Bust (sculpture)

Bust of Francis Bacon

A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual. These may be of any medium used for sculpture, such as marble, bronze, terracotta or wood. A parallel term, aust, is a representation of the upper part of an animal or mythical creature.

Sculptural portrait heads from classical antiquity are sometimes displayed as busts. However, these are often fragments from full-body statues, or were originally created to be inserted into a pre-existing body; these portrait heads are not included in this article.

Pictorial timeline

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  Pericles with the Corinthian helmet (marble, Roman after a Greek original, ca. 430 BC)
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  The Empress Vibia Sabina (ca. 130 AD)
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  Lucius Verus (ca. 140 AD)
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  Reliquary bust of Charlemagne (gold, Aachen Cathedral treasury, 14th century)
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  Giuliano de' Medici by Andrea del Verrocchio (terracotta, 1475–85)
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  Jakob Fugger the Rich by Conrat Meit (polychrome wood, ca. 1515)
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  Reliquary of a saint (oak, paint, gilding, 1520–30)
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  Jules Hardouin-Mansart by Jean-Louis Lemoyne (marble, 1703)
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  Menshikov by Rastrelli (1717)
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  Bust of a Man from the studio of Francis Harwood (black limestone, ca. 1758)
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  Simplicity of the Highest Degree, ninth in a series of character heads by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (alabaster, after 1770)
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  Unidentified woman, by Joseph Chinard (terracotta, 1802)
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  Étienne Vincent-Marniola by Joseph Chinard (terracotta, 1809)
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  Chief Beshekee by Francis Vincenti (marble, 1855–56)
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  Mater Dolorosa by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (terracotta, 1869-70)
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  Sarah Bernhardt by Jean-Désiré Ringel d'Illzach (wax, 1895)
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  Viktor Nessler by Alfred Marzolff (bronze, 1890s)
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  Jeanne Granier by Francis de Saint-Vidal (late 19th century)
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  Faduma Ali, wife of Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi (Italian Somaliland, ca. 1920s)
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  Keys To Community by James Peniston (2007)

See also

• Herma
• Portraiture (disambiguation)

External links

• Livius.org: Bust gallery of famous ancient Greeks
• Oxford definition
• Dictionary.com definition