Why Marble For Sculpture

David marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the italian renaissance artist michelangelo the statue was commissioned for one of the buttresses of the cathedral of florence and was carved from a block of marble that had been partially blocked out by other sculptors and left outdoors.

Why marble for sculpture.

Even before painting cave walls early humans fashioned shapes from stone. Prevalent in ancient and contemporary art alike marble artworks have a prominent place in many major art movements and are among some of the most famous sculptures in the world. As bronze always had a significant scrap value very few original bronzes have survived. It is used for its optical properties in cosmetics paint and paper.

While cast bronze carved wood and fired clay have made lasting impressions no material has captivated quite like marble. Probably the most popular material used in sculpture marble s translucency and durability has made it the medium of choice for all the greatest sculptors including greek artists like phidias myron polykleitos and praxiteles as well as their successors donatello. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material. Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals most commonly calcite or dolomite marble is typically not foliated although there are exceptions in geology the term marble refers to metamorphosed limestone but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone.

It is used for its beauty in architecture and sculpture. After michelangelo completed the sculpture the florentine government decided instead to place it in. Very few rocks have as many uses as marble. From these beginnings artifacts have evolved to their current complexity.

Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions it is one of the plastic arts durable sculptural processes originally used carving the removal of material and modelling the addition of material as clay in stone metal ceramics wood and other materials but since modernism there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process. Hardness and weight are primary reason marble has been used across many civilization. Venus de milo c 130 100 bce marble statue musee du louvre. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts.

Throughout art history sculptors have experimented with an eclectic range of mediums. Marble sculpture is the art of creating three dimensional forms from marble. See pergamene school of greek sculpture. As in most ancient cultures there were no doubt also traditions of sculpture in wood about which we know very little other than acrolithic sculptures usually large with the head and exposed flesh parts in marble but the clothed parts in wood.

They are easy to quarry shape and polish compared to other popular stone type of ancient. Both marble and bronze are easy to form and very durable.