The History of Sculpture: From the Venus of Willendorf to David

Discover the history of the human body in sculpture from the Venus of Willendorf to Michelangelo's David

Freed from the constraints of brush and canvas, sculpture brings art to life in a way that no other medium can, and there is one subject in particular that has provided sculptors with a constant source of inspiration: the human body.

When we look back through history at the human form in sculpture, it is astonishing how one single subject can be interpreted in so many ways. From the beauty of Michaelangelo’s David to Giacometti's distorted and skeletal Walking Man I, artists have been drawn to the human form both for its aesthetic beauty, or, as we’ll discover in this video, to make a much darker political statement.

The history of the human body in sculpture

The Venus of Willendorf

She may look small and unassuming, but the Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest examples we have of figurative art. At over 25,000 years old, she dates all the way back to the Upper Paleolithic Period, and was discovered in 1908 during archaeological excavations near Willendorf, Austria. The most surprising thing about her though, is her exaggerated sexual features, suggesting she may have been a fertility figure, good luck charm, or mother goddess. Another theory, put forward by authors Catherine McCoid and LeRoy McDermott, is that the Venus of Willendorf could actually be a self-representation of a female body, carved by a woman as she looks down at herself from above.

Supernatural beings

Many ancient civilizations even gave the body elements of the supernatural. The Olmec were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, occupying what are now the states of Veracruz and Tabasco in modern-day Mexico. While they are most famous for carving colossal stone heads out of volcanic basalt which weighed up to 50 tons, they are also known for carving effigies of “were-jaguars”, thought to be supernatural deities that were half man, half jaguar. These anthropomorphic figures were characterized by a downturned mouth and a cleft head, and were depicted in much of Olmec art, from small figurines to large statues and engravings.

Perhaps one of the most recognizable chimeras to this day though, is the Ancient Egyptian god of the dead, Anubis, who had the body of a human and the head of a jackal. When it came to representing the human form, the Egyptians followed strict mathematical rules - sharp right angles made their subject look more powerful, and they were always depicted looking straight ahead to face the eternal afterlife.

A break from tradition

While the Ancient Egyptians were known for their rigid interpretations of the body, the Ancient Greeks took a very different approach. Their sculptures showed nude, muscular figures in fluid, dynamic poses, full of life and freedom of movement. The perfectly balanced proportions of Greek classical sculptures reflected a fixation with finding beauty and harmony in their work, and of studying the human form purely from an aesthetic point of view.

This would have a profound influence on sculptors thousands of years later, most notably with the coming of the Renaissance period. The rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture meant that the human form once again took center stage, and some of the most famous sculptures in history were created, such as Michelangelo's David. Renaissance artists went even further than the Greeks, becoming masters of anatomy and even dissecting human corpses in their attempts to recreate the body in the most lifelike and accurate way possible.

The shadow of conflict

By the middle of the 20th century, Europe had experienced the devastating effects of not one, but two world wars. This had a profound impact on all areas of life, not least of all art and sculpture. Giacometti’s skeletal, withered, and distorted figures, including his sculpture Walking Man I, are perfect examples of an artist seeking to reflect the postwar experience of anxiety, suffering, doubt, and alienation, while Colin Self’s The Nuclear Victim (Beach Girl) depicts the artist’s growing anxiety towards the threat of nuclear war during the 1960s.

The rise of technology

Nowadays, our bodies are continuously snapped, filtered, and posted on social media for the whole world to see. This has had negative consequences for those who feel they are unable to meet the unrealistic standards of beauty set by society. Artists such as Miriam Lenk and Marc Quinn have responded by creating work that does not conform to our narrow definition of beauty, with sculptures that celebrate our bodies in all their diversity.

Thousands of years have passed since the day that first little sculpture of the Venus of Willendorf was carved. As entire civilizations have come and gone, we have continued to sculpt the human form in ways that surprise, delight, move, shock and even repel.

The question is: What shape will we give it next?

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