A statue is a free-standing
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or
cast
Cast may refer to:
Music
* Cast (band), an English alternative rock band
* Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band
* The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis
* ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William
* ...
in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture that represents persons or animals in full figure but that is small enough to lift and carry is a statuette or
figurine
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...
, whilst one more than twice life-size is a colossal statue.
Statues have been produced in many cultures from
prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
to the present; the oldest-known statue dating to about 30,000 years ago. Statues represent many different people and animals, real and mythical. Many statues are placed in public places as
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
. The world's tallest statue, ''
Statue of Unity
The ''Statue of Unity'' is the world's tallest statue, with a height of , located near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first deputy pr ...
'', is tall and is located near the
Narmada dam
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian state ...
in
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Color
Ancient statues often show the bare surface of the material of which they are made. For example, many people associate Greek classical art with white marble sculpture, but there is evidence that many statues were painted in bright colors.
Most of the color has weathered off over time; small remnants were removed during cleaning; in some cases small traces remained that could be identified.
[ A travelling exhibition of 20 coloured replicas of Greek and Roman works, alongside 35 original statues and reliefs, was held in Europe and the United States in 2008: Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity.] Details such as whether the paint was applied in one or two coats, how finely the pigments were ground or exactly which binding medium would have been used in each case—all elements that would affect the appearance of a finished piece—are not known. Richter goes so far as to say of classical Greek sculpture, "All stone sculpture, whether limestone or marble, was painted, either wholly or in part."
Medieval statues were also usually painted, with some still retaining their original pigments. The coloring of statues ceased during the Renaissance, since excavated classical sculptures, which had lost their coloring, became regarded as the best models.
Historical periods
Prehistoric
The Venus of Berekhat Ram
The Venus of Berekhat Ram (280,000-250,000 BP) is a pebble found at Berekhat Ram on the Golan Heights. The pebble was modified by early humans and is suggested to represent a female human figure.
Description
The object was excavated and first d ...
, an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
pebble found in northern Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and dated to at least 230,000 years before present, is claimed to be the oldest known statuette. However, researchers are divided as to whether its shape is derived from natural erosion or was carved by an early human
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus ''Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely relate ...
. The Venus of Tan-Tan
The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in Morocco. It and its contemporary, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form.
Description
The Venus of Ta ...
, a similar object of similar age found in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, has also been claimed to be a statuette.
The Löwenmensch figurine
The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939. The German name, , meaning "lion-person" or "lion-human", is used most frequently because it was discovered a ...
and the Venus of Hohle Fels
The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German variously ') is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine made of mammoth ivory that was unearthed in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to betw ...
, both from Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, are the oldest confirmed statuettes in the world, dating to 35,000-40,000 years ago.
The oldest known life-sized statue is Urfa Man
The Urfa man, also known as the Balıklıgöl statue, is an ancient human shaped statue found during excavations in Balıklıgöl near Urfa, in the geographical area of Upper Mesopotamia, in the southeast of modern Turkey. It is dated to the per ...
found in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
which is dated to around 9,000 BC.
Antiquity
Religion
Throughout history, statues have been associated with cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome ...
s in many religious traditions, from Ancient Egypt, Ancient India
According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
, Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, and Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
to the present. Egyptian statues showing kings as sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
es have existed since the Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
, the oldest being for Djedefre
Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef – Modern Greek: ) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenized form of his name Rhatoisēs (Ῥατοίσης) by Manetho. ...
(c. 2500 BC). The oldest statue of a striding pharaoh dates from the reign of Senwosret I
Senusret I (Middle Egyptian: z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC (1920 BC to 1875 BC), and was one of the most ...
(c. 1950 BC) and is the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification) is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximatel ...
(starting around 2000 BC) witnessed the growth of block statue
The block statue is a type of memorial statue that first emerged in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The block statue grew in popularity in the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, and by the Late Period, this type of statue was the most ...
s which then became the most popular form until the Ptolemaic period (c. 300 BC).
The focal point of the cella
A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...
or main interior space of a Roman or Greek temple
Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, s ...
was a statue of the deity it was dedicated to. In major temples these could be several times life-size. Other statues of deities might have subordinate positions along the side walls.
