Ponderation

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Optimal ponderation (left) and unfavorable ponderation (right). Optimal ponderation (left) and unfavorable ponderation (right).
Optimal ponderation (left) and unfavorable ponderation (right).

Ponderation (from Latin pondere “lasten”, “weigh”; ponderare “weigh”) denotes the weighing and balancing out of weighing . In a figurative sense, the term is used in the composition of paintings , sculptures and sculptures .

Ponderation in art

In the fine arts , especially in sculpture , ponderation means balancing the weight of the body. It is the representation of the body structure, i. H. the spatial relationships between the individual body segments and the resulting relationship between the entire body and gravity. If this relationship is articulated while standing or walking, then the body structure is optimally adapted to gravity in the best case, i.e. H. each body segment is balanced with its center of gravity above the other. One example is the ancient Egyptian statue of Selket . In this ideal case, a person needs little active muscle strength to keep himself upright, since the vertical direction of the supporting force from the floor coincides with the inner gravity line of the body.

As soon as the segments are no longer vertically one above the other, such. B. in the Greek statue of Doryphoros von Polyklet , the fascial network and the muscles have to stabilize the body. This results in a shift of the right and left halves of the body, including the attached extremities; they enter into a compensatory “opposition” (see also Spielbein and Kontrapost ). In this case, the ponderation consists in a sufficient balance, but in the medium and long term this leads to complaints of the musculoskeletal system and unbalanced movement patterns in living people.

literature

  • A. Alscher: Archaic preliminary stages for the design of the ponderation on classical still images . In: Archäologischer Anzeiger (Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute) 1953.
  • HG Brecklinghaus: People have awakened, you have raised them up: body structure and image of man in the art of ancient Egypt and today . Lebenshaus Verlag 2002, ISBN 978-3-932803-05-5 , 384 pp.
  • Wolfgang von Wangenheim : Ponderation. About the relationship between sculpture and gravity. Matthes & Seitz. Berlin 2010. ISBN 978-3-88221-668-4 .

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