1.
Victorious Youth
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The sculpture was found in the summer of 1961 in the sea off Fano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, snagged in the nets of an Italian fishing trawler, the Ferri Ferruccio. After some furtive offering on the gray market and vigorous competition with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sculpture may have part of the crowd of sculptures of victorious athletes at Panhellenic Greek sanctuaries like Delphi. His right hand reaches to touch the winners olive wreath on his head, the powerful head has led viewers to see it as a portrait, the head was cast separately from the lithe body. The athletes eyes were once inlaid, probably with bone, the statue has been roughly broken off its former base, breaking away at the ankles. The Italian government has made claims for the return of the sculpture, the Getty Museum is involved in a controversy regarding proper title to some of the artwork in its collection. The Museums previous curator of antiquities, Marion True, was indicted in Italy in 2005 along with Robert E. Hecht on criminal charges relating to trafficking in stolen antiquities. The primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva, True is currently under investigation by Greek authorities over the acquisition of a 2, 500-year-old funerary wreath. On November 20,2006, the Director of the museum, Michael Brand, announced that twenty-six disputed pieces were to be returned to Italy, antonietta Viacava, L atleta di Fano, edizioni LErma di Bretschneider,1995, ISBN 88-7062-868-X. Reviewed in Bryn Mawr Classical Review www. lisippo. org - Website of the organisation who want the statue back to Fano. Www. patrimoniosos. it Victorious Youth NPR, Italy, Getty Museum at Odds over Disputed Art 20 December 2006. Rutelli, «Cultural embargoe», by Pierluigi Panza, Corriere della Sera, November 14,2006 Il Getty Museum non rende le opere richieste, Corriere della Sera, November 23,2006 Rutelli attacca il Getty. Corriere della Sera, November 26,2006 LItalie joue le bras de fer avec le Getty Museum, di Richard Heuzé, Le Figaro, December 26,2006 No Lisippo, no Bernini, La Stampa, July 11,2007
2.
Chinese ritual bronzes
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Sets of ritual bronzes are the most impressive surviving objects from the Chinese Bronze Age. On the death of the owner they would be placed in his tomb, so that he could continue to pay his respects in the afterlife, other examples were cast specifically as grave goods. The ritual bronzes were not used for normal eating and drinking, they represent larger, more elaborate versions of the types of vessels used for this. Apart from table vessels, weapons and some objects were made in special ritual forms. At least initially, the production of bronze was probably controlled by the ruler, bronzes are some of the most important pieces of ancient Chinese art, warranting an entire separate catalogue in the Imperial art collections. The majority of surviving Chinese ancient bronze artefacts are ritual forms rather than their equivalents made for practical use, weapons like daggers and axes had a sacrificial meaning, symbolizing the heavenly power of the ruler. The ritual books of old China minutely describe who was allowed to use what kinds of sacrificial vessels and her higher status would have been clear not only to her contemporaries, but also, it was believed, to her ancestors and other spirits. Many of the pieces were cast with inscriptions using the form of her name. The most highly prized are generally the sacrificial and wine vessels, often these vessels are elaborately decorated with taotie designs. Dǐng Sacrificial vessel, originally a cauldron for cooking and storing meat, the Shang prototype has a round bowl, wider than it is tall, set on three legs, there are two short handles on each side. Later examples became larger and larger and were considered a measure of power and it is considered the single most important class of Chinese bronzeware in terms of its cultural importance. There is a called a fāngdǐng which has a square bowl. There exist rare forms with lids, 西清古鑒 contains over two hundred examples, and this is the most highly regarded of all Chinese bronzes. Dòu, Sacrificial vessel that was originally a food vessel, Flat, covered bowl on a long stem. Fǔ, Rectangular dish, triangular in vertical cross-section, always with a lid shaped like the dish. Zūn, Wine vessel and sacrificial vessel, Tall cylindrical wine cup, with no handles or legs. The mouth is slightly broader than the body. In the late Zhōu dynasty, this type of vessel became exceedingly elaborate, often taking the shape of animals and these later types are distinguished from gōng by retaining a small, roughly circular mouth
3.
Ding (vessel)
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Ding were prehistoric and ancient Chinese cauldrons, standing upon legs with a lid and two facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in Chinese ritual bronzes and they were made in two shapes, round vessels with three legs and rectangular ones with four, the latter often called fanding. They were used for cooking, storage, and ritual offerings to the gods or to ancestors, under the Zhou, the ding and the privilege to perform the associated rituals became symbols of authority. In Chinese history and culture, possession of one or more ancient ding is often associated with power, therefore, the ding is often used as an implicit symbolism for power. The term inquiring of the ding is often used interchangeably with the quest for power, in the early Bronze Age of China, the use of wine and food vessels served a religious purpose. While ding were the most important food vessels, wine vessels were the more prominent ritual bronzes of this time, likely due to the belief in Shamanism, Ding were used to make ritual sacrifices, both human and animal, to ancestors. They varied in size, but were quite large, indicating that whole animals were likely sacrificed. The sacrifices were meant to appease ancestors due to the Shang belief that spirits had the capability to affect the world of the living, if the ancestors were happy, the living would be blessed with good fortune. During the Early Western Zhou Dynasty, the people underwent a political and cultural change, King Wu of Zhou believed that the Shang people were drunkards. He believed that their over-consumption of wine led their king to lose the Mandate of Heaven, because of this belief, food vessels replaced wine vessels in importance. Bronze vessels underwent what has been the Ritual Revolution and this theory suggests that because there was a change in decor as well as the types and variations of vessels found in tombs, their function shifted from solely religious to a more secular one. Instead of sacrificing food to ancestors, the Zhou used ding to show off the status of the deceased to both the living and spirits. For example, emperors were buried with nine ding, feudal lords with seven, ministers with five, the vessels served as symbols of authority for the elite far into the Warring States period. This is the period to which the oldest examples of bronze dings date, inscriptions found on dings and zhongs are used to study bronzeware script. The most commonly believed bronze vessel casting process of ancient Chinese vessels is the mold process. The model would then be shaved down to form the core, when the bronze had cooled, the clay would be broken away from the vessel, and the process was complete. A newer variation on the mold process was put forth as a way to explain asymmetrical faces on vessels which, as a rule. It was proposed that décor was not made on a model and then transferred to the outer mold layer, décor was added in a variety of ways
4.
Benin Bronzes
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The Benin Bronzes are a group of more than a thousand commemorative metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Benin Kingdom in modern-day Nigeria. In 1897, most of the plaques and other objects were removed by the British during an expedition to the area as imperial control was being consolidated in Southern Nigeria. Two hundred of the pieces were taken to the British Museum, London, today, a large number are held by the British Museum. Other notable collections are in Germany and the United States, the Benin Bronzes led to a greater appreciation in Europe of African culture and art. Initially and naively, it appeared incredible to the discoverers that people supposedly so primitive, some even concluded that Benin knowledge of metallurgy came from the Portuguese traders who were in contact with Benin in the early modern period. Today, it is clear that the bronzes were made in Benin from an indigenous culture, many of these dramatic sculptures date to the thirteenth century, centuries before contact with Portuguese traders, and a large part of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is believed that two golden ages in Benin metal workmanship occurred during the reigns of Esigie and of Eresoyen, while the collection is known as the Benin Bronzes, like most West African bronzes the pieces are mostly made of brass of variable composition. There are also made of mixtures of bronze and brass, of wood, of ceramic. The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best sculptures made using this technique, bronze and ivory objects had a variety of functions in the ritual and courtly life of the Kingdom of Benin. They were used principally to decorate the palace, which contained many bronze works. They were hung on the pillars of the palace by nails punched directly through them, as a courtly art, their principal objective was to glorify the Oba—the divine king—and the history of his imperial power or to honor the queen mother. Art in the Kingdom of Benin took many forms, of bronze and brass reliefs. In tropical Africa of the center, the technique of lost-wax casting was developed early. When a king died, his successor would order that a head be made of his predecessor. Approximately 170 of these sculptures exist, and the oldest date from the twelfth century, the Oba, or king, monopolized the materials that were most difficult to obtain, such as gold, elephant tusks, and bronze. These kings made possible the creation of the splendid Benin bronzes, thus, in 1939, heads very similar to those of the Benin Empire were discovered in Ife, the holy city of the Yoruba, which dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This discovery supported an earlier tradition holding that it was artists from Ife who had taught Benin the techniques of bronze metalworking, recognition of the antiquity of the technology in Benin advanced when these sculptures were dated definitively to that era. Few examples of African art had been collected by Europeans in the eighteenth century and this attitude changed after the Benin Expedition of 1897
5.
