The Gargoyles and Grotesques of Tuscany

Photos © Walter S. Arnold

These are in Pietrasanta, a small town which has been a center for marble carving for for over 700 years.
Click any photo to see a larger image.

Note that the four fountains below are true gargoyles, as the water flows through their mouths:

This is not a gargoyle or a grotesque, but I'm

including it here because it is one of the most amazing marble carvings that I've seen. This is in the cemetery of Pietrasanta, and memorializes a young man who drowned in 1922, at the age of 23.
The hard marble is carved into breaking waves, flowing over the skull. The victim's bony fingers are submersed in the water, grasping at the waves, as he tries to pull himself out. I don't find this to be at all morbid; it is a beautiful memorial and a virtuoso work of sculpture. To create water from marble and to contain so much emotion in a piece of art is inspiring. Please click the photo to see a larger picture.

The four pictures below are in Massa, in the heart of the Massa Carrara marble quarrying district. The bearded face is 4' tall (over one meter).

Faces on a monumental pillar supporting a statue

This is the restored Ducal palace in Massa. There are actually six grotesque faces in this photo- click to see the large picture and try to find all of them.

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© 1994-2008 Walter S. Arnold, Sculptor/Stone Carver
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	The town of Montecatini Terme is world famous for its hot springs. Less known is that it is a treasure trove of grotesques.

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