Val Gardena, Italy
By Matthew Kalash -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 7/1/2006
Above, sheer gray cliffs pierced a cloudless sky, and green fields swept down a valley blanketed with wildflowers and brimming with crystal clear mountain streams; at times it was hard to believe that the hills weren't actually alive with the sound of music. All this natural beauty was the backdrop for a tour of Val Gardena, Italy, June 7–11, at the invitation of the Italian Trade commission and Gardena Art, a consortium of 30 local companies dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of traditional handmade woodcarvings.
The art of woodcarving in Val Gardena dates back to about 1600, when farmers and their families, snowed in for the winter, carved wood for recreation. As the skill of their winter hobby grew, the farmers of the region began taking their wares down the mountain to sell at springtime markets.
After the World War I — and the transfer of the valley's sovereignty from Austria to Italy — the artisans of Val Gardena turned their talents toward producing religious sculptures such as Christ figures and nativity scenes. Since then, the valley's master woodcarvers have become the number one source for religious wooden sculpture in Europe.
On June 9, the American delegation of buyers and retailers was taken on a tour of the various production stages for Gardena Art, to see just how a woodcarving goes from a piece of one-of-a-kind folk art to a finely crafted product line.
First, we visited the studio of master carver Leo Moroder, who begins by sketching the figure he plans to carve. Then, working in clay, he creates a three-dimensional scale model. Finally, using the model as his template, the master carver brings the figure to life from a block of wood, first in rough form, then adding greater and greater detail as the carving takes shape
From there, the finished woodcarving is sent to a factory in Verona, which creates a bronze cast for a pantograph, a woodcarving machine invented by, and still used exclusively by, Val Gardena woodcarvers. The pantograph utilizes a series of arms framed to the guide of a master machine operator, who traces the bronze cast, causing the machine arms to duplicate his movements with drill heads, carving exact shapes in blocks of wood.
Finally, each piece is sent to another workshop to add details such as painting, gilding, and antiquing, all of which is done by hand, adding to the uniqueness and quality of Gardena Art pieces.