Florence Baptistery
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The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonal baptistery stands in both the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza San Giovanni, across from Florence Cathedral and the Campanile di Giotto, the Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style. The Baptistry is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures, the south doors were created by Andrea Pisano and the north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The east doors were dubbed by Michelangelo the Gates of Paradise, the Italian poet Dante and many other notable Renaissance figures, including members of the Medici family, were baptized in this baptistry. It was long believed that the Baptistry was originally a Roman temple dedicated to Mars, the chronicler Giovanni Villani reported this medieval Florentine legend in his fourteenth-century Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. It is, however, certain that a first octagonal baptistry was erected here in the fourth or early fifth century. It was replaced or altered by another early Christian baptistry in the sixth century and its construction is attributed to Theodolinda, queen of the Lombards to seal the conversion of her husband, King Authari. The octagon had been a common shape for baptisteries for many centuries since early Christian times, the number eight is a symbol of regeneration in Christianity, signifying the six days of creation, the Day of Rest, and a day of re-creation through the Sacrament of Baptism. The earlier baptistry was the second basilica after San Lorenzo, outside the northern city wall. It was first recorded as such on 4 March 897, when the Count Palatine, the granite pilasters were probably taken from the Roman forum sited at the location of the present Piazza della Repubblica. At that time, the baptistry was surrounded by a cemetery with Roman sarcophagi, the present much larger Baptistry was built in Romanesque style around 1059, evidence of the growing economic and political importance of Florence. It was reconsecrated on 6 November 1059 by Pope Nicholas II, according to legend, the marbles were brought from Fiesole, conquered by Florence in 1078. Other marble came from ancient structures, the construction was finished in 1128. An octagonal lantern was added to the roof around 1150. On the corners, under the roof, are monstrous lion heads with a head under their claws. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, three double doors were added, with bronze and marble statues above them. This gives an indication that the Baptistry, at time, was at least equal to the neighbouring cathedral in importance. The Baptistry has eight sides with a rectangular addition on the west side
6.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
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Trained as a goldsmith and sculptor, he established an important workshop for sculpture in metal. His book of Commentari contains important writing on art, as well as what may be the earliest surviving autobiography by any artist, Ghiberti was born in Pelago,20 km from Florence. His father was Bartoluccio Ghiberti, an artist and goldsmith, who trained his son in goldsmithing and he then went to work in the Florence workshop of Bartoluccio di Michele, where Antonio del Pollaiolo also received his training. When the bubonic plague struck Florence in 1400, Ghiberti emigrated to Rimini, Ghibertis career was dominated by his two successive commissions for pairs of bronze doors to the Florence Baptistery. They are recognized as a masterpiece of the Early Renaissance. Ghiberti first became famous when as a 23-year-old he won the 1401 competition for the first set of bronze doors, the original plan was for the doors to depict scenes from the Old Testament, but the plan was changed to depict scenes from the New Testament instead. However, the piece made was of the sacrifice of Isaac. To carry out this commission, he set up a workshop in which many artists trained, including Donatello, Masolino, Michelozzo, Uccello. Instead of twenty-eight scenes, he produced ten rectangular scenes in a different style. These were more naturalistic, with perspective and a greater idealization of the subject, dubbed The Gates of Paradise by Michelangelo, this second set remains a major monument of the age of Renaissance humanism. As recommended by Giotto, Andrea Pisano was awarded the commission to design the first set of doors at the Florence Baptistery in 1329, the south doors were originally installed on the east side facing the Duomo, and were transferred to their present location in 1452. These proto-Renaissance doors consist of 28 quatrefoil panels, with the twenty top panels depicting scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, the eight lower panels depict the eight virtues of hope, faith, charity, humility, fortitude, temperance, justice and prudence. Pisano took six years to them, finishing in 1336. In 1453, Ghiberti and his son Vittorio were commissioned to add a door case to Pisanos existing panels, Ghiberti died in 1455, eight years before the frame was finished leaving a majority of the work to Vitorrio and other members of his workshop. There is a Latin inscription on top of the door, Andreas Ugolini Nini de Pisis me fecit A. D. MCCCXXX, the South Doors were undergoing restoration during September,2016. In 1401, the Arte di Calimala announced a competition to design doors which would eventually be placed on the side of the baptistry. These new doors would serve as an offering to celebrate Florence being spared from relatively recent scourges such as the Black Death in 1348. Many artists competed for this commission and a jury selected seven semifinalists which included Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, at the time of judging, only Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were finalists, and when the judges could not decide, they were assigned to work together on them
7.
Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu
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They are the oldest bronze artifacts known in West African and were manufactured centuries before the emergence of other known bronze producing centers such as those of Ife and Benin. The bronzes include numerous ritual vessels, pendants, crowns, breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes amazed the world with a very high level of technical and artistic proficiency and sophistication which was at this time distinctly more advanced than bronze casting in Europe. Frank Willett says that the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes portray a standard that is comparable to that established by Benvenuto Cellini five hundred years later in Europe, denis Williams calls them an exquisite explosion without antecedent or issue. One of the objects found, a pot set in a mesh of simulated rope is described by Hugh Honour. Its elegant design and refined detailing are matched by a level of accomplishment that is notably more advanced than European bronze casting of this period. Some of the glass and carnelian beads have been found to be produced in Old Cairo at the workshops of Fustat thus establishing that trade contacts did exist between Igbo-Ukwu and ancient Egypt. Archaeological sites containing iron smelting furnaces and slag have been excavated dating to 2000BC in Lejja, the initial finds were made by Isiah Anozie while digging in his compound in 1939. He was not aware of the significance of the objects he had found and gave some of them to friends and neighbors. Field, the British colonial district officer of the area learned of the finds and was able to purchase many of them. He later handed over the artefacts to the Nigerian department of antiquity, the Igbo people are not themselves metal workers, and as far as is known they never have been it is improbable that it has lain buried for more than a century at the most. Subsequent research was to prove him wrong, the archaeological digs revealed hundreds of copper and bronze ritual vessels as well as iron swords, iron spear heads, iron razors and other artifacts dated a millennium earlier. It is therefore perplexing that they were able to create objects with such fine detail that they depict. Though these appear to have been riveted or soldered on to the artifacts, the Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art describes them as being among the most inventive and technically accomplished bronzes ever made. The origin of the ore used to produce the bronze has been located to old mines in Abakiliki about 100 kilometers from Igbo-Ukwu
8.
Bronze
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These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as stiffness, ductility, or machinability. The archeological period where bronze was the hardest metal in use is known as the Bronze Age. In the ancient Near East this began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC, with India and China starting to use bronze around the same time, everywhere it gradually spread across regions. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age starting from about 1300 BC and reaching most of Eurasia by about 500 BC, the discovery of bronze enabled people to create metal objects which were harder and more durable than previously possible. Bronze tools, weapons, armor, and building such as decorative tiles were harder and more durable than their stone. It was only later that tin was used, becoming the major ingredient of bronze in the late 3rd millennium BC. Tin bronze was superior to arsenic bronze in that the process could be more easily controlled. Also, unlike arsenic, metallic tin and fumes from tin refining are not toxic, the earliest tin-alloy bronze dates to 4500 BCE in a Vinča culture site in Pločnik. Other early examples date to the late 4th millennium BC in Africa, Susa and some ancient sites in China, Luristan, ores of copper and the far rarer tin are not often found together, so serious bronze work has always involved trade. Tin sources and trade in ancient times had a influence on the development of cultures. In Europe, a source of tin was the British deposits of ore in Cornwall. In many parts of the world, large hoards of bronze artefacts are found, suggesting that bronze also represented a store of value, in Europe, large hoards of bronze tools, typically socketed axes, are found, which mostly show no signs of wear. With Chinese ritual bronzes, which are documented in the inscriptions they carry and from other sources and these were made in enormous quantities for elite burials, and also used by the living for ritual offerings. Pure iron is soft, and the process of beating and folding sponge iron to wrought iron removes from the metal carbon. Careful control of the alloying and tempering eventually allowed for wrought iron with properties comparable to modern steel, Bronze was still used during the Iron Age, and has continued in use for many purposes to the modern day. Among other advantages, it does not rust, the weaker wrought iron was found to be sufficiently strong for many uses. Archaeologists suspect that a disruption of the tin trade precipitated the transition. The population migrations around 1200–1100 BC reduced the shipping of tin around the Mediterranean, limiting supplies, there are many different bronze alloys, but typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin
9.
Casting (metalworking)
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In metalworking, casting means a process, in which liquid metal is poured into a mold, that contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and is then allowed to cool and solidify. The solidified part is known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods, Casting processes have been known for thousands of years, and widely used for sculpture, especially in bronze, jewellery in precious metals, and weapons and tools. Traditional techniques include casting, plaster mold casting and sand casting. The modern casting process is subdivided into two categories, expendable and non-expendable casting. It is further broken down by the material, such as sand or metal. Expendable mold casting is a classification that includes sand, plastic, shell, plaster. This method of mold casting involves the use of temporary, non-reusable molds, sand casting is one of the most popular and simplest types of casting, and has been used for centuries. Sand casting allows for smaller batches than permanent mold casting and at a reasonable cost. Not only does this method allow manufacturers to create products at a low cost, from castings that fit in the palm of your hand to train beds, it can all be done with sand casting. Sand casting also allows most metals to be cast depending on the type of sand used for the molds, sand casting requires a lead time of days, or even weeks sometimes, for production at high output rates and is unsurpassed for large-part production. Green sand has almost no weight limit, whereas dry sand has a practical part mass limit of 2. Minimum part weight ranges from 0. 075–0.1 kg, the sand is bonded together using clays, chemical binders, or polymerized oils. Sand can be recycled many times in most operations and requires little maintenance, plaster casting is similar to sand casting except that plaster of paris is substituted for sand as a mold material. Plaster casting is an alternative to other molding processes for complex parts due to the low cost of the plaster. The biggest disadvantage is that it can only be used with low melting point non-ferrous materials, such as aluminium, copper, magnesium, and zinc. Shell molding is similar to casting, but the molding cavity is formed by a hardened shell of sand instead of a flask filled with sand. The sand used is finer than sand casting sand and is mixed with a resin so that it can be heated by the pattern, because of the resin and finer sand, it gives a much finer surface finish
10.
Sculpture
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Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts, a wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. However, most ancient sculpture was painted, and this has been lost. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, the Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith, the revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelos David. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work, many of these allow the production of several copies. The term sculpture is used mainly to describe large works. The very large or colossal statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity, another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the head, showing just that, or the bust, small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin. Sculpture is an important form of public art, a collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden. One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in form of association with religion. Cult images are common in cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were rather small. The same is true in Hinduism, where the very simple. Some undoubtedly advanced cultures, such as the Indus Valley civilization, appear to have had no monumental sculpture at all, though producing very sophisticated figurines, the Mississippian culture seems to have been progressing towards its use, with small stone figures, when it collapsed. Other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and the Easter Island culture, from the 20th century the relatively restricted range of subjects found in large sculpture expanded greatly, with abstract subjects and the use or representation of any type of subject now common. Today much sculpture is made for intermittent display in galleries and museums, small sculpted fittings for furniture and other objects go well back into antiquity, as in the Nimrud ivories, Begram ivories and finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun
11.
Relief
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Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise, to create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a surface of stone or wood is a lowering of the field. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the form from the field. There is also sunk relief, which was restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only used to discuss most work. Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, works in the technique are described as in relief, and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is a relief. Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of settings. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with figures and very active poses, such as battles. Most ancient architectural reliefs were painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. Rock reliefs are carved into solid rock in the open air. This type is found in cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stele is a standing stone, many of these carry reliefs. The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are often combined in a single work. In particular, most later high reliefs contain sections in low relief, a low relief or bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. Other versions distort depth much less and it is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required
12.
Figurine
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A figurine or statuette is a small statue that represents a human, deity or animal, or in practice a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with pottery, metal, wood, glass, ceramic figurines not made of porcelain are called terracottas in historical contexts. Figures with movable parts, allowing limbs to be posed, are likely to be called dolls, mannequins, or action figures, or robots or automata. Figurines and miniatures are used in board games, such as chess. In China, there are extant Neolithic figurines, European prehistoric figurines of women, some appearing pregnant, are called Venus figurines, because of their presumed connection to fertility. The two oldest known examples are made of stone, were found in Africa and Asia, and are several hundred years old. Many made of fired clay have been found in Europe that date to 25-30,000 BC, Olmec figurines in semi-precious stones and pottery had a wide influence all over Mesoamerica about 1000-500 BC, and were apparently usually kept in houses. These early figurines are among the first signs of human culture, one cannot know in some cases how they were used. They probably had religious or ceremonial significance and may have used in many types of rituals. Some may have worn as jewelry or intended to amuse children. Porcelain and other ceramics are common materials for figurines, ancient Greek terracotta figurines, made in moulds, were a large industry by the Hellenistic period, and ones in bronze also very common. In Roman art bronze came to predominate, most of these were religious, and deposited in large numbers in temples as votives, or kept in the home and sometimes buried with their owner. But types such as Tanagra figurines included many purely decorative subjects, there are many early examples from China, which drove the experimentation in Europe to replicate the process. The first European porcelain figurines, produced in a process mastered in Germany were known as Meissen ware after the city where it began, soon the technique was copied in other cities, such as the one depicted from Dresden. Genre figurines of gallant scenes, beggars or figurines of saints are carved from pinewood in Val Gardena, South Tyrol, modern figurines, particularly those made of plastic, are often referred to as figures. They can encompass modern action figures and other figures as well as Precious Moments and Hummel figurines, Bobbleheads, Sebastian Miniatures. Two companies which produce porcelain figurines are Royal Doulton, Lladró, Figurines of comic book or sci-fi/fantasy characters without movable parts have been referred to by the terms inaction figures and staction figures. There is also a known as mini war gaming in which players use figurines in table top based games
13.
