Editing Relief (section)

{{Short description|Sculptural technique of embossed depth}}
{{About|the sculptural method|emotion|Relief (emotion)|other uses|Relief (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Statues of Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Camunda, National Museum, New Delhi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A relief depicting [[Hindu goddess]]es (from left to right) [[Vaishnavi (Matrika goddess)|Vaishnavi]], [[Varahi]], [[Indrani]], and [[Chamunda]]; [[National Museum of India]]]]
[[File:Panel of Tellus, Ara Pacis, Rome.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A common mixture of high and low relief, in the Roman [[Ara Pacis]], placed to be seen from below. Low relief background.]]
[[File:Albert Memorial Friese Facing South - May 2008.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A face of the high-relief ''[[Frieze of Parnassus]]'' round the base of the [[Albert Memorial]] in London. Most of the heads and many feet are completely undercut, but the torsos are "engaged" with the surface behind.]]

'''Relief''' is a [[sculpture|sculptural]] method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''[[wikt:relief|relief]]'' is from the Latin verb {{lang|la|relevare}}, to raise ({{lit|to lift back}}). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background [[Plane (geometry)|plane]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relief | title= Relief | publisher= Merriam-Webster | access-date= 2012-05-31 | url-status= live | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120531162703/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relief | archive-date= 2012-05-31 }}</ref> When a relief is carved into a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood ([[relief carving]]), the field is actually lowered, leaving the unsculpted areas seeming higher. The approach requires chiselling away of the background, which can be time-intensive. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, particularly in stone.  In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster [[stucco]], ceramics or [[papier-mâché]] the form can be simply added to or raised up from the background. Monumental [[bronze]] reliefs are made by [[casting]].

There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian and French terms are still sometimes used in English.  The full range includes '''high relief''' (Italian {{lang|it|alto-rilievo}}, French {{lang|fr|haut-relief}}),<ref>In modern English, just "high relief"; ''alto-rilievo'' was used in the 18th century and a little beyond, while ''haut-relief'' surprisingly found a niche, restricted to archaeological writing, in recent decades after it was used in under-translated French texts about prehistoric [[cave art]], and copied even by English writers. Its use is to be deprecated.</ref> where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas, '''mid-relief''' (Italian {{lang|it|mezzo-rilievo}}), '''low relief''' (Italian {{lang|it|basso-rilievo}}, French: {{lang|fr|bas-relief}}), and shallow-relief (Italian {{lang|it|rilievo schiacciato}}),<ref>Murray, Peter & Linda, Penguin ''Dictionary of Art & Artists'', London, 1989. p. 348, Relief; ''bas-relief'' remained common in English until the mid 20th century.</ref> where the plane is only very slightly lower than the sculpted elements.  There is also '''sunk relief''', which was mainly restricted to [[Ancient Egypt]] (''see below''). However, the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only terms used to discuss most work.

The definition of these terms is somewhat variable, and many works combine areas in more than one of them, rarely sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some writers prefer to avoid all distinctions.<ref>For example Avery in [[Grove Art Online]], whose long article on "Relief sculpture" barely mentions or defines them, except for sunk relief.</ref>  The opposite of relief sculpture is '''counter-relief''', {{lang|it|italics=unset|[[intaglio (sculpture)|intaglio]]}}, or {{lang|it|cavo-rilievo}},<ref>Murray, 1989, op.cit.</ref> where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare in [[monumental sculpture]]. Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, though they are rarely seen in "sunk relief" and are usual in "{{lang|fr|italics=unset|bas-relief}}" and "counter-relief". Works in the technique are described as "in relief", and, especially in [[monumental sculpture]], the work itself is "a relief".

Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of smaller settings, and a sequence of several panels or sections of relief may represent an extended narrative.  Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with many figures and very active poses, such as battles, than free-standing "sculpture in the round".  Most ancient architectural reliefs were originally painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. The subject of reliefs is for convenient reference assumed in this article to be usually figures, but sculpture in relief often depicts decorative geometrical or foliage patterns, as in the [[Arabesque (Islamic art)|arabesques]] of [[Islamic art]], and may be of any subject.

[[Rock relief]]s are those carved into solid rock in the open air (if inside caves, whether natural or human-made, they are more likely to be called "rock-cut"). This type is found in many cultures, in particular those of the [[Ancient Near East]] and Buddhist countries.  A [[stele]] is a single standing stone; many of these carry reliefs.