Page 160 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

How did Ancient Greek

sculptors work?

Learn the ancient methods of the Greeks who cast legends into stone

ncient Greece was a civilisation full of The tools and techniques that the stonemasons Making of a
drama, majesty and legend that is used have changed very little over thousands of
Aevident in the art they left behind. years and are similar to the ones worked with masterpiece
However, many of the statues that we know are today. Marble was the most popular to use, but The steps taken by Ancient Greeks
actually copies of Roman origin – we owe the sculptors would pick their blocks for their to create their iconic sculptures
Romans a lot for their preservation of art that workability rather than beauty.
would otherwise have been lost forever! These large statues of stone are incredibly Special accents
Eyes would often be added
Greek sculptors would begin their craft with heavy and so the sculptors would employ a few in bone or glass, as well as
a few blocks of stone – this was often marble or tricks to reduce weight and enhance stability. copper accents for the lips.
limestone that was readily available in Greece. Statues would often have an extra support, such
as tree trunk or column, to provide a solid Finishing touches
foundation for the figure on the plinth than just Statues were painted to

Bronze sculpture its two feet. Masons would sometimes make them that little
more striking.
Bronze is an alloy made of roughly ninety per hollow-out the inside of a sculpture in order to
cent copper and ten per cent tin; copper was keep weight at a minimum.
readily available around the Mediterranean Once statues were finished, they would often

and tin was imported. Early Greek sculptors be adorned with bronze accessories such as
used a method known as ‘sphyrelaton’ –
meaning ‘hammer-driven’ – to create their spears and jewellery. The eyes would be inlaid In pieces
masterpieces. Sculptors would hammer a with glass or bone to bring them to life and Multiple pieces were
sheet of the metal over a piece of wood some statues had bronze discs on the head, carved separately and
carved into the desired shape, then fi x the known as ‘meniskoi’ to prevent birds from then structures such
different pieces together. defacing the fi gure. as arms were fi xed to
As time moved on, lost-wax casting then the body using
became the most popular technique for wooden dowels.
bronze statuary. This involved various Iron tools
different ways of using wax and clay to Sculptors used
heavy iron tools to
create moulds, then heating so that the wax chip away the initial Buffed up
melted to leave a recess into which the shape, then much Once carving was
molten bronze could be poured. finer tools to create complete, the marble

Bronze could also be re-used, melted intricate detail. statue would be
buffed with an
down and turned into something new. This abrasive powder,
means that there are few Ancient Greek usually emery.
bronze sculptures left for us to find, and the

ones that we do have are incredible pieces
of history.
Quarrying
the stone
Quarry workers
exploited natural
rock fi ssures and
used wooden wedges
soaked in water as
well as bow drills to
extract marble.

Topping it off
These 2,500 year old bronze statues were found Many statues would be
in the sea near Riace, Italy in 1974 placed upon a plinth or © Dreamstime
column and then fi xed
in place using lead.

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