This week I'm painting the columns of the Pompeii Room. My versions are squared and would have four or maybe three sides in reality, so they would more properly be called
pilasters.
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| The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 2010 | www.findamuralist.com |
The Pompeians often decorated with an unusual form of column that had, for lack of a better way to describe them, square plugs. I've been looking for the origin and meaning of such columns, and have yet to discover any information that would help to illuminate. Perhaps one of my clever readers can fill in the blanks. At any rate, I've looked at this element and decided that adding it to my own room would lend a distinctly Pompeian air.
On the left is a fragment from the villa of Publius Fannius Synistor (it can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and on the right is a fragment of the South Porch of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It's the work of the brilliant muralist, Garth Benton.
Some of the folks who have seen the room at this early stage are interpreting the auburn color as a brown, but it is in fact a deep purple. The shadows that are falling from the "plugs" — just as they do in Mr. Synistor's house — are that very same auburn with white paint added. They become a lovely mauve.
My choice is to not show the sides of the pilasters, and all the extra plug shapes, because so much more is going to happen within those auburn panels. (Sometimes in art the suggestion of something is sufficient, and besides, I can take a little artistic license here.)
I have, however, added dimension to the frieze. It would look strangely flat without that lip, and who knows, I might want to hang some Pompeian goodies from it a little later.
Since my last posting, I've installed track lighting on the ceiling. The lights are not necessarily a final solution, but for the time being they'll help me focus wherever I'm painting at the moment.
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| click to enlarge |
Here's the Pompeii Room as it looks today. In my next posting, I'll add capitals to the columns, a look that would make P. Fannius Synistor feel right at home.
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Dear Mark - the square plugs do add the beginnings of depth to the whole.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying the journey and seeing the progress being made as you add the different details.
I have never noticed square plugs on three dimensional columns, was it just a feature used on wall paintings?
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteThat's an interesting question, because the architecture of Pompeian murals varies greatly from the architecture of their actual buildings. I have yet to see a photograph of such columns from any culture, and yet I'm sure they existed. The Pompeians borrowed heavily from earlier cultures, so perhaps I should be looking to Greece, Macedonia or Crete.
I am off to Greece very soon, so will keep my eyes pinned.
DeleteHave an enjoyable vacation!
DeleteHello Mark, Your room is gaining a lot of interest and complexity. At the moment, the bright colors are drawing the eye down, but the increasing detail mid-level brings the attention back up. I like the way the developing designs are using shades of the adjacent colors for further sophistication.
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether the track lights will stay, but they give a museum look--using modern lighting to illuminate ancient treasures.
--Jim
Hi, Jim,
DeleteIn documenting this project, I'm finding that I'm regularly needing to do some color correcting. Sometimes the auburn shoots as too purple or even verges on black, and the red tends to photograaph quite a bit brighter than it really is. While the red in this posting's photograph is a little too bright, the other colors are pretty true.
The jury's still out on the track lighting. One concern is whether, when people are eventually seated in this room, there will be a glare in their eyes. Another concern is whether a different form of lighting will show off the details that are yet to come. But there's a lot of time for that decision . . .
I've never seen anything like the plugs on columns before. It's almost like a quoin. Actually, the square columns seem pretty rare too. I notice on the left side of that column there's a side view of one of the same plugs and it's quite interesting the artist painted a case shadow on the front of the column.
ReplyDeleteYours are rendered beautifully; they look very realistic!
Hi, Steve,
DeleteThe shadows on the left side of the square column are a stange perspective, but then they were painted about a thousand years before the discovery of the vanishing point and other principles of perspective.
The mural at the Metropolitan Museum of Art went through considerable restoration recently, and earlier less professional restorations were corrected. I find it amazing that these murals were removed from Pompeii more than 100 years ago and have survived at all!
And thanks for the compliment!
Dear Mark, Your work is getting more and more interesting. I'm enjoying the progress and look forward to the next installment. You are very brave to take on such a tour de force project. It is looking fabulous.
ReplyDeleteDear Gina,
DeleteThanks! I don't know about bravery, but I can say that the project and all its possibilities have percolated in my mind for a long time.
what you need is an empire styled chandelier!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. Unfortunately, the room has relatively low ceilings, and will not accomodate a hanging lamp (unless it hugs the ceiling). More likely, I will get a dish-shaped light that will give off more ambiant illumination. But I welcome any and all ideas . . .
DeleteThe ceiling is only 8 feet high, not like in Washington, D.C.!
DeleteHello Mark,
ReplyDeleteYour decorative effects are really taking shape now and the whole room is becoming a very exciting space. We can already imagine the lively conversation over dinner which will ensue from such inspirational surroundings.
The pilaster decoration is most unusual and certainly adds an interesting element to the overall composition. And, how beautifully and meticulously it is all being executed. A labour of love indeed!
Hello, Jane and Lance,
DeleteThank you for giving me a boost in spirit. The room really is a labor of love because there's a big part of me that is a frustrated architect. I feel as though I'm actually building something here!
I'm so impressed by your sense of color, your hard work and your artistic and drafting abilities, Mark. This has turned into a journey of sorts and you've, thankfully, taken us all along with you. As for the ceiling light, how about something with an art deco shape? I'm thinking of the lines.
ReplyDeleteHi, Yvette,
DeleteI've been doing a lot of measuring, like a carpenter.
I think an art deco light could work in the room as you see it now, but I will be adding much more detail that will take it away from the linear look that you're experiencing at this point. But to achieve the most lighting for the detail that's coming, it very likely could be a simple fixture.
I never knew about these square plugs - thanks for the education, Mark. Great progress!! Maybe a marble top table in the middle?
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi!
DeleteI've been giving a lot of thought to the eventual dining room table. There are several factors that I need to keep in mind, and one is that the room is very, very small. (I've been doing the Architectural Digest trick of taking photographs from a corner spot to make it look bigger than it really is!)
The second consideration is that I don't want the focus to be diverted from the mural. So I'm thinking that the table should have a simple base and a rectangular glass top. Then it will be placed against a wall, at wainscotting height.
In essense what I'm saying is that the table needs to almost disappear.