From the monuments of the ancient world to the modern waxwork museum, sculpture has been used to represent and make present the living and the dead. This stimulating book, published to coincide with an exhibition at the Holburne Museum, explores the peculiar power of the sculpted portrait and where that power comes from. Using examples from the ancient world to the modern day including work of contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Ron Mueck and Marc Quinn, it examines the way in which the sculpted portrait has been used and the different forms it has taken. In particular the book explores what is unique about the sculpted portrait as opposed to other forms of portraiture with regards to the use of death and life masks and their implications, the impact of changes in scale and the absence or presence of colour. It also examines the importance of the context in which a sculpture is presented or conceived.