Walter S. Arnold, Sculptor/Stone Carver: Classically Trained in Italy. Custom hand-carved stone sculpture. Made in the USA and Italy.

Walter S. Arnold Sculptor/Stonecarver: Classically Trained in Italy. Custom hand-carved stone sculpture. Made in the USA and Italy.Classically Trained in Italy. Custom hand-carved stone sculpture. Made in the USA and Italy.
 

 
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.
Corbel under a balcony Don't bite the postman! Dragon on a 16th century baptismal font Bronze door knockerNote the owl in this column capital Crouched under a flower planter at the Bar Iris

Note that the four fountains below are true gargoyles, as the water flows through their mouths:
Marble gargoyle fountainancient wall fountainOld gargoyle set in a wallGreenman fountain

This is not a gargoyle or a grotesque, but I'm Marble carving of a drowning victim 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).
Bronze door knockerFaces on a monumental pillar supporting a statueMassive face
The Ducal Palace in MassaThis 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.
Small face in a sea shell on a pediment The town of Montecatini Terme is world famous for its hot springs. Less known is that it is a treasure trove of grotesques.  Geranium Balcony
Fountain, Piazza del Popolo Hotel corbels, Via Minzoni Vase, Via Della Salute  Pediment with open-mouthed face Column cap with faces Dragon Lady on Corso Matteotti Lions rampaging around the window Balcony with spooky leering face
Gargole!
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