Ceilings, ceilings, ceilings.

Palazzo Braschi Ceilings
Museo di Roma Frescoes

Hello, everyone!

What are we talking about today?
Let me start by inviting you to make a simple gesture: tilt your head and your eyes up and look above you.
What do you see?
A fluorescent office light?
The roof of a subway car?
The lights in your room?
A beautiful blue sky?
So, I’m asking you to look up today because we’re talking about…ceilings!

Sculpture at Capitoline Museum
Jupiter Tonans and Roman Ceilings

Yes, because, let’s be honest, these days we’re always looking down, always on our phones.
But not today.

Ancient Ceilings
Classical Art

Today, let’s look up and see beautiful things.
We’ll look at some gorgeous painted ceilings from the 18th century at the Palazzo Braschi Museum,

Classic Art at Palazzo Braschi
Rome
Palazzo Braschi Ceilings

and another incredible one; it seems painted by Joannis Kounellis in a location no less important than the Campidoglio in Rome.

Modern Ceiling in Campidoglio
Rome
Capitoline Museum

And then there’s a picture of an amazing classical ceiling and an ancient Roman statue, also from the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

Ancient Art in Rome
Rome
Classical Ceilings

There are fun ceilings like the one adorned with colored umbrellas to form a sort of Mandala.

Italian Modern Decoration
Ceiling and Umbrellas

And then the magnificent ceilings of the Expiatory Chapel of Paris, a 1914 national memorial monument in neoclassical style, commissioned by King Louis XVIII to honor the memory of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Classical Ceilings in Paris
Expiatory Chapel of Paris

And another ceiling looks like a wonderful abstract painting.
Guess which one it is? From the fascinating pyramid of the Louvre Museum!

Louvre Pyramid Contemporary Art
Pyramid of the Louvre Museum

And my favorite?
The most mysterious of all: a cave emitting a reddish glow.
What could it be?
This is the incredible Leviathan installation by Anish Kapoor at the Grand Palais in Paris for Monumenta 2011.
Our horror of ending up inside is as matched by our desire to stick our noses in to find out more …