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MURAL DECORATION
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MURAL DECORATION
, a See also:general See also:term for the See also:art of ornamenting See also:wall surfaces
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There is scarcely one of the numerous branches of decorative art which has not at some See also:time or other been applied to this purpose.' For what may be called the See also:practical or furnishing point of view, see WALL-COVERINGS
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Here the subject is treated rather as See also:part of the See also:history of art
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I
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Reliefs sculptured in See also:Marble or See also:
More rarely the ground was See also:left the natural tint of the stone or marble, and only the figures and hieroglyphs painted
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In the See also:case of See also:sculpture in hard See also:basalt or See also:granite the See also:painting appears often to have been omitted altogether
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The See also:absence of See also:perspective effects and the severe self-See also:restraint of the sculptors in the See also:matter of See also:composition show a sense of See also:artistic fitness in this kind of decoration
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That the rigidity of these sculptured pictures did not arise from want of skill or observation of nature on the part of the artists is apparent when we examine their representations of birds and animals; the See also:special characteristics of each creature and See also:species were unerringly caught by the See also:ancient See also:Egyptian, and reproduced in stone or See also:colour, in a See also:half-symbolic way, suggesting those peculiarities of See also:form, plumage, or See also:movement which are the " differentia " of each, other ideas bearing less directly on the point being eliminated
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The subjects of these mural sculptures are endless; almost every possible incident in See also:man's life here or beyond the See also:grave is reproduced with the closest detail
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The See also:tomb of Tih at Sakkarah (about 4500 B.C.) has some of the finest and earliest specimens of these mural sculptures, especially rich in illustra-
I See also See also:CERAMICS ; See also:MOSAIC ; PAINTING ; SCULPTURE ; See also:TAPESTRY ; TILES; also EGYPT; Art and See also:Archaeology; See also:GREEK ART.; See also:ROMAN ART;
&c
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2 During the earliest times—more than 4000 years before our era —there appear to have been exceptions to this rule.tions of the domestic life and occupations of the Egyptians
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The latter tombs, as a rule, have sculptures depicting the religious See also:ritual and belief of the See also:people, and the temples combine these See also:hieratic subjects with the history of the reigns and See also:victor es of the Egyptian See also:kings
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The above remarks as to style and manner of See also:execution may be applied also to the wall-sculptures from the royal palaces of See also:Nineveh and See also:Babylon, the finest of which are shown by See also:inscriptions to date from the time of See also:Sennacherib to that of See also:Sardanapalus (from 705 to 625 B.C.)
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These are carved in low relief with almost See also:gem-like delicacy of detail on enormous slabs of See also: I) . The arrangement of these reliefs . in long See also:horizontal bands, and their reserved conventional treatment are somewhat similar to those of ancient Egypt, but they show a closer See also:attention to anatomical truth and a greater love for dramatic effect than any of the Egyptian reliefs . As in the art of Egypt, birds and animals are treated with greater realism than human figures . A relief in the See also:British Museum, representing a lioness wounded by an arrow in her spine and dragging helplessly her paralysed See also:hind legs, affords an example of wonderful truth and pathos . Remarkable technical skill is shown in all these sculptures by the way in which the sculptors have obtained the utmost amount of effect with the smallest possible amount of relief, in this respect calling strongly to mind a similar peculiarity in the work of the Florentine See also:Donatello . The See also:palace at Mashita on the See also:hajj road in See also:Moab, built by the Sasanian See also:Chosroes II . (A.D . 