Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs , and small statuettes and figurines , as well as bronze elements to be fitted to other objects such as furniture.
Repoussé (French: ⓘ) or repoussage (ⓘ) is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Chasing (French: ciselure) or embossing is a similar technique in which the piece is hammered on the front side, sinking the metal. The two techniques are often used in ...
Patina (/ p ə ˈ t iː n ə / pə-TEE-nə or / ˈ p æ t ɪ n ə / PAT-ih-nə) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze, and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes), or certain stones [1] and wooden furniture (sheen produced by age, wear, and polishing), or ...
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids, such as arsenic or silicon.
The bronze color and hard, metallic texture of the sculpture's surface emphasize the brute force of the creature. The work was designed and placed so that viewers could walk around it, which also suggests the creature's own movement is unrestricted — a point reinforced by the twisting posture of the bull's body, according to Durante.
The result is a metal of a rich golden brown colour, capable of being worked by casting — a process little applicable to its component parts, but peculiarly successful with bronze, the density and hardness of the metal allowing it to take any impression of a mould, however delicate. It is thus possible to create ornamental work of various kinds.
The earliest forms of Greek bronze sculptures were simple, hand-worked sheets of bronze known as sphyrelaton (literally, "hammer-driven"). [15] Like modern clay sculpture, these metal sheets could be embellished by hammering the metal over various wooden shapes made with textures that created a desired look or depth.
Fire-gilding of metal goes back at least to the 4th century BC. Mercury-gilding was invented by Chinese Daoists in the 4th century CE and was used for the gilding of bronze plaques. [5] It was known to Pliny (33,20,64–5), Vitruvius (8,8,4) and in the Early Medieval period to Theophilus (De Diversis Artibus Book III). [citation needed] [6]