M
onumental bronze statues such as the Riace warrior
(FIG. 5-35), the Delphi charioteer (FIG. 5-37), and the Artemi-
sion god (FIG. 5-38) required great technical skill to produce. They
could not be manufactured using a single simple mold, as were small-
scale Geometric and Archaic figures (FIGS. 5-3and 5-4). Weight, cost,
and the tendency of large masses of bronze to distort when cooling
made life-size castings in solid bronze impractical, if not impossible.
Instead, large statues were hollow-cast by the cire perdue (lost-wax)
method. The lost-wax process entailed several steps and had to be
repeated many times, because monumental statues were typically cast
in parts—head, arms, hands, torso, and so forth.
First, the sculptor fashioned a full-size clay model of the intended
statue. Then a clay master mold was made around the model and re-
moved in sections. When dry, the various pieces of the master mold
were reassembled for each separate body part. Next, a layer of bees-
wax was applied to the inside of each mold. When the wax cooled,
the mold was removed, and the sculptor was left with a hollow wax
model in the shape of the original clay model. The artist could then
correct or refine details—for example, engrave fingernails on the wax
hands or individual locks of hair on the head.
In the next stage, a final clay mold (investment) was applied to
the exterior of the wax model, and a liquid clay core was poured in-
side the hollow wax. Metal pins (chaplets) were driven through the
new mold to connect the investment with the clay core (FIG. 5-36a).
Then the wax was melted out (“lost”) and molten bronze poured into
the mold in its place (FIG. 5-36b). When the bronze hardened and
assumed the shape of the wax model, the investment and as much of
the core as possible were removed, and the casting process was com-
plete. Finally, the individually cast pieces were fitted together and
soldered, surface imperfections smoothed, eyes inlaid, teeth and eye-
lashes added, attributes such as spears and wreaths provided, and so
forth. Bronze statues were costly to make and highly prized.Hollow-Casting Life-Size Bronze Statues
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES5-36Two stages of the lost-wax method of bronze casting (after
Sean A.Hemingway).
Drawing ashows a clay mold (investment), wax model, and clay core
connected by chaplets. Drawing bshows the wax melted out and the
molten bronze poured into the mold to form the cast bronze head.
a b
5-37Charioteer, from a group dedicated by Polyzalos of Gela in the
sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi, Greece, ca. 475 bce.Bronze, 5 11 high.
Archaeological Museum, Delphi.
The charioteer is almost all that remains of a large bronze group that
also included a chariot, a team of horses, and a groom, requiring
hundreds of individually cast pieces soldered together.1 ft.122 Chapter 5 ANCIENT GREECE