Sculpture is an art form in which the physical object and the observer interact. Many famous sculptures are intended to be viewed in the round and occupy the same physical space as the viewer. Famous artists have explored the interplay between the observer and the physical object and place where the work is located. This article explores some of the famous works by artists such as Michelangelo, Rodin, and Brancusi.
Michelangelo’s David
Michelangelo’s David is a famous sculpture, but there is a reason that it’s not exactly what you might expect. The figure is a muscular young man, and his stance is a little different than other David statues. He looks nervous, as though he’s about to be in a battle. His right hand is holding a rock. Michelangelo managed to convey an incredible amount of detail, even though the medium of marble is rather unforgiving.
After Michelangelo was commissioned, he began carving the statue on 13 September, a month after being awarded the contract. It took over two years to complete the massive sculpture. In the first year, the statue’s height was erroneous, and it was not until three years after that it was finally unveiled.
David was originally intended to line the roof of Florence’s Duomo, but the city council’s committee decided to place it outside the palace, in the Piazza della Signoria, where it is now on display. The statue weighs more than twelve tons and stands 17 feet high. However, the public didn’t expect Michelangelo to take on the challenge of creating a large, intricate sculpture of the biblical figure David.
Replicas of David can be found in several museums throughout the world. The famous statue has been reproduced in coffee-table art books and on kitchen aprons. Its replicas serve two purposes: to educate the general public and as tactile teaching aids for scholars studying the sculpture. They also serve to spread Michelangelo’s legacy around the world.
Rodin’s Gates of Hell
Sculpture, particularly sculpture in bronze, has become a favored form of expression in the past century. The Gates of Hell sculpture by Rodin depicts a scene from Dante’s Inferno, a medieval vision of the afterlife. The artist was commissioned to create the bronze sculpture in 1880. He worked on the project for 37 years before his death. Rodin was a prolific artist and is credited with being the progenitor of modern sculpture. This artist developed complex forms and discarded traditional themes of allegory. The Gates of Hell sculpture is a perfect example of this.
The Gates’ evocative design was based on a model by Rodin, called Danaid. The name refers to a character from Dante’s Divine Comedy, who is said to be deprived of food. Rodin removed the sensual figure because it would conflict with other figures in the sculpture. The other figures include “Fleeting Love” and “Meditation.”
The original plaster model of The Gates of Hell is located in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Other plaster casts of the sculpture are located at the Musee Rodin in Meudon. The three bronze versions of the sculpture were created in 1917.
Rodin continued to rework some figures in The Gates. He renamed The Poet to The Thinker, exhibited him alone in 1888 and later enlarged it in bronze. He also had his studio assistants enlarge the figures in clay. They did this using a machine called a Collas. This machine resembled a lathe and enabled Rodin to create different sizes of duplicates of his clay sculptures.
Brancusi’s Spider
Brancusi’s Spider is an incredibly complex work of art that can be seen in many different ways. The original intent was to create a sculpture that had a smooth surface, but his final result is a sculpture that is filled with pits and small imperfections. The piece is a powerful homage to a female icon of history and mathematics.
While the overall composition of Brancusi’s Spider is abstract, it has many elements that suggest a character and experience. The piece reflects the history of art and science, and even includes references to other artists. It also echoes the style of modern architecture. Although the artist was influenced by several artists, Brancusi was interested in the work of the independents and studied anatomy and modeling.
After exhibiting in the Armory Show in 1913, Brancusi began exhibiting his work to an international audience. His pieces were now being shown at art galleries in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Paris. His sculptural works were well-known in the United States, where he found a loyal following.
The artist’s fascination with flying birds inspired his work. Brancusi removed wings and elongated the body, removing its tail and reducing the head to a plane of oval proportion. It then balanced on a thin, conical footing. These works are part of his Bird in Space series.