Rabbit room
The rabbit room is a room in the building next to the Antistitium at Kirchgasse 10 in the old town of Chur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . It is decorated with paintings from the Renaissance that are unique in Graubünden .
In 1977 paintings from around 1600 were discovered during renovation work on three walls. Despite considerable costs, the parish council, as the owner of the house, decided to expose the paintings and have them restored by Oskar Emmenegger from Zizers . The works are executed in grisaille , i.e. exclusively in gray, white and black. Individual skin tones are made flesh-colored. The name of the painter is not known.
Hasenzug
motive
The main motif is under the theme “Upside Down World” and depicts a procession of ten rabbits leading away a hunter and his dogs in a triumphal procession. The procession is led by a hare with a halberd ; he is followed by a cart pulled by a hunting dog. The leader sits on the wagon with a " marshal's baton "; an old hand in both senses of the word. The trumpeter sits across from him. The little rabbit, which turns its backside towards the viewer, could represent the troop's mascot. The car is pushed by a strong rabbit. Behind him, another hare is riding a dejected hunting dog.
This is followed by the figure of the hare, destroyed except for a few fragments, who leads the depressed-looking hunter away by a rope. Behind the hunter, two "fusiliers" march with the rifles they have captured and shouldered.
composition
The train is visually held together by overlapping the individual elements. The diagonals and verticals of the weapons and instruments create the impression of movement. The same shape of the dog's tail and the front of the car binds the two elements together.
The wedge-shaped shape of the dog's head shows the direction of march like an arrow, which is reinforced by the wedge-shaped halberd, trumpet and the taut pull rope. The heavy, stable carriage forms the center of the composition. In the rear part, the mess of legs and paws creates the impression of movement.
Hasenzug
Beginning of the train
Rear wall of the car
Hunter
Paintings on the theme of "love"
On the picture on the left of the Rabbit train physical love is right-right: A mercenary takes a maid under her skirt. The sword in its scabbard and the fence posts surrounded by tendrils are symbolic.
Spiritual love is depicted in the middle of the window front: the goddess of love holds a burning heart in her hand. A little cupid aims his bow directly at the viewer.
On the left, a depiction of the crucifixion of Christ symbolizes spiritual love. Christ is mourned by his mother and his friend John.
physical love
spiritual love
spiritual love
Portraits
Two pairs are shown. The middle, older couple is shown back to back and wearing more old-fashioned clothes than the younger couple. The man is shown in a Spanish uniform, so he was probably a mercenary in Spanish service. The woman wears a hood, so she was married.
The man on the left, perhaps the son of the older couple, is wearing a Dutch uniform and was probably on duty in Holland or Flanders. The woman on the right wears a bonnet and is decorated more cautiously.
older man
older woman
younger woman
younger man
Some remains of frescoes have been preserved on the north wall. One picture shows a boy on a hobby horse.
literature
- Marc Antoine Nay, Marianne Känel Möckli: The "rabbit room" in Chur . Ed .: Cantonal Monument Preservation Graubünden. Monument Preservation Graubünden, Chur 2003.
Web links
- The rabbit room on Graubünden culture Coordinates: 46 ° 50 ′ 52.5 ″ N , 9 ° 31 ′ 58.6 ″ E ; CH1903: 759719 / 190663