Tag: Peacock Motif

Neo-Romanian motif expressed in an Art Deco setting

Valentin Mandache

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.

Neo-Romainan motif expressed in an Art Deco setting, mid 1930s house, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)
Copper gradient filter processed photograph: Neo-Romainan motif expressed in an Art Deco setting, mid 1930s house, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

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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.

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.

Art Deco panel: Is it a turkey? Is it a peacock?

Valentin Mandache
Bird theme Art Deco panel on the façade of an early 1930s block of flats in the Opera area of Bucharest. (Valentin Mandache)

Is that bird a turkey, a peacock or even a dove? I would incline toward the peacock, taking into account the lush vegetation surounding its fan like tail within the panel field and the associations between the peacock and the Garden of Eden motifs in Romanian decorative arts).

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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.

Neoromanian Style Peacock Motif Photomontage

Valentin Mandache
A photomontage with a sample from the myriad of peacock motif ornaments that adorn the inter-war Neo- Romanian style houses of Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The Neo-Romanian style has the peacock motif, inspired from the late-medieval Wallachian church architecture, as one of its key decorative elements, adorning many houses built in this style in the inter-war period. The photomontage above shows a sample from the multitude of patterns depicting this motif, that have as a common theme the representation of this bird as a symbol of beauty and peace, often shown feeding from grapefruit among grape leaves and vines that signify the biblical Garden of Eden, and its modern correspondent in the abundance of that plant and wine industry in the prosperous peace times from 1920s to late 1930s Romania.

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I endeavor through this daily image series 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 locating 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.