Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sculpture |
SculptureNoun1. A three-dimensional work of plastic art. 2. Making figures or designs in three dimensions. Verb1. Create by shaping stone or wood or any other hard material; "sculpt a swan out of a block of ice". 2. Shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it; "She is sculpting the block of marble into an image of her husband". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sculpture" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Sculpture Fathers of French sculpture. Jean Goujon (1510-1572). Germain Pilon (1515-1590). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Marble sculpture is the art of creating three dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts. Even before painting cave walls, early humans fashioned shapes from stone. From these beginnings, artifacts have evolved to their current complexity. The point at which they became art is for the beholder to decide. In any case, sculpture's place among the greatest of human achievements is undeniable.How To - The Basics of Knocking Marble
In its simplest concept, sculpture is simply the art of breaking stone or other material into a specific shape. And breaking it is accomplished by hitting it with tools. In practice however, adhering strictly to these simple instructions will rarely result in an aesthetically pleasing product. Even the geniuses among us need to know which tools to use and how to use them.
The Tools
The Italian terms for the tools of sculpture are given here, and where possible the English terms have been included.
- La Mazza - The mallet. This is used to strike the chisels, sometimes your own hand. and, in moments of frustration, the stone itself.
- I Scalpelli - The chisels. These come in various types:
- La Subbia - a pointed chisel or punch
- L'Unghietto - Literally, "little fingernail"
- La Gradina - a chisel with multiple teeth
- Lo Scalpello - a flat chisel
- Lo Scapezzatore - a hefty chisel with a broad blunt edge, for splitting.
- Il Martello Pneumatico - Air hammer
- Il Flessibile - an angle grinder, fitted with an electrolysis-applied diamond studded blade
- Hand Drill
The Method
Good old-fashioned, hammer and point work is the most brutal technique used in working stone and the oldest: in use since Pygmalion. It consists of holding the pointed chisel against the stone and swinging the hammer at it as hard as possible. When the hammer connects with the striking end of the chisel, its energy is transferred down the length and concentrates on a single point on the surface of the block, breaking the stone all around. This is continued in a line following the desired contour. It may sound simple but many months are required to attain competence in this, with more than a few smashed fingers along the way. Most beginners instinctively hit the chisel with short quick blows, it produces a satisfactory-looking result and it's easier to hit the end of the chisel accurately. However this novices' technique is inefficient and will tire you out while digging shallow lines. A good stone worker can maintain a rhythm of relatively longer blows (about one per second), swinging the hammer in a wider arc, lifting the chisel between blows to flick out any chips that remain in the way, and repositioning it for the next blow. This way, one can drive the point deeper into the stone and remove more material at a time. Some stoneworkers also spin the subbia in their fingers between hammer blows, thus applying with each blow a different part of the point to the stone. This helps prevent the point from breaking.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Marble sculpture."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Sculpture is any three-dimensional form created as an artistic expression.Sculpting is the art of assembling or shaping an object. It may be of any size and of any suitable material.
A tree sculpture at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. This has been sculpted, with a chain saw, from a standing tree. The tree was diseased and would otherwise have been felled.
Larger version
Traditional sculpting materials are:
Modern and contemporary materials include:
- stone
- marble
- limestone
- granite
- basalt
- sandstone
- soapstone
- pipestone
- clay
- porcelain
- terracotta
- plaster
- papier mache
- metal
- bronze
- iron
- aluminum
- wood
- the environment
- textiles
- glass
- sand
- water
- ice
- snow
- liquid crystals
- many other man-made materials
- found objects
- sound
In his late writings, Joan Miro even proposed that some day sculptures might be made of gases; see gas sculpture.
Image of a sculpturePerhaps the least elitist of these media is sand, as it is used by young and old to create sand castles.
Surrealism described as "involuntary sculpture" those made by absent-mindedly manipulating something, such as rolling and unrolling a movie ticket, bending a paper clip, and so forth.
Some of the forms of sculpture are:
Perhaps the majority of public art is sculpture.
- Relief - sculpture still attached to a background, standing out from that ground in "High Relief" or "Low Relief" (bas-relief)
- Free-standing sculpture
- Mobile (See also Calder's Stabiles.)
