ANCIENT TO RENAISSANCEWESTERN SCULPTURE

VENUS OF WILLENDORF 25.0000 BC LIMESTONE 4 3/8 INCHES TALL AUSTRIAVOLPUTOUS BODY SUGGESTS PLENTY OF FOOD SUPPLY, PREGANCY AND HEALTH. OBJECT MAY HAVE

BEEN PLACED IN THE GROUND TO GUARANTEE A GOOD SUPPLY OF FOOD

MYCERINUS AND HIS QUEEN 2470 BC SLATE 56 INCHES TALL EGYPTCARVED FROM A SINGLE BLOCK OF SLATE

FRONTAL AND STYLIZED POSE PLACED IN GRAVESITE ( PYRAMID ) TO HOUSE KA ( SOUL )

SEATED SCRIBE PAINTED LIMESTONE 2400 BC 21 INCHES TALL EGYPTSCRIBE WAS AN HONORED POSITION IN

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SOCIETY. SCRIBE WAS CRAFTSMAN WOULD COULD WRITE.SCULPTURE IS CARVED IN A NATURALIST MANNER.

• STATUE OF YOUTH, KOUROUS 600 BC MARBLE 76 INCHES TALL GREECE

• ARCHAIC PERIOD- STYLIZED AND STIFF• LIFE SIZE FIGURE REPRESENTS EITHER

APPOLLO OR IDEAL ATHLETE• FREE STANDING FIGURE• ARCHAIC SMILE REPRESENTS LIFE INSIDE

FIGURE SINCE STATUE IS SO RIGID.

KRITIOS BOY 480 BC MARBLE 34 INCES TALL GREECECLASSIC PERIOD-MORE NATURALIST POSE

CONTRAPPOSTO-COUNTERPOSE USED TO SHOW WHERE THE LEG IS IN A FORWARD POSITION. MAKES POSE SEEM MORE NATURAL AND RELAXED. Most Greek sculptures were part of a buildings frieze or pediment.

Sculptures on Pediments and Friezes.Pediment-triangular area on the top of a building

Frieze-long horizontal band along the top of a building

DYING GAUL LIFE SIZE 230 BC MARBLE ROMAN COPY OF BRONZE GREEK ORIGINALHellenistic –Period when civilization was in decline. Aesthetics emphasized detail, realism and emotion. Depicts dying

enemy soldier in a sympathetic way.

Roman sculpture

• Emphasized realism- initially used death mask method. These masks were displayed in the home as a form of ancestor worship.

• Romans created the bust. Bust-image of a person from the chest up emphasizing the face.

• Sculpture was used to show the power of the empire. Portraits of rulers were placed throughout the state.

Roman busts

Bust concept carries over to functional objects such as coins.

Constantine the Great, about 330AD, marble, 8 feet tallEarly Christian sculpture. Head was part of a larger full figure sculpture. Face was

idealized unlike earlier period. Large features created shadows instead of paint. Influence of Classic Greek sculpture.

Gothic period, Notre Dame, Paris, France, 12th century, various materialsVery little free standing sculpture during the Gothic period. Relief sculpture-carved on the sides of Cathedrals. Gargoyles were orginally functional sculptures used as water

spouts like a gutter drain..

Donatello, David, 1430, Bronze, 62 inches tallFlorence, Italy

• First free standing nude sculpture since ancient Greek, Roman times.

• Narrative is symbolic of over Christ over sin and Florence over its enemies ( civic pride ).

• Depicts Neo-Platonism with mixture of contemporary armor and laurel wreath.

• Neo-Platonism-philosophy that merges classic Greek ideas with Christian faith.

• Contrapposto and nude influenced by classical Greek style.

Left-Donatello, Gattamelata, Equestrian Statue,1445, 11 by 13 feetFirst equestrian statue since ancient Roman times (see statue of Marcus Auerlius on right ).

Donatello’s sculpture depicts a Venetian general in a pose usually reserved for rulers.

• Donatello’s later work was more expressive and overtly spiritual.

• Mary Magdalene,1453, approx. life size, wood with gold.

Michelangelo, Pieta, 1500, Marble, 68 inches tall

• Completed when Michelangelo was 24 years old.

• Carved from a single block of marble.• Scale of figures are distorted to create

emotional impact.• Work is signed on the band across

Mary’s chest.

Michelangelo, David, Marble, 1504, 13.5 feet

• Another example of contrapposto

• Echoes Greek Classical and Hellenistic period.

• Compare to Donatello’s version-figure is larger, more manly, no obvious symbolism.

• Commissioned as a symbol of the Florentine republic.

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• Michelangelo was a painter, architect, poet and SCULPTOR. A Renaissance man.

• He believed sculpture was superior to painting.

• Michelangelo believed art expressed human beauty because the body is the outward indication of divine spirit.

• This idea was borrowed from the ancient Greeks.

• Michelangelo believed creating was a divine act. He believed he was releasing a trapped figure inside of a marble block.

Bernini, St. Teresa in Ecstasy, 1652, Marble and bronze

• Bernini was an artist with a background in theatre, stage and scene design.

• He was a Baroque artist. Baroque art was a period after the Renaissance. Baroque emphasized extravagance, the dynamic, ornamentation and the theatrical.

• St. Teresa was a Spanish mystic figure and important influence in the Counter-Reformation.

Bernini’s depiction of David.