The peacock motif is one of the key decorative patterns of the Neo-Romanian architectural style, inspired from the late medieval Wallachian church architecture. That bird symbolises beauty, peace and serenity and is usually included within larger decorative schemes containing representations of the Tree of Life or the Garden of Eden. The peacock motif is also a main element within the decorative panoply of what I call the inter-war Venetian style, a hybrid order that emerged in the 1930s at a time when Romania developed close cultural links with Italy, which overemphasized the Venetian Renaissance component, one of the many stylistic traits, on which the Neo-Romanian architectural style was initially based. I found an exquisite example of the peacock motif representation in the decorative panel panel presented above, that decorates the central area of a balcony fence (see the whole assembly in the image bellow) of a grand Neo-Romanian house in the TVR area of Bucharest. That design presents clear inter-war Venetian style characteristics, such as the aspect of the apparent column capitals or the latticework ornaments of the vertical pillars at both ends of the panel, etc.)
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I endeavor through this series of daily 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 a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 