HomeI had been to a friend fairly recently and, although I don’t generally take note of such things, I was interested in his home decor. The style is something called steam punk, a type of futuristic Victorian, which sounded as if it came directly from Jules Verne, a sort of Captain Nemo meets Robur the Conqueror, all shining brass, leather, futuristic technologies, and clockwork. My friend’s variation was much more ‘Indiana Jones’, with his steamer trunk table, collection of intriguing artifacts, sculpture and intriguing ancient wall reliefs. It went along with his house, originally built in the 1920’s and created a warm, interesting inside properly suited to his huge collection of books.
My house is instead more contemporary, so when I thought about ways of furnishing my living area (something I was advised was ‘up to me’) I declined the steam punk concept. While I’m no interior designer I can see that a certain proportion between interior and exterior is beneficial. While modern homes are usually roomy they are often really dull, i quickly recognized this gave me a lot more scope to be able to put my own character on the room, and that thought gave me the concept to use wall art and wall sculptures to provide my room some character, but what to choose?
Old Greek buildings were not what we understand today. Many people recognize that they are stunning buildings which stood, in many cases for centuries, prior to suffering deterioration we see now, but do you realize that they were colorful? You wouldn’t think so to look at 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 early years of the 19th century by Earl of Elgin, and the Greek government continues trying to get them back again. The sculptures are stark, white and incredibly beautiful, exactly what we think of when we consider ‘classical art’ but what would the ancients have thought of these? Euripides give us a clue 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 gleaming white were once bright and multi-colored. So totally different from what we observe now and connect with the ancient world, that it’s really difficult to imagine.
We view the ancient gods as abstract, consequently ancient wall sculptures like Poseidon in his chariot are ‘classical’ and completely at home in a 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 attempted to emulate them. In antiquity the Greeks believed in living breathing Gods;their particular statues were colored brightly to indicate that. While we appreciate the amazing workmanship of the Parthenon statues the ancients admired their realistic quality so much so it had been said that at certain times of the day it was as if the gods in their friezes actually moved. The sculpture and painting techniques had been made to come together and boost the three dimensional quality of the stone, bringing the subject alive. Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann is working hard to analyse ancient statues and create authentic reproductions. These, detailed with complex 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 won’t ever appear the same again.
So what should I do? I could decide on time-honored Greek wall art that will create a modern room, making my choice on a basis of meaning. Hercules wrestling the lion might remind me that even if my todo list can be a bit lengthy, it isn’t the Labours of Hercules, whereas Dionysus on a donkey would point out to me that the point of work is to finance the enjoyment in the future. As an inhabitant of the New World I could use Mayan wall reliefs, but I think my selection could 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 have a limitless fascination. We’re much more accustomed to color in relation to Egypt, and hence see these more as they really were, bold and dazzling in the desert sun.
For my Den my primary choice is evident; Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom, to help keep me right at all times!
