Sawing Lumber in Europe

Sketch of two sawyers – 17th century – artist unknown
Besançon; Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology

This entry is a continuation of the previous series on sawing lumber. (See also China, India, Japan) These images from Italy, Spain & France depict a once common method of sawing timber that was inherited from the ancient Romans. These images span the years 1180 A.D.- 1829 A.D. The final image shows the Roman version of this technique.

Building of Noah’s Ark – Mosaic on the south side of the nave – Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily (1180’s)

Sawyers – detail on the ceiling – Cathedral of Teruel – Aragon, Spain (Mudéjar artwork c.1250’s) Context

Building of Noah’s Ark – Mosaic on the Atrium of the Basilica di San Marco, Venice, Italy (1270-1290s)

Christ assists St. Joseph, Apocrypha – BNF Latin 2688, fols. 51 and 52v (1275-1299)
Bibliothèque nationale de France

Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa, fresco by Piero di Puccio (c.1377 – 1391)

Costruzione di un Palazzo, Oil Painting by Piero di Cosimo (1515 – 1520) Ringling Museum of Art

The Carpenter’s Shop in Nazareth (1763-1800) – artist unknown – Brooklyn Museum

Three sketches of Italian sawyers made in Parma by George Jones, 1829 – Tate Museum

Ancient Roman Fresco known as the Procession of Carpenters (Pompeii prior to 79 A.D.)

The fresco depicts four men bearing a ferculum (parade float) laden with a model carpenter shop. The carved figurines depict woodworking tasks being performed. The left figure is planing a board at a low bench. The center figures are sawing timber with a frame saw. The figure on the right represents Daedalus, the Greek mythological craftsman, as he stands overlooking the corpse of Perdix, the nephew he murdered out of envy.
Naples Archaeological Museum.

to be continued…

—Jeff Burks