2. An ancient form of relief sculpture in which a design is
pressed into a sheet of metal to create a 3-dimensional
surface.
Literal meaning in French, "to push up".
3. •Has been used since early times
•Materials include gold, silver, copper, tin, and bronze
•Ancient Greeks worked in bronze to decorate armor
•Byzantine artists represented religious events and persons in bronze and
gold
•Used in India to create water vessels
•Native Americans used this method to create ritual costumes and burial
items
•Mexican and South American artists have used copper and tin for
centuries to produce jewelry and ornamental items.
4. Metal working procedures were
developed in ancient times, and these
replaced the natural materials used
by Prehistoric people (such as bone,
wood, seeds, stones, shells and hair).
Metal can be extended or shaped by
hammering and repoussé is a
technique where lines and shapes are
pressed into one side of a thin sheet
of metal using modeling tools, then
flipped over and the shapes are
reinforced on the other side.
5. The Statue of Liberty is the most famous and
recognizable example of repoussé. The statue is made
of a thin sheet of pure copper, hung on a framework of
steel. The internal structure was designed by Gustave
Eifel (as in the EifelTower). The choice of copper for
the statue's outer construction was made by Eugine
Viollet-le-Duc and he developed the repoussé
technique where the malleable metal is hammered on
the reverse side.
6. Another example of repoussé is
the mummy mask of
Tutankhamun. The majority of
the mask was formed using the
technique of repoussé from what
appears to be a single sheet of
gold.The lapis lazuli and other
stones were inlaid in chased
areas after the height of the
form was completed.
7. You will be using a matte-black
aluminum foil sheet and soft
colored pencils to create a design
using the repoussé technique. You
will draw on the front and the back
o f the piece to create different
levels of embossing. The
completed composition resembles
stained glass.