Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Trieste - The Art of the Carver

The art of wood working has always held a fascination for me - perhaps because I spent so many weekends watching my father at his work bench. Though his work was not that of a master craftsman it was always a wonder to me that he could take a few pieces of wood and turn them into something useful or decorative for our house.

The Castello San Giusto had some lovely examples of craftsmanship from the 17th century.


I’m not sure what the intended allegory was on these six door panels but the proud warriors in the bottom two don’t seem to be unduly concerned with the safety of the young lady at the top. And frankly the satyrs seem more interested in their wine and pipe playing than ravishing anyone.


These two lovely chests are from slightly different periods - a left click with give a close up of the detailing on each.

The doorways of the castle are decorated with grotesque fauna and fanciful flora. And pillars around the main doors repeat the motif.


Of similar quality is the workmanship on these ivory powder horns and the ivory handled crossbow.

09 giugno - Sant'Efrem il Siro

6 comments:

Doralong said...

I can't begin to imagine the amount of patience creating such beauty would require.

sageweb said...

I am a lover of wood carving. These are all so beautiful. I was in heaven when I was in Thailand. The prettiest stuff I have ever seen.

yellowdoggranny said...

im with sage..i love wood carvings...and those horns ..wow..

Sling said...

They crafted these things with their hands,and left legacy for the rest of us to enjoy!
..I love that stuff.

Blake said...

Here I am being picky again. Alas for me "a right click with give a close up of the detailing on each" does not work however a left click works just great. The "with" / will we will blame on the spell checker with no context checker. At least I am identifing myself and not posting under Anonymous. Always love the pictures with right click detail and the excellent narrative that accompanies the pictures. Uncle Pervy
PS Looking forward to more GPV's.

Willym said...

Blake:Of course your are right - but then I could never tell my right from my left!