Adeebzi
04-07-2011, 04:09 AM
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised. The technique thus involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise with little artistic effect when applied to the background further away from the immediate vicinity of the depicted form itself. To overcome this requirement the technique of "sunken relief" was developed, where the relief itself was sunk into the field. Sculpture in true relief is only possible where material is added to the plane and built up therefrom, as in the case of papier-mache relief sculpture, where the technique is quite literally to raise up the depicted form. The technique of embossing achieves a similar result. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian appellations are commonly used: high relief (alto-rilievo), mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo), low-relief (basso-rilievo, or French: bas-relief) and rilievo stiacciato,[1] where the plane is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background material. Thus it is possible to have a sunken relief in any of the 4 preceding styles. The opposite of relief sculpture is "counter-relief", intaglio or cavo-rilievo[2] where the field or background is left intact and the form itself is removed. It is thus not a raising of the form, but a lowering.
Reliefs are common throughout the world, for example on the walls of monumental buildings. The frieze in the classical Corinthian order is often enriched with bas-relief (low relief). Alto-relievo (high relief) can be seen in the pediments of classical temples such as the Parthenon. Several panels or sections of relief together may represent a sequence of scenes.
Reliefs are common throughout the world, for example on the walls of monumental buildings. The frieze in the classical Corinthian order is often enriched with bas-relief (low relief). Alto-relievo (high relief) can be seen in the pediments of classical temples such as the Parthenon. Several panels or sections of relief together may represent a sequence of scenes.