The ancient art of grottesca painting...

Two men, each with the tail of a lion, sit facing each other atop stone pedestals. In their hands they are holding oversized candelabras. But instead of a candle, you find a sort of mermaid with not one, but two fish tails. And look! This mermaid has the wings of a damselfly, and with her muscular arms she is holding a rod that carries a giant swag of fruit and laurel leaves. Does that sound like something out of the twilight zone? Well what if I said that what I've just described is a portion of a beautiful work of art, in fact similar scenes are the subject matter of a popular art form...it's called the art of grottesca.

Ancient grottesca panel in a "grissaile" style.

Grottesca, also referred to as "grottesche" in Italian, is defined as: "A style of painting, sculpture, and ornamentation in which natural forms and monstrous figures are intertwined in bizarre or fanciful combinations...with no reference to reality or common sense." In English, this painting style is called "grotesque". It may seem then, that this style was so named because those who first discovered it found it to be, well, ugly. That assumption, however, would be incorrect. In the late 15th Century, excavations of Roman emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea (Latin for "Golden House") revealed unusual fresco paintings much like the one described above. The ornamentation was illusionistic and included figurative beings in so-called theatrical settings, in what appeared to be a complete fantasy world. Although the excavators did indeed find the painting style to be a bit strange - unlike anything their modern world had seen - they named it grottesca because of the location in which it was found. When the frescoes were uncovered in a series of rooms underground (as they had become over the course of time), the term "grotto" (grotta in Italian) was associated with the paintings. Grotto is a word which means "small cave or cavern". Apparently the terms "grotta" and "grottesca" became accidentally intertwined at some point in history and therefore the style finally became known as grottesca.

Grottesca is also known as what makes up the fourth Pompeian style of fresco painting.

After word got out of the paintings at Domus Aurea, artists of that time flocked to the site to study the works. By the turn of the sixteenth century, grotesque ornamentation was turning up in contemporary works by artists such as Pietro Perugino and Luca Signorelli. Other artists quickly followed suit, namely Raphael Sanzio whose grottesca panels found in the loggias of the Vatican in Rome made the art popular once again.

An artist's (Pietro Camporesi) rendition of the Loggias of Raphael; grottesca ornamentation covers virtually all surfaces.



Artist's engraving of a panel from the Raphael Loggias (Ludovicus Tesio Taurinensis)

What intrigues me about the art of grottesca ornamentation is the brilliant use of color and style. The fantasy and illusion make my imagination soar, and it has that old world element that I love. What I find interesting is that although it is a centuries-old art form, each generation was able to modify it, creating designs that tell the stories of that particular time period. While following the basic principles of grottesca painting, one can create a collage of items and elements that are unique to them.

One of my own creations, I used varying shades of gold on an ebony plastered backdrop. (stencil by Nicola Vigini)

A recent mural panel I completed in the "Pompeii" style of grottesca.