Sculpture: Some Observations on Shape and Form from Pygmalion's Creative Dream

Abstract

Long recognized as one of the most important 18th-century works on the aesthetics of the visual arts, Johann Gottfried Herder's Plastik (Sculpture, 1778) has never before appeared in a complete English translation. In this landmark essay, Herder combines rationalist and empiricist thought with a wide range of sources - from the classics to Norse legend, Shakespeare to the Bible - to illuminate the ways we experience sculpture. Standing on the fault line between classicism and romanticism, Herder draws most of his examples from classical sculpture, while nevertheless insisting on the historicity of art and the senses themselves. Through a detailed analysis of the differences between painting and sculpture, he develops a powerful critique of the dominance of vision both in the appreciation of art and in our everyday apprehension of the world around us. Jason Gaigers translation of Sculpture includes an extensive introduction to Herder's thought and illustrations of all the sculptures discussed in the text.

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