Subjects: Art history ; Sculpture history ; Top 100 sculpture ; Greatest sculptors
Author: Dylan B
There are so many magnificent sculptures through out time, to make a list of the top 100 sculptures in history is a difficult task.
There are three main concepts that are considered by many art academics that make a piece of art a “masterpiece”, whether it is a sculpture, a painting, or any other form of art;
– The first is that the work is so original that it overwhelms us with its power.
– The second is that it continues to be seen as a masterpiece throughout time.
– And the third, is that is changes the way generations of artist think about their own style.
Contrary to this, popularity in the 21st century can play a factor in the assessment of a masterpiece of art. Social platforms can easily create popularity through a high volume of impressions. This creates a disproportionate view of what is considered “high-value art”.
We have put together a list of the Top 100 Sculptures ever made. The list is obviously based on subjective views of individuals, as with all art. However, we have cross-referenced our list with other considerations in the art community. We have not listed them from one to one hundred. Every sculpture in the top one hundred sculptures list could be in contention as the greatest sculpture of all time. They are all masterpieces, all are from different periods, with artists from different countries, and with different styles.
The list includes bronze sculpture, marble sculpture and speciality sculpture that are made with all different materials. We have segmented what we have discussed as the top 10 sculptures of all time. Many are from some of the greatest sculptors of all time, such as Auguste Rodin, and Michelangelo where their mastery across time is uncontested. We will be doing a separate article on the greatest sculptors, for now, we are focusing on individual pieces.
View large image of all 100 Sculptures
Our top 10
Moses – Michelangelo
Veiled Vestal – Raffaelle Monti
Venus de Milo – Alexandros of Antioch
Little Dancer aged Fourteen – Edgar Degas
The Thinker – Auguste Rodin
Apollo and Daphne – Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Ecstasy of Saint Teresa – Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Leda the swan – Timotheus
Winged Victory of Samothrace – Pythokritos
David – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
The Veiled Virgin – Giovanni Strazza
Laocoön and His Sons – three Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus,
Madonna of Bruges – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Pietà – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
The Shade – Auguste Rodin
David – Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello)
Balloon Dog – Jeffrey Koons
Adams Memorial – Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Nuclear energy – Henry Moore
The Gates of Hell – Auguste Rodin
Fiorenza – Giambologna (Jean de Boulogne)
Atlas – Lee Lawrie
Le Génie du Mal – Guillaume Geefs
La Donna Velata – Raffaelle Monti
Reclining Figure – Henry Moore
Diana – Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Oval with points – Henry Moore
Triton blowing a conch shell – Adriaen de Vries
Atlas – Adriaen de Vries
The Three Graces – Antonio Canova
Hiawatha – Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Milo of Croton – Pierre Puget
The Couple – Alberto Giacometti
The Rape of Proserpina ian Lorenzo Bernini
Chicago Picasso – Pablo Picasso
Venus of Willendorf – Unknown
Perseus with the Head of Medusa – Antonio Canova
The Little Mermaid – Edvard Eriksen
Paris – Antonio Canova
Bird – Fernando Botero
Lobster Trap and Fish Tail – Alexander Calder
Untitled (for Stephanie) – Joseph Cornell
The Endless Column – Constantin Brâncuși
Woman with Her Throat Cut – Alberto Giacometti
Neptune and Triton – Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Mademoiselle Pogany – Constantin Brâncuși
Walking man I – Alberto Giacometti
Cristo della Minerva – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Head of Pierre de Wissant – Auguste Rodin
Maman – Louise Bourgeois
The Deposition – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Grosse tête; Henriette, III – Henri Matisse
Baboon and Young – Pablo Picasso
Spring Temple Buddha – (Group)
Large Seated Nude – Henri Matisse
Apollo Citharoedus, also known as Apollo Musagetes – Unknown
Bird in Space – Constantin Brâncuși
Moscow Kremlin – Peter Carl Fabergé
Leshan Giant Buddha – (Group)
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman – Vera Mukhina
Man with the Broken Nose – Auguste Rodin
Guitar – Pablo Picasso
Barberini Faun – Unknown
The Walking Man – Auguste Rodin
The Burghers of Calais – Auguste Rodin
Hercules and Cacus – Bartolommeo Bandinelli
Monumental Head – Alberto Giacometti
Dying Gladiator – Pierre Julien
Venus Urania- Giambologna (Jean de Boulogne)
Neptune – Adriaen de Vries
Monument to Balzac – Auguste Rodin
Mercury Abducting Psyche – Adriaen de Vries
Mercury Attaching his Wings – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
La Serpentine – Henri Matisse
La Paix de Nimègue – Martin Desjardins
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss – Antonio Canova
Dog – Alberto Giacometti
Borghese Gladiator – Agasias
Bust of Suzon – Auguste Rodin
Judith and Holofernes – Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello)
Cupid – Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Femme qui marche (Woman walking) – Alberto Giacometti
Femme qui marche (Woman walking) – Alberto Giacometti
Janus Fleuri – Louise Bourgeois
The Serf – Henri Matisse
The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun – Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Spoon woman – Alberto Giacometti
Moondog – Tony Smith
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space – Umberto Boccioni
Bacchus Giambologna (Jean de Boulogne)
Prodigal Son – Constantin Brâncuși
Fonte Gaia Fountain – Jacopo della Quercia
Hercules slaying Antaeus – Antonio del Pollaiolo
Monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni – Andrea del Verrocchio
David – Andrea del Verrocchio
The Head Of St Anne – Tilman Riemenschneider
Statue of St Andrew – Francois Duquesnoy
Tomb of Pope Leo XI – Alessandro Algardi
Apollo Attended by Nymphs of Thetis – Francois Girardon
The abduction of Proserpine by Pluto – Francois Girardon
