The Hall

A Little Progress You have already seen the Great Hall of my Castle Dollhouse in various stages of its building. So it will come as no surprise to you that I long ago abandonned the idea of Completing each room on a level of the Castle before moving up to the next level, or even Over to the next room! Whether it is impatience or lack of clear vision, it seems I can't resist starting to work on the "next" room before I complete the first one! I will blame it on my eagerness to get to the more interesting rooms! And chief among those is the Great Hall of the Castle.

In the earliest times, the Great Hall of a Castle was THE room where everybody lived. In the days before chimneys were invented, the fire was in the center of the hall and the smoke rose up to the roof and escaped through slits in the walls. This was where the cooking was done. This was where you slept if you wanted any warmth. This was the central room in the life of the community. My dictionary tells me the word hall is derived from the Middle English word "heall" and thence the Old English word "helan" meaning to cover, or hide. In its simplest form it means a covered, hiding place. The multi-functionality of the room was the same whether it was in a Castle or a Hovel, the chief difference being one of scale. The more wealthy and powerful you were, the larger the Hall you could build. So it was that Castles were built with what we now think of as ENORMOUS Halls!

It was only with the invention of the chimney, allowing for the placement of the hearth along a wall instead of in the center of the room, that the function of the Hall began to change. The room became less smoky, and fires could be built on many levels of the castle. Gradually, separate private rooms were built for the Lords and Ladies, warmed with separate fireplaces, and kitchens were built on separate levels from the Hall, eventually accentuating the division of the classes.

But these changes did not happen all at once. And I still have not decided exactly "when" my Castle dollhouse is set. But it is certainly AFTER the invention of the chimney! "Modern" fireplaces have been built. The kitchen is in a separate room. And the Lord and Lady will have separate chambers! Below you can see the basic structure of the Great Hall with most of the details added, although most of the painting has not yet been done. There is a grand fireplace along the wall and minstrel gallery accessible from the Lord's Rooms along one end. The ceiling will eventually be vaulted and painted, but for now I have only added the main arched ribs. I got very fiddly with the "stone" around all the doors and windows, cutting carefully pieced bits of that wood my brother gave me all those years ago! I hope they will look like stone when I've painted them! But more on that later!


As I was thinking about the Great Hall and what it originally had meant in terms of lifestyle, I was struck by the very different usage we give the term now! The Hall has become a place we pass through on our way to somewhere else. It is the conduit, not the destination! It is often tiny, cramped or even completely lacking! And even when it IS grand and spacious, it is used to impress, but not as a living space. The original usage lingers only partly in the common naming of Concert Halls or Meeting Halls.

But linger it does. All my houses have Halls, no matter how tiny and cramped! Even the Folly has a space which I have decided must be called a Hall! And for those of you who don't remember seeing the photo of the hallway I painted with murals in my former 1:1 scale home, I have included a photo of it here so you will see how it inspired the decoration of the "Hall" in the Folly!

This is the original.

Here you can see the Folly.



And I will admit I did NOT even think about trying to paint that wall mural for real in the Folly stairway! The house had already been assembled and it was hard enough to get the scraps of wallpaper put in place behind that stairway! You will probably recognize the remnants of the Hunting wallpaper from the Lovely Old Dollhouse!

This is another view showing how adding wall paper to it sets apart the passage to the stairs at the far end of the kitchen.

And a closer view.

Even though the pattern doesn't match up well at all, I think it adds a certain rural charm to this corner of the Folly

And of course, the Front Hall in the Lovely Old Dollhouse must not be ignored! In our local custom, these halls are seldom used except as access to the rooms. Most people in New England use their back doors as the way to enter the house, and the Front door is reserved for strangers and occasional ceremonial use.

We pass through on our way up the stairs.

Not even the Hall clock is needed anymore, as timepieces are added to everything!
For most of the time I have had this dollhouse, I have lamented the lack of a dining room and the presence of a spacious Hall instead! I have pondered how I might be able to convert it to a dining room.... but I have always given up on that idea. The Hall IS the Hall! It is beautiful. It is serene. It is part of what makes this house so Old Fashioned. I have come to LOVE it.

And perhaps a part of the reason I am so attracted to the Great Hall in the Castle is that long ago feeling of community gathering in one place for shelter and nourishment and shared living. As impracticable as we find it in our modern world, the lure of that greater family feeling is still strong. Hence the resurgence of the "great room" in modern decorating. We crave that feeling of connection.





So I have been building my own Great Hall!

Before I painted it, it looked like this. I decided that I would not be happy with just a faux-stone painted wall treatment. I wanted texture as well in the Great Hall. So I gathered my courage and tried the "polyfilla" that Nina (of the Medieval Tudor Dollhouse Project) recommended, that worked so well on the floors of the kitchen and stables. (In my country the closest thing is "Bondo".) It takes courage because it dries very quickly and is a pain to mix up and Stinks while it is curing! I had to do it in small batches and work fast! And I had to get it done before the cold weather came and prevented me from opening all my windows and doors to air out! And while I was in the middle of this project, I got phone calls from at least two of my family members and had to put them off! (Sorry!) At first I was NOT at all satisfied with the results of my frenzied Bondo job! But I have gradually come to think it is good enough. The stones are not supposed to all be the same size and exactly even! The rougher parts give it authenticity! (Or so I tell myself!) and once the paint was applied, it began to look more convincing.

Here you can see the first coats of paint have been applied.

And another view with the previously painted fireplace in position.

I will have to make the fireplace a bit rougher to match the walls!

This gives you a better feeling of the scale of the room, looking up to the Minstrels Gallery.

