relief

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Parthenon frieze with Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis

Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, gilded bronze relief panel from the east doors (Gates of Paradise) of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1425–52. 79.4 cm square.

Figure 11: Details of reliefs from the Arch of Titus, Rome AD 81 (left) Titus standing in a quadriga (four horsed chariot), led by Roma, while Victory crowns him

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Athena mourning, mezzo-relievo from the Acropolis, 5th century BC, in the Acropolis Museum, Athens

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Arts & Culture

relief

sculpture

Also known as: relief sculpture, relievo

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

bas-relief

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Category: Arts & Culture

Also called:: relievo

Key People:: Donatello; Lorenzo Ghiberti; Andrea del Verrocchio; Giovanni Pisano; Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Related Topics:: bas-relief; embossing; tondo; middle relief; high relief

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relief, (from Italian relievare, “to raise”), in sculpture, any work in which the figures project from a supporting background, usually a plane surface. Reliefs are classified according to the height of the figures’ projection or detachment from the background. In a low relief, or bas-relief (basso-relievo), the design projects only slightly from the ground and there is little or no undercutting of outlines. In a high relief, or alto-relievo, the forms project at least half or more of their natural circumference from the background and may in parts be completely disengaged from the ground, thus approximating sculpture in the round. ...(100 of 739 words)

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