Gilding
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The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as gilt. Where metal is gilded, it was silver in the West, to make silver-gilt objects, but gilt-bronze is commonly used in China. Methods of gilding include hand application and glueing, chemical gilding, and electroplating, parcel-gilt objects are only gilded over part of their surfaces. This may mean that all of the inside, and none of the outside, of a chalice or similar vessel is gilded, herodotus mentions that the Egyptians gilded wood and metals, and many such objects have been excavated. Certain Ancient Greek statues of great prestige were chryselephantine, i. e. made of gold and ivory, extensive ornamental gilding was also used in the ceiling coffers of the Propylaea. But he adds that luxury advanced on them so rapidly that in very little time you see all, even private and poor people, gild the walls, vaults. Owing to the thickness of the gold leaf used in ancient gilding. Fire-gilding of metal goes back at least to the 4th century BC, in Europe, silver-gilt has always been more common than gilt-bronze, but in China the opposite has been the case. The ancient Chinese also developed the gilding of porcelain, which was taken up by the French. Modern gilding is applied to numerous and diverse surfaces and by various processes, mechanical gilding includes all the operations in which gold leaf is prepared, and the processes to mechanically attach the gold onto surfaces. The process is completed by cold burnishing, overlaying or folding or hammering on gold foil or gold leaf is the simplest and most ancient method, and is mentioned in Homers Odyssey and the Old Testament. The Ram in a Thicket of about 2600–2400 BCE from Ur uses this technique on wood, the next advances involved two simple processes. The first involves gold leaf, which is gold that is hammered or cut very thin sheets. If gilding on canvas or on wood, the surface was often first coated with gesso, gesso is a substance made of finely ground gypsum or chalk mixed with glue. Other gilding processes involved using the gold as pigment in paint, then the gold was applied in the same way as with any paint. Sometimes, after either gold-leafing or gold-painting, the artist would heat the piece enough to melt the gold slightly and these techniques remained the only alternatives for materials like wood, leather, and the vellum pages of illuminated manuscripts. Chemical gilding embraces those processes in which the gold is at some stage of chemical combination and these include, In this process the gold is obtained in a state of extremely fine division, and applied by mechanical means
14.
Gilt-bronze
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The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold coating. The French refer to this technique as bronze doré, in English, the item is then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury vaporises and the gold remains, adhering to the metal object. This process has generally been supplanted by the electroplating of gold over a nickel substrate, due to exposure to the harmful mercury fumes, most gilders did not survive beyond 40 years of age. To replace ormolu, other gilding techniques were utilized instead, but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing method for durability, sheer beauty, electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as used on silver. From the 19th century the term has been popularized to refer to metal or imitation gold. Gilt-bronze is found from antiquity onwards across Eurasia, but especially in Chinese art, where it was more common than silver-gilt. Craftsmen principally used ormolu for the decorative mountings of furniture, clocks, lighting devices, Ormolu mountings attained their highest artistic and technical development in France. Similarly fine results could be achieved for lighting devices, such as chandeliers and candelabra, as well as for the ornamental metal mounts applied to clock cases, the bronze mounts were cast by lost wax casting, and then chiseled and chased to add detail. Rococo gilt bronze tends to be finely cast, lightly chiseled, Neoclassical gilt-bronze is often entirely chiseled and chased with extraordinary skill and delicacy to create finely varied surfaces. The ormolu technique was used in the French Empire mantel clocks. Chinese and European porcelains mounted in gilt-bronze were luxury wares that heightened the impact of often-costly, a few surviving pieces of 16th-century Chinese porcelain subsequently mounted in contemporary European silver-gilt, or vermeil, show where the foundations of the later fashion lay. From the late 1760s, Matthew Boulton of Birmingham produced English ormolu vases, though the venture never became a financial success, it produced the finest English ormolu. In the early 19th century fine English ormolu came from the workshops of Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, in France, the tradition of neoclassic ormolu to Pierre-Philippe Thomire was continued by Lucien-François Feuchère. Beurdeley & Cie. produced excellent ormolu in rococo and neoclassical styles in Paris, French Empire mantel clock Gilding Gilding metal Gold plating References Sources Swantje Koehler, Ormolu Dollhouse Accessories. National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet
15.
Ormolu
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The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold coating. The French refer to this technique as bronze doré, in English, the item is then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury vaporises and the gold remains, adhering to the metal object. This process has generally been supplanted by the electroplating of gold over a nickel substrate, due to exposure to the harmful mercury fumes, most gilders did not survive beyond 40 years of age. To replace ormolu, other gilding techniques were utilized instead, but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing method for durability, sheer beauty, electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as used on silver. From the 19th century the term has been popularized to refer to metal or imitation gold. Gilt-bronze is found from antiquity onwards across Eurasia, but especially in Chinese art, where it was more common than silver-gilt. Craftsmen principally used ormolu for the decorative mountings of furniture, clocks, lighting devices, Ormolu mountings attained their highest artistic and technical development in France. Similarly fine results could be achieved for lighting devices, such as chandeliers and candelabra, as well as for the ornamental metal mounts applied to clock cases, the bronze mounts were cast by lost wax casting, and then chiseled and chased to add detail. Rococo gilt bronze tends to be finely cast, lightly chiseled, Neoclassical gilt-bronze is often entirely chiseled and chased with extraordinary skill and delicacy to create finely varied surfaces. The ormolu technique was used in the French Empire mantel clocks. Chinese and European porcelains mounted in gilt-bronze were luxury wares that heightened the impact of often-costly, a few surviving pieces of 16th-century Chinese porcelain subsequently mounted in contemporary European silver-gilt, or vermeil, show where the foundations of the later fashion lay. From the late 1760s, Matthew Boulton of Birmingham produced English ormolu vases, though the venture never became a financial success, it produced the finest English ormolu. In the early 19th century fine English ormolu came from the workshops of Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, in France, the tradition of neoclassic ormolu to Pierre-Philippe Thomire was continued by Lucien-François Feuchère. Beurdeley & Cie. produced excellent ormolu in rococo and neoclassical styles in Paris, French Empire mantel clock Gilding Gilding metal Gold plating References Sources Swantje Koehler, Ormolu Dollhouse Accessories. National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet
16.
Ceramic
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A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic, solid material comprising metal, non-metal or metalloid atoms primarily held in ionic and covalent bonds. This article gives an overview of ceramic materials from the point of view of materials science, the crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi-crystalline, vitrified, and often completely amorphous. Most often, fired ceramics are either vitrified or semi-vitrified as is the case with earthenware, stoneware, varying crystallinity and electron consumption in the ionic and covalent bonds cause most ceramic materials to be good thermal and electrical insulators. With such a range of possible options for the composition/structure of a ceramic, the breadth of the subject is vast. Many composites, such as fiberglass and carbon fiber, while containing ceramic materials, are not considered to be part of the ceramic family. The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with materials like silica, hardened, sintered. Later ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products, as well as a wide range of ceramic art. In the 20th century, new materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering. The word ceramic comes from the Greek word κεραμικός, of pottery or for pottery, from κέραμος, potters clay, tile, the earliest known mention of the root ceram- is the Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramics, written in Linear B syllabic script. The word ceramic may be used as an adjective to describe a material, product or process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular, or, more commonly, as the plural noun ceramics. A ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic, often crystalline oxide, nitride or carbide material, some elements, such as carbon or silicon, may be considered ceramics. Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression, weak in shearing and they withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials subjected to acidic or caustic environments. Ceramics generally can withstand high temperatures, such as temperatures that range from 1,000 °C to 1,600 °C. Glass is often not considered a ceramic because of its amorphous character. However, glassmaking involves several steps of the process and its mechanical properties are similar to ceramic materials. Traditional ceramic raw materials include minerals such as kaolinite, whereas more recent materials include aluminium oxide. The modern ceramic materials, which are classified as advanced ceramics, include silicon carbide, both are valued for their abrasion resistance, and hence find use in applications such as the wear plates of crushing equipment in mining operations. Advanced ceramics are used in the medicine, electrical, electronics industries. Crystalline ceramic materials are not amenable to a range of processing
17.
Marble sculpture
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Marble sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts, even before painting cave walls, early humans fashioned shapes from stone. From these beginnings, artifacts have evolved to their current complexity, marble is a metamorphic rock derived from limestone, composed mostly of calcite. The original source of the parent limestone is the deposition of calcium carbonate in the form of microscopic animal skeletons or similar materials. Marble is formed when the limestone is transformed by heat and pressure after being overlain by other materials, the finest marbles for sculpture have no or few stains. Among the commonly available stones, only marble has a slight translucency i. e. subsurface scattering that is comparable to that of human skin. It is this translucency that gives a marble sculpture a visual depth beyond its surface, marble also has the advantage that, when first quarried, it is relatively soft and easy to work, refine, and polish. As the finished marble ages, it becomes harder and more durable, marble does not bear handling well as it will absorb skin oils when touched, which leads to yellow brownish staining. While more resistant than limestone it is subject to attack by weak acids, for severe environments, granite is a more lasting material but one which is far more difficult to work and much less suitable for refined works. Compared to metals such as bronze, marble lacks ductility and strength, for comparison see some of the examples in the article concerning bronze sculpture for the ease with which action and extension may be expressed. The work begins with the selection of a stone for carving, the artist may carve in the direct way, by carving without a model. Or the sculptor may begin with a clearly defined model to be copied in stone, frequently the sculptor would begin by forming a model in clay or wax, and then copying this in stone by measuring with calipers or a pointing machine. Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration, the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form trapped inside the block. When he or she is ready to carve, the carver usually begins by knocking off, or pitching, large portions of unwanted stone. For this task he may select a point chisel, which is a long, hefty piece of steel with a point at one end, a pitching tool may also be used at this early stage, which is a wedge-shaped chisel with a broad, flat edge. The pitching tool is useful for splitting the stone and removing large, the sculptor also selects a mallet, which is often a hammer with a broad, barrel-shaped head. The carver places the point of the chisel or the edge of the tool against a selected part of the stone. He must be careful to strike the end of the tool accurately, when the mallet connects to the tool, energy is transferred through the tool, shattering the stone
18.