614-627), is ornamented on the exterior with beautiful surface sculpture in stone . The designs are of See also:peculiar See also:interest as forming a See also:link between Assyrian and See also:Byzantine art, and they are not remotely connected with the decoration on Moslem buildings of comparatively See also:modern date.3 Especially in See also:Italy during the See also:middle ages a similar treatment 3 Among the Mashita carvings occurs that oldest and most widely spread of all forms of See also:Aryan ornament—the sacred See also:tree between tvo animals . The sculptured slab over the " See also:lion-See also:gate " at See also:Mycenae has the other See also:common variety of this See also:motive—the See also:fire-See also:altar between the beasts . These designs, occasionally varied by figuresof human worshippers instead of the beasts, survived long after their meaning had been forgotten; even down to the See also:present See also:day they frequently appear on carpets and other textiles of See also:Oriental manufactufe . of marble in low relief was frequently used for wall-decoration . The most notable example is the beautiful See also:series of reliefs on the See also:west front of See also:Orvieto See also:Cathedral, the work of Giovanni See also:Pisano and his pupils in the See also:early part of the 14th See also:century . These are small reliefs, illustrative of the Old and New Testaments, of graceful design and skilful execution . A growth of branching foliage serves to unite and See also:frame the tiers of subjects . Of a widely different class, but of considerable importance in the history of mural decoration, are the beautiful reliefs, sculptured in stone and marble, with which Moslem buildings in many parts of the See also:world are ornamented . These are mostly geometrical patterns of great intricacy, which See also:cover large surfaces, frequently broken up into panels by bands of more flowing ornament or Arabic inscriptions . The mosques of See also:Cairo, See also:India and See also:Persia, and the domestic Moslem buildings of See also:Spain are extremely rich in this method of decoration . In western See also:Europe, especially during the 15th century, stone panelled-work with rich See also:tracery formed a large part of the See also:scheme of decoration in all the more splendid buildings . Akin to this, though without actual relief, is the stone tracery—inlaid flush into rough See also:flint walls—which was a mode of ornament largely used for enriching the exteriors of churches in the counties of See also:Norfolk and See also:Suffolk . It is almost peculiar to that See also:district, and is an example of the skill and See also:taste with which the See also:medieval builders adapted their method of ornamentation to the materials in See also:hand . 2 . Marble See also:Veneer.—Another widely used method of mural decoration has been the application of thin marble linings to wall-surfaces, the decorative effect being produced by the natural beauty of the marble itself and not by sculptured reliefs . One of the oldest buildings in the world, the so-called " See also:Temple of the See also:Sphinx " among the Giza pyramids, is built of great blocks of .granite, the inside .of the rooms being lined with slabs of semi-transparent See also:African See also:alabaster about 3 in. thick . In the 1st century thin veneers of richly coloured See also:marbles were largely used by the See also:Romans to decorate See also:brick and stone walls . See also:Pliny (H . N. See also:xxxvi . 6) speaks of this practice as being a new and degenerate invention in his time . Many examples exist at See also:Pompeii and in other Roman buildings . Numerous Byzantine churches, such as St Saviour's at See also:Constantinople, and St See also:George's, Thessalonica, have the See also:lower part of the See also:internal walls richly ornamented in this way . It was commonly used to form a dado, the upper part of the See also:building being covered with mosaic . The cathedral of See also:Monreale and other Siculo-See also:Norman buildings owe a great See also:deal of their splendour to these linings of richly variegated marbles . In most cases the See also:main surface is of See also:light-coloured marble or alabaster, inlaid bands of darker tint or coloured mosaic being used to See also:divide the surface into panels . The peculiar See also:Italian-See also:Gothic of See also:northern and central Italy during the 14th and i5th centuries, and at See also:Venice some centuries earlier, relied greatly for its effects on this treatment of marble . St See also:Mark's at Venice and the cathedral of See also:Florence are magnificent examples of this work used externally . Both inside and out most of the richest examples of Moslem See also:architecture owe much to this method of decoration; the mosques and palaces of India and Persia are in many cases completely lined with the most brilliant sorts of marble of contrasting tints . 3 . Wall-Linings of Glazed Bricks or Tiles.