Thank you

The architects Reginald Kunzelmann and Renzo Ravagnan in front of the relief.

We wish to express our gratitude for this opportunity to all of the people involved in Backnang: Dr. Roland Idler, Christa Breuninger, Reginald Kunzelmann and Gunther Wolf. A special thank you to Renzo Ravagnan of the Istituto Veneto per i beni culturali. Without his generous support this project would not have been possible.

A happy Gunther Wolf and Reginald Kunzelmann have come to pick up the work to deliver it to Backnang.

August 30, 2011. Here we are with the completed work!

The three panels are placed together.

Here the third panel nears completion. Next this will be placed next to the other panels.

The left and center panels are worked together.

In the final week of work the panels are placed upright next to one another under the best lighting conditions.

Here we see the left panel nearing completion next to the plaster model.

The left panel is getting close to being finished. At this stage I am carefully studying the subtle shadows. These need to be in harmony with the forms on the other two panels. In our studio the morning light is the best. In the afternoon the light reflects off the floor and makes it difficult to see the forms of the sculpture.

Roberto Bertotto works on the drapery on the center panel. In the background we can see the left panel is being worked separately.

Here is another view of the fitting of the three panels together.

The three panels are fit together and now we begin the stage of the final finishing work.

Fitting the pieces

Once the individual panels are near completion it is time to fit them together. In an effort to try and hide the line of separation between the panels I decided to carve an inlay where the figures covered this line.

Center panel

In this image we can see that the center panel is being further refined with even more points. Once all the points are carved we can begin working the sculpture by eye.

the center panel starts to take shape

After several days of pointing the center panel begins to take shape.

refining the background and drapery

Points are carved in the palm tree as the background is more refined. The drapery is getting more defined as we look for the right balance of forms and tonal variations.

The left panel more refined

In the new space the natural light helps us refine the forms of the left panel. The pointing machine is used occasionally to help define the forms but much of the work in done by eye at this stage.

new studio space

In the middle of June we moved into a new studio space with very nice sky lights for natural lighting.

After the initial rough out work the center panel is placed upright next to the model and the "smodellatura" begins.

It is time to begin the early stages of rough hewing the center panel. Large amounts of stone are removed quickly using the diamond disk.

At this point we are begining to define some of the principle forms of the drapery by eye. This facilitates the removal of excess material and makes the pointing go faster.

At this stage the forms of the figures are beginning to be more apparent.

Panel three is making progress and we are considering some modifications to the drapery.

The first panel is set up next to the plaster model after the initial roughing out of the stone.

The third panel represents Joseph of Arimathea with a torch in his right hand. After the initial roughing out on a table, the sculpture is placed upright and the "smodellatura" begins.

The dust is flying as Roberto works on the rough-out phase on the left panel of the relief sculpture.

The plaster model will be used to make the marble sculpture. In this image the wooden cross is set up on four large nails that are set into the chief points on the model. This cross will hold the pointing instrument that is used to copy "points" from the model to the marble sculpture.

I rented a truck and took the 4 hour drive down to Pietrasanta to load up our marble slabs. Our stone supplier found our block in Carrara at the famous "Michelangelo" quarry.

All three plaster panels are laid out on the floor. At this point we need to level the pieces so that the edges match and add supports in the back.

The plaster cast of the left panel of the relief has been cleaned of the waste mold and ready for repairs and touch-up.

At this stage the waste mold is being removed from the cast. The outer layers of the mold come off quickly but this tinted "face coat" has to be chipped away more carefully.

In this image Roberto Bertotto and Paola Stefani are helping with the casting of the plaster model. The cast is made to an approximate thickness of 3 centimeters.

This is a picture of the mold for the central panel. All of the clay has been removed and this is now ready to be washed, soaked, and to have the mold release applied before the casting process.

Here we see the clay model after the mold has been removed. Some parts of the clay are damaged but the majority has remained intact.

And now it is time to remove the mold.

After the plaster for the mold has been applied we attached wooden boards to serve as added support.

In this picture Roberto Bertotto is applying the thickened plaster layer to the waste mold. This layer is applied in an even coat of about 2 centimeters. It is best if the mold is not too heavy and thick, but it also needs to be strong enough to be handled and filled with the plaster casting.

making the waste mold

The first layer of a waste mold is tinted with a pigment. This is to distinguish the mold from the cast and to aid in the removal of the mold. In this picture I am adding the second, thickened layer of plaster to the mold.

In this image we see that the barriers have been prepared to create the separations between the three panels. These divisions will correspond to the seams where the three marble sections will connect. On the left and right sections the first layer of plaster is being applied.

The clay model is now complete and ready for the next stage.

Here I am with the clay during the first week of modelling. The position and volumes of the figures have been established and now we can begin the finishing stage.

Here we are on the first day putting the three panels up onto the easle. They are each too heavy to lift by hand so we had to devise a system to lift them with our hoist.

Relief for a chapel in Backnang, Germany

In October of last year I received notice that an organization in Backnang, Germany was interested in creating a relief sculpture in marble. An original sculpture had been lost many years ago and someone found a picture of this in the archives of the chapel that held the sculpture. I was asked to use the original image and create a sculpture. This sculpture was created by an artist name Schnabel around 1884.

This blog is a record of the different processes involved in the creation of this artwork.

Here you see the black and white image enlarged to the desired size.

Relief for Backnang