John Henry Waddell
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John Henry Waddell is an American sculptor, painter and educator. Waddell was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1921 and moved to Evansville, there he began to study art at the Katherine Lord Studio, and by the age of 16 was teaching classes there. In 1939, he graduated high school and moved to Chicago where he had received a full tuition scholarship to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His education was interrupted by a stint in the military from 1943 to 1945, the following year found Waddell back in Chicago attending the School of the Art Institute and then the University of Chicago on the G. I. In 1947, his career resumed and he taught at the YMCA Adult Education Program in Chicago until 1954. He moved to Evansville in 1955, this time teaching at the National College of Education, in 1964 he resigned from that academic position to devote all his time and energy to his sculpture. In 1949, Waddell married for the time, to Ruth Holland. Waddell spent the early 1960s in Mexico, continuing to create new works, in September 1963 a bomb exploded in a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls. This prompted Waddell to create That Which Might Have Been, Birmingham 1963, a second casting was later installed at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Phoenix. 1965 found Waddell and his family moving to Greece where he continued working on commissions as well as learning the ancient Greek traditions in sculpture. Through the combined efforts of two Phoenix philanthropists, Walter Bimson and Lewis Ruskin, Waddell received a commission in 1970 to create a work for downtown Phoenix. When completed in 1974, Dance consisted of eleven life-sized figures in dance positions. It was while completing Dance that Waddell formed the apprenticeship program that was to occupy the teaching slot in his life until 1992. Under this program, apprentices were able to study every aspect of creating works of represential sculpture. On December 15,1984 a fire destroyed Waddell’s studio and all the works that were inside at that time, within ten months another studio, albeit a smaller one, had been built near Cornville, Arizona, and Waddell was able to resume his sculpting. With the exception of a few sculptures, Waddell always creates figurative statues of people who are nude. The 1964 work, Family, was one of the exceptions, in that work and despite his objections, Waddell was obliged to place shorts on the male figure of the group. Female nudity was not a problem, so the figure of the woman was allowed to remain unclothed, another clothed work is the portrait of his patron Walter Reed Bimson
19.
Copper
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Copper is a chemical element with symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of copper has a reddish-orange color. Copper is one of the few metals that occur in nature in directly usable metallic form as opposed to needing extraction from an ore and this led to very early human use, from c.8000 BC. Copper used in buildings, usually for roofing, oxidizes to form a green verdigris, Copper is sometimes used in decorative art, both in its elemental metal form and in compounds as pigments. Copper compounds are used as agents, fungicides, and wood preservatives. Copper is essential to all living organisms as a trace dietary mineral because it is a key constituent of the enzyme complex cytochrome c oxidase. In molluscs and crustaceans, copper is a constituent of the blood pigment hemocyanin, replaced by the hemoglobin in fish. In humans, copper is found mainly in the liver, muscle, the adult body contains between 1.4 and 2.1 mg of copper per kilogram of body weight. The filled d-shells in these elements contribute little to interatomic interactions, unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in copper are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak. This observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of copper, at the macroscopic scale, introduction of extended defects to the crystal lattice, such as grain boundaries, hinders flow of the material under applied stress, thereby increasing its hardness. For this reason, copper is supplied in a fine-grained polycrystalline form. The softness of copper partly explains its high conductivity and high thermal conductivity. The maximum permissible current density of copper in open air is approximately 3. 1×106 A/m2 of cross-sectional area, Copper is one of a few metallic elements with a natural color other than gray or silver. Pure copper is orange-red and acquires a reddish tarnish when exposed to air, as with other metals, if copper is put in contact with another metal, galvanic corrosion will occur. A green layer of verdigris can often be seen on old structures, such as the roofing of many older buildings. Copper tarnishes when exposed to sulfur compounds, with which it reacts to form various copper sulfides. There are 29 isotopes of copper, 63Cu and 65Cu are stable, with 63Cu comprising approximately 69% of naturally occurring copper, both have a spin of 3⁄2
20.
Tin
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Tin is a chemical element with symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a metal in group 14 of the periodic table. It is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, which contains tin dioxide, Tin shows a chemical similarity to both of its neighbors in group 14, germanium and lead, and has two main oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4. Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has, with 10 stable isotopes, metallic tin is not easily oxidized in air. The first alloy used on a scale was bronze, made of tin and copper. After 600 BC, pure metallic tin was produced, pewter, which is an alloy of 85–90% tin with the remainder commonly consisting of copper, antimony, and lead, was used for flatware from the Bronze Age until the 20th century. In modern times, tin is used in alloys, most notably tin/lead soft solders. Another large application for tin is corrosion-resistant tin plating of steel, inorganic tin compounds are rather non-toxic. Because of its low toxicity, tin-plated metal was used for packaging as tin cans. However, overexposure to tin may cause problems with metabolizing essential trace elements such as copper and zinc, Tin is a soft, malleable, ductile and highly crystalline silvery-white metal. When a bar of tin is bent, a sound known as the tin cry can be heard from the twinning of the crystals. Tin melts at the low temperature of about 232 °C, the lowest in group 14, the melting point is further lowered to 177.3 °C for 11 nm particles. β-tin, which is stable at and above room temperature, is malleable, in contrast, α-tin, which is stable below 13.2 °C, is brittle. α-tin has a cubic crystal structure, similar to diamond. α-tin has no properties at all because its atoms form a covalent structure in which electrons cannot move freely. It is a dull-gray powdery material with no common uses other than a few specialized semiconductor applications and these two allotropes, α-tin and β-tin, are more commonly known as gray tin and white tin, respectively. Two more allotropes, γ and σ, exist at temperatures above 161 °C, in cold conditions, β-tin tends to transform spontaneously into α-tin, a phenomenon known as tin pest. Commercial grades of tin resist transformation because of the effect of the small amounts of bismuth, antimony, lead
21.
Solid solution
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A solid solution is a solid-state solution of one or more solutes in a solvent. The solid solution needs to be distinguished from a mechanical mixtures of powdered solids like two salts, sugar and salt, etc, the mechanical mixtures have total or partial miscibility gap in solid state. Examples of solid solutions include crystallized salts from their liquid mixture, metal alloys, in the case of metal alloys intermetallic compounds occur frequently. The solute may incorporate into the solvent crystal lattice substitutionally, by replacing a solvent particle in the lattice, or interstitially, by fitting into the space between solvent particles. Both of these types of solid solution affect the properties of the material by distorting the crystal lattice, some mixtures will readily form solid solutions over a range of concentrations, while other mixtures will not form solid solutions at all. The propensity for any two substances to form a solution is a complicated matter involving the chemical, crystallographic. 1 displays an alloy of two metals which forms a solution at all relative concentrations of the two species. Solid solutions have important commercial and industrial applications, as such mixtures often have superior properties to pure materials, many metal alloys are solid solutions. Even small amounts of solute can affect the electrical and physical properties of the solvent, the binary phase diagram in Fig.2 shows the phases of a mixture of two substances in varying concentrations, A and B. The region labeled α is a solution, with B acting as the solute in a matrix of A. On the other end of the scale, the region labeled β is also a solid solution. The large solid region in between the α and β solid solutions, labeled α + β, is not a solid solution, at other proportions, the material will enter a mushy or pasty phase until it warms up to being completely melted. The mixture at the dip point of the diagram is called a eutectic alloy, lead-tin mixtures formulated at that point are useful when soldering electronic components, particularly if done manually, since the solid phase is quickly entered as the solder cools. In contrast, when lead-tin mixtures were used to solder seams in automobile bodies a pasty state enabled a shape to be formed with a paddle or tool. When a solid solution becomes unstable — due to a temperature, for example — exsolution occurs. This is mainly caused by difference in cation size, cations which have a large difference in radii are not likely to readily substitute. Take the alkali feldspar minerals for example, whose end members are albite, NaAlSi3O8 and microcline and this leads to exsolution where they will separate into two separate phases. In the case of the feldspar minerals, thin white albite layers will alternate between typically pink microcline
22.
Gloucester Candlestick
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The Gloucester Candlestick is an elaborately decorated English Romanesque gilt-bronze candlestick, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was made for Gloucester Cathedral between 1104 and 1113, and is one of the outstanding survivals of English Romanesque metalwork, the candlestick was first modelled in wax, then cast in the lost wax technique in three sections. The proportions of this mixture may suggest that the candlestick was made from a hoard of old coins, the candlestick was gilded by fire-gilding, with elements in niellod silver added, engraving, and tiny dark glass eyes inset on some of the figures. The candlestick is densely decorated with a composition of human figures, apes. Three long-eared dragons with outspread wings form the feet, the symbols of the Four Evangelists are in medallions on the knop. He may not have worked exclusively in metal, and may well have been a layman and it has similarities to a pair of Ottonian candlesticks at Hildesheim which were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim, bishop from 993 until his death in 1022. The decoration has been interpreted as a struggle between the forces of good and evil, and has speech and silence as a theme, there are three inscriptions in Latin. Peter was Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Peter, now Gloucester Cathedral and it is next recorded in a private collection there in 1856. The Candlestick was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum at an auction in Paris of the collection of Prince Pierre Soltikoff in 1861. The Gloucester candlestick, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum, are featured in the novel The Childrens Book by A. S. Byatt. 247,1984, Arts Council of Great Britain, ISBN 0-7287-0386-6
23.
Romanesque art
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Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period, Romanesque art was also greatly influenced by Byzantine art, especially in painting, and by the anti-classical energy of the decoration of the Insular art of the British Isles. From these elements was forged a highly innovative and coherent style, outside Romanesque architecture, the art of the period was characterised by a very vigorous style in both sculpture and painting. In illuminated manuscripts, for which the most lavishly decorated manuscripts of the period were mostly bibles or psalters, more originality is seen, as new scenes needed to be depicted. The same applied to the capitals of columns, never more exciting than in this period, colours, which can be seen as bright in the 21st century only in stained glass and well-preserved manuscripts, tended to be very striking, and mostly primary. Stained glass became widely used, although survivals are sadly few, monasteries continued to be extremely important, especially those of the expansionist new orders of the period, the Cistercian, Cluniac, and Carthusian, which spread across Europe. No Romanesque royal palace has really survived, the lay artist was becoming a valued figure – Nicholas of Verdun seems to have been known across the continent. Most masons and goldsmiths were now lay, and lay painters such as Master Hugo seem to have been in the majority, at least of those doing the best work, the iconography of their church work was no doubt arrived at in consultation with clerical advisors. Metalwork, including decoration in enamel, became very sophisticated, many spectacular shrines made to hold relics have survived, of which the best known is the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral by Nicholas of Verdun and others. The Stavelot Triptych and Reliquary of St. Maurus are other examples of Mosan enamelwork, large reliquaries and altar frontals were built around a wooden frame, but smaller caskets were all metal and enamel. A few secular pieces, such as cases, jewellery and clasps have survived. The bronze Gloucester candlestick and the font of 1108–17 now in Liège are superb examples, very different in style. The former is highly intricate and energetic, drawing on manuscript painting, while the font shows the Mosan style at its most classical and majestic. The bronze doors, a column and other fittings at Hildesheim Cathedral, the Gniezno Doors. The aquamanile, a container for water to wash with, appears to have introduced to Europe in the 11th century. Artisans often gave the pieces fantastic zoomorphic forms, surviving examples are mostly in brass, many wax impressions from impressive seals survive on charters and documents, although Romanesque coins are generally not of great aesthetic interest. Like many pieces it was partly coloured. The Lewis chessmen are well-preserved examples of small ivories, of many pieces or fragments remain from croziers, plaques, pectoral crosses
24.