—This is a very important class of decoration, and from its almost imperishable nature, its richness of colour, and its brilliance of surface is capable of producing a splendour of effect only rivalled by See also:glass mosaics . In the less important form—that of bricks modelled or stamped in relief with figures and inscriptions, and then coated with a brilliant colour in siliceous See also:enamel—it was largely used by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians as well as by the later Sasanians of Persia . In the r 1th and 12th centuries the Moslems of Persia brought this art to great perfection, and used it on a large scale, chiefly, though not invariably, for internal walls . The main surfaces were covered by thick earthenware tiles, overlaid with a white enamel . These were not rectangular, but of various shapes, mostly some form of a See also:star, arranged so as to See also:fit closely together . Delicate and minute patterns were thenpainted on the tiles, after the first firing, in a See also:copper-like colour with strong metallic lustre, produced by the deoxidization of a metallic See also:salt in the See also:process of the second firing . Bands and friezes with Arabic inscriptions, modelled boldly in high relief, were used to break up the monotony of the surface . In these, as a rule, the projecting letters were painted See also:blue, and the flat ground enriched with very minute patterns in the lustre-colour . This See also:combination of bold relief and delicate painting produces great vigour and richness of effect, equally telling whether viewed in the See also:mass or closely examined See also:tile by tile . In the 15th century lustre-colours, though still largely employed for plates, vases and other vessels, especially in Spain, were little used for tiles; and another class of See also:ware, rich in the variety and brilliance of its colours, was extensively used by Moslem builders all over the See also:Mahommedan world . The most sumptuous sorts of tiles used for wall-coverings are those of the so-called " Rhodian " and Damascene wares, the work of See also:Persian potters at many places . Those made at See also:Rhodes are coarsely executed in comparison with the produce of the older See also:potteries at See also:Isfahan and See also:Damascus (see CERAMICS) . These are rectangular tiles of earthenware, covered with a white " slip," and painted in brilliant colours with slight conventionalized representations of various See also:flowers, especially the See also:rose, the See also:hyacinth and the See also:carnation . The red used is applied in considerable See also:body, so as to stand out in slight relief . Another class of design is more geometrical, forming See also:regular repeats; but the most beautiful compositions are those in which the natural growth of trees and flowers is imitated, the branches and blossoms spreading over a large surface covered by hundreds of tiles without any repetition . One of the finest examples is the " See also:Mecca wall " in the See also:mosque of See also:Ibrahim Agha, Cairo; and other Egyptian mosques are adorned in the same way (fig . 2) . Another variety, the special See also:production of Damascus, FtG . 2.—One of the Wall-tiles from the Mosque of Ibrahim Agha, Cairo . (to in. square.) has the design almost entirely executed in blue . It was about A.D . 1600, in the reign of Shah Abbas I., that this class of pottery was brought to greatest perfection, and it is in Persia that the most magnificent examples are found, dating from the 12th to the 17th centuries . The most remarkable examples for- beauty and extent are the mosque at See also:Tabriz, built by See also:Ali Khoja in the r 2th century, the ruined tomb of See also:Sultan Khodabend (A.D . 1303-1316) at Sultaniyas, the palace of Shah Abbas I. and the tomb of Abbas II . (d . A.D . 1666) at Isfahan, all of which buildings are covered almost entirely inside and out . • Another important class of wall-tiles are those manufactured by the See also:Spanish See also:Moors, called " azulejos," especially during the 14th century . These are in a very different style, being designed to suggest or imitate mosaic . They have intricate inter-lacing geometrical patterns marked out by lines in slight relief; brilliant enamel colours were then burned into the tile, the projecting lines forming boundaries for the See also:pigments . A rich effect is produced by this combination of relief and colour . They are mainly used for dadoes about 4 ft. high, often surmounted by a See also:band of tiles with painted inscriptions . The See also:Alhambra and Generalife Palaces at See also:Granada, begun ,in the 13th century, but mainly built and decorated by Yusuf I. and Mahommed V . (A.D . 1333-1391), and the Alcazar at See also:Seville have the most beautiful examples of these " azulejos." The latter building chiefly owes its decorations to Pedro the Cruel (A.D . 1364), who employed Moorish workmen for its tile-coverings and other ornaments . Many other buildings in See also:southern Spain are enriched in the same way, some as See also:late as the 16th century . Almost peculiar to Spain are a variety of wall-tile the work of Italians in the 16th and 17th centuries . These are effective, though rather coarsely painted, and have a rich yellow as the predominant colour . The Casa de Pilatos and See also:Isabel's See also:Chapel in the Alcazar Palace, both at Seville, have the best specimens of these, dating about the See also:year 1500 . In other Western countries tiles have been used more for pavements than for wall-decoration . 4 . Wall-Coverings of Hard See also:Stucco, frequently enriched with Reliefs.