Marble Sculpture (c.600 BCE - present)
Probably the most popular material used in sculpture, marble's translucency and durability has made it the medium of choice for all the greatest sculptors, including Greek artists like Phidias, Myron, Polykleitos, and Praxiteles, as well as their successors Donatello, Michelangelo, Bernini, Canova, and Rodin. Marble has been used equally for relief sculpture and friezes, as well as the free-standing statue. In fact, ever since the invention of metal tools during the Bronze Age, marble stone has been highly prized by sculptors and architects alike. During the Renaissance, Michelangelo (1475-1564) famously described stone sculpture as the slow release of a form as it emerged out of the block. He said that it was his role as an artist to liberate the human form trapped inside the block by gradually chipping away at the stone surface. Famous examples of marble sculpture include masterpieces like: the Parthenon Reliefs (446-430 BCE), The Apollo Belvedere (330 BCE), Venus de Milo (100 BCE), Trajan's Column reliefs (113 CE), David by Michelangelo (1501-4), Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women (1581-3), Canova's Apollo Crowning Himself (1781), Rodin's The Kiss (1888-9) and Daniel Chester French's Statue of Lincoln (1922).
The stone we call marble is a metamorphic rock (mostly composed of calcite, a type of calcium carbonate) formed as a result of changes brought about in the structure of sedimentary or igneous rocks by extreme pressure or heat. Sculptors like marble because, while relatively soft and easy to work when first quarried, it becomes extremely hard and dense with age, and is also available in a variety of shades and patterns. White marbles are especially prized for fine art sculpture because of their relative isotropy and homogeneity, and resistance to shattering. In addition, the low refractory index of refraction of calcite permits light to penetrate into the stone (as it does the human skin), resulting in the typical "waxy" look which gives the stone a human appearance. Marble can also be highly polished, making it ideal for decorative work. Compared to the next best alternative stone, limestone, marble possesses a much finer grain, which makes it much easier for the sculptor to render minute detail. Marble is also more weather resistant.
There are drawbacks, however. Marble is rarer, therefore more expensive than several other types of rock used in stone sculpture. It is also extremely heavy, making transportation difficult. Also, compared to bronze, marble has a lower tensile strength and is vulnerable to cracking when extended (ballet-style) poses are attempted. It is significantly less weather-resistant than granite, and does not handle well as it absorbs skin oils, causing staining.
The most popular types of marble stone employed in sculpture are Pentelic, Parian and Carrara marble. During Classical Antiquity, the most famous type was the close-grained, golden-toned Pentelic variety, quarried at Mount Pentelicon in Attica. The fragments of High Classical Greek sculpture obtained by the Earl of Elgin from the Parthenon in Athens, in 1801-3, known as the Elgin Marbles, were carved in Pentelic. Another popular variety was Parian marble, a coarser-grained but translucent white stone obtained from the Aegean islands of Naxos and Paros. This type was used to create the renowned Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. A third type, used for the masterpiece Apollo Belvedere (c.330 BCE), was the pure white Carrara marble, found at Carrara and Pietra Santa in Tuscany. It was a popular material in Italian Renaissance sculpture and the favourite of the Florentine artist Michelangelo.
Marble differs from one variety to another, usually because of colour, texture, weathering, and chemical composition. Although famous for its pure white surface, this look was actually avoided by Greek sculptors because it made it difficult to see the gentle curves of a body's muscles. The most typical colour seen in Greek sculpture is actually an off-white.
The creation of a large-scale marble statue, which on average took a Greek sculptor roughly 12 months to complete - involves a number of steps:
From the era of Early Classical Greek sculpture onwards (480-450), no statue was complete until it was painted and decorated. Such painting was a specialist task performed by expert painter. Colour schemes varied, but as a general rule, statues or reliefs that were located high up and whose details were less visible to observers - like the Parthenon frieze - were decorated with brighter, more non-naturalistic colour pigments: hair, for instance, might be painted orange. Whereas those sculptures positioned nearer to the ground - like those on the Alexander Sarcophagus - were painted with more realistic colours. Sometimes the skin was painted, sometimes not; but eyes, eyebrows, eyelids, and eyelashes were invariably coloured, as was the hair. In the case of important figurative sculptures, eyes might be inset with coloured enamel or glass, while copper might be applied to the nipples of the chest. For more details, see: Classical Colour Palette.
