sculpture

Table of Contents

Introduction
Elements and principles of sculptural design
- Elements of design
- Principles of design
- Relationships to other arts
Materials
- Primary
- Other materials
Methods and techniques
- The sculptor as designer and as craftsman
  - General methods
  - Carving
    - Indirect carving
    - Carving tools and techniques
  - Modeling
    - Modeling for casting
    - Modeling for pottery sculpture
    - General characteristics of modeled sculpture
  - Constructing and assembling
  - Direct metal sculpture
- Reproduction and surface-finishing techniques
  - Casting and molding
  - Pointing
  - Surface finishing
    - Smoothing and polishing
    - Painting
    - Gilding
    - Patination
    - Electroplating
    - Other finishes
- Forms, subject matter, imagery, and symbolism of sculpture
  - Sculpture in the round
  - Relief sculpture
  - Modern forms of sculpture
  - Representational sculpture
    - The human figure
    - Devotional images and narrative sculpture
    - Portraiture
    - Scenes of everyday life
    - Animals
    - Fantasy
    - Other subjects
  - Nonrepresentational sculpture
  - Applied sculpture
  - Symbolism
- Uses of sculpture

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Kara Walker: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby

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Barbara Hepworth: The Family of Man

Michelangelo: David

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)

victory stele of Naram-Sin

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Praxiteles: Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

For Students

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

sculpture summary

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sculpture: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Times Square Sculpture Prompts Racist Backlash. To Some, That’s the Point. • May 18, 2025, 11:09 AM ET (New York Times)

Art and gardens at heart of Oxfordshire sculpture exhibition • May 17, 2025, 8:22 AM ET (BBC)

Facts

Notable Honorees	François Boucher

Photos and Videos

Kara Walker: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby

Constantin Brancusi: Torso of a Young Girl

Barbara Hepworth: The Family of Man

Michelangelo: David

Power Figure (Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka)

victory stele of Naram-Sin

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Praxiteles: Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Chinese sculpture during the Han dynasty examined

Learn about the process of creating commisioned public artwork

Seven wonders of the ancient world: Statue of Zeus at Olympia

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Topics

Western sculpture garden sculpture maquette sculpture in the round statuary sculpture effigy statuette soft sculpture Animalier school carving literature architecture film dance radio printmaking painting drawing history of photography garden and landscape design

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Key People

Nicolas-Sébastien Adam

French sculptor

Francesco da Sangallo

Italian sculptor

Coosje van Bruggen

American artist

Enoch Wood

English potter

James Earle Fraser

American sculptor

Christo

Bulgarian artist

François-Gaspard-Balthasar Adam

French sculptor

Jean-Jacques Caffiéri

French sculptor

Lambert-Sigisbert Adam

French sculptor

Nesiotes

Greek sculptor

Eduardo Paolozzi

British artist

Peter Vischer, the Elder

German artist

Filippo Caffieri

Italian sculptor

Piero del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

Giovanni Battista Foggini

Italian sculptor

Johann Heinrich von Dannecker

German sculptor

Hermon A. MacNeil

American sculptor

Antonio del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

Leonardo da Vinci: self-portrait

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian artist, engineer, and scientist

Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Italian artist

Quiz

Workmen constructing the Statue of Liberty in Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's Parisian warehouse workshop; first model; left hand and quarter-sized head. Photo by Albert Fernique, ca. 1882-83.

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Torii gate at entrance to a Shinto shrine on Mount Hakone, east-central Honshu, Japan. (gateways)

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Drawing by Edward Lear for his poem "There was an Old Man in a tree, who was horribly bored by a bee; When they said, "Does it buzz?" he replied, "Yes, it does!" (cont'd)

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List

Sculpture of woman before restoration (left) and after restoration on the exterior of an office building in Palencia, Spain. (art restoration)

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Blank canvas in an artist's studio. Art; oil paints; brushes; artists' tools

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American sculptor Vinnie Ream (1847-1914) and her bust of Abraham Lincoln on the stand used in the White House while President Lincoln posed for her. Photo taken between 1865 and 1870. Her full sized Lincoln See Asset: 182233

Woman-Made: 10 Sculptors You Might Not Know