Four elements in the Knights’ Hall

In the early baroque period the Ovid’s Metamorphoses were very popular among the readers and it is not surprising that these stories were considered to be an inspiration for certain scenes of the depiction in the Knight's Hall of Brežice Caslte. At the bathlike transition of a wall into the ceiling, there are the scenes from the Greek-Roman mythology or Ovid’s Metamorphoses which are at the same time the allegories of four elements. According to the tradition of ancient Greek philosophy, there are four basic ingredients of all the things: air, fire, soil and water. The allegory of an element AIR (Aer) is the God of light, Apollo with Eos, the goddess of the dawn. The allegory of an element WATER (Aqua) is presented by the scenes: the God of the sea and oceans, Poseidon with his wife Amphitrite, one-eyed cyclop Polyphemus, a scene from the legend about Pyramus and Thisbe and Europa on a bull. The allegory of a third element FIRE (Ignis) is the God of fire, Hephaestus in the forge. The allegory of a fourth element SOIL (Terra) is presented by the scenes: the God Dionysus in the company of satyrs and nymphs and Ariadne, Pan with dancing nymphs and satyrs, forest deities Dryads and the God of war Ares.
The Knight's Hall, Brežice Castle, Frančišek Karel Remb (1675–1718), early 18th century.