Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Sculpture, techniques of
(3,039 words)

1. Introduction

An understanding of a sculpture depends on knowledge of the material used to make it and the sculptural process by which it is made. Every material is subject to its own particular conditions when being worked, and this affects the appearance of the finished work. The two manufacturing processes, subtractive sculpture and modeling, are fundamentally distinct (Sculpture [subtractive]; Sculpture [modeling]).

Subtractive sculpture includes works that are chiseled a…

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Buczynski, Bodo and Hegener, Nicole, “Sculpture, techniques of”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 10 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017635>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210601



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