SCULPTURE. 527 



CHAPTER III. 



SCULPTURE. 



SCULPTURE, in its most general sense, is the art of imitating or 

 producing tangible forms, by the carving, moulding, or casting of 

 solid materials. The name is derived from the Latin, scu/po, I 

 carve, or grave ; as the carving or cutting of statues, from marble or 

 stone, has long been the most prominent division of this art. Sculp- 

 ture has also been termed the plastic art ; but this appellation belongs 

 more properly to moulding or modelling alone ; which is only one 

 portion of the entire art, corresponding to design and composition in 

 Painting. Sculpture, like Painting, is partly imitative, and partly 

 inventive. It preserves the resemblance of objects in nature, as well 

 as ideal forms ; the features of men who darkened nations when they 

 died, as well as the imaginary beings of mythology ; and the noble 

 or affecting descriptions of the historian, as well as the sublime or 

 beautiful conceptions of the poet. Sculpture and Painting have the 

 same object ; but they effect it by somewhat different means. 



The most important productions of Sculpture, are statues, or re- 

 presentations of persons, either draped or nude ; and next to these, 

 busts, which represent only the head and shoulders. Statues are 

 said to be reduced, when much smaller than the natural size ; heroic, 

 when slightly larger than the natural size ; and colossal, when they 

 far exceed the size of the person represented. They are also termed 

 equestrian, or pedestrian, according as they represent the person on 

 horseback, or on foot. Relievos, are figures partially sculptured, 

 as if projecting from a tablet, or back ground. They are called 

 alto-relievos, when the figures project as much as one half of their 

 dimensions ; mezzo-relievos, when the figures are less prominent ; 

 and basso-relievos, when the figures project but slightly above the 

 surface. Gems are often sculptured in relievo ; and when the figure 

 is cut from a vein of one color, leaving another color for the back 

 ground, the work is called a cameo. Sculptures in which the figures 

 are sunk below the surface, are called intaglios; such as seals, 

 which produce an impression in relievo, on wax. Other objects of 

 sculpture are vases ; coats of arms, and military trophies ; and monu- 

 mental or architectural decorations. 



Sculpture is an art of very ancient origin, and probably more 

 ancient than Painting ; traces of it being found among the earliest 

 antiquities of the oldest nations. It appears to have been first applied 

 to the carving of idols : and Laban is mentioned in the Bible, as hav- 

 ing his teraphim, or images of household gods, as early as 1739 B. C. 

 The remains of Egyptian sculpture consist of relievos, on the walls 

 of temples and tombs; with colossal statues, lions, and sphynxes, 

 often arranged in rows, exterior to the temples. Two of these statues, 

 in the Memnonium at Thebes, are said to be fifty feet high ; but their 

 posture is stiff and constrained. The capitals of Egyptian columns, 

 are often carved into the form of human heads ; and in the caverns, 



