The Italian expression for carving directly in the final material without systematic transfer from a full-scale model by formal pointing.
Scultura diretta is the Italian expression associated with direct carving. The phrase is explicitly indexed in the Pietrasanta interviews of Le voci del marmo.
In direct work the sculptor may use drawings, measurements, a small bozzetto, or accumulated knowledge, but the final form is developed through direct decisions in the stone rather than being mechanically reproduced from a full-scale model.
Etymology
Italian: scultura, “sculpture,” + diretta, “direct.”
Sculptor Notes
Direct carving does not mean improvisation without discipline. It places greater responsibility on the sculptor’s judgment because every cut alters the final material and cannot simply be restored by adding material back.
References
https://levocidelmarmo.sns.it/lista_times.php; https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/scultura/