Differences between high relief and bas-relief, as well as other forms of relief

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

Bas-reliefs and high reliefs are a type of sculpture. They are used when there are so many actors in the sculptural composition that it would be too large if it were made three-dimensional. Most often they are part of an architectural structure. Reliefs are found on the walls of palaces and temples - both ancient Greek and other ancient peoples, and Christian.

Landforms

The main relief forms are bas-relief and high relief. In addition to them, two more types of reliefs are distinguished: counter-relief and koilanaglyph. These terms are less known, since the works of art they describe are rare these days and more often come from ancient civilizations or are of an applied nature. As a rule, people who come across these terms are concerned about one question: the differences between bas-relief and high relief. This is not surprising - they are quite similar in their structure and in the very idea of a convex image on the surface. Well, then it's worth revealing this secret.

Bas-relief

So, what is the difference between bas-relief and high relief? The answer can be short: in depth. A bas-relief is a shallow relief. The term comes from the French bas-relief, whichpresumably is a tracing paper from the Italian bassorilievo - low relief. The figures are, as it were, pressed into the surface and protrude from it only by half or even less. Bas-reliefs are the most popular. They appeared in the Stone Age and are found in the architecture of all ancient cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were often present on the pediments of temples. Bas-reliefs are still used today. Moreover, they decorate not only architectural structures, but also the surface of coins, medals, monuments.

High relief

High relief is high relief. The term comes from the French hautrelief, which literally means "high relief". On it, the figures can rise both to 1/2 of the depth, and completely protrude and be voluminous. They are found in ancient art, on triumphal arches. In the Renaissance, they began to be used as a means of conveying perspective.

Later, after the transition to Mannerism and then Baroque, they acquired bold and bizarre outlines, which were dictated by the unlimited imagination of sculptors. In the works of Bernini, for example, one can see a transitional form between a high relief that has completely emerged from the surface and a sculptural group. An example is "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa", the composition of which conveys an excited, enthusiastic mood.

How to tell the difference

The differences between high relief and bas-relief, as is already clear from their description, are visible on the surface. And yet, is it easy to distinguish between them for a person who does not deal with art professionally? There is one morecriterion that can be seen and felt. It is oneness with the surface. The bas-relief is often distinguished by somewhat changed proportions - its image is often flattened, which can be seen both on the facades of buildings and on coins or dishes. It is a complete unity with the surface on which it is depicted. Even the most vivid imagination can hardly separate the figures poured into the background. High relief often tends to separate. The image is more voluminous and its proportions are preserved. It gravitates toward sculptural composition. If you dream up, you can imagine it separately from the background. This is one of the most characteristic differences between bas-relief and high relief. If some details protrude and are not attached to the background - the head of the hero, the hoof of the horse, this cannot be a bas-relief. So now you can confidently discern the differences between high relief and bas-relief!

Counter-relief and coilanaglyph

Counter-relief, as the name implies, is something opposite to the relief, namely, a depressed relief, where the recesses would correspond to the protrusions. Most often it is used in matrices and seals. The print, like, for example, the image on the coins, turns out to be a bas-relief. In the avant-garde art of the 20th century, the concept of counter-relief was rethought and endowed with a new meaning. The artist and designer Tatlin called volumetric compositions of objects attached to a wall or two walls counter-reliefs. These works of art no longer had a surface, and the objects had nothing to do with the wall and were pieces of wood, paper, metal or stretched strings,combined into a whimsical composition. Some researchers suggest that this trend comes from Pablo Picasso.

Koylanaglyph can hardly be attributed to reliefs at all. It is an image with the help of in-depth contours, lines scratched into the stone. You can meet koilanaglyphs in the art of Ancient Egypt.

Now you know exactly what is the difference between a bas-relief and a high relief, as well as what a counter-relief and a coilanaglyph are. It is much more interesting for a person with this knowledge to consider architectural and sculptural structures!