The Holy Family

Original: Princely Family Lichtenstein, Vaduz Castle. A typical work of the German late baroque, original 1730 - 1740, ivory. Polymer cast, cast by hand. Size 10 x 13 cm.

Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany, [email protected]

Term used to describe the art of the 17th century. The Baroque art style, which originated in Rome around 1600, quickly spread through the visual arts, literature, and music across nerly all of Europe, lasting in the visual arts until 1770. The final phase is generally characterised by Rococo.

Characteristic features include: the pulsating movement of all forms, the abolition of boundaries between architecture, painting, and sculpture, leading to the typical "Gesamtkunstwerk" ("total work of art"), and, above all, the purposeful use of light, which became an important artistic component. The subordination of the individual parts to the whole resulted in the creation of a unified yet dynamic space, which is fully expressed in the magnificent buildings of this period.

The Baroque art, with its penchant for grandeur, splendour, and rushing abundance, clearly reflects the desire for representation, which was a concern of secular and ecclesiastical, especially the Catholic patrons strengthened by the Counter-Reformation. In painting, characteristic features of the Baroque, are manifested in altar and ceiling painting, history scences and portraits.

Typical representatives include artists such as Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens, as well as Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the field of sculpture.

Collective term for all casting processes that ars mundi carries out with the help of specialised art foundries.

Stone Casting
Similar to artificial marble, with the difference that instead of marble powder, the stone to be replicated is used in powder form.

Bonded Bronze (Cold-Cast-Bronze)
Bronze powder is polymer-bonded. Through special polishing and patination techniques, the surface of the cast takes on an appearance similar to that of bronze.

Imitation Wood
In order to guarantee absolute fidelity to the original, an artificially manufactured imitation wood is used as a base material that features typical wood characteristics: density, workability, colour, and surface structure.

Ceramic Mould Casting
Ceramic mould casting usually requires the use of casting clay, which is then fired and optionally glazed. Instead of the usual rubber moulds, plaster moulds are often used in ceramic casting and porcelain production.

Cast Bronze (Lost-Wax-Casting)
For the cast bronze, the thousand-year-old lost-wax technique is used. It's the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.

A not fully three-dimensional artwork carved from a stone or wooden panel.

There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection. The range includes low relief/bas-relief and high relief. The sunken relief is a common form of reliefs in Ancient Egypt, in which the depicted scenes were cut into the stone or wood surface.

Among the most famous reliefs are the works of the Florentine master Lorenzo Ghiberti. Among other artworks, he created the pair of gilded bronze doors of the Baptistery in Florence, called by Michelangelo the "Gates of Paradise".

A true-to-the-original reproduction of an artwork in the same size and with the best possible material and colour uniformity.

The mould is usually taken directly from the original so that the replication reproduces even the finest details. After casting the replication, using the most appropriate method, the surface is polished, patinated, gilded or painted according to the original.

A replication of ars mundi is a recognizable copy of the original.

A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.

While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.

The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.