Tag: Inter-War Venetian Style

“Inter-war Venetian” style doorway with tortoises and iguanas

Valentin Mandache
"Inter-war Venetian" synthetic style doorway, mid-1930s house, Aviatorilor area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

The exquisite doorway presented in these images adorns a mid-1930s house in a synthetic architectural style developed in that period in Romania, which consists in large part in a mixture of Neo-Romanian and Italian Renaissance motifs inspired especially from the Venetian types, a style which I term as “Inter-war Venetian“. Specifically Neo-Romanian in this instance is the grapevine motif decorating the wall opening rim and outer arch, present also within the column capital and base, while “Venetian” is the general aspect of the columns and assembly. The most peculiar aspect of this doorway is represented by the tortoises and iguana-like lizards decorating the column base corners, denoting symbols of which I am quite ignorant, perhaps symbolysing the ground, the solid surface of the earth, the “terra firma” in Latin or “dorso duro” in the Venetian language, while the birds and winged dragoons represented on the capital symbolise the sky and heavens. I look forward to be enlightened in that regard by my more knowledgeable readers. 🙂

"Inter-war Venetian" synthetic style doorway, mid 1930s house, Aviatorilor area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)
"Inter-war Venetian" synthetic style doorway,decorated with tortoises and iguanas at the base of the column, mid 1930s house, Aviatorilor area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Tortoises and iguanas as part of the decoration of the doorway’s columns, perhaps symbolising the earth and ground bound world aspiring to higher ideals in life, etc.

"Inter-war Venetian" synthetic style doorway, mid-1930s house, Aviatorilor area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Highly ornate columns containing bird and winged dragoon motifs, symbolising the sky and heavens and the manichean battle between good (birds) and evil (dragoon/ reptile).

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I endeavour through this series of periodic 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 Contactpage of this weblog.

Exquisitely carved wooden columns

Valentin Mandache
An exquisite example of composite style (Inter-war Venetian, Ottoman Balkan, Iberian) wooden columns embellishing the veranda of a late 1930s house, Icoanei area, Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The carving of the wooden columns in the photograph above must have been the work of a master carver of a rare talent. The design is a seamless blend of styles that were popular in the 1930s Bucharest, such as what I call the Inter-war Venetian, Ottoman Balkan outlines and even echoes of Spanish Neo-Renaissance.

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I endeavor through this daily 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.

***********************************************

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.

Exquisite peacock motif balcony decoration

Valentin Mandache
Neo-Romanian style peacock motif panel adorning the balcony of a late 1930s Neo-Romanian and Inter-war Venetian style house in the TVR area of Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

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.)

Neo-Romanian and Inter-war Venetian style balcony decorations, late 1930s house in the TVR area of Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

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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.

***********************************************

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.

Masonic Symbol on a Neo-Romanian Style Panel

Valentin Mandache
Masonic symbol on a Neo-Romanian style panel that adorns a late 1930s house in the Cotroceni area of Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The freemasonry had an important presence within the Romanian elite since early c19th until the communist takeover in 1948. The influential pan-European networking conducted among its members of various nationalities and their often close associations had in a certain measure impacted positively the course and outcome of pivotal moments in recent Romanian history such as the 1848 Revolution, unification of the Danubian Principalities in 1859 that resulted in the creation of the modern Romanian state or the backstage negotiations of the auspicious peace treaty conditions referring to Romania that concluded the Great War. The communist regime prosecuted the freemasonry, perceiving its members as implacable class enemies. The organisation was forbidden and many freemasons ended up in the communist prisons. The masonic symbols were systematically erased from the building façades and interiors and its memory confined to the “dustbin of history”, as the communists liked to say. I was therefore quite thrilled to find the rare surviving symbol, presented in the photograph above, located at the centre of a decorative panel that embellishes a house built in the late 1930s in a mix of standard Neo-Romanian architecture and what I call inter-war Venetian style, from the Cotroceni area of Bucharest. It is in a quite discreet position, relatively high above the ground, on a side façade and under a large tree canopy. I have not been able to fully decipher the significance of this symbol consisting of a compass and an inverse equilateral triangle within a toothed circle. I hope that someone among my readers would offer a clue! Another reason why I think the communists left it alone was because it also resembles an inoffensive  professional symbol/ logo, such as that of a draughtsman or mechanical engineer and interpreted that way by the officials of that era, a quite ignorant lot in fine matters pertaining to symbols or decorative arts.

***********************************************

I endeavor through this daily series of daily articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural heritage.

***********************************************

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.