A sculpture can be defined as a three dimensional hand carved object usually made from materials like stone, marble, metal, glass, wood etc. The person who carves sculptures is known as sculptor. Sculptor usually expresses his thoughts and imaginations in the sculpture to make it appear natural and realistic.
Sculptures are considered important forms of public art that have been in existence since centuries. They have been important forms of art in all the civilizations throughout the world. From earlier civilization periods sculptures on walls and in form of statues have been carved out for different reasons. Often it is seen that the wall sculptures carved on the buildings or monuments of earlier periods depict the story or life of kings or any great person.
Earliest forms of sculptures were limited to only stone statue models of human forms. But with the changing time the forms of sculptures made from different kinds of materials came into existence. At present different forms of sculptures like bust sculptures, animal sculptures, antique sculptures, statue sculptures etc are being used for various purposes. Now-a-days many of them are using religious sculptures like catholic sculptures, church sculptures etc to give a holy touch to their homes. The stone sculptures like water fountains, stone fireplace mantels, stone flowerpots, stone gazebos and stone relievoes are being used to give artistic touch to decoration in homes and gardens. Another popular variety of sculptures in use today are abstract sculptures.