Reader's Guide — 11th Edition

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Chapter XXXIVSculpture

The Main Article

Contents

  1. Other General Articles
  2. History of Sculpture
  3. Medieval
  4. Renaissance
  5. 17th and 18th Century
  6. 19th Century and Modern Schools
  7. France
  8. Other European Countries
  9. American Sculpture
  10. Summary

The Britannica article Sculpture (Vol. 24, p. 488; equivalent to 90 pages of this Guide) is a complete treatise on the technique and history of this branch of art by J. H. Middleton, late professor of Fine Art, Cambridge, M. H. Spielmann, former editor of the Magazine of Art, P. G. Konody, art critic of the Observer and Daily Mail, and, for French sculpture, Léonce Bénédite, keeper of the Luxembourg Museum and author of Histoire des Beaux Arts. It is illustrated with 10 full page plates as follows: I and II. Medieval, etc., with examples of the work of Jacopo della Quercia, Donatello (2), Andrea Pisano, Michelangelo, Verrocchio and Leopardo, Luca della Robbia, Benvenuto Cellini, Peter Vischer, Bernini, Goujon, Canova, Houdon, Coysevox; III. IV. V. Modern British—Alfred Stevens, Sir George Frampton, Lord Leighton, Harry Bates, H. H. Armstead, G. F. Watts (2), A. Gilbert, F. W. Pomeroy, E. Onslow Ford, W. Hamo Thornycroft (2), Alfred Drury, F. Derwent Wood, Bertram Mackennal, Albert Toft, Havard Thomas, W. Goscombe John, W. R. Colton (2), Sir Charles Lawes-Wittewronge, Sir J. Edgar Boehm, Thomas Brock; VI. American—J. Q. A. Ward, D. C. French and E. C. Potter, Augustus St. Gaudens, Frederick MacMonnies; VII. VIII. and IX. Modern French—Falguière, Barrias, Delaplanche, Idrac, Becquer, L. Gérôme, Marqueste, Longepied, Frémiet, Guillaume, Puech, Saint-Marceaux, Mercié, Rodin, Michel, Dalou, Aubé, Chapu, Bloche, Gardet, Bartholomé; and X. Other Foreign Countries—Sinding, Begas, Ximenes, Querol, Antokolski, Lambeaux, Meunier.

Other General ArticlesThis article opens with an account of technical methods of sculpture which should be supplemented by other articles, which deal also with history and criticism: Wood-Carving (Vols. 28, p. 791), by Franklyn Arden Crallan, author of Gothic Wood-carving, with four plates and with descriptions not merely of Gothic and Renaissance work in Europe, but of Coptic, Mahommedan, Persian, Indian and Burmese, Chinese and Japanese, and the carving done by savage races; Ivory (Vol. 15, especially pp. 95–98, with 5 illustrations), by A. Maskell, author of Ivories; Chryselephantine; Metal-Work (Vol. 18, p. 205), (with 9 text cuts and 2 full page plates), by Prof. J. H. Middleton, Cambridge, and John Starkie Gardner, author of Armour in England and Iron Work; Gem (Vol. 11, p. 560; with 2 full page plates containing 76 illustrations, mostly of antique gems, besides 10 cuts in the text) by Alexander Stuart Murray, author of History of Greek Sculpture, Terra Cotta Sarcophagi, etc., and Arthur Hamilton Smith, keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum; Cameo; Intaglio; Seals (Vol. 24, p. 539; with 9 illustrations), by Sir E. Maunde Thompson, late director British Museum; Numismatics (Vol. 19, p. 869; equivalent to 120 pages of this Guide; with 6 plates—20 Greek coins, 27 Greek and Roman coins, 23 Roman and Medieval coins, 22 Oriental coins, 8 modern coins and medals, and 4 Italian medals—and 11 cuts illustrating modern coins) by Reginald Stuart Poole, formerly keeper department coins and medals, British Museum, Herbert Appold Grueber, keeper of the same department in 1906–1912, and George Francis Hill, assistant keeper of this department; Medal (Vol. 18, especially pp. 1 and 2, with 2 plates, showing 32 medals), by M. H. Spielmann; Terra Cotta (Vol. 26, p. 652, with 2 plates, 12 illustrations), by William Burton, author of English Stoneware and Earthenware and H. Beauchamp Walters, assistant keeper Greek and Roman antiquities, British Museum; Plate (Vol. 21, p. 789; with 31 illustrations), by H. R. H. Hall, author of The Oldest Civilization of Greece, H. Stuart Jones, author of The Roman Empire, and E. Alfred Jones, author of Old English Gold Plate, etc.; Alto-relievo; Basso-Relievo; Relief and Repoussé, by M. H. Spielmann; Wax Figures; Effigies, Monumental, by the late Charles Boutell, author of A Manual of British Archaeology, and M. H. Spielmann.

History of SculptureEarly sculpture is separately treated. For “Classical” sculpture see the articles Greek Art by Percy Gardner and Roman Art by H. Stuart Jones, both elaborately illustrated and devoting particular attention to statuary, plate; etc. See also the illustrations in the articles mentioned in the last paragraph,—especially Gem, Numismatics, Terra Cotta; and those in the article Architecture and subsidiary articles mentioned in the chapter of this Guide For the Architect. And on Greek art see the article Pergamum and the sketches of the great sculptors of Greece:

See also the article Byzantine Art; and for sculpture elsewhere the sections Art in the articles Egypt, China, Japan.

MedievalFor medieval sculpture, almost entirely an adjunct to architecture and particularly ecclesiastical architecture, see, besides the treatment in the historical part of the article Sculpture (pp. 490–496), the articles Architecture and Effigies, Monumental, comparing with the latter the article Brasses, Monumental (with 13 illustrations).