- Statue
- Bust
- Site-Specific
- Equestrian
Sculptors include the Classical Greek masters, through Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance masters, to modern sculptors such as Henry Moore and Felix de Weldon.
The Australian copyright case of Greenfield Products Pty Ltd v. Rover-Scott Bonnar Ltd (1990) 17 IPR 417 is authority for the proposition that a thing not intended to be a sculpture is not a sculpture. This seems contrary to some famous examples of sculpture, including Marcel Duchamp's 1917 sculpture consisting of a porcelain urinal lying on its back, entitled "Fountain", and Carl Andre's sculpture "Equivalent III" exhibited in the Tate Gallery in 1978, consisting of bricks stacked in a rectangle.
See: List of sculptors
External links
See also: sculpture basic topics
- http://www.sculptor.org
- http://www.sculpture.org
- Unique mediums: (Sand) http://www.teamsandtastic.com
- http://www.greenmuseum.org The online museum of environmental art.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sculpture."
Synonyms: SculptureSynonyms: carving (n), grave (v), sculpt (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Form | Verb: form, shape, figure, fashion, efform, carve, cut, chisel, hew, cast; rough hew, rough cast; sketch; block out, hammer out; trim; lick into shape, put into shape; model, knead, work up into, set, mold, sculpture; cast, stamp; build; (construct). |
Forming; Verb: formation, figuration, efformation; sculpture; plasmation. | |
Representation | Noun: representation, representment; imitation; illustration, delineation, depictment; imagery, portraiture, iconography; design, designing; art, fine arts; painting; sculpture; engraving; photography, cinematography; radiography, autoradiography, fluorography, sciagraphy. |
Sculpture | Verb: sculpture, carve, cut, chisel, model, mold; cast. |
Noun: sculpture, insculpture; carving; Verb: statuary. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I've never quit anything in my life except for Chinese calligraphy, my Theses 2, Kangaroo Anatomy, Toe Photography, Booger sculpture and masturbation (Bio-Dome; writing credit: Adam Leff; Mitchell Peck) | |
Movie/TV Titles | David Lynn's Sculpture (1961) Sculpture moderne (1906) La Sculpture ancienne au Québec: L'Atelier des Levasseur: 1680-1794 (1982) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Marble bust of Hygeia, Goddess of Health, which now stands in front of CDC Building 1 on Clifton Road. Dedicated in December, 1970. Sculpture. Credit: CDC. |  | Fish art - a sculpture of an octopus at the Roanoke Island Aquarium. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Credit: NPS. |  | Classical allegory of the arts with female figures representing painting, sculpture, and architecture. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Hamilton flag-draped obelisk monument with relief sculpture. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Congressman with large mustache as a bust sculpture. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Sculpture in the "big studio," the workshop for the assistants of Augustus St. Gaudens, Cornish, New Hampshire. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Sculpture of an African American man beating a small drum] / p. Credit: Library of Congress; photo by A.B. Bogart.. |
 | Saint with Madonna and child sculpture and altar piece. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Classical sculpture gallery, Worcester Art Museum. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Hook sculpture" by Andy Heggs Commentary: "High contrast photo of industrial sculpture at entrance to Trafford Park, Manchester UK." | "Sculpture" by Marie@envile.net Commentary: "A sculpture of a young girls head. ." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Joseph Addison | What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to an human soul. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Sculpture and painting have the effect of teaching us manners and abolishing hurry. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Norway | Sculptor Gustav Vigeland has a permanent exhibition in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. (references) |
Nigeria | More than 2,000 years ago, the Nok culture in the present Plateau state worked iron and produced sophisticated terra cotta sculpture. (references) | |
Mozambique | Mozambique's most highly developed art forms have been wood sculpture, for which the Makonde in northern Mozambique are particularly renowned, and dance. (references) | |
