sculpture general Flashcards
marble compressive strength
-high compressive strength (allows for tall and compact compositions)
marble tensile strength
-low tensile strength (allows for limited projections, there may be supports required , generally why marble sculpture bases are heavy and broad)
What does compressive strength mean?
High compressive strength allows for tall, compact compositions
What does a lack of tensile strength mean?
Lack of tensile strength allows few projections and often requires use of supports.
No protrusions.
Base can be heavy and broad.
bronze tensile strength
high tensile strength allows for projecting forms
clay (price and what happens when it is fired)
Clay is an inexpensive and abundant material that has been used since ancient times to make bricks, tiles, pottery, and ritual objects. When fired, clay becomes terracotta, or ‘baked earth’.
terracotta
Fired clay is known as ‘terracotta’ (cooked earth). The firing irreversibly changes the clay, making it stronger and capable of receiving a variety of surface finishes. Clay models were sometimes fired to preserve them. Large works can be cut into pieces with cheesewire in order to fit into the kiln, and joined together after firing.
glazing of terracotta
Terracotta can also be glazed to produce polychrome sculptures
e.g In Renaissance Italy, terracotta sculptures were usually coloured. In the 15th century, Luca della Robbia, a sculptor from Florence developed a method of tin-glazing terracotta sculpture that had previously only been used on pottery. The resulting enamelled terracottas were particularly durable and had an attractive, bright and reflective, surface.
what did the hardness of wood depend on AND how was wood carving different depending on its hardness
hardness depended on the density of its grain
Softwoods from evergreens such as cedar and pine are coarser, less dense and easier to carve, whereas hardwoods from deciduous trees such as oak, boxwood, walnut and limewood, are harder but more durable and allow more elaborate carving and finer details.
softwoods
Softwoods from evergreens such as cedar and pine are coarser, less dense and easier to carve
hard woods
hardwoods from deciduous trees such as oak, boxwood, walnut and limewood, are harder but more durable and allow more elaborate carving and finer details.
process of carving wood
-carved in a similar way to stone
-The form of the sculpture is roughly carved with a broad axe and then shaped with tools such as the narrow axe, flat-headed chisels, gouges and skew-bladed firmers (a kind of chisel with a hooked end used for cutting folds in drapery
After carving, the surface is normally smoothed with sandpaper or other abrasives
how was wood sculpture often decorated
Wood sculptors often cooperated with painters as wood sculpture was sometimes painted or decorated with gilding, or embellished with glass or semi-precious stones.
Even unpainted wood sculptures, were sometimes coated with transparent glazes, or tinted brown.
disadvantages of wood as a material?
-Wood naturally contains moisture and can re-absorb it later in damp conditions.
-Cracks usually follow the grain of the wood and are caused when parts dry at different rates. Sculptors therefore try to minimise cracking by removing all superfluous wood, especially the heartwood at the centre of a log.
-Another cause of damage to wooden sculpture is woodworm. The holes and burrows that woodworm causes are often visible on the surface of older pieces.
ivory
dense, hard, creamy white substance that forms the tusks of mammals
highly valued by craftsmen and expensive
often used for religious subjects due to white connotations of purity
how was semi-precious stone carved
Hardstones were worked with metal tools, diamond drills and abrasive powders. Organic materials, and the softer mineral substances like jet and amber, were carved with a variety of knives and chisels.
