"... what the eye demands."

 "It matters not if the connection between base and cornice be maintained by actual pilasters or moldings, or by their painted or woven imitations. The line, and not the substance, is what the eye demands."

The Decoration of Houses, 1897

Edith Wharton & Ogden Codman, Jr

 

The iconic Institut Guerlain, Paris, decorated by Christian Berard

 

Fromental's Berard wallcovering... I love the fractured baseboard

 

Villa Barbaro, trompe l'oeil frescoes by Paolo Verenese... my favorite details are the ceremonial flags in the corners

 

The Opera Garnier's curtain... this building is one of the most sybaritic works of architecture ever created

 

The trompe l'oeil dome of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Rome... the first time I saw this I couldn't actually believe it wasn't real until I walked around the church

 

I'm not sure Wharton or Codman was talking about over-scaled bird cages... 

 

or mid-century bars...

but my eye demands both.

The Opera Garnier

One of my favorite buildings I've ever visited is the Opera Garnier in Paris. The building was designed by Charles Garnier under the reign of Napoleon III. Two of the lesser known rooms in the structure, but in my opinion are the most spectacular, are two small rotundas dedicated to the sun and moon.

 

The Salon of the Sun has two mythological dragons in the center medallion with a massive sun burst filling the dome. All the details have a goldish tint so that the entire room glows. Even the infinity mirrors which reflect across the room have a gold tint to the glass. 

 

The Salon of the Moon has a series of bats in the medallion with silver moon rays and gilded stars on the dome. The details are picked out in silver-leaf instead of gold and the mirrors have a bluer tint to them.

All of the rooms of the Opera Garnier are over the top... but these rooms are perfection... they're just enough and the subtle detailing provides a break from the riotous marble, statuary, and gilding of the other rooms of the opera house...  the scale of these rooms is also more human... I'd love to make one of these rooms my bedroom...