Top 10 Greatest Sculptures: Sculpture

SCULPTURE
Filipino sculptors came to be known in the middle of the

19 century. Classical Philippine sculpture reached its peak in the
th
works of Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976). His best known

masterpiece is the Bonifacio Monument, which is a group
sculpture composed of numerous figures massed around a central
obelisk. The principal figure is Andres Bonifacio, leader of the
revolution against Spain in 1896. Behind him stands Emilio
Jacinto, the brains of the Katipunan. The Bonifacio Monumen t -
completed in 1933 -- marked the apex of Tolentino'’s career.
Napoleon Abueva (born 1930), one of

Tolentino'’s pupils, is one of the pioneering
modernists in sculpture. He used various media.
And his stylization bordered on the abstract as
in Allegorical Harpoon, in which the dominant
horizantal thrust of the figure evokes the vitality of
primitive forms.
Abueva'’s more famous work is Fredesvinda , which was

included in the First ASEAN Sculpture Symposium held in Fort
Canning Hill, Singapore, from March 27 to April 26, 1981.
Top 10 Greatest Sculptures

REID B. SPENCER DECEMBER 14, 2010
10. Bronze David
Made in the 1440’s, by Donatello (1386-1466), Bronze David is one

of the most famous sculptures today. It is notable as the first
unsupported standing work in bronze cast during the Renaissance
period, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since
antiquity. It depicts the young David with an enigmatic smile, posed with
his foot on Goliath’s severed head just after killing the giant. The youth
is standing naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the
sword of Goliath. There is also much speculation as to when it was built.
Suggested dates vary from the 1420s to the 1460s, although the exact
date is not known.
9. Savannah Bird Girl Statue

The sculpture was created in 1936, by sculptress
Sylvia Shaw Judson (1897-1978) in Lake Forest, Illinois. It
achieved fame when it was featured on the cover of the 1994 novel, Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil. It was sculpted at Ragdale, the summer home of her family. Bird Girl is
cast in bronze and stands 50 inches tall. She is the image of a young girl wearing a simple
dress and a sad or contemplative expression, with her head tilted to the left. She stands
straight, her elbows propped against her waist as she holds up two bowls out from her
sides. The bowls are often described by viewers as “bird feeders.”
8. Discus Thrower
The Discus Thrower, or the Discobolus, is a famous lost Greek

bronze original. The sculpture of it is still unknown. The Discobolus was
completed towards the end of the severe period (460-450 BC). It is
known through numerous Roman copies, both full-scale ones in marble,
such as the first to be recovered, the Palombara Discopolus, or smaller
scaled versions in bronze. As always in Greek athletics, the Discus
Thrower is completely nude.
7. The Kiss
The Kiss is an 1889 marble sculpture by the French sculptor,
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). This sculpture has a interesting story
to it. it depicts the 13th-century Italian noblewoman immortalized
in Dante’s Inferno, who falls in love with her husband, Giovanni
Malatesta’s, younger brother Paolo. Having fallen in love while
reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, the couple are
discovered and killed by Francesca’s husband. In the sculpture, the
book can be seen in Paolo’s hand. The lover’s lips do not actually
touch in the sculpture to suggest that they were interrupted, and
met their demise without their lips ever having touched. When
critics first saw the sculpture in 1887, they suggested the less
specific title Le Baiser (The Kiss).
6. Hermes and The Infant Dionysus
Also known as the Hermes of Praxiteles or the Hermes of

Olympus, is an ancient Greek sculpture of Hermes and the infant
Dionysus, discovered in 1877, in the ruins of the Temple of Hera at
Olympia. It is displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. It
is traditionally attributed to Praxiteles and dated to the 4th century
BC, based on a remark by the 2nd century Greek traveler Pausanias,
and has made a major contribution to the definition of Praxitelean
style. Its attribution is, however, the object of fierce controversy among
art historians.The sculpture is unlikely to have been one of Praxiteles’
famous works, as no ancient replicas of it have been identified.
5. Lady Justice
The Lady Justice Sculpture is one of the greatest known

sculptures in the world. This statue is not attributed to any one
artist, but the fact that it adorns so many courthouses in the world
has made it one of the more popular sculptures. This sculpture goes
by many names, including Scales of Justice and Blind Justice, but is most commonly
known as Lady Justice. The statue dates all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman
times as the Goddess of justice and law.
4. Pieta
Created by Michelangelo (1475-1564), the Pieta depicts the
Virgin Mary holding her only son, Jesus Christ, in her arms.
Prior to sculpting the Pieta, Michelangelo was not a very known
artist. He was only in his early twenties when he was told, in
1498, to do a life sized sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding her
son in her arms. In about two years, from a single slab of
marble, Michelangelo created one of the most beautiful
sculptures ever.
3. The Thinker
Also from Auguste Rodin, is the famous sculpture “The

Thinker.” Originally named The Poet, the piece was part of a
commission by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris to create a
monumental portal to act as the door of the museum. Rodin based his
theme on The Divine Comedy of Dante and entitled the portal The
Gates of Hell. Each of the statues in the piece represented one of the
main characters in the epic poem. The Thinker was originally meant to
depict Dante in front of the Gates of Hell, pondering his great poem.
(In the final sculpture, a miniature of the statue sits atop the gates,
pondering the hellish fate of those beneath him.) The sculpture is
nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo,
to represent intellect as well as poetry.
2. Venus de Milo
The Venus de Milo sculpture was created sometime

between 100 and 130 B.C. it is believed to depict Aphrodite
(Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It
is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft
8 in) high. Its arms and original plinth have been lost. From an
inscription that was on its plinth, it is thought to be the work of
Alexandros of Antioch; it was earlier mistakenly attributed to the
master sculptor Praxiteles. It is at present on display at the
Louvre Museum in Paris. Amazingly, the statue was discovered
accidentally in a farmer’s field.
1. David
“David” is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created

between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a
5.17 meter (17 feet) marble statue of a standing male nude. The
statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favored subject in the
art of Florence. Originally commissioned as one of a series to be
positioned high up on the facade of Florence Cathedral, the statue
was instead placed in a public square, outside the Palazzo Della Signoria, the seat of civic
government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September, 1504. Because of the
nature of the hero that it represented, it soon came to symbolize the defense of civil liberties
embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by
more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. The eyes of David,
with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome. The statue was moved to the Academia
Gallery in Florence in 1873, and later replaced at the original location by a replica.

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SCULPTURE

Filipino sculptors came to be known in the middle of the

works of Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976). His best known

Napoleon Abueva (born 1930), one of

Abueva'’s more famous work is Fredesvinda , which was

Top 10 Greatest Sculptures

10. Bronze David

Made in the 1440’s, by Donatello (1386-1466), Bronze David is one

9. Savannah Bird Girl Statue

The Discus Thrower, or the Discobolus, is a famous lost Greek

6. Hermes and The Infant Dionysus

Also known as the Hermes of Praxiteles or the Hermes of

The Lady Justice Sculpture is one of the greatest known

Also from Auguste Rodin, is the famous sculpture “The

The Venus de Milo sculpture was created sometime

“David” is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created

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