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| Anonymous French sculptor Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus ca. 1264-88 limestone relief from the choir screen at Amiens Cathedral Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Four key events in the final hours of Jesus' life are dramatically shown here (from left to right): Peter sheathing his sword after severing the ear of the high priest's servant Malchus (seated); Jesus miraculously restoring the ear; Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss; and Roman soldiers arresting Jesus. The compression of these events into one scene with its complex interweaving of figural masses creates a powerful sculptural statement."
"In the medieval church the choir screen separated the nave and the choir area. By the thirteenth century these barriers often were decorated with extensive narrative themes, especially the Passion. Because these screens hindered participation in church rituals by the laity, most European churches eventually eliminated them. The choir screen at the cathedral in Amiens was destroyed in 1755. This relief is one of the largest and best preserved sculptures to survive."
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| Anonymous French sculptor Pietà ca. 1500 stone relief from a tomb Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Anonymous French sculptor Reign of Jupiter ca. 1550-70 marble relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Six discreet scenes fill the rectangular marble slab, three above and three below. Jupiter occupies the prime position at top center. Accompanied by his eagle, he sits on a rocky ledge, holding – unusually for this Roman god – a scepter and a book. From his blocky throne emerge three streams, which seemingly but not physically flow down into a disklike image of a fountain in a forest. Elaborately decorated, this watery scene features dolphins supporting a basin, from which rises an obelisk. The setting is ideal, rather than untamed nature or a garden. One spots a palm tree as well as deciduous trees. To Jupiter's right, the figure of the god Mercury with a carefully delineated caduceus flies toward the chief Olympian, seeming to engage him in speech. Below Mercury, a pair of naked children embrace. The upper right section of the relief represents an ideal city with a circular temple in front of finished and ruined buildings. Below, a bow-wielding male centaur rears toward the center."
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| Michel Anguier Modello for The Flood 1648-49 terracotta relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Soon after the election of Pope Innocent X (1644-55) it was decided that the Roman basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano was in urgent need of restoration. The architect chosen in 1646 for its extensive remodeling was Francesco Borromini, who was to complete the project under the supervision of the pope's closest adviser, Msgr. Virgilio Spada, by the Jubilee Year of 1650. Among the main features of Borromini's restructuring of the church was the design of a series of niches along the main nave, and above these a series of marble reliefs or mosaics with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. These scenes were to recall the subjects of the frescoes that had been originally painted along the main nave of the Constantinian basilica."
"To carry this out, Virgilio Spada commissioned a series of twelve large-scale stucco reliefs. The nine artists chosen by Spada were among the younger sculptors who had been practicing their art in Rome under the aegis of the two leading masters of the city, Bernini and Algardi. Among the six Italians and three Frenchmen, Michel Anguier had the largest share. In 1648 and 1649 he was paid for three stucco reliefs, some figures of angels, and several papal coats of arms, all executed for the basilica. One of the three reliefs was The Flood, and the present terracotta relief, recently discovered, is a sketch-model for it. . . . When Anguier was chosen for the Lateran commission he had been in Rome since 1641. His main concern had been to study the antiquities of Rome, which he did while making a living by working on various sculptural enterprises such as the decoration of the pilasters of the nave of Saint Peter's under the direction of Bernini."
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| François Girardon Allegorical Figure 1672-75 marble relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"This relief belonged to the funerary monument to Anne Marie Martinozzi, princesse de Conti (d. 1672) in the Church of Saint-André-des-Arts, Paris. An engraving of the monument shows that the figure embodied three religious virtues: Charity (flaming heart), Hope (anchor), and Faith (block under the figure's right foot). In 1793, the monument was dismantled and removed to the Musée des Monuments Français. In 1809 the relief was placed in the park of the Empress Josephine's estate, Malmaison. At that time, the attributes were reworked. The anchor on the figure's left was transformed into a piece of drapery and the flaming heart in the left hand into a poppy, symbol of sleep."
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| Louis-Simon Boizot The Elements paying Tribute to Friendship ca. 1783 marble relief Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
"The identities of the allegorical figures in this marble are suggested by the worlds they inhabit – a swirling mix of clouds, flames, waves, and earth. Together they represent the four elements paying tribute to Friendship. To the left, Friendship, who wears a wreath of myrtle, stands on a pedestal with her arm wrapped around an elm tree stump. Cybele, who personifies Earth, leans over two kneeling lions. Triton and Nereid emerge from the sea, representing Water. Zephyr, the Wind, reaches toward Jupiter – who, in the form of an eagle, holds a bolt of lightning that symbolizes Fire."
"In this sculpture, Louis-Simon Boizot varied the depth of carving to simulate space and physical presence. The foreground – the lions and Cybele, Nereid with her offering of sea treasures – pops forward. the sky with Zephyr and Jupiter, the drapery behind Friendship, and even the lions' rear ends, appear to recede into the background. Considering the depth of this relief is less than three inches, the illusion of dimensionality is remarkable. The frame carved as part of the sculpture, and the fact that the figures don't protrude beyond it, however, evokes two dimensional media such as painting."
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| Jean-Guillaume Moitte Triumphal Procession carrying Spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem ca. 1797 terracotta relief Harvard Art Museums |
"This terracotta is modeled after a marble relief on the inside of the Arch of Titus in Rome. It shows soldiers carrying sacred trophies looted from the Temple of Jerusalem while they proceed through a triumphal arch, just as actual soldiers would have entered the Arch of Titus en route to Vespasian's Temple of Peace in the Forum. . . . Although it is difficult to attribute the large numbers of copies that were produced in the late eighteenth century to specific artists, this relief has been associated with Jean-Guillaume Moitte, a French sculptor who first came to the French Academy in Rome in 1771, and who made an impressive number of drawings and small terracottas of the city's ancient treasures."
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| Antoine-Louis Barye Model for Milo of Croton devoured by a Lion 1819 plaster proof of bronze relief submitted for the Prix de Rome Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| David d'Angers Figure of Fame ca. 1835 terracotta relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| David d'Angers Figure of Fame ca. 1835 terracotta relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"These are models for the spandrels of the monumental Roman-style Porte d'Aix in Marseilles, unveiled in 1835."
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| Jules Dalou Model for Les Châtiments before 1890 plaster relief Philadelphia Museum of Art |
"Dalou made this relief as a model for an etching to accompany Victor Hugo's poem Les Châtiments (Punishment of the Damned). The sculptor admired Hugo and produced several works inspired by his writings."
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| Alexandre Charpentier La Peinture ca. 1896 relief-plaque in silver Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Palace of the Legion of Honor) |
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| Auguste Rodin The Tempest before 1910 marble relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Antoine-Émile Bourdelle Irene Millet 1917 tinted plaster relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Greco-Egyptian funerary portraiture provided the stylistic inspiration for this bust. The subdued polychromy indicates that it was intended for execution in pâte de verre."
– quoted texts are from curator's notes at the respective museums