Ships Through the Ages: Great Carrack, Spanish Caravel, Galleass
Ships Through the Ages: Great Carrack, Spanish Caravel, Galleass
Item Information
Title:
Ships Through the Ages: Great Carrack, Spanish Caravel, Galleass
Description:
Great Carrack: The "carrack,” a sailing ship of the 14th-17th centuries, was developed in Portugal and Spain, and characteristically sports three masts, as seen here, with square sails on the front and main mast, and a lateen, or triangular sail in the back. The carrack was used for merchant trading between the Mediterranean and the Baltic. The carrack was a stable and expansive ship, used often by explorers such as Vasco de Gama. The bulk of the vessel can be seen in the front detailing of the painting, outlining the method of carvel planking, where the hull planks create a smooth frame by being placed edge to edge. / Spanish Caravel: A lightweight and easily steered ship, the caravel was developed in Spain and Portugal in the 15th century and was used through the 17th century for exploration. The Niña and the Pinta, used by Christopher Columbus, were originally 15th-century caravels. The ship was built lightly and could sail upwind and journey upriver in shallower water much nearer to shore, making it ideal for trade and exploration. Here, King portrays the caravel as being quite large, perhaps to better showcase the side-rigging of the central square sail, distinguishing this vessel as a "round caravel." / Galleass: A Galleass was a type of warship that combined the capacity for armament with the nimble steering of the oared galley, usually worked by five men. A galleass typically rode higher on the water, as King depicts here, the rather bulky galley appearing to rock on the undulating waves as the oars slice into the waters, enabling the ship to maneuver more precisely through the water. The galleass was the precursor to the lighter frigate ship.
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Notes:
Description of ships written in 1935.
Notes (historical):
Ships Through the Ages, originally four murals painted by Frederic Leonard King between 1934 and 1935, was commissioned as part of the Public Works of Art Project for the Jeffries Point Branch of the Boston Public Library. In 1956, the Jeffries Point Branch closed, and the murals were divided into smaller paintings and relocated to the East Boston Branch Library where they are currently on display; however, several sections of the murals are missing.
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