The oldest statue of a deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
in Rome was the bronze statue of Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
in 485 BC. The oldest statue in Rome is now the statue of Diana on the Aventine.
Politics
For a successful Greek or Roman politician or businessman (who donated considerable sums to public projects for the honour), having a public statue, preferably in the local forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
or the grounds of a temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
was an important confirmation of status, and these sites filled up with statues on plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
s (mostly smaller than those of their 19th century equivalents). Fragments in Rome of a bronze colossus of Constantine
The Capitoline Museums in Rome hold parts of a bronze colossus of Constantine. The colossal statue of a Roman emperor was probably made in the 4th century but only fragments survive. It is usually interpreted as depicting Constantine the Great ...
and the marble colossus of Constantine
The ''Colossus of Constantine'' ( it, Statua Colossale di Costantino I) was a many times life-size acrolithic early-4th-century statue depicting the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (''c.'' 280–337), commissioned by himself, which origin ...
show the enormous scale of some imperial statues; other examples are recorded, notably one of Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
.
The wonders of the world
Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, in order to catalogue the world's most spectacular natural features and human-built structures.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the o ...
include several statues from antiquity, with the Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes ( grc, ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, ho Kolossòs Rhódios gr, Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, Kolossós tes Rhódou) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes (city), Rhodes, on ...
and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, and erected in the Temple of Zeus there. Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Gr ...
among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
.
Middle Ages
While sculpture generally flourished in European Medieval art
The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, gen ...
, the single statue was not one of the most common types, except for figures of the Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, usually with Child, and the ''corpus'' or body of Christ on crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...
es. Both of these appeared in all size up to life-size, and by the late Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
many churches, even in villages, had a crucifixion group around a rood cross
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.
Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...
. The Gero Cross
The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (german: Gero-Kreuz, link=no), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Gero ...
in Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
is both one of the earliest and finest large figures of the crucified Christ. As yet, full-size standing statues of saints and rulers were uncommon, but tomb effigies
A tomb effigy, usually a recumbent effigy or, in French, ''gisant'' ( French, "lying"), is a sculpted figure on a tomb monument depicting in effigy the deceased. These compositions were developed in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, and ...
, generally lying down, were very common for the wealthy from about the 14th century, having spread downwards from royal tombs in the centuries before.
While Byzantine art
Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...
flourished in various forms, sculpture and statue making witnessed a general decline; although statues of emperors continued to appear.[''Byzantine Art'' by Charles Bayet (1 October 2009) page 54] An example was the statue of Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
(6th century) which stood in the square across from the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
until the fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
in the 15th century.[ Part of the decline in statue making in the Byzantine period can be attributed to the mistrust the Church placed in the art form, given that it viewed sculpture in general as a method for making and worshiping idols.][ While making statues was not subject to a general ban, it was hardly encouraged in this period.][ Justinian was one of the last Emperors to have a full-size statue made, and secular statues of any size became virtually non-existent after ]iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...
; and the artistic skill for making statues was lost in the process.
Renaissance
Italian Renaissance art
Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...
identified the standing statue as the key form of Roman art
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be mi ...
to survive, and there was a great revival of statues of both religious and secular figures, to which most of the leading figures contributed, led by Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...
and Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
. The equestrian statue, a great technical challenge, was mastered again, and gradually statue groups.
These trends intensified in Baroque art
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
, when every ruler wanted to have statues made of themself, and Catholic churches filled with crowds of statues of saints, although after the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
religious sculpture largely disappeared from Protestant churches, with some exceptions in large Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
German churches. In England, churches instead were filled with increasing elaborate tomb monument
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...
s, for which the ultimate models were continental extravagances such as the Papal tombs in Rome, those of the Doges of Venice
The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 a ...
, or the French royal family.
In the late 18th and 19th century there was a growth in public open air statues of public figures on plinths. As well as monarches, politicians, generals, landowners, and eventually artists and writers were commemorated. World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
saw the war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
, previously uncommon, become very widespread, and these were often statues of generic soldiers.
Modern Era
Starting with the work of Maillol
Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...
around 1900, the human figures embodied in statues began to move away from the various schools of realism that been followed for thousands of years. The Futurist
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...
and Cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
schools took this metamorphism even further until statues, often still nominally representing humans, had lost all but the most rudimentary relationship to the human form. By the 1920s and 1930s statues began to appear that were completely abstract in design and execution.
