OWE N

GRAMMAR

.ION BS'
of

ORNAMENT.

THE TEXT COMPLETE

W

it Ii

iiian\

Woodcuts Mid Specimen

Price of the complete work, with 112 plates

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ov-\

THE

GRAMMAR OF ORNAMENT
BY

OWEN

JONES.

ILLUSTRATED BY EXAMPLES
FROM VARIOUS STYLES OF ORNAMENT.

ONE HUNDKED AND TWELVE PLATES.

LONDON

BEENARD QUAEITCH,
15

PICCADILLY.
18

6 8.

PEEFACE TO THE FOLIO EDITION.

It would be far beyond the limits of the powers of any one individual to

attempt to gather together illustrations of the innumerable and ever-varying

of Ornamental

phases

Art.

Government, and even then

It
it

would be barely possible

would be too voluminous

undertaken by a

if

to be generally useful.

have proposed to myself in forming the collection which

All, therefore,

that

have ventured

to

call

the

Grammar

of Ornament, has been to

select a

few of

the most prominent types in certain styles closely connected with each other, and
in

which certain general laws appeared

of

peculiarities

each.

to reign independently of the individual

have ventured to

hope

that,

in

thus

immediate juxtaposition the many forms of beauty which every

presents,

might aid

in

arresting

that

unfortunate

be content with copying, whilst the fashion

bygone
peculiar

age,

lasts,

It

is

style of

ornament

tendency of our time

the

to

forms peculiar to any

without attempting to ascertain, generally completely ignoring, the

circumstances which rendered an ornament beautiful,

appropriate, and which, as expressive of other wants

entirely

bringing into

when

because

it

was

thus transplanted, as

fails.

more than probable that the

first

result of sending forth to the

l

world

PREFACE.
collection will be

this

many

be content to borrow from the past those forms of beauty which

will

have not already been used up ad nauseam.

and

this tendency,

awaken

to

been expressed

my

desire to arrest

a higher ambition.

many

in so

different

languages, he

an ever-gushing fountain in place of a

In the following chapters

That whenever any

First.
it

has been

It

student will but endeavour to search out the thoughts which have

If the

tion,

dangerous tendency, and that

increase this

seriously to

may

assuredly hope to find

stagnant reservoir.

half-filled

have endeavoured to establish these main

style

commands

of ornament

universal

facts,

admira-

always be found to be in accordance with the laws which regulate

will

the distribution of form in nature.

That however varied the manifestations

Secondly.

laws, the leading ideas on

which they are based are very few.

another have been caused by a sudden throwing

style to

which

fixed trammel,

became again
Lastly.

set

thought free for a time,

fixed, to give birth in its

till

the

experience of the

past

for fresh inspiration.

some

idea, like the old,

turn to fresh inventions.

the

may be

best secured by engrafting on the

knowledge we may obtain by a return

To attempt

to build

up theories of

independently of the past, would be an act of supreme

the contrary,

we should regard

art,

to

Nature

or to form a style,

would be

It

folly.

knowledge

once to reject the experiences and accumulated

On

new

off of

have endeavoured to show, in the twentieth chapter, that the

future progress of Ornamental Art

years.

accordance with these

That the modifications and developments which have taken place

Thirdly.

from one

in

of

thousands

at

of

as our inheritance all the successful

labours of the past, not blindly following them, but employing them simply as

guides to find the true path.

In taking leave of the subject, and finally surrendering

the public, I
there are

My

am

fully

aware that the collection

many gaps which each

chief aim,

to

place

side

by

artist,

however,

side types

is

it

to the

judgment of

very far from being complete

may

readily

fill

up

for himself.

of such styles as might best serve

PREFACE.
as landmarks and aids to

student in his onward path, has,

the

been

trust,

fulfilled.

It

remains for

kindly assisted

In

me

me

acknowledgment

of

Egyptian

the

Collection

received

much

assistance from Mr. J.

Bonomi, and from Mr. James Wild, who has

tributed

for

having

materials

the

the Arabian Collection, his

large

Cairean Ornament, of which the portion contained in this work

an imperfect

idea,

and which

I trust

he

valuable

con-

also

long residence in Cairo

him the opportunity of forming a very

afforded

who have

to all those friends

in the undertaking.

formation

the

my

to offer

collection

of

can give but

may some day be encouraged

to publish

in a complete form.
I

am

Mr. C.

indebted

J.

Mr. T. T.

to

Richardson

am

also

of Stained Glass.

From

from Mr.

J.

B. Waring, those of the Byzantine, and I

indebted to him for the very valuable essays on Byzantine and Eliza-

bethan Ornament.
the

for the plate

obtained the principal portion of the materials of the

Elizabethan Collection;

Bury

Mr.

Ornament of the

J.

O.

Celtic

Westwood having

races,

has

assisted

directed
in

the

attention

special

Celtic

Collection,

to

and

written the very remarkable history and exposition of the style.

Mr.

C.

Dresser, of Marlborough House, has provided

the

interesting plate

No. 8 of the twentieth chapter, exhibiting the geometrical arrangement of natural

flowers.

My

colleague

wo v k with

his

at

the

Crystal Palace,

M. Digby Wyatt, has

enriched the

admirable essays on the Ornament of the Renaissance and the

Italian periods.

Whenever

the

been acknowledged

material
in the

The remainder of

the

Mr. Albert Warren and

has been gathered from

published sources,

it

has

body of the work.

drawings have been chiefly executed by

Mr.

Charles

Aubert,

who,

with

my

pupils,

Mr. Stubbs, have

reduced the whole of the original drawings, and prepared them for publication.
3

PREFACE.

The drawing upon stone

of Mr.

