Scalptūra
or
Sculptūra, originally signified cutting figures out of a
solid material, but was more particularly applied to
1.
the art of cutting figures into the material (intaglios), which was chiefly applied to
producing seals and matrices for the mints; and
2.
the art of producing raised figures (cameos), which served for the most part as ornaments.
Sculpture in our sense of the word was usually designated by the term
statuaria (ars). The first artist who is mentioned as an engraver (
scalptor) of stones is
Theodorus, the son of
Telecles, the Samian, who engraved the stone in the ring of Polycrates (q.v.). The
most celebrated among them was Pyrgoteles, who engraved the seal-rings for Alexander the
Great. Several of the successors of Alexander and other wealthy persons adopted the custom of
adorning their gold and silver vessels,
crateres, candelabra, and the
like, with precious stones on which raised figures (cameos) were worked. The art was in a
particularly flourishing state at Rome under Augustus and his successors, in the hands of
Dioscurides and other artists, many of whose works are still preserved. Numerous specimens of
intaglios and cameos are still preserved in the various museums of Europe. See
Gemma.
