page_title: Marble sculpture
section_title: Disadvantages
hierarchical_section_title: Marble sculpture / Material origin and qualities / Disadvantages
caption_attribution_description: English: For detailed information see :Image:TheWestWindByGould.jpg Image made and uploaded by User:Leonard G.
context_page_description: Marble sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts. Even before painting cave walls, early humans fashioned shapes from stone. From these beginnings, artifacts have evolved to their current complexity.
context_section_description: Marble does not bear handling well as it will absorb skin oils when touched, which leads to yellow brownish staining. While more resistant than limestone it is subject to attack by weak acids, and so performs poorly in outdoor environments subject to acid rain. For severe environments, granite is a more lasting material but one which is far more difficult to work and much less suitable for refined works. Compared to metals such as bronze, furthermore, marble is inflexible and vulnerable to fracturing. This drawback means that sculptors must incorporate specific supporting features into the sculpture to prevent collapse. In Thomas Ridgeway Gould's The West Wind, for example, he poised the figure's short and slender ankles delicately upon the balls of her small feet. This would not be possible without the deliberate decision by Gould to distribute almost all of the marble's weight to her massive, flowing skirt. Unlike bronze sculpture, this statue is not hollow; her drapery is one solid block of marble.
caption: Thomas Ridgeway Gould. The West Wind. (profile)  1876.
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