The Lost Art of the Statue
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”. So goes the famous quote attributed to one of the greatest master-craftsmen that ever lived, Michelangelo.
Michelangelo’s David, Florence.
Statues by their nature are public art, designed not for private consumption but for us to gaze upon and impart meaning. You can tell a lot about a society by its statues. Statues are statements of civilisational priorities. One could say that they not only explain a culture’s past, but also it’s present and most importantly it’s future.
Many today would rightly point out that sculpture art has a social function, i.e. to remember, to glorify or to mourn. However, before the days of psychologists and sociologists, the artist understood his role clearly. It was to be his task to edify his fellow man by tirelessly pursuing beauty.
Most statue art, like any type of art, is average, some works are atrocious and a small minority are marvels to behold.
Two depictions of Ronaldo: Emanuel Santos (left) and Jose Antonio Navarro Arteaga (right)
Three years ago Emanuel Santos unveiled a public bust of Portuguese international footballer Ronaldo. His work was ridiculed and was quickly circulated around the around the world as an internet meme.
One can learn a lot form this viral episode. Firstly, that it understandably hurts to have one’s well-intended hard work not only rejected but laughed at. And secondly, that the public at large know bad art when they see it.
Santos’ response was less than humble. Speaking to “B/R Football” in 2018, he said; “if it didn’t end up like him 100% people have to understand that art is a form of expression, it is not a science”.
Such an attitude not only excuses but facilitates bad art. The master-craftsman does not seek to obfuscate his error by suggesting that his audience simply don’t understand his genius artistic expression.
While it would be wrong to compare every work with the pinnacle of its genre (as to do so would no doubt discourage new talent and stifle creatively), masterpieces do offer us a glimpse of what is achievable.
Jose Antonio Navarro Arteaga in his workshop
Jose Antonio Navarro Arteaga, a Spanish sculptor in Seville, also recently unveiled a bust of Ronaldo. In comparing the two, not only can we contrast two artists, but two ways of looking at the world.
Arteaga seems to correctly understand that there is no dichotomy between creativity and tradition, that in fact they complement one another
True, art is not merely a robotic science, but there are some objective criteria for beauty and we all know beauty when we see it. Masterpieces, even hundreds of years old, still have a way of speaking directly to our soul. They speak the universal language of beauty, something that conforms to the good and the true.
Below one can find exemplar masterworks, divided into the categories of Stone, Bronze and Wood.
Stone
Minute Man Statue Lexington, Massachusetts.
Austrian First World War military cemetery, Korneuburg, Vienna.
The 1821 Lion monument by Bertel Thorvaldsen, Luzern Switzerland.
Jason with the Golden Fleece, Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.
John henry Foley’s work “Winter”
Relief from Arc De Triomphe
“Our Lady of Knock“
“Mother of Fair Love, by Pasquale Sciancalepore, a gift from Josemaría Escrivá to the University of Navarra.
St James’ Cathedral Seattle
Bronze
British First World War memorial Southend, England. (source: Reddit u/eugenesucks )
Washington DC monument to the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (Source: Washington Post)
Archduke Charles monument, Heldenplatz, Vienna.
South-West corner of O’Connell street monument, Dublin, Ireland.
2016 Statue of William Playfair by Alexander Stoddart, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Wood
Our Lady with infant Christ, Dublin, Ireland.
Statue of Austrian Forst World War infantryman, Salzburg.
Niall Buckley,
November 2020.