Which of the Following Techniques Defines Cire Perdue? Art History
Bronze objects have been cast using the lost wax (cire perdue) process for at least 5,000 years. Although by Rodin'southward solar day some of the techniques and materials have inverse — and today go on to change — much of the process is as information technology was in ancient times. Lost wax casting is for many the process of pick because information technology is extremely accurate in replicating detail and because of the durability of the objects information technology creates. Withal, the process is very arduous and time-consuming. Virtually sculptors, including those of Rodin's day when artists could choose from scores of foundries, depend on independent foundries to cast their works.
The Process
Below is the same process presented through pictures and text.
 | The artist creates a model, generally in plaster, clay, or woods. |
 | The model is put into a bed of very fine rubberband (shapable) material held in place past a rigid outer mold. When the model is removed, its impression remains. |
 | Fireproof clay is carefully put into the impression, making a sharply defined duplicate of the creative person'southward original model. |
 | The surface of this second clay model is slightly scraped away. When this 2nd model is returned to the mold, in that location is a gap betwixt the model and the mold. This gap is where the wax will exist poured. The concluding bronze will be of the aforementioned thickness as the gap that is created by the scraping. |
 | After endmost the mold around the dirt model, hot wax is poured into the gap between the model and the mold. The issue is a dirt model covered in wax, which is then hand-finished to allegiance, incorporating the artist'southward signature, cast number, and a foundry seal. |
 | A network of wax pipes, called sprues and gates, is attached to the wax-covered model. These pipes first volition allow the wax to escape equally it melts. Later, they will enable the molten metallic to period evenly throughout the mold and will also let air escape every bit the metallic is poured in. |
 | A finely granulated ceramic is applied to the surface of the model and its pipes until it becomes thick and coarse. The result, at present chosen an "investment mold," is then dried and heated. This causes the wax to melt and flow out of the mold, leaving a space betwixt the burn resistant clay model and the investment mold. This is why this method is called the lost wax process. |
 | Except for a identify to pour in the liquid bronze at the top, the mold is covered with a layer of cladding (a protective metal coating), which must be completely dry out before bronze pouring begins. The investment mold is then heated to a high temperature (over ane,000 degrees Fahrenheit). |
 | Molten bronze (over two,000 caste Fahrenheit) is and so poured into the investment mold, filling the space left by the "lost" wax. When all is cool, the cladding and investment mold are broken and the metal appears. The bronze sculpture and its sprues and gates are an exact reproduction of the wax in step vi. |
 | The network of sprues and gates is so removed and the surface of the bronze is chiseled and filed so that no trace of them can be seen. This process of hand-finishing the statuary to perfection is called chasing. Any remains of the fireproof clay model left inside the hollow statuary are removed at present. |
When the process ofchasing is finished, if the sculpture is pocket-size enough to have been bandage in one piece, the work is given a patina. Larger sculpture is generally cast in segments, and after all segments accept been made, they are joined together, a process called braising.(Rodin oft left the braising lines visible, and then the viewer would always be aware that the artwork was made past an creative person.) Later braising, the artwork would go on to patination. A patina not only protects the sculpture, but besides gives it color. Information technology is a pace in the making of the finished bronze wherein hot or common cold oxides are practical to the surface of the metal, creating a thin layer of corrosion. This layer – slightly brown, green, or blueish in color – is called the "patina." The patina protects and enlivens the surface of the bronze.
Source: https://cantorfoundation.org/resources/the-lost-wax-casting-process/