The story of Italian art & Decoration

History
Decoration is the art of embellishing and emphasising architecture to make it ornate and precious. Architecture and decoration are as antique as human civilisation. Ancient populations such as the Egyptians, Assyro-Babylonians and the Greeks, 3000 years ago showed an in depth knowledge in the use of decorative artistic techniques. Egyptian tombs and sculptures were painted, as were the Greek and Etruscan temples.

Ancient Rome
The Romans great architects used exceptional techniques to colour interiors.
They developed skilled usage in fresco application, which even today can still be admired, both in Pompeii buildings and Roman residences.

Decoration and Religion
In the middle ages the use of decorative frescos, mainly within religious buildings, took its inspiration from nature, depicting animals and plants for their symbolic value. From the outset, within the Christian Faith new techniques were used to give greater value to the freshly applied paintings “Fresco”, applying the pigment to the lime coating before it was fully dried.

The Great Epochs
During the Romanesque era, decoration took on a more sober outlook, limited to the traditional use of frescos, stone and brickwork. In the Gothic period along with stained glass windows, sculptured decoration acquired new space and took on new forms; floral and geometrical stylisation brought about the precious floral style widely used in some of the famous Venetian interiors. With the arrival of the Renaissance, decoration reached new heights of incomparable beauty, with some of the great artists of that period interpreting these techniques. These masterpieces can still be admired in the Farnesina in Rome (Raffaello) and in the Sala delle Assi at Milan Castle (Leonardo da Vinci). Decorative techniques tended towards illusion and painted architecture, almost like a stage backdrop. This style continued up until the Baroque period in the 17th century.

Eastern Influences
During the Byzantian period, painting techniques were united with mosaic techniques, resulting in great works of artistic value and also extending to the decoration of wood and metal. The diffusion of Islam into the Middle East, Spain and Southern Italy brought splendid decorative applications into Europe, such as characteristic friezes and intertwining colourful geometric motifs. The same decoration forms were employed on materials, worked metals and ceramics.

The Baroque Period
Besides painting, this era saw a rise in the usage of ornate plasterwork “stucco” made with a lime putty base. We can still admire these works today in places such as Venice, Genoa and Turin, along with many other cities. In particular, the “marmorino” effect and its multitude of interpretations allows a prestigious finish both from an aesthetic point of view as well as being surprisingly resistant over time.
The 18th century with its immense richness brought about new decorative forms; gilding, lacquering, decorative treatment for wood, painted furniture, material tapestry hangings, stained glass windows and wrought iron.

Towards the Modern Era
With the arrival of the neo-classic period, decoration took on patterns and forms which once belonged to the Romans and Greeks. The decoration profession became more common right up until the 1800’s when house decoration started to become normal practice. This gave rise to the construction of palaces, villas and prestigious homes in which the tradesman’s manual ability was displayed through multiple techniques; from the traditional stuccos, trompe-l’oeil, stencils and free hand decorations which bordered between decoration and pure art.

The Twentieth Century
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Liberty and Art-Déco produced new types of decorative forms, and architecture excluded a new season of beauty.
Today, after an age in which technology has brought about standardisation and a certain banality to interior decoration, we are now aiding a kind of re-birth within decoration, with new possibilities improved products, and the renewal of traditional techniques and products.