Parana pine ?

I'm no carver, just a furniture maker.  I'm about to make a small
chest, in a medieval reproduction style. This will be decorated with
some simple carving, either chip carved roundels or gothic arcading
(like a row of church windows).  My timber choice could go either way
at the moment, either oak or parana pine.  The parana is there because
I've got some just the right size, it's less brittle than the oak
(English Q. robur), and it's a reasonable simulation of the old-growth
pines that an original chest might have been made from.

Now I'm not really familiar with parana pine, but I know that's it's
rather hard going to hand plane, yet close grained and seems to take a
good surface finish.  What's it like as a carving medium, for a novice
carver ?   Should I go with the oak instead, because the oak will be
easier to work (now there's a novelty).

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Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods