Wood carving, like weaving, is among the oldest crafts in the world. Thousands of years ago, during the Stone Age, prehistoric people made use of different types of wood as weapons and handles for their hunting tools.
Throughout the ancient civilisation, most notably in Egypt and Mesopotamia, religious figures that were carved in wood were placed in catacombs to protect the dead. The sculptors of the early Christian churches also made use of wood to demonstrate the life of Christ for worshipers—from there, wood carving became a noble task.
The art of wood carving soon flourished and developed. It became a perfect medium for artists who want to express their feelings and emotions by means of carving or sculpting.
Wood Carving Across the World
Wood carving was part of the history of many cultures from Europe, America, and Africa to Asia. For centuries, beautifully carved wooden figures became prominent forms of art in various places across the globe.
In Norway, the walls of the Urne Style Church, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was decorated with wooden carvings that come in elaborate...
The people of the Eastern Woodlands made many tools to help them in their everyday lives. They made spears, weirs, nets, bows and arrows, lances, knives, taps, snares and deadfall for hunting. Most of those tools were made of wood or bark and other forest material. Arrowheads were made from chert, or flint, from sedimentary rocks. They were shaped like isosceles triangles, the smallest arrows were used for hunting birds, the bigger ones were to spear bears or deer. Flint knives were often oval, or teardrop shaped. For fishing they made spears, weirs, and nets. They also made canoes from hollowed-out trees to help with fishing in the lakes and streams. Some other tools they made were axes made of stone to strip bark, clear fields and removing fat from hides. Axes
However, the artefacts brought to England from Benin in 1897 were an anomaly. The craftsmanship and sophistication were such that some were reminiscent of the beautiful figures in the Hofkiche, Innsbruck 1502-1563 (plate 3.1.12. Visited...
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
Even thought during 15th century, Northern Europe experienced numerous alterations in representation of pictorial space, this paper will only address two of the major changes. They include “MAN IN A RED TURBAN” which was developed by Jan van Eyck in 1433 and “DIPTYCH OF MAARTEN CAN NIEUWENHOVE” developed by Hans Memling in 1487. In these two arts, the sculptors used colored pigments, drying oils such as walnut, linseed, and poopy-seed oil. The tools included wood panel, canvas, wall, brushes, and spatulas (Pearson, 2005; Fuga, 2006).
Creating a sculpture can last a lifetime if made well like this George Washington Carver sculpture he designed. Artist Christian Petersen put in outstanding work to create a piece of work that not only he enjoys, but others can see and enjoy as well. Every piece of art has a story and that is overlooked most of the time. People seem to look at the art work and that’s just about it. When starting a book do you just look at the cover and not actually read the book? No, because then you are creating a false illusion. The George Washington Carver Sculpture is more than just a silhouette of himself, it emphasizes the vision for the future of agriculture and his passion for science, students and farmers Carver had. I recommend everyone to go check out the outstanding work Christian Petersen put into creating the George Washington Carver sculpture.
use of classical motifs as urns and swags. Inlay, veneer, carving, and paint are used for
Life for a craftsmen in the Middle Ages was and could be difficult and challenging. Some starting at higher social ranks than others, being treated like less. Facing death, plague, sickness, disease, sadness, famine, poverty, and pain. All a risk craftsmen might go through, or already had. And some, never having a place to call home and rest without having to leave the next day or month. Craftsmen in the Middle Ages had one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the time period, maybe even today.
The woodworker had many tools to help him get the job done. Among them, he used saws to cut. Saws were not new tools. They had been used for over 5,000 years by the time the colonial woodworker utilized them. He used different types of sa...
Beginning in the eleventh century churches started to employ relief carving on the exterior especially around doors and large entrances. These were used to send a message about the important religious ideas and messages associated with that church. After this development took place the architecture and relief sculpture surrounding these areas grew to become increasingly elaborate in order to communicate more with a growing body of viewers. Medieval people realized the potential of these doorways to reach an audience and send a dramatic message and by the 1130’s portal sculpture was a commonly used method of communication for Churches primary message. The west portal at Chartres is an example of this development in architectural style as its monumental doors make a very strong statement concerning Church values that were intended to give a strong first impression about the message of the Church. In 1137 the western façade of Chartres was destroyed by what some art historians have pointed out to be a very convenient fire. This opportunity for reconstruction was jumped upon by the church and the west end of Chartres was built in the new style that many other old Romanesque churches were being redone in, St. Dennis being one of these examples. The west front was...
The Ancient Greeks had many famous sculptures. People like Pheidias, Polykleitos, Praxiteles, Skopas and Lysippos are the people who figured out how to really make their sculptures of humans, really look like humans (History.com Staff). In the Archaic period, statues were never meant to look like certain individuals. They were meant to look like the ideal person with beauty, piety, honor or sacrifice. They were always young men, and never women. They were ranging from childhood to the teenage years of a young man. In the classical era, they used statutes in buildings, mostly to fill the triangular fields of the pediments. They did not always create them for that though. For example, the parthenon in Athens, a statue of the Goddess
The earliest remains from the Celto-Germanic period consisted of mainly bronze work—bracelets, armbands, broaches, swords, and purse covers. The styles in which samples are crafted involve geometric patterns which interweave different human and animal representations. This is the same style that sets the Celto-Germanic period apart from all others.
Sculpting is the art of working with stone, bronze, and wood by chipping at it to form a beautiful piece of art. The art of sculpting was known thousands of years ago in the time of “THE OLD STONE AGE.” During this time the people thought that they would make the sculptures to praise their gods, kings, queens, and goddesses. The people also made sculptures of animals they believed that the animals would see this and protect them from other harmful animals.
the tradition of primitive tribes. “In many cases the painting was only used to decorate
What we know about the people before written records is limited to what artifacts and artwork we find. Pre History man used crude tools made of primarily stone. During the Upper Paleolithic era, beginning about 40,000 B.C., people refined these tools by using polished stone. New tools like fishhooks and sewing needles were made out of bone and wood during this time.
Woodworking, a form of carpentry, has been around for centuries and overtime developed into a more modern art. Today people will mostly see woodwork in homes in the form of furniture and decorations, or even smaller things such as family heirlooms passed down by generations and simple crafts made by younger generations. The skill of woodworking, however, is not inherited but takes practice and years of experience to fully master. Even experienced woodworkers run into challenges sometimes. The key is to overcome that obstacle and find different ways to create something new from a piece of wood. It is interesting to see and go through the process in which a woodworker goes through