

During the Romanesque period in the history of art, several interesting phenomena can be pointed out. Such are in the XI century the bronze doors of the Hildesheim Cathedral - the work of the skilled caster Bishop Bernwald, in the XII century - the large font in the Church of St. Bartholomew in Luttich, the colossal Exter relief on the stone wall in Westphalia and the plastic decorations of the Bourges and Chartres cathedrals in France; in the XIII century - the so-called Golden Gate in Freiberg, the font of the Berne Cathedral and others.

The first attempts to revive art by direct observation of nature and the study of antiques were made in Saxony, and even more successfully in Italy, where Nicolo Pisano in the middle of the 13th century simultaneously raised the sculpture to a considerable height (the pulpits of the Pisa Baptistery and Siena Cathedral, the fountain in front of the town hall in Perugia). The subsequent domination of the Gothic architectural style opened up a wider field of activity for sculpting: decorating intricate facades, turrets, walls and all parts of temples of this style required the strong assistance of plasticity, and she endowed them with numerous carved decorations, reliefs and statues, and performed them in the spirit of the Gothic itself - mystical and dreamy. Works of this kind are first in France (sculptures from Reims, Paris, Amiens and other cathedrals), and then in Germany (sculptures of the Church of Our Lady in Trier, Bamberg, Naumburg, Strasbourg and other cathedrals). In the second of the named countries, at the beginning of the 15th century, stone sculptures of human figures are already distinguished by significant beauty and harmony, and their drapery - picturesque and meaningful styling, as can be concluded from the statues of the Cologne Cathedral. The further movement of German plastic art tends to an even more lively, individualizing direction, foreshadowing in many ways the Renaissance style. Adam Kraft (c. 1500) and caster Peter Fischer, both from Nuremberg, should be considered representatives of this trend. Along with stone and metal sculpting, German woodcarving is also making significant progress, for which there was a great demand during the period under review, namely, for altar and other church decorations. The most famous masters of wood-carving in the 16th century were Nuremberg residents Faith Stoes and Hans Brueggemann and a Tyrolean Michael Pacher.

Renaissance

Italy

In contrast to the northern countries, in Italy the sculpture of the Gothic period developed independently of architecture. It owes its success there, mainly to the son of the aforementioned Nicolo Pisano, Giovanni (pulpit in the Church of St. Andrew in Pistoia, tombstone for Pope Benedict XI in Perugia, reliefs for the pulpit of the Pisa Baptistery). A number of other Tuscan sculptors, his direct students or imitators, joined the direction of this artist, of which Giotto, Andrea Pisano and Orcagna are especially famous. Thanks to the efforts of these and other masters, Italian art throws off the last remnants of medieval dryness and conventions and at the beginning of the 15th century. goes on a new free path - the path of individuality of creativity, animated expressiveness, deep understanding of nature, combined with a critical study of antiquities. In a word, the Renaissance is coming.

Tuscany remains the main hotbed of artistic activity, and its artists create works that delight not only their contemporaries, but also distant offspring. The foremost disseminators of the new movement are Jacopo della Quercia, nicknamed "della Fonte" for the excellent fountain he erected in Siena; Luca della Robbia, who made a name for himself in particular with reliefs of fired and glazed clay, and the highly talented Donatello. A phalanx of more or less talented craftsmen follows in their footsteps. During the reign of Pope Leo X, Italian sculpture, like other branches of art, reached its climax in the works of Gian Francesco Rustici, Andrea Contucci (Sansovino) and, finally, the genius Michelangelo Buonarroti. But the latter, for all the enormity of his talent, and even because of it, had a fatal influence on the further course of sculpture: his powerful, but too individual and free style was beyond the power of his numerous students and imitators, of whom only Giovanni da Bologna, Benvenuto Cellini and Jacopo Tatti; most of the sculptors, adhering to the direction of the great Florentine, fell into capricious arbitrariness and in pursuit of one external effect. The further, the more the sculpture lost its former simplicity and sincerity, so that in the 17th century in Italy the manners of Lorenzo Bernini, Alessandro Algardi and their countless followers already dominated this branch of art. This style, known as the baroque, persisted in the 18th century, during which sometimes works appeared that were not devoid of grandeur and testify to the rich imagination of their performers, but more often those that were curious only because of their pretentiousness.

