Relief

This article is about the sculptural method. For emotion, seeRelief (emotion).For other uses, seeRelief (disambiguation).

Side view ofLorenzo Ghiberti's castgilt-bronzeGates of Paradiseat theFlorence BaptisteryinFlorence,Italy, combining high-relief main figures with backgrounds mostly in low relief

Reliefis asculpturalmethod in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The termreliefis from the Latin verbrelevare,to raise (lit. to lift back). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the backgroundplane.When a relief is carved into a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood (relief carving), the field is actually lowered, leaving the unsculpted areas seeming higher. The approach requires a lot of chiselling away of the background, which takes a long time. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, particularly in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plasterstucco,ceramics orpapier-mâchéthe form can be simply added to or raised up from the background. Monumentalbronzereliefs are made bycasting.

There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian and French terms are still sometimes used in English. The full range includeshigh relief(Italianalto-rilievo,Frenchhaut-relief),where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas,mid-relief(Italianmezzo-rilievo),low relief(Italianbasso-rilievo,French:bas-relief), and shallow-relief (Italianrilievo schiacciato),where the plane is only very slightly lower than the sculpted elements. There is alsosunk relief,which was mainly restricted toAncient Egypt(see below). However, the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only terms used to discuss most work.

The definition of these terms is somewhat variable, and many works combine areas in more than one of them, rarely sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some writers prefer to avoid all distinctions.The opposite of relief sculpture iscounter-relief,intaglio,orcavo-rilievo,where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare inmonumental sculpture.Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, though they are rarely seen in "sunk relief" and are usual in "bas-relief"and" counter-relief ". Works in the technique are described as" in relief ", and, especially inmonumental sculpture,the work itself is "a relief".

A face of the high-reliefFrieze of Parnassusround the base of theAlbert Memorialin London. Most of the heads and many feet are completely undercut, but the torsos are "engaged" with the surface behind.

Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of smaller settings, and a sequence of several panels or sections of relief may represent an extended narrative. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with many figures and very active poses, such as battles, than free-standing "sculpture in the round". Most ancient architectural reliefs were originally painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. The subject of reliefs is for convenient reference assumed in this article to be usually figures, but sculpture in relief often depicts decorative geometrical or foliage patterns, as in thearabesquesofIslamic art,and may be of any subject.

A common mixture of high and low relief, in the RomanAra Pacis,placed to be seen from below. Low relief background.

Rock reliefsare those carved into solid rock in the open air (if inside caves, whether natural or human-made, they are more likely to be called "rock-cut" ). This type is found in many cultures, in particular those of theAncient Near Eastand Buddhist countries. Asteleis a single standing stone; many of these carry reliefs.

Types

The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are very often combined in a single work. In particular, most later "high reliefs" contain sections in low relief, usually in the background. From theParthenon Friezeonwards, many single figures in largemonumental sculpturehave heads in high relief, but their lower legs are in low relief. The slightly projecting figures created in this way work well in reliefs that are seen from below, and reflect that the heads of figures are usually of more interest to both artist and viewer than the legs or feet. As unfinished examples from various periods show, raised reliefs, whether high or low, were normally "blocked out" by marking the outline of the figure and reducing the background areas to the new background level, work no doubt performed by apprentices (see gallery).

Low relief or bas-relief

Low-relief on Romansestertius,238 AD

A low relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. In the lowest reliefs the relative depth of the elements shown is completely distorted, and if seen from the side the image makes no sense, but from the front the small variations in depth register as a three-dimensional image. Other versions distort depth much less. The term comes from theItalianbasso rilievovia the Frenchbas-relief(French pronunciation:[baʁəljɛf]), both meaning "low relief". The former is now a very old-fashioned term in English, and thelatteris becoming so.

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. In theart of Ancient Egypt,Assyrian palace reliefs,and otherancient Near Easternand Asian cultures, a consistent very low relief was commonly used for the whole composition. These images would usually be painted after carving, which helped define the forms; today the paint has worn off in the great majority of surviving examples, but minute, invisible remains of paint can usually be discovered through chemical means.

