Prehistoric '', a of standstone developed in and now housed at
Şanlıurfa Museum The
Venus of Berekhat Ram, an
anthropomorphic pebble found on the
Golan Heights and dated to at least 230,000 years before present, is claimed to be the oldest known statuette. However, researchers are divided as to whether its shape is derived from natural erosion or was carved by an
early human. The
Venus of Tan-Tan, a similar object of similar age found in
Morocco, has also been claimed to be a statuette. The
Löwenmensch figurine and the
Venus of Hohle Fels, both from
Germany, are the oldest confirmed statuettes in the world, dating to 35,000-40,000 years ago. The oldest known life-sized statue is
Urfa Man found in
Turkey which is dated to around 9,000 BC.
Antiquity Religion Throughout history, statues have been associated with
cult images in many religious traditions, from
Ancient Egypt,
Ancient India,
Ancient Greece, and
Ancient Rome to the present. Egyptian statues showing kings as
sphinxes have existed since the
Old Kingdom, the oldest being for
Djedefre (). The oldest statue of a striding pharaoh dates from the reign of
Senwosret I () and is the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The
Middle Kingdom of Egypt (starting around 2000 BC) witnessed the growth of
block statues which then became the most popular form until the
Ptolemaic period (). The focal point of the
cella or main interior space of a Roman or
Greek temple was a statue of the deity it was dedicated to. In major temples these could be several times life-size. Other statues of deities might have subordinate positions along the side walls. The oldest statue of a
deity in Rome was the bronze statue of
Ceres in 485 BC. The oldest statue in Rome is now the statue of
Diana on the
Aventine.
Politics For a successful Greek or Roman politician or businessman (who donated considerable sums to public projects for the honour), having a public statue, preferably in the local
forum or the grounds of a
temple was an important confirmation of status, and these sites filled up with statues on
plinths (mostly smaller than those of their 19th century equivalents). Fragments in Rome of a
bronze colossus of Constantine and the marble
colossus of Constantine show the enormous scale of some imperial statues; other examples are recorded, notably one of
Nero. The
wonders of the world include several statues from antiquity, with the
Colossus of Rhodes and the
Statue of Zeus at Olympia among the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Middle Ages While sculpture generally flourished in European
Medieval art, the single statue was not one of the most common types, except for figures of the
Virgin Mary, usually with Child, and the
corpus or body of Christ on
crucifixes. Both of these appeared in all size up to life-size, and by the late
Middle Ages many churches, even in villages, had a crucifixion group around a
rood cross. The
Gero Cross in
Cologne is both one of the earliest and finest large figures of the crucified Christ. As yet, full-size standing statues of saints and rulers were uncommon, but
tomb effigies, generally lying down, were very common for the wealthy from about the 14th century, having spread downwards from royal tombs in the centuries before. While
Byzantine art flourished in various forms, sculpture and statue making witnessed a general decline; although statues of emperors continued to appear. An example was the statue of
Justinian (6th century) which stood in the square across from the
Hagia Sophia until the
fall of Constantinople in the 15th century. In England, churches instead were filled with increasing elaborate
tomb monuments, for which the ultimate models were continental extravagances such as the
Papal tombs in Rome, those of the
Doges of Venice, or the French royal family. In the late 18th and 19th century there was a growth in public open air statues of public figures on plinths. As well as monarches, politicians, generals, landowners, and eventually artists and writers were commemorated.
World War I saw the
war memorial, previously uncommon, become very widespread, and these were often statues of generic soldiers.
Modern era of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin contains a prominent statue of
Jesus (2022). Starting with the work of
Maillol around 1900, the human figures embodied in statues began to move away from the various schools of realism that had been followed for thousands of years. The
Futurist and
Cubist schools took this metamorphism even further until statues, often still nominally representing humans, had lost all but the most rudimentary relationship to the human form. By the 1920s and 1930s statues began to appear that were completely abstract in design and execution. The
notion that the position of the hooves of horses in
equestrian statues indicated the rider's cause of death has been disproved. They are commonly present in religious spaces. Statues are feature of the
churches of certain
Western Christian denominations, particularly those of the
Roman Catholic and
Evangelical Lutheran traditions. The temples of
Indic religions, including those of
Hinduism,
Buddhism and
Jainism often contain statues as a focal point of worship (cf.
murti). == Gallery ==