BUT NASA’S ISN’T JUST MAKING DISCOVERIES IN SPACE. IN FACT, A NASA GLENN RESEARCHER IN CLEVELAND RECENTLY HELPED TO ANSWER ONE OF THE GREAT MYSTERIES OF THE ART WORLD – HERE ON EARTH!
INTRICATE CARVINGS DEPICTING BIBLICAL SCENES OUT OF BOXWOOD SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND HAVE LONG BEEN A SOURCE OF WONDER FOR ART ENTHUSIASTS... THE 16TH CENTURY CREATIONS WERE COVETED BY ELITE CLIENTS SUCH AS KING HENRY THE EIGHTH. IT'S BEEN LARGELY UNKNOWN JUST HOW ARTISTS WERE ABLE TO USE SUCH PRECISE TECHNIQUES ON THE TINY TREASURES... HOWEVER THANKS TO MICRO CT-SCANNERS AND THE TEAMWORK OF SCIENTISTS, INCLUDING NASA GLENN'S RICHARD RAUSER, WE HAVE SOME ANSWERS.
THE MICRO-CT SCANS REVEALED THE PIECES WERE CARVED FROM SINGLE SLIVERS OF BOXWOOD, BUT IN PARTS, LIKE STAGE SETS, THEN HELD TOGETHER, GRAIN ALIGNED, WITH TINY BOXWOOD PINS SMALLER THAN A SINGLE GRASS SEED. ONE CURATOR DESCRIBED THE PIECES AS, REPRESENTING "THE LIMITLESS POTENTIAL FOR HUMAN CREATIVITY IN A WAY THAT IS UNIVERSAL." A NEW EXHIBIT FEATURING NEARLY 50 OF THE 'SMALL WONDERS' OPENED LAST WEEK AT NEW YORK'S METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
Instructional Links
Website Article & Video: Mental Floss, See 500-Year-Old Miniature Boxwood Carvings in Toronto | Includes images & video of curators discussing miniatures.
Website Article: The Wood Database, Boxwood
Website Article: Smithsonian, National Museum of American History, From Relic to Historical Artifact