#659. Eclectic Brick Facade with Rich Sculptural Decoration

The photograph captures a fragment of the facade of a historic building executed in an eclectic style with elements of neo-baroque or neo-renaissance. The facade is faced with light beige brick, which gives the structure a noble and monumental appearance.

The main emphasis is placed on two identical window openings with rich architectural framing. The windows are rectangular, two-part, with vertical division. On the sides of the windows are decorative half-columns with Corinthian order capitals supporting the entablature. Above the windows are semicircular arched niches containing bas-reliefs depicting male faces (possibly mascarons or portrait medallions).

Special expressiveness is added to the facade by sculptural decoration in the upper part of the composition — figures resembling atlantes or allegorical sculptures are placed above each window. Below the windows, balustrades with figured balusters are visible, which further enriches the plasticity of the facade.

This architectural fragment demonstrates the typical late 19th — early 20th century aspiration for decorative richness and representativeness in urban development, when building facades became a kind of calling card for their owners and reflected their status and prosperity.