Successful sculptors were rarely involved in all the 5 steps outlined above. Usually, all they did was to create the initial clay/wax model, after which they relied on their workshop assistants to copy the clay design onto the marble. This procedure worked well during the era of early Greek sculpture (c.650-500 BCE), when the rigid Egyptian-style kore and kouros figures were designed according to an unvarying system of proportions, which was easily copyable from clay to marble. But as the shape of statues became more complex and naturalistic, the system of proportions was rendered obsolete and the whole process of replicating the original clay design in marble became more difficult. In due course, a grid system was adopted, which lasted beyond the era of Hellenistic Greek sculpture, whereby a number of "points" on the original clay model would be measured, then multiplied in size according to the rate of enlargement. These new measurements would then be marked on the marble block, and carefully followed during the carving process. The scheme remained problematical, however, and led frequently to marble statues being produced that were noticeably inferior to the clay originals.
Prior to Classical Antiquity, stone sculpture was generally made from limestone, sandstone, gypsum, alabaster, jade or clay. Only from the era of Greek Archaic sculpture (c.650-480 BCE) onwards, was marble used on a regular basis - initially to make the standing nude male (kouros) and the standing draped female (kore). During Classical Greek sculpture (c.480-323), which witnessed the glorious reliefs of the Parthenon, bronze sculpture became equally important. Marble was also important in Roman sculpture - especially Roman relief sculpture. The discovery and proximity of marble stone quarries (for Pentelic, Carrara and Parian varieties of the stone) was also an important factor in its use for sculptural purposes, as was its cost: two reasons why it was not generally used to decorate the hundreds of cathedrals, abbeys and churches that were built during the era of Romanesque and Gothic sculpture.
On the other hand, Renaissance sculptors had more money to spend, thus Michelangelo used marble to create his masterpiece David (1501-4, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence), as well as his Pieta (1497-9) for St Peter's Basilica.
It is worth remembering that most original Greek bronzes were melted down or lost, but also, that the Romans made numerous marble copies of bronzes they knew about. As a result, Greek and Roman sculpture became strongly associated with marble, which was another reason why Renaissance artists - fired with a desire to rejuvenate the art of Classical Antiquity - preferred it to ordinary stone. Furthermore, after the Renaissance, marble remained the material of choice for all exponents of classicism, from Bernini and Algardi from the era of 17th century Baroque sculpture, to Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen of the school of Neoclassical sculpture (1750-1850). The superiority of marble was propagated throughout all the European academies of art, until the beginning of the 20th century.
Famous marble statuary and friezes can be seen in a number of the world's best art museums and sculpture gardens. Masterpieces include:
Neolithic Marble Sculptures
- Female Figurine (c.4250 BCE) Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Archaic Greek Marble Sculpture
- Kleobis and Biton (610-580 BCE) Archeological
Museum of Delphi.
Classical Greek Marble Sculpture
- Leda and the Swan (500-450) Capitoline
Museum. By Timotheus.
Hellenistic Greek Marble Sculpture
- Dying Gaul (240) Bronze copy, Capitoline
Museum. By Epigonus.
- Portrait Bust of Julius Caesar (c.25
BCE) Vatican Museums.
Renaissance Marble Sculpture
- Fonte Gaia (1414-19) Palazzo Pubblico,
Siena. By Jacopo della Quercia.
- The Rape of the Sabine (1581-3) Florence.
Neoclassical Marble Sculpture
- Apollo (1715) State Art Collection, Dresden.
By Balthasar Permoser.
Modern Marble Sculpture
- Tarcisius, Christian Martyr (1868) Musee
d'Orsay. By Falguiere.
