Western sculpture

Table of Contents

Introduction
European Metal Age cultures
- Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean
  - The Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 bce)
    - Early Minoan
    - Early Cycladic
    - Early Helladic and Early Cypriot
  - The Middle Bronze Age (2000–1600 bce)
    - Middle Minoan
    - Middle Cycladic, Middle Helladic, and Middle Cypriot
  - The Late Bronze Age (1600–1100 bce)
    - Late Minoan
    - Mycenaean
    - Late Cypriot
- Western Mediterranean
  - Bronze Age cultures
    - Sardinia and Corsica
    - Italy
  - Iron Age cultures
    - Italy
    - Iberia
Ancient Greek
- The Geometric period
- The Orientalizing period
- The Archaic period
- The Classical period
  - Early Classical (c. 500–450 bce)
  - High Classical period (c. 450–400 bce)
  - Late Classical period (c. 400–323 bce)
  - Hellenistic period
Roman and Early Christian
- The last century of the Republic
- The Empire
  - Augustan Age
  - Julio-Claudian period
  - Flavian period
  - Age of Trajan
  - Age of Hadrian
  - Antonine and Severan periods
  - 3rd and 4th centuries
  - Sculpture in the applied arts
- Early Christian
  - Beginnings
  - Sarcophagi
The Middle Ages
- Eastern Christian
  - Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire
  - Georgia
  - Armenia
  - Coptic Egypt
- Western Christian
  - Carolingian and Ottonian periods
  - Romanesque
Gothic
- Early Gothic
- High Gothic
  - Italian Gothic
  - International Gothic
- Late Gothic
The Renaissance
- Italy
  - Early Renaissance
  - Michelangelo and the High Renaissance
  - Mannerism
- Mannerist sculpture outside Italy
The Baroque period
- Italy
  - Early and High Baroque
  - Late Baroque
- Baroque and Rococo outside Italy
  - Spain
  - Flanders
  - France
  - England
  - Central Europe
  - Russia
  - Latin America
Neoclassical and Romantic sculpture
- Neoclassicism
  - “Decorum” and idealization
  - Relation to the Baroque and the Rococo
- 19th-century sculpture
Modern sculpture
- 19th-century beginnings
- The 20th century
  - Avant-garde sculpture (1909–20)
  - Constructivism and Dada
  - Conservative reaction (1920s)
  - Sculpture of fantasy (1920–45)
  - Other sculpture (1920–45)
  - Developments after World War II
  - The human figure since World War II
    - Archaizing, idol making, and religious sculpture
    - Public and private memorials
  - Other developments

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Edmonia Lewis: Hagar

Cycladic sculpture

Cycladic sculpture

Minoan civilization: Harvester Vase

rhyton in the form of a bull's head

Mycenae: Lion Gate

Villanovan cinerary urn

Read Next

American sculptor Vinnie Ream (1847-1914) and her bust of Abraham Lincoln on the stand used in the White House while President Lincoln posed for her. Photo taken between 1865 and 1870. Her full sized Lincoln See Asset: 182233

Woman-Made: 10 Sculptors You Might Not Know

Sculpture of woman before restoration (left) and after restoration on the exterior of an office building in Palencia, Spain. (art restoration)

5 Art Restorations Gone Wrong

Blank canvas in an artist's studio. Art; oil paints; brushes; artists' tools

6 Contemporary Artists Who Redefined Their Mediums

Vandalized Art list. Combo of EB owned illustration (top) and parent Asset 182294. 4 of 11 The Rokeby Venus by Diego Velazquez was hit with a meat cleaver by Mary Richardson

Art Abuse: 11 Vandalized Works of Art

Painting palette with oil paints and brushes. Rainbow colored paints, arts and entertainment

Art History: The Origins of 7 of Your Favorite Art Supplies

Discover

Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009

Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

Panama Canal infographic

Timeline and Map of the Panama Canal

Close-up of ostriches (Struthio camelus) necks and heads; location unknown.

6 of the World's Most Dangerous Birds

Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time

Watergate scandal. Richard M. Nixon. President Nixon gives a press conference and talks to the press, March 12, 1971.

9 American Political Scandals

A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin

Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine

Western sculpture

art

Written by Jan Joseph Marie Timmers, Lawrence Gowing•All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Related Topics:: Western arts

See all related content

Western sculpture, three-dimensional artistic forms produced in what is now Europe and later in non-European areas dominated by European culture (such as North America) from the Metal Ages to the present. Like painting, Western sculpture has tended to be humanistic and naturalistic, concentrating upon the human figure and human action studied from nature. Early in the history of the art there developed two general types: statuary, in which figures are shown in the round, and relief, in which figures project from a ground. Western sculpture in the ancient world of Greece and Rome and from the late Middle Ages to ...(100 of 41048 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.