Political Economy | ALGERIA | A 1973 law provides broad copyright protection for books, plays, musical compositions, films, paintings, sculpture, and photographs. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | PAINTING, n. The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic. Formerly, painting and sculpture were combined in the same work: the ancients painted their statues. The only present alliance between the two arts is that the modern painter chisels his patrons. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Sculpture" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.35% of the time. "Sculpture" is used about 1,271 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.35% | 1,250 | 6,265 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 0.79% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.79% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Unclassified Items | 0.08% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,271 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sculpture": a sculpture after rodin ♦ clay sculpture ♦ sculpture in the round. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "sculpture": body-sculpture, door-sculpture, figure-sculpture, furniture-sculpture, metope-sculpture, portrait-sculpture, relief-sculpture, temple-sculpture. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
sculpture | 3,285 | ice sculpture mold | 81 |
animal sculpture | 1,272 | wire sculpture | 81 |
contemporary sculpture | 727 | metal wall sculpture | 73 |
garden sculpture | 624 | paper sculpture | 71 |
ice sculpture | 341 | clay sculpture | 68 |
deer sculpture | 296 | floral sculpture | 63 |
glass sculpture | 290 | roman sculpture | 63 |
bronze sculpture | 254 | famous sculpture | 55 |
metal sculpture | 241 | modern sculpture | 54 |
eagle sculpture | 168 | outdoor sculpture | 48 |
wall sculpture | 165 | dragon sculpture | 46 |
sculpture art | 154 | body sculpture | 46 |
african sculpture | 149 | cork sculpture | 42 |
wood sculpture | 146 | steel sculpture | 40 |
sand sculpture | 120 | ice sculpture for wedding | 40 |
austin sculpture | 119 | abstract sculpture | 38 |
greek sculpture | 96 | shona sculpture | 38 |
stone sculpture | 86 | ceramic sculpture | 38 |
balloon sculpture | 85 | sculpture gallery | 37 |
grounds for sculpture | 82 | wildlife sculpture | 36 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "sculpture"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | beeldhouwerk, beeldhou (carve). (various references) | |
Albanian | skulpturë (imagery, stabile), skalit (carve, chase, engrave, incise, inscribe, sculp, sculpt), skalis (carve, chase, engrave, incise, inscribe, sculp, sculpt), zbukuroj me skulptura, gdhend (adz, adze, carve, chase, chisel, die, enchase, engrave, gouge, incise, inscribe, intaglio, Nick, polish, rasp, refine, sculp, sculpt, shape, shave). (various references) | |
Arabic | فن النحت, نحت (boast, carving, chisel, erode, gouge, incise, pattern, scratch, sculpt), نحات (sculptor, statuary), تمثيل (creation, mayhem, performance, personification, picture, play, representation, sham, torture), صنع التماثيل, إشتغل مثالا. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | статуя (carved, effigy, image, statue), украсявам със скулптура, скулптура (chisel, plastic arts, round, statuary, statue), вая (chisel, sculp, sculpt), вдлъбнати очертания по растение, вдлъбнати очертания по мида, извайвам (chisel, sculp, sculpt), изпъкнали очертания по растение, изпъкнали очертания по мида. (various references) | |
Chinese | 雕塑 (sculpt; carve). (various references) | |
Czech | sochařství (statuary), socha (statue), skulptura, tesat (carve, cut, hew), modelovat (model, mould). (various references) | |
Danish | skulptur. (various references) | |
Dutch | uithouwen (carve), uithakken (carve), beeldhouwwerk, beeldhouwen (carve). (various references) | |
Esperanto | skulpturo, skulpti (carve), skulptaĵo. (various references) | |
Faeroese | skera út (carve), høgga út (carve, chisel). (various references) | |
Farsi | پیکرتراشی , مجسمه سازی (Imagery, Plastic), سنگتراشی کردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | veistotaide, kuvanveistotaide, kuvanveisto. (various references) | |
French | sculpture (sculpting). (various references) | |
