sculpture
/ˈskʌlptʃə
/noun [mass noun]
1The art of making two- or three-dimensional representative or abstract forms, especially by carving stone or wood or by casting metal or plaster: the boundary between painting and sculpture is displaced...
- The two levels above this are fully fitted out with studios for a variety of arts - painting, sculpture, silkscreen, graphics - and exhibit walls at the building's periphery.
- Achieved by advanced computer techniques, it is pure sculpture.
- Were the architects inspired by sculpture when they designed the idiosyncratic form of the Seattle Public Library?
1.1 [count noun] A work of art made by sculpture: a bronze sculpture [mass noun]: a collection of sculpture...
- Monuments, public sculptures, commemorative sites and museums are being created at an accelerated pace.
- Her mixed-media sculptures and leaded glass panels and windows adorn projects ranging from private residences to churches and public buildings across the country.
- This sculpture evolved into a repeat pattern because of the fact that the saddle surface refuses to permit the closure of form.
Synonyms
carving, model, statue, statuette, figure, figurine, effigy, bust, head, image, likeness
1.2 Zoology & Botany Raised or sunken patterns or texture on the surface of a shell, pollen grain, cuticle, or other biological specimen: ammonite shells with external sculpture near the aperture
verb [with object]
1Make or represent (a form) by carving, casting, or other shaping techniques: the choir stalls were each carefully sculptured...
- In Florence Cathedral the equestrian figures of the English condottiere John Hawksmoor by Uccello and of Niccolò da Tolentino by Castagno both simulate sculptured monuments.
- In anthropological accounts, in no instance are boundaries - whether marked by sticks lying across a road or elaborate sculptured portals - meant actually and always to block movement across them.
- The bath had original sculptured Carrara marble, nickel-leg sinks, and some examples of the original moldings.
Synonyms
sculpt, carve, chisel, model, fashion, form, shape, cast, cut, hew
rare sculp
1.1Form or shape as if by sculpture, especially with strong, smooth curves: (as adjective sculptured) he had an aquiline nose and sculptured lips...
- A high nose, sculptured lips and a chiselled jaw completed the work of art.
- You can't look at the smooth, sculptured lines of a Marchetti SF - 260 or Partenavia P68 without thinking of a Ferrari or Maserati.
- He ran a hand down the smooth and finely sculptured chest, the muscles twitching upon the caress of the long, tapered fingers.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin sculptura, from sculpere 'carve'.