"Letting the Wood Rest"

I took this photo in the workshop of Franco Furlanetto.

Contrary to what one might expect, a remer doesn't usually carve a forcola from start to finish all at once. In many cases he'll do some of the preliminary cutting, and then let the wood "rest" for a time. I've heard "months" as well as "a year or two" given as the wait time before a remer completes the piece.

It's fun to examine each chunk of wood and try to determine the intended finished-product.

I once saw a bunch of huge stones in Florence known as "Michael Angelo's Unfinished Works". These are partially carved sculptures, which portray the appearance of people trying to break free from the marble they were being carved from.

Looking at this group of partially complete sculptures reminds me a little of Michael Angelo's Unfinished Works.