Sculpture

A

Prehistoric Sculpture

In 2007 archaeologists reported the discovery of a large figure, thought to be that of a python, carved from rock in a historically important cave in the Kalahari Desert, together with tools believed to be 70,000 years old, making it the earliest known sculpted object. In Europe the earliest known sculpted objects are cut from ivory, horn, bone, or stone, and are some 27,000 to 32,000 years old. A small ivory horse with graceful, curving lines is among the oldest of these objects; it was found in a cave in Germany. Also excavated from the cumulative debris on prehistoric cave floors are little stone female figurines carved with emphasis on the reproductive organs, the breasts, and the buttocks. These figures are thought to represent fertility goddesses and are therefore referred to as Venus figures. One such figure, the so-called Venus of Willendorf (c. 24,000-22,000 bc; Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna), with bulbous proportions although a mere 11.25 cm (4.5 in) high, was painted red. In Jericho, human skulls covered with plaster were naturalistically rendered some 9,000 years ago.

B

Egyptian Sculpture

Among the oldest Egyptian sculptures is a piece of slate carved in low relief, known as the Palette of King Narmer (c. 3100 bc, Egyptian Museum, Cairo). It portrays the victory of Upper over Lower Egypt, depicting kings, armies, servants, and various animals. The kings (pharaohs) were also commemorated in magnificent life-size statues, set in funerary temples and tombs (see Egyptian Art and Architecture). Not true portraits, these sculptures are idealized representations, with almost standardized features and a fixed gaze, and always depicted in a frontal pose. Strong geometric emphasis was given to the body, with the shoulders and chest plane resembling an inverted triangle, as in a carved diorite sculpture (c. 2530 bc, Egyptian Museum) of the pharaoh Khafre. During the reign of Akhenaton, greater naturalism was attained, as seen in the exquisite painted limestone portrait bust (c. 1365 bc, Staatliche Museen, Berlin) of his queen Nefertiti.

C

Mesopotamian Sculpture

Mesopotamian art is the product of several civilizations: Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian (see Mesopotamian Art and Architecture). About 2600 bc the Sumerians were carving small marble deities noted for their wide, staring eyes. Other details—hair, facial expression, body, and clothing—were schematically treated with little attention paid to achieving a likeness. These qualities remained characteristic of later Mesopotamian sculpture. The Mesopotamians were also fond of portraying animals and did so with great skill, as can be seen on palace gates and reliefs on walls during the Assyrian period (1000-612 bc; examples in British Museum, London, and Metropolitan Museum, New York).

D

Aegean and Greek Sculpture

Aegean art includes Minoan sculpture, such as terracotta and ivory statuettes of goddesses, and Mycenaean works, among which are small carved ivory deities. The Greeks, masters of stone carving and bronze casting, created some of the greatest sculpture known. Between the 7th and 1st centuries bc, working on a monumental scale, they brought to perfection the depiction of the human form. In the earliest period, the Archaic, figures appeared rigid and bodies were schematized along geometric lines, as in Egyptian art. By the Classical period, in the 5th and 4th centuries bc, however, naturalism was attained; figures were well proportioned and shown in movement, although faces remained immobile. Gods and athletes were favourite subjects during this period and for the first time we know sculptors by name such as Phidias, who was responsible for the architectural sculpture made for the Parthenon in Athens. Praxiteles is credited with being the first Greek sculptor to have depicted the female nude. During the Hellenistic period (4th-1st century bc), works became increasingly expressive, as reflected in facial features and complicated poses. The Nike of Samothráki, or Winged Victory (c. 190 bc, Louvre, Paris), is a highly dramatic masterpiece from this time. See Aegean Civilization; Greek Art and Architecture.

E

Etruscan and Roman Sculpture

The Etruscans, who inhabited the area of Italy between Florence and Rome from the 8th to the 3rd century bc, made life-size terracotta sculptures portraying gods; they also depicted themselves, in reclining positions, on the lids of terracotta sarcophagi (coffins). Superb bronze sculptures were also created, such as the She-Wolf (c. 500 bc, Museo Capitolino, Rome), which became the symbol of Rome.

The Romans were avid collectors and imitators of Greek sculpture, and modern historians are indebted to their copies for knowledge of lost Greek originals. Their distinctive contribution to the art of sculpture was realistic portraiture, in which they recorded even the homeliest facial details. The Romans' sense of the importance of historic events was expressed in free-standing and in relief sculpture; commemorative monuments in Rome include the Arch of Titus (c. ad 81), Trajan’s Column (c. 106-113), and the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (c. 175). The latter became the prototype for most later equestrian sculptures. See Etruscan Civilization: Art and Architecture; Roman Art and Architecture.