RenaissanceThe close of the medieval period and the beginning of the more individualistic Renaissance are marked by the occurrence of the names of great individual artists, whose biographies are the best summary of the sculpture of the period.

See on Italy: the articles Niccola Pisano (Vol. 20, p. 648); Vittore Pisano (Vol. 20, p. 649); Andrea Pisano (Vol. 20, p. 647) and the article immediately following on his son, Giovanni Pisano; each of these four with an illustration; Vittore Pisano or Pisanello; Agostino and Agnolo da Siena (Vol. 1, p. 381); Orcagna, “the last great master of the Gothic period,” by J. H. Middleton; Della Quercia, who “heralds ... the boldest and most original achievements of two generations hence,” by E. T. Strange, assistant keeper, South Kensington; Ghiberti, “the first of the great sculptors of the Renaissance”; Donatello, by P. G Konody; Michelozzo; Della Robbia family (with 3 illustrations), by J. H. Middleton and William Burton, author of English Stoneware and Earthenware; Leonardo, by Sir Sidney Colvin; Verrocchio, by J. H. Middleton; Leopardo; Pollaiuolo; Michelangelo, by Sir Sidney Colvin; Bandinelli; Ammanati; and in the 16th century period of decline Giovanni da Bologna, Lombardo family, Cellini, by W. M. Rossetti and E. Alfred Jones, author of Old English Gold Plate, etc.

On the Renaissance in France: Jean Goujon, Sarrazin.

—In Germany: Veit Stoss, Adam Krafft, the Vischers.

—In England: the Italian Torrigiano.

—In Spain: Alonzo Cano, Montañes, Pedro de Mena, Zarcillo.

17th and 18th CenturySome of the names just mentioned are those of 17th century artists. But the rococo character of the period is best seen in Italy: see the articles Bernini, Algardi, and, for France, Girardon and Puget. With the 18th century came a classical revival for which the great names are Canova and Thorwaldsen: see the articles on these sculptors, that on Canova being by W. M. Rossetti. See also the articles on Thorwaldsen’s followers, Sergel, Byström and Fogelberg. The more important articles on French sculpture in this period are Pigalle and Houdon, the latter known to Americans by his portraits of our Revolutionary worthies. For English sculpture in the 17th and 18th centuries see: Nicholas Stone, Roubiliac, by M. H. Spielmann, Scheemakers, Nollekens, John Bacon, and, possibly most important, John Flaxman, by Sir Sidney Colvin. For Germany: Andreas Schlüter.

19th Century and Modern SchoolsOn the 19th century in Germany see the articles: Schadow, Rauch, Rietschel, Dannecker, Schwanthaler, and marking a sharp reaction, Reinhold Begas, and the younger men, known also as painters, Franz Stuck and Max Klinger.

On modern British sculpture see the articles: John Gibson, E. H. Baily, Thomas Banks, Sir Richard Westmacott, and Alfred Stevens; and, for the last thirty years, Jules Dalou, Lord Leighton, better known as a painter, E. Onslow Ford and Alfred Gilbert, the most influential and important factors in the awakening, and Thomas Woolner, Marochetti, Sir Edwin Landseer, Sir J. E. Boehm, J. H. Foley, H. H. Armstead, Thomas Brock, W. Hamo Thornycroft, John M. Swan, Harry Bates, G. F. Watts. Scores of others are criticized and their work summarized on pp. 501–508 in the article Sculpture.

FranceThe 19th century in France opened with a pseudo-Roman school, and among the names of this period are Pradier, Rude, P. J. David, Etex, and Carpeaux and Barye, by Henri Frantz, who mark a transition. For the more modern period see Guillaume, Dubois, Falguière, Mercié, Frémiet, Gustave Crauck, Dalou, Rodin.

Other European CountriesIn addition to the discussion of modern Belgian sculptors in the section on Belgium of the article Sculpture there are separate articles on Paul de Vigne, Van der Stappen, Jef Lambeaux, Julien Dillens, and Constantin Meunier. For Italian sculpture in the 19th century see Bartolini, and the summary in the article Sculpture (Vol. 24, p. 513). Separate articles on Spanish sculptors are Jose Alvarez and Manuel Alvarez.

American SculptureIn the United States there was little sculpture of native origin, and virtually none of the slightest merit, before the 19th century. The following list of articles in rough chronological order will supplement the outline in the article Sculpture (Vol. 24, p. 516): Horatio Greenough, Hiram Powers, Thomas Crawford, Henry Kirke Brown, William Rimmer, E. D. Palmer, Thomas Ball, L. W. Volk, Harriet G. Hosmer, J. Q. A. Ward, Launt Thompson, Larkin G. Mead, G. E. Bissell, Olin L. Warner, W. R. O’Donovan, Jonathan S. Hartley, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, D. C. French, J. J. Boyle, C. H. Niehaus, Lorado Taft, W. O. Partridge, Cyrus E. Dallin, A. P. Proctor, Charles Grafly, F. W. MacMonnies, George Gray Barnard, P. W. Bartlett, Hermon A. MacNeil, Karl Bitter, Borglum.

SummaryThis chapter, and the one before, outline courses on these arts in the Britannica, but there are many articles on these topics to which no reference has been made in these pages. It may, therefore, be interesting to the student of these forms of art to have before him a list, fairly complete, of articles in the Britannica dealing with painting and sculpture. The following is such a list in alphabetical arrangement. The student should remember that the absence from the list—or from any similar list in the Guide—of a topic on which he wishes information does not mean that there is no information on the subject in the Britannica, but merely that there may be no separate article on the subject. In such cases let him turn to the general index (Vol. 29).

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTICLES DEALING WITH THE FINE ARTS (1184 articles)