STATUARY, a branch of ſculpture, employed in the making of ſtatues. See SCULPTURE and the next article.
Statuary is one of thoſe arts wherein the ancients ſurpaſſed the moderns; and indeed it was much more popular, and more cultivated, among the former than the latter. It is diſputed between ſtatuary and painting, which of the two is the moſt difficult and the moſt artful.
Statuary is alſo uſed for the artiſter who makes ſtatues. Phidias was the greateſt ſtatuary among the ancients, and Michael Angelo among the moderns.