History of sculpture

The first sculptural manifestations date back to the Lower Paleolithic, when man cut flint by hitting another stone. Later he used engraving, relief on stone and animal bones. Between 27,000 and 32,000 years ago, exuberant female stone human figures were represented, in an artistic exaltation of fertility;3 they are the "Paleolithic Venuses", such as the Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Lespugue. During the Magdalenian period, staffs and propellers with ornamental motifs were used. In the Upper Paleolithic, the most abundant examples are carvings or engraved objects that evolved from a more primitive phase, with more schematic decorations, until reaching the representation of animalistic figures that adapted to the structure of the bone. Clay was also a usual material. The first known pieces of sculpture come from Egypt, China, India and the Near East, places where around 4000 BC. C. there were already kilns to make pottery objects.

One of the most important advances in the history of sculpture was the ability to work with metal—first bronze and then iron—which served to make more efficient tools and, in addition, obtain a new material to make sculptural works. The process of constructing the work first in clay and then casting it in bronze was already known in the ancient Greek civilizations and by the Romans, and it is the system that is currently, in the 21st century, still used. From the 5th century BC. C., in the last period of the Iron Age, the Celts developed the La Tène culture, spreading throughout Europe; It represented an evolution of the art of Hallstatt culture. In the decoration of all its objects, swords, shields, brooches and diadems, you can see motifs of animals, plants and human figures. From the 3rd century BC. C. the first coins were minted following Hellenic models, as well as figurative works such as the God of Bouray, made of embossed copper sheet.