A low-relief dating toc. 2000 BC,from the kingdom ofSimurrum,modernIraq

TheIshtar GateofBabylon,now in Berlin, has low reliefs of large animals formed from moulded bricks, glazed in colour. Plaster, which made the technique far easier, was widely used in Egypt and theNear Eastfrom antiquity into Islamic times (latterly for architectural decoration, as at theAlhambra), Rome, and Europe from at least the Renaissance, as well as probably elsewhere. However, it needs very good conditions to survive long in unmaintained buildings – Roman decorative plasterwork is mainly known fromPompeiiand other sites buried by ash fromMount Vesuvius.Low relief was relatively rare in Westernmedieval art,but may be found, for example in wooden figures or scenes on the insides of the folding wings of multi-panelaltarpieces.

The revival of low relief, which was seen as a classical style, begins early in the Renaissance; theTempio MalatestianoinRimini,a pioneering classicist building, designed byLeon Battista Albertiaround 1450, uses low reliefs byAgostino di Duccioinside and on the external walls. Since the Renaissance plaster has been very widely used for indoorornamentalwork such ascornicesand ceilings, but in the 16th century it was used for large figures (many also using high relief) at theChateau of Fontainebleau,which were imitated more crudely elsewhere, for example in the ElizabethanHardwick Hall.

Shallow-relief, in Italianrilievostiacciatoorrilievo schicciato( "squashed relief" ), is a very shallow relief, which merges into engraving in places, and can be hard to read in photographs. It is often used for the background areas of compositions with the main elements in low-relief, but its use over a whole (usually rather small) piece was effectively invented and perfected by the Italian Renaissance sculptorDonatello.

In later Western art, until a 20th-century revival, low relief was used mostly for smaller works or combined with higher relief to convey a sense of distance, or to give depth to the composition, especially for scenes with many figures and a landscape or architectural background, in the same way that lighter colours are used for the same purpose in painting. Thus figures in the foreground are sculpted in high-relief, those in the background in low-relief. Low relief may use any medium or technique of sculpture,stone carvingandmetal castingbeing most common. Large architectural compositions all in low relief saw a revival in the 20th century, being popular on buildings inArt Decoand related styles, which borrowed from the ancient low reliefs now available in museums.Some sculptors, includingEric Gill,have adopted the "squashed" depth of low relief in works that are actually free-standing.

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  "Blocked-out" unfinished low relief ofAhkenatenandNefertiti;unfinished Greek and Persian high-reliefs show the same method of beginning a work.
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  Persian low orbas-reliefinPersepolis– a symbol ofZoroastrianNowruz – at the springequinoxthe power of the bull (personifyingEarth) and lion (personifying theSun) are equal.
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  Assyrian low relief,Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal,North Palace,Nineveh
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  Atroposcutting the thread of life. Modern Greek low relief.
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  Donatello'srilievo stiacciatoor shallow relief of the "Assumption of the Virgin" ona tomb,1420s
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  French 20th-century low relief

Mid-relief

Low relief,Banteay Srei,Cambodia;Ravanashaking MountKailasa,the Abode ofSiva

Mid-relief, "half-relief" ormezzo-rilievois somewhat imprecisely defined, and the term is not often used in English, the works usually being described as low relief instead. The typical traditional definition is that only up to half of the subject projects, and no elements are undercut or fully disengaged from the background field. The depth of the elements shown is normally somewhat distorted.

Mid-relief is probably the most common type of relief found in theHinduandBuddhist artofIndiaandSoutheast Asia.The low to mid-reliefs of 2nd-century BCE to 6th-century CEAjanta Cavesand 5th- to 10th-centuryEllora Cavesin India are rock reliefs. Most of these reliefs are used to narrate sacred scriptures, such as the 1,460 panels of the 9th-centuryBorobudurtemple inCentral Java,Indonesia,narrating theJataka talesor lives of theBuddha.Other examples are low reliefs narrating theRamayanaHindu epic inPrambanantemple, also in Java, inCambodia,the temples ofAngkor,with scenes including theSamudra manthanor "Churning the Ocean of Milk" at the 12th-centuryAngkor Wat,and reliefs ofapsaras.AtBayontemple inAngkor Thomthere are scenes of daily life in theKhmer Empire.

