Antiquity -20th century · Frescoes, ceilings and monumental decorations

Designed for architecture, the large murals envelop the viewer and transform chapels, palaces, civic rooms and places of memory into stories on a body scale.

Mural painting is not defined only by its size. It arises from a direct relationship to the architecture, circulation and function of a place. The fresco applies pigments to a still wet coating; other decorations use tempera, dry paint, oil or mixed media. In all cases, the artist must think about openings, vaults, viewing distance and movement of the public. During the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Renaissance, the great Italian programs made this constraint a power. In the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael organized The School of Athens as an ideal architecture populated by philosophers; perspective extends the real room and gives shape monumental to rational truth. Michelangelo transforms the vault of the Sistine Chapel with The Creation of Adam then covers the altar wall of the Last Judgment, where the scale of the bodies responds to that of the sanctuary. In Milan, Leonardo experimented with a technique for The Last Supper which allowed slow repetitions but weakened the work. Other cycles, from Giotto to Lorenzetti, connect sacred narration, civic morality and collective space. Other cycles, from Giotto to Lorenzetti, connect sacred narration, civic morality and collective space. Other cycles, from Giotto to Lorenzetti, connect sacred narration, civic morality and collective space. The large wall compositions are therefore not simple enlarged paintings. They distribute time and figures over a field that the eye cannot grasp at once. A reproduction on canvas must respect this logic: preserve the proportions, the hierarchy of groups, architectural axes and the breathing space necessary for panoramic reading. The "Great Murals" selection notably compares The School of Athens and The Creation of Adam. His reading favors details.

The large mural does not just occupy a wall: it transforms architecture into narrative space and the viewer into active presence.