For more about marble sculpture, see: Visual Arts Encyclopedia.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCULPTURE
Mfano wa marumaru (C. 600 BC - sasa) ni vifaa maarufu zaidi kutumika katika uchongaji, translucency marble na uimara imefanya ni kati ya uchaguzi kwa ajili ya wachongaji wote kubwa, ikiwa ni pamoja na wasanii wa Kigiriki kama Phidias, Myron, Polykleitos, na Praxiteles, kama vile wafuasi wao Donatello, Michelangelo, Bernini, Canova, na Rodin. Mawe ya marumaru yametumiwa kwa usawa kwa ajili ya sanamu za kuchongwa na friezes, na pia sanamu za kusimama kwa uhuru. Tangu kuanzishwa kwa vifaa vya chuma katika Enzi ya Shaba, mawe ya marumaru yamekuwa yakithaminiwa sana na wachongaji na wasanifu-ujenzi. "Mwanzoni mwa Enzi ya Renaissance, Michelangelo (1475-1564) alielezea sanamu za mawe kama ""kufunguliwa polepole kwa fomu"" wakati ilionekana kutoka kwa block." Alisema kuwa jukumu lake kama msanii ni kuikomboa mwili wa binadamu uliofungwa ndani ya jiwe kwa kuondoa hatua kwa hatua uso wa jiwe. "Mfano maarufu wa sanamu za marumaru ni: ""Partenon Reliefs"" (446-430 KK), ""Apollo Belvedere"" (330 KK), ""Venus de Milo"" (113 KK), ""David"" (1501-1544) na ""Rape of the Sabine Women"" (1581-1582) na ""The Kiss"" (1888-1782) na ""The Statue of Lincoln"" (1882-1922)." Jiwe la marumaru ni mwamba wa metamorphic (mengi ya hayo ni calcite, aina ya calcium carbonate) iliyoundwa kama matokeo ya mabadiliko yaliyoletwa katika muundo wa miamba ya sedimentary au igneous na shinikizo kali au joto. Kwa sababu marumaru ni laini na rahisi kufanya kazi wakati wa kuchimbwa, inakuwa ngumu sana na nzito na umri, na inapatikana katika rangi na muundo mbalimbali. Marumaru meupe ni hasa thamani kwa ajili ya sanamu sanamu kwa sababu ya isotropy yao ya jamaa na homogeneity, na upinzani wa kuvunjika. Kwa kuongezea, kiwango cha chini cha refractory cha calcite inaruhusu mwanga kupenya ndani ya jiwe (kama inavyofanya ngozi ya binadamu), na kusababisha muonekano wa kawaida wa waxy ambao unatoa jiwe muonekano wa binadamu. Pia marumaru yaweza kupakwa rangi nzuri sana, na hivyo inafaa sana kwa ajili ya kazi za mapambo. Ikilinganishwa na jiwe jingine bora, jiwe la chokaa, marumaru ina nafaka nzuri zaidi, ambayo hufanya iwe rahisi kwa mchongaji kutoa maelezo madogo. Pia marumaru huvumilia hali ya hewa vizuri zaidi. Hata hivyo, kuna mambo fulani yasiyofaa. Jiwe la marumaru ni nadra zaidi, kwa hiyo ni ghali zaidi kuliko aina nyingine kadhaa za miamba inayotumiwa katika uchongaji wa mawe. Pia ni nzito sana, na hivyo ni vigumu kusafirisha. Pia, ikilinganishwa na shaba, marumaru ina nguvu ya chini ya kuvuta na ni dhaifu kwa kupasuka wakati wa kupanua (style ya ballet) inaweka ni walijaribu. Ni kwa kiasi kikubwa chini ya hali ya hewa sugu kuliko granite, na haina kushughulikia vizuri kama ni absorbs mafuta ngozi, kusababisha staining. Aina maarufu zaidi za mawe ya marumaru yanayotumiwa katika uchongaji ni marumaru ya Pentelic, Parian na Carrara. Katika nyakati za kale, aina maarufu zaidi ilikuwa aina ya Pentelic yenye rangi ya dhahabu, iliyotengenezwa kwenye Mlima Pentelicon huko Attica. "Mabaki ya sanamu za kale za Kigiriki zilizopatikana na Earl wa Elgin kutoka Parthenon huko Athens, katika 1801, na kupewa jina la ""Elgin Marbles,"" zilikuwa zimetengenezwa kwa