Have you ever visited Pere-Lachaise in France? The Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa? Or even your local cemetery? These are the art galleries of some of the greatest sculptors who have ever lived -- sculptors with skills rivaling those of Bernini, Michelangelo, and Donatello (easily!).
It's impossible to say which sculptors are the best, because many of our planet's greatest sculptors lived lives of simple tradesmen -- the figurative and ornamental carvers who worked on the many beautiful monuments you see in your cities -- in cemeteries, parks, museums, etc. If you are lucky to live in an area that hasn't been completely taken over by simple concrete buildings, you will be privileged to see the beautiful architectural carvings surrounding you! Many of the "Greatest Sculptors of All Time" are completely anonymous.
I say this coming from a family of figurative carvers, and having known and worked myself with many carvers who I can say were as gifted -- as virtuostic -- as a Bernini, or a Michelangelo, or any one of the great masters.
Within this list you have now, Bernini and Michelangelo indubitably deserve to be there (although their positions on the list are not set in stone). They were both unique geniuses and left behind them works that are timeless & must certainly be regarded as among the best. There have also been countless sculptors whose work rivaled theres, however -- Giuseppe Sammartino, for instance -- in terms of precision,virtuosity, etc... so I don't think it's possible to make a list of this nature accurately.
Have you ever visited Pere-Lachaise in France? The Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa? Or even your local cemetery? These are the art galleries of some of the greatest sculptors who have ever lived -- sculptors with skills rivaling those of Bernini, Michelangelo, and Donatello (easily!).
It's impossible to say which sculptors are the best, because many of our planet's greatest sculptors lived lives of simple tradesmen -- the figurative and ornamental carvers who worked on the many beautiful monuments you see in your cities -- in cemeteries, parks, museums, etc. If you are lucky to live in an area that hasn't been completely taken over by simple concrete buildings, you will be privileged to see the beautiful architectural carvings surrounding you! Many of the "Greatest Sculptors of All Time" are completely anonymous.
I say this coming from a family of figurative carvers, and having known and worked myself with many carvers who I can say were as gifted -- as virtuostic -- as a Bernini, or a Michelangelo, or any one of the great masters.
Within this list you have now, Bernini and Michelangelo indubitably deserve to be there (although their positions on the list are not set in stone). They were both unique geniuses and left behind them works that are timeless & must certainly be regarded as among the best. There have also been countless sculptors whose work rivaled theres, however -- Giuseppe Sammartino, for instance -- in terms of precision,virtuosity, etc... so I don't think it's possible to make a list of this nature accurately.