Rare Frescoes in Suure-Kõpu Manor Open for Public Viewing

Last year I posted about a museum in Estonia that is decorated with Pompeii-style wall-paintings. Today I've come across another example of Pompeian-style painting in Estonia (but unfortunately no photos):

Rare Frescoes in Suure-Kõpu Manor Open for Public Viewing

Suure-Kõpu Manor, in Viljandi County, has been renovated thanks to a grant received from Norway, and its rare Pompeii-style frescoes and Art Nouveau interior design elements are open for public viewing again.

The manor house which was built in 1847 based on the design by Emil Julius Strauss contains surprises that have been hidden from view for decades. More than 60 years ago, a Young Pioneer leader decided that reveling centaurs and maenads were not fit to be displayed on the walls of a Soviet schoolhouse and the frescoes were painted over. Since then, the walls have been painted over repeatedly, ETV reported.

"Years ago, an artistically-minded house painter came to do the repairs here and he was the one who uncovered the first painting of a centaur," recalled Arnold Vares, former longtime headmaster of the Kõpu School. According to Vares, that happened in the 1970s when times were such that it was impossible to even think of doing more.

However, a couple of years ago it became possible to start uncovering the frescoes, and now the exact copies of the frescoes of Cicero's villa, painted by an unknown Italian master, are open for public viewing again. However, apart from Pompeii-style frescoes, the rooms of the manor house also feature unusual marble walls and various other historical interior design elements.

Read the full article here. Fascinating.