in European feudalism, in a form of succession duty paid to an overlord by the heir of a deceased vassal. It became customary on the Continent by the Carolingian period (8th–9th century AD). The sum required was either fixed arbitrarily by the lord or agreed between the parties. Gradually, a concept of what constituted a just and reasonable sum emerged, usually the equivalent of one year's revenue from the fief. This was standardized in England at £100 for a barony or honour (large landed fief) and 100 shillings for a knight's fee. Heirs to smaller fiefs might give a knight's horse and equipment.

Reliefs on the walls of stone buildings were common in ancient Egypt, Assyria, and other Middle Eastern cultures. The Egyptians (art and architecture, Egyptian) depicted carefully modeled figures standing out from the ground in very low relief; figures are shown standing sideways and are contained within a sharply incised outline. High reliefs first became common in the sculpture of the ancient Greeks, who fully explored the artistic potentialities of the genre. Attic tomb reliefs from the 4th century BC showing individual figures or family groups are notable examples, as are the sculptured friezes used in the decoration of the Parthenon and other classical temples. Relief sculptures were prominent in the sarcophagi of Roman art during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

During the European Middle Ages the emphasis in sculpture was definitely on relief work. Some of the most outstanding examples decorate the Romanesque portals (tympana) of churches in France, England, and other countries. The Gothic (Gothic art) period continued this tradition but often preferred a higher relief, in accordance with the renewed interest in statuary that characterized the late Middle Ages.

During the Italian Renaissance the qualities of relief work began to change, as is evident in the famous bronze doors that Lorenzo Ghiberti (Ghiberti, Lorenzo) created for the baptistry of the Cathedral of Florence. The free play between high and low relief and the strikingly illusionistic style of composition in these reliefs show Renaissance artists' new interest in and understanding of space as a subjective visual experience that could be faithfully reproduced. Figures in the foreground of the composition were done in high relief, thus appearing close at hand, while background features were done in low relief, thus approximating distance. Donatello further exploited these experiments, adding textural contrasts between rough and smooth surfaces to the interplay between high and low relief and completely modeling some forms while leaving others in an almost painterly state of incompleteness. Two different trends subsequently became apparent in Italian relief sculpture: delicate and low reliefs in marble and terra-cotta by Desiderio da Settignano and Mino da Fiesole, for example, and the more robust and sculptural relief style used by Bertoldo di Giovanni and later by Michelangelo.

Baroque (Baroque period) sculptors continued these illusionistic experiments, often on a very large scale. Their large relief compositions became a kind of painting in marble, being set off by deep boxlike frames and special stagelike conditions of lighting. Lorenzo Bernini's “Ecstasy of Santa Theresa,” with figures carved almost fully in the round but encased in a marble altar, offers a most impressive example. Neoclassical artists of the early 19th century temporarily revived experimentation with low reliefs in pursuit of what they saw as classical rigour and purity; such works relied on fine surface modeling and clarity of design for their effect. The works of Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorwaldsen are typical in this regard. But on the whole the Renaissance concept of relief prevailed, and its dramatic and emotive possibilities were keenly and vigorously employed by such subsequent 19th-century sculptors as François Rude in “The Marseillaise” (decorating the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) and by Auguste Rodin in his famous “Gates of Hell” and other reliefs. Relief techniques came to be used in modern 20th-century art for abstract compositions that emphasized spatial recession and contrasts of light and shade. Reliefs were also a feature in Pre-Columbian and Asian Indian sculpture.

in finance, public or private aid to persons in economic need because of natural disasters, wars, economic upheaval, chronic unemployment, or other conditions that prevent self-sufficiency.

Through the 19th century, disaster relief consisted largely of emergency grants of food, clothing, and medical care and the provision of mass shelter through hastily organized local committees, often with the aid of voluntary contributions of money or supplies from other communities or countries. In the 20th century, disaster relief became one of the chief activities of the International Red Cross (Red Cross and Red Crescent), originally organized in the 1860s to aid the victims of war.

Public programs of relief from economic need due to other than natural factors date from the Elizabethan period in England; these early provisions for assistance to the needy from public funds were characterized by strict limitations. Beginning in early times and persisting into the 20th century, there was a strong aversion to giving assistance to able-bodied workers. In England, after the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834, people able to work could receive public assistance only if they entered a workhouse.

The modern practice of work relief is in part a manifestation of this attitude; the United States work relief programs (notably the Works Progress Administration, later named the Work Projects Administration) in the 1930s were designed to give employment to all needy persons who could work, thus separating them from the unemployable poor. By the late 20th century the work requirement had been abandoned in most countries. In contemporary terminology, relief generally refers to public assistance, comprising benefits, either in money or in kind, given to the indigent who do not qualify for specific assistance programs or social insurance benefits. See social welfare program.