Francis

R.

the

One Hundred

Tymms, A. Warren, and

My

special thanks are

quite

work

as

feel

as perfect

S. Sedgfield,

assistants,

the care

H. Fielding,

Messrs.

due to Mr. Bedford for the care and anxiety which

regardless

the

of

all

personal consideration,

Day and
of the

render this

to

advanced stage of chromolithography demanded; and

any way acquainted with the

the printers

to

with occasional help, have executed

persuaded that his valuable services will be

Messrs.

was entrusted

Plates in less than one year.

he has evinced,

of the whole collection

who, with his able

Bedford,

W.

->

difficulties

Son, the

fully

recognised by

and uncertainties of

enterprising

work, have put forth

and

publishers,
all

their

all

in

this process.
at

the

same time

and

strength;

standing the care required, and the vast amount of printing to be

notwith-

performed,

the resources of their establishment have enabled them, not only to deliver the

work with

perfect

regularity

to

the

Subscribers,

but

even

to

complete

before the appointed time.

OWEN

9 Argyll Place,

Dec. 15,

1856

JONES.

it

GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF FORM AND COLOUR,

AND THE DECORATIVE

IN ARCHITECTURE

WHICH

ARTS,

ARE ADVOCATED THROUGHOUT THIS WORK.

Proposition
General
principles.

Proposition

1.

The Decorative Arts

arise from,

Beauty of form

and

is

growing out

chitecture.

gradual undulations
crescences

Architecture

2.

one

the

lines On

other

general

in

there are no ex-

nothing could be removed

and leave the design equally good or

the material expression

is

produced by

from

should properly be attendant upon, Ar-

Proposition

6.

better.

of the wants, the faculties, and the senti-

ments, of the age in which

Style in Architecture

it is

at

command.

Proposition

As

Architecture, so

works of the

all

proportion, harmony, the result

is

fitness,

of

results

which the mind

intellect, and the

Decoration of
the surface.

lines; the interstices

filled

in

with ornament,

which may again be subdivided and enriched for closer inspection.

Proposition

8.

feels

geometrical construction.

4.

from that repose

when

the eye, the

affections, are satisfied

from the absence of any want.

Proposition

Construction

cared

All ornament should be based upon a

Proposition

True beauty

then be

all

repose.

first

these should be subdivided and orna-

may

Decorative Arts, should possess

which

for,

mented by general

3.

7.

forms being
The general
~

the peculiar form that

is

expression takes under the influence of climate

and materials

Proposition

created.

should

5.

be

decorated.

Decoration should never be purposely

Proposition

As

in every perfect

9.

work

On proporof Archi- tion.

tecture a true proportion will be found

to reign

between

compose

it,

all

the

members which

so throughout the Decorative

Arts every assemblage of forms should

be arranged on certain definite proporthe whole and each particular

tions
;

constructed.
That which is beautiful is true that which
must be beautiful.
;

is

true

member should be

a multiple of

simple unit.
5

some

PROPOSITIONS.
Those proportions will be the most beautiful
which it will be most difficult for the eye to

Proposition 15.

Colour

detect.

Thus the proportion of a double

square,

or 4 to 8, will be less beautiful than

the more subtle ratio of 5 to 8

3 to

6,

than 3 to 7; 3 to 9, than 3 to 8
3 to 4, than 3 to 5.

Proposition 10.

On harmony
and

contrast.

Harmony

form consists

in

the

proper balancing, and contrast

of,

the

of

and the curved.

straight, the inclined,

Radiation.
Continuity.

In surface decoration

all lines

should

Every orna-

ment, however distant, should be traced

branch and root.

and

by the proper

distribution of the several

colours.
Proposition 16.

These objects are best attained by the

use of the primary colours on small surfaces and in small quantities, balanced

and supported by the secondary and

tiary colours on the larger masses.

ter-

Proposition 17.

flow out of a parent stem.

to its

light

assist

shade, helping the undulations of form

Proposition 11.
Distribution.

used to

is

The primary

colours should be used

on the upper portions of

objects, the

secondary and tertiary on the lower.

Oriental practice.
Proposition 18.

Proposition 12.

All junctions

(Field's Chromatic equivalents.)

of curved

lines

The primaries of equal

with

harmonise or neutralise each other, in

should

the proportions of 3 yellow, 5 red, and

be

tangential

cordance with

to

each

Oriental practice

other.

in

ac-

8 blue,

integrally as

8 orange,

not be used as ornaments, but conventional representations

founded upon them

sufficiently suggestive to

convey the

in-

tended image to the mind, without destroying the unity of the object they are
to decorate.

Universally obeyed

in the best periods of Art, equally violated

when Art

declines.

Proposition 14.
colour

generally.

Colour

opment
objects

is

of

used to
form,

or parts

another.
6

assist in the devel-

and

to

of objects

16.

in the proportions of

3 purple,

11

green,

integrally

as 32.

The

Flowers or other natural objects should

employed

.,

The secondaries

it.

Proposition 13.

On

ii

curved or of curved lines with straight

Natural law.

On the conventionality
of natural
forms.

intensities will On

distinguish

one

from

tertiaries, citrine

(compound

of

orange and green), 19; russet (orange

and

purple),

purple), 24

21

olive

integrally

(green

and

as 64.

It follows that,

Each secondary being a compound of

two primaries is neutralised by the remaining primary in the same proportions:
thus, 8 of orange by 8 of blue, 11 of green
by five of red, 13 of purple by 3 of yellow.
Each tertiary being a binary compound of two secondaries, is neutralised
by the remaining secondary as, 24 of
olive by 8 of orange, 21 of russet by 11
of green, 19 of citrine by 13 of purple.
:

the proportions by
which har-

mon y

colouring is
produced.

LIST OF PLATES.

Chap.
Plato.

No.

Ornament of Savage

I.

Ornaments from Articles belonging

British

to various

Tribes.

Savage Tribes, exhibited in the United Service and

Museums.

Ditto

ditto

ditto.

Ditto

ditto

ditto.

Chap.
4
5

Egyptian Ornament.

