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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. Marble sculpture found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ...
The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). ...
Material origin and qualities
 The West Wind by Gould, 1876 - Main article: Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite (a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, CaCO3). The original source is limestone (the seabed deposition calcium carbonate in the form of microscopic animal skeletons) or similar materials. Limestone is dissolved by weak carbonic acid present in rainwater. As this water seeps underground it is deposited thus forming stalagmites and stalactites. Limestone can have fluid patterns of mineral staining, usually gray to black. The finest marbles for sculpture have no or few stains (some natural stain can be seen in the sculpture shown at left, which the sculptor has skillfully incorporated into the sculpture). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x1975, 274 KB)At the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York Thomas Ridgeway Gould American 1818 - 1881 From the curators card: Profile view Detail view The West Wind, 1876 Marble Gift of the Isaac Gordon...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x1975, 274 KB)At the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York Thomas Ridgeway Gould American 1818 - 1881 From the curators card: Profile view Detail view The West Wind, 1876 Marble Gift of the Isaac Gordon...
1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...
Venus de Milo, front. ...
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with chemical formula CaCO3. ...
Carbonic acid (ancient name acid of air or aerial acid) has the formula H2CO3. ...
Advantages Among the commonly available stones only marble has a slight surface translucency that is comparable to that of human skin. It is this translucency that gives a marble sculpture a visual depth beyond its surface and this evokes a certain realism when used for figurative works. Marble also has the advantage that when first quarried it is relatively soft and easy to work, refine, and polish. As the finished marble ages it becomes harder and more durable. Preference to the cheaper and less translucent limestone is based largely on the fineness of marble's grain, which enables the sculptor to render minute detail in a manner not always possible with limestone; it is also more weather resistant. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Epidermis (skin). ...
Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ...
Disadvantages Marble does not bear handling well as it will absorb skin oils when touched, which leads to yellow to brownish staining. While more resistant than limestone it is subject to attack by weak acids, and so performs poorly in outdoor environments subject to acid rain. For severe environments, granite is a more lasting material but one which is far more difficult to work and much less suitable for refined works such as those shown here. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1141x1969, 329 KB)For detailed information see Image:TheWestWindByGould. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1141x1969, 329 KB)For detailed information see Image:TheWestWindByGould. ...
The term acid rain is commonly used to mean the deposition of acidic components in rain, snow, dew, or dry particles. ...
Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ...
Compared to metals such as bronze, marble lacks ductility and strength, requiring special structural considerations when planning a sculpture. In the sculpture shown to the right, the figure can be placed upon slender lower legs and the balls of the feet only because the bending stress in the sculpture is taken through the flowing drapery of the skirt, which is founded upon an upthrust portion of the ground and with the feet forms a tripod-like foundation for the mass. For comparison see some of the examples in the article concerning bronze sculpture (especially the sculpture
Jeté) for the ease with which action and extension may be expressed. Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ...
The great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of bronze for edged weapons. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x656, 76 KB)Jeté - Statue by Enzo Plazzotta - Millbank - Westminster - London - England- 240404 Sited at the end of numbers 46-57 Millbank, near Vauxhall Bridge (between Tate Britain and the Morpeth Arms pub. ...
Tools
 Note use of skirt, tree stump, and stag for support of body and lower arm and the pinning of the upper arm to the arrows in quiver, forming several closed loops that are thus stronger The Italian terms for the basic carving tools of stone sculpture are given here, and where possible the English terms have been included. Scanned from a book printed in 1899. ...
Scanned from a book printed in 1899. ...
- La Mazza - The mallet. This is used to strike the chisel.
- Gli Scalpelli - The chisels. These come in various types:
- La Subbia - (the Point) a pointed chisel or punch
- L'Unghietto - (Round or Rondel Chisel) Literally, "little fingernail"
- La Gradina - (Toothed Chisel or Claw) a chisel with multiple teeth
- Lo Scalpello - a flat chisel
- Lo Scapezzatore - (Pitcher or Pitching Tool) a hefty chisel with a broad blunt edge, for splitting.
- Il Martello Pneumatico - Pneumatic hammer
- Il Flessibile - an angle grinder, fitted with an electrolysis-applied diamond studded blade
- Hand Drill
In addition to those hand tools listed above, the marble sculptor would use a variety of hammers - both for the striking of edge tools (chisels and hand drills) and for striking the stone directly (Bocciarda a Martello in Italian, Boucharde in French, Bush Hammer in English). Following the work of the hammer and chisel, the sculptor will sometimes refine the form further through the use of Rasps, Files and Abrasive Rubbing Stones and/or Sandpaper to smooth the surface contours of the form. To achieve a high-lustre polish on marble a very fine abrasive, tin oxide, is used following the use of pumice or finer grits of sandpaper. A mallet is a type of hammer, and is manufactured in different designs according to their intended use. ...
Steel woodworking chisel. ...
The air hammer drives nails by using a cylinder powered by compressed air. ...
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of separating bonded elements and compounds by passing an electric current through them. ...
Technique Hammer and point work is the technique used in working stone, in use at least since Roman times, as it is described in the legend of Pygmalion, and even earlier, the ancient Greek sculptors used it from c. 650 BC. 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. This is continued in a line following the desired contour. It may sound simple but many months are required to attain competency. 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. I took this myself File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
I took this myself File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The Winged Victory of Samothrace The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called Nike of Samothrace, is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory), discovered in 1863 on the island of Samothrace (Greek: ΣαμοθÏακη, Samothraki) by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. ...
The Hellenistic period of Greek history was the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 BC. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which...
Venus de Milo, front. ...
A sculpture is a three-dimensional object, which for the purposes of this article is man-made and selected for special recognition as art. ...
(2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 3rd century BC started on January 1, 300 BC and ended on December 31, 201 BC. // Events The Pyramid of the Moon, one of several monuments built in Teotihuacán Teotihuacán, Mexico begun The first two Punic Wars between Carthage...
Area under Roman control Roman Republic Roman Empire Western Empire Eastern Empire Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...
Étienne Maurice Falconet: Pygmalion & Galatee (1763) Pygmalion is a fictional character from the Roman poet Ovid, found in the tenth book of his Metamorphoses. ...
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