German | Skulptur, meißeln (carve, carve out, chisel, to chisel, to sculpture), hauen (bash, beat, belt, carve, chop, chuck, clap, clobber, clout, conk, cut, cutting, fling, hack, hew, hewed, hit, hoes, knock, lash out, make a thrust, quarry, shove, slap, slash, sock, strike, thump, to bash), Bildhauerei (statuary). (various references) | |
Greek | γλυπτική, γλυπτό. (various references) | |
Hebrew | פסלות, פסל (bust, statuary, statue), פסול (carving, defective, disqualified, fault, hewing, ineligible, invalid, rejected, sculpturing, unfit), חטוב (carved, carving, cut, shapely). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szobrászat (chisel, statuary), szobrász (sculptor, statuary). (various references) | |
Indonesian | seni pahat. (various references) | |
Italian | scultura. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 彫刻 (carving, engraving). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ほりもの (carving, engraving, tattooing), スカルプチャー , ちょうぞう (carved statue, graven image), ちょうこくじゅつ (engraving, the plastic art), ちょうこく (carving, conquering, engraving, founding of a state, getting over, overcoming, surmounting). (various references) | |
Korean | 조각품. (various references) | |
Manx | jannoo jalloo, jallooghey, jallooderys, jalloo (altarpiece, bust, carving, drawing, effigy, figure, guy, icon, idol, image, joss, painting, picture, statue), grainnaghey (carve, carving, chase, engrave, grave, graving, incise, inlay, inscribe, tool). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ulpturescay.(various references) | |
Polish | rzeźba. (various references) | |
Portuguese | escultura (carving, marble, sculp). (various references) | |
Romanian | sculpturã (statuary, statue), sculpta (carve, cast, chisel, grave), orna cu statui faţadã, orna cu sculpturi faţadã, dãltui (chip, chisel). (various references) | |
Russian | скульптура (sculpt, statuary). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | skulptura (sculpt, statue), vajati (carve, sculp), izvajati (model). (various references) | |
Spanish | escultura (carving). (various references) | |
Swedish | skulptur, skulptera (carve, sculpt). (various references) | |
Thai | แกะสลัก (etch in, sculpt), การแกะสลัก, รูปแกะสลัก. (various references) | |
Turkish | yontmak (chip, chisel, cut, fair, fine away, fine down, hack, hew, lick into shape, pare, pare off, sculp, sculpt, skive, Whittle), oymak (bore, boy-scout troop, carve, cave, cave in, chase, chisel, clan, cut, engrave, etch, excavate, gouge, gouge out, grave, hollow, hollow out, incise, recess, scoop out, sculp, sculpt, trace over, tribe), oyma işi (engraving, fretwork, intaglio), oyma (carving, engraving, glyph, graven, intaglio), heykeltraşlık yapmak (sculp, sculpt), heykeltraşlık (sculp, sculpt, statuary), heykelini yapmak (sculp, sculpt), heykelcik (figurine, statuette). (various references) | |
Turkmen | skulptora (r). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | скульптура (imagery, statuary), складки на земній корі, гравюра (engraving, etching, print), вивітрювати, ліпити (model, sculpt), прикрашати скульптурами. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thuật điêu khắc (sculp). (various references) | |
Welsh | cerfwaith (carving), cerfluniaeth. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | sculptura. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sculpture": sculptured, sculptures, sculpturesque, sculpturesquely. (additional references) | |
| |
"Sculpture" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sculptur. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sculpture" (pronounced sku"lpkher) |
| 3 | -p kh er | enrapture, capture, rapture, recapture, rupture, Scripture. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-l-p-r-s-t-u-u" | |
-1 letter: cultures, cutpurse, resculpt. | |
-2 letters: cluster, culture, cupules, cutlers, pluteus, precuts, pustule, relucts, scruple, spurtle, upcurls. | |
-3 letters: cruets, cruset, culets, cultus, cupels, cupule, curets, curule, cutler, cutups, eructs, erupts, letups, lucres, luster, lustre, precut, pulers, pulser, purest, pursue, rectus, recuts, reluct, result, rustle, sculpt, spruce, sutler, suture, truces, ulcers, ulster, upcurl, uterus. | |
-4 letters: celts, clept. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-l-p-r-s-t-u-u" | |
+1 letter: sculptured, sculptures. | |
+2 letters: apicultures. | |
+3 letters: pisciculture, pulchritudes, supercluster. | |
+4 letters: picturesquely, piscicultures, sculpturesque, superclusters, unspectacular. | |
+5 letters: percutaneously, proventriculus, quadruplicates, scrupulosities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