France

Outside Italy, sculpture, from the 16th century onwards, reflected the influence of Italian sculpture and represented few significant phenomena at all. Some of them, however, deserve to be mentioned. Such is, for example, the founding of the Fontaineblos sculptural school in France, whose representatives, Jean Goujon, Germain Pilon and others, left behind very talented works to posterity. Further, one cannot fail to mention Pierre Puget, François Girardon, Antoine Kuazevo - French sculptors who lived and worked in the era of Louis XIV; but their works greatly sin with theatricality, which in the 18th century in France reached the point of empty, sugary pretense.

Netherlands

Among Dutch artists, Frans du Quenoist, nicknamed by the Italians, is worthy of attention il Fiammingowho lived in Rome at the time of Bernini and, despite that, remained free from Italian mannerisms. Even more naive and purer in outlook on nature is the student of Art Quellinus du Quenois. The third important Dutch sculptor, Adrian de Vries, a pupil of Giovanni da Bologna, is known as the author of beautifully conceived and expertly executed bronze works.

Germanic lands

As for the German Renaissance, it used sculpture almost exclusively for tombstones and architectural and decorative tasks. Among the sculptors of Germany in the 18th century, however, talented masters stood out above the level of mediocrity: Andrei Schlüter in Berlin (a monument to the great Elector in this city) and Raphael Donner in Austria (a fountain in the New Market in Vienna).

Transition to New Time

In the second half of the 18th century, an understanding of the social importance and dignity of art awakens; it leads, on the one hand, to a direct imitation of nature, not obscured by preconceived principles, and on the other, to a careful study of what and how such a view of nature was expressed in the artistic creations of the flourishing times of Greece. A strong impetus to the second of these aspirations was given by Winckelmann, who in his works on ancient art eloquently explained their high significance and preached an ardent love for them. However, the soil prepared by this scientist began to bear fruit only later, after the general interest in Greek antiquity increased and publications of its artistic monuments began to appear, and European museums were enriched either with genuine works of her plasticity, or with plaster casts from them. The first attempts to renew sculpture by returning it to the principles of ancient art were made at the beginning of the 19th century by the Swede I. T. Zörgel and the Italian Antonio Canova. The latter became especially famous along the way, although his numerous works, technically masterful, are not yet alien to the preceding Italian mannerisms and often fall into only outward showiness or corny sentimentality. On the same path, like these sculptors, many others soon came forward, mostly their direct imitators. As the best among these artists, one should point out the Frenchman Chaudet (the statue of Cupid and the Butterfly in the Louvre, Paris), the Spaniard X. Alvarez (the group "Antilochus Defends Nestor", known as the "Defense of Zaragoza"), the Englishman John Flaxman and on the Germans of Trippel (the statue of "Bacchante", etc.), and Dannecker (the famous "Ariadne on a Panther", at Bethmann, in Frankfurt am Main). But no one has achieved such brilliant results as the Dane Bertel Thorvaldsen. Possessing inexhaustible imagination, he created a number of various works, conceived in a purely Greek spirit, striking with purely antique nobility of forms, and yet completely original, sometimes sublime, sometimes naive, idyllic and graceful.

