This week, I'm painting a cityscape in that blue portion of the mural that suggests a window, but which so far has looked very blank and flat. My intention is to create fantasy architecture as the Pompeians would, and also to add some depth to the mural.
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| L'Ornement Polychrome, Series I & II | Auguste Racinet, 1873 |
During the Third Style of Pompeian mural painting, which I described
here, a unique depiction of architecture evolved. At a glance one sees buildings, but upon closer inspection, the structures are usually simply multi-layered facades with elongated, spindly columns, much like stage settings. The Pompeians were avid theater-goers, and it is as though they desired theatrical backdrops in their homes, for the drama of their own lives.
Before I started painting my urban area, I deliberated over what colors to use. I initially considered using blues and grays, which would have given the impression of distance. In the end, though, I decided to use golds and greens to complement the Muse of Architecture, the garlands, and the trophy walls.
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| michiganexposures.blogspot.com |
The caryatids that I've incorporated into my city's grand arch were designed by Henry Hering for Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.
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| click to enlarge | Karl Friedrich Schinkel: A Universal Man |
The city's striated green marble was inspired by the red marble panels of the Altes Museum in Berlin, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel between 1822-1830.
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| click to enlarge |
The pediment of my mural temple
is the same proportion and design as
the pediment of my house, seen below.
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| click to enlarge |
Above is the finished city.
Note that the temple is open to the front and back,
and that the temple door is
a portal, within a portal, within a portal, within a portal.
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| click to enlarge |
I hope you'll join me next week
when I include an element above the city's grand arch!
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