Sculpture

Info trivia

A sculpture is a three dimensional object, which is man-made and selected for special recognition as art.

Bronze sculpture

Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures: a cast metal sculpture of bronze is often called a bronze. Common bronze alloys have the unusual and very desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold.

The great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the introduction of bronze for edged weapons. The Greeks were the first to scale the figures up to lifesize. Very few examples exist in good condition of these cast works. The seawater preserved bronze, now called The Victorious Athlete is a fine example but painstaking efforts were required to bring it to a condition for museum display. Far more Roman bronze statues have survived. The ancient Chinese, from at least 1200BC, knew both lost wax casting and section mould casting, and in the Shang dynasty created many large ritual vessels covered with complex decoration which have survived in tombs. Over the long creative period of Egyptian dynastic art, small lost wax bronze figurines were made in large numbers and several thousand of them have been conserved in museum collections. From these beginnings, bronze art has continue to flourish up to the present.

Marble sculpture

art of creating three dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is one of 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, sculptures rank among the greatest of human achievements.
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

The Italian terms for the basic carving tools of stone sculpture are given here, and where possible the English terms have been included.

La Mazza - The mallet. Used to strike the chisel.
Gli Scalpelli - The chisels. These come in various types:
La Subbia - (the Point) pointed chisel or punch
L'Unghietto - (Round or Rondel Chisel) Literally, little fingernail
La Gradina - (Toothed Chisel or Claw) chisel with multiple teeth
Lo Scalpello - flat chisel
Lo Scapezzatore - (Pitcher or Pitching Tool) hefty chisel with a broad blunt edge, for splitting.
Il Martello Pneumatico - Air hammer
Il Flessibile - angle grinder, fitted with an electrolysis-applied diamond studded blade
Hand Drill

Glassblowing

Glassblowing is the process of forming glass into useful shapes while the glass is in a molten, semi liquid state. A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glasssmith, or gaffer.

Traditionally, glass was melted in furnaces from the raw ingredients of sand, limestone, soda ash, potash and other compounds.

A lampworker, usually operating on a much smaller scale, historically used alcohol lamps and breath o bellows- driven air to create a hot flame at a workbench to manipulate preformed glass rods and tubes.

Ice sculpture

A form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material.

Sculpting ice presents a number of difficulties due to variability and volatility of the material. Ice must be carefully selected to be suitable for sculpting. The ideal material should be made from pure, clean water for high transparency. Ice sculptures feature decoratively in some cuisines, especially in Asia.

Terra cotta(Italian: "baked earth")

waterproof ceramic. Uses include vessels, water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction. The term is also used to refer to items made out of this material and to its natural, brownish orange colour.

A bust is a sculpture depicting a human's chest, shoulders, and head, usually supported by a stand. These three dimensional forms recreate the likeness of an individual. These may be of any suitable material (usually marble or other durable material).

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