Archive for April, 2010

I visited a friend’s house fairly recently and, though I don’t generally take note of such things, I became fascinated by his furnishings. The style was something he described as steam punk, a kind of futuristic Victorian, which sounded as if it arrived directly from Jules Verne, a a little like 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, collection of interesting artifacts, statues and intriguing ancient wall reliefs.  It went with his house, originally constructed in the 1920′s and created a warm, intriguing inside properly suitable for his large collection of books.

My home is instead modern-day, so when I thought about options for decorating my living area (something I had been advised was ‘up to me’) I declined the steam punk concept. While I am no interior designer I can see that a certain proportion between interior and outside is beneficial. Although modern houses are spacious they may be really dull, i quickly realized this gave me a lot more range to stamp my individuality on the room, and that notion gave me the concept to make use of wall art and wall sculptures to supply my room some personality, but what would work best?

Ancient Greek structures weren’t what we understand today. Most people understand that they were beautiful buildings which stood, oftentimes for centuries, prior to suffering deterioration we know now, but did you  know that they were multi-colored?  You wouldn’t think so to examine the remains inside a museum. I used to take my lunch while admiring the huge Assyrians gateways in the British Museum in London,  just along from room 18, the home of the ‘Elgin marbles’. These famous sculptures were stripped away from the Parthenon in the initial years of the 19th century by the Earl of Elgin,  the Greek government is still seeking to get them back.  The sculptures tend to be stark, white and intensely beautiful, precisely what we think of whenever we think ‘classical art’ but what might the ancients have thought of these? Euripides provide us with a hint 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 spectacular marble statues in their gleaming white were once bright and multi-colored. So different from what we observe now and associate with the ancient world, that it’s really difficult to picture.

We look at the ancient gods as abstract, consequently ancient wall sculptures such as Poseidon in his chariot are ‘classical’ and completely at home in a modern room. It was only at the Renaissance that, discovering ancient sculpture removed of their color by time, the sculptors thought they had originally been white marble, and set out to copy them.   In antiquity the Greeks believed in living breathing Gods;their statues were colored brightly in order to reflect that. Although we enjoy the amazing craftsmanship of the Parthenon statues the ancients adored their realistic quality so much so it was said that at certain times of the day it was as if the gods in their friezes actually moved. The statues and painting techniques had been made to bond and enhance the three dimensional quality of the natural stone, bringing the subject alive. Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann is working hard to analyze ancient statues and create authentic reproductions. These, complete with intricate paint techniques and pigments are as close as it can be to those used in ancient times and the final results are intriguing; the ancient world will never appear the same again.

What exactly should I do? I could decide on classical Greek wall art and create a modern room, making my choice on the basis of symbolism. Hercules wrestling the lion could emphasize that even when my todo checklist is a tad lengthy, it is not the Labours of Hercules, whereas Dionysus on a donkey would help remind me that the point of work is always to pay for the fun in the future. As an inhabitant of the New World I could decide on Mayan wall reliefs, but I believe my choice could 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 of the Ancient Egyptians have an endless fascination. We are more accustomed to color in relation to Egypt, and therefore see these more as they really were, striking and extraordinary in the desert sunlight.  Egyptian decor could definitely work.

For my Bedroom my main options are clear; Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom, to keep me right always!