The notion
Notion or Notions may refer to:
Software
* Notion (music software), a music composition and performance program
* Notion (productivity software), a note-taking and project-management program from Notion Labs Inc.
* Notion (window manager), the s ...
that the position of the hooves of horses in equestrian statue
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...
s indicated the rider's cause of death has been disproved.
Gallery
File:Lion man photo.jpg, Löwenmensch figurine
The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939. The German name, , meaning "lion-person" or "lion-human", is used most frequently because it was discovered a ...
, from Hohlenstein-Stadel
Hohlenstein-Stadel is a cave located in the Hohlenstein cliff (not to be confused with the Hohle Fels) at the southern rim of the Lonetal (valley of the Lone) in the Swabian Jura in Germany. While first excavations were started after the second h ...
, Germany, now in Ulmer Museum, Ulm
Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...
, Germany, possibly the oldest undisputed statuette. Aurignacian
The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic
associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where t ...
era, 40,000 BC-35,000 BC
File:Venus-of-Schelklingen.jpg, Two views of the Venus of Hohle Fels figurine, 40,000 BC-35,000 BC ( tall), one of the earliest known, undisputed examples of a depiction of a human being
File:Vestonicka venuse edit.jpg, Venus of Dolní Věstonice
The Venus of Dolní Věstonice ( cs, Věstonická venuše) is a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000 BCE (Gravettian industry). It was found at the Paleolithic site Dolní Věstonice in the Moravian ...
, ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
figurine
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...
, 29,000 BC-25,000 BC
File:Venus von Willendorf 01.jpg, Venus of Willendorf
The Venus of Willendorf is an Venus figurine estimated to have been made around 25,000-30,000 years ago. It was found on August 7, 1908, by a workman named Johann Veran or Josef Veram during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szomba ...
, one of the oldest known statuettes, Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
, 24,000 BC-22,000 BC
File:Ain Ghazal statue at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.png, Ain Ghazal statues, c. 7000 BC, found in Ain Ghazal, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
File:Great Sphinx of Giza - 20080716a.jpg, Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, E ...
, c. 2558–2532 BC, the largest monolith
A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...
ic statue in the world, standing long, wide, and high. Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
File:AurigaDelfi.jpg, The Charioteer of Delphi
The ''Charioteer of Delphi'', also known as ''Heniokhos'' ( el, Ἡνίοχος, the rein-holder), is a statue surviving from Ancient Greece, and an example of ancient bronze sculpture. The life-size (1.8m) Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art' ...
, 474 BC, Delphi Archaeological Museum
Delphi Archaeological museum (Modern Greek : ''Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών'') is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (Ephorate of Antiquities o ...
, Greece
File:Hermes di Prassitele, at Olimpia, front.jpg, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus
''Hermes and the Infant Dionysus'', also known as the ''Hermes of Praxiteles'' or the ''Hermes of Olympia'' is an ancient Greek sculpture of Hermes and the infant Dionysus discovered in 1877 in the ruins of the Temple of Hera, Olympia, in Greece. ...
by Praxiteles
Praxiteles (; el, Πραξιτέλης) of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubita ...
, 4th century BC, Archaeological Museum of Olympia
The Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας) is one of the principal museums of Greece, located in Olympia. It is overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and, as of 2009, is direc ...
, Greece
File:Venus de Milo Louvre Ma399 n4.jpg, ''Venus de Milo
The ''Venus de Milo'' (; el, Αφροδίτη της Μήλου, Afrodíti tis Mílou) is an ancient Greek sculpture that was created during the Hellenistic period, sometime between 150 and 125 BC. It is one of the most famous works of ancient ...
'', c. 130 - 100 BC, Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
File:Laocoon Pio-Clementino Inv1059-1064-1067.jpg, ''Laocoön and his Sons
The statue of ''Laocoön and His Sons'', also called the Laocoön Group ( it, Gruppo del Laocoonte), has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican Museums ...
,'' Greek, (Late Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
), c. 160 BC and 20 BC, White marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...
, Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
File:NaraTodaijiDaibutsu0212.jpg, Nara Daibutsu
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
, c. 752, Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan
File:The statue of Gommateshvara Bahubali dating 978-993 AD..jpg, Bahubali, Gommateshvara Bahubali, c. 978-993 AD, 57 feet (17 m) high
File:AhuTongariki.JPG, ''Moai of Easter Island facing inland,'' Ahu Tongariki, c. 1250 - 1500, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s
File:Kamakura Budda Daibutsu front 1885.jpg, Kōtoku-in, The Great Buddha of Kamakura, c. 1252, Kamakura, Japan, Japan
File:'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU005 denoised.jpg, Michelangelo's David, Michelangelo's ''David'', 1504, Galleria dell'Accademia, The Accademia Gallery, Florence, Italy
File:Statuary group of the Burghers of Calais Listed Grade I 02.jpg, Auguste Rodin, ''The Burghers of Calais'', 1884–c. 1889, in Victoria Tower Gardens, London, England.
File:Robert Burns, Union Terrace, Aberdeen, 1892 Henry Bain Smith, bronze, photo Jane Cartney 2010.jpg, Henry Bain Smith's bronze of Robert Burns, 1892, above Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen, Scotland
File:Alexander II - panoramio.jpg, A statue of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, the Grand Duke of Finland, at the Senate Square, Helsinki, Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland, sculpted by Walter Runeberg and Johannes Takanen, 1894
File:Musée Rodin 1.jpg, Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, 1880-1904
File:La Valse.jpg, Camille Claudel, ''The Waltz (Claudel), The Waltz'', 1889–1905, Musée Camille Claudel, Nogent-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, France
File:Copenhagen - the little mermaid statue - 2013.jpg, ''The Little Mermaid (statue), The Little Mermaid'', Copenhagen, Denmark by Edvard Eriksen 1913
File:Statue of Dr. Jose Rizal at the Luneta Park, Philippines.png, Statue of Dr. Jose Rizal. at the Rizal Park, Luneta Park, Philippines c.1908
File:Millais statue 3.jpg, Thomas Brock, ''John Everett Millais,'' at Tate Britain 1905
File:Picture of Modigiliani statue, Standing Nude (1912).jpg, ''Standing Nude'' (1912), by Amedeo Modigliani
File:Egede nuuk.JPG, The statue of Hans Egede, 1921, at Nuuk, Greenland
File:Mount rushmore July 2017.jpg, Mount Rushmore, by Gutzon Borglum, 1927–1941, Black Hills, Black Hills, South Dakota
File:USMC War Memorial Sunset Parade 2008-07-08.jpg, U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia, Arlington, Virginia, by Felix de Weldon 1954
File:Marcus.aurelius.horse.statue.rome.arp.jpg, A closeup of the replica statue of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, 1981; the original c. 200 AD is in the nearby Capitoline Museum, Rome
File:Spring Temple Buddha picturing Vairocana, in Lushan County, Henan, China.png, Spring Temple Buddha, the world's second tallest statue, overall 128 m (420 ft) in height, completed 2002, China.
File:Batu caves Malaysia Murugan temple 03.JPG, Lord Murugan Statue, Batu Caves, Malaysia, 140 feet (42.7 m).
File:Balance of nature statue at VUDA Park Visakhapatnam.JPG, ''Balance of Nature'' statue near VUDA Park, Visakhapatnam
File:Aristoteles der Stagirit.jpg, Aristotle in the Aristotlepark of Stagira
File:Statue of Unity in 2018.jpg, Vallabhbhai Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the founding fathers and Iron Man of the India, Republic of India; the ''Statue of Unity
The ''Statue of Unity'' is the world's tallest statue, with a height of , located near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first deputy pr ...
'', the world's tallest statue
File:Harriet Tubman Statue in Harlem.jpg, Alison Saar, "Swing Low", 2008, Harlem
See also
* Bronze sculpture
* Bust (sculpture)
* Equestrian sculpture
* Figurine
* History of sculpture
* List of statues
* List of tallest statues
* List of statues of Queen Victoria
* List of colossal sculpture in situ
* Mannequin
* Living statue
* Memorial
* Monument
* Sculpture
* Statues of Gudea, c. 2100 BC
* Statuette
* Stone carving
* Stone sculpture
* Venus figurines
References
External links
UK Public Monument and Sculpture Association
{{Authority control
Statues,
Types of sculpture
Sculpture terms