Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

Anglo-Norman ''releef'', ''releff'', ''relif'', Anglo-Norman and Old French ''relef'', Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French ''relief'' (French ''relief'', chiefly in plural) remains of [[food]] left after a meal (c1050), remainder, residue (late 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman; the specific sense is apparently not [[paralleled]] in French until later (1564) releverrelieve v. (in its specific sense ‘to lift up, to remove’); the French noun is thus etymologically [[identical]] to ''relief'', ''relef'', etc. ''relief''

Anglo-Norman ''releef'', ''releff'', ''relif'', Anglo-Norman and Old French ''relef'', Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French ''relief'' (French ''relief'', chiefly in plural) remains of [[food]] left after a meal (c1050), remainder, residue (late 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman; the specific sense is apparently not [[paralleled]] in French until later (1564) releverrelieve v. (in its specific sense ‘to lift up, to remove’); the French noun is thus etymologically [[identical]] to ''relief'', ''relef'', etc. ''relief''

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1.a. That which is left or given up by a [[person]].

*1.a. That which is left or given up by a [[person]].

*2. The remains of [[food]] left after a meal; leavings, scraps.

*2. The remains of [[food]] left after a meal; leavings, scraps.

==Description==

==Description==

'''Relief''' is a [[sculptural]] [[technique]]. The term relief is from the [[Latin]] verb ''levo'', to raise. To create a [[sculpture]] in relief is thus to give the [[impression]] that the sculpted material has been raised above the background [[plane]]. What is actually [[performed]] when a relief is cut in from a flat [[surface]] of stone or wood is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted [[parts]] seemingly raised. The [[technique]] thus involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a [[time]]-consuming [[exercise]] with little artistic [[effect]] if the lowered background is left plain, as is often the case. 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, especially in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucco plaster stucco], ceramics or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-mache papier-mache] the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and [[monumental]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze bronze] reliefs are made by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting casting].

'''Relief''' is a [[sculptural]] [[technique]]. The term relief is from the [[Latin]] verb ''levo'', to raise. To create a [[sculpture]] in relief is thus to give the [[impression]] that the sculpted material has been raised above the background [[plane]]. What is actually [[performed]] when a relief is cut in from a flat [[surface]] of stone or wood is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted [[parts]] seemingly raised. The [[technique]] thus involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a [[time]]-consuming [[exercise]] with little artistic [[effect]] if the lowered background is left plain, as is often the case. 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, especially in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucco plaster stucco], ceramics or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-mache papier-mache] the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and [[monumental]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze bronze] reliefs are made by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting casting].

There are [[different]] [[degrees]] of relief depending on the degree of [[projection]] of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian appellations are still sometimes used. The full range includes '''high relief''' (''alto-rilievo''), where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas, '''mid-relief''' (''mezzo-rilievo''), '''low-relief''' (''basso-rilievo,'' or French: ''bas-relief''), and '''shallow-relief''' or (''rilievo stiacciato''), where the [[plane]] is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background [[material]]. There is also '''sunk relief''', which was mainly restricted to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Ancient Egypt]. 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, sometimes sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some [[writers]] prefer to avoid all distinctions. The [[opposite]] of relief sculpture is '''counter-relief''', ''intaglio'', or ''cavo-rilievo'', where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_sculpture monumental sculpture].

There are [[different]] [[degrees]] of relief depending on the degree of [[projection]] of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian appellations are still sometimes used. The full range includes '''high relief''' (''alto-rilievo''), where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas, '''mid-relief''' (''mezzo-rilievo''), '''low-relief''' (''basso-rilievo,'' or French: ''bas-relief''), and '''shallow-relief''' or (''rilievo stiacciato''), where the [[plane]] is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background [[material]]. There is also '''sunk relief''', which was mainly restricted to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Ancient Egypt]. 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, sometimes sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some [[writers]] prefer to avoid all distinctions. The [[opposite]] of relief sculpture is '''counter-relief''', ''intaglio'', or ''cavo-rilievo'', where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_sculpture monumental sculpture].

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesque arabesques] of Islamic art, and may be of any subject.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesque arabesques] of Islamic art, and may be of any subject.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief]

[[Category: Sculpture]]

[[Category: Sculpture]]