DU2041 Seminar: Technologies and materials in early modern sculptor's practice

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Tereza Horáková (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 10:00–11:40 VP
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
The seminar is dedicated to the study of the workshop practice of the Baroque sculptor - the operation of sculpture workshops, the organization of artistic work, contemporary technological procedures, materials, etc. Attention will be paid to the examination of contemporary practices on the basis of technological analyses of materials and techniques, restoration surveys and contemporary recipes, with the aim of bringing closer the key material and technological circumstances of the creation of early modern sculpture. This goal will be realized in the form of individual and group texts of a popular and educational character, in which the emphasis will be placed on the practical application of the findings of technological and restoration research in art historical research.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- identify and summarize important features of the workshop practice of an early modern sculptor;
- describe the technological and material factors that influenced the final form of a sculptural work;
- analyze current scientific knowledge in the field of research, conservation and restoration of sculpture and apply it to art historical research.
Syllabus
  • Workshop operation, work organisation, collections, work trips
  • Sculptor training: workshops, guilds, academies
  • Materials, their meaning, value, symbolism; meaning of polychrome
  • Materials and their technological processing: wood, sandstone, marble, metal
  • Preparatory work: drawing and plastic sketches, models
  • Sculptural practice and its reflection in contemporary theory
  • Restoration research: sculptural technologies, surface treatments, restoration
Literature
  • MACSOTAY, Tomas. The profession of sculpture in the Paris Académie. Oxford: Voltaire foundation, 2014, xxi, 360. ISBN 9780729410793. info
  • DICKERSON, C. D., Anthony SIGEL and Ian WARDROPPER. Bernini : sculpting in clay. Edited by Andrea Bacchi - Tomaso Montanari - Steven F. Ostrow. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, xvi, 416. ISBN 9780300185003. info
  • Cast in bronze : French sculpture from Renaissance to revolution. Edited by Geneviève Bresc-Bautier - Guilhem Scherf - James David Draper - Jane. Paris: Musée du Louvre Éditions, 2009, 534 s. ISBN 9782757201831. info
  • Ephemeral bodies : wax sculpture and the human figure. Edited by Julius von Schlosser - Roberta Panzanelli. Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Research Institute, 2008, vii, 327. ISBN 9780892368778. info
  • The making of sculpture : the materials and techniques of European sculpture. Edited by Marjorie Trusted. First published. London: V&A Publications, 2007, 192 stran. ISBN 9781851775071. info
  • Umění restaurovat umění : práce restaurátorského oddělení Moravské galerie v Brně v letech 1996-2006. Edited by Kateřina Svobodová - Igor Fogaš. V Brně: Moravská galerie, 2006, 143 s. ISBN 8070271590. info
  • BAKER, Malcolm. Figured in marble : the making and viewing of eighteenth-century sculpture. 1st pub. by V&A publications. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2000, 192 s. ISBN 0892366060. info
  • PENNY, Nicholas. The Materials of sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993, ix, 318. ISBN 0300055544. info
  • MONTAGU, Jennifer. Roman baroque sculpture : the industry of art. 2nd print. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992, xi, 244. ISBN 0300053665. info
Teaching methods
individual and group research projects, class discussions, seminar papers; visit to the restoration workshop and museum depository
Assessment methods
The student chooses a sub-topic based on consultation with the teachers, which he/she subjects to a detailed study and elaborates in the form of a popular-educational text. The paper of 3 NS length will be discussed in class and finalized based on feedback from the teachers. The second text on the chosen topic will be a group project (work in pairs).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught only once.
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