Decoration

The objective of Schnorr was to stand with Raphael or the early Renaissance painters in melodious line, intensity of expression and delicacy of stroke or outline. He had an instinctive feeling for composition on a grand scale and it is evident from the encaustic wall paintings he created for the Reisidenz in Munich. A whole cycle was destroyed in the war, but the Niebelung halls have survived, and they show with what consummate ease Schnorr could handle the huge surfaces.

The encaustic is an antique method in which hot melted wax is poured over the plaster, and it gives the painting a smooth quality that also repels damp.