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

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Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

Praxiteles: Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

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Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

sculpture summary

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

Last Updated: May 21, 2025

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

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victory stele of Naram-Sin

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss

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Topics

Western sculpture statuette soft sculpture garden sculpture block statue bozzetto statuary sculpture carving pointing Animalier school literature architecture film dance radio printmaking painting drawing history of photography garden and landscape design

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Key People

Enoch Wood

English potter

Antonio del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

Piero del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

Eduardo Paolozzi

British artist

Peter Vischer, the Elder

German artist

Coosje van Bruggen

American artist

François-Gaspard-Balthasar Adam

French sculptor

Francesco da Sangallo

Italian sculptor

Lambert-Sigisbert Adam

French sculptor

Nicolas-Sébastien Adam

French sculptor

Christo

Bulgarian artist

James Earle Fraser

American sculptor

Nesiotes

Greek sculptor

Filippo Caffieri

Italian sculptor

Jean-Jacques Caffiéri

French sculptor

Hermon A. MacNeil

American sculptor

Giovanni Battista Foggini

Italian sculptor

Johann Heinrich von Dannecker

German sculptor

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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List

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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

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