Saturday, January 15, 2011

15/365: Trompe-l'œil

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Sheraton Hotel

The French term means trick of the eye. It refers to something painted to look like something else, often on a large scale. This building used to be a shoe warehouse, once a major industry here. (Back when St. Louis was important enough to have two major league baseball teams and Budweiser wasn't owned by Belgians, it was said that our city was "first in shoes, first in brews and last in the American League.)

This building is now a Sheraton hotel and luxury loft apartments. The wall painting precedes that redevelopment. I find it interesting that the statue of St. Louis, King Louis IX of France, is very similar but not identical to the iconic landmark in Forest Park. This one has a sword raised in its left hand and looks to the right. The one in the park is the opposite. Note also the eagle that seems to be flying by the building on the far left.

3 comments:

Jilly said...

How fascininating and fabulous. I'm a great admirer of trompe l'oeil and of course see a lot of it here. This is impressive, Bob.

Julie said...

Agreed. They have gone to a tremendous amount of trouble with the detail. Love your description of the fame of your city.

Anonymous said...

Revelation 19:11-12 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.