New time

In France, plastic art continued to adhere to the ceremonial court direction of the era of Louis XIV, more and more going into pretentiousness. The best sculptor of this time is Jean-Baptiste Lemoine (1704-1778; numerous busts and statues of contemporary celebrities). His student Falcone (1716-1791), the gifted author of the St. Petersburg monument to Peter the Great. Bouchardon (1698-1762) and Pigalle (1714-1785; statue of Marshal Moritz of Saxony in Strasbourg) tried to work in the spirit of ancient art. The French school, before others, threw off the yoke of absolute classicism and boldly followed the road of realism. Houdon (1741-1828) introduced great simplicity and vitality into French sculpture; his famous statue of Voltaire in the Comedie Francaise (another copy is in the Imperial Hermitage) with amazing fidelity conveys the appearance and sarcastic character of the Ferney philosopher. More sculptors of the First Empire, Cartel, the aforementioned Chaudet, F. Bosio (bas-reliefs of Vendôme columns, equestrian statue of Louis XIV on Victory Square in Paris), F. Lemo (statue of Henry IV on New Bridge in Paris), J. Corteau (pediment the chambers of deputies, the apotheosis of Napoleon I at the triumph of the gate. Stars in Paris) and their immediate students, correct and elegant, are still cold in their compositions; but next to them there are already three artists who bring an ebullient stream of life into French sculpture. These are F. Rud, J. Pradee and J. David Anzhersky. The first of them (“Mercury tying wings to his feet”, “Young Neapolitan fisherman.” “The Maid of Orleans”, statues in the Louvre Museum, and especially “Volunteers in 1792,” a group on the triumphal gate of the Star) attributed extreme importance to the direct observation of nature, strongly and truthfully expressed movement and feeling, and at the same time was distinguished by an amazing subtlety of decoration. In the beginning. XIX century. David of Anzhersky and Pradee strove to reconcile ancient traditions with romanticism. Pradier's talent was more external and manifested itself mainly in the graceful processing of the forms of the female body, in the creation of charming, lively, but sensual figures ("Light poetry", "Flora", "Graces", "Bacchante and satyr", etc.). A resolute adherent of realism and an enemy of all conventions, David Anzhersky was concerned not so much with the beauty of the lines and, in complex compositions, with the clear division of groups, as with the exact characteristics of the depicted; his works (Tympanum of the Parisian Pantheon, the statue of Condé at Versailles, many portrait statues, busts and medallions) are always imbued with a deep idea and high expressiveness, which makes the strongest impression that it is embedded in forms taken directly from reality. These virtues made David the most influential of the recent sculptors of a generation, not only in France, but also in Belgium. Next to the three above-mentioned leaders of French sculpture of modern times, F. Dure, a worthy follower of Ryud and David of Anzher ("The Neapolitan improviser", "The Neapolitan dancer", the statue of Rachel in the role of Phaedra at the French Comedy Theater in Paris), should be staged, which formed, in in turn, the talented student of E. Delaplanche (“ Mother's love"," Music ", portrait of Aubert). Numerous students and followers of Pradee worked in general in his spirit, sometimes going even further than he, in a passion for sensuality, sometimes tempering it with a desire for a purer ideal and noble grace and constantly taking care of bringing the technical execution of their work to the highest degree of perfection. The group of these artists includes: O. Kurte ("Faun and Centaurus", "Leda", a beautiful portrait of Adrienne Lecouvreur at the French Comedy Theater in Paris), A. Etex ("Cain", "Hercules and Antaeus" and two groups on triumphal the gates of the Star: "Resistance" and "Peace"), C. Simard ("Orestes pursued by the furies"), E. Guillaume (the "Music" group at the New Opera, in Paris, many portrait busts and statues), Idrak ("The Wounded Cupid "and" Salammbault "in the Luxembourg Museum), J. B. Klesinger (" Sappho "," Ariadne with a tiger "," The Drunken Bacchante ") and A. Chapu (" Jeanne d'Arc "in the Luxembourg Museum and" Youth "At the monument to Regno, at the Paris School fine arts ). An extensive and constantly growing school is working in that realistic direction, a strong impetus to which was made by David of Anzhersky. Among the representatives of this school are D. Foyatier (monument to Jeanne d'Arc in Orleans, statues of Cincinnatus and Spartacus in the Tuileries Garden in Paris), E. Millet (Apollo, at the top of the Grand Opera, and Cassandra in the Luxembourg Museum in Paris), A. Préault (Murder and Silence, colossal busts at the Lachaise cemetery in Paris) and A. Carrier-Belaise, the most prolific of David's students and closest to him in manner (Madonna in the Paris center S.-Vincennes-de-Paul). From the second half of the XIX century. a realistic and naturalistic direction is predominant: Barrias, Bartolomé, Carpo, Delaplanche, Dubois, Falter, Fremieux, Garde, Mercier, the genius Rodin. The naturalism of the modern French school found its last, vivid expression in the works of J.-B. Carlo, a disciple of David, Ryud and Dure, who borrowed from each of them what is best in them, and combined their virtues with what, perhaps, they lacked - with a peculiar, powerful, even unbridled talent, akin to talent Michelangelo and, at the same time, Rubens ("Young Neapolitan Fisherman", plastic decorations of the Flora pavilion in the Louvre, the famous "Dance" group at the Grand Opera in Paris). Despite the early death of this peculiar master, he left a deep mark in art and formed a crowd of students, of whom J. Dali and Countess Colonna, known under the pseudonym Marcello ("Pythia" on the stairs of the Grand Opera in Paris), deserve to be mentioned. The realism prevailing in French sculpture of that time does not exclude, however, the existence of other aspirations in it. The head of the classical school was in 1839 F. Jouffroy ("A girl confessing her secret to Cupid" in the Luxembourg Museum), among whose followers L. Barrias ("The Oath of Spartacus" and "Mozart tuning the violin") and R. de Saint-Marceau ("The genius guarding the sepulchral secret" in the Luxembourg Museum); but the best of Jouffroy's students, A. Falguière, shows a clear inclination for realism ("Egyptian Dancer", "Diana" and others), P. Dubois and A. Mercier are inspired by sculptural monuments of the blossoming pore of the Italian Renaissance, seeking harmony and beauty in calm poses (from the works of the first, the groups on the Lamorisier monument are especially remarkable: "Military courage" and "Christian love", as well as "Neapolitan singer XV table." and "Eve"; from the works of the second - "David" in the Luxembourg Museum, Michelle monument in the cemetery Lachaise in Paris and the Quand même group). Finally, France has the right to be proud of several sculptors who perfectly reproduce animals. The most prominent place among these artists is occupied by L. L. Barry (The Lion Devouring the Snake, The Resting Lion and the Small Bronze Groups), who can be considered the true founder of this plastic industry and the foremost master in it. In addition to him, E. Fremieux, O. Caen, L. Navale and A. Bartholdi enjoy well-deserved fame in the same way, of whom the latter, regardless of the works in his specialty, was also famous for the colossal statue of "Liberty" brought by the French government to 1886 donated to the United States of America.

Belgian sculpting is nothing more than a scion of French - a fact easily explained by the fact that the majority of Belgian sculptors received or completed their artistic education in Paris. The most significant sculptors in this country can be named: Guillaume (Willem) Gefs (national monument on Martyrs Square in Brussels, Rubens monument in Antwerp), his brother Joseph Gefs (monuments to Leopold I in Brussels, and Wilhelm II in The Hague), Frankin (monument to Egmont and Horn in Brussels) and Simonis (monument to Gottfried Bouillon in Brussels).

In Germany, after Thorvaldsen, among the sculptors who adhered to his idealistic direction, the attention of L. Schwanthaler is especially worthy, for whose activities under the Bavarian king Ludwig I a wide field of activity was opened to decorate Munich (colossal statues of Bavaria, sculptural friezes in the palaces of the king and duke Maximilian, reliefs and statues that adorn the glyptotek, etc.). Many students owe their education to this artist, among others, M. Widiman (the Schiller monument in Munich and others), L. Schaller (the Herder monument in Weimar, reliefs in the Munich Pinakothek on scenes from the life of J. van Eyck, A. Dürer and Holbein , allegorical statues of four stars, etc.), F. Bruggen (statues of Gluck, Elector Maximilian Emmanuel and Gertner in Munich, groups: "Chiron teaches Achilles", "Mercury and Calypso", etc.), K. Zumbusch (monum Maximilian II in Munich, the best of all that decorates this city; the monument to Maria Theresa in Vienna and others) and M. Wagmüller ("Girl with a Butterfly", "Girl with a Lizard", excellent portrait busts). The influence of Schwanthaler, brought to Vienna by Gasser and Fernkorn (equestrian statues of Archduke Karl and Prince Eugene), is still reflected in the works of local sculptors, of which K. Kundemann, author of the monument to Fr. Schubert, and W. Tilgner, who built a flattering reputation for himself with portrait statues and busts. A different kind of movement was sculpted in Berlin, where at the beginning of the 19th century I.K.Shadov, without neglecting antiques, set himself the main task of reproducing modernity and the real world (chariot and metopes on the Brandenburg Gate, monuments to Zieten and Prince Leopold of Dessausky in Berlin, Blucher in Rostock, Luther in Wittenberg and others). His aspirations were fully developed in the long and influential activities of H. Rauch (monuments to Frederick the Great in Berlin, A. Dürer in Nuremberg, Kant in Königsberg, famous figures "Victoria", tombstones of Queen Louise and Friedrich Wilhelm III in the Charlottenburg mausoleum). The Berlin school founded by this artist produced many more or less skilled craftsmen, such as: Φ. Drake (bas-reliefs on the monument to Frederick Wilhelm III in the Berlin Zoological Garden, equestrian statue of Emperor Wilhelm at the railway station in Cologne, and others), Schiefelbein ("The Destruction of Pompeii", a large frieze in the new Berlin Museum, bas-reliefs on the bridge in Dirschau), Blaser ( equestrian statue of Wilhelm IV on the Rhine Bridge in Cologne), A. Kees, who perfectly reproduced animals and successfully worked also in the field of historical sculpture (statues of the Archangel Michael and St. George, slaying the dragon; equestrian statues of Friedrich-Wilhelm III in Konigsberg and Breslau), T. Kalida, A. Wolf and others. Among the Berlin sculptors of the modern era, the strong and ardent R. Begas is especially prominent (Berlin monument to Schiller, a bust of Mendel in the National Gallery; Pan Consoles Psyche, The Faun Family, Venus and Cupid and other groups full of life and movement) and R. Siemering (marble statue of King Wilhelm in the Berlin Stock Exchange; the group "Nymph teaches young Bacchus dance" and "Faun gives the boy Bacchus a drink"; "Victory Monument" in Leipzig). Two first-class sculptors worked in Dresden at the same time: E. Rietschel, a student of Rauch, who followed his realistic direction (main works: the majestic monument to Luther in Worms, the monument to Schiller and Goethe in Weimar, the statue of Lessing in Braunschweig) and E. Hänel, a follower of the idealist school (the best works are decorative statues of the facade of the Dresden Art Gallery, a monument to Prince Schwarzenberg in Vienna, a statue of Beethoven in Bonn). Among other Dresden sculptors, more than others are worthy of attention: I. Schilling, a student and follower of Hähnel (groups “Night” and “Day” on the Brühl's terrace, monuments to Rietschel in Dresden and Schiller in Vienna) and A. Donndorf, heir to the lively and noble manner of Ritzchel , his collaborator on the Worms monument to Luther, the author of the equestrian statue of Karl August in Weimar and the monuments: Schumann in Bonn and Cornelius in Dusseldorf.

