Located in the heart of Ljubljana Castle are a number of wall paintings which have been recovered from the Estate Hall which was recently heavily renovated. The English text on the wall notes that they’re “ancient wall paintings”, but that might be a slight translation error as they’re from the Baroque period, so the end of the seventeenth century. Although I suppose ancient can be interpreted in different ways.
A coat of arms from what I assume was a wealthy family or region, designed to excite any visitors who might have arrived at the castle and needed reminding who was in charge.
A scrolling motif to add a bit of excitement to the whole arrangement. At least they haven’t shoved some tacky gold everywhere and built a ballroom on the side of the castle after having demolished half of the old structure, but I digress….
It’s bright with dramatic contrasts, using warm colours. I like that these old wall paintings have survived, as it’s so easy for them to be destroyed by building work, damaged ceilings, cold and just the ravages of time. Given the turbulence that this castle has gone through, any survival at all deserves to be appreciated.
The fragments were all restored in 1980 by the Restoration Centre of Slovenia at the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Slovenia. There was additional restoration that took place when the entire castle was renovated between 2009 and 2011.