200YEARS-010724 - Flipbook - Page 21
international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale. Ferro also won a gold
medal at the Paris Salon and became an art instructor in Turin. When contacted
by Allegri to work in Bangkok, the 23-year-old Ferro accepted to gain new
experiences in Siam. Ferro resided in Bangkok for three years and was tasked
with decorating over 30 rooms of the Amphon Sathan Throne Hall in the Art
Nouveau style, incorporating floral and foliate motifs using the fresco secco
technique along the corridors and geometric metal grillwork. It can be said
that Ferro introduced Art Nouveau (Modern Style, Stile Liberty) that he drew
inspiration from William Morris, Carlo Bugatti and Victor Horta9s exhibits at the
grand Art Nouveau exposition in Turin in 1902.
Notably, the themes avoided colonial narratives, racism, ethnicity or Christian
subjects, focusing instead on lush flora and diverse avian species perched
among foliage evoking a garden atmosphere redolent of flowers and
animal sounds. The Pae Taeng, Thong Daeng, Bannakom, Saweai and Portrait
Rooms were meticulously designed. In contrast, the Turkish or Egyptian room
omitted human and animal figures and were decorated with calligraphic and
geometric patterns. The Ceremony Room featured Greek and Roman literary
themes of love and abundant nature with frescoes of frolicking male-female
couples singing joyously, the women scantily clad and men with unkempt
beards, some resembling centaurs accompanying the Roman god Bacchus.
Ferro also painted beautiful landscape vistas.
royal tours, such as oil reproductions of Titian9s Dana‘, Raphael9s Madonna of the
Chair and paintings by LŽon Comerre9s La Pluie d9or, Gaston Bussi•reÕs Réveil
de Brunhild, and notable works by Hubert-Denis Etcheverry, Edouard-Bernard
Debat-Ponsan, Pierre Ribera, Eug•ne Bullard, Louis Roger, Jonas Anzin and
Armand Gary installed in Bangkok9s royal palaces.
The oil paintings by Gelli were particularly noteworthy, especially the five
female nude paintings purchased on May 21, 1897, when King Chulalongkorn
visited Gelli9s studio in Florence. Having previously commissioned Gelli to paint
a group portrait during his first European tour, the King trusted Gelli9s skills and
expertise. Gelli himself had shifted from costume portraiture to nude painting,
drawing inspiration from acclaimed French artists such as GŽr™me, William
Bouguereau and Alexandre Cabanel, who popularized the academic nude
tradition of idealized female beauty with, harmonious contours and graceful
poses. The paintings also incorporated Greco-Roman literary themes like the
birth of Venus or Oriental odalisques and dancers reflecting the colonial gaze
on exotic foreign cultures.
The first pair of Gelli9s female nude paintings featured European models
standing while holding drapery and playing with a bird. Their unabashed smiles
showcased beautiful physiques akin to mythological goddesses unperturbed by
the viewer9s gaze. Another pair reclined nude on a bed and chaise longue,
bodies languidly displayed as if resting or awaiting someone. Their poses
Ferro was commissioned to depict local literary tales on the staircase landing reference famous past nudes by masters like Titian, Francisco Goya, Diego
to the second floor including the Manohrah story where the hunter Boonti Vel‡zquez and Edouard Manet, whose Olympia caused controversy at the
captures Manohrah by the Anodard Pond.22 Ferro depicted the nude Manohrah 1865 Paris Salon.
contorting her body while Boonti had a muscular, swarthy, formidable
physique against a beautifully rendered natural backdrop. Ferro also incorporated Among Gelli9s nudes, the one that captured King Chulalongkorn9s heart was the
images of Siamese page boys and royal insignias. Not only did Ferro swarthy woman standing with a captivating smile for the viewer. The King9s scribe
decorate the interiors with contemporary Art Nouveau, he was entrusted to provided a detailed description:
