Grinling Gibbons and the Golden Age of Woodcarving

One of the greatest artists of the English Baroque, Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) was born in Rotterdam to English parents. He moved to England at the age of nineteen and embarked on a spectacular career. His exuberant lifelike carvings in limewood can be admired at Hampton Court Palace and at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. But what was the Dutch tradition that shaped him? And what set him apart from the other carvers of his time? This book explains the importance of woodcarving and provides new insights into the work of woodcarvers in the Netherlands and Britain. Full of discoveries and new images, it discusses little-known interiors, objects, craftsmen and their patrons, and provides a rich introduction to the ornamental world of woodcarving.