Why Marble For Sculpture

Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions it is one of the plastic arts durable sculptural processes originally used carving the removal of material and modelling the addition of material as clay in stone metal ceramics wood and other materials but since modernism there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process.

Why marble for sculpture.

It is used for its optical properties in cosmetics paint and paper. As bronze always had a significant scrap value very few original bronzes have survived. Throughout art history sculptors have experimented with an eclectic range of mediums. From these beginnings artifacts have evolved to their current complexity.

Very few rocks have as many uses as marble. David marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the italian renaissance artist michelangelo the statue was commissioned for one of the buttresses of the cathedral of florence and was carved from a block of marble that had been partially blocked out by other sculptors and left outdoors. The properties of marble and its uses. Hardness and weight are primary reason marble has been used across many civilization.

See pergamene school of greek sculpture. Prevalent in ancient and contemporary art alike marble artworks have a prominent place in many major art movements and are among some of the most famous sculptures in the world. Typical marble weigh about a half of granite of same size and lot so. Even before painting cave walls early humans fashioned shapes from stone.

While cast bronze carved wood and fired clay have made lasting impressions no material has captivated quite like marble. As in most ancient cultures there were no doubt also traditions of sculpture in wood about which we know very little other than acrolithic sculptures usually large with the head and exposed flesh parts in marble but the clothed parts in wood. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material. Both marble and bronze are easy to form and very durable.

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals most commonly calcite or dolomite marble is typically not foliated although there are exceptions in geology the term marble refers to metamorphosed limestone but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. Marble sculpture is the art of creating three dimensional forms from marble. It is used for its chemical properties in pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Venus de milo c 130 100 bce marble statue musee du louvre.

After michelangelo completed the sculpture the florentine government decided instead to place it in. 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.