SCULPTURE, in its strict sense, is the art of carving or cutting any material into a proposed form or shape. In its more general accepta tion it is the art of representing objects by form ; and is thus applied to carving, modelling (or the plastic art), casting, whether in metal or other materials, and to gem-engraving. Sculpture is practised in various ways; namely, in forming entire or insulated figures, as statues or groups, called iu technical language, " the round ; " or in represent ing objects more or less raised without their being entirely detached from a background. This latter is termed "relief," and the degrees of relief are defined by modern writers and artists by the expressions alto-riliera, when the object is so salient as to be nearly " round ;" basso-riliero, when it is slightly raised from the background; and mezzo-rilicro, when a medium is preserved between the extremely high and the very flat " relief." There is another variety of this manner of working "basso-rilievo," which is only or chiefly found in Egyptian sculpture; • the outline is sunk into the plane or ground, and the parts are then formed and rounded on the principle of basso.rilievo. By this mode of working there is usually no projection beyond the profile or face of the original ground ; to gain effect therefore in this kind of reliered intaglio, the Egyptian artists frequently painted the sculpture. It is not necessary to enter into a discussion of the various opinions respecting the comparative antiquity of the arts of painting and sculpture. Pliny's story (' Hist. Nat.,' xxxv. 12) of the daughter of Dibutades haring traced the outline of her lover's profile on the shadow cast on the wall, and of this outline being afterwards filled in with clay by her father, would give the priority to drawing ; and it seems obvious that drawing an outline must be antecedent to modelling, or cutting in relief; but a little consideration will suffice to establish the probability that ins/dated objects and figures were made in the very earliest times. So many materials offered themselves upon which the imaginative faculty could be exercised, that there can be little doubt that rude attempts at forming clay, or any other plastic substance, into a defined shape, were amongst the first exercises of human Ingenuity ; and the easy task of thus repeating or copying the real form of an object, compered with that of representing by lines (and on a flat surface) its partial and perspective appearance, is quite sufficient to lead to the inference that this was the earliest mode of imitation.
The ancients appear to have availed themselves of every known material that was capable of being employed in sculpture. Pliny;
Patennias, and other writers supply some curious information on this subject, for, in describing works of art, they usually mention the materials In which they were executed.
For modelling, clay, wax, and stucco, or plaster, appear to have been universally adopted ; and works of great antiquity' formed of these substances, are still eserved. The clay model was usually baked, by Which it acquired hardness scarcely inferior to stone. Moulds were also made of clay, and being subjected to the above process, were safely used as forms into which softer substances could be messed, and thus objects were multiplied without difficulty. The almost countless number of figures, bassi-rilievi, lamps, tiles, architectural ornaments, vases, domestic utensil's, stamps, &c., which are found of this material (called terra-cotta, baked earth), proves the extent of its employment in the earlier ages of art. The objects usually composed of terra-cotta are of small dimensions, but there aro instances of its being used for works of considerable size. In the Mimeo llorbonico at Naples are two statues, of Jupiter and Juno, above six feet high, and two others, one of an actor and the other an actress, above four feet high. They were found at Pompeii. The larger figures are inferior in their forms to the others, but whether the faults of proportion arise from the shrinking or contraction of the clay in baking, or were errors in the original modelling, it is net easy to determine. The specimens of terra-cotta preserved in England are for the most part of small size; but there are some very beautiful objects, both for execution and sub. ject, in the Townley collection of the British Museum. It appears highly probable that the ancients always, or almost always, painted their terra-cotta works. In many instances the colour still remains, and the draperies of figures, and portions of architectural ornament, often exhibit well preserved designs of border patterns. The employ ment of wax for modelling and casting can be traced to a very remote period. The Romans also employed it for making statues, or perhaps only busts. It was a custom in some families to preserve portraits of their ancestors made of wax. [Pommes.) A great proportion of the ornamental work, rilievi, fic., in the build ings of Pompeii is of stucco or plaster. Few collections of antiquities are without specimens of figures and ornaments modelled in this material. Some in the British Museum aro examples of great delicacy and sharpness of execution. Many of them are painted ; red is the prevailing colour.