Helen Shiner Mar 17, 2011:

Wonderment? Whether wonderment or not, I don't think anyone is suggesting removing the 'almost'.

Helen Shiner Mar 17, 2011:

@ Andrew Re your deleted post: I wouldn't post an answer in this case before knowing the register and intended audience of this text.

Lancashireman Mar 17, 2011:

If you blank out the word 'fast' (which after all constitutes one half of this KudoZ question as posted), you detract from the author's sense of wonderment.

Helen Shiner Mar 17, 2011:

@ Andrew Also obvious. I am not suggesting a complete rewrite of the source text, but a rewording to make it make sense in EN, as Stephen also has suggested.

Lancashireman Mar 17, 2011:

Ridiculous or not It is what the author wrote, and we have to translate what we are given, not what we think the author should have said.

Helen Shiner Mar 17, 2011:

@ Andrew Obviously, but it is such a ridiculous thing to say about the piece, as you must be able to see from the image you and I have both provided, that it needs a rewrite to make any sense.

Lancashireman Mar 17, 2011:

fast = almost

Helen Shiner Mar 17, 2011:

@ Stephen Agree with all you say. I still feel uncomfortable with relief here. No disrespect to Andrew, since clearly people do use it in such circumstances, but my specialism is sculpture above everything, and it is not how I would describe this particular object. It is not, however, free-standing/a Freiplastik, since it is not standing without support on the ground. It is architectural sculpture. My feeling is that its distinguishing feature, deliberately so conceived by its maker, is that it departs from the normal high relief sculpture - by alluding to an escape from its architectonic frame. The problem for me, however, may be in the GER text which may not have been written by a specialist or academic, so without more context, I feel it better to leave it to Andrew's suggestion, as long as 'high relief' is chosen, rather than 'full relief'. If it is a more academic text, then I would definitely suggest a re-write along the lines suggested by Stephen and myself.

Stephen Reader Mar 17, 2011:

With Helen. Possibly just a synonym for 'ground' - e.g. background or 'from its matrix' (at a pinch), & what about 'stands (or if you will, 'stands virtually' ) free of...' even though it's not strictly 'free-standing'. & agree, (frieze, yes, at least by loose analogy), relief, no. Grüße!

Helen Shiner Mar 16, 2011:

Vezelay Christ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abbaye_Vezelay-tympan.jpg

Helen Shiner Mar 16, 2011:

A suggestion I think I would reword this and say something like: the body is raised from the ground almost as if sculpted fully in the round. I know it rhymes which is unfortunate, but this is not really relief sculpture any more.

BrigitteHilgner Mar 16, 2011:

free-standing sculpture nearly so ...