Mural Painting

Evangelical Lutheran Church being used as a hospital during the Civil War.

Everyone that has studied the history of Frederick has seen this image of the interior of the Evangelical Lutheran Church being used as a hospital during the Civil War. What may not be so familiar is that we are also looking at a trompe l’oeil mural. What appears to be architectural trim and molding is really an elaborate painted illusion. This mural was part of a much larger decorative scheme carried throughout the interior, painted by Ernst Dryer in 1855 when the church was completed. In subsequent renovations, other muralists also decorated the same sanctuary using the trompe l’oeil method.

Church Spires	Brumidi's Capitol corridor mural

Frederick’s signature is its clustered spires and two of these spires were covered with painted illusions until fairly recently. In this photo from 1895, you can just make out the painted stones and mortar joints. Charlie Trunk, the present best authority on the church’s history, personally remembers seeing the famous twin spires painted to resemble stone. Community Bridge is not the first element of Frederick’s streetscape to be artistically painted to resemble stone work. This church predates that painted bridge by more than a hundred and forty years.

Other well known muralists also worked in Frederick, including Brumidi, the muralist of the US Capitol, who painted murals in at least two Frederick residences.

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