Stone sculptures, art and technique for outdoor furnishing

Human beings have always tried to shape the elements that surround it. There is something instinctive in the need to communicate through objects.

Stone sculptures represent one of the highest expression methods of artistic culture and, in a more modern way, they have become ideal objects for decorating outdoor environments.

First of all we must remember how there is a profound difference between stone and plaster sculptures. The stone ones are based on the carving technique while the plaster sculptures are made through the molding. The difference is easy to understand. The stone sculptures can be divided into three “families” that correspond to three different ways of processing the material: the bas-relief, which consists in obtaining a slight protrusion of the carved part with respect to the bottom surface; the high relief, in which the difference between the background and the carved part is greater; the all-round sculpture, in which the work stands free in three-dimensional space.

The classical method for the realization of an all-round sculpture involves the preparation of a first sketch, a small model. We then move on to the realization of a full-size model, this will be the basis for the squaring of the stone block from which the actual statue will be born, through various steps such as roughing, degreasing, grading and shaping. The final part of this intense production process consists in the honing and cleaning of the sculpture.

Present since the mid-sixteenth century in the Italian gardens, the sculptures have always been widely used for the furnishing of outdoor environments. The scenic effect, combined with the allegorical value, made some parks and gardens memorable.