—The Greeks and Romans possessed the See also:secret of making a hard kind of stucco, creamy in colour, and capable of receiving a See also:polish like that of marble; it would stand exposure to the See also:weather . Those of the early Greek temples which were built, not of marble, but of stone, such as the Doric temples at See also:Aegina, Phigaleia, See also:Paestum and See also:Agrigentum, were all entirely coated inside and out with this material, an admirable surface for the further polychromatic decoration with which all Greek buildings seem to have been ornamented . Another highly artistic use of stucco among the Greeks and Romans, for the interiors of buildings, consisted in covering the walls and vaults with a smooth coat, on which while still wet the outlines of figures, See also:groups and other ornaments were sketched with a point; more stucco was then applied in lumps and rapidly modelled into delicate relief before it had time to set . Some tombs in Magna Graecia of the 4th century B.c. are decorated in this way with figures of See also:nymphs, cupids, animals and wreaths, all of which are See also:models of See also:grace and elegance, and remarkable for the dexterous way in which a few rapid touches of the modelling See also:tool or thumb have produced a work of the highest artistic beauty (fig . 3) . Roman specimens of this sort of decoration are common, See also:fine examples have been found in the See also:baths of See also:Titus and numerous tombs near See also:Rome, as well as in many of the houses of Pompeii . These are mostly executed with great skill and frequently with See also:good taste, though in some cases, especially at Pompeii, elaborate architectural compositions with awkward attempts at effects of violent perspective, modelled in slight relief on flat wall-surfaces, produce an unpleasing effect . Other Pompeian examples, where the surface is divided into flat panels, each containing a figure or See also:group, have great merit for their delicate richness, without offending against the canons of wall-decoration, one of the first conditions of which is that no See also:attempt should be made to disguise the fact of its being a solid wall and a flat surface . The Moslem architects of the middle ages made great use of stucco ornament both for See also:external and internal walls . The stucco is modelled in high or low relief in great variety of geometrical patterns, alternating with bands of more flowing ornament or long Arabic inscriptions . Many of their buildings, such as the mosque of Tulun at Cairo (A.D . 879), owe nearly all their beauty to this fine stucco work, the purely architectural See also:shell of the structure being often See also:simple and devoid of ornament . These stucco reliefs were, as a rule, further decorated with delicate painting in See also:gold and colours . The Moorish See also:tower at See also:Segovia in Spain is a good example of this class of ornament used externally . With the exception of a few bands of brick and the stone See also:quoins at the angles, the whole exterior of the tower is covered with a network of stucco reliefs in simple geometrical patterns . The Alhambra at Granada and the Alcazar at Seville have the richest examples of this work .
The lower part of the walls is lined with marble or tiles to a height of about 4 ft. and above that in many cases the whole surface is encrusted with these reliefs, the varied surface of which, by producing endless gradations of See also:shadow, takes away any possible harshness from the brilliance of the gold and colours (fig
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4)
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During the 16th century, and even earlier, stucco wall-reliefs were used with considerable skill and decorative effect in Italy, See also:England and other Western countries
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Perhaps the most graceful
examples are the reliefs with which See also:Vasari in the 16th century encrusted pillars and other parts of the See also:court in the Florentine Palazzo Vecchio, built of plain stone by Michelozzo in 1454• Some are of flowing vines and other See also:plants winding spirally round the columns
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The See also:English examples of this work are effectively designed, though coarser in execution
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The outside of a half-timbered See also:house in the See also:market-See also:place at See also:Newark-upon-See also:Trent has high reliefs in stucco of canopied figures, dating from the end of the 15th century
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The counties of See also:Essex and Suffolk are rich in examples of this work used externally; and many 16th-century houses in England have fine internal stucco decoration, especially See also:Hardwicke See also: This work is effective at a distance, as it requires a bold style of handling, in which the shadows are indicated by See also:cross-hatched lines more or less near together) . Flowing arabesques mixed with See also:grotesque figures occur most frequently in sgraffito . In See also:recent years the sgraffito method has been revived; and the result of Mr See also:Moody's experiments may be seen on the See also:east wall of the Royal See also:College of See also:Science in See also:Exhibition Road, See also:London . 6 . Stamped See also:Leather.