In England, sculpture, especially monumental sculpture, did not find a favorable ground for itself; it in this country strongly reflects the Italian influence. The most gifted of English sculptors, Gibson, a student of Canova, worked in Rome and should be reckoned among the local classical school (marble groups "Psyche tormented by Cupid", "Hylas and the nymphs" in the London National Gallery, "Queen Victoria on the throne, between the figures of Mercy and Justice "in the Parliament building, the tombstone of the Duchess of Leicester in Longford and others). Canova's manner echoes the works of many other English artists who interpreted the subjects of ancient myth in graceful, eye-pleasing forms, such as, for example, P. McDowl ("Virginius and His Daughter", "The Washing Dream"), R. Westmakot (statues of Addison, Pitt, Fox and Percival at Westminster Abbey, Lords Erskine at Linkols Inn and Nelson at the Liverpool Stock Exchange, figures on the pediment of the British Museum) and R.-J. Watt (Flora, Penelope, Muzidora and others).

In Italy, the aspirations of plastics were generally not subject to significant deviation from Canova's ideals. Followed by the gifted artists P. Tenerani (tombstones of the Duke and Duchess of Torlonia in S. Giovanni in Laterano, Pius VIII in the Peter's Cathedral in Rome, "Psyche" and "Lying Venus with Cupid" in the Imperial Hermitage) and L. Bartolini (a statue of Napoleon I, in Bastia in Corsica, and Machiavelli in the Uffizi Museum in Florence), worked in the noble-classical spirit of this master. Bartolini's disciple, G. Dupre, made a certain turn towards naturalism ("The Virgin mourning the dead Savior" at the cemetery in Siena, the monument to Cavour in Turin, "Cain" and "Abel" in the Imperial Hermitage). G. Bastiani tried to revive the style of Italian plastic art of the 15th century ("Group of Bacchantes", "Four Seasons", beautiful portrait busts). Then, numerous sculptors in Italy turned their attention mainly to the technical processing of marble, in which they achieved high perfection, producing with special love scenes borrowed from modern reality. The most significant of the artists in this direction was V. Vela (the group "France and Italy" and "The Dying Napoleon" in the Versailles Museum in Paris, the statue of Victor Emmanuel in the Turin City Hall, "Correggio" in his hometown, the philosopher Rosmani and "Spring" ). In addition to native artists, many foreigners, like the aforementioned Englishman Gibson, who lived and worked in Rome, must be included in the number of representatives of Italian sculpture; such are, by the way, the Dutchman M. Kessel ("St. Sevastan", "Paris", "Discobolus", scenes from the Last Judgment), the Bavarian M. Wagner (frieze in Valhalla near Regensburg; "Minerva", patroness of artistic activity on the pediment Munich Glyptotek), Bremen K. Steinheiser ("Hero and Leander", "Goethe with Psyche" in the Weimar Museum, "Violinist" and others) and the Prussian E. Wolf ("Nereid" and "Amazon" in the Imperial Hermitage, "Venus" , "Judith" and others).

