ClipArt ETC

The Ceilings ClipArt gallery provides 21 examples of ceiling forms and decoration from various regions and time periods.

Ceiling, Quedlinburg, Germany.

Ceiling design

Ceiling, Quedlinburg, Germany.

Ceiling, Massimi Palace, Rome, by Baldassare Peruzzi.

Ceiling design

Ceiling, Massimi Palace, Rome, by Baldassare Peruzzi.

Ceiling, Farnese Palacee, Rome, by Barozzi da Vignola.

Ceiling design

Ceiling, Farnese Palacee, Rome, by Barozzi da Vignola.

Ceiling of Pleroma, Parthenon.

Ceiling Panel

Ceiling of Pleroma, Parthenon.

Typical Roman ceiling panel.

Ceiling Panel

Typical Roman ceiling panel.

A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels were used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault. The stone coffers of the ancient Greeks and Romans are the earliest surviving examples.A, from Palmyra; B, Basilica of Constantine.

Roman Ceiling Panels

A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling,…

A ceiling formed in a coved or arched manner at its junction to the side walls

Coved Ceiling

A ceiling formed in a coved or arched manner at its junction to the side walls

"A Fresco is a kind of painting performed on fresh plaster, or on a wall covered with mortar not quite dry, and with water colors. The plaster is only to be laid on as the painting proceeds, no more being done at once than the painter can dispatch in a day. The colors, being prepared with water, and applied over plaster quite fresh, become incorporated with the plaster, and retain their beauty for a great length of time."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Fresco Ceiling

"A Fresco is a kind of painting performed on fresh plaster, or on a wall covered with mortar not quite…

"The subjects beginning at the top and going to the right are (1.) The paraiytle carrying his bed; (2.) The seven baskets full of fragments; (3.) Raising of Lazarus; (4.) Daniel in the lions' den; (5.) Jonah swallowed by the fish; (6.) Jonah vomited forth; (7.) Moses striking the rock; (8.) Noah and the dove. In the center, the Good Shepherd." — Encyclopedia Britanica, 1893

Fresco Ceiling

"The subjects beginning at the top and going to the right are (1.) The paraiytle carrying his bed; (2.)…

"The subjects, begining at the bottom and going to the right, are (1.) Moses striking the rock; (2.) Noah and the dove; (3.) The three children in the furnace; (4.) Abraham's sacrifice; (5.) the miracle of the loaves." — Encyclopedia Britanica, 1893

Fresco Ceiling

"The subjects, begining at the bottom and going to the right, are (1.) Moses striking the rock; (2.)…

The interior of the House of Commons in Parliament during the 1900's. It is pictured packed with representatives. The Commons Chamber was designed to foster adversarial feelings. Benches line the walls and face each other. The ceiling is vaulted and the walls are highly decorated.

The House of Commons Interior in the Early 20th Century

The interior of the House of Commons in Parliament during the 1900's. It is pictured packed with representatives.…

The English treated woodwork with consummate skill. They invented and developed a variety of forms of roof-truss in which the proper distribution of the strains was combined with a highly decorative treatment of the several parts by carving, moulding, and arcading. The ceiling surfaces between the trusses were handled decoratively, and the oaken open-timber ceilings of many of the English churches and civic of academic halls are such noble and beautiful works as quite to justify the substitution of wooden for vaulted ceilings.

Roof of Nave, St. Mary's, Westonzoyland

The English treated woodwork with consummate skill. They invented and developed a variety of forms of…

The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles."It was principally the above-mentioned system of Roccoco decoration and architectural detail which characterized the architecture of the time of Louis XV.; it is, consequently, sometimes designated as the style of Louis XV. [This image] gives a portion of an interior drawn in perspective.""Internal arrangement and decoration are the main characteristics of the style of this period, and in this direction the best results were doubtless produced. Large and lofty rooms, as well as scope for display, were indispensable; consequently this style of embellishment was most happily carried out in each state apartments, especially in the princely castles and palaces, or, as the French call them, the "Hôtels" of the aristocracy."

Saloon in the Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the île-de-France…

"The finest monument of this time is the Pantheon of Rome, first built about B.C. 27, which is one of the grandest buildings of the ancient world. Whether it was erected as a Temple or as a Hall attached to the Thermae of Agrippa is a moot point. It is even now in a sufficient good state of preservation for us to be able to judge of what it was." —D'Anvers, 1895

Pantheon

"The finest monument of this time is the Pantheon of Rome, first built about B.C. 27, which is one of…

Radial design from a ceiling.

Radial design

Radial design from a ceiling.

"The decoration of the interiors of the buildings of the Renaissance is also copied from ancient Roman architecture. The rooms are either vaulted or have flat ceilings, but in both cases are adorned with paintings after the manner of those discovered in the Baths of Titus, as is shown in [this image], or by panel-work, that is, sunken coffers with a regularly distributed enrichment. These panels are themselves often adorned with historical or allegorical paintings, or with arabesques. Ornamented panels were employed in large palaces for horizontal ceilings, as also in churches, though in the latter case they were more often applied to cupola vaulting, as notable in St. Peter's."

Painted Vault of the Florentine Palace in Rome

"The decoration of the interiors of the buildings of the Renaissance is also copied from ancient Roman…

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. The design is of many rays of stars.

Greek Square Panel

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis…

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. This panel is divided into eight equal spaces that are decorated with a repeated design.

Greek Square Panel

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis…

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. This panel is divided into eight equal spaces that are decorated with a repeated design.

Greek Square Panel

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Propylaea ceiling, the entrance to the Acropolis…

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Parhtenon ceiling, a Greek Temple. This panel is divided into eight equal spaces that are decorated with a repeated design.

Greek Square Panel

The Greek square panel is found on the coffer of the Parhtenon ceiling, a Greek Temple. This panel is…

Design for a coffer ceiling by Sebastion Serlio, 16th century.

Tessellation

Design for a coffer ceiling by Sebastion Serlio, 16th century.