21-FEB-2006
Quarter-galleries from below
This shot gives a good idea of the sheer mass of gingerbread that covers the aft structures of the vessel.
21-FEB-2006
Quarter-galleries from above
Here you can see the double quarter-galleries in some detail, a small one overhanging a larger one. They would have been used as latrines for the officers, and could house sharp-shooters in combat. Other than that, they were sheer dead-weight in the worst possible place on the ship.
21-FEB-2006
Stern overview
It's impossible to get a good shot of this part of the ship, unfortunately. The museum balcony neatly cuts it in two. Suffice to say that there is as much ship below this photo as there is in it!
21-FEB-2006
Sculpturework detail
This gang decorates the lower level of the stern galleries.
21-FEB-2006
Stern detail
A good view of some of the stern decorations.
21-FEB-2006
Stern detail
The upper level of the stern galleries, with window-openings.
21-FEB-2006
Taffrail
The top of it, rather, many many meters above the waterline. Zero technical function, this stuff was purely for decoration. I dare not guess how much it all weighs. Don't try this at home folks.
21-FEB-2006
Swedish coat-of-arms
The centre of attention within all the decoration, the taffrail decoration is a representation of the Swedish coat of arms supported by two lions. Of particular perverse interest is the presence of three crowns in the top-left and bottom-right part of the coat of arms, one each for Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The Danish king had them too, on his coat of arms. Needless to say, wars were fought over this for a couple of hundred years.
21-FEB-2006
Vasa coat-of-arms
Here is the personal coat of arms of the King, Gustav Adolf. He was of the house of Vasa, as indicated by the symbolism of the coat of arms, and in a non-literate age this was a far better way of telling the world the name of the ship than it would have been to spell it out in two-meter tall letters across the stern. They didn't start doing that for at least another hundred years.
21-FEB-2006
Quarter decoration detail
Another massive piece of decoration, placed as far above the waterline as humanly possible.
21-FEB-2006
Statue detail
A strapping fellow he is, too, with a nasty-looking sword. This piece is a modern reconstruction, but his partner on the starboard side is original.
21-FEB-2006
Quarter-gallery forward end
This is a classically Dutch design of quarter-gallery. Vasa was built by a Dutchman after all, working on contract for the Government.