I like the texture, but I still need to add a couple of layers of paint. The colors are too consistent and need to be varied more. And the grouting needs to be emphasized.

But it is definitely starting to feel like the huge old stone Hall I have been imagining.

But it remains to be seen whether it is the central living space of the Castle......





Or just somewhere you pass through on your way to somewhere else.......

The Hall

Frescoes For The Chapel

People have been painting on their walls at least since the time of cave dwelling. Why there aren't more examples of the ancient paintings is probably at least in part because people like to redecorate to stay current with the times! That and the fact that paint on old walls is vulnerable to the ravages of time. Sunlight, damp, and simple wear and tear erode the painted surface. Given that there are so many reasons that the paintings disappear, it is remarkable that we have any exmples at all of Medieval wall painting still in existence! The vast majority of these are from the oldest churches where it was the primary method of decoration, in use since the Roman times. Below is an example from the 9th century Church of Saint Germain, Auxerre. You will note that the style of representing the human figure is somewhat primitive. The figures are stiff and "flat" and full body front even when the faces are turned to the side.

Here below is another example, the "Miracle of Saint Giles" from the Church of Saint Aignan-Sur-Cher from the late twelfth century. Again, the forms are relatively primitive in their portrayal, even though the clothes are much more detailed with their stylized folds and drapes.

Below is another beautiful example. It is a fragment of Saint Faith from the Rectory of the Priory of Horsham in England. This is dated in the mid thirteenth century, around 1260 AD. The figures here retain the full frontal view, with much delicate but stylized decoration.

Here we have a fragment from the murals of Saint Stephen's Chapel, formerly in Westminster Palace in England. This is Tales from Job and is dated from the mid fourteenth century, around 1350 - 60. Here we can clearly see some artistic development in the rendering of the figure of Job. While the "ground" is still flat and abstract, the face is beautifully modeled with shadowing and fine details, revealing a natural emotional expression of unyielding faith.

So we know from these few examples that there was an ancient tradition of decorating the walls with painted figures. And we see even more evidence when we carefully examine the books of the Medieval period and find a wealth of illuminations of Artists shown performing their art! (It is one of the traditional images.... the artist painting himself in the act of painting!)


Here below we have an example of St. Luke being portrayed as an artist in the act of painting.

Some people will notice the similarity of his drawing with the one I have selected to paint on one of the walls of the Castle Chapel. (Shown further below) And others will take note of the artists implements.... including paint dishes that look like seashells! This illumination is from the middle of the fourteenth century. You might even note the similarities of face with that of Job above!

Here below is another illumination showing a mural painter at work on the ceiling of a church. This not only shows the method of painting in such lofty places, but tells the tale of the rescue of the painter by the Virgin he had just painted, when the scaffolding is knocked down by the devil (who he had painted to look ugly)! Do remember to poke the pictures to enlarge them.... and sorry this is a little out of focus!

And because it is SUCH a tradition for artists to paint themselves in the act of painting..... many years ago when I lived at my former home I had a fabulous studio with 14 foot high ceilings and I had to build my own scafolding to be able to paint the ceiling. So that year, I painted a miniature of myself painting the studio ceiling in the Christmas card that I paint every year. You can see that card below.

And here is a picture of that painted studio, taken shortly before I moved, with yours truly by the tree. That was a great studio!

So WHEN am I going to get to showing the Chapel paintings? Well, just one more detail to explain first. You remember that the Castle was fortified on the remains of an earlier Abbey. That church was quite ancient. I am going to assume that it was painted with the stories of the Bible for decoration. But I also have to assume that the STYLE of those paintings was relatively primitive because they were supposedly painted BEFORE the Abbey was abandonned! One of the most difficult things for an artist to do is to paint in a style that is more "primitive" than they are used to. I have tried to tailor my style to the earlier examples. I think I have only sort of managed it! To begin with, I selected three subjects to paint, one for each wall of the Chapel. That would be the Madonna and Child above the altar, The Crucifixion on the right wall, and Moses on the Mount on the left.

I chose an illumination from the mid thirteenth century as my model for the Madonna and Child. This is it below. I really tried to copy it fairly closely, especially the graceful gestures of the figures.

Here below you can see the drawing transferred to the wall and outlined in ink.

Here it is with much of the painting begun.

Here you can see it with the carved stone and painted arches surrounding it.

Here below is a view with the painting finished. As well as a glimpse of the two other paintings.

Here you can see the illumination I have chosen as my model for the Crucifixion. This was painted in the eleventh century.
You may recall the image Saint Luke was drawing that I mentioned above?

Below is the beginning stages of my version. Now, technically, these are NOT actually frescoes! Those would have to be painted onto wet plaster. Many of the paintings, especially in the northern countries, were murals painted on finished walls with a type of primitive oil paint. I am assuming that my Chapel walls were murals rather than true frescoes.

Here you can see that image completed. I couldn't resist adding more color than was in the original.

Now, images of the Crucifixion and the Madonna and Child are plentiful. But when it came to the portrayal of Moses on the Mount, I found only two examples in my books, and only one of them was early enough that it could serve as an example stylistically. This is from the Illuminated Naples Bible, from about 1350.

Alas, for my version, I did not copy it very well at all.

I added a whole lot of visual drama and color.

You can see it here below.

And a slightly further back view. I console myself that it will not matter that I changed the style of the painting so much, because it will be barely visible when the whole Chapel is finished!

Another view of the completed Madonna and Child, showing how the painting will blend with the ceiling painting.... which comes next......

Frescoes or Murals or.....

Frescoes