Ancient Greek Terracotta Sculpture

The phrase “terracotta sculpture” refers to all figurative representations in fired clay produced in Greece and in the Greek world during the first millennium bce, (from the Geometric period to the end of the Hellenistic period), whatever their size (figurine, statuette, or statue), whatever their manufacturing technique (modeling, molding, mixed), whatever their material form (in-the-round, relief, etc.), whatever their representation (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic [real or imaginary], diverse objects), and whatever the limits of their representation: full figure (figurines, statuettes, groups), truncated or abbreviated representations, including protomai, masks, busts, half figures, and anatomical representations, among others. All these objects, with the possible exception of large statues, were the products of artisans who were referred to in ancient texts as “coroplasts,” or modelers of images in clay. Because of this, the term “coroplasty,” or “coroplathy,” has been used to refer to this craft, but also increasingly to all of its products, large and small, while research on this material falls under the rubric of coroplastic studies. Greek terracottas were known to antiquarians from the mid-17th century onward from archaeological explorations in both sanctuary and funerary sites, especially in southern Italy and Sicily. Yet serious scholarly interest in these important representatives of Greek sculpture developed only in the last quarter of the 19th century, when terracotta figurines of the Hellenistic period were unearthed from the cemeteries of Tanagra in Boeotia in the 1870s and Myrina in Asia Minor in the 1880s. These immediately entered the antiquities markets, where their cosmopolitan, secular imagery had a great appeal for collectors and fueled scholarly interest and debate. At the same time, sanctuary deposits containing terracottas also began to be explored, but scholarly attention privileged funerary terracottas because of their better state of preservation. For most of the 20th century, the study of figurative terracottas basically was an art-historical exercise based in iconography and style that remained in the shadow of monumental sculpture. It is only in the last four decades or so that coroplastic studies has developed into an autonomous field of research, with approaches specific to the discipline that consider modalities of production, as well as the religious, social, political, and economic roles that terracottas played in ancient Greek life by means of broad sociological and anthropological approaches. Consequently, this bibliography mainly comprises publications of the last forty years, although old titles that are still essential for research are also included.

Consonancias significativas de la escultura pública de Elena Laverón. Poéticas pioneras y analógicas para la construcción social de género

Una conciencia estética crítica con los modelos tradicionales y defensora de la igualdad entre géneros. Este es el punto de partida de la escultura monumental de la artista ceutí Elena Laverón, visible no solamente en el amplio catálogo de sus obras sino en su propia actitud vital; un posicionamiento que le lleva, desde su juventud, a rivalizar con las actuaciones de sus compañeros, consiguiendo vencer reticencias, prejuicios o tratos desiguales. Este activismo, que no es extraño en la sociedad actual, sí despierta la atención cuando se produce en épocas en las que las miradas androcéntricas prevalecen frente a toda posible resiliencia. Ahí reside el carácter precursor de Laverón al anteceder a planteamientos hoy normalizados y abrir vías experimentales que están en la base de actuaciones transgresoras posteriores. Partiendo de estos parámetros, consigue externalizar un sugestivo ejercicio de resemantización social del espacio público a través de la materia escultórica. El sustrato último de tales intenciones tiene una especial consonancia con la actitud intelectual planteada décadas antes por la filósofa María Zambrano; los principios de ésta, convertidos en universales, quizá puedan servir de soporte teórico para la actividad artística de Laverón. An aesthetic conscience, critical of traditional models and defender of gender equality. This is the starting point of the monumental sculpture of the Ceuta artist Elena Laverón, visible not only in the wide catalog of her works but also in her own vital attitude; a position argued from her youth to compete with the actions of her partners and, finally, overcome reluctance, prejudice or unequal treatment. This activism is not strange in today's society but if it arouses attention if it takes place in times where even the androcentric views prevail in the face of any possible resilience. That is the pioneer case of Laverón who, preceding standardized approaches today and opening experimental routes that are the basis of subsequent transgressive actions. Based on these parameters, she manages to externalize a suggestive exercise of social re-semantization of public space through sculptural matter.The ultimate substratum of such intentions is especially in keeping with the intellectual attitude set forth decades earlier by the filosopher María Zambrano; its principles, turned into universal ones, may perhaps serve as theoretical support for Laverón’s artistic activity.

Biomorphic Traces in The Monumental Sculpture of Boyan Rainov

Boyan Rainov is born in 1921 in a family of which almost every member is dedicated to art. He himself is not well known in Bulgaria because of the fact that from 1946 he lived and worked in Paris, France. His work took place in the fields of drawing, illustration, relief and easel sculpture, but at the time of his stay in the French capital he managed to produce a number of outdoor monumental sculptural compositions. They are typical examples of one formal tradition in modern sculpture that refers its characteristics to organic and nonorganic natural objects. That tradition, often called biomorphic, is familiar to us from the work of Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp and Henry Moore.

Tomb Sculpture

Among the many genres of medieval sculpture that are still extant, tombs have long received particularly close attention because of their direct association with the bodies of specific historical individuals, which are very often (though not exclusively) those of the most prestigious members of medieval society. The most ubiquitous format in much of Europe was the effigy, which usually appeared as a recumbent figure set on a slab that also sometimes functioned as the lid of a tomb chest. The first known examples of the effigy date to the years around 1100 and seem to emerge in Germany; the format was quickly adopted in France, England, and elsewhere before becoming a dominant fixture of Gothic churches across Europe in the 13th through 15th centuries. Elaborate tombs with decorative programs were comparatively scarce in the earlier Middle Ages, with the important exception of the richly carved sarcophagi found in the Roman Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries, which appropriated a popular late antique format and replaced its Bacchic image cycles with new Christian iconographies. This tradition seems to have faded with the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West and the rise of new kingdoms across Europe, many of which produced little monumental sculpture (or at least, little that survives) before the 12th century. Thus, the emphasis placed in this article on the effigy and the period 1100–1500 reflects not only scholarly interest but also the patterns of production that can be observed elsewhere in the chronology of medieval European architecture and sculpture. While much of the formative scholarship on medieval tomb sculpture had been primarily driven either by biographical interests in the individuals they commemorated or by a teleological interest in tracing the stylistic evolution of forms from late medieval reliefs to free-standing Renaissance statues, more recent studies have turned to the political, theological, and social meanings of these powerful monuments. This discourse has largely centered on two entwined themes: first, the use of tomb sculpture to promote and ensure salvation for the dead, and, second, its role in shaping the ideals and ambitions of the living. Though these broad trends are shared across the field, the idiosyncratic nature of the material and the apparently bespoke nature of most monuments has led to a field defined by case studies, with relatively few attempts to synthesize pictures of the greater whole that move beyond highly localized geographic limits.

Documentación escrita y fotográfica parametrizada del Monumento a Francisco de Paula Valladar (Granada) como útil para su valoración, difusión y conservación

Esta investigación define las características del Monumento a Francisco de Paula Valladar y Serrano (Granada). Su objetivo es documentar la escultura y para ello es preciso datar su ubicación geográfica, obtener su descripción, medidas y materiales de construcción, analizar su contexto histórico-cultural, concretar su lectura, considerar su valor patrimonial y exponer su estado de conservación. La metodología utilizada es teórica documental y de práctica fotográfica parametrizada, geolocalizadora y de orientación espacial. Las conclusiones obtenidas determinan que esta escultura monumental está ubicada en los Jardines del Genil (Granada), su acceso es por el paseo de la Bomba, su localización presenta una Latitud de 37º16´78.31´´ N y una Longitud de 3º59´98.45´´ E, su orientación frontal es NE-SO, sus medidas totales son de 232 x 76 x 76 cm. Se trata de una obra formada por peana pétrea -con alegorías femeninas y textos- y busto masculino de bronce patinado, su estilo es figurativo, su valor histórico es considerable, su lectura es conmemorativa y de homenaje, su contexto histórico de creación es culturalmente importante, su estado de conservación es medio y necesita restauración. La difusión de esta información contribuye a actualizar la memoria del patrimonio artístico de la ciudad. This research defines the characteristics of the Monument to Francisco de Paula Valladar y Serrano (Granada). Its objective is to document the sculpture and for this it is necessary to date its geographical location, obtain its description, measurements and construction materials, analyze its historical-cultural context, specify its reading, consider its heritage value and expose its state of conservation. The methodology used is documentary theory and parametric photographic practice, geolocation and spatial orientation. The conclusions obtained determine that this monumental sculpture is located in the Jardines del Genil (Granada), its access is through the Paseo de la Bomba, its location has a Latitude of 37º16´78.31´´ N and a Longitude of 3º59´98.45´´ E, its frontal orientation is NE-SO, its total measurements are 232 x 76 x 76 cm. It is a work formed by a stone base - with feminine allegories and texts - and a patinated bronze male bust, its style is figurative, its historical value is considerable, its reading is commemorative and tribute, its historical context of creation is culturally important, its state of conservation is medium and needs restoration. The dissemination of this information contributes to updating the memory of the city’s artistic heritage.

Images of Soviet Monumental Sculpture in Miniature Plastic Arts: Transformation of Functions and Evolution of Meanings

Статья посвящена изучению советской мелкой пластики 1950–1980 гг. с целью определения степени и характера влияния политической пропаганды и агитации на серийное производство скульптуры малых форм в СССР. Материалами исследования явились произведения мелкой пластики и монументальной скульптуры, научные изыскания российских культурологов и искусствоведов. Раскрыты особенности идеологической направленности советского искусства, прослежена связь соцреализма с классической традицией. Описана традиция бытования скульптур в интерьерах общественных мест и в квартирах советских граждан. Проведена атрибуция мелкой пластики, созданной на заводе «Монументскульптура» и на других предприятиях. Отмечено, что сегодня советская малая пластика и выраженные в ней образы десакрализовались, став частью интерьеров кафе и сувенирных лавок, выполняя рекламные функции. Памятники вождей революции также перестали нести в себе актуальность, превратившись в исторические артефакты. The article is devoted to a study of the Soviet miniature plastic arts of the 1950s–1980s. It aims to determine the degree and nature of the influence of political propaganda and agitation on the serial production of small sculptures in the USSR. The author applied a methodology for the study of works of art elaborated by V.Z. Paperny and elements of the cultural approach and the hermeneutic method in combination with descriptive and comparative methods. The materials for the research were works of miniature plastic arts and monumental sculpture, research of Russian cultural scientists and art historians. The author reveals the features of the ideological orientation of Soviet art emphasizing the connection between Socialist Realism and the classical tradition. He describes the tradition of decorating interiors of public places, as well as of Soviet citizens’ apartments, with sculptures and shows that the tradition of decorating the interior with portraits of prominent people had a didactic task as it formed the idea of a role model. The author attributes small sculptures produced at the Monumentskulpura plant and at other Soviet enterprises, presents biographical data of the sculptors who authored both the monuments and the small sculptures. He notes the role of busts and sculptures with an ideological semantic load in the creation of the national “Soviet pantheon”. The author points out that monuments and small sculptures, due to their enormous scale and diversity, can be considered a decisive force in the formation of Soviet people’s everyday consciousness. The choice of the object of perpetuation was one of the important issues on the political agenda. The criticism of Stalin’s personality cult caused the demolition and destruction of his monuments; this did not occur spontaneously, the authorities themselves organized it. These overthrows of the image of the authorities took place almost imperceptibly, leaving no significant response in art. The author concludes that today the objects of Soviet miniature plastic arts and the images they expressed have been desacralized, becoming parts of the interiors of cafes and souvenir shops, performing advertising functions. Monuments of the leaders of the revolution also ceased to be relevant, turning into historical artifacts. Based on the analysis of studies on Soviet culture and their comparison with fiction, the author draws a conclusion about the shared fate of the symbols of power in history.