In my constant search for inspiration, I look back into the past to find sources for new creative ideas.  Growing up in Rome, surrounded by an environment so rich in history and art, inspired my future as a decorative artist.  Grottesca origins can be traced back to Ancient Rome around the first century AD and has always been a favorite style.

Roman decorative wall painting evolved from realistic and trompe l'oeil into a progressively more intricate and ornamental image that we now describe as grottesca.  Beginning as a representation of marble slabs, stone and wainscotong.  Roman decorative painting eventually began to include more complex architectural elements such as arches, capitals, and columns.  Elements within these architectural scenes, gradually began to trim down, becoming weightless architectural ornaments that could never realistically be built.

Grottesca is characterized by threadlike, filigree patterns entwined in fanciful combinations of sinuous and naturalistic elements.  These elements are encased in geometric, mirror-like images.  Hybrid figures, half-human and half-animal, grow out of different type of flora and fauna.  Small architectural elements float against a uniform background. The design, almost Oriental in flavor, contains a classical and western sense of symmetry.

During the early Renaissance, archeological excavations generated great interest in classical Greek and Roman art.  The discovery of the Domus Aurea, the palace of the emperor Nero that was excavated between 1480-1490 BC, spurned intrigue in the grotesque.

In the ruins of the Domus Aurea, walls and ceilings are covered with intricate designs of naturalistic inspiration.  Renaissance artists, fascinated by this type of ornamentation, began to spend their days sketching and reproducing motifs taken from this setting. At the same time, a style termed candelabra developed which was inspired by certain grottesca motifs.

The candelabra style, characterized by vertical and symmetrical structuring, separates itself from grottesca by having a more trompe l'oeil, bas-relief effect.  Eventually this type of classical ornamentation spread all over Europe.  By the beginning of the 16th century, Raphael and his school produced some astonishing and unchallenged scenes of grottesca in the Vatican.

Traditionally, grottesca was executed in fresco - painting on wet plaster.  In the 17th and 18th century, this style evolved into what was call arnbesque.  They were often executed in oils over small surfaces and furniture with a technique that has some qualities of a polychrome grisaille (shades of grey).  The work directed by Le Brun at Versailles is one of the most extensive examples of this period.  The popularity of grottesca influenced textiles, wallpaper and Chinoiserie designs.  In the late 18th and 19th century, the discovery of Pompeian ruins produced a more authentic interpretation.

Today we see a resurgence of interest of this type of classical decoration.  I personally have experimented with the real fresco technique, but I found that usually wonderful imitations could be achieved with certain modern mediums.  Stencils, templates, and silk screens may be used to apply these ornaments, but a finished touch by hand is recommended for an authentic and more classical look.

Grottesca is as complementary on walls as it is on furniture.  The candelabra motif is particularly successful on screens due to the vertical structuring.  In our workshop in Ceri, Italy near Rome, we study this type of classical ornamentation by visiting original sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Renaissance examples housed in the Vatican and Castle Sant' Angelo.

Working in the United States for the past fifteen years, I have recently found a renaissance of interest in this kind of ornamentation.  Often, thanks to the historical evolution of this style, I have found that people were appreciating patterns and motifs originating from grottesca without being aware of its origins.  It is refreshing now to see that the motifs more readily accessible through intricate stencils and courses focusing only on grottesca.