Stories

Corentin & Alzira: Stone Sculpting

Portuguese master stone sculptor Alzira Antunes and French fellow Corentin Fossemo

Alzira Antunes first came into contact with stone at the family quarry, where she worked for several years. She then studied stone masonry at the National School of Arts and Crafts of Batalha. From here she became an assistant to Master Alfredo and started to teach artistic stonemasonry, creating her own workshop Gárgula Gótica in 1998, which she still runs today.

For Homo Faber Fellowship Alzira was paired with young French stone mason Corentin Fossemo who was an apprentice at Les Compagnons du devoir et du tour de France for 6 years where he learnt stonemasonry, restoration of ancient monuments and masonry.

The light of the Hidden Foliage

Master stone sculptor Alzira and fellow Corentin combined their skills to create a table lamp inspired by the symmetrical and geometric shapes characteristic of Art Deco style with external foliage on the base and hidden foliage in the lampshade, visible only when the lamp is illuminated. Made using recycled Portuguese white and pink marble, the lamp’s ornate decoration reproduces an ivy leaf widely used as a decorative element in Batalha monastery, Portugal.