Job
Sculpture by Arye Shapiro
Dimensions: 15½"W x 9½"H x 11"D
Material: Bronze on black walnut base
Date: 2001
$2,700.00
About this Sculpture
“Job” was Arye’s first sculpture commission. His client was a devout Christian whose family had suffered much illness and tribulation. She wanted to surprise her husband with a gift of sculpture.
Arye’s client asked for a sculpture of Job, the Biblical figure who kept his faith despite awful losses and torments. She requested a brass plaque be mounted on the base, which would display a quote from the Old Testament:
“Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him”— Job 13:15
The Creative Process
First, Arye researched the story of Job. Then he hired an appropriate model, a tall thin man 59 years old. Arye created nine small clay sketches (maquettes) of various poses that depicted Job, with a tormented body, attempting to communicate with God. Arye’s client selected one of these maquettes, which was sculpted for the commission. The sculpture was modeled from life in plastilina, an oil-based clay, over a six-week period.
After the client approved the final plastilina sculpture, it was cast in bronze by the Michael Hall Studio Foundry, in Driftwood, Texas. Photographs are by Zaleski Studio, Austin, Texas.