Bertel Thorvaldsen many consider to be one of the greatest if not the greatest sculptor. For sculpting is not the aim of total realism but the artistic effect as is the same of all art.
As explained further within this video on art by the Schopenhauerian (and partially Wagnerian) aesthetic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FPdrLlshRAA video very worth your watching. Though I do not agree with Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy as a whole there it most certainly pertains within itself a greater truth both applied to art and life.
