One of the most frequent Neo-Romanian decorative motif is that of the peacocks in the Garden of Eden, often represented in a Byzantine visual arts manner as a pair of such majestic birds surrounded by luxurious flowering and fruit bearing plants. The circular panel presented in the images bellow shows this motif in a less familiar, but nevertheless enthralling, Art Deco scheme, where one can recognise the delineative Art Deco design of the two birds (male and female peafowl) encompassed within a quite standard Art Deco floral theme. The panel dates from forth decade of the c20th, a period of intense interferences between the two styles that characterised the architectural scene of Romania that resulted in a fascinating hybrid style, examples of which are still surviving throughout the contemporary city. The second image bellow presents the photograph of the panel processed through a copper gradient filter, which outlines some design features harder to distinguish in the normal colour photograph.
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I endeavour through this daily series of articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.
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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 