Medieval Tool & Furniture Art on the Web
"The Holy Family with Angels," Unknown German Artist, c. 1410, presently at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin
Mästermyr Image Library - Illustrations of the artifacts from the Mästermyr Find. Includes an axe, adzes, drawknife, small saw, and augur bits
The Bayeaux Tapestry - The shipbuilding scene from the Bayeaux Tapestry. Includes several different axes and an augur.
St. Joseph in his workshop - From Robert Campin's "Merode Altarpiece", c.14??, presently at the Cloisters in New York.
The Mendel Hausbuch - Illustrated pages from the Hausbuch of the Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung in Nuremburg. The pages date from 1425 to 1544 and depict a variety of craftsmen at their trades. The woodworkers are listed under "Holzverarbeitung".
Other illustrations that may be useful:
- Noah's Ark, building the ark (11th century bronze door; S. Zeno, Verona) -- trimming axe
- Life of St. Alban, 12th century, Matthew of Paris -- trimming axe
- Vignette depicting the guilds of wheelwrights and coopers, Bourges, 13th century -- trimming axe
- The Expectant Madonna with Saint Joseph, 15th century France
- Noah Building the Ark, Breviary of Martin of Aragon, 15th century -- he's hammering some nails
- The Holy Family with Angels, 1410 -- visible items include a mallet and a workbench
- Building of the Ark (also here and here), from the Bedford Book of Hours, 1423 -- lots of tools in use
-
"The
Author Joins Other Laborers in the Castle of Work" from
La Voie de Povreté ou de Richesse (Le Livre du Chastel
de Labour) by Jacques Bruyant, 1430-40, Workshop of the
Bedford Master -- enlargement available
here
- Resurrection of the Boy (a two-man saw is slightly easier to see in this detail) by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1482-85
- Noah and his sons building the Ark (or here) by Raphael, 1508 -- shows a framesaw, an axe, and several other tools.
- Prudence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
- Adoration of the Shepherds by Caravaggio, 1609
- Christ in the Carpenter's Shop by Georges de la Tour, 1645
Contents © 2002 Gary R. Halstead
