#barocktheater

A modern painted ceiling in a historical theatre building

In Neubrandenburg in 1997 a new painted ceiling was realized in a theatre construction from 1794. I was commissioned to design and execute a painting of 14 x 8,6 meters. On the basis of studies of comparable works from the baroque period, I examined in particular the ceiling picture of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in the Würzburg Castle.

On the east side, a wild caravan of Asian riders pass by. Opposite there is an imaginary book shredding. Devils and demons rip up books and plunge them into the depths. On the south side, the sexes struggle with each other. Women push men from the edge of the picture; others are entangled in combat and love scenes.

The images can be read as visions of the future and are enriched with many quotes from art history. End-time mood, euphoria, floating and falling groups of people can be observed here at the same time.

The picture was realised in seven months between 1996 and 97, a period when especially in East Germany, there was a feeling of collapse as well as of departure. At that time, I was 33 years old and developed from the confrontation with social issues at the same time a more global view of the society