Sculpture

the art of shaping figures. The figures may be cut in stone, molded in clay or wax, or they may be formed by casting plaster of paris or bronze in a mold. A figure which stands out completely is said to be in the round. When the figure projects a half from the surface, it is said to be in high relief. When it projects slightly, it is in low relief. If the figure be scooped out of the material, as in the case of an intaglio, it is in hollow relief. Sculpture in wood is called carving. The designing of coins and medals and the art of cutting gems, that is to say, cameos and intaglios, are branches of sculpture; but, as ordinarily used, the term covers only modeling, mallet and chisel work, and casting figures in bronze and other materials. A human figure in the round is known in art as a statue. A head only or a head and chest is a bust. A body without head, arms, or legs is a torso. Owing to the enduring character of the material used, we have a more accurate knowledge of sculpture than of any other art practiced by the ancients. We are obliged to guess at their painting and to reconstruct their buildings from fragments, but many pieces of sculpture amid debris come out of the ruins little the worse for the centuries.

The Egyptian sculptor used marble, both white and colored. He carved colossal figures out of black porphyry, one of the hardest stones known. The Egyptians adorned the walls of their temples and tombs with sculpture. The Ninevites were famous for doorway figures and colossal combinations of eagle, lion, and man. The Greeks are supposed to have surpassed all other nations, ancient and modern, in this form of art. Phidias and Praxiteles, their greatest sculptors, used Parian marble, from the Isle of Paros, and Pentelic marble, from Mount Pentelicus. Sufficient traces are left to show that both Greeks and Egyptians colored their statues. The favorite subjects of the Greek sculptors were statues of the gods and heroes, and temple friezes portraying mythological battles and scenes from the lives of their heroes. The Etruscans were masters of modeling in terra cotta. The Romans depended on Greek sculptors for their statues. The sculptors of the Middle Ages expended the greater part of their effort in adorning the portals, galleries, and altars of the cathedrals with Biblical subjects. Some cathedrals have several thousand distinct pieces of sculpture.

Modern sculptors use the white marble from Carrara, Italy, for chisel work. Most modern statues, however, are bronze casts. The most notable statuary of European and American cities consists of statues of noted persons designed to ornament public squares and parks. Groups expressive of an event are less frequent in America than in Europe. The national capital has many public memorials. There is not a little notable work in the various national buildings. Many critics think that Augustus St. Gaudens, yet living, is the greatest artist the United States has produced. His best productions are the Shaw memorial in Boston Common, the Puritan at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

To make sure of what he wants to do, the sculptor who works in bronze prepares first of all a small model in clay. He next makes a full size and exact model in clay. This he makes the subject of deep study and care, for the bronze, when cast, will be exactly like it. When the artist's clay model is complete, the work of making a plaster model for the cast begins. The clay model has been kept moist by sprinkling and swathing in damp cloth. Fences of tin made of strips about four inches wide are set up. The edges of the tin are simply stuck into the clay. These divisions run around the waist, up the back and down the front and over the head, along the arms and legs,--wherever experience has shown they may be necessary. Plaster of paris of the finest consistency is then clapped on the model with the bare hand until a coat a quarter of an inch thick has been formed. The plaster is thickened to half an inch. This done, pieces of small iron piping and wire are bent suitably and pressed into the plaster, for the workman is making a mold that requires strength as well as shape. Plaster is built over the iron work until the whole coasting is from two to six inches thick, according to the amount of strain the part must bear in handling. The plaster of paris mold is then taken off in sections. The strips of tin now show their usefulness. Any portions of clay, as ears, broken off in cavities of the plaster mold, are dug out carefully. The sections of the mold are cleaned, painted if necessary, then greased well inside, and coated within with a film of plaster and lined with burlap. They are then put together, forming a hollow statue. A small amount of liquid plaster is poured in, as into a jug. The mold is rolled about so that the plaster may coat all parts of the inside. When this has dried, the operation is repeated again and again until the interior is coated to a depth of several inches and many parts filled solid. After hardening sufficiently, the outside mold is chiseled away, leaving a plaster of paris model like the original clay model. The burlap mentioned lies half an inch beneath the surface and gives strength.

The model now goes to the bronze foundry. The caster makes molds from the model, into which he runs his molten metal, much as castings for stoves are made. A statue of a man is cast usually in five pieces, the bust, the right arm, the left arm, the lower part from the waist downward, and the plinth on which the figure stands. These parts are doweled together. Thus we have the artist's small model, the full size clay model, the plaster of paris mold, the plaster model, the caster's mold, and finally the bronze statue.

The worker in marble has a different task. The clay modeler may repair and alter at will, but stone cannot be replaced. The slightest slip of the chisel and the work is ruined. Some sculptors in stone prepare a clay model to serve as a pattern. Michelangelo set a dressed block of marble on a convenient support and fell at work apparently in the most reckless way. His mallet swung as carelessly as though he were unconcerned. Chips of marble flew from his chisel; then, as his imprisoned statue began to make its escape from the marble block, his face lit up wonderfully. The finishing work was done with eager reverence. Many of the masters employed students to rough out the work, putting on the last touches themselves, and some, with many orders, contented themselves with making models for students to execute. Thorwaldsen's Lion of Lucerne was chiseled in the cliff by workmen guided by Thorwaldsen's model.

See Parthenon; Elgin; Elgin Marbles; Phidias; Louvre; Vatican; Munich; Venus De Milo; Apollo; Zeus; Colossus Of Rhodes; Michelangelo; Bartholdi; Florence; Carrara; Canova; Thorwaldsen; Nineveh; Frederick Ii; Bingen; Charlottenburg; Mukden; Saint Gaudens