Monday, 29 april 2024
The 10 most beautiful ceilings
San Pantalon,
Dorsoduro, Venice
Dorsoduro, Venice
For a few awe-inspiring moments, a 50-cent euro coin lights up the ceiling of this unfinished Baroque parish church. A dazzling late 17th Century oil painting covering 443 sq m (4768 sq ft) gives the illusion of continuing the architecture of the church up through chiaroscuro colonnades and a choir of highly animated winged angels through golden skies to the white light of heaven itself. This illusionistic painting, with its thrillingly foreshortened perspectives, is the work of Gian Antonio Fumiani (1645-1710). The influential 19th Century English critic, John Ruskin, described The Martyrdom and Apotheosis of St Pantalon as «the most curious example in Europe of the vulgar dramatic effects of painting.» He was quite wrong: dig in your pocket for another 50 cents.
- Week in pictures: 18-24 March (10 foto) 26.03.2017
- London attack aftermath (16 foto) 26.03.2017
- Tea is one of simbols of Azerbaijan (9 foto) 25.03.2017
- Protests and marches in major cities of EU (8 foto) 25.03.2017
- Best of first (15 foto) 24.03.2017
- Fighting for peace (8 foto) 23.03.2017
- The Walled Off hotel by Banksy (10 foto) 03.03.2017
- Azerbaijan - the Country of Fires (11 foto) 29.01.2017
- Great works of art depicting snow (10 foto) 10.01.2017