Penteli." Aina nyingine iliyopendwa sana ilikuwa marumaru ya Parian, jiwe jeupe lenye chembechembe lakini lenye rangi nyangavu lililopatikana katika visiwa vya Naxos na Paros vya Aegea. Aina hiyo ilitumiwa kutengeneza Mausoleum maarufu ya Halicarnassus. Mfano wa tatu, uliotumiwa kwa ajili ya kazi kuu ya Apollo Belvedere (C. 330 KK), ulikuwa marumaru safi ya Carrara, iliyopatikana huko Carrara na Pietra Santa huko Tuscany. Ilikuwa nyenzo maarufu katika sanamu za Renaissance za Italia na ilipendwa na msanii wa Florentine Michelangelo. Marumaru hutofautiana kutoka aina moja hadi nyingine, kwa kawaida kwa sababu ya rangi, muundo, hali ya hewa, na muundo wa kemikali. Ingawa rangi hiyo ilikuwa nyeupe, wachongaji Wagiriki walipuuza rangi hiyo kwa sababu ilifanya iwe vigumu kuona miundo ya misuli ya mwili. Rangi ya kawaida zaidi inayoonekana katika sanamu za Kigiriki kwa kweli ni nyeupe-nyeupe. Uumbaji wa sanamu kubwa ya marumaru, ambayo kwa wastani ilichukua mchongaji wa Kigiriki karibu miezi 12 kukamilisha - inahusisha hatua kadhaa: Kuanzia enzi ya sanamu ya Kigiriki ya mapema ya Classical (480-450), hakuna sanamu iliyokamilika hadi ilipochorwa na kupambwa. Uchoraji kama huo ulikuwa kazi ya pekee iliyofanywa na mchoraji stadi. Rangi zilitofautiana, lakini kwa kawaida sanamu au michoro iliyokuwa juu na ambayo maelezo yake hayakuonekana sana kwa watazamaji - kama vile frieze ya Parthenon - ilipambwa kwa rangi nyangavu, isiyo ya asili: nywele, kwa mfano, zingeweza kupakwa rangi ya machungwa. Wakati huohuo sanamu hizo zilizowekwa karibu na ardhi - kama zile zilizo kwenye Sarkofago ya Aleksanda - zilipakwa rangi zenye uhalisi zaidi. Nyakati nyingine ngozi ilikuwa imechorwa, nyakati nyingine haikuwa; lakini macho, vipepeo, paji la macho, na manyoya yalikuwa na rangi ya kawaida, kama vile nywele. Katika picha za mfano, macho yanaweza kuingizwa kwa enamel au kioo cha rangi, wakati shaba inaweza kutumika kwenye nywele za kifua. Kwa maelezo zaidi, angalia: Classical Color Palette. Kwa mfano, mchongaji mwenye mafanikio hujiunga mara chache katika hatua zote tano zilizotajwa hapo juu. Kwa kawaida, walifanya tu kuunda mfano wa kwanza wa udongo na nta, kisha wakawaomba wasaidizi wao wa karakana wakirekodi muundo wa udongo kwenye marumaru. Utaratibu huu ulifanya kazi vizuri katika enzi ya uchongaji wa mapema wa Kigiriki (c.650-500 KK), wakati sanamu ngumu za koros na koros za mtindo wa Misri zilipobuniwa kulingana na mfumo wa vipimo usio na mabadiliko, ambao ulirekodiwa kwa urahisi kutoka udongo hadi marumaru. Lakini kwa kuwa umbo la sanamu lilizidi kuwa tata na la asili, mfumo wa vipimo ulionekana kuwa wa kizamani na mchakato mzima wa kuiga muundo wa udongo wa awali katika marumaru ukawa mgumu zaidi. Baada ya muda, mfumo wa gridi ulianzishwa, ambao ulidumu zaidi ya enzi ya sanamu za Kigiriki za Kigiriki za Kihellenisti, ambapo idadi ya "ncha" kwenye mfano wa udongo wa awali zilipimwa, kisha ziliongezwa ukubwa kulingana na kiwango cha upanuzi. Kisha vipimo hivyo vipya vingeandikwa kwenye jiwe la marumaru, na kufuatwa kwa uangalifu wakati wa kuchonga. Hata hivyo, mpango huo ulibaki kuwa na matatizo, na mara nyingi ulisababisha sanamu za marumaru zitokezwe ambazo zilikuwa za hali ya chini sana kuliko sanamu za udongo. Kabla ya Enzi za Kale, sanamu za mawe kwa