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Port beak-head railing, carved in the form of a large Triton with two intertwining fish tails. The head is viewed in left profile, although quite a large part of the right side of the face and the right eye can be seen as it is carved in high relief. Its torso and fish tails are carved en face. The large head shows an old man’s face with a long beard, wearing a helmet with what is probably a lion’s head on it. The male figure’s naked muscular body extends downwards into twisted scaly tails that terminate in naturalistic fins. The Triton has no arms, in their place there are simple leaf forms. The sculpture is carved in one piece, except for smaller pieces of the torso which were carved separately and attached by means of treenails. The back of the sculpture is, overall, smooth and even, however, in its upper part there are three large grooves. In its lower part there are a number of small rectangular grooves close to the bottom edge. There are markings that suggests that something, possibly another sculpture, has lain upon the horizontal part of the Triton. The sculpture is relatively well preserved. The undecorated continuation of the beak-head railing is broken off. Location on ship The sculpture is located along the upper part of the beak-head on the port side. The sculpture forms the upper border of the beak-head, extending from the hull to the forward point of the beak-head. With the head end the Triton is attached to the hull at the level of the upper-deck railing, while the foot end is fastened to the timbers or ribs of the beak-head. Repositioned on the ship on 19-01-1972. Iconography Tritons and other mythological sea creatures with human torsos and fish-tails, sea gods and the like, represent significant elements in the marine iconography of renaissance art. In antique mythology Tritons are a kind of lower form of sea divinities, the sons of Poseidon, Neptune, and Amphitrite. They were depicted as male figures with the lower part of their bodies transformed into single or double fish tails. In renaissance art the Tritons were often used as Herms or Atlantes. They were often used in connection with wells or fountains. As for the lion-like head which decorates the helmet of the Triton, the motif can be traced back to Hercules and his lion skin. Hercules'strength has been transferred to the Triton to emphasize its function as a constructional piece of the beak-head. Woodcarver Woodcarver is probably Mårten Redtmer. Both railing Tritons are carved from the same pattern and are evidently by the same artist. Stylistically there are several correspondences with other Tritons on the ship. Bibliography Soop, H., The Power and the Glory, Stockholm 1992. Category 36, pp. 36, 165-166. Exhibited in "The Power and the Glory", The Old Wasavarvet Museum, 1975-1988. Inventoried 1974.
Photo: Ask, Monika / Vasamuseet
Port beak-head railing, carved in the form of a large Triton with two intertwining fish tails. The head is viewed in left profile, although quite a large part of the right side of the face and the right eye can be seen as it is carved in high relief. Its torso and fish tails are carved en face. The large head shows an old man’s face with a long beard, wearing a helmet with what is probably a lion’s head on it. The male figure’s naked muscular body extends downwards into twisted scaly tails that terminate in naturalistic fins. The Triton has no arms, in their place there are simple leaf forms. The sculpture is carved in one piece, except for smaller pieces of the torso which were carved separately and attached by means of treenails. The back of the sculpture is, overall, smooth and even, however, in its upper part there are three large grooves. In its lower part there are a number of small rectangular grooves close to the bottom edge. There are markings that suggests that something, possibly another sculpture, has lain upon the horizontal part of the Triton. The sculpture is relatively well preserved. The undecorated continuation of the beak-head railing is broken off. Location on ship The sculpture is located along the upper part of the beak-head on the port side. The sculpture forms the upper border of the beak-head, extending from the hull to the forward point of the beak-head. With the head end the Triton is attached to the hull at the level of the upper-deck railing, while the foot end is fastened to the timbers or ribs of the beak-head. Repositioned on the ship on 19-01-1972. Iconography Tritons and other mythological sea creatures with human torsos and fish-tails, sea gods and the like, represent significant elements in the marine iconography of renaissance art. In antique mythology Tritons are a kind of lower form of sea divinities, the sons of Poseidon, Neptune, and Amphitrite. They were depicted as male figures with the lower part of their bodies transformed into single or double fish tails. In renaissance art the Tritons were often used as Herms or Atlantes. They were often used in connection with wells or fountains. As for the lion-like head which decorates the helmet of the Triton, the motif can be traced back to Hercules and his lion skin. Hercules'strength has been transferred to the Triton to emphasize its function as a constructional piece of the beak-head. Woodcarver Woodcarver is probably Mårten Redtmer. Both railing Tritons are carved from the same pattern and are evidently by the same artist. Stylistically there are several correspondences with other Tritons on the ship. Bibliography Soop, H., The Power and the Glory, Stockholm 1992. Category 36, pp. 36, 165-166. Exhibited in "The Power and the Glory", The Old Wasavarvet Museum, 1975-1988. Inventoried 1974.
Photo: Ask, Monika / Vasamuseet
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