under Solomon, the sanctuary of the temple was lined with cedar, and the walls elaborately carved with figures of cherubims, palm trees, and open flowers all gilt. Two cherubims, 10 cubits high were carved in olive, a very durable wood. Solomon imported ebony and other rare
woods for his musical instruments and furniture.Wood was used by the Greek sculptors before the 5th century B.C., and Pausanias enumerates many statues made of different woods, some of several kinds of wood extant in Greece in his time (bk. ii. and vii.)
The Romans, who used bronze and marble for their furniture in later times, were still curious in woods, which were carved or polished and reserved for many purposes, and when of fine grain were extravagantly valued. Tacitus speaks of the rude wooden idols of the Germans.
The fact that a great part of Europe was covered with oak, pine, and other forests made the use of timber universal during the Middle Ages ; many memorials remain of the skill both of constructors and carvers in oak and other woods. Churches, houses, even entire cities were of timber; many of these remain in Northern Germany, e.ff., in Hanover, Hildesheim, and Brunswick, in towns of Brittany and Perigord, and in Blois, Coventry, Chester, and other cities of France and England. Beam ends, brackets, door heads and gables were often effectively carved. Two doors, remains of churches in Norway (of the llth or 12th century), entirely constructed of timber, carved in a large-grained pine wood into a complicated but graceful composition of dragons and serpents, were exhibited at South Kensington in 1868. The most elaborate and artistic carved work of the Middle Ages is to be found in the shrines or " retables " placed on altars, some of small chamber size, others 20 to 30 feet in height. They were made in countless numbers in Germany, Spain, France, Flanders, and England. The principal space of the shrine was filled by figures standing or seated under elaborate carved tabernacle work, sometimes with complete pictorial compositions representing well-known legends of the saints. Generally these figures were gilded and painted. Often the shutters on the sides were painted with illustrative subjects, frequently painted on both sides, so as to be seen whether the shrine was open or shut. Many Lutheran churches in Nuremberg retain these ornaments exactly as they stood in Catholic times. The 15th and 16th centuries were prolific in these rich structures. A famous triptych by Hans Bruggemann (1515) is preserved in the cathedral of Schleswig, an earlier one by Michel Pacher of Brauneck at Wolfgang-sur-le-Lac near Ichel. To the triptychs should be added the stall work of the 14th, 15th, 16th centuries, as in the cathedrals of Cologne, Amiens, and Ulm, and in many English churches. Another class of carvings may be studied in the vast roofs, such as that of Westminster Hall ; the roofs of many churches in Norfolk, and many halls in the old colleges and Tudor mansions are decorated with carved figures and heraldry.
In the 16th century the great cities of Italy Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Urbino, and others abounded in richly carved gilt and inlaid furniture, chairs, wardrobes, chests such as contained bridal trousseaux mirror frames, caskets, even bellows. They were of walnut, cypress, cedar, ebony, and other woods, inlaid with ivory, agates, and ornaments of hammered silver. Rich and beautiful examples of such work are pre served in the museum at South Kensington, the Hotel de Cluny, the Kunst Kammer of Berlin, and other collections. The 16th century stall-work of many Venetian churches, the panel-work of the old rooms in the Louvre in Paris, the fire-places seen in many old 16th century palaces, specially that of the Palace of Justice in Bruges, are examples of admirable decorative carving on a large scale.
The Spanish wood-carvers during this period had a just celebrity. Their religious imagery is admirably de signed, true to nature, and devotional, pathetic, and tender in expression. They coloured the figures up to nature, but nothing was lost in this process. The great Renaissance painters and masters of Germany practised wood-carving of great excellence. Wohlgemuth of Nuremberg, Albert Durer, Veit Stoss, Ludwig Krug, Peter Flotuer, <tc., carved classical subjects, portraits in medallions, delicate bas- reliefs on draught men made of box and other hard woods, which are to be seen in many collections. They carved as often in hone stone, and modelled medallions, statuettes, and minute busts in wax, sometimes coloured up to life.
A rilievo on hone stone by Albert Durer is preserved in the British Museum ; others on wood in the united collec tions in Munich, on wood and hone stone by Lucas Kranach the painter in the Kunst Kammer, Berlin, on wood with the monogram of Hans Schauffin in the same collection, one attributed to Lucas Van Leyden the painter in the National Library, Paris. The Augsburg artists worked more generally in wood only. Rosary beads of box, to J of an inch in diameter, some made to open, carved with minute figure subjects of great excellence, may be seen in South Kensington and in other collections. During the same period minute Scripture subjects were carved in box on crosses and small triptychs by the monks of Mount Athos, the inueritors of the old Byzantine art.
In the 16th century curious minute works, entire compo sitions, were carved by Properzia de Rossi in peach stones. One is preserved in the Museum of Turin. A cherry stone on which a " gloria" of saints is carved is preserved among the Florentine gems. Leo Pronner, already named, also carved microscopic work on cherry stones.
A carver of great skill, Grinling Gibbons (1650-1721), founded a school of decorative carving in England which survived till near the end of the last century. The facility of execution in carving soft woods for gilding, to make frames, carriages, and furniture was very great dur ing the earlier years of the last century. The taste was best in Italy and most extravagant in France. A revival of classic taste began with the reign of Louis XVI., and at about the same time in England, influenced by the brothers Adam and by many excellent carvers of furniture and decorative wood- work.
The carvings of the mountain villagers in Switzerland and the Tyrol are spirited, and are well executed, with simple tools, generally in pine wood. What has been said of the Indians, Persians, Chinese, and Japanese regarding ivory-carving, applies equally to their skill in carving and inlaying wood.
In most countries of Europe the art has been much displaced in recent times by moulded work in various materials and by metal-casting.
See MaskelPs Ivories at South Kensington ; Gori Thesaurus Dip- tychorum; Lebarte s Arts Industries ; Du Sommerard, Arts Somp- tuaircs; Viollet-le-Duc s Mobil ier ; Lubke s History of Art ; Kugler a Hand-book ; Pollen s Ancient and Modern Furniture and Wood work.
which formerly were the most prominent features in the important industry of frame-making, the craftsmen who pursued the occupation were known as carvers and gilders. The terms still continue to be the recognized trade name of frame-making, although very little of the ornamentation of frame-work is now accomplished by carving, and a great deal of the so-called gilt ornament is produced without the use of gold. The trade has to do primarily with the frames of pictures, engravings, and mirrors, but many of the light decorative fittings of houses, finished in " composition" and
gilt work, are also entrusted to the carver and gilder.