The History of the Artist Blacksmith

Hey dear Hive community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you had a weekend that was full of positive experiences! Today I would like to go into a little bit about art history and hope you can expand your knowledge a little.

The art of blacksmithing as you know it is already thousands of years old and it can be said that every work of the blacksmith is a kind of art and it ranges from the production of everyday objects such as spoons, plates or other cutlery to weapons, jewelry or other decorative items. This diverse craft is one of the oldest in the world and for many years it was described as an independent profession until the craft was divided into the different branches in the Middle Ages and at that time the weaponsmith, goldsmith, nailsmith, farrier and more were created. Even if you can consider all areas as an art form, when you speak of the artist blacksmith, nowadays someone who produces various objects such as fences, lanterns, sculptures or other decorative items with the help of metal and to illustrate this, I have collected some pictures that should express this art well. The processed metals can be divided into different epochs and first came the copper and then the bronze and iron age and already in ancient cultures it was about making artful objects with the different shapes through different techniques. The first art forms in ancient cultures are mainly limited to cutlery, vases or jewelry and already the Greek god Hephaestus and his Roman equivalent appear as a creator of breathtaking jewelry and, according to legends, hephaestus has made jewelry for Pandora or the nymphs and of course he was also considered the creator of unbeatable weapons.

The first candlesticks or fences made by the blacksmiths date back to the late Middle Ages and towards the end of the Middle Ages it came to the fact that more and more art objects were made of metal and the works of art quickly became common across Europe and one of the most important hotspots was Italy during this time. At that time, the weapons or armor forges were particularly present, which provided their works with numerous ornaments in order to give them a very special value of recognition and most of the market was covered by this area of blacksmiths at that time. The theme reached a climax during the Baroque period, where many buildings were decorated with magnificent metal ornaments and impressive fences, fireplaces, chandeliers, doors and other objects were made and typical was the magnificent appearance. The production of metal sculptures is also thousands of years old and has held up well to this day and is still a popular art form and it is an important part of the blacksmiths to produce stylish sculptures with often abstract shapes. Of course, the gold or silversmiths who have concentrated on the production of magnificent jewelry with fine ornaments are not to be neglected and to this day there are numerous blacksmiths who specialize in producing a variety of works and almost everywhere you pass by you can see traces of this important art form and every type of blacksmith is an artist in its own way.

Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about minerals! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens and the others with my iPhone 12!