Zprávy památkové péče 2020, 80(3-4):304-312 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2020.3.07

Stucco decorative systems in mutual symbiosis. The reception of Italian designs in Moravia.

Veronika Řezníčková

Seminář dějin umění, FF Masarykova univerzita v Brně

This study presents two specific types of geometric stucco schemes, known as "communicating frames" and "rhythmic cassettes". These have been a relatively commonly used decorative system for ceilings and vaults in Italy as well as in the Transalpine countries since the 16th century. There are a number of remarkable Italianizing examples occurring in Moravia, where both systems were innovatively combined, especially at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. In both cases, this is a variable system of interconnected geometric shapes that reflect the compositional decorative design of the vaults of late antiquity. While frames are characterized by the interconnection of more distant medallions using strips, rhythmic cassettes consist of several geometric shapes adjacent to each other and which regularly repeat. The study begins from cassette designs by Sebastiano Serlio, drawing from his writings on architecture and the buildings inspired by them, and Venetian realizations by Jacopo Sansovino. The client himself could have participated in the final form of such a decoration, but to what extent it corresponded to his own requirements, and to what extent to the plasterer's intention, remains a question. Moravian builders probably had the opportunity to see the qualities of selected Italian buildings on site as part of their Grand Tours; most Italian plasterers working in Moravia did not have the opportunity to study in Rome, however, so they became familiar with them more indirectly, through graphic sheets and other authors' works in northern Italian cities.

Keywords: geometric decoration, stucco, Renaissance vaults, communicating frames, rhythmic cassettes

Published: September 1, 2020  Show citation