High relief

High reliefmetopefrom the Classical GreekParthenon Marbles.Some front limbs are actually detached from the background completely, while thecentaur's left rear leg is in low relief.

High relief (oraltorilievo,fromItalian) is where in general more than half the mass of the sculpted figure projects from the background. Indeed, the most prominent elements of the composition, especially heads and limbs, are often completely undercut, detaching them from the field. The parts of the subject that are seen are normally depicted at their full depth, unlike low relief where the elements seen are "squashed" flatter. High relief thus uses essentially the same style and techniques as free-standing sculpture, and in the case of a single figure gives largely the same view as a person standing directly in front of a free-standing statue would have. All cultures and periods in which large sculptures were created used this technique inmonumental sculptureand architecture.

Most of the many grand figure reliefs inAncient Greek sculptureused a very "high" version of high relief, with elements often fully free of the background, and parts of figures crossing over each other to indicate depth. Themetopes of the Parthenonhave largely lost their fully rounded elements, except for heads, showing the advantages of relief in terms of durability. High relief has remained the dominant form for reliefs with figures in Western sculpture, also being common in Indian temple sculpture. Smaller Greek sculptures such as private tombs, and smaller decorative areas such as friezes on large buildings, more often used low relief.

High-relief deities atKhajuraho,India

Very high relief at theMonument to the Independence of BrazilinSão Paulo;derivative representation ofPedro Américo's 1888 paintingIndependence or Death

Hellenisticand Romansarcophagusreliefs were cut with a drill rather thanchisels,enabling and encouraging compositions extremely crowded with figures, like theLudovisi Battle sarcophagus(250–260 CE). These are also seen in the enormous strips of reliefs that wound around Romantriumphal columns.Thesarcophagiin particular exerted a huge influence on later Western sculpture. The European Middle Ages tended to use high relief for all purposes in stone, though likeAncient Roman sculpture,their reliefs were typically not as high as in Ancient Greece.Very high relief re-emerged in the Renaissance, and was especially used in wall-mountedfunerary artand later onNeoclassicalpedimentsand public monuments.

In the Buddhist and Hindu art of India and Southeast Asia, high relief can also be found, although it is not as common as low to mid-reliefs. Famous examples of Indian high reliefs can be found at theKhajurahotemples, with voluptuous, twisting figures that often illustrate the eroticKamasutrapositions. In the 9th-centuryPrambanantemple, CentralJava,high reliefs ofLokapaladevatas,the guardians of deities of the directions, are found.

The largest high relief sculpture in the world is theStone Mountain Confederate Memorialin the U.S. state ofGeorgia,which was cut 42 feet deep into the mountain,and measures 90 feet in height, 190 feet in width,and lies 400 feet above the ground.

Sunk relief

A sunk-relief depiction of PharaohAkhenatenwith his wifeNefertitiand daughters. The main background has not been removed, merely that in the immediate vicinity of the sculpted form. Note how strong shadows are needed to define the image.

Sunk or sunken relief is largely restricted to theart of Ancient Egyptwhere it is very common, becoming after theAmarna periodofAhkenatenthe dominant type used, as opposed to low relief. It had been used earlier, but mainly for large reliefs on external walls, and forhieroglyphsandcartouches.The image is made by cutting the relief sculpture itself into a flat surface. In a simpler form the images are usually mostly linear in nature, like hieroglyphs, but in most cases the figure itself is in low relief, but set within a sunken area shaped round the image, so that the relief never rises beyond the original flat surface. In some cases the figures and other elements are in a very low relief that does not rise to the original surface, but others are modeled more fully, with some areas rising to the original surface. This method minimizes the work removing the background, while allowing normal relief modelling.

The technique is most successful with strong sunlight to emphasise the outlines and forms by shadow, as no attempt was made to soften the edge of the sunk area, leaving a face at a right-angle to the surface all around it. Some reliefs, especially funerary monuments with heads or busts from ancient Rome and later Western art, leave a "frame" at the original level around the edge of the relief, or place a head in a hemispherical recess in the block (see Roman example in gallery). Though essentially very similar to Egyptian sunk relief, but with a background space at the lower level around the figure, the term would not normally be used of such works.

It is also used for carving letters (typicallyom mani padme hum) in themani stonesofTibetan Buddhism.

