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Baroque Ceiling Painting in Germany
Ceiling and mural paintings are constitutive elements in the design of baroque interiors. Unlike all other forms of pictorial art, these truly three-dimensional artistic media define early modern architecture literally from above, through colourful and complex iconographic programmes: in ecclesiastical as well as secular environments, in residential palaces and ceremonial halls, churches and monasteries, grand staircases or libraries. Thus, baroque murals on walls and ceilings could unfold an astonishing diversity and capacity for artistic innovation from the mid16th to the late 18th century.
Analysis and Documentation of more than 5000 Monuments
The Corpus of Baroque Ceiling Painting in Germany (Corpus der barocken Deckenmalerei in Deutschland, CbDD) conducts research on the interior decoration of walls and ceilings created between 1550 and 1800 within the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.
For the first time, a corpus of more than 5000 monuments, including preserved, destroyed and restored examples, is comprehensively documented, analysed, and presented:
- by texts as well as new and historical photographs and drawings,
- in its art historical, architectural and historical contexts,
- in an online database via innovative digital technology.
Funding and Cooperations
The Corpus of Baroque Ceiling Painting in Germany (CbDD) is a research project within the academies’ programme of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and the Humanities (Union der Deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften). It is supervised by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) in Munich. It makes a significant contribution to the documentation, safeguarding and visualisation of our cultural heritage.
Two research-teams directed by Prof. Dr. Stephan Hoppe cooperate at the Institut für Kunstgeschichte of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and the Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg of the Philipps-Universität in Marburg, granting in-depth research and a high quality of photographic reproduction of the objects. The project was approved in October 2014 and started April 1, 2015. The duration of the research project is 25 years. Project presentation 2016