Creating Sculpture: The Drawings and Models of Renaissance Sculptors
There was just
too much too describe in detail as this was a packed two days of an academic
conference. Much to my surprise it had been free including lunches and a drinks
reception. The speakers came from all over the world and from British cultural
organisations such as the V&A itself, the Sir John Soane Museum, the
Ashmolean and many more.
Sessions looked
at how sculptors used drawings and models in the various stages of creating a
work. We looked at highly finished commissioning drawings often preserved in
lawyers’ offices as part of the contract for a work, studio sketches and
wonderful drapery drawings on linen from Verrocchio’s studio possibly done on
linen for longevity of studio use. For models we looked at two Michelangelo
ones where he appears to have taken a black of clay and cut away to reveal the
figures, possibly as if practising for the marble black. There was also a
fascinating talk on a huge model of a tomb form Henry VIII by Bandinelli which
is now lost but was much reported at the time.
We also looked at
the role of drawings and models in recording and reproducing finished works.
One speaker looked at drawings and a bronze model after a now lost Michelangelo
figure. Another looked at how ideas were shared in the Della Robbia studio to
enable it to keep producing similar compositions over many years.
There was much
speculation on why do few drawings and models have survived and whether this
was an indication that they weren’t used that widely. There was some evidence
from the Della Robbia studio that sketching may have been done in wet clay and
therefore didn’t survive. I did wonder if, as these were working tools and
sculptors’ workshops could be messy places, most would have been destroyed in
the studio through use.
A fascinating two
days leaving me with a lot to think about and wanting more opportunity to study
Renaissance sculpture.
Comments