On one spring day in the early 1970s, writer David Esterly paused to admire a stunning wooden carving inside a London church.
“On the panel behind the altar, I saw these extraordinary cascades of leaves and flowers and fruits, carved to a fineness and fluent realism, which seemed to me breathtaking,” Esterly recalled in an interview with Jacki Lyden, host of weekends on All Things Considered.
The carvings he discovered that day were the work of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), who is considered the greatest wood carver of all time. His work can be seen at St.
Article source: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/06/168632372/re-creating-the-lost-carving-of-an-english-genius