Devoid, free from, destitute.
What is Sculpture?
The art of cutting or carving wood, stone, and other materials; and forming of them various figures or representations of men, beasts and other objects. The term is mostly limited to carving images or statues in stone. This art is of great antiquity; the sacred writings inform us of it in many passages, as for instance in those in which are mentioned Laban's images, carried away by Rachel; the golden calf of the Israelites, &c. Sculpture as an art is probably more ancient than painting.
What country was the most highly celebrated for its sculpture?
Greece, which produced many celebrated sculptors, of whom the most eminent were Phidias, an Athenian, the great master of this art, who lived in the time of Pericles, 408 years before Christ; Lysippus, a native of Sicyon, near Corinth; and Praxiteles, a native of Magna Grecia.
What event proved fatal to this art?
The death of Alexander the Great was followed by a visible decline in all the fine arts; but the fatal blow to their existence was given by the success of the conquering Romans, who reduced Greece to a Roman province.
Was Sculpture always performed in Stone?
No; at first statues and other figures were formed of wood or baked clay, afterwards of stone, marble and metals; though these last were not brought to any degree of perfection, till about three hundred years before Christ. The Greeks were famous for their works in ivory; the great master of the art of carving statues in it was Phidias.
What progress did the Romans make in Sculpture?