Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/708

 SCULPTURE

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SCULPTURE

difficult for sculpture to combine several figures in a group in which detail is necessarily subordinated to the whole. The most important principle of the group is that the figures should be as closely joined together as is possible, or as is compatible with the artistic effect. Such a juxtaposition is very much hin- dered by the material in the case of figures in the round.

These difficulties do not exist in the case of the re- hef, which should also be considered as sculpture, to which it belongs by reason both of the material used and of the technique. In certain characteristics, re- hef approaches so nearly to painting that it may be called the transitional art between jiainting and sculpture; it is, so to speak, pictorial sculpture. It prefers to represent several figures side by side, as for example, in the case of war scenes, festal processions, labour in the fields and at home; it therefore easily achieves what is hardly possible for sculpture in the round. There are two principal kinds of relief: Low Relief (bas-relief, basso-rilievo), the figures of which have only a limited thickness, and in which the ap- pearance of solidity is achieved by the effect of light and shade; and High Relief (grand-rehef, alto-rilievo), in which the figures sometimes appear entirely in the round. The chief demand which we make of a work of sculpture, whether it be a statue or a group, is ar- tistic unity, that is to sa}', that all the parts should work together for the expression of a thought or an idea. In the case of the single statue it is not only the ex- pression of the face which reveals the idea presented in the work of art, but the pose of the body and the posture of the limbs also contribute to the same end. For this reason everything irrelevant should, as far as possible, be avoided. This requirement has led to the principle first terselj^ enunciated by Lessing in his "Laocoon", and which has since been repeated in- numerable times: that it is the purpose of sculpture (and also of painting) to represent human figures of great bodily beauty; from which Lessing made the further deduction, that the highest purpose of sculp- ture is not the representation of spiritual but of sensu- ous beaut\% that is to say, the beautj^ of the human body free "from all draperies. Modern a?sthetes have gone so far as to maintain as a rule without exception, that sculpture should create only nude bodies. A scholar of such fine artistic perception as Schnaase went so far as to demand that sculpture, in order to give the most emphatic expression to its distinctive characteristics, and not to weaken the sensuous ap- peal of the nude, should reduce somewhat the ex- pression of emotion in the countenance, which should, so to speak, be attuned a tone lower, in order that it may harmonize with the body. These views, how- ever, are in accordance neither with the teachings of history nor with good morals.

Not even with the ancient Greeks at the time of their most perfect development, was the representa- tion of th(! nude body the chief aim of scu][)tur<', and only in the age of their decline do the rcprcscntal ions of the nude prevail. The mo.st perfect (ircations of Grecian plastic art, the "Zeus" and the "Athena" of Phidias, were draped figures of gold and ivory, to which pilgrimages were made, not in order to enjoy their sensuous beauty of body, but to forget sorrow and suffering and to be fortified in religious b(lief. Draperies can and should be used to emphasize the epiritual significance of man. That Christian re- ligion and morals have justly found objections to the representations of the nude is quite obvious, as is also the fact that such objections are removed when historical events or other valid reasons demand its representation, as, for example, in the case of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Another subject of wide im- portance demanding a few words is the tinting of statues, or polychromy. Until a few decades ago scholars generally were of the opinion that the ancient sculptors used no other tints than the original colour

of the marble; but closer investigation of the antique monuments as well as of the accounts in ancient liter- ature prove beyond doubt that the Greeks slightly tinted their statues, as was necessary when they placed them in richly decorated interiors. Since this lias become known our judgment of the polychromy of medieval sculi)ture has become a more favourable one.

In accordance with the material used and the dif- ferent methods of treatment sculpture is variously classified as follows: (1) Stone sculpture, or sculpture in a restricted sense, which for its noblest and most excellent works made use of marble. (2) Wood sculp- ture, which flourished especially in the Middle Ages; its success was much restricted by the practice of en- casing the carved work with cloth covered with chalk, in order to facilitate polychrom5\ (3) Sculpture in metals, which not only creates the most lasting works, but allows greater freedom in the treatment of the material. From the perfection which it attained in antiquity metal sculpture degenerated greatly in the Middle Ages, when it was for the most part confined to relief. Not until the Italian Renaissance was the art of metal casting again resumed for monumental statues. (4) Repousse sculpture, in which the metal was beaten into form by means of hammer and puncheon. In antiquity and in the Middle Ages this process was used for smaller subjects only, but since the seventeenth century it is used for great statues as well, as for instance the colossal statue of Arminius in the Teutoburgerwald. (5) Sculpture in clay or terra-cotta, in which the figure is moulded in a soft substance, which afterwards hardens either by drying or firing. In this art also the ancients created much that is important, and during the Renaissance the terra-cottas of Luca della Robbia and his followers acquired great celebrity. (6) Sculpture in ivory was used by the Greeks in combination with gold for monumental works (chryselephantine technique). In the Middle Ages and in modern times ivory is often used for works of small proportions; it is particularly suitable for delicate and pathetic subjects. (7) Glyptics, or the art of cutting gems, as well as the engraving of medals, coins, and seals, are varieties of sculpture which have a cultural rather than an ar- tistic and a!sthetic importance.

The origin of sculpture in a wide sense belongs to prehistoric times. The first attempts to represent hu- man beings by images were probably made in the Sandwich Islands. A higher stage of development is shown by the ancient Mexican sculptures, particularly those of the Maya period, among which, along with many crude expressions of exaggerated phantasy, are also found works showing a real observation of na- ture. A greater historic and aesthetic interest is first found in Egyptian sculpture, which in all times ap- pears closely (ionnected with architecture. As usual in primitive art, the works of Ihe earliest or Mem- pliitic period (until u. c. 3500) are distinguished by originality and naturalism, while in liic later period the human figure was m<)uld(>d in acconlunce with an un- changeable canon or tyj)e, from which only the counte- nan<!es show any deviation. The sculptures of the later period are principally reliefs, produced by in- cised outlines and slight modelling; statues also occur, but groups are very rare. With tlie eleventh dynasty of Egyptian kings (about b. c. 3500) the size of the fig- ures was increased to colossal proportions, but as they were all executed in accordance with the traditional type, sculpture gradually declined. No important revival occurred because P^gyptian sculpture was gradually absorbed by the all-embracing Hellenistic art. Besides representations of religious scenes and episodes of Court life, those depicting the daily life of the people were also popular. These were condi- tioned by th(! belief of the Egy|)tians, that such repre- Hc^ntations were pleasing to the dead and that they beautified their life in the other world.