Pompeii No.3: Starting To Paint

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus

As I looked at images of Pompeian-style rooms, I wanted to pick authentic colors that went beyond the typical Pompeian red and black. I also wanted a painted wainscoting, and I spent a lot of time studying the room pictured below.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel  |  Bergdoll  |  Rizzoli  |  photograph by Erich Lessing

I like that deep red color and how it's combined with green, and I like the illusion of panels on the wainscoting. You might be wondering which monarch occupied this room. It was designed between 1829 and 1833 by the great German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and it was actually part of the Court Gardener's House, in Prussia.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin   |   Spring 2010

The colors that I finally settled on are a nod to the Pompeian villa of P. Fannius Synistor. This particular panel can now be viewed in the Louvre. Part of my attraction to this image is the paneling delineated by fine lines of highlighting and shadow. a typical Pompeian style. I'll definitely incorporate that look.

My colors are Sherwin Williams Paints, and they break down as follows:

• Vast Sky (for the top of the mural and ceiling)
• Insightful Rose (for architectural elements)
• Arresting Auburn (for the top of panels)
• Alaea (for the bottom of panels)
• Butternut (as the base color for golden ornamentation)
• Lounge Green (for the top border of the wainscoting)
• Ablaze (for the wainscoting)

The colors will be combined to look like the simplified layout below. Of course there will be many layers of decoration overlaying this scheme!

I began by determining the top edge of the wainscoting, and I drew that line with a level. Experience has taught me the hard way not to measure up from the floor, or down from the ceiling. By establishing a level line and working from that, [almost] everything will be nicely squared.

My living room has two walls of bookcases with cabinets beneath, so it makes sense to have the top edge of the wainscoting be level with the top of the cabinets.

As you can see, there is some texture to the wall, but it is regular enough so that I didn't feel the need to resurface the wall. (The walls of Pompeian murals, however, were very smooth.)

I'll have you know I painted those lines by hand! For a long time I've had an aversion to taping because the paint always seemed to bleed, or I'd pull up the paint that was already down. But after painting that green line, I realized that not using tape was an exercise in madness.

It pays to ask experts for advice, and I was directed to this green Frog Tape, which is made especially for taping rougher surfaces like stucco, concrete and brick. The only thing I did that isn't covered in the instructions was to burnish about 1/8" along the very edge of the tape. It's been working like a charm.

Here's a slightly blurred photo of the room at the very beginning of the project. Not to worry, I'll be showing lots of clear details as we go along.

That white baseboard doesn't look good sandwiched between the red paint and the gray carpeting, does it? If I paint it a slightly darker gray, it should look nicely tailored.

In my next posting, I'll concentrate on painting around that window. I have an idea for it that's been tucked away in my memory banks for a long time.
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Greek Keys No. 5

Photo by Lubomir Pořizka  |  The Palaces of Prague, Zdeněk Hojda and Jiří Pešek  |  1994

This handsome key is from the ceiling of Villa Lanna, in Prague. The villa was built in the 1860s and today houses the Academy of Sciences.

Pavlovsk Palace  |  Wikipedia Image

This key comes from a frieze in the Pavlovsk Palace, built by Paul I of Russia in the 1780s, near St. Petersburg.

Photo: Erich Lessing  |  Karl Friedrich Schinkel, An Architect for Prussia  | Barry Bergdoll, 1994

This is a detail of a bronze door designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the entrance to the Bauakademie (architectural academy), in Berlin. The academy was built 1831-36, and was demolished in the 1960s, however the door was saved. Below you can see how closely the door compares to its corresponding part in Schinkel's original design.

Photo: Erich Lessing  |  Karl Friedrich Schinkel, An Architect for Prussia  | Barry Bergdoll, 1994

housebeautiful.com

A chair of leather and brass from Williams-Sonoma incorporates the Greek key.

The Oxford History of Classical Art  |  John Boardman, 1993

This complicated key is Etruscan, and comes from the pediment of a temple at Pyrgi. Pyrgi was an ancient Etruscan port in central Italy, now Santa Severa. Stare at the key that I've reconstructed, and five square diamonds will appear.
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Karl Friedrich Schinkel, A King's Mentor

As my readers know, I love Neoclassic architecture, and I've posted on two of my favorite practitioners, Thomas Jefferson and Sir John Soane. But no study of Neoclassicism is complete without a good look at Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). In my opinion, he is the greatest of Neoclassic architects.

Schinkel quickly came to the attention of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, who was himself an amateur architect. The king, who ruled from 1797 to 1840, had big plans to rebuild Berlin and came up with many designs himself. He looked upon Schinkel as both a collaborator and a design mentor, and the two became close friends.

From 1815 until his death in 1841, Karl Friedrich Schinkel transformed Berlin to such a degree that the period is sometimes referred to by his name — Schinkelzeit.

While Schinkel was rendering his architectural services to the state, he was also designing seemingly every aspect of the daily life of Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Louise.

Rather than show you images of Schinkel's many architectural monuments, I thought it would be more exciting to show you the scope of his designing. And mind you, this is just a tiny sampling!

Architectural drawings — this is Schinkel's view of the Staircase Hall in the Altes Museum

Paintings — Schinkel's work was reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings

Fabric design

Stage set design — this is a set for The Magic Flute

Pen and ink drawings — Schinkel was a great observer of nature

Schinkel designed the Iron Cross in 1813

* A bronze and gilt balustrade *

* The king's toilet set — note the neat insets *

* Entrance to the court gardener's home *

* Vase design *

Furniture — for this chair design, Schinkel was influenced by the Regency style

* Furniture — a buffet table *

* Interior design — a detail from the king's study *

* Interior design — this was a royal guest room, which Schinkel himself would use *

It seems as though there was nothing that Karl Friedrich Schinkel couldn't and didn't design, and it was all beautiful. He had an amazing drive and produced large- and small-scale designs at a rapid pace. He finally had a stroke, and spent the better part of his last two years in bed.

When Schinkel died in 1841, he was remembered not only for his brilliance, but also as one who was engaging, considerate and humble. Thousands attended his funeral, and the king (by then Wilhelm I) decreed that the state buy Schinkel's entire estate.

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The image of the Iron Cross comes from
Orders and Decorations  |  Vaclav Mericka  |  Paul Hamlyn Ltd., London
Photograph by Josef Fiala

All other photographs come from these two superb books. The first is Karl Friedrich Schinkel, A Universal Man, by Michael Snodin, Yale University Press in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London...

...and the second is Karl Friedrich Schinkel, An Architecture for Prussia, Barry Bergdoll, photographs by Erich Lessing, Rizzoli, New York.

Those images with asterisked captions are from the second book. All the other images are from the first book.

Both books have beautiful photography, and because Schinkel's design work was so extensive, these books do not duplicate each other, but are instead perfect companion pieces.

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