Star-painted ceiling

Illustrations, paintings, and murals of the sky, heavens, and stars have a long history as a source of decoration.[3] The Imperial temple in Palmyra, approximately constructed in the late 2nd century BC, is one of the earliest known examples of a religious building that features star-painted ceilings as a decorative motif. Outside of religious context, this motif has also been found in villas, and bath houses in Palmyra during this same time period.[4]

The earliest known instance of a star-painted vault related to Christianity is a baptistery at the city of Dura-Europos which is dated approximately 300 BC. The stars in the baptistery were painted white, painted over a blue background, and featured eight points. Vaults became a common place to paint night skies during the 12th to 16th centuries. This motif of painted vaults, also referred to as starry vaults, is linked to Gothic architecture.[4] An example of a chapel that features star-painted vaults is the Sainte-Chapelle. The vaults of the upper-chapel feature gold painted stars on a dark blue background.[5]

As well as being a decorative technique, star-painted ceilings have been created which accurately depict the night sky and constellation systems. An example of this is Grand Central station. The starry mural is located in the central terminal and depicts a semi-accurate night sky. The ceiling is decorated with over 2,500 stars and illustrates a North American night sky in winter (December 1st - February 28th). The constellation arrangement was a replicant of the 1603 star atlas that was created by Johann Bayer. However, the mural is not an accurate representation of the night sky as it was painted back to front. [7]

Decorated ceilings have also been used in planetariums. An example of this is the Hamburg Planetarium where a large circular ceiling within the planetarium has been painted blue with star constellations and zodiac signs painted on top in gold. [8]

The depiction of heaven and the sky is a recurring decorative feature that can be found in several Christian churches, chapels, and cathedrals.[4] These illustrations of heaven and the sky frequently feature the decorative motifs of stars. Stars are referred to throughout the Bible, often in symbolic connection to heaven, for example, “the stars of heaven and their constellations”. [9]

Historians Ellen Swift and Anne Alwis claim that star-painted ceilings were painted to represent the heavens within the sphere of Christianity and illustrate a heavenly place outside the natural world. [4]

Ceilings decorated in stars have also been found in baptistries. Swift and Alwis state that star-painted ceilings associated with cosmology may have been used as a way to illustrate that the one being baptised was symbolically going to be “reborn into a new world”. [4]

A section of the Eldridge Street Synagogue which has been painted blue with golden stars

Much like other religious buildings such as churches and cathedrals, a ceiling decorated in stars is a recurring motif in Synagogues. Like the Bible, the Torah also references stars, “look heavenward and count the stars”.[10] Star-painted ceilings are often used as a decoration feature in the central section of a synagogue. [2]

An example of star-painted ceilings as a central decorative motif in a Synagogue is the Eldridge Street Synagogue, located in New York City, which features five-pointed gold stars painted on a blue dome within the building. The dome which features these stars is well lit with natural lighting because of the multiple stain-glass windows that surround it. As a result, the golden stars reflect the light, creating the illusion that they are glowing. Another example of a synagogue that features stars painted on the ceiling is Central Synagogue, also located in New York City. Unlike the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the majority of the stars painted in this building have eight points. [11]

The dome of Lovely Lane Methodist Church in Baltimore, designed by Stanford White, was decorated with the stars as they were thought to have appeared in the night sky on the morning of the church's dedication, 6 November 1887.[14]

Other examples of star-painted ceilings include:

• Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)
• Carlisle Cathedral,[15] England (at left)
• Church of Santiago, Málaga,[16] Spain
• Saint Gertrude Church, in Darłowo,[17] Poland
• Hermitage of Santa Ana, in Xàtiva, Spain
• St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków,[18][19] Poland
• Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris, France[20]
• Siena Cathedral, in Siena, Italy[21]
• The original ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome at Pope Sixtus IV's time was a starry "vault of Heaven," done in gold and lapis lazuli. This is attributed to Pier Matteo d'Amelia. In 1506 Pope Julius II appointed Michelangelo to repaint the ceiling with scenes from the Book of Genesis[22]
• St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey,[23] in Bavaria, Germany
• Santo Domingo de la Calzada Cathedral, in La Rioja, Spain[24]
• Toledo Cathedral,[25] Spain
• Mausoleum of the Andrássy Family, Trebišov,[26] Slovakia
• The Forum Auditorium in the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) has a ceiling which mimics the night sky. Each major star is represented by an electric light, and the constellations they form are painted and labelled around them.

• Arch
• Atmospheric theatre
• Vault (architecture)
• Star chamber

• A Youtube which mentions starry vaults
• Discussion of starry vaults
• Many photos of starry vaults