architecture – Canto

Mixed media photograph? A giant, free-standing dome straddles the beach, standing half on yellow sand, half on water. The waves rush in through a hole in its wall, while the sunlight streams into the dome from a hole in its roof. A figure stands in the surf, looking out to sea. — Facebook, via Tumblr.

Yunanistan…Griechenland…Greece ..

Photograph (black and white). We stand in the middle of a corridor in a palatial building, looking down the long hallway towards an open portal. The arches along this corridor are in an "orientalist" arching shape; the walls are sumptuously embellished with wallpaper and gilt relief. The floor is covered with oriental carpets, and an ornamented chandelier hangs in the midst of the hallway. The portal at the end of the corridor is a bright window of light into this shadowed interior. — Source unattributed (via Tumblr).

Photograph. Rococo interior of a house. The parquet on the floor is arranged into a radial shape; the couch and two chairs are upholstered in white; the walls are richly decorated in rococo. A floor-to-ceiling window with square panes is set between the walls, and a chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Sunlight falls into the room, illuminating the floor and the white furniture, a contrast to the cool shadows of the walls and ceiling. — Chateau de Haroue in Lorraine, France.

Exotic Taste: Orientalist Interiors by Emmanuelle Gaillard published by The Vendome Press (Photo courtesy of The Vendome Press).

Fine art painting. A corridor inside a church, seen through a gothic arch. Paintings, plaques, and statuary of Roman Catholic figures adorn the walls: the Virgin Mary, Jesus the child, various saints. Two archways are seen in this corridor, leading deeper into the shadowed interior, where a shadowy figure stands. To the right an unseen glow of light illuminates this corridor. A warm, soft, peaceful comfort permeates this view. — “Interior of a Church” (1859). Max Emanuel Ainmiller.

Fine art painting of a covered well, surrounded by walls of brick and stone. Stone steps surround the well and lead up a staircase to a door, ajar, in the wall. Above the well is a circular skylight, with foliaged roots of plants hanging down. Also hanging through the skylight are two buckets, suspended above the water. A cold winter light shines down on the well, and snow dusts the stone steps and the surface of the still water. — “Well of Daylight – The Snow” (1994). By Jean-Marie Pumeyrol.

Fine art painting of a broken-down, abandoned architectural landscape. The stone walls of a building rise out of still reflective waters. A doorway with flanking columns is set into the wall, one door closed, the other ajar, peering into dim interiors. The lintel above the doors is cracked; the landing broken and tilting into the waters. A buffer wheel-tyre hangs off the landing; a pole (for securing boats) lists in the water. A beam of sunlight shines down and casts light and shadow upon this forgotten scene. — “Souvenir de Venise, 1978–1978”. By Jean-Marie Poumeyrol.

Photograph. An old, weather-worn, stone rotunda standing in a clearing under the sun; seen through the shadows of the nearby trees. — “Croome Park – The Rotunda”. Photograph by Blue Pelican (via Flickr).

Photograph. The cell, showing two large and barred oriel windows set into the stone wall, with a desk and chair positioned against the wall between them. On the desk are two wrought-iron candleholders, and between them, a wooden sculpture of a crucifix, with Mary holding the dead Christ. Sunlight streams in from the two windows, but the desk is in shadows. — “The Cell in Berkeley Castle, where Edward II was murdered in 1327.” Photographed by Tim Davies (Flickr).

Black and white photograph, possibly digitally edited. An island made of a heap of buildings and a steeple rises from still waters, an edifice grand and lonely in its isolation between water and sky. — Source unattributed (via Tumblr).

Digital painting. We stand inside a free-standing dome, built in a fantastical Romanesque style. A stepped dais and altar stand at the centre of the dome, with doorways built into the surrounding walls. The dome is in ruins. Sand pours in through a hole in the wall, revealing a desert beyond. Sunlight shines from a roof skylight, bathing the interior in shadows and golden warmth. — “Sphere”, by ~IgnisFerroque (via DeviantART).