Once the technical difficulties of working with materials—be it marble, plaster, wood, wax, or terracotta—are overcome, the essential problem of sculpture lies in its three-dimensionality.

The representation of a subject’s head in life-size scale is the result of depicting multiple profiles, which, when put together one after another, create a full-scale reproduction. By starting with four or more images—the frontal view, the right profile, the left profile, and the rear view (plus any intermediate ones, if necessary)—a three-dimensional reproduction is achieved, potentially identical in shape and dimensions.

This type of representation may not necessarily involve any formal restructuring by the artist. This is because the observer’s viewpoint will always remain aligned with the eye level, at the horizon line of the observer.

Obviously, if the statue is close, it will appear life-sized; if it is far away, it will gradually shrink until it disappears entirely. In these terms, the perspective from the observer’s point of view will essentially remain the same, and with it, the morphological conformation of the object sculpted by the artist—just as if we met someone on the street and watched them gradually walk away.

If the statue were placed on a plane different from the observer’s eye level, for instance, raised two meters high, then in addition to the problem of distance (whether small or large), the issue of viewpoint would arise. The observer would no longer see the sculpted face (whether large or small) aligned with the horizon line but would simply perceive the chin, nose, receding forehead, perhaps the ears and neck, in an image that would not correspond at all to the original shape of the face.

At this point, the virtue, talent, and perspective strategy of the artist come into play. In the case of an equestrian commemorative statue or of a victorious general after a battle, perhaps placed on a pedestal in a square, the problem of three-dimensional representation will begin with the observer’s point of view, and all dimensions will follow accordingly.

Thus, the torso will be large, the face even larger (preferably with a helmet or headpiece). The legs will be thin and short, the arms posed in some way, perhaps with the hand on the hilt of a sword, so as not to obstruct the vision. This applies to every subject to be sculpted.

Mantegna’s Christ, for example, although a two-dimensional work, addresses these issues and resolves them sublimely. The feet, which from an actual perspective should appear abnormally large, are instead very small, and the stigmata stand out to capture attention. Similarly, the legs should be much longer, yet they are very short. This effect is reinforced by the drapery, which is intensely gathered, distracting attention and preventing notice of the disproportion. The hands are excessively inclined, again to highlight the nail wounds.

A lifeless body could never hold its wrists and lower limbs in that position. The torso is gigantic, the abdomen and chest—completely open and expanded—convey a sensation of death, almost as if from drowning. Likewise, the face is enormous, slightly tilted to one side, and its actual proportions are completely disproportionate compared to the feet. The Mother and the women on His right have faces torn apart by grief. Note the disproportion between the face of the Mother and the face of Christ, which is as it should be: He, the Son of God and the sacrificial Lamb; She, the Mother and the Immaculate Conception.

However, all of this is not immediately perceived by the observer’s eye. What is perceived instead is a devastating sense of anguish and pain. This work is an exceptional example of perspective, of the highest ethical and aesthetic value, with an absolutely phenomenal communicative impact—extraordinary in power and meaning. I believe it could not be done any better.

If we were to translate this into three-dimensionality, thus into a sculpture, maintaining the same perspective proportions, for the reasons stated above, the representation would simply be unacceptable.