The word “sculpture” comes from the Latin “sculpo”, which means cut, carve. This is one of the oldest types of fine art, based on the principle of three-dimensional image.
Great foreign sculptors
The appearance of sculpture is attributed to the primitive era. The first works are connected with the labor activity of a person and his beliefs.
The first great sculptors, whose names are preserved in the history of art, were sculptors of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome - Miron, Phidias, Skopas, Policlet, Lysippus, Praxiteles. Their works are addressed to free citizens and in many ways are the plastic embodiment of ancient myths. The ideals of a harmoniously developed personality were embodied in the images of heroes, warriors, athletes of the Olympic Games and gods. The creativity of these sculptors with the greatest fullness revealed the humanistic essence of Greek sculpture: the beauty of the human body and the affirmation of the significance of the human person.
The real flowering of this type of art occurred in the Middle Ages. Donatello and A. Verrocchio made a very important step forward in creating free-standing statues, at this time the technique of bronze casting and embossing was being improved, the majolica technique was being used.
Among the sculptors of the Renaissance, J. Pilon and J. Goujon in France, A. Kraft and F. Stoss in Germany, M. Pacher in Austria also stand out.
One of the peaks of the Renaissance is the sculpture of Michelangelo, full of titanic power and intense drama. His creations “Moses”, “Risen Slave” and “Dying Slave”, “Pieta” are full of tragedy, plastic power and inner tension.
At the end of the 19th century, the star of the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin rose up, creating works that were striking in their strength of emotional impact: Citizens Calle, Thinker, and Kiss.
