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Swedish ceiling in homage to Raphael, containing a portrait of him (seated, in blue).
Print of ornamental ceiling fresco designed by Raphael.
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Italian Imports
While indisputably dazzling, the grand gilt rooms in Stockholm's Royal Palace were derivative of Versailles and overpowering in the sheer quantity of gold. In their midst of this forceful display of wealth and power, however, is an appealing Baroque fresco ceiling in homage to the Renaissance master Raphael (left), containing a portrait of him. As this tribute suggests, Raphael's art was widely admired and prints of his frescoes were popular, such as the 18th-century engraving of an ornamental ceiling fresco on our web site (below left). Chinoiserie Rooms with less pomp and more personality were more appealing, such as a kitchen with blue and white chinoiserie painted on walls fitted with row upon row of plate racks for blue and white plates and with dozens of ceramic bracket shelves on the walls for displaying additional objects (below left). Circular Windows The same home featured unusual circular leaded glass windows in the interiors over the doors -- a practical feature in an era when there was less artificial light to illuminate rooms as well as being visually interesting (below center). |
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Chinoiserie kitchen in a Swedish home (left). Our leaded stained glass window hemispheric map of the world (above), said to have been from a country house in Prague, is an early 20th-century version on a scale and proportion to the ones seen in the Swedish house (center). |
| Rows of Portraits Another Swedish home displayed a set of six pastel portraits, in gilt wood frames surmounted by gilt wood ribbons (near right). On our web site we have a print of a room in the Swiss chateau of the celebrated writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) showing another decorative scheme using orderly rows of portraits (detail far right). |
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Our gallery features numerous prints of European interiors related to the country houses
of the elite, some of which relate to the decor found in Swedish houses.
Le Garde-Meuble Ancien et Moderne, a Victorian-era collection of interior designs,
included many revivals of 17th- and 18th-century styles -- often with charmingly eccentric
designs, such as a Japanese-influenced window treatment with folding screen.
Contents
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A print from a collection of Victorian interior designs on our web site. |