The Lotus and Papyrus, types of Egyptian ornament.

Ditto

6*

II.

with Feathers and Palm-branches.

ditto

Capitals of Columns, showing the varied applications of the Lotus and Papyrus.

ditto

3* Ditto

ditto.

Various Cornices, formed by the Pendent Lotus.

Ornaments from

Geometrical Ornaments from Ceilings of Tombs.

10

11

13

14

2
3

III.

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Museum and

the Louvre.

Assyrian and Persian Ornament.

Painted Ornaments from Nineveh.

Ditto

ditto.

Carved Ornaments from Persepolis, and Sassanian Ornaments from Ispahan and Bi-Sutoun.

Chap. IV.
15

Cases in the British

Ornaments with Curved Lines from Ceilings of Tombs.

Various Ornaments from Ceilings and Walls of Tombs.

Chap.
12

Mummy

The Various Forms

Greek Ornament.

of the Greek Fret.

Ornaments from Greek and Etruscan Vases

in the British

Museum and

the Louvre.

Painted Greek Ornaments from the Temples and Tombs in Greece and

Sicily.

LIST OF PLATES.

Chap. V.
Plate.

Pompeian Ornament.

No.

23

Collection of Borders from different Edifices in Pompeii.

24

Ditto Pilasters and Friezes

25

Mosaics from Pompeii and the

Chap

ditto.

Roman Ornaments from

27

Ditto from the

Casts in the Crystal Palace.

Museo Bresciano.

Chap. VII.

Byzantine Ornament.

28

Carved Byzantine Ornaments.

29

Painted

ditto.

29* 2*Ditto
3

at Naples.

Roman Ornament.

VI.

26

30

Museum

ditto.

Mosaics.

Chap. VIII.

Arabian Ornament.

31

Arabian Ornaments of the Ninth Century from Cairo.

32

Ditto

33

3 Ditto

34

4 Portion of

35

Thirteenth Century ditto.

ditto

ditto.

an Illuminated Copy of the " Koran."

Mosaics from Walls and Pavements from Houses in Cairo.

Chap. IX.

Turkish Ornament.

36

Ornaments

37

Painted Ornaments from the Mosque of Soliman at Constantinople.

33

Decoration of the

in Relief

from Mosques, Tombs, and Fountains

Dome

Chap. X.

of the

Tomb

Varieties of Interlaced Ornaments.

40

Spandrils of Arches.

Lozenge Diapers.

41

3* Ditto

42

ditto.

ditto.

42f 4fDitto
43 5 Mosaics.

ditto.

Chap. XI.

Persian Ornament.

Ornaments from Persian MSS. in the British Museum.

44

45

2 Ditto

ditto.

46

Ditto

ditto.

47
47*

From

4* Ditto
5

Constantinople.

Square Diapers.

42* 4*Ditto

48

I. at

Moresque Ornament from the Alhambra.

39

41*

of Soliman

at Constantinople.

From
10

a Persian Manufacturer's Pattern-Book, South Kensington Museum.

ditto

a Persian MS., South Kensington Museum.

ditto.

LIST OF PLATES.

Chap. XII.
Plate.

Indian Ornament.

No.

Ornaments from Metal- work from the Exhibition of 1851.

49

50

2)

51

(.-^ ltto fr

52

4)

53

Embroidered and

now

Collection in 1851,

Woven

at

Fabrics and Paintings on Vases exhibited in the Indian

South Kensington Museum.

53* 5*

JSpecimens of Painted Lacquer-work from the Collection at the India House.

g^

54*

6*J

55

Ornaments from Woven and Embroidered Fabrics and Painted Boxes exhibited

Chap. XIII.
56

57

58

Hindoo Ornament.

Ornaments from a Statue

From
From

at the Asiatic Society's House.

the Collection at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham.

the Collection at the India House.

Chap. XIV.
59

60

61

62

Chinese Ornament.

Chinese Ornaments painted on Porcelain, and on Wood, and from

64

65

3 Spiral,

Celtic

Ornament.

Interlaced Styles.

Diagonal, Zoomorphic, and later Anglo-Saxon Ornament.

Chap. XVI.

Mediaeval Ornament.

Conventional Leaves and Flowers from Illuminated MSS.

Borders from Illuminated MSS. and Paintings.

2* Ditto

ditto

ditto.

68

Diapers from Illuminated MSS. and Backgrounds of Pictures.

69

Stained Glass of various periods.

69* 4*Ditto

ditto.

70

ditto.

Fabrics.

Lapidary Ornamentation.

63

67
67*

Woven

Conventional Renderings of Fruits and Flowers.

Chap. XV.

66

at Paris in 1855.

Encaustic Tiles

Illuminated MSS.
71

Portions of Illuminated

72

73

MSS.

of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.

Ditto

ditto

Thirteenth and Fourteenth

Ditto

ditto

Fourteenth and Fifteenth

ditto.
ditto.

11

LIST OF PLATES.

Chap. XVII.
Plate.

74
_g
_

Renaissance Ornament.

No.
i

Renaissance Ornaments in Relief, from Photographs taken from Casts in the Crystal Palace,

Sydenham.

77

78

Enamels from the Louvre and H6tel Cluny.

Ornaments from Pottery at South Kensington Museum.
ditto
Ditto
Hotel Cluuy and the Louvre.

79

80

7 Ditto

81

81

82

ditto

^ r naments

fr

ditto.

m Stone and Weed from the Collections of the Louvre and Hotel Cluny.

Chap. XVIII.
83

84

2J

85

^ai us

Ornaments in Relief from the Time of Henry VIII.

Painted Ornaments and Ornaments on

Chap. XIX.
86

Elizabethan Ornament.

Pilasters

Italian

Woven

to that of Charles II.

Fabric, ditto.

Ornament.

and Ornaments from the Loggie of the Vatican, reduced from the

full-size

South Kensington Museum.

86* i*Ditto

87
88

ditto

ditto

Ditto

from the Palazzo Ducale and the Church of

89

Ditto

from the Palazzo del Te, Mantua.

90

Ornaments from Printed Books.

ditto.

Ornaments from the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua.

Chap. XX.
91

Horse-chestnut leaves.

92

Vine

93

Ivy

St.

Andrea, Mantua.

Leaves and Flowers from Nature.

leaves.

leaves.

94

Leaves of the Oak, Fig-tree, Maple, White Bryony, Laurel, and Bay-tree.

95

Leaves of the Vine, Hollyoak, Turkey Oak, and Laburnum.

96

Wild

Hawthorn, Yew, Ivy, and Strawberry-tree.

Rose, Ivy, and Blackberry.

97

98

Various Flowers in Plan and Elevation.

99

Honeysuckle and Convolvulus.

100

10 Passion Flowers.

12

Paintings at

Chapter

Plates

I.

1,

2, 3.

ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE

TRIBES.

.-o_)-0o~$--

PLATE
United Service Museum.

1.

Cloth.

2.
3.

Matting from Tongotabu, Friendly Islands.

Cloth.
Otaheite. U. S. M.

4.

Cloth.

5-8.

Otaheite.

9.

Sandwich Islands. U. S. M.
Sandwich Islands. British Museum.

Cloths.

1.

3.
4.

5.
6.

Cloth.

11.

Cloth.

12.

Cloth.

13.

Cloth

7.

U.

S.

U.

S.

U.

S.

2.

Club.
Islands.

M.
M.
M.

3.

New

4.

Tahiti.

6.

New Zealand.

From

Zealand.

Patoo-Patoo.

Adze.

U.
U.

S.

U.

S.

S.

M.
M.
M.

early a stage of civilisation, with

it

Islands.

B. M.

Friendly Islands.

13, 14.

Tahiti.

Sandwich

Drum.

Adze.

New

18-20.

Sandwich

S.

U.

S.

U.

S.

M.
M.
M.
M.
M.
M.

U. S.

Islands.

16, 17.

U.

Zealand.
Islands.

U.

S.

U.

S.

III.
6.

New Zealand.

7.

South Sea

8.

Handle,

9.

Feejee Islands.

Isles.

War
War Club.

Pajee, or

Club.

full size of Fig. 6.

Club.

U. S. M.
U.S.M.
U.S.M.
U.S.M.

U. S. M.

Paddle.

the universal testimony of travellers

absent in none, and

Adze.

Tahiti.

11, 12.

15.

United Service Museum.

Club.

made from Paper Mulberry, Feejee

9, 10.

PLATE
Owhyhee.
Sandwich

1.

Otaheite. U. S. M.
Sandwich Islands. B. M.

II.

South America. United Service Museum.

Sandwich Islands.
U. S. M.
Owhyhee.
U. S. M.
New Hebrides. Inlaid Shield. U. S. M.

Sandwich Islands.
South Sea Islands.
8.
Sandwich Islands.

Cloth Matting from Tongotabu, Friendly Islands.

10.

PLATE
2.

I.

whom

it

would appear, that there

the desire for ornament

grows and increases with

all in

is

is

scarcely a people, in however

not a strong instinct.

The

desire is

the ratio of their progress in civilisation.

Man

appears everywhere impressed with the beauties of Nature which surround him, and seeks to imitate to the
extent of his power the works of the Creator.

Man's

earliest

ambition

is

to create.

and body, resorted to by the savage

enemies or

rivals, or to create

To

this feeling

must be ascribed the tattooing

of the

human

face

to increase the expression by which he seeks to strike terror on his

what appears to him a new beauty.*

As we advance higher, from the

* The tattooing on the head which we introduce from the Museum at Chester is very remarkable, as showing that in this very
barbarous practice the principles of the very highest ornamental art are manifest, every line upon the face is the best adapted to
develope the natural features.

13

ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE
wigwam

decoration of the rude tent or

everywhere apparent

to the sublime

the highest ambition

is

still

TRIBES.

works of a Phidias and Praxiteles, the same feeling

is

to create, to stamp on this earth the impress of an

individual mind.

From time
it

to time a

mind

stronger than those around will impress itself on a generation, and carry with

a host of others of less power following in the same track, yet never so closely as to destroy the individual

ambition to create

hence the cause of

styles,

and of the modifications of

The

styles.

an early stage of

efforts of

are

civilisation

a people in
those

like

of

though presenting a want of power, they

children,

possess a grace

and naivete rarely found in mid-age,

and never in manhood's

the infancy of any

It is equally so in

decline.

Cimabue and Giotto have

art.

not the material charm of Raphael or the

manly

power of Michael Angelo, but surpass them both in

grace and earnest truth.

The very command

means leads

when

succeeds;
signally

to their abuse

when Art

revelling in its

own

The pleasure we

fails.

of

struggles, it

successes, it as

receive

con-

in

templating the rude attempts at ornament of the

most savage tribes

arises

a difficulty accomplished

by the evidence

from our appreciation of

we

charmed

are at once

of the intention,

and surprised at

the simple and ingenious process by which the result

is

obtained.

Art, whether

to

in every

fact,

it

be humble or pretentious,

evidence of mind,
create

what we seek

In

the

work

of

the

is

evidence of that desire to

which we have referred, and which

all,

feeling a natural instinct within them, are satisfied

with when they find

Female Head from

New

strange, but so it

Zealand, in the Museum, Chester.

it

developed in others.

that this evidence of

is,

It

mind

will

be more readily found in the rude attempts

ornament of a savage

tribe

than in the innumerable productions of a highly-advanced

Individuality decreases in the ratio of the power of production.

effort,

not originated by individual

effort,

we

fail

When

Art

is

is

at

civilisation.

manufactured by combined

to recognise those true instincts

which constitute

its

greatest charm.

Plate
of trees.

The ornaments on

I.

this

Plate are from portions of clothing

made

chiefly

from the bark

Patterns Nos. 2 and 9 are from a dress brought by Mr. Oswald Brierly from Tongotabu, the

principal of the Friendly Island group.

It is

made from

thin sheets of the inner rind of the bark of

a species of hibiscus, beaten out and united together so as to form one long parallelogram of cloth, which

being wrapped
bare,

many

times round the body as a petticoat, and leaving the chest, arms, and shoulders

forms the only dress of the natives.

Nothing, therefore, can be more primitive, and yet the

arrangement of the pattern shows the most refined taste and

of the cloth

with the same limited means of production,

it

skill.

No. 9

would be

of the masses,

is

everywhere apparent

improve upon

and the judicious correction of the tendency of the eye

to

it.

The

somewhat rude and irregular

and we are at once struck with the

opposing to them lines having an opposite tendency.

14

is

the edge

the border on

difficult to

patterns are formed by small wooden stamps, and although the work
in execution, the intention

is

skilful

balancing

run in any one direction by

ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE
When Mr.
and

for every

new pattern

The pattern No.

may

woman was

Brierly visited the island one

the designer of

the patterns in use there,

all

number

she designed she received as a reward a certain

from the same place,

2,

TRIBES.

ment of the four squares and the

equally

is

derive from an artist of a savage tribe.

of yards of cloth.

an admirable lesson in composition which we

Nothing can be more judicious than the general arrange-

Without the red spots on the yellow ground there

four red spots.

would have been a great want of repose in the general arrangement; without the red
red spots to carry the red through the yellow,
triangles

and the

it

would have been

still

Had

imperfect.

round the

lines

the small red

turned outwards instead of inwards, the repose of the pattern would again have been
effect

produced on the eye would have been that of squinting; as

it

is,

the eye

each square, and centred in each group by the red spots round the centre square.

form the pattern are very simple, each triangle

how readily

which

stinctive observation of the forms in

all

and each

M^

the possession of a simple tool, even

leaf

by the mosl

A
y

the works of Nature

The stamps which

being a single stamp

uncultivated, if
are

lost,

centred in

is

we thus

see

guided by an in-

arranged, would lead to the

creation of all the geometrical arrangements of form with which

we

On

are acquainted.

No.

the upper left-hand corner of pattern

2, the eight-pointed star

the same tool

inwards

as also

is

formed by eight applications of

the black flower with

and sixteen pointing outwards.

The

The most com-

plicated patterns of the Byzantine, Arabian,

mosaics would be generated by the same means.

secret of

sixteen pointing

and

Moresque

success in all

duction of a broad general effect by the repetition of a few simple elements

sought in the arrangement of the

several

portions of a

design,

ornament

is

the pro-

variety should rather be

than in the multiplicity of varied

forms.

The stamping
as this,

of patterns on the coverings of the body,

would be the

In both there

first

when

either of skins of animals or material such

stage towards ornament after the tattooing of the body by an analogous process.

would remain a greater variety and individuality than in subse-

quent processes, which would become more mechanical.

The

hbhhhb|hj

notions of

first

weaving, which would be given by the plaiting of straws or strips of bark,

instead of using

them

as thin sheets, would have equally the

gradually forming the

masses

mind

the eye of the

same

result of

an appreciation of a proper disposition of

to

savage, accustomed only

to

upon Nature's

look

harmonies, would readily enter into the perception of the true balance both
of form and colour; in point of fact,

ornament the true balance of both

is

we

find that it is so, that in savage

always maintained.

After the formation of ornament by stamping and weaving, would naturally

follow the desire of forming

defence or the chase would

ornament in

first

relief or carving.

attract attention.

The weapons

The most

skilful

for

and the

bravest would desire to be distinguished from their fellows by the possession

of weapons, not only
for

more

useful,

but more beautiful.

The shape

Plaited Straw from the Sandwich Islands.

best fitted

the purpose having been found by experience, the enriching of the surface by carving would naturally

follow

and the

seek to imitate

eye, already

them by a

instinct very fully.

They

accustomed to the geometrical forms produced by weaving, the hand would

similar repetition of cuts of the knife.

are executed with the utmost precision,

in the distribution of the masses.

skill

may

The ornaments on Plate

and exhibit great

Nos. 11 and 12 are interesting, as showing

taste

human form more

especially,

remain in the very

show

this

and judgment

how much

exist in the formation of geometrical patterns, whilst those resulting from curved

II.

this taste _and

lines,

first stage.

15'

and tho

ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE
The ornaments

in the

TRIBES.

woodcuts below and at the side show a far higher advance in the distribution

of curved lines, the twisted rope forming the type as

The uniting of two

it

naturally would be of all curved lines in ornament.

strands for additional strength would early accustom

the eye to the spiral line, and

we always

Head

of Canoe,

New

find this

form side by side with

Guinea.

geometrical patterns formed by the interlacing of equal lin?s in the orna-

ment

of every savage tribe, and retained in the

more advanced

art of every

civilised nation.

Head

From the

Side of a Canoe,
Zealand.

New

is

The ornament

of Canoe,

New

Guinea.

of a savage tribe> being the result of a natural instinct,

necessarily always true to its purpose; whilst in

much

of the

ornament of

civilised nations, the first

impulse which generated received forms being enfeebled by constant repetition, the ornament
times misapplied, and instead of
destroyed, because

all

fitness,

first

seeking the most convenient form and adding beauty,

by superadding ornament

a more healthy condition, we must even be as

acquired and

The
tion

artificial,

beautiful

New

Zealand paddle, Nos. 5-8, on Plate

upon

its

surface misapplied.

everywhere the best adapted to

16

children or as savages

If
;

often-

beauty

we would return

we must

is

to

get rid of the

and return to and develope natural instincts.

there is not a line

decoration

little

to ill-contrived form.

all

is

develope

III.,

would

rival

works of the highest

The general shape

the form.

is

A modern

civilisa-

most elegant, and the

manufacturer, with his

ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE
stripes

New

and

would have continued the bands or rings round the handle across the blade.

plaids,

Zealander's instinct

but should appear

taught him better.

and his ornament

so,

ance of additional strength to what

had remained undecorated.

continued round on the other

the edge, which itself fixes

is so

it

He

desired not only that his paddle should be strong,

disposed as to give an appear-

would have had

all

a.

side,

the surface

binding together the border on

the other bands.

one was the only one that could do

is

if

Paddle. B. M.

Had

out like the centre one, they would have appeared to slip

The

The

The centre band in the length of the blade

Handle of

is

TRIBES.

these bands run

off.

The centre

so without disturbing the repose.

swelling form of the handle where additional weight was required

most beautifully contrived, and the springing of the swell

is

well

defined by the bolder pattern of the rings.*

Club, Eastern Archipelago.

* Captain Cook and other voyagers repeatedly notice the taste and ingenuity of the islanders of the Pacific and South Seas
instancing especially cloths, painted " in such an endless variety of figures that one might suppose they borrowed their patterns from a

mercer's shop in which the most elegant productions of China and Europe are collected, besides some original patterns of their own."
The "thousand different patterns" of their basket-work, their mats, and the fancy displayed in their rich carvings and inlaid shell-work,
are, likewise, constantly

mentioned.

Pole Sud, 8vo. Paris, 1841

See The Three Voyages of Captain Couk, 2 vols. Lond. 1841-42:

Pkichard's Natural History of Man, Lond. 1855
fol.

Ditto, Atlas d'Histoire,

Dumont d'Urville's Voyaye au

G. W. Earle's Native Races of
;

Indian Archipelago, Lond. 1852; Kerr's General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, London, 1811-17.

17

Chapter II.Plates

4, 5, 6, 6*, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

EGYPTIAN OENAMENT.
*->-

j i- fri

PLATE

IV.

The Lotus, drawn from Nature.

8.

Expanding Bud

2.

Egyptian representation of the Lotus.

9.

Another, in a

3.

Another, in a different stage of growth.

1.

4.

5.

Three Papyrus Plants, and three full-blown Lotus Flowers

with two Buds, held in the hand of a King as an
offering to a God.

full-blown Lotus and two Buds, bound together with

Ribbons,

the

type

of

the

Capitals

of

The Lotus and Buds

form of a Column, bound

in the

round with Matting, from a Tainting representing the

Portico of a Temple.
7.

The

Egyptian representation of the Papyrus Plant the complete type of the Capital, Shaft, and Base of the
Egyptian Columns.

11.

The same,

in combination

12.

13.

Egyptian representation of the Lotus and Buds.

14,

16 :}

Representations
Painting.

combination of the Lotus and Papyrus, representing a

Column bound with Matting and Ribbons.

the

of

from

an

Egyptian

16.

Representation of Plants growing in the Desert.

17.

Representation of the Lotus and Papyrus growing in

the Nile.

Columns.

18.

Another variety of Desert Plants.

Fan made

of Feathers, inserted into a

wooden Stem

in

the form of a Lotus.

2.

Feathers from the Head-dress of the Horses of the Royal

3.

Another

4.

Fans made

5.

Ditto.

6.

Fan.

7.

variety,

V.

10.

The

11.

Insignia borne

from Aboo-Simbel.

true Lotus.

by

certain

Officers

of

the time of the

Pharaohs.

Another

12.

Chariots.

variety.

13,1
14,

of dried Leaves.

Gold and enamelled Vases

>

in the

form of the Lotus.

15.)
16.

Royal Head-dress.

17.

Ditto, another variety.

8.

Ditto.

18

9.

Representation of a species of Lotus.

Rudder Oar decorated with the Lotus and the Eye,

representing the Divinity.

Capital of the large

Columns

according to Sharpe.

Papyrus, and around

of the

It
it

Temple

Amunoph

Thebes, of the time of

III.,

of Luxor,
1250 B.C.,

represents the full-blown

Papyri and Lotus Buds

alter-

nating.

Boats made of Papyrus Plants bound together.

VI.
decorated with the coloured pendent Fascia? that are
seen in the painted representations of Columns of

Plate IV. Nos. 5, 6, 12.

Capital of the smaller

Columns

of the

Temple of Luxor,

Representing eight Buds of the Papyrus

together, and adorned with pendent and

B.C. 1250.

Capital of the smaller

B.C. 1200.

jg' >

PLATE

2.

Papyrus,

Base of the Stem of the Papyrus, drawn from Nature the type of the Bases and Shafts of Egyptian

PLATE

1.

with Lotus Buds, Grapes, and

Ivy.

1.

drawn from Nature.

advanced stage of growth.

10.

Egyptian

Columns.

of the Papyrus,

less

Columns

of the

Represents a single

Memnonium, Thebes,

bound

Bud

coloured Fasciae.

of the Papyrus

19

EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT.
Capital from the unfinished hypaethral

11.

RomaD

Island of Philae.

Temple in the
Composed

of the Papyrus Plant in three stages of growth, and

arranged in three tiers
the first composed of four
full-blown and four large expanding Papyri
the

14.

of eight smaller expanding flowers

tier,

the third

of sixteen buds:

tier,

making

in

and

all

bundle of thirty-two plants. The stem of each plant

may be traced, by the size and colour of its stalk,

down

bands or

to the horizontal

IV. Nos. 5,

fasciae.

See Plate

6, 12.

Temple at Koom-Ombos.
The
grown Papyrus surrounded by various flowers.

Capital from the

12.

Capital from the principal Temple, Philae.

13.

the shaft.

full-

16.

Representing

two tiers of the Papyrus, in three stages of growth.

The first tier composed of eight plants, four full-blown
and four expanding the second tier composed of eight

Capital from the Portico of Edfu, b.c. 145. Represents

the Palm-tree, with nine branches, or faces. The
horizontal fasciae of the Palm-tree Capital differ from

the fasciae of
is

PLATE
Capital from a

Temple

in the Oasis

of Thebes.

Repre-

Capital from a Temple in the Oasis of Thebes.

Representing eight Lotus Flowers bound together in

15.

Capital from the unfinished hypaethral Temple, Philae.

two

Papyrus in two stages of growth,

tiers.
The first composed of four
full-blown and four expanding flowers
the second

Temple in the Island of Philse,

The full-blown Papyrus surrounded by the

tier,

in various stages of growth.

from the Colonnade

of

the

Island

17. Capital of the

of

Philse.

The

Shown

in elevation.

Walls of a

Tomb

at Beni-

hassan.

Graco-Egyptian form, but of the

Roman

VII.
22.

From the upper

23.

Ditto, at Thebes.

29.

From a Necklace.
From the Wall of a Tomb, Gourna.
From a Sarcophagus.
From the Wall of a Tomb.
From a Sarcophagus.
From the upper part of a Picture.

30.

Arrangement

31.

From

32.

From

2.

Ditto

ditto.

24.

3.

Ditto,

from Karnac, Thebes.

25.

4.

Ditto,

from Gourna, Thebes.

26.

5.

Ditto,

from Sakhara.

27.

6.

Decoration of the Torus moulding of some of the early

Tombs in the neighbourhood of the Pyramids of Giza.

7,\

tier,

smaller.

tendrils of the Honeysuckle.

PLATE
of the

and the third

Very remarkable, as showing the Egyptian

and Greek elements combined, viz. the Papyrus in
two stages of growth, with the Acanthus leaf and the

Capital No. 8 seen in Perspective.

Ornament on the top

still

period.

Representing sixteen Lotus Flowers bound together

in three tiers.

of eight smaller, full-blown

of sixteen,

Capital from a Temple in the Oasis of Thebes.

of the

arranged in three

Capital from the principal

Capital

tiers.

Composed

structure to No. 4.

same flower

the other capitals, inasmuch as there

10.

Stalks tied round a single full-blown Papyrus.

B.C. 106.

all

always a pendent loop.

VI*.

senting a collection of Aquatic Plants, with triangular

Capital from the Portico of Edfu, B.C. 145, of similar

circular

second

making sixteen plants.

In this capital the
form is not disturbed, as in No. 11.
Capital from the unfinished hypaethral Temple, Philae.
Composed of three tiers of the Papyrus Plant in
three stages of growth.
The first tier has eight
full-blown and eight expanding plants
the second
tier, sixteen expanding flowers; and the third tier,
thirty-two buds of the Papyrus: in all, sixty-four
plants.
The stem of each plant is distinguished
by its size and colour, and continued down to the
horizontal bands which bind them together round
buds

period, B.C. 140.

28.

part of the

of Lines

Wall

of a

Tomb, Sakhara.

from dados.

From

10.

From

the Tombs, El Kab.

11.

From

the Tombs, Benihassan.

12.

From

the Tombs, Gourna.

13.

Ditto.

Nos. 1-5, 10, 11, always occur on vertical surfaces, and on

14.

Ditto.

15.

From

a Necklace.

the upper part of the walls of tombs and temples. Nos. 7-9,
12, 14, 18, 20, are all derived from the same elements, viz. the

16.

From

the

8,

>

wooden Sarcophagus.

9.

Wall

of a

Tomb, Gourna, immediately under

the Ceiling.

a Sarcophagus in the Louvre.

the

Wall

of a

Tomb, Gourna, representing the

Lotus, in plan as well as in elevation.

33.

From

34.

Arrangement

a Ceiling at Medinet Haboo.

of Lines

from dados,

in

Tombs.

Lotus in a pendent position, with a bunch of grapes intervening.

This very constant Egyptian ornament in some of its forms
so much resembles the Greek moulding, usually termed the

18,
19.

Portions of a Necklace.

egg-and-tongue, or egg-and-dart moulding, that we can hardly

doubt that the Greek moulding was derived from this

20.

From

the

source.
Nos. 13, 15, 24, 32, exhibit another element of
Egyptian ornamentation derived from the separated leaves

21.

From

a Necklace.

17,

Wall

20

of a

Tomb.

of the Lotus.

EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT.

PLATE
The whole

of the

Ornaments on

cases in the British

this plate are

Museum and

from

VIII.

Mummy-

by the interwoven strands of a rope and in No. 7

we have the chequered pattern, one of the earliest
;

the Louvre, and, like

those of the last Plate, are mostly composed of the

ornaments, evidently derived from the weaving to-

Lotus-flower and single leaves of the same plant. In

No. 2, above the Lotus-leaves, is a white ornament on

gether of different-coloured strands.

a black ground, very

common

in the tombs, suggested

this is doubtless the origin of

<1

is

From

Tomb

the Louvre, at a late period.

Each

at Thebes.

circle is

Nos. 9 and

themselves by a similar process.

Tomb

at Gourna.

It represents the

Walk, covered with a Vine

It is by no means an uncommon ornament for the
curved ceilings of small tombs, and usually occupies
the whole ceiling of each excavation at the period of
the nineteenth dynasty.

21-23

formed of four

are derived

from Mummy-cases

in the Louvre, of a late

period.

X.
From

8, 9.

a Mummy-case.

10-24 are from Ceilings of Tombs in various parts of Egypt.

In Nos. 10, 1.3-16, 18-23, are various examples of an

ornament representing the unwinding of a pile of

rope, which may have given the first suggestion of
In No. 24 the continuous blue line is
the volute.
evidently from the same type.

probably intended for four Lotus-leaves.

From a Tomb

it

from a Ceiling of a

Lotus -flowers and four Buds, the intermediate star

7.

articles of daily use.

suggested the fret to the Greeks, unless

Trellis-work of a Garden

Geometrical arrangements of the single Lotus-leaf.

0.

may have

they arrived at

20

PLATE
in

woven

actions of

10

most of them.

formation of patterns, such as 9-12, 17-19, 21, would

be very rapid, and they are most probably only repro-

From Mummy-cases

orna-

IX.

1-8 are representations of Mats on which the kings stand.

They were evidently formed of interwoven straws of
different colours. The transition from this state to the

1-5.

In the lower

common

another very

ment, derived from feathers.

PLATE
The Ornaments on this Plate are taken from Paintings on
Tombs in various parts of Egypt, from original DrawThey are chiefly patterns that could be proings.
duced by the loom, and a single glance will show that

we have

part of No. 18

at Thebes.

PLATE XL
from Tombs at Thebes, and are further examples
Rope Ornament given in the last Plate. Nos.

21.

2 and 3 are varieties of arrangements of Stars, very

common on the ceilings both of tombs and temples

22.

1, 4, 6, 7, are

of the

No. 2

is

formed on squares, No. 3 on

sinibel.

23.

10.

From
From

11-16 are
17.

later period

the Embroidery on a King's Robe.

of the papyrus.

of Biban el Moluk.

similar,

24.

Tombs

It represents the Scales of the

the Heroes and Gods of Egypt

and most probably were suggested by the

Armour worn by
18-20 are

from Paintings in Tombs.

the Dress of a figure in one of the Royal

feathers of birds.

el

Moluk, pro-

which were formed of buds and flowers

a Mummy-case.

varieties of Borders

From

From a Fragment in the Louvre.

Dado from the Tomb of Ramses, Biban

bably representing, in diagram, a Papyrus -grove, as

it occupies a similar position to those dados of a

equilateral

triangles.
9.

Ornament on the Dress of the god Amun, from Aboo-

From a

very ancient

Lepsius.

The

Egyptian torus
of

Tomb

upper
;

at

part

Giza, opened
represents

the lower portion

is

the

by Dr.
usual

from the dado

the same tomb, and shows that the practice of

woods in painting is of the highest

imitating grained
antiquity.

21

EGYPTIAN OENAMENT.
The

Architecture of Egypt has this peculiarity over

ment the more

a state of decline.
ruins of

still

from

Monuments

erected two thousand years before the Christian era are formed from the

the

any

traces of its origin

Roman, the Byzantine, with

this great parent,

we must

"We are thus carried back

perfect buildings.

to enable us to discover

the Greek, the

monu-

All the remains with which we are acquainted exhibit Egyptian Art in

is

more ancient and more

from our time

other styles, that the more ancient the

all

art.

perfect

and whilst we can

its offshoots, the

believe the architecture

of

to a period too

remote

trace in direct succession

Arabian, the Moresque, and the Gothic,

Egypt

to be a pure original style,

which

arose with civilisation in Central Africa,* passed through countless ages, to the culminating point of

and the

perfection

perfection of Egyptian Art,

In

themselves.

which we

state of decline in

all

is

far

other styles

we

it

beyond

from nature.

of

Egypt

The

when

is

in art, the

lotus

the Egyptians are inferior only to

therefore, believe that they

when we come

to consider
is

more

went

some bygone

it is difficult to

for inspiration

ornament

especially the

but slightly removed from the type.

find original types receded from

till,

in

much

discover the original type from which the

efforts developed.

and papyrus, growing on the banks of

their river, symbolising the food for the

the feathers of rare birds, which were carried before the king as

unknown

to the

In the Egyptian we have no traces

elements.

more and more do we

ornament, such as the Arabian and Moresque,

mind

own

its

and we must,

strengthened

ornament has been by successive mental

The

is

the foreign influence was modified or discarded, to a

the types are few and natural types, the representation

we descend

later

This view

that followed after

all

period of slow, lingering decline, feeding on

of infancy or of any foreign influence
direct

Inferior as this state doubtless

it.

can trace a rapid ascent from infancy, founded on

a culminating point of perfection,

style, to

see

palm-branch, with the twisted cord made from

its

stems

body and

emblems of sovereignty

these are the few types

which form the

the
basis

of that immense variety of ornament with which the Egyptians decorated the temples of their gods, the
palaces of their kings, the covering of their persons, their articles of luxury or of

from the wooden spoon which fed them

across the Nile to their last

works of nature ever display

always true.

We

in the valley of the dead.

and we

the other hand, they never, by a too

representation.

walls

as

find, therefore, that

are never shocked

Following these types as they did

A lotus

in a

same laws which the

Egyptian ornament, however conventionalised,

by any misapplication or violation of a natural

servile

daily use,

which carried their similarly adorned embalmed bodies

so nearly allied to their natural form, they could hardly fail to observe the

manner

is

home

to the boat

more modest

principle.

On

imitation of the type, destroyed the consistency of the

carved in stone, forming a graceful termination to a column, or painted on the

an offering to their gods, was never such a one as might be plucked, but an architectural

* In the British Museum may be seen a cast of a bas-relief from Kalabshee in Nubia, representing the conquests of Karoses II.
over a black people, supposed to be Ethiopians. It is very remarkable, that amongst the presents which these people are represented
as bringing with them as a tribute to the King, besides the leopard-skins and rare animals, ivory, gold, and other products of the country,
there are three ivory carved chairs precisely similar to that on which the King sits to receive them from which it would appear that
;

these highly-elaborated articles of luxury were derived by the Egyptians from the interior of Africa.

22

;;

EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT.
representation

type to

call

purpose

in either case the best adaptecr*for the

forth in the beholder the poetic idea which

had

it

to

resembling the

sufficiently

fill,

was sought to supply, without shocking his

it

feeling of consistency.

Egyptