Renaissance sgraffito friezes high on the 16th century brown and white south front of Stadtplatz 31 in the market place at Gmünd, Lower Austria, feature a winged monster with clawed feet, a human hero clubbing a dragon and naked warriors, some riding bareback, fighting hand-to-hand with swords, lances, longbows and shields. Below the battlements and friezes, the facade is covered with a small-scale diamond sgraffito pattern unique in Austria.
Gmünd, Lower Austria, Austria: a winged monster with clawed feet seems to watch as a human hero clubs a dragon and naked warriors, some riding horses bareback, fight using swords, lances, longbows and shields, in vibrant Renaissance friezes high on the brown and white facade of Stadtplatz 31, a remarkable ‘sgraffito house’ on the north side of the historic market place of this medieval town on Austria’s border with the Czech Republic. Although both No. 31 and No. 33 next door have Renaissance sgraffito facades added in the late 16th century, No. 31 is the earlier, built in the late medieval era in Late Gothic style. Below the battlements and friezes of fighting men, the south front is covered with a decorative design unique in Austria, the small-scale diamond sgraffito pattern seen in this image. Over the arch of the main doorway, specialist tools depicted on a panel below the scratched date 1565 indicate that at that time, No. 31 was the home and premises of a cooper or barrel-maker. Sgraffito is the ancient artistic technique of scratching or cutting away parts of a surface layer of plaster, stucco or paint to expose a background of a different colour or texture.
Size: 4228px × 2808px
Location: Gmünd, Lower Austria, Austria
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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