The unification of line in sculpture is a matter not only of lines
within the whole and of single contours, but of the total visual form
of the whole, of silhouette. Although three-dimensional, every statue
casts a two-dimensional image on the retina. It makes as many of these
plane pictures as there are points of view from which it can be seen.
One can easily convince oneself of this by viewing a statue from a
distance, when it will flatten out to a mere outline or silhouette.
As such, it should be clear and simple and pleasing, capable of being
grasped as a whole irrespective of detail. Michelangelo demanded that
every statue be capable of being put inside of some simple geometrical
figure, like a pyramid or a cube; that there be no wayward arms or
legs, but close attachment to the body, so close that the statue might
be rolled down hill without any part being broken off. This last is
perhaps too rigorous a requirement, but the best work of all periods
exhibits visual clarity and concentration.[Footnote: Compare Adolf
Hildebrand, The Problem of Form in Painting and Sculpture.]
Within its contours the statue stands alone. This is the essential
difference between painting and sculpture; the painted thing is always
a part of a larger spatial whole within which it exists in relation
to other things, while the sculptured thing exists by itself; the space
of the statue is the space which it fills; there is no further space
to which it belongs, no background in which it lies.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309