Carved into history: the life of Grinling Gibbons
Staff | Antique Collecting | 28th April 2021
No superlative seems too grand for Gibbons, whom some consider the greatest woodcarver in history. Dutch born, he spent his career in England where, for decades up to about 1700, his patrons included a succession of kings. What set his carvings apart was an exuberant but naturalistic style – “cascades of fruit, leaves, flowers, foliage, fish and birds.” Without doubt, he “helped to shape the aesthetic of the British baroque.” A video (4 min) is here.