Counter-relief

Sunk relief technique is not to be confused with "counter-relief" or intaglio as seen onengraved gemseals– where an image is fully modeled in a "negative" manner. The image goes into the surface, so that when impressed on wax it gives an impression in normal relief. However many engraved gems were carved incameoor normal relief.

A few very lateHellenisticmonumental carvings in Egypt use full "negative" modelling as though on a gem seal, perhaps as sculptors trained in the Greek tradition attempted to use traditional Egyptian conventions.

Small objects

French Gothicdiptych,25 cm (9.8 in) high, with crowded scenes from theLife of Christ,c. 1350–1365

Small-scale reliefs have been carved in various materials, notablyivory,wood, and wax. Reliefs are often found indecorative artssuch asceramicsandmetalwork;these are less often described as "reliefs" than as "in relief". Small bronze reliefs are often in the form of "plaques" orplaquettes,which may be set in furniture or framed, or just kept as they are, a popular form for European collectors, especially in the Renaissance.

Various modelling techniques are used, suchrepoussé( "pushed-back" ) in metalwork, where a thin metal plate is shaped from behind using various metal or wood punches, producing a relief image.Castinghas also been widely used inbronzeand other metals. Casting and repoussé are often used in concert in to speed up production and add greater detail to the final relief. In stone, as well as engraved gems, largerhardstone carvingsin semi-precious stones have been highly prestigious since ancient times in many Eurasian cultures. Reliefs inwaxwere produced at least from theRenaissance.

Carved ivoryreliefs have been used since ancient times, and because the material, though expensive, cannot usually be reused, they have a relatively high survival rate, and for exampleconsular diptychsrepresent a large proportion of the survivals of portable secular art fromLate Antiquity.In theGothic periodthe carving of ivory reliefs became a considerableluxuryindustry inParisand other centres. As well as smalldiptychsandtriptychswith densely packed religious scenes, usually from theNew Testament,secular objects, usually in a lower relief, were also produced.

These were often round mirror-cases, combs, handles, and other small items, but included a few larger caskets like theCasket with Scenes of Romances (Walters 71264)inBaltimore,Maryland,in the United States. Originally they were very often painted in bright colours. Reliefs can be impressed by stamps onto clay, or the clay pressed into a mould bearing the design, as was usual with the mass-producedterra sigillataofAncient Roman pottery.Decorative reliefs inplasterorstuccomay be much larger; this form of architectural decoration is found in many styles of interiors in the post-Renaissance West, and inIslamic architecture.

Gallery

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  Low relief from thePre-Pottery Neolithicarchaeological site ofGöbekli Tepe,believed to represent abull,afox,and acrane,c. 9,000 BC
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  TheWarka VaseofSumer,a very early survival works of narrative relief,c. 3200–3000 BC.Alabaster.National Museum of Iraq.
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  Sunk relief as low relief within a sunk outline, from theLuxor Templein Egypt, carved in very hardgranite
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  Low relief within a sunk outline, linear sunk relief in thehieroglyphs,and high relief (right), from Luxor
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  Low to mid-relief, 9th century,Borobudur.The temple has 1,460 panels of reliefs narrating Buddhist scriptures.
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  APersianmid-relief (mezzo-rilievo) from theQajarera, atTangeh SavashiinIran,which might also be described as two stages of low relief. This is arock reliefcarved into a cliff.
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  Roman funerary relief with frame at original level, but not sunk relief
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  The RomanWarren Cup,silverrepousséwork
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  Lintel 24from theMayasite ofYaxchilan.It depicts abloodlettingritual performed byLady Xoc.
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  Rock reliefatNaqsh-e Rustam;the PersianSassanianemperorShapur I(on horseback) with Roman emperors submitting to him
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  The 12th centuryRomanesqueportal ofChrist in MajestyatMoissacAbbey moves between low and high relief in a single figure.
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  Harbaville Triptych,Byzantine ivory
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  Side view of mid-relief:Madonna and Child,marble ofc. 1500/1510 by an unknown north Italian sculptor
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  The elaboratestucco(plaster) reliefs decorating theChateau de Fontainebleauwere hugely influential. Low-relief decorativefriezeabove.
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  Baroque marble high-relief byFrancesco Grassia,1670, Rome
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  Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, 1897, Boston, combining free-standing elements with high and low relief
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  A relatively modern high relief (depicting shipbuilding) inBishopsgate,London.Some elements jut out of the frame of the image.
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  Elizabeth Wyn Wood'sBas-reliefatToronto Metropolitan UniversityinToronto
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  Colossal Hindurock reliefsatUnakoti,Tripura,India
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  High relief ofDemetria and Pamphile.Many details are detached entirely.

Reliefs by modern artists

Mohsen Semnani,The Creation story,2000, the entrance room of amphitheatre,Isfahan

Many modern and contemporary artists such asPaul Gauguin,Ernst Barlach,Ernst Ludwig Kirchner,Pablo Picasso,Eric Gill,Jacob Epstein,Henry Moore,Claudia Cobizev,up toEwald Matarehave created reliefs.

In particular low reliefs were often used in the 20th century on the outsides of buildings, where they are relatively easy to incorporate into the architecture as decorative highlights.

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  Paul Gauguin,Woman with Mango Fruits,1889, painted oak,Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,Kopenhagen
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  Ludwig Gies,cast ironplaquette,8 x 9.8 cm, inscribed "1914·VERTRIEBEN·1915" = "Refugees 1914–1915"
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  Ernst Barlach,Angel of Hope,1933, Saint Mary parish church in Güstrow
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  Henry Moore,Relief No. 1,1959, Bronze, at theIsrael Museum,Jerusalem
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  William Henry Hudsonmemorial,Hyde Park, London,Jacob Epstein
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  Ewald Matare,main portal with bronze door, 1958–1960,St Lambertus, Düsseldorf
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  Table at the Cliff,Keitum,Sylt, 2019
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  Boat in moving sea,bronze relief byIngo Kühl,2019

Notable reliefs

Notable examples of monumental reliefs include:

• Ancient Egypt: MostEgyptian temples,e.g. theTemple of Karnak
• Assyria: A famous collection is in theBritish Museum,Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
• Ancient Persia:Persepolis,and rock-face reliefs atNaqsh-e RustamandNaqsh-e Rajab
• Ancient Greece: TheParthenon Marbles,Bassae Frieze,Great Altar of Pergamon,Ludovisi Throne
• Mesopotamia:Ishtar GateofBabylon
• Ancient Rome:Ara Pacis,Trajan's Column,Column of Marcus Aurelius,triumphal arches,Portonaccio sarcophagus
• Medieval Europe: Many cathedrals and other churches, such asChartres CathedralandBourges Cathedral
• India:Sanchi,base of theLion Capital of Asoka,the rock-cutElephanta CavesandEllora Caves,Khajuraho temples,Mahabalipuramwith theDescent of the Ganges,and many South Indian temples, Unakoti group of sculptures (bas-relief) at Kailashahar, Unakoti District, Tripura, India
• South-East Asia:BorobodurinJava,Angkor Watin Cambodia,
• Glyphs,Mayan stelaeand other reliefs of theMayaandAzteccivilizations
• United States:Stone Mountain,Robert Gould ShawMemorial, Boston,Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• UK: Base panels ofNelson's Column,Frieze of Parnassus

Smaller-scale reliefs:

• Ivory:Nimrud ivoriesfrom much of the Near East,Late AntiqueConsular diptychs,the ByzantineHarbaville TriptychandVeroli Casket,theAnglo-SaxonFranks Casket,Cloisters Cross.
• Silver:Warren Cup,Gundestrup cauldron,Mildenhall Treasure,Berthouville Treasure,Missorium of Theodosius I,Lomellini Ewer and Basin.
• Gold:Berlin Gold Hat,Bimaran casket,Panagyurishte Treasure
• Glass:Portland Vase,Lycurgus Cup

See also

• Rock relief
• Multidimensional art
• Pargetting– English exterior plaster reliefs
• Relief printing– a different concept
• Repoussé and chasing– a metalworking technique
• Dongyang wood carving– A Chinese example

References

• Avery, Charles, in "Relief sculpture".Grove Art Online.Retrieved April 7, 2011.

External links

• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History,"American Relief Sculpture",Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York City.