Sculpture Paper

One page paper describing work of sculpture using checklist

• Artist, Date, Location (general)
• Size (dimensions)
• Material
• Physical description
• Form
• Texture
• Meaning (your analysis/interpretation based solely on your personal visual experience)

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As an example, my outline and paper for a similar assignment:
(Note: my paper was 2 pages your papers will be only 1 page long)

Antoine Louis Barye

“Horse attacked by Lion”

ca.1835

Bronze

Physical Description

▫ Bronze figure

▫ App. 12 inches tall

▫ Horse rearing back, icon across back

▫ Standing horses back two legs/feet on roots (?) and stomach on rock or tree trunk

▫ Ground is bumpy and there is a lot of texture to the surface, not smooth like animals

Horse

• Back right leg is on ground at midpoint, looks like he was rearing up when attacked and is bracing himself, back left leg is against a branch

• Big, strong leg muscles, some definition indicates size, but its not as much definition as exists in reality

• Tail is large, detail in hairs on tail

• More attention given to details of legs then back, stomach of horse

• Front left leg kicking out, drawing front right leg in, see the bones at the joints

• Neck is simple but there is some emphasis on the musculature of the neck

• Mouth open wide and face shows pain, eyes wide and looking up as if in anguish, ears laid back on head

Lion

• Biting the left side of the horses’ back

• Detailed mane

• Spine showing through skin

• Front legs gripping the top of the horses back, back legs swung up on horses right shoulder and front right side, claws digging into flesh, you can see tears in the horse flesh from the back right leg on the neck, across back for from front left

• Muscles suggested and strong but not distinctly defined, present especially in back legs, front legs

• Detailed paws and face and mane, nose and mouth wrinkled around bite

• Meant to be viewed in the round, detail in all sides and angles

Outline

1. Introduction, Thesis: curves, expression of animals depicts a scene of attack, pain, aggression, 

2. Description of piece: sculpture, bronze, two animals, bumpy ground, smooth animals

3. Description of horse as main subject from viewpoint

4. Description of lion as secondary subject, causing a reaction in the horse, reaction is the focus

5. Name as indication that horse is focal point vs. lion (horse attacked by lion, order indicates importance)

6. Conclusion: ? (do not restate thesis)

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Sculptural Analysis

Antoine Barye’s Horse attacked by Lion is a bronze sculpture, a little over a foot in height, of a horse rearing with a lion clinging to the horse’s back. The Williams College Museum of Art presents the sculpture so that the horse is the primary subject of the sculpture. The sculpture is encased in glass against a wall, so that the details of the lion’s face and neck are visible only after peering around the back of the display. By orienting the sculpture this way, the horse and its reaction to the attack are the prominent actions in the piece, limiting the lion’s importance by depicting in limited detail its body slung over the horse’s back and hind legs digging into the horse’s flesh. The orientation, choice of detail and material, surface texture, and reflection of light in this sculpture combine to create a snapshot of tumultuous motion between the horse and lion.

The WCMA’s choice of exhibition greatly affects the interpretation of the piece. The current display introduces the sculpture with the horse’s face and kicking forelegs, setting the subsequent approach and viewing in the reference frame of the horse’s pain. A 180° rotation of the sculpture, however, changes the focus to the lion, sinking his teeth into the horse’s back. In this perspective, the horse’s head is turned away from the viewer and the expression of agony is less apparent, giving it less emphasis. Instead, the strength and ferocity of the lion attracts more attention, its powerful neck engaged and paws gripping the back. Introducing the sculpture by this angle would depict a victorious attack of a lion, a celebration, instead of the agonizing defeat of a horse. The title of the piece does not definitively distinguish which is the proper view; Horse attacked by Lion supports both: the horse the main focal point due to its placement at the beginning of the title and the subject acted upon, or the lion by its dominant role in the action.

The base of the sculpture is part of the action, an indiscriminately bumpy and textured surface, contrasting with the overall smoothness and shine of the two animals. Both the horse’s front legs and tail extend beyond the frame of the base, indicating the horse’s struggle to break free of this instant. The horse’s hind legs are pressed against tree roots, which mimic the shape of the horse’s legs and hooves. A tree trunk rests against the horse’s abdomen, but does not yet seem to cause the horse pressure or pain. Most of the horse is smooth, downplaying realistic details except for the front shoulders, neck, and face. The bronze gives the horse a sleek and soft look, and the light plays off the shoulders and flank, giving the horse the impression of sweat glistening on his coat. The proportional size of the horse contributes to the perception that it is a strong animal, by not emphasizing the stress of the attack in all the muscles of the body, the fight of the front legs kicking up and the contortion of the face and neck enhances the tormented agony the horse experiences in this moment. A wild-eyed gaze, open mouth, and tensed facial muscles straining upwards produce the strongest depiction of the horse’s pain and trauma. 

The frontal viewing of the WCMA display of the sculpture depicts the lion as little more than an indiscriminate backside and legs. Barye shows little detail of the hindquarters of the lion, a few backbones of the spine show through the skin and the contour line along the back create the motion of the lion fighting to stay on the horse’s back and pushing up off his back legs to increase the power of his attack. One of the few details expressing the lion’s direct affect on the horse from the front view are the tears from the lion’s claws across the horse’s front right shoulder. Peering around the back, however, the lion comes to life: the hairs and shape of the mane are defined; the wrinkles and features in the face portray the depth of the bite and the aggression of and fixation on a successful attack.