Murals in Time

MURALS IN TIME

MAGICAL MURALS: Pre-historic cave paintings were often painted in the deepest recesses of the caves and could only be executed with extreme difficulty by the light of a flickering torch.
Painting was magical, believed to improve hunting and increase the numbers of the animals painted. The simple beauty of the paintings is made more powerful by their dynamic uses in physical and spiritual life.

MURALS THAT RECORD EVENTS: Murals allow us a glimpse of life thousands of years ago. These dancers are toreadors, leaping over a charging bull, in a panel from the Court of the Stone Spout, Knosos.

MURALS THAT REMEMBER LOST HISTORY: Although part of a Roman mural, this detail probably reflects Grecian interior mural panels, now lost. The treatment of the woman, in the classical style, with linear outlines and a white background, is reminiscent of Greek vase paintings of the fifth century B.C.

MURALS THAT BEAUTIFY: Romans decorated their homes with murals that surrounded them on all 4 walls. Atmospheric perspective was used in this painting to give a sense of depth, the colors are still rich and bright after 2,000 years.

MURALS THAT MEMORIALIZE: This donor, a Carolingian nobleman, was powerful enough to have his own face painted next to the saints in the little oratory, 1,100 years ago.

While you are waiting for the large images below to load, CLICK the owl and you can read about mural painting techniques, including the FRESCO technique, used by Giotto for the Arena Chapel below, and about potassium silicate based paints, then you can return to a loaded page.

ARENA CHAPEL by GIOTTO, 1305 A.D.
MURALS THAT TEACH: In medieval times, many common people were unable to read and write. Murals were an eloquent way of immersing the believer in the doctrine of the church. This chapel was erected by the patron Enrico Scrovegni in hope of rescuing the soul of his father, Reginaldo, a notorious usurer, from torment in the afterlife. The murals were painted with the special technique described above called FRESCO.

MURALS THAT INSPIRE STRONG FEELING: Each of Giotto's giornatos shows a vignette from the life of Jesus, the Passion and the Judgement. Emotion and drama are vital to each series, using large scale images to set a mood for the interior space.

CLICK the owl and you can read about Leonardo's experimental "fresco" technique, which caused the Last Supper to fade and flake even during Leonardo da Vinci's lifetime.

MURAL AS A CHALLENGE TO THE ARTIST: Bandello wrote: "He would often come to the convent at early dawn ... hastily mounting the scaffold, he worked diligently until the shades of evening compelled him to cease, never thinking to take food at all, so absorbed was he in his work. At other times ... he would remain there 3 or 4 days without touching his picture, gazing at his figures as if to criticize them himself."

MURALS AS SUBLIME EXPRESSIONS: The heroic age of the Renaissance allowed a new vision, artists making decisions about the content and expression of their work. This allowed greater artistic growth and awe inspiring conception to be realized.

MURALS IN CONCERT WITH ARCHITECTURE: The Art Nouveau Movement, Gustav Klimt's vehicle for principles of design, affirmed a higher value of an art which considers the total space, including the architecture that it rests upon.

MURALS THAT CHANGE OUR MINDS: La Creacion: Diego Rivera presented Mexican natives as monumental and heroic figures, intending to change our vision of beauty, and to infuence social structure.

CLICK the owl to read about the painting technique used by William Cochran for the Community Bridge, below.

MURALS THAT CREATE A SANCTUARY: Cochran's Community Bridge evokes a strong spiritual response, immersing the viewer, as the mural masters did centuries ago. This exterior mural incorporates many of the values long established by the art of the mural, and links history with dynamic life by involving the community in the design of symbols for the project. The mural is designed to make a bridge within the artist's community, to bring diverse people together around the concept of the bridge.

To visit William Cochran's Community Bridge web site.

MURALS THAT CHANGE NEIGHBORHOODS: Kent Twitchell's monumental work looms 3 stories over the once blighted corner of Ridge Ave. Julius Erving, the subject of the mural, cried when he saw it for the first time.

MURALS THAT PORTRAY OUR COMMON HUMANITY: Meg Saligman's historical collage of Philadelphia's pageant of teen life is "Common Threads" an 8 story mural at Broad and Spring Garden in Philadelphia.

For an overview of the current mural movement in America and the world today.

CONCEPTION AND RESEARCH BY JENNIE WILLIAMS. PAGE DESIGN BY JOHN AVERY AND JENNIE WILLIAMS
BUTTON: DETAIL OF WILLIAM COCHRAN'S "THE LIGHT WITHIN"

	MAGICAL MURALS: Pre-historic cave paintings were often painted in the deepest recesses of the caves and could only be executed with extreme difficulty by the light of a flickering torch. Painting was magical, believed to improve hunting and increase the numbers of the animals painted. The simple beauty of the paintings is made more powerful by their dynamic uses in physical and spiritual life.
	MURALS THAT RECORD EVENTS: Murals allow us a glimpse of life thousands of years ago. These dancers are toreadors, leaping over a charging bull, in a panel from the Court of the Stone Spout, Knosos.
	MURALS THAT REMEMBER LOST HISTORY: Although part of a Roman mural, this detail probably reflects Grecian interior mural panels, now lost. The treatment of the woman, in the classical style, with linear outlines and a white background, is reminiscent of Greek vase paintings of the fifth century B.C.
MURALS THAT BEAUTIFY: Romans decorated their homes with murals that surrounded them on all 4 walls. Atmospheric perspective was used in this painting to give a sense of depth, the colors are still rich and bright after 2,000 years.
	MURALS THAT MEMORIALIZE: This donor, a Carolingian nobleman, was powerful enough to have his own face painted next to the saints in the little oratory, 1,100 years ago.
While you are waiting for the large images below to load, CLICK the owl and you can read about mural painting techniques, including the FRESCO technique, used by Giotto for the Arena Chapel below, and about potassium silicate based paints, then you can return to a loaded page.
ARENA CHAPEL by GIOTTO, 1305 A.D. MURALS THAT TEACH: In medieval times, many common people were unable to read and write. Murals were an eloquent way of immersing the believer in the doctrine of the church. This chapel was erected by the patron Enrico Scrovegni in hope of rescuing the soul of his father, Reginaldo, a notorious usurer, from torment in the afterlife. The murals were painted with the special technique described above called FRESCO.
	MURALS THAT INSPIRE STRONG FEELING: Each of Giotto's giornatos shows a vignette from the life of Jesus, the Passion and the Judgement. Emotion and drama are vital to each series, using large scale images to set a mood for the interior space.
CLICK the owl and you can read about Leonardo's experimental "fresco" technique, which caused the Last Supper to fade and flake even during Leonardo da Vinci's lifetime.
MURAL AS A CHALLENGE TO THE ARTIST: Bandello wrote: "He would often come to the convent at early dawn ... hastily mounting the scaffold, he worked diligently until the shades of evening compelled him to cease, never thinking to take food at all, so absorbed was he in his work. At other times ... he would remain there 3 or 4 days without touching his picture, gazing at his figures as if to criticize them himself."
MURALS AS SUBLIME EXPRESSIONS: The heroic age of the Renaissance allowed a new vision, artists making decisions about the content and expression of their work. This allowed greater artistic growth and awe inspiring conception to be realized.
	MURALS IN CONCERT WITH ARCHITECTURE: The Art Nouveau Movement, Gustav Klimt's vehicle for principles of design, affirmed a higher value of an art which considers the total space, including the architecture that it rests upon.
MURALS THAT CHANGE OUR MINDS: La Creacion: Diego Rivera presented Mexican natives as monumental and heroic figures, intending to change our vision of beauty, and to infuence social structure.
CLICK the owl to read about the painting technique used by William Cochran for the Community Bridge, below.
MURALS THAT CREATE A SANCTUARY: Cochran's Community Bridge evokes a strong spiritual response, immersing the viewer, as the mural masters did centuries ago. This exterior mural incorporates many of the values long established by the art of the mural, and links history with dynamic life by involving the community in the design of symbols for the project. The mural is designed to make a bridge within the artist's community, to bring diverse people together around the concept of the bridge.
To visit William Cochran's Community Bridge web site.
MURALS THAT CHANGE NEIGHBORHOODS: Kent Twitchell's monumental work looms 3 stories over the once blighted corner of Ridge Ave. Julius Erving, the subject of the mural, cried when he saw it for the first time.
MURALS THAT PORTRAY OUR COMMON HUMANITY: Meg Saligman's historical collage of Philadelphia's pageant of teen life is "Common Threads" an 8 story mural at Broad and Spring Garden in Philadelphia.
For an overview of the current mural movement in America and the world today.
CONCEPTION AND RESEARCH BY JENNIE WILLIAMS. PAGE DESIGN BY JOHN AVERY AND JENNIE WILLIAMS BUTTON: DETAIL OF WILLIAM COCHRAN'S "THE LIGHT WITHIN"