ujumla zilitengenezwa kwa mawe ya chokaa, mawe ya mchanga, gypsum, alabaster, jade au udongo. Kuanzia enzi ya sanamu za kale za Kigiriki (C.650-480 KK) na kuendelea, marumaru ilitumiwa kwa ukawaida - mwanzoni kutengeneza wanaume waliosimama uchi (kouros) na wanawake waliosimama waliofungwa (kore). Katika ukumbi wa sanamu wa Kigiriki wa kale (mwaka 480-323 KK), ambapo sanamu za shaba zilitengenezwa kwa ukumbi wa Parthenon, sanamu za shaba zilikuwa muhimu sana. Mawe ya marumaru yalikuwa muhimu pia katika sanamu za Kiroma - hasa sanamu za Kiroma za kuchonga. Ugunduzi na ukaribu wa marumaru (kwa aina ya Pentel, Carrara na Parian) pia ulikuwa sababu muhimu katika matumizi yake kwa madhumuni ya sanamu, kama vile gharama yake: sababu mbili kwa nini haikutumiwa kwa ujumla kupamba mamia ya makanisa, abbeys na makanisa yaliyojengwa wakati wa enzi ya Romanesque na Gothic. Kwa upande mwingine, wasanii wa Renaissance walikuwa na pesa zaidi za kutumia, kwa hivyo Michelangelo alitumia marumaru kuunda kazi yake kuu David (1501-1544, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence), na pia Pietà (1497-1499) kwa Basilica ya St. Peter. Ni muhimu kukumbuka kwamba sehemu kubwa ya sanamu za awali za Kigiriki za shaba ziliyeyushwa au kupotea, lakini pia, Waroma walifanya nakala nyingi za marumaru za sanamu za shaba walizozijua. Kwa sababu hiyo, sanamu za Wagiriki na Waroma zilihusianishwa sana na marumaru, na hiyo ndiyo sababu nyingine iliyowafanya wasanii wa Enzi ya Renaissance - waliochomwa na tamaa ya kurejesha sanaa ya Enzi za Kale - kuipendelea kuliko mawe ya kawaida. Baada ya Renaissance, marumaru ilibaki kuwa nyenzo ya kuchagua kwa waigizaji wote wa classicism, kutoka Bernini na Algardi kutoka enzi ya sanamu ya karne ya 17 hadi Antonio Canova na Bertol Thorvaldsen wa shule ya sanamu ya Neoclassical (1750-1850). Ubora wa marumaru ulitangazwa katika vyuo vikuu vyote vya Ulaya vya sanaa hadi mwanzo wa karne ya 20. Sanamu maarufu za marumaru na michoro ya mawe yaweza kuonekana katika majumba kadhaa bora zaidi ya makumbusho ya sanaa na bustani za sanamu ulimwenguni. "Mfano wa ""Neolithic Marble Sculptures"" ni mfano wa ""Mwanamke Figurine"" (C.4250 BC) na ""Mwanamke Figurine"" (C.4250 BC) ni mfano wa ""Mwanamke Figurine"" na ""Mwanamke Figurine"" ni mfano wa ""Mwanamke Figurine"" na ""Mwanamke Figurine"" ni mfano wa ""Mwanamke Figurine"" na ""Mwanamke Figurine.""" Mfano wa mchoro wa marumaru wa Kigiriki wa kale - Kleobi na Biton (610-580 KK) Makumbusho ya Archaeological ya Delphi. Sanamu ya Marumaru ya Kigiriki ya Kale - Leda na Swan (500-450) Makumbusho ya Capitoline. Kwa Timotheo. Sanamu ya Marumaru ya Kigiriki ya Kihellenisti - Gaul Anayefa (240) Nakala ya Shaba, Jumba la Makumbusho la Capitoline. Kwa Epigonus. Picha ya Bust ya Julius Caesar (C.25 BC) Sanamu ya Marumaru ya Renaissance - Fonte Gaia (1414-19) Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Kwa Jacopo della Quercia. "Kutoka kwa ""The Rape of the Sabine"" (1581-1533) - Florence" Sanamu ya Neoclassical Marble - Apollo (1715) Mkusanyiko wa Sanaa ya Jimbo, Dresden. Kwa Balthasar Permoser. Sanamu ya kisasa ya marumaru - Tarcisius, Mkristo Martyr (1868) Musee d'Orsay. Kwa Falguiere. Kwa habari zaidi kuhusu sanamu za marumaru, angalia: Visual Arts Encyclopedia. EYCLOPEDIA YA UTABARI