History of Sculpture

Lesson 4 in Visual Arts 10 2nd Quarter

1. SCULPTURE A BRIEF HISTORY La Salle University Integrated School Visual Arts 10 Mr. Al- lyn L. Vocal

2. If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. Michael Crichton

3. Timeline H istory of Sculpture Paleolithic Period 35,000 BCE Egyptian Sculpture 2500 BCE Greek Sculpture Early Classical 323 BCE – 31 CE Rise of Christianity 325 AD Gothic Sculpture 13 th Century AD Renaissance Sculpture 15 th Century AD The 19 th and 20 th Centuries Modernism

4. Paleolithic period 35,000 BCE The löwenmensch statuette

5. THE LÖWENMENSCH STATUETTE an ivory statuette from the Paleolithic period , dating back to around 35,000 BC one of the oldest sculptures ever discovered in a cave in Hohlenstein-Stadel , Germany in 1939 carved out of mammoth tusk called Löwenmensch (German for ‘lion human’) about 12” tall and depicts a human figure with a feline face

6. THE LÖWENMENSCH STATUETTE has been estimated that the carving, using primitive flint tools, likely took more than 350 hours to complete because tribes of the time lived on the edge of subsistence, spending such an extended amount of time in making this statuette suggests it must have been an extremely important artifact may have, perhaps, been intended for use in a shamanistic ritual, to curry protection for the tribe, or ensure a ‘good hunt ’

7. Egyptian sculpture 2500 BCE The great sphinx of giza

8. The Great Sphinx of giza one of the world’s most famous sculptures the head of a human on the body of a lion carved out of the limestone bedrock measures 65’ high and 240’ long

9. The Great Sphinx of giza has since been restored using stone blocks some historians believed the head is that of the pharaoh, Khafra though generally thought to date back to about 2500 BC, evidence of water erosion suggests it might possibly be much older

10. GREEK SCULPTURE EARLY CLASSICAL 323 BCE – 31 CE Laocoön and his sons

11. Laocoön and his sons distinction between the sacred and the secular the Greek gods were thought to have human form thus, the human form was considered to be the most important subject in Greek art in sculpture, the early Greeks followed the Egyptian format very closely, carving very stiff, blocky figures in stone

12. Laocoön and his sons during the Early Classical period of the 4th and 5th centuries BC, and transitioning into the Hellenistic period, sculptors began to break away from the rigid, Egyptian influenced model Sculpture began to take on a much more realistic, natural look, with marble or bronze, not stone, the favored medium the subject matter depicting a greater sense of power and energy, became much less restricted to gods and nobles

13. Rise of Christianity 325 AD The colossus of constantine

14. The colossus of constantine the Roman Empire was largely polytheistic Sculptured works were generally intended to honour a variety of different Gods or members of nobility Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion, and we start to see a shift in the subject matter of popular sculpture Giant statues became less common, and portraiture began to dominate the field of Roman sculpture

15. Gothic Sculpture 13 th Century AD Gargoyle : Notre Dame Cathedral, paris

16. Gargoyle Gothic era expanded on the religious sculptures of the early medieval period and the figures on churches became more elaborate Prominent Biblical figures were shown in very high relief sculptures, which were often situated, free-standing, around the church

17. Renaissance Sculptures 15 th Century AD Michelangelo’s PIETA

18. Michelangelo’s pieta by the beginning of the 15th century, the Renaissance ushered in an eclectic study of the humanities, including science, astronomy, and mathematics artists began to revisit the thoughtful and dignified perfection of Classical times the invention of the printing press propagated these ideas, and artists began to show more interest in a scientific approach to reality

19. Michelangelo’s pieta the Renaissance masters, including Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci, were figureheads of the times Donatello was an Italian sculptor who worked in Florence in the mid 15th century Leonardo da Vinci was a student of Donatello one of the most famous artists of all time, Michelangelo, was born in 1475. A genius and true ‘Renaissance Man’, one of Michelangelo’s first sculptures was ‘Madonna and Child’, completed when he was only 16

20. Michelangelo’s pieta in 1497, he was commissioned to carve a  Pieta showing the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of her deceased son completed when he was only 24 years old only work of art that Michelangelo ever signed

21. Michelangelo’s pieta after it was unveiled, he heard spectators giving credit to others so he snuck into the church in the middle of the night to make one last addition to his masterpiece carved into the ribbon across the Virgin’s chest, it reads, “Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this.”

22. The 19 th and 20 th Centuries August rodin’s the thinker

23. August rodin’s the thinker in the 19th and 20th centuries, the art world reflected the rapid-fire changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution instead of focusing on perfect anatomy, details, and storytelling, artists began to pay more attention to what they perceived ‘below the surface’ Personal expression and style took on greater importance in creating a truer rendition of reality

24. August rodin’s the thinker Auguste Rodin is one of the more famous of the sculptors of the time, and is considered the father of modern sculpture

25. Modernism Picasso cubist sculpture

26. Picasso cubist sculpture a variety of art movements occurred during the modernist movement of the early 20th century. Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Pop Art, Minimalism, and Futurism all came about during this period Marcel Duchamp was one artist of the time who challenged the notion of what art really is Duchamp was part of the Dada movement, a reaction to WWI that was basically ‘anti-everything’ Duchamp’s 1917 exhibit, entitled ‘ Fountain ‘, illustrates perfectly the pessimism, exasperation, and absurdity of the movement

27. Picasso cubist sculpture although most famous as a painter,  Pablo Picasso  did also produce some sculptural pieces in fact, his mixed media sculptures were especially influential in the beginning of the 20th century these early sculpture creations employed a variety of unlikely objects, including cardboard, bike seats, plywood, tree branches, etc.

28. Philippine Sculpture

29. Bonifacio Monument Filipino sculptors came to be known in the middle of the 19 th  century Classical Philippine sculpture reached its peak in the works of Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976) his best known masterpiece is the  Bonifacio Monument , which is a group sculpture composed of numerous figures massed around a central obelisk

30. Bonifacio Monument the principal figure is Andres Bonifacio, leader of the revolution against Spain in 1896 behind him stands Emilio Jacinto, the brains of the Katipunan the Bonifacio Monument - completed in 1933 -- marked the apex of Tolentino'’s career

31. Allegorical Harpoon ,  Art Philippines Napoleon Abueva (born 1930), one of Tolentino'’s pupils, is one of the pioneering modernists in sculpture He used various media and his stylization bordered on the abstract as in   Allegorical Harpoon , in which the dominant horizantal thrust of the figure evokes the vitality of primitive forms

32. Fredesvinda , The Asean Sculptures Abueva '’s more famous work is  Fredesvinda , which was included in the First ASEAN Sculpture Symposium held in Fort Canning Hill, Singapore, from March 27 to April 26, 1981

33. THANKS! Do you have any questions? Please type them in our DISCUSSION BOARD. Please keep this slide for attribution.