Grinling Gibbons and the Golden Age of Woodcarving

Book excerpt: Grinling Gibbons, the most celebrated woodcarver of all times, developed an extraordinary style of realistic foliage carving in limewood. He was a man of his time, born in Rotterdam to English parents, trained in the Netherlands and, as many artists and craftsmen of his generation, moved to England, where he embarked on a spectacular career working on some of England's most iconic buildings. This book, the result of extensive new research, puts Gibbons in the Anglo-Dutch context of the second half of the seventeenth century, shedding new light on his origin, and that of his style, and the work of his contemporaries in the Netherlands and Britain. The book emphasises the importance of Rotterdam and The Hague in Anglo-Dutch relationships and as leading centres for woodcarving. It also elevates the role of wood-carved decoration - ubiquitous in the period and intended to reflect the social standing and ambitions of those who commissioned it, whether it was applied in their apartments, on war ships, carriages or in churches. Last but not least, this book contributes to studies of migrant artisans and exchanges between Britain and the Netherlands - the subjects as relevant in the seventeenth century as today.