The “black sheep” of the Bronte family was chosen as the unlikely subject for the latest piece of artwork to commemorate the literary family.

Chainsaw artist Dominic Clare spent a day carving a sculpture of Branwell Bronte from a tree felled at the Bronte Parsonage Museum earlier this year.

Fascinated visitors to the Haworth museum were able to watch Mr Clare in action as he drew the outline of Branwell’s face onto the wood, then used a chainsaw to cut the lines.

The tree, which had become diseased, was one of a pair of Cypress pines believed to have been planted in the Parsonage garden by Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls as part of their wedding celebrations.

A seedling from the tree was taken before it was felled and has been replanted in the same spot.

The sculpture of Branwell is set to be displayed at the museum throughout the summer.

An information panel inside the museum explains to visitors that Branwell is seen as the black sheep of the family. With that in mind, why was the artist so keen to make him the focus of his work?

“I was taken by the self-portrait that Branwell did and I used that for inspiration to carve a larger version onto the panel,” said Mr Clare, from Beddgelert, in North Wales.

“I just like the marks Branwell makes on the paper – he was an artist himself obviously,” added Mr Clare.

Jenna Holmes, arts officer at the museum, said: “It’s a fantastic thing for visitors to see. It’s quite a dramatic sight to see an artist working with a chainsaw.

“It was a tree that was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Bronte on her wedding day in 1854 and unfortunately it had to be felled this January because it had become diseased. We thought it would be a lovely way to commemorate the tree and create a fun event for visitors.

“A sapling was taken from the original tree so something will, hopefully, grow back in the same spot as the original.”

A description of Branwell, displayed on an information board near the museum entrance, said: “The popular story is that he was an alcoholic drug addict who wasted his talents and held his sisters back.

“As a young man, Branwell showed great promise as an artist and writer. His family were very proud of his talents. His poetry was admired by experts and was published five years before any of his sisters’ work. He also played an active part in Haworth life.

“Branwell did abuse drugs and alcohol in the last years of his life after a failed love affair. But Mrs Gaskell exaggerated Branwell’s downfall in her biography of Charlotte, and later writers have followed her lead.”

e-mail: will.kilner @telegraphandargus.co.uk