DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42779#0200
140 SCULPTURE IN RELIEF
contradict in a sense Blumel’s wider thesis—that early
archaic work was cut without recourse to the flat chisel1
except for detail. For here we find whole reliefs cut with
no other tool but the flat chisel at a time when sculpture in
the round avoided the flat chisel as far as it was possible to
avoid it. The fact is that Bliimel’s main thesis is perfectly
correct if applied only to sculpture in the round. It fails in
the matter of relief.
Examine some of the reliefs above referred to. The Hydra
pediment is chisel-cut, though its surface preservation is not
good, and this is not easily detected. The Laconian stele at
Berlin, on the other hand, shows on a great part of its
surface the unmistakable signs of a small chisel. There is no
claw-work, no pointing or punch-work. The Athletes Basis,2
with its almost perfectly preserved surface, shows at all
points the marks of a flat chisel. On the lines of drapery
this is evident in an uncertainty of line, a slight shakiness
in the straighter-cut lines of drapery. The Cat and Dog
group shows this with particular clearness (see below,
Fig. 66). A smooth surface cut with a chisel is less easy to
detect, but once detected cannot be mistaken. A flat chisel,
held and struck correctly, describes on the surface that it
cuts a very slight parabolic curve. The end of its drive, in
consequence, is marked by a sharp indentation where the
chisel digs into the marble at the end of its run. A chisel-
smoothed plane surface therefore is bound to show a series
of these ‘digs’, unless, of course, it has been subsequently
smoothed with a stone. The plane surfaces of the Athletes
Basis have never been smoothed with a stone and their
carved surfaces likewise are unrubbed. Almost any square
inch of the plane surface of the background shows these
1 Op. cit., pp. 12 ff.
2 The claw was used in the preparation of the surface before the carving
began and its traces can be seen on the upper framework of the reliefs.
This is true of all low relief of the second half of the 6th century. The claw
chisel was used for preparing the ground, but not for any part of the actual
sculpture. The Aristion Relief shows this very clearly.
contradict in a sense Blumel’s wider thesis—that early
archaic work was cut without recourse to the flat chisel1
except for detail. For here we find whole reliefs cut with
no other tool but the flat chisel at a time when sculpture in
the round avoided the flat chisel as far as it was possible to
avoid it. The fact is that Bliimel’s main thesis is perfectly
correct if applied only to sculpture in the round. It fails in
the matter of relief.
Examine some of the reliefs above referred to. The Hydra
pediment is chisel-cut, though its surface preservation is not
good, and this is not easily detected. The Laconian stele at
Berlin, on the other hand, shows on a great part of its
surface the unmistakable signs of a small chisel. There is no
claw-work, no pointing or punch-work. The Athletes Basis,2
with its almost perfectly preserved surface, shows at all
points the marks of a flat chisel. On the lines of drapery
this is evident in an uncertainty of line, a slight shakiness
in the straighter-cut lines of drapery. The Cat and Dog
group shows this with particular clearness (see below,
Fig. 66). A smooth surface cut with a chisel is less easy to
detect, but once detected cannot be mistaken. A flat chisel,
held and struck correctly, describes on the surface that it
cuts a very slight parabolic curve. The end of its drive, in
consequence, is marked by a sharp indentation where the
chisel digs into the marble at the end of its run. A chisel-
smoothed plane surface therefore is bound to show a series
of these ‘digs’, unless, of course, it has been subsequently
smoothed with a stone. The plane surfaces of the Athletes
Basis have never been smoothed with a stone and their
carved surfaces likewise are unrubbed. Almost any square
inch of the plane surface of the background shows these
1 Op. cit., pp. 12 ff.
2 The claw was used in the preparation of the surface before the carving
began and its traces can be seen on the upper framework of the reliefs.
This is true of all low relief of the second half of the 6th century. The claw
chisel was used for preparing the ground, but not for any part of the actual
sculpture. The Aristion Relief shows this very clearly.