—This was a magnificent and expensive form of wall-See also:hanging, chiefly used during the 16th and 17th centuries . Skins, generally of goats or calves, were well tanned and cut into rectangular shapes . They were then covered with silverleaf, which was varnished with a transparent yellow See also:lacquer making the See also:silver look like gold . The skins were then stamped or embossed with patterns in relief, formed by heavy pressure from See also:metal See also:dies, one in relief and the other sunk . The reliefs were then painted by hand in many colours, generally brilliant ' A good description of the process is given by Vasari, Tre arti del disegno, cap. See also:xxvi.in See also:tone . Italy and Spain (especially See also:Cordova) were important seats of this manufacture; and in the 17th century a large quantity was produced in See also:France . Fig . 5 gives a good example of Italian stamped leather of the 16th century . In England; chiefly at See also:Norwich, this manufacture was carried on in the 17th and 18th centuries . In durability and richness of effect stamped leather surpasses most other forms of movable wall-decoration . 7 . Painted See also:Cloth.—Another form of wall-hanging, used most largely during the 15th and 16th centuries, and in a less extensive way a good deal earlier, is See also:canvas painted to imitate tapestry . English medieval inventories both of ecclesiastical and domestic goods frequently contain items such as these: " stayned cloths for hangings," "paynted cloths with stories and batailes," or " paynted cloths of beyond See also:sea work," or " of Flaunder's work." Many good artists working at See also:Ghent and See also:Bruges during the first half of the 15th century produced fine work of this class, as well as designs for real tapestry . Several of the great Italian artists devoted their skill in composition and invention to the painting of these wall-hangings . The most important existing example is the series of paintings of the See also:triumph of See also:Julius See also:Caesar executed by See also:Andrea See also:Mantegna (1485–1492) for Ludovico See also:Gonzaga, See also:duke of See also:Mantua, and now at See also:Hampton Court . These are usually, but wrongly, called " cartoons," as if they were designs meant to be executed in tapestry; this is not the case, as the paintings themselves were used as wall-hangings . They are nine in number and each compartment, 9 ft. square, was separated from the next by a See also:pilaster . They form a continuous procession, with life-sized figures, remarkable for their composition, drawing and delicate colouring—the latter unfortunately much disguised by " restoration." Like most of these painted wall-hangings, they are executed in See also:tempera, and rather thinly painted, so that the pigment might not crack off through the cloth falling slightly into folds . Another remarkable series of painted cloth hangings are those at See also:Reims Cathedral . In some cases dyes were used for this work . A MS. of the 15th century gives receipts for " painted cloth," showing that sometimes they were dyed in a manner similar to those See also:Indian stuffs which were afterwards printed, and are now called chintzes . These receipts are for real dyes, not for pigments, and among them is the earliest known description of the process called "setting" the See also:woad or See also:indigo vat, as well as a See also:receipt for removing or " discharging " the colour from a cloth already dyed . Another method employed was a. sort of " encaustic " process; the cloth was rubbed all over with See also:wax, and then painted in tempera; See also:heat was then applied so that the colours sank into the melting wax, and were thus firmly fixed upon the cloth . 8 . Printed Hangings and Wall-Papers.—The See also:printing of various textiles with dye-colours and mordants is probably one of the most ancient arts . Pliny (H . N. See also:xxxv.) describes a See also:dyeing process employed by the ancient Egyptians, in which the See also:pattern was probably formed by printing from blocks . Various methods have been used for this work—See also:wood blocks in relief, engraved metal plates, See also:stencil plates and even hand-painting; frequently two or more of these methods have been employed for the same pattern . The use of printed stuffs is of great antiquity among the See also:Hindus and See also:Chinese, and was certainly practised in western Europe in the 13th century, and perhaps earlier . The See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum has 13th-century specimens of See also:block-printed See also:silk made in See also:Sicily, of beautiful design . Towards the end of the 14th century a great deal of block-printed See also:linen was made in See also:Flanders, and largely imported into England . Wall-papers did not come into common use in Europe till the 18th century, though they appear to have been used much earlier by the Chinese . A few rare examples exist in England which may be as early as the 16th century; these are imitations, generally in See also:flock, of the fine old Florentine and Genoese cut velvets, and hence the style of the design in no way shows the date of the wall-See also:paper, the same traditional patterns being reproduced for many years with little or no See also: |