The relationship between ceiling paintings and their spatial location within aristocratic residences has long been the subject of research. The iconography of the paintings is also occasionally used as an auxiliary tool in cases of absence of relevant sources related to the original function of residential spaces. Although this approach requires caution with regard to a number of factors, including possible changes in relation to a new patron, later renovations, and alterations of the interior order of rooms, etc., in Bohemian and Moravian chateau and palace residences, a clear connection can be made between interior decorations and the function of the residential spaces.
The paper will focus on selected examples of 17th and 18th-century decorative programmes in Bohemia and Moravia, where ceiling paintings can be drawn upon to demonstrate characteristic iconographic schemes linked to individual parts of residences (bedrooms, main halls, audience rooms, etc.) or to trace the gendered division of spaces. The use of painted illusionary spatial elements that underline the functional aspects of individual rooms will also be explored.