Chola art
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The period of the imperial Cholas was an age of continuous improvement and refinement of Dravidian art and architecture. They utilised their prodigious wealth earned through their extensive conquests in building long-lasting stone temples, the chola temples were built during chola rule. The Cholas built their temple in traditions way of the Pallava dynasty, who were themselves influenced by the Amaravathi school of architecture. The Chola artists and artisans further drew their influences from contemporary art and architectural schools. The Cholas in addition to their temples, also many buildings such as hospitals, public utility buildings. Many such buildings find mention in their inscriptions and in contemporary accounts, the golden palace that Aditya Karikala supposedly built for his father Sundara Chola is an example of such a building. However, such buildings were of materials such as timber. Pallavas were the first recognisable South Indian dynasty who indulged in the pursuit of architectural innovations, the first seeds of Dravidian temple architecture in Tamil Nadu were possibly sown during this period. The temple architecture evolved from the cave temples and monolith temples of Mamallapuram to the Kailasanatha. Aditya I and Parantaka I were prolific builders for their faith, inscriptions of Aditya I record that he built a number of temples along the banks of the river Kaveri. These temples were smaller in comparison to the huge monumental structures of the later Cholas and were probably brick structures rather than stone. The Vijayalacholeswaram near Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu is an example of a surviving early Chola building, the style of this structure clearly shows Pallava influences in the design. It has an arrangement of a circular garba griha within a square prakara - circumbulatory corridor. Above this rises the vimana or the tower in four diminishing storeys of which the three are square and the top circular. Each level is separated from the next by a cornice, the whole structure is surmounted by a dome which in turn is topped with a stone kalasa - a crest. Very faint traces of paintings can be seen inside on the walls and these paintings are dated not earlier than the 17th century. The little temple of Nageswara at Kumbakonam is also of the same period, the Koranganatha Temple at Srinivasanallur near Hirapalli is an example of the period of Parantaka I. This temple is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri, the base of the wall has a row of sculpted mythical animals that were a unique feature of Chola architecture. The first floor is made of bricks which have been plastered, muvarkovil Temple in the Pudukkottai area was built by a feudatory of Parantaka Chola II during the second half of the tenth century
25.
Parvati
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Parvati, also known as Urvi/Renu, is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love and devotion, as well as of divine strength and power. She is the gentle and nurturing aspect of the Hindu goddess Shakti and she is the mother goddess in Hinduism, and has many attributes and aspects. Each of her aspects is expressed with a different name, giving her over 100 names in regional Hindu stories of India, along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the trinity of Hindu goddesses. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva - the protector and regenerator of universe and she is the daughter of the mountain king Himavan and mother Mena. Parvati is the mother of Hindu deities Ganesha and Kartikeya, some communities also believe her to be the sister of the god Vishnu and the river-goddess Ganga. With Shiva, Parvati is a deity in the Shaiva sect. In Hindu belief, she is the energy and power of Shiva, and she is the cause of a bond that connects all beings. In Hindu temples dedicated to her and Shiva, she is represented as the argha or yoni. She is found extensively in ancient Indian literature, and her statues and iconography grace Hindu temples all over South Asia, parvata is one of the Sanskrit words for mountain, Parvati derives her name from being the daughter of king Himavan and mother Mena. King Parvat is considered lord of the mountains and the personification of the Himalayas, Parvati is known by many names in Hindu literature. Other names which associate her with mountains are Shailaja, Adrija or Nagajaa or Shailaputri, Haimavathi, the Lalita sahasranama contains a listing of 1,000 names of Parvati. Two of Parvatis most famous epithets are Uma and Aparna, the name Uma is used for Sati in earlier texts, but in the Ramayana, it is used as a synonym for Parvati. In the Harivamsa, Parvati is referred to as Aparna and then addressed as Uma and she is also Ambika, Shakti, Mataji, Maheshwari, Durga, Bhairavi, Bhavani, Shivaradni, and many hundreds of others. Parvati is also the goddess of love and devotion, or Kamakshi, regional stories of Gauri suggest an alternate origin for Gauris name and complexion. In parts of India, Gauris skin color is golden or yellow in honor of her being the goddess of ripened corn/harvest, some scholars hold that Parvati does not explicitly appear in Vedic literature, though the Kena Upanishad contains a goddess called Uma-Haimavati. She appears as the shakti, or essential power, of the Supreme Brahman. Her primary role is as a mediator who reveals the knowledge of Brahman to the Vedic trinity of Agni, Vayu, and Indra, Sati-Parvati appears in the epic period, as both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata present Parvati as Shivas wife. However, it is not until the plays of Kalidasa and the Puranas that the stories of Sati-Parvati, Kinsley adds that Parvati may have emerged from legends of non-aryan goddesses that lived in mountains
26.
Dancing Girl (sculpture)
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A bronze statuette Dancing Girl is 10.5 centimetres high and about 4,500 years old. It was found in the HR area of Mohenjo-daro in 1926 by Ernest Mackay, although it is in a standing position, it was named Dancing Girl with an assumption of her profession. This is one of two art works found at Mohenjo-daro that show more flexible features when compared to other more formal poses. The girl is naked, wears a number of bangles and a necklace and is shown in a standing position with one hand on her hip. She wears 24 to 25 bangles on her arm and 4 bangles on her right arm, and some object was held in her left hand. One arm completely filled with bangles which is similar to Banjara lady, a girl perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world. Theres nothing like her, I think, in the world, the bronze girl was made using the lost-wax casting technique and shows the expertise of the people in making bronze works during that time. The statue is displayed at National Museum, New Delhi, a similar bronze statuette was found by Mackay during his final full season of 1930–31 at DK-G area in a house at Mohenjo-daro. The preservation, as well as quality of craftsmanship, is inferior to that of the well known Dancing Girl and this second bronze female figure is displayed at Karachi Museum, Pakistan. An engraving on a piece of red potsherd, discovered at Bhirrana, India, the excavation team leader, L. S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch, ASI, remarked that, “. The delineation is so true to the stance, including the disposition of the hands, some Pakistani politicians and experts have demanded that the Dancing Girl be returned to Pakistan. Another version of events, however, suggests the statue was taken to Delhi before Partition by Mortimer Wheeler
27.
Lost-wax casting
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Lost-wax casting is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture is cast from an original sculpture. Dependent on the skills, intricate works can be achieved by this method. The oldest known examples of this technique are the objects discovered in the Cave of the Treasure hoard in southern Israel, conservative estimates of age from carbon-14 dating date the items to c.3700 BC, making them more than 5700 years old. Though the process varies from foundry to foundry, the steps used in casting small bronze sculptures are fairly standardized. Variations of the include, lost mould, which recognizes that materials other than wax can be used. Lost-wax casting was widespread in Europe until the 18th century, when a piece-moulding process came to predominate, casts can be made of the wax model itself, the direct method, or of a wax copy of a model that need not be of wax, the indirect method. These are the steps for the process, Model-making. An artist or mould-maker creates a model from wax, clay. Wax and oil-based clay are often preferred because these materials retain their softness, a mould is made of the original model or sculpture. The rigid outer moulds contain the inner mould, which is the exact negative of the original model. Inner moulds are made of latex, polyurethane rubber or silicone. The outer mould can be made from plaster, but can also be made of fiberglass or other materials. Most moulds are made of at least two pieces, and a shim with keys is placed between the parts during construction so that the mould can be put back together accurately. If there are long, thin pieces extending out of the model, they are cut off of the original. Sometimes many moulds are needed to recreate the model, especially for large models. Once the mould is finished, molten wax is poured into it and swished around until an even coating, usually about 1⁄8 inch thick and this is repeated until the desired thickness is reached. Another method is to fill the mould with molten wax. After this the rest of the wax is poured out again, the mould is turned upside down, with this method it is more difficult to control the overall thickness of the wax layer
28.
Shang dynasty
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The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project dated them from c.1600 to 1046 BC, the Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history supported by archaeological evidence. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, the Anyang site has yielded the earliest known body of Chinese writing, mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones – turtle shells, ox scapulae, or other bones. More than 20,000 were discovered in the scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, many events concerning the Shang dynasty are mentioned in various Chinese classics, including the Book of Documents, the Mencius and the Zuo Zhuan. Working from all the documents, the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian assembled a sequential account of the Shang dynasty as part of his Records of the Grand Historian. His history describes some events in detail, while in other cases only the name of a king is given, a closely related, but slightly different, account is given by the Bamboo Annals. The Annals were interred in 296 BC, but the text has a complex history, the name Yīn is used by Sima Qian for the dynasty, and in the current text version of the Bamboo Annals for both the dynasty and its final capital. It has been a name for the Shang throughout history. Since the Records of Emperors and Kings by Huangfu Mi, it has often used specifically to describe the later half of the Shang dynasty. In Japan and Korea, the Shang are still referred to almost exclusively as the Yin dynasty, however it seems to have been a Zhou name for the earlier dynasty. The word does not appear in the bones, which refer to the state as Shāng. It also does not appear in securely-dated Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, xie is said to have helped Yu the Great to control the Great Flood and for his service to have been granted a place called Shang as a fief. Sima Qian relates that the dynasty itself was founded 13 generations later, when Xies descendant Tang overthrew the impious and cruel final Xia ruler in the Battle of Mingtiao. The Records recount events from the reigns of Tang, Tai Jia, Tai Wu, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, Wu Yi and the final king Di Xin. According to the Records, the Shang moved their capital five times, Di Xin, the last Shang king, is said to have committed suicide after his army was defeated by Wu of Zhou. Legends say that his army and his equipped slaves betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in the decisive Battle of Muye, according to the Yi Zhou Shu and Mencius the battle was very bloody
29.
Sinhalese people
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The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They constitute 75% of the Sri Lankan population and a greater than 15 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, historical heritage and religion, the Sinhalese people speak the Sinhalese language, an Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a small percentage of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity. The Sinhalese are mostly found in North central, Central, South, from the Sanskrit word Simhala, meaning literally of lions. Other Sanskrit meaning is Sinha + la, the Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the grandson of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning Sinha + bahu. King Vijaya, lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other sources, arrived to the island of Tambapanni. The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya to Sri Lanka, the folklore of the Sinhalese people also speaks of many royal dynasties prior to the Sinhala royal dynasties, Manu, Tharaka, Ravana Mahabalietc. Early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the much later Culavamsa. These are ancient sources which cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura, the Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society. Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed to be in the district of Chilaw, near modern-day Mannar and it is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddhas death. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name, Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent, after landing in Tambapanni Vijaya met Kuveni the queen of the Yakkhas, who was disguised as a beautiful woman but was really a yakkini named Sesapathi. At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, while he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijayas letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni. It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya. In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya moved the capital to Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there
30.
Chola dynasty
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The Chola dynasty was one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE left by Ashoka, as one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until the 13th century CE. The whole country south of the Tungabhadra was united and held as one state for a period of two centuries and more, the Chola fleet represented the zenith of ancient Indian sea power. During the period 1010–1200, the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, annexed parts of which is now Sri Lanka, Rajendra Chola sent a victorious expedition to North India that touched the river Ganges and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra, Mahipala. He also successfully invaded cities of Srivijaya of Malaysia and Indonesia, the Chola dynasty went into decline at the beginning of the 13th century with the rise of the Pandyan Dynasty, which ultimately caused their downfall. The Cholas left a lasting legacy and their patronage of Tamil literature and their zeal in the building of temples has resulted in some great works of Tamil literature and architecture. The Chola kings were avid builders and envisioned the temples in their kingdoms not only as places of worship and they pioneered a centralised form of government and established a disciplined bureaucracy. The Chola school of art spread to Southeast Asia and influenced the architecture, the Cholas are also known as the Choda. There is very little available in regarding their origin. Its antiquity is evident from the mentions in ancient Tamil literature, Later medieval Cholas also claimed a long and ancient lineage. Mentions in the early Sangam literature indicate that the earliest kings of the dynasty antedated 100 CE, Cholas were mentioned in Ashokan Edicts of 3rd Century BCE as one of the neighboring countries existing in the South. A commonly held view is that Chola is, like Chera and Pandya, the annotator Parimelazhagar said, The charity of people with ancient lineage are forever generous in spite of their reduced means. Other names in use for the Cholas are Killi, Valavan and Sembiyan. Killi perhaps comes from the Tamil kil meaning dig or cleave and this word often forms an integral part of early Chola names like Nedunkilli, Nalankilli and so on, but almost drops out of use in later times. Valavan is most probably connected with valam – fertility and means owner or ruler of a fertile country, in Tamil lexicon Chola means Soazhi or Saei denoting a newly formed kingdom, in the lines of Pandya or the old country. There is very little evidence available of the Cholas prior to the 7th century. Historic records exist thereafter, including inscriptions on temples, the main source for the available information of the early Cholas is the early Tamil literature of the Sangam Period
31.
Investment casting
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Investment casting is an industrial process based on lost-wax casting, one of the oldest known metal-forming techniques. The term lost-wax casting can also refer to modern investment casting processes, Investment casting has been used in various forms for the last 5,000 years. In its earliest forms, beeswax was used to form necessary for the casting process. Today, more advanced waxes, refractory materials and specialist alloys are used for making patterns. Investment casting is valued for its ability to produce components with accuracy, repeatability, versatility and integrity in a variety of metals, the fragile wax patterns must withstand forces encountered during the mold making. Much of the wax used in investment casting can be reclaimed and reused, lost-foam casting is a modern form of investment casting that eliminates certain steps in the process. Investment casting derives its name from the pattern being invested with a refractory material, many materials are suitable for investment casting, examples are stainless steel alloys, brass, aluminium, carbon steel and glass. The material is poured into a cavity in a material that is an exact duplicate of the desired part. Due to the hardness of materials used, investment casting can produce products with exceptional surface qualities. The process can be used for small castings of a few ounces and large castings weighing several hundred pounds. It can be more expensive than die casting or sand casting, Investment casting can produce complicated shapes that would be difficult or impossible with other casting methods. It can also produce products with exceptional qualities and low tolerances with minimal surface finishing or machining required. Castings can be made from a wax model or from wax replicas of an original pattern that need not be made from wax. The following steps describe the process, which can take two to seven days to complete. Produce a master pattern, An artist or mould-maker creates a pattern from wax, clay, wood, plastic. Create a mould, A mould, known as the die, is made to fit the master pattern. If the master pattern was made from steel, the die can be cast directly from the pattern using metal with a lower melting point. Rubber moulds can also be cast directly from the master pattern, alternatively, a master die can be machined independently—without creating a master pattern
32.
Sand casting
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Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand as the mold material. The term sand casting can also refer to an object produced via the casting process. Sand castings are produced in specialized factories called foundries, over 70% of all metal castings are produced via sand casting process. Molds made of sand are relatively cheap, and sufficiently refractory even for steel foundry use, in addition to the sand, a suitable bonding agent is mixed or occurs with the sand. The mixture is moistened, typically water, but sometimes with other substances, to develop the strength and plasticity of the clay. The sand is typically contained in a system of frames or mold boxes known as a flask, the mold cavities and gate system are created by compacting the sand around models, or patterns, or carved directly into the sand. There are six steps in this process, Place a pattern in sand to create a mold, incorporate the pattern and sand in a gating system. Fill the mold cavity with molten metal, break away the sand mold and remove the casting. From the design, provided by an engineer or designer, a pattern maker builds a pattern of the object to be produced, using wood, metal. Sand can be ground, swept or strickled into shape, the metal to be cast will contract during solidification, and this may be non-uniform due to uneven cooling. Therefore, the pattern must be larger than the finished product. Pattern-makers are able to produce suitable patterns using according to the percentage of extra length needed), different scaled rules are used for different metals, because each metal and alloy contracts by an amount distinct from all others. Patterns also have core prints that create registers within the molds into which are placed sand cores, gas and steam generated during casting exit through the permeable sand or via risers, which are added either in the pattern itself, or as separate pieces. In addition to patterns, the sand molder could also use tools to create the holes, a multi-part molding box is prepared to receive the pattern. Molding boxes are made in segments that may be latched to each other, for a simple object—flat on one side—the lower portion of the box, closed at the bottom, will be filled with a molding sand. The sand is packed in through a process called ramming. The surface of the sand may then be stabilized with a sizing compound, the pattern is placed on the sand and another molding box segment is added. Additional sand is rammed over and around the pattern, finally a cover is placed on the box and it is turned and unlatched, so that the halves of the mold may be parted and the pattern with its sprue and vent patterns removed
33.
Electrotyping
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Electrotyping is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi in Russia in 1838, in art, several important bronze sculptures created in the 19th century are actually electrotyped copper, and not bronze at all, sculptures were executed using electrotyping at least into the 1930s. In printing, electrotyping had become a method for producing plates for letterpress printing by the late 1800s. It complemented the older technology of stereotyping, which involved metal casting, by 1901, stereotypers and electrotypers in several countries had formed labor unions around these crafts. As with metal casting and stereotyping, a mold is first formed from the model, since electrotyping involves wet chemical processes and is done near room temperature, the molding material can be soft. Materials such as wax, gutta-percha, and ultimately ozokerite were used, the molds surface is made electrically conducting by coating it very thinly with fine graphite powder or paint. A wire is attached to the surface, and the mold is suspended in an electrolyte solution. Electrotyping is activated by electric currents flow between anode wires that are also immersed in the solution and the wire connected to the coated mold. For copper electrotyping, an aqueous electrolyte contains copper sulfate and sulfuric acid, and the anode is also copper. The electric current causes copper atoms to dissolve from the anodes surface, copper ions are taken up by the molds conducting surface at the same rate at which copper dissolves from the anode, thus completing the electrical circuit. When the copper layer on the mold grows to the desired thickness, the mold and its attached electrotype are removed from the solution, and the electrotype and the mold are separated. An animation of the process was produced in 2011 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other metals besides copper can be electrotyped, similar procedures apply, there is a second type of electrotyping that has been used in which the copper film is deposited onto the outside of a form, and is not separated from it. In this use the form is typically waterproofed plaster, which remains as a core after electrotyping, in German this method is known as Kerngalvanoplastik, the more usual technique described in the previous paragraph is known as Hohlgalvanoplastik. Electrotyping is related to electroplating, which adds a thin metallic overlayer to a metallic object instead of creating a freestanding metal part. Electrotyping and electroforming both produce metal parts, but differ in technical details, electroforming involves the production of a metallic part around a metallic mandrel, although the term is sometimes used more broadly to encompass all electrodeposition processes. As noted above, electrotyping forms the part using a mold or form whose surface has been made conducting by applying a thin coating of graphite or metal powder. At present, most sources credit Moritz Hermann Jacobi with the invention of galvanoplasty or electrotyping in 1838, Jacobi was a Prussian scientist who was working in St. Petersburg, 19th-century accounts often credited Thomas Spencer or C. J
34.
Plasticine
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Plasticine, a brand of modelling clay, is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. The name is a trademark of Flair Leisure Products plc. Plasticine is used extensively for childrens play, but also as a medium for more formal or permanent structures. Because of its property, it is a popular choice of material for stop-motion animation. The brand-name clay is mentioned in music, such as the porters in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. William Harbutt, an art teacher in Bath, England, formulated Plasticine in 1897, Harbutt wanted a non-drying clay for his sculpture students. He created a non-toxic, sterile, soft and malleable clay that did not dry on exposure to air, Harbutt received a patent in 1899 and commercial production started at a factory in Bathampton in 1900. Four colours were produced for sale to the public. Plasticine was popular with children, was used in schools for teaching art. Plasticine is approximately 65% bulking agent, 10% petroleum jelly, 5% lime and 10% lanolin and it cannot be hardened by firing, melts when exposed to heat, and is flammable at higher temperatures. Harbutt patented a different formulation in 1915, which added wool fibres to give plasticine a stronger composition intended for ear plugs, and as a sterile dressing for wounds and burns. The Harbutt company marketed Plasticine as a toy by producing modelling kits based on characters from childrens stories, such as Noddy. The original Plasticine factory was destroyed by fire in 1963 and replaced by a modern building, the Harbutt company produced Plasticine in Bathampton until 1983, when production was moved to Thailand. The Colorforms company was the major American licensee of Plasticine from 1979 until at least 1984, apparently, the use of a different chalk compound caused a product inconsistency, and the US version was considered inferior to the original mix. Bluebird Toys plc acquired Plasticine through its purchase of Peter Pan, in 1998, Mattel bought Bluebird and the brand was sold to Humbrol Ltd, famous for its model paints and owner of the Airfix model kit brand. Flair Leisure licensed the brand from Humbrol in 2005 and relaunched Plasticine and it acquired the brand outright, when Humbrol went into administration a year later. A similar product, Kunst-Modellierthon, was invented by Franz Kolb of Munich and this product is still available, known as Münchner Künstler Plastilin. In Italy, the product Pongo is also marketed as plastilina, Play-Doh, which is based on flour, salt and water, dries on exposure to air
35.
Plaster
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Plaster is a building material used for the protective and/or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English plaster usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, another imprecise term used for the material is stucco, which is also often used for plasterwork that is worked in some way to produce relief decoration, rather than flat surfaces. The most common types of plaster mainly contain either gypsum, lime, or cement, the plaster is manufactured as a dry powder and is mixed with water to form a stiff but workable paste immediately before it is applied to the surface. The reaction with water liberates heat through crystallization and the hydrated plaster then hardens, plaster can be relatively easily worked with metal tools or even sandpaper, and can be moulded, either on site or to make pre-formed sections in advance, which are put in place with adhesive. Plaster is not a material, it is suitable for finishing, rather than load-bearing. Forms of plaster have several other uses, in medicine plaster orthopedic casts are still often used for supporting set broken bones. In dentistry plaster is used to make dental models, various types of models and moulds are made with plaster. In art, lime plaster is the matrix for fresco painting. Gypsum plaster, or plaster of Paris, is produced by heating gypsum to about 300 °F, when the dry plaster powder is mixed with water, it re-forms into gypsum. The setting of unmodified plaster starts about 10 minutes after mixing and is complete in about 45 minutes, if plaster or gypsum is heated above 266 °F, hemihydrate is formed, which will also re-form as gypsum if mixed with water. On heating to 180 °C, the nearly water-free form, called γ-anhydrite is produced, γ-Anhydrite reacts slowly with water to return to the dihydrate state, a property exploited in some commercial desiccants. On heating above 250 °C, the anhydrous form called β-anhydrite or dead burned plaster is formed. A large gypsum deposit at Montmartre in Paris led calcined gypsum to be known as plaster of Paris. Plasterers often use gypsum to simulate the appearance of surfaces of wood, stone, or metal, on movie, nowadays, theatrical plasterers often use expanded polystyrene, although the job title remains unchanged. Plaster of Paris can be used to impregnate gauze bandages to make a material called plaster bandages. It is used similarly to clay, as it is shaped when wet, yet sets into a resilient. This is the material that was used to make classic plaster orthopedic casts to protect limbs with broken bones, set Modroc is an early example of a composite material. The hydration of plaster of Paris relies on the reaction of water with the dehydrated or partially hydrated calcium sulfate present in the plaster, lime plaster is a mixture of calcium hydroxide and sand
36.
Core (manufacturing)
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A core is a device used in casting and moulding processes to produce internal cavities and reentrant angles. The core is normally a disposable item that is destroyed to get it out of the piece and they are most commonly used in sand casting, but are also used in injection moulding. An intriguing example of the use of cores is in the casting of engine blocks, for example, one of the GM V-8 engines requires 5 dry-sand cores for every casting. Core sand bentonite clay pulverized coal water Cores are useful for features that cannot tolerate draft or to provide detail that cannot otherwise be integrated into a casting or mold. The main disadvantage is the additional cost to incorporate cores, permeability must be very high to allow for the escape of gases. Friability, As the casting or molding cools, the core must be enough to break down as the material shrinks. Moreover, they must be easy to remove during shakeout, good refractoriness is required as the core is usually surrounded by hot metal during casting or molding. Minimum generation of gases during metal pouring, there are many types of cores available. The selection of the type of core depends on production quantity, production rate, required precision, required surface finish. Green-sand cores makes casting long narrow features difficult or impossible, even for long features that can be cast it still leave much material to be machined. A typical application is a hole in a casting. The most simple way to make dry-sand cores is in a core box, in which sand is packed into the box. A wood or metal plate is placed over the box. The core segment is then baked or hardened, multiple core segments are then hot glued together or attached by some other means. Any rough spots are filed or sanded down, finally, the core is lightly coated with graphite, silica, or mica to give a smoother surface finish and greater resistance to heat. Single-piece cores do not need to be assembled because they are made in a core box. A split core box, like it sounds, is made of two halves and has at least one hole for sand to be introduced, for simple cores that have constant cross-sections they can be created on special core-producing extruders. The extrusions are then just cut to the length and hardened
37.
Sprue (manufacturing)
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A sprue is the passage through which liquid material is introduced into a mold. In many cases it controls the flow of metal into the mold, during casting or molding, the material in the sprue will solidify and need to be removed from the finished part. This excess material is called a sprue. In casting, a sprue is the passage through which a material is introduced into a mold. In sand casting, the sprue is formed by a dowel, sprues can serve as filters, as heat sinks, and as feeders. Sprue is a number of gating system. The design of the gating and runner is also essential for casting. The design can incorporate either bottom or vertical gating, Sprue also refers to the material that solidifies in these passages, forming a framework that attaches the parts in a roughly planar arrangement. Some moldmakers distinguish the sprue, the gate, and the runner, the sprue is a large-diameter channel through which plastic flows, usually around the edges of the part or along straight lines. The runner is a channel from the sprue to the individual part. An analogy may be found in a system that employs a water main. The gate is the location at which the plastic enters the mold cavity and is often evidenced by a small nub or projection on the molded piece. Many scale-model kits are made from injection-molded plastic, hobbyists typically remove the parts of a model kit from the runner using a sharp craft knife or razor saw. The sprues usually form a rectangle with the runners and parts inside which makes easier to box. Model makers sometimes use sprues or runners as raw material to fabricate additional parts, such as railings on model ships, antenna wires on airplanes, sprues in model kits often include engravings to identify the parts by number
38.
Patina
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Patina is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of stone, on copper, bronze and similar metals, on wooden furniture, or any such acquired change of a surface through age and exposure. Patinas can provide a covering to materials that would otherwise be damaged by corrosion or weathering. They may also be aesthetically appealing, Patina also refers to accumulated changes in surface texture and colour that result from normal use of an object such as a coin or a piece of furniture over time. Archaeologists also use the term patina to refer to a layer that develops over time that is due to a range of complex factors on flint tools. This has led stone tool analysts in recent times to generally prefer the term cortification as a term to describe the process than patination. It also refers to development as the result of weathering of a layer, called cortex by geologists. The word patina comes from the Latin for shallow dish, figuratively, patina can refer to any fading, darkening or other signs of age, which are felt to be natural or unavoidable. The chemical process by which a patina forms is called patination, in clean air rural environments, the patina is created by the slow chemical reaction of copper with carbon dioxide and water, producing a basic copper carbonate. In industrial and urban air environments containing sulfurous acid rain from coal-fired power plants or industrial processes, a patina layer takes many years to develop under natural weathering. Buildings in damp coastal/marine environments will develop patina layers faster than ones in dry inland areas, facade cladding with alloys of copper, e. g. brass or bronze, will weather differently from pure copper cladding. Even a lasting gold colour is possible with copper-alloy cladding, for example Colston Hall in Bristol, or the Novotel at Paddington Central, often, antique and well-used firearms will develop a patina on the steel after the bluing, parkerizing, or other finish has worn. Firearms in this state are considered more valuable than ones that have been re-blued or parkerized. The patina protects the firearm from the more damaging rust that would occur were the patina to be polished off, the process is often called distressing. A wide range of chemicals, both household and commercial, can give a variety of patinas and they are often used by artists as surface embellishments either for color, texture, or both. Patination composition varies with the elements and these will determine the color of the patina. For copper alloys, such as bronze, exposure to chlorides leads to green, the basic palette for patinas on copper alloys includes chemicals like ammonium sulfide, liver of sulfur, cupric nitrate and ferric nitrate. For artworks, patination is often accelerated by applying chemicals with heat. Colors range from matte sandstone yellow to deep blues, greens, whites, reds, some patina colors are achieved by the mixing of colors from the reaction with the metal surface with pigments added to the chemicals
39.
Pewter
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Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and sometimes, less commonly today, lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the grades of pewter. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C, depending on the mixture of metals. The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter, Pewter was first used around the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Near East. The earliest piece of pewter found is from an Egyptian tomb from 1450 BC, the constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England and this company originally had two grades of pewter, but in the 16th century a third grade was added. The first type, known as metal, was used for tableware. It consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, the second type, known as trifling metal or trifle, was used for holloware and is made up of fine metal with approximately 4% lead. The last type of pewter, known as lay or ley metal, was used for items that were not in contact with food or drink and it consisted of tin with 15% lead. These three alloys were used, with variation, until the 20th century. Older pewters with higher lead content are heavier, tarnish faster, pewters containing lead are no longer used in items that will come in contact with the human body due to health concerns stemming from the lead content. Modern pewters are available that are free of lead, although many pewters containing lead are still being produced for other purposes. A typical European casting alloy contains 94% tin, 1% copper, a European pewter sheet would contain 92% tin, 2% copper, and 6% antimony. Asian pewter, produced mostly in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, contains a percentage of tin, usually 97. 5% tin, 1% copper. This makes the alloy slightly softer, Pewter items are often found in churches. Pewter was the chief tableware until the making of porcelain, mass production of pottery, porcelain and glass products has seen pewter universally replaced in day-to-day life. Pewter artifacts continue to be produced, mainly as decorative or specialty items, Pewter was also used around East Asia. Although some items still exist, Ancient Roman pewter is rare, in the early 19th century, changes in fashion caused a decline in the use of pewter flatware
40.
