Wall Reliefs add History and Life to Your Walls

I saw a friend’s house not too long ago and, even though I don’t usually take note of such things, I became interested in his home decor. The style is something called steam punk, a kind of futuristic Victorian, that seemed like it arrived straight from Jules Verne, a sort of Captain Nemo meets Robur the Conqueror, all shimmering brass, leather, futuristic technology, and clockwork. My friend’s version was much more ‘Indiana Jones’, with his steamer trunk table, collection of fascinating artifacts, statues and intriguing ancient wall reliefs.  It went with his home, originally constructed in the 1920′s and made a warm, fascinating inside properly suited to his large collection of books.

My house is rather more modern, so when I thought about options for furnishing my living room (something I had been informed was ‘up to me’) I declined the steam punk idea. While I am no interior designer I can see that a certain harmony between interior and exterior is beneficial. Although modern houses are spacious they are often really bland, then i recognized this gave me a lot more range to put my own individuality on the room, and that notion gave me the idea to make use of wall art and wall sculptures to give my room some individuality, but what would work best?

Old Greek structures were not what we understand today. Many people realize that they are stunning buildings that stood, oftentimes for centuries, prior to suffering deterioration we know now, but did you  know that they were colorful?  You probably would not think so to examine the remains in a museum. I used to eat my lunch while admiring the huge Assyrians gateways within the British Museum in London,  just along from room 18, the home of the ‘Elgin marbles’. These famous sculptures were removed from the Parthenon in the first years of the 19th century by Earl of Elgin,  the Greek government continues seeking to get them returned to Greece.  The sculptures are stark, white and intensely beautiful, precisely what we think of whenever we think ‘classical art’ yet exactly what would the ancients have thought of these? Euripides give us 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 stunning marble statues in their sparkling white were once bright and colorful. So totally different from what we see today and connect with the ancient world, that it’s truly difficult to envision.

We all look at the ancient gods as abstract, as a result ancient wall sculptures like Poseidon in his chariot are ‘classical’ and wonderfully at home in the modern room. It was only at the Renaissance that, discovering ancient sculpture stripped of their paint by time, the sculptors thought they had originally been white marble, and set out to emulate them.   In antiquity the Greeks believed in living breathing Gods;their statues were painted brightly in order to echo that. While we enjoy the amazing workmanship of the Parthenon statues the ancients admired their lifelike quality so much so that it was said that at certain times during the day it was as if the gods in their friezes actually moved. The statues and painting methods had been made to bond and boost the three dimensional quality of the natural stone, bringing the subject alive. Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann is working hard to analyze ancient sculpture and create authentic reproductions. These, complete with complex paint techniques and pigments are as close as it can be to those found in ancient times and the final results are intriguing; the ancient world won’t ever appear the same again.

So what should I do? I could decide on classical Greek wall art that will create a modern room, making my personal choice on the basis of symbolism. Hercules wrestling the lion might emphasize that even when my todo list is often a bit lengthy, it is not the Labours of Hercules, whereas Dionysus on a donkey might help remind me that the point of work is to provide for the enjoyment to come. As an inhabitant of the ” new world ” I could utilize Mayan wall reliefs, but I believe my selection will be more ancient still. From Ramses who drove out the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh, to the thought of Maat,  goddess of justice and order, the wall sculptures from the Ancient Egyptians carry an endless fascination. We are more familiar with coloration in relation to Egypt, and therefore see these more as they really were, vibrant and brilliant in the desert sun.  Egyptian decor could definitely do the trick.

For my Bedroom the main choice is obvious; Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom, to keep me right all the time!