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The earliest recorded Iron artifacts, dating 3500 BC or earlier, are found at Jirzah in Egypt (fig.1) The earlier known example of use of smelted iron are frangements of a dagger blade in a bronze hilt, dating from 28th. Century BC. found at Tall Al-Asmar, in Mesopotania and some pieces of iron from Tall Chager Bazar in the same era and period. In Asia Minor and in the Roman Empire (fig.2), on the other hand, iron was probably regurlarly used from at least as early as 2000 BC.; from the ancient near East the knowledge of iron working was transmitted to Greece, whence it spread gradually to the rest of Europe. But the practice of Forging into decorative shapes does not seem to have become general until the
Middle Ages.
The Ironworks of Belgium and Holland prior to the 15th. Century, was in no way inferior to that produced elsewhere. It Was during this Century that design and craftsmen began to make their influence across the channel in England, reprsentative examples of this period can be found in the HervormdeKerk at Breda, the treasury door of the cathedral at Liegespires at Bruges, Ghent and Anwerp should be mentioned. After the Spanish domination, there was little design in
Belgium and Holland, and the Ironwork produced, fell under the spell of French import. The initial use of Iron-work in England,was purely protective, because of frequent attacks,so doors were strengthened with massive ironwork. A good example remains at Canterbury cathedral, Skipwith and Stillingfleet in Yorkshire, other works in the eastern counties and the west Midlands. In France as well, ornamental Ironworks, were not basically different from those found in England. The introduction of the Renaissance style did not radically alter the direction of the Smith's art. From the ascension of Louis XIV. the French ironworkers must be acknowledged as the cleverest in Europe, combining designs with masterly execution. The Art of Ironwork received a further impetus by the introduction of Ricoco style.
The movemnt initiated in 1723 and was due principally to the imagination of two artists: Juste Aurele-Meissonier architect, and Gilles-Marie Oppernordt. Later in the 18th Century, ironwork took on a more classical appearance as a result of a general revival of interest in Ancient Arts, and many Greek and Romans details were introduced into the ornamentation. In the Romanesque period in Germany, bronze was more preferred, but Ironwork because more popular during Renaissance was still used in Germany everywhere, with its extension to Austria and Switzerland.
Italy: The best examples of Ironwork in Italy, prior to the 14th Century, indicate a wide appreciation of how the material could be best worked with only the tools of a Smith. Some noteworthy examples are the chancel grille at the left of the nave in the Orvieto Cathedral (1337), the grille at the Baptistery of Prato Cathedral (1348), the screen of S.ta Croce in Florence (1371).
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Until the 16th, century italian smiths respected the natural characteristic of Wrought Iron by relying almost entirely upon those forms that could be wrought with hammer on a anvil. The grille was usually made by dividing it into regular panels with vertical and horizontal bars enriched with dentils or small projecting triangular blocks, often quatrefoil filled some or all of these panels, they were made in Tuscany from pierced plate and in Venice from separate scrolls collared together. A note example is Palazzo della Signoria, Siena, crowned by a repousse fritz and surmounted by a cresting of flowers, spikes and some animal heads. Notable center of artistic Ironworks, were Florence, Siena, Vicenza, Venice, Lucca and Rome, where masterpieces can be found in the form of gates, lanterns and the Banner holder as may be seen in Florence and Siena, and the rare Gondola Prows of Venice. Of the Ironworkers of the early Renaissance, the most famous, was the late 15th. |
Century craftsman Niccolo Grosso of Florence, nichnamed "Il Caparra" because he gave no credit but insisted on money account. From his hands is the wellknown Lantern of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.With the decadence of 17th. Century, ironwork paralled to architecture, designs were borrowed directly from France and Germany. The metal was often worked cold, using thin members and the resulting construction was flimsy, scrolls were often encased in thin grasslike leaves. Instead of using rods and bars, ribbon like were used, with cast ornament pinned on. |
Toward the end of the XIX Century and continuing until 1930's the Art Nouveau in France, Liberty in Italy, finds again its space in architecture and again another oportunity for this precious metal to prove its value in Art and Crafts. Then wars, revolutions and destruction in Europe meant some of these masterpieces of Art collected through centuries were thought to be lost forever, but Wrought Iron stood strong.
Today, after many years of Limbo, the blacksmith in the aprom of a steel worker, but with inside the same dignity of his forefather, claim his space in this world of technologies, plastics, flimsy designs and poor materials. Fights for keeping alive that Art which remained side to side to the most beautiful ornamental works since Centuries, that Art that never will die.
THE ART OF WROUGHT IRON |
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