Plafond van Breestraat 177 te Leiden 1907

This is a photograph of a ceiling at Breestraat 177 in Leiden, taken in 1907 by an anonymous photographer working for Monumentenzorg, a Dutch heritage organisation. The limited tonal range lends the piece a very subdued feel, as though the image itself is aged or faded, which of course it is. It’s like the image has been lifted straight from the past. The plasterwork is exquisitely detailed. The eye is led around the composition, tracing the sinuous forms of the foliage and garlands. Note the cherubic figures in the lower section, their plump bodies frozen in mid-flight. It's not clear what they are doing, but they seem content. Overall, the image captures the aesthetic of the period, a time when such ornamentation and craft was commonplace in interior design. It brings to mind the work of Eugène Atget, who similarly documented architectural details in Paris around the same time, also in monochrome. Ultimately, it suggests that art exists in unexpected places and forms.