Painted Ceilings

What did I do on my first night of vacation? I translated!

I wanted to translate the two explanatory signs posted in the exhibit of the painted ceilings mostly for the challenge and fun involved in the translation process. Then I decided that someone reading this blog might like to know a little more about the plafonds peints than the short description I gave in my previous post. So here's what they have to say:

The Interior Décor of the Medieval Home
In the absence of iconographic documents evoking the interior décor of a messin [from Metz] home during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, only certain rare, preserved witnesses can inform us in this matter: fragments of walls painted with frescoes or whitewashed, ceilings of tempera-painted wood or whitewashed cob, floor tiles, door frames, etc.

The slightest fragment of a ceramic stove tile, regardless of its pattern, is of equal interest.

In this room, and in those to follow, the décor of the floor, walls and ceiling are thus evoked. The technical sequences have been held back in favor of a strictly chronological presentation.

The Painted Ceilings
The wood ceilings that dominated the two rooms of a town house belonging to the diocese, the Hôtel de Voué, were painted around 1225. Later concealed by new construction, they were accidentally rediscovered in 1896 during the restoration of old building on rue Poncelet. The two rooms that contained the ceilings were contiguous, but the layout of the beams was not the same.

In the medallions – alternatively circular and square (ceiling A, this room), or uniformly circular (ceiling B, following two rooms) – appears a fantastical décor: an astonishing bestiary resulting from grafting together animals of different species, or human heads to animal bodies, while in several places the appearance of the knight is evoked. Diverse iconographic sources supply a strangely varied repertoire: signs of the zodiac, alchemical symbols, esoteric figures… while certain purely decorative designs were inspired by eastern fabrics. The beams were painted on the three visible faces.

Due to their richness and the importance of their designs, these ceilings, along with the ceiling of the church in Zillis, Switzerland, are considered an example of monumental greatness.

So there you have it: a little more information about the gorgeous and incredible painted ceilings of Metz.

...and don't worry, I went out with friends later!

Happy Vacation!