Bas-Relief
Bas-Relief Definition
The Definition of a Bas-Relief is
Bas-relief is a method of sculpting which entails carving the surface of
a flat piece of stone. A Bas-Relief is a sculpture which is portrayed as
a picture where the image is raised above the flat surface of the
background.
The Egyptian Bas-Relief
The Egyptians treated bas-relief
in three ways:
-
As a simple
engraving executed by means of incised lines - preferred for
small monuments
-
By cutting away
the surface of the stone round the figure, and so causing it
to stand out in relief upon the wall - this method was the
most generally adopted
-
By sinking the
design below the wall-surface and cutting it in relief at
the bottom of the hollow. This method lessened not only the
danger of damage to the work, but the labour of the workman
The Egyptian Stone Bas-Relief
The
Egyptians sometimes cut boldly into the stone. At Karnak, on the higher parts of the temples, where the work is in
granite or sandstone, and exposed to full daylight, the bas-relief
decoration projects full 6-3/8 inches above the surface. Had it been
lower, the tableaux would have been, as it were, absorbed by the flood
of light poured upon them, and to the eye of the spectator would have
presented only a confused network of lines. The
head, the arms, the legs, the trunk, each part of the body, in short,
was separately cast. If a complete figure were wanted, the parts were put together, and the result was a statue of a man, or of a
woman, kneeling, standing, seated, squatting, the arms extended or
falling passively by the sides.
The Egyptian Bas-Relief
The method of using cubes was used
to create the Egyptian Bas-Relief. The work was begun by covering one face of a
cube with a network of lines crossing each other at right angles; these
regulated the relative position of the features. Then the opposite side
was attacked, the distances being taken from the scale on the reverse
face. A mere oval was designed on this first block; a projection in the
middle and a depression to right and left, vaguely indicating the
whereabouts of nose and eyes. The forms become more definite as we pass
from cube to cube, and the face emerges by degrees. The limit of the
contours is marked off by parallel lines cut vertically from top to
bottom. The angles were next cut away and smoothed down, so as to bring
out the forms. Gradually the features become disengaged from the block,
the eye looks out, the nose gains refinement, the mouth is
developed. When the last cube is reached, there remains nothing to
finish except the details of the head-dress and the basilisk on the brow.
Bas-Relief
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