Marble Acanthus- Watch store in Genoa, Italy

[Gargoyle]

I was back in Genoa earlier this month, and spotted this marble acanthus on the facade of a small watch and jewelry store on Piazza Corvetto. It's a magnificent piece, and it's so wonderful that either the store owner or building owner commissioned this work.

 

[Gargoyle]

Approximate translation of the inscription:

The water that touches the river
is the last that leaves
and the first that arrives
Thus is the present time

 

[Roger Bleile]

I love it! I wonder if anyone, aside from carvers and engravers, notice or appreciate such things.

I hope the grafitti vandals don't deface it. :no:

 

[Gargoyle]

Roger, I see things like that, or like this one from Paris, and unfortunately recognize that while a thousand or more people a day pass by it, perhaps we're lucky if even one person every few days stops to see it. OTOH, that one person will have their entire day brightened by it.

 

[Roger Bleile]

I remember when Rod Cameron posted pics of archetectural scrolls he photographed around Europe. I enjoyed seeing them because I take pictures like that.

Here are a few I took on a Baltic cruise in July.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

I was back in Genoa earlier this month, and spotted this marble acanthus on the facade of a small watch and jewelry store on Piazza Corvetto. It's a magnificent piece, and it's so wonderful that either the store owner or building owner commissioned this work.

That top curled leaf must have been tricky to carve without breaking it off. Very nice indeed.

 

[Gargoyle]

Doc, in some ways the harder part is something that most people would take for granted when they look at a piece like this- getting the perfectly flat background in the small areas, like between the curls of the leaves to the right. You're cutting a flat surface at right angles to the angle of approach of the chisel. It can be done with abrasives, but that takes a lot of time. With skill it can be gotten pretty flat with the chisel, so that it just needs a bit of scraping and then abrasives to get it flat.

The other thing that really makes this stand out is the quality of the flow, the same thing you guys are always focusing on in your work.

 

[Ed Westerly]

This is great stuff. Thanks for the post. I love it all.

 

[monk]

beyond pretty. our local courthouse is loaded with beautiful carvings. except for me, and few others, the work just sits there with little notice from the public. doing minor stone carving myself, i can appreciate as well as wonder about the great artists that created this body of work.