A beautifully painted ceiling in a historic Glasgow food, drink events and entertainment venue has been named as one the UK's best artworks.
The team behind iconic Oran Mor in the city's west end have shared a snap of their beautiful The Auditorium Celestial Ceiling Mural, painted by the late, great Glasgow artist Alasdair Gray, after it was named as one of 75 'great artworks' to see across the UK.
The sensational work - which still not might be known to many Glaswegians - featured in the recent Guardian list, with writers hailing it as 'in another league' to other murals painted by Gray across the city.
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They say: "His first murals for the city can be found in the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant and Hillhead subway station. His mural for the auditorium of the Òran Mór arts venue is in another league, though.
"Its panels present figures from various belief systems against a blue cosmos. The ceiling features a dictum paraphrased from the Canadian poet Dennis Lee – “Work as if you were living in the early days of a better nation” – now engraved on the Scottish Parliament’s Canongate Wall."
The Oran Mor team were over the moon to see Gray's work has been heralded as a 'destination masterpiece' and said: "Delighted to see Òran Mór's Celestial Ceiling mural by Alasdair Gray highlighted as one of @guardian 75 great artworks to see in the UK!"
Painted in 1981, the ceiling has been affectionately titled the 'Sistine Chapel of the 21st century'.
The history of the work is explained on the Oran Mor website and says: "Alasdair intended to paint our celestial night sky with a random array of stars but as the church beams divided our ceiling into 12 equal spaces, he painted a constellation of the zodiac in each.
"In doing so, Alasdair referred to a child’s guide to the zodiac based on astrology invented 2000 years ago, in which astrological figures correspond to months three months earlier than in the horoscope calendars we know today.
"So here, in the east end of the ceiling looking up over the Eastern gable, Orion The Hunter can be seen in January, and The Twins in February."
To find out more about the brilliant artwork - and one of the UK's best - make sure to visit the Oran Mor website here.
Meanwhile, The Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Art Gallery recently featured in the Guardian's best in the UK list. You can read it in full here.
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