Newest time

Sculpture in Russia

The Russian Empire

In pre-Petrine times, art in Russia had its vocation to serve exclusively religious purposes, and since the Orthodox Church abhorred sculptures of human figures, sculpture, in the real sense of the word, could not only develop in ancient Russia, but also exist. True, in some places, especially in the former Novgorod regions, carved and painted images of saints were respected, but they were alien to any artistic value and constituted products that arose under the influence of the West. Actually, in Russia, the manifestations of plastics were limited to the casting of small crosses, folding images, knocking out the frames on the images and carving of figured iconostases. Among the fruits of Western European civilization, Peter the Great transferred into it a sculpture, which, however, under this sovereign and for a long time after him, was here in the hands of visiting foreigners. The main figure in the field of sculpture during the reign of Peter the Great and Anna Ioannovna was KB Rastrelli, the father of the later famous architect, who was summoned to St. Petersburg to cast cannons. His mannered style is evidenced by the bronze statue of Empress Anna, and the monument to Peter the Great, standing in front of the Engineer Castle in St. Petersburg.

Russian sculpting proper began only under Catherine II, after the founding of the Academy, where the first professor of this art was N.F. Gillet, who was invited from Paris in 1757. He educated several students, among whom the most gifted was F.I.Shubin (his main work is the statue of Catherine at the Academy of Arts). The charter of the Academy provided the best of its pupils, after completing the course in it, to go, with support from the government, for several years to foreign lands, for their further improvement, and this right was first used by the young sculptors Shubin. He begins a long, continuing to our time, a series of Russian sculptors who lived and worked abroad, mainly in Italy. Here they, of course, were influenced by the masters popular at that time and assimilated to themselves the then dominant artistic direction. Therefore, sculpture in Russia, showing little independence until very recently, reflected in itself the movements that took place in this branch of art in the West: at the end of the 18th century, it bore the imprint of French, and then Italian - more or less noticeable features of the style of Canova, Thorvaldsen , Dupre, Tenerani and others. For all that, among its representatives there were many artists who would do honor to any country. In the Catherine Age, in addition to Shubin, who adhered to naturalism in his works, ennobled by respect for antiques, the eclectic routiner F.G. Gordeev (Samson's group for the Peterhof fountain of this name) and the gifted, somewhat mannered M.I.Kozlovsky (Suvorov monument on Tsaritsin's meadow in St. Petersburg, the statue of "Cupid taking an arrow out of a quiver" in the Hermitage and others). During the time of Alexander I and partly Nikolayev's, the outstanding representatives of Russian sculpture were: V. I. Demut-Malinovsky (statue of the Apostle Andrew in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, "Russian Scevola" at the Academy of Arts, portrait busts and others), S. S Pimenov (two groups at the entrance to the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg), I.P. Prokofiev (statue of the running Actaeon, tritons of the Peterhof fountain), I.P. Martos (monuments to Minin and Prince Pozharsky in Moscow, Duke Richelieu in Odessa, Lomonosov in Arkhangelsk , a colossal statue of Catherine II in the Moscow Noble Assembly, and others) and some others.

Russian sculpture received a special revival in the second half of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I thanks to the love of this sovereign for art and the patronage that he provided to domestic artists, as well as such a huge undertaking as the construction and decoration of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. All Russian sculptors of both the oldest and the youngest generation then received significant government orders and, being encouraged by the monarch's attention to their labors, they tried to surpass one another in them. The main figures in this area were at this time: Count F.P. Tolstoy (medallions on themes from the Patriotic War of 1812-1814, the statue "Nymph pouring water from a jug" in Peterhof, models for figures of various saints, for the doors of the temple Savior), S. I. Galberg (a statue of a seated Catherine II at the Academy of Arts, a statue "Invention of Music" in the Hermitage), B. I. Orlovsky ("Angel" on the Alexander Column, monuments to Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly in front of the Kazan Cathedral, statues "Paris", "Satyr playing the violin", "Faun and Bacchante" in the Hermitage), I. P. Vitali (two pediments of St. Isaac's Cathedral: "Adoration of the Magi" and "St. Isaac blesses Emperor Theodosius", reliefs under the porticos of this temple , sculptures of its entrance doors and others; a statue of Venus in the Hermitage), Baron P.K. Klodt ("The Horse Tamers", four groups on the Anichkovsky Bridge, a monument to the fabulist Krylov, in Summer garden; the figure of Emperor Nicholas I on horseback in the St. Petersburg monument to this sovereign; small statues of horses), N. S. Pimenov (groups "Resurrection" and "Transfiguration" on the top of the iconostases of the minor side-altars of St. Isaac's Cathedral; statues "The game of grandmas" and "Boy begging for alms"), P. Stavaser (statues "Mermaid" and “Nymph Shod by a Faun” in the Hermitage), K. Klimchenko (“Nymph after bathing” in the Hermitage), A. A. Ivanov (“Boy Lomonosov” and “Paris” in the Hermitage), S. I. Ivanov (“Little bather "), A. V. Loganovsky (" Playing with the pile "; reliefs under the porticos of St. Isaac's Cathedral" Beating of the Babies "and" The Appearance of an Angel to the Shepherds "; high reliefs on the outer walls of the Savior's Cathedral) and N. I. Ramazanov (high reliefs from the outer the same temple).

It should be noted, however, that, due to the very kind of assignments assigned to these gifted artists, they were, in most cases, tied up in their work and could not give full scope for imagination and the desire for realism and nationality that had already awakened in their midst. This space opened up with the onset of the era of the great reforms of Alexander II - the era in which the descriptive arts of Russia, following its literature, became the exponents of self-awareness that awakened in Russian society, became involuntarily responsive to his doubts, desires and hopes. The matter could not be without hesitation and false evasions; nevertheless, in its general movement, the newest Russian sculpture, having made a major step forward, won the sympathy of not only the upper classes, but also the masses of its native society and forced foreigners to recognize the existence of an original Russian school. Among the artists who contributed to this to a greater or lesser extent, as well as supporting the dignity of Russian sculpture of the second half of the 19th century, one can name: M. M. Antokolsky (statues "John the Terrible", "Christ before the people", "Death of Socrates", "Mephistopheles" in the Hermitage; a statue of Peter the Great in Peterhof), N.R. Bach (statue of "Pythia"), R.R.Bach (statue of "Ondine"; high reliefs of "Elf" and "Idyll"), A.R. von Bock ( group "Minerva" on the dome of the Academy of Arts, monuments to Count Paskevich in Warsaw and M. Glinka in Smolensk; statue "Psyche" and the group "Venus and Cupid"), P. A. Velionsky (statue "Gladiator", bas-relief "Venus represents Cupid Olympians "), P. P. Zabello (statue of Pushkin at the Imperial Alexander Lyceum," Tatiana, Heroine of Pushkin's Novel "by E. I. V. Empress Maria Feodorovna and" Mermaid "for a fountain in Kazan), G. R. Zaleman ( statue "Orestes pursued by furies", group "Cimbry", bas-relief "Styx"), FF Kamensky (statues "Boy-sculptor" and "Girl-mushroom" and the First Step group in the Hermitage), V. P. Kreitan (portrait busts), N. A. Laveretsky (the Early Coquetry group in the Hermitage and Boy and Girl with a Bird); statue "Rhodope"), E. E. Lancere (small groups and figurines of battle and everyday life with excellent figures of horses), N. I. Liberikh (figurines and small groups depicting military and hunting plots), L. L. Auber ( works of the same kind), A. M. Opekushin (a monument to Pushkin in Moscow), I. I. Podozerov (statues "Cupid with a butterfly" and "Eve"; portrait busts), M. P. Popov (statue "Neapolitan fisherman, playing the mandolin "," Coquette Girl "," Phryne "), A. V. Snigirevsky (statue "Curiosity", group "In the Storm"; small groups of a genre character), M. A. Chizhova (groups "The Peasant in Trouble", "Playing blind man's buff", "Mother Teaching a Child to the Mother Word"; " First Love "; statue" Rezvushka ") and, finally, I. N. Schroeder (monuments to Prince P. G. Oldenburg and Kruzenshtern in St. Petersburg; Peter the Great in Petrozavodsk).