Picard's Space Station.

[Timo]

Probably the idea of the Excelsior as the E-B was decided upon when it was decided there would be an E-D. That is, the movies had already toyed with the idea that Kirk would in ST4 move from his old Constitution to the villain ship introduced in ST3, but that idea was dropped. Yet a "lineage of Enterprises" was invented as the backstory of TNG the TV show from its very beginning. The artwork depicting the lineage was there from day one, too, so the choice of E-B was made at some point of the creation process of TNG.

The Ready Room model is the Stargazer, the models on the Observation Lounge wall are previous ships named Enterprise.

Why would they have to be?

When we see Tom Hardy unconvincingly portray young Picard in an old photograph, we have to grind our teeth and pretend that young Picard looked like that. But when we see an Excelsior class starship flying in formation with the E-D, we don't have to think that our heroes are under attack even though the Excelsior was designed to be a "villain ship" originally. The fact that she was designed to be a menace to Kirk and friends doesn't prevent us from thinking that she, too, could be a hero vessel now.

There's nothing in the artist intent behind the models that would have an effect on the drama itself. Picard never treats his Ready Room model as if it were the Stargazer - no suggestive looks or handwaves when his past assignment is discussed, or when Jack Crusher is, or anything like that. The same lack of significance applies to the Observation Lounge art.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Anji]

Time to interject a little reality here. It was said paintings in officer's quarters were just assorted artwork the props department found interesting. Allegidly, many were paintings from the original Battlestar Galactica.

The painting in Picard's ready room was given to Gene Roddenberry by a fan. Roddenberry liked it so much he requested it have a place of honor behind Picard's Desk.

 

[MEATLOAFr]

...
How this might relate to Picard's space station is uncertain. The subject of the paintingusicansmight be important to him, even if such a structure was never quite built in that configuration, or was quickly modified to some other configuration (say, the particle fountain of "Quality of Life" which is the closest thing to that painting we can find in aired Star Trek). Then again, the painting itself might be the important thing. Perhaps Picard himself painted it? Perhaps a friend or relative of his did? Perhaps it's a hideous generic commercial piece of work, but the person who gave it to Picard was special to him, and he wants to remember that person through the gift?

It might be possible that this was the station that Picard lost is original heart to the Nausicans in a bar fight

 

[Pseudo]

It might be possible that this was the station that Picard lost is original heart to the Nausicans in a bar fight

And I'm sure JFK has a picture of a Carcano Rifle on his wall and Jesus has a crucifix in his front room.

 

[Mysterion]

Maybe it could be a painting of Station Salem One which was referred to as the site of a pivotal event in UFP history.

(And, yes, I know the painting was there before we heard the Salem One reference.)

 

[Christopher]

The painting in Picard's ready room was given to Gene Roddenberry by a fan. Roddenberry liked it so much he requested it have a place of honor behind Picard's Desk.

No, the painting in Picard's ready room was an Andrew Probert painting of the Enterprise-D (with starscape by Rick Sternbach). I don't think there was anything behind the ready room desk but the wall, the window, and a shelf with a couple of knicknacks on it. The painting under discussion in this thread is the one behind the desk in his quarters.

 

[Rick Sternbach]

^It's probably a Rick Sternbach. It does seem to be in his style.

Yep, that one's mine, in the McCall style. Probably a station where Picard served way back when.

Rick