Relief from the Drab: Accent Your Walls with Wall Reliefs
I saw a friend recently and, although I don’t generally notice, I was interested in his interior decoration. The style is known as steam punk, a kind of futuristic Victorian, which seemed as if it came straight from Jules Verne, a sort of Captain Nemo meets Robur the Conqueror, all shining brass, leather, futuristic technologies, and clockwork. My friend’s version was much more ‘Indiana Jones’, with his steamer trunk table, assortment of fascinating artifacts, sculpture and intriguing ancient wall reliefs. It went with his house, originally built in the 1920’s and created a comfortable, interesting interior well suited to his large collection of books.
My home is instead more contemporary, so when I considered ways of furnishing my living area (something I had been advised was ‘up to me’) I rejected the steam punk concept. While I am no interior designer I can see that a certain proportion between interior and exterior is useful. While modern homes are usually roomy they are often really dull, i quickly recognized this gave me a lot more range to stamp my character on the room, and that thought gave me the concept to use wall art and wall sculptures to supply my room some personality, but what to choose?
Old Greek buildings weren’t what we see today. Most people understand that they were beautiful buildings that were standing, oftentimes for centuries, prior to suffering deterioration we know now, but did you realize that they had been colorful? You probably would not think so to look at the remains inside a museum. I used to eat my lunch while appreciating the huge Assyrians gateways within the British Museum in London, just along from room 18, home of the ‘Elgin marbles’. These famous sculptures were removed from the Parthenon in the initial years of the 19th century by Earl of Elgin, the Greek government is still trying to get them back. The sculptures are stark, white and incredibly beautiful, exactly what we think of whenever we think ‘classical art’ yet what might the ancients have thought of these? Euripides impart us with a clue in his play ‘Helen of Troy’ when Helen says ‘If only I could shed my beauty and assume an uglier aspect, the way you wipe paint off a statue’. Those beautiful marble statues in their sparkling white were once vivid and multi-colored. So distinctive from what we see today and connect with the ancient world, that it’s truly difficult to imagine.
We all look at the ancient gods as abstract, consequently ancient wall sculptures such as Poseidon in his chariot are ‘classical’ and wonderfully at home in a modern room. It was only at the Renaissance that, discovering ancient sculpture stripped of their color by time, the sculptors believed they had originally been white marble, and set out to emulate them. In antiquity the Greeks believed in living breathing Gods;their particular statues were painted brightly to indicate that. While we appreciate the awesome craftsmanship of the Parthenon sculptures the ancients adored their lifelike quality so much so it was said that at certain times of the day it was as though the gods in their friezes actually moved. The sculpture and painting methods had been designed to bond and enhance the three dimensional quality of the stone, bringing the subject alive. Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann is working hard to analyse ancient sculpture and create authentic reproductions. These, detailed with intricate paint techniques and pigments are as close as possible to those used in ancient times and the results are intriguing; the ancient world won’t ever appear the same again.
What exactly should I do? I could decide on classical Greek wall art and create a modern room, making my personal choice on the basis of meaning. Hercules wrestling the lion might emphasize that even when my todo list can be a bit lengthy, it’s not the Labours of Hercules, whereas Dionysus on a donkey would remind me the point of work is always to pay for the fun in the future. Being an inhabitant of the New World I could use Mayan wall reliefs, but I think my selection will be more ancient still. From Ramses who drove out the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh, to the idea of Maat, goddess of justice and order, the wall sculptures from the Ancient Egyptians hold a never-ending enchantment. We are more familiar with coloration when it comes to Egypt, and hence observe these more as they really were, bold and extraordinary in the desert sunlight. Egyptian decor could definitely be the right choice.
For my Den the main options are evident; Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom, to help keep me right all the time!