Statue Sculpture
Definition, Types, History, Greatest Statues.

St. Mary Magdalene (c.1510) (Louvre)
Limewood statue by the Late Gothic
carver Gregor Erhart (c.1470-1540).

HISTORY OF SCULPTURE
For details of the origins and
development of the plastic arts
see: History of Sculpture.

PLASTIC ARTS
For a brief guide to the
main 3-D art forms, see:
Plastic Art.

Statues: Freestanding Sculpture

Contents

• What is a Statue?
• Types of Statue
• Greatest Statues Ever Made

What is a Statue? Definition

A statue is a freestanding figurative sculpture which depicts a person or group of people, an animal, or a scene. Essentially a work of representational art, a statue is typically made full-length or close to life-size: in contrast, a bust depicts only a head, or head and shoulders; while a statuette or figurine is a small-scale work that can be held by hand. Lastly, unlike a relief, a statue is a sculpture in the round, capable of being viewed from all sides; however, precisely because it is freestanding, a statue is considerably more restricted in the range of its subject matter than a relief. In particular, its weight must be carefully balanced, thus reducing its size and extent. As a result therefore, statues tend to depict single figures and limited groups, while reliefs are free to portray more complex pictorial subjects involving crowds, battle scenes, historical events, architectural backgrounds and so on. The finest sculptors of statues include: Donatello (1386-1466), Michelangelo (1475-1564), Cellini (1500-1571), Giambologna (1529-1608), Bernini (1598-1680), Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and others.

BEST SCULPTORS
For a list of the world's most
talented 3-D artists, see:
Greatest Sculptors.

TYPES OF SCULPTING
For different types of 3-D
carving, see:
Stone Sculpture
Granite, limestone, sandstone
and other rock-types.
Marble Sculpture
Pentelic, Carrara, Parian marbles.
Bronze Sculpture
Lost-wax casting method,
sandcasting, centrifugal casting.
Wood Carving
Chip carving, relief carving of
softwoods and hardwoods.
Relief Sculpture
Includes basso, alto, schiacciato.

GREEK STATUES
Although most surviving Greek
freestanding sculptures were
created by anonymous artists,
the most famous sculptors of
Ancient Greece include:
- Phidias (c.488-431 BCE)
- Myron (Active 480-444 BCE)
- Polykleitos (5th century BCE)
- Callimachus (Active 432-408 BCE)
- Skopas (Active 395-350 BCE)
- Lysippos (c.395-305 BCE)
- Praxiteles (Active 375-335 BCE)
- Leochares (Active 340-320 BCE)
- Chares of Lindos (3rd century BCE)
- Hagesandrus/Athenodoros/
- Polydorus (c.150-50 BCE)
- Andros of Antioch (c.150-50 BCE)

Types of Statue

Being representational, a statue cannot be wholly abstract, although it may be expressionist to the point of semi-abstraction. It can be created from traditional materials like stone, marble, bronze, clay or wood, or from contemporary media such as scrap metal, plastic, or "found" items, although this latter form of junk art is usually limited to abstract rather than representational works. Other specific types of statue or statuette include:

• Venus: type of prehistoric statuette. (See Venus Figurines)
• Kouros: a greek statue of a young man from the Archaic period (c.550 BCE)
• Kore: the female counterpart of the kouros. (See Greek sculpture)
• Column statue: figure on architectural column. (See Gothic sculpture).
• Pieta (vesperbild): Virgin Mary mourning the dead Christ. (See Michelangelo)
• Madonna and Child: the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus.
• Equestrian Statue: a sculpture of a person on a horse. (See Falconet)

Religious Sculpture

Most statues created since the birth of Christ, at least until the Age of Enlightenment, were religious in nature. Financed by the Church, either they illustrated figures from the Old/New Testaments of the Bible, or they commemorated Popes, Archbishops or other clerics. This type of religious art was especially common during the era of Romanesque sculpture (c.1000-1200) and Gothic sculpture (1150-1300), and can be seen in all the cathedrals of the time, notably Chartres, Notre Dame de Paris and Westminster Abbey.

Public Character of Statues

In keeping with its religious purpose - to impress and convert the general population - traditional statuary was essentially a type of public art. Nowadays, this situation has changed somewhat, although arguably even contemporary statues are typically created for public display. A postmodernist example is Virgin Mother (2005) sculpted by Damien Hirst, which stands in the plaza of Lever House, New York City.

Greatest Statues Ever Made

Here is a short selection of some of the world's most beautiful statues. Please note that dates are approximate. For details, see: Greatest Sculptures Ever.

• Venus of Willendorf (25,000 BCE) Oolitic limestone
• Thinker of Cernavoda (5000 BCE) Terracotta, National Museum of Romania
• Gold Bull of Maikop (2500 BCE) Gold, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
• Dancing Girl (Indus Valley Civilization) (c.2000 BCE) Bronze, New Delhi

Note About Sculpture Appreciation
To learn how to evaluate figurative statues in stone/bronze, see: How to Appreciate Modern Sculpture. For earlier works, please see: How to Appreciate Sculpture.

Greatest Ancient Statues

• Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt (2550 BCE) Stone
• Discobolus by Myron (450 BCE) Marble
• Wounded Amazon by Polykleitos (440-30 BCE) Marble
• Apollo Belvedere by Leochares (330 BCE) Marble
• Colossus of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos (280 BCE) Limestone
• Venus de Milo by Alexandros of Antioch (100 BCE) Marble
• Terracotta Army (246-208 BCE) Emperor Qin Shi's Tomb, Shaanxi, China
• Laocoon and His Sons by Hagesandrus/Athenodoros/Polydorus (42-20 BCE)
• Monolithic Moai of Easter Island (1200-1500) Tuff

See also: Medieval Sculpture and Medieval Artists.

Greatest Renaissance Statues

• David by Donatello (c.1440) Bronze
• The Head Of St Anne by Tilman Riemenschneider (c.1500) Limewood
• Mary Magdalene by Gregor Erhart ("La Belle Allemande") (c.1500) Limewood
• David by Michelangelo (1501-4) Marble
• Perseus with the head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini (1545-54) Bronze
• The Rape of the Sabine by Giambologna (1581-3) Marble