Marble statue: the history of sculpture, the greatest sculptors, world masterpieces, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

White marble is the most fertile material for sculptural works depicting people. It is so soft that it lends itself well to the cutter, but at the same time it is dense enough to allow carving the finest details and perfectly accept grinding. The marble statue best conveys the emotional state, sensuality and anatomical perfection of the human body. The sculptors of ancient Greece were the first to bring the art of sculpture to such a level when it began to seem that a dead stone began to come to life, acquiring beautiful outlines. Since then, artists of other eras have consistently sought to improve the technique of marble sculpture in order to express their lofty ideas as vividly and figuratively as possible, to convey impeccable forms and the depth of human feelings.

Why marble?

Since ancient times, the Egyptians widely used various types of stone for the manufacture of sculptural forms, such as black obsidian and bas alt, green-brown diorite, purple porphyry, soft calcitealabaster, limestone. Since antiquity, statues have been created from bronze and alloys. So why is it that marble is so valued by artists, and why works from this material seem almost alive?

Like alabaster, whose thin plates transmit light well, marble is composed of calcite and also retains some light transmission. Some velvety texture does not form contrasting highlights and sharp deep shadows that are inherent in metal, and produces a soft play of light and shade. Sculptural marble has a dense structure and the lightest tone, which, together with smooth polishing of the material, reflects light well, unlike colored stones. All these qualities give the impression of living flesh in marble sculptures to a greater extent than those created from other material.

Sculptural marble contains the least amount of impurities, which affects not only the almost white color, but also the uniformity of the stone. It is a plastic material that is easy to process, but dense and hard enough to avoid splits and cracks, allowing you to work out the smallest details. That is why marble is especially preferred by sculptors.

Antiquity

The ancient Greek art of sculpture reached its peak in the 5th century BC. At that time, the basic techniques, techniques, mathematical calculations necessary for the birth of statues developed. A special system of proportions has been formed that defines the ideal of the beauty of the human body and has become a classic canon forall generations of artists. Over the course of a century, the level of craftsmanship of Greek sculpture reached perfection. However, the statues of that period were mostly made of bronze and wood with gold and ivory trim. Marble statues mainly decorated the pediments, friezes and outer walls of temples, most often in the form of reliefs, bas-reliefs and high reliefs, that is, partially immersed in the background plane.

Starting from the 4th century BC, the sculptural works of Greece are marked by a special plasticity of poses, the transfer of sensuality, drama and splicing, for the embodiment of which the masters began to prefer marble. Ex alting the beauty of human feelings and the body, the great ancient sculptors created "living" marble statues. In the largest museums of the world, people to this day admire the perfection of carved forms and the virtuoso work of artists such as Scopas, Praxiteles, Lysippus, lesser-known sculptors and those whose names history has not preserved. Classical works for many centuries serve as an academic standard, which, right up to the period of modern art, was followed by all generations of sculptors.

Middle Ages

It's amazing how quickly with the advent and development of Christianity, the achievements of the ancient arts and sciences were consigned to oblivion. The high skill of sculptors was reduced to the level of the usual craft of inept carvers. As early as the end of the 12th century, rather crude and primitive statues, not completely carved and separated fromthe foundations remained part of the stone block, which was mounted into the wall of the temple. Free-standing figures appear only from the 13th century, but with expressionless faces in constrained static poses, rather like archaic idols, they remained just an architectural addition. Nude nature and the reflection of sensuality become unacceptable, the classical principles of beauty and proportions are forgotten. In the manufacture of a marble statue, more attention is focused on the folds of clothes, and not on the face, which was given a frozen expression of indifference.

Renaissance

Attempts to revive the lost knowledge and skill of sculpture, to create a theoretical base of techniques, began at the end of the XII century in Italy. With the beginning of the 13th century, Florence became the center for the development of arts and cultural influence on the Apennine Peninsula, where all talented and skilled craftsmen rushed. At the same time, the first major school of sculpture opens in Pisa, where artists study and rediscover the laws of ancient architecture and sculpture, and the city turns into the center of classical culture. Statue-making is becoming a discipline in its own right, rather than a minor addition to architecture.

The 15th century was a total period of change in art. Artists revive and take as a standard the laws of proportions recognized in antiquity and the canons of beauty. In the bronze and marble statue, the sculptors again strive to reflect human feelings with noble and sublime, to convey the subtle nuances of emotions, to reproduce the illusion of movement, and to give ease to the poses of the figures. These qualities distinguish the work of Ghiberti, Giorgio Vasari, Andrea Verrocchio and the greatest master Donatello.

High Renaissance

The short stage of the Renaissance is called the High Renaissance, it covers the first thirty years of the 16th century. This short period turned out to be an explosion of creative genius that left unsurpassed creations and influenced the formation of further trends in art.

Italian sculpture in its development reached its climax, and its highest point was the work of the greatest artist and sculptor of all time - Michelangelo. The marble statue, which came out of the hands of this talented master, combines the high complexity of the composition, the perfect technical processing of the material, the perfect display of the human body, the depth and sublimity of feelings. His works exude a sense of tension, hidden power, colossal spiritual strength, they are full of noble grandeur and tragedy. Among the sculptural works of the master, “Moses”, the composition “Lamentation of Christ” (“Pieta”) and a marble statue of David are considered a great accomplishment of human genius. According to art historians, after Michelangelo, no one could repeat anything like this. Powerful, too free and extremely individual style due to the enormous talent of the artist and was beyond the reach of his many students, followers and imitators.

Baroque

At the stage of the Late Renaissance, calledmannerism, a new style is formed - baroque. It is based on the principles of absolute classicism, but the sculptural forms lose their former simplicity of lines, sincerity and nobility of the idea. The poses of the characters acquire excessive pretense and mannerisms, intricate compositions are complicated by an excess of details, and the feelings displayed are theatrically exaggerated. Most sculptors, chasing the external effect, sought to show only the skill of execution and their rich imagination, which was expressed in the careful study of numerous details, pretentiousness and piling up of forms.

However, this period is marked by extremely fine, almost jewelry technique and skill in marble dressing. Outstanding sculptors such as Giovanni Bologna (a student of Michelangelo), Bernini, Algardi masterfully conveyed the impression of movement, and not only very complex, sometimes seemingly unstable, composition and poses of figures, but also superbly carved, like sliding folds of robes. Their works are very sensual, they seem perfect and affect the deepest emotions of the viewer, riveting his attention for a long time.

It is believed that the style lasted until the end of the 18th century, manifesting itself in other directions as well. But in the 19th century, when artists reproduced only the previous stages of art, baroque features often found expression in sculpture. Such an amazing example is the marble statues with a veil by the Italian master Rafael Monti, who created the unthinkable illusion of a transparent veil from stone.

Conclusion

Throughout the 19th century, the marble statue was still under the absolute influence of strict classicism. Since the second half of the century, sculptors have been looking for new forms of expression for their ideas. However, despite the rapid spread of realism in painting, when artists sought to reflect the true reality of life, sculpture remained in the grip of academicism and romanticism for a long time.

The last twenty years of the century were marked by a realistic and naturalistic trend in the works of French sculptors Bartholome, Barrias, Carpeau, Dubois, F alter, Delaplanche, Fremier, Mercier, Garde. But mainly the work of the genius Auguste Rodin, who became the forerunner of modern art, stood out. His mature works, which often caused scandal and were criticized, embodied the features of realism, impressionism, romance and symbolism. The sculptures "Citizens of Calais", "The Thinker" and "The Kiss" are recognized as world masterpieces. Sculpture by Rodin is the first step towards the forms of the coming trends of the 20th century, when the use of marble was gradually reduced in favor of other materials.