Seeing Sculpture

In reading Chapter 16 this week I learned some new things. I had never thought about anyone being confused if the sculpture is a sculpture or architecture. I had always just thought of sculpture, being sculpture. I also loved the quote by Sir Kenneth Clark:

"To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes and the word implies some of the embarrassment which most of us feel in that condition. The word nude, on the other hand, carries, in educated usage, no uncomfortable overtone. The vague image it projects into the mind is not of a huddled defenseless body, but of a balanced, prosperous and confident body: the body reformed."

This was also something I found kind of disturbing when I first viewed many European paintings in my A.P. European class, but as I continued to study the art I found that nude in art was different from a person being naked. The painters were glorifying the body, and in that era of time the body was celebrated by artists and sculptures in their works.

What I also found interesting about this chapter was the advantage to viewing a sculpture over a painting or fresco. You can view it from all sides; I had never thought about this before. I love both paintings and sculptures, but this makes sculptures more interesting and I will notice the views from the different sides that I didn't notice before. I also like the idea of a sculpture being a frozen point in time, but eternal at the same time. The piece isn't alive and isn't moving, but it lasts for a very long time for all to enjoy. The other point/quote I found interesting was by Finn:

We are like the blind man who has to learn how to see with his hands." We have to train our eyes to feel the sculpture in all its parts and from every conceivable vantage point, as if we were actually touching it." You are in fact touching all its parts with your eyes rather than with your hand.

I loved this chapter on sculpture because I knew most of the sculpture mentioned in the chapter. I love the artists mentioned in the chapter too; Michelangelo, Rodin, and Moore. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and it helped me to view sculpture in a whole new light!