A celebrated scholar’s profound examination of sculpture, making, and the nature of humanity

What is sculpture? In this elegant volume, Anne Middleton Wagner delves into that essential question, juxtaposing carvings and ceramics from prehistory to contemporary works by Martin Puryear, Charles Ray, Rachel Whiteread, and others. In the process, Wagner argues that sculpture is a central means by which human beings have come to terms with the material world and their place within it.

The book is organized into chapters devoted to a single, foundational material—clay, wood, metal, stone, and plaster—tracing their use through millennia. Beautifully illustrated with works such as the Venus of Willendorf, Donatello’s Penitent Magdalene, and Michelangelo's David, it explores sculpture’s special blending of physical presence and imaginary perfection. Revealing the different ways in which sculpture embodies and transforms human beings, Sculpture and the Making of the Human will be essential reading in the history of art.