The New Childrens Encyclopedia

WORLD ART

165

Sculpture

Sculpture has been around since

prehistoric people carved shapes into

rock. While early peoples sculpted

religious decorations and icons, the

ancient Greeks made lifelike statues.

 AFRICAN

SCULPTURE

African art covers a wealth

of styles and techniques

used by the many different

cultures. Sculptures of

the human figure vary

across the continent.

Terra-cotta army

In 1974, one of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever

found was discovered by farmers. It was a huge army of

Chinese warriors made out of terra-cotta pottery. In

time, archeologists found more than 8,000 life-size

statues guarding the tomb of the first emperor of

China, Qin Shi Huang, who ruled from 221–210

BCE. Some of the warriors even have horses.

Art imitating life

The ancient Greeks were interested in

ideals—statues that showed a perfect

body. The ancient Romans were

influenced by Greek art, but they were

more interested in portraiture: statues

that looked like a particular person,

especially someone famous. They

believed that having a good image of

somebody’s face kept its ghost happy.

Religious art

Many pieces of art depict religious

scenes. They might present religious

figures from history, or religious

symbols and traditions. The artists

often used gold leaf (thin sheets of

gold) and rich reds.

SOUTH ASIAN ART

Thangkas (embroidered banners) and mandalas

(diagrams) are often used for meditation. They

have detailed patterns to convey spiritual ideas.

RUSSIAN ICONS

Icons are images or representations of a

religious figure. They are mainly painted

in the symbolic style of Byzantine art.

CULTURE

TAKE A LOOK: COLORS FROM NATURE

Before we could buy paints, people had to

make colors from nature. They often used

crushed rocks, minerals, plants, or insects.

They mixed the powder or juice with egg

yolk or animal fat to make paint. Over the

centuries, artists have found their perfect

color in all kinds of strange ways.

White—from chalk

Black—from charcoal

Golden Indian yellow—from

the urine of cows that had been

fed mango leaves

Deep red—sometimes from the

crushed and dried bodies of female

scale insects (Dactylopius coccus)

Green—from the juice of parsley

flowers

Brown—from the inner bark of

the oak tree (Quercus tinctoria)

Dark violet—from crushed

elderberries

Dark brown—from the ink of a

small squid called a cuttlefish

(sepia officinalis)

 ANCIENT

SCULPTURE

Ancient Greek sculpture

heavily influenced Roman art.

This Roman marble sculpture, The

Disc Thrower, was based on an

original Greek bronze sculpture.