Brunswick Lion
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The Brunswick Lion is a monument and the best-known landmark in the German city of Braunschweig. It is located on the Burgplatz square in front of Dankwarderode Castle, within Brunswick it is thus commonly known as the Castle Lion. The medieval chronicler Abbot Albert of Stade mentioned 1166 as the year of origin, newly-married with the English princess Matilda, he had Dankwarderode Castle built in the style of a Kaiserpfalz, rivalling with the nearby Imperial Palace of Goslar. The Brunswick Lion was the first large detached sculpture of the Middle Ages north of the Alps and the first large hollow casting of a figure since antiquity. The bronze casting by an unknown artist, probably from Brunswick, weighs 880 kilogrammes, has a height of 1.78 metres, a length of 2.79 m and a maximum thickness of 12 millimetres. The Lions design apparently is modelled on Italian art of sculpture, such as the Capitoline Wolf, Henry may have been inspired during the Italian campaigns he undertook together with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The elaborate artistic achievement and naturalistic design of the sculpture indicate the work of a goldsmith or bell founder. The Lion soon became the heraldic animal of Braunschweig, it appeared in the citys seal, the sculpture and its pedestal were extensively restored in 1616, under the rule of Duke Frederick Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, after long quarrels with the Braunschweig citizens were settled. During the Napoleonic Wars, it was rescued from melting down when the Westphalian government prepared for the 1812 Russian Campaign. Another restoration was carried out by the sculptor Georg Ferdinand Howaldt in 1858, the Braunschweig Büssing automotive company established in 1903 adopted the Lion as a logo mounted on its busses and trucks. Taken over by MAN SE in 1972, the Büssing signet still adorns MAN commercial vehicles, the threat by strategic bombing during World War II prompted the city administration to replace the original sculpture by a copy already cast in 1937. Kept safe at the Rammelsberg mines in the Harz mountains, the statue was brought back to Braunschweig by the British occupation forces after the war. Finally in 1980, the statue was removed inside Dankwarderode Castle to protect it from further damages caused by air pollution. A specially manufactured replica has been set up at the original site, shortly after the death of Henry the Lion in 1195, the duke became the subject of a folktale, the so-called Heinrichssage. The tale was also turned into the opera Enrico Leone by Italian composer Agostino Steffani. The Heinrichssage details an account of Henrys pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A popular part of the deals with the Brunswick Lion. According to legend, Henry witnessed the fight between a lion and a dragon while on pilgrimage and he joins the lion in its fight and they slay the dragon
41.
Toga
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The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between 12 and 20 feet in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tradition, it is said to have been the favoured dress of Romulus, Romes founder, as Roman women gradually adopted the stola, the toga was recognised as formal wear for Roman citizen men. Women engaged in prostitution might have provided the main exception to this rule, the type of toga worn reflected a citizens rank in the civil hierarchy. Various laws and customs restricted its use to citizens, who were required to wear it for public festivals, from its probable beginnings as a simple, practical work-garment, the toga became more voluminous, complex and costly, increasingly unsuited to anything but formal and ceremonial use. When circumstances allowed, those otherwise entitled or obliged to wear it opted for more comfortable and it gradually fell out of use, firstly among citizens of the lower class, then those of the middle class. Eventually, it was only by the highest classes for ceremonial occasions. The toga was an approximately semi-circular woolen cloth, usually white, worn draped over the shoulders and around the body and it was considered formal wear, and was generally reserved for citizens. Toga virilis also known as toga alba or toga pura, A plain white toga, worn on occasions by adult male commoners. It represented adult male citizenship and its attendant rights, freedoms, toga praetexta, a white toga with a broad purple stripe on its border, worn over a tunic with two broad, vertical purple stripes. It was formal costume for, Curule magistrates in their functions, and traditionally. Freeborn boys, and some girls, before they came of age. It marked their protection by law from sexual predation and immoral or immodest influence, a praetexta was thought effective against malignant magic, as were a boys bulla, and a girls lunula. Some priesthoods, including the Pontifices, Tresviri Epulones, the augurs, toga candida, Bright toga, a toga rubbed with chalk to a dazzling white, worn by candidates for public office. Thus Persius speaks of a cretata ambitio, chalked ambition, toga candida is the etymological source of the word candidate. It was worn mainly by mourners, but could also be worn in times of danger or public anxiety. It was sometimes used as a protest of sorts—when Cicero was exiled, mourners with a toga praetexta could turn it inside out, to conceal the stripe, or wear a toga pura. Toga picta, Dyed solid purple, embroidered with gold, and worn over a similarly decorated tunica palmata, during the Empire, it was worn by consuls and emperors
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Rhetoric
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Rhetoric is the art of discourse, wherein a writer or speaker strives to inform, persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of study and a productive civic practice. Its best known definition comes from Aristotle, who considers it a counterpart of both logic and politics, and calls it the faculty of observing in any case the available means of persuasion. The five canons of rhetoric, which trace the traditional tasks in designing a persuasive speech, were first codified in classical Rome, invention, arrangement, style, memory, along with grammar and logic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, it was a part of Western education. Scholars have debated the scope of rhetoric since ancient times, although some have limited rhetoric to the specific realm of political discourse, many modern scholars liberate it to encompass every aspect of culture. Contemporary studies of rhetoric address a diverse range of domains than was the case in ancient times. Many contemporary approaches treat rhetoric as human communication that includes purposeful, Public relations, lobbying, law, marketing, professional and technical writing, and advertising are modern professions that employ rhetorical practitioners. Because the ancient Greeks highly valued public political participation, rhetoric emerged as a tool to influence politics. Consequently, rhetoric remains associated with its political origins, however, even the original instructors of Western speech—the Sophists—disputed this limited view of rhetoric. According to the Sophists, such as Gorgias, a successful rhetorician could speak convincingly on any topic and this method suggested rhetoric could be a means of communicating any expertise, not just politics. In his Encomium to Helen, Gorgias even applied rhetoric to fiction by seeking for his own pleasure to prove the blamelessness of the mythical Helen of Troy in starting the Trojan War. Looking to another key rhetorical theorist, Plato defined the scope of rhetoric according to his opinions of the art. He criticized the Sophists for using rhetoric as a means of deceit instead of discovering truth, in Gorgias, one of his Socratic Dialogues, Plato defines rhetoric as the persuasion of ignorant masses within the courts and assemblies. Rhetoric, in Platos opinion, is merely a form of flattery and functions similarly to cookery, thus, Plato considered any speech of lengthy prose aimed at flattery as within the scope of rhetoric. Aristotle both redeemed rhetoric from his teacher and narrowed its focus by defining three genres of rhetoric—deliberative, forensic or judicial, and epideictic, when one considers that rhetoric included torture, it is clear that rhetoric cannot be viewed only in academic terms. However, the enthymeme based upon logic was viewed as the basis of rhetoric, however, since the time of Aristotle, logic has changed. For example, Modal logic has undergone a major development that also modifies rhetoric, yet, Aristotle also outlined generic constraints that focused the rhetorical art squarely within the domain of public political practice
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Old Italic script
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Old Italic is one of several now extinct alphabet systems used on the Italian Peninsula in ancient times for various Indo-European languages and non-Indo-European languages. The alphabets derive from the Euboean Greek Cumaean alphabet, used at Ischia, various Indo-European languages belonging to the Italic branch originally used the alphabet. Faliscan, Oscan, Umbrian, North Picene, and South Picene all derive from an Etruscan form of the alphabet, the Germanic runic alphabet was derived from one of these alphabets by the 2nd century AD. It is not clear whether the process of adaptation from the Greek alphabet took place in Italy from the first colony of Greeks and it was in any case a Western Greek alphabet. In the alphabets of the West, X had the value, Ψ stood for, in Etruscan. Until about 600 BC, the form of the Etruscan alphabet remained practically unchanged. From the 6th century, however, the alphabet evolved, adjusting to the phonology of the Etruscan language and its origin is disputed, it may have been an altered B or H or an ex novo creation. Its sound value was /f/ and it replaced the Etruscan FH, some letters were, on the other hand, falling out of use, B and D were apparently considered superfluous over P and T. K was dropped in favour of G. O disappeared and was replaced by U, in the course of its simplification, the redundant letters showed some tendency towards a syllabary, C, K and Q were predominantly used in the contexts CE, KA, QU. This classical alphabet remained in use until the 2nd century BC when it began to be influenced by the rise of the Latin alphabet, soon after, the Etruscan language itself became extinct. U came to be used to represent Oscan o, while Ú was used for actual Oscan u, the Nucerian alphabet is based on inscriptions found in southern Italy. It is attested only between the 6th and the 5th century BC, the most important sign is the /S/, shaped like a fir tree, and possibly a derivation from the Phoenician alphabet. U /u/ and V /w/ are distinguished, Θ is probably for /t/ and X for /g/. There are claims of a related script discovered in Glozel, the alphabet of Sanzeno, about 100 Raetic inscriptions. The alphabet of Magrè, east Raetian inscriptions, alphabet of Este, Similar but not identical to that of Magrè, Venetic inscriptions. Inscripted abecedarium on rock engraves in Valle Camonica, the South Picene alphabet, known from the 6th century BCE, is most like the southern Etruscan alphabet in that it uses Q for /k/ and K for /g/. It is, ⟨. ⟩ is a reduced ⟨o⟩ and ⟨, ⟩ is a reduced ⟨8⟩, the Old Italic alphabets were unified and added to the Unicode Standard in March,2001 with the release of version 3.1. The Unicode block for Old Italic is U+10300–U+1032F without specification of a particular alphabet, writing direction varies based on the language and even the time period
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Perseus with the Head of Medusa
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Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in 1545. The sculpture stands upon on a base with bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda. It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, the second Florentine duke, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, commissioned the work with specific political connections to the other sculptural works in the piazza. When the piece was revealed to the public on 27 April 1554, Michelangelo’s David, Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes were already erected in the piazza. The subject matter of the work is the story of Perseus beheading Medusa. Perseus stands naked except for a sash and winged sandals, triumphant on top of the body of Medusa with her head in his raised hand. The body of Medusa spews blood from her severed neck, the bronze sculpture and Medusa’s head turns men to stone and is appropriately surrounded by three huge marble statues of men, Hercules, David and later Neptune. Cellini breathed new life into the visitor through his new use of bronze in Perseus and the head of Medusa. If one examines the sculpture from the back, you can see the self-image of the sculptor Cellini on the backside of Perseus helmet. The sculpture is thought to be the first statue since the age where the base included a figurative sculpture forming an integral part of the work. Cellini was the first to integrate narrative relief into the sculpture of the piazza, as the Perseus was installed in the Loggia, it dominated the dimensions of later pedestals of other sculptural works within the Loggia, like Giambologna’s The Rape of the Sabine. Perseus added to the cast of Olympian gods protecting the Medici, weil-Garris also focuses on the pedestal beneath the sculpture in the round. However, it may not have been Cellini’s original intent, as the relief was still being worked on, the Medici still dominated the theme of the pedestal as Perseus in the pedestal acts as an allegory to Duke Francesco Medici. The politics of the Medici and Florence dominate the Piazza della Signoria, Duke Alessandro I was the first Florentine duke and Hercules and Cacus was revealed during his time and met with terrible reception by the public in 1534. The next sculpture to be revealed was Cellini’s Perseus and Cosimo I was very cautious about the reaction to the piece. Thankfully, the received the sculpture well as Cosimo watched the reception from a window in the Palazzo Vecchio. The third duke is directly related to the relief panel on the base as the Perseus can be seen as an allegory to Duke Francesco and Andromeda as his Habsburg bride. Similarly, Andromeda acts as an allegory to Florence, while Perseus is the collective Medici swooping down to save Florence, Cellini chose to represent the sad side of the story of Andromeda, however he drew focus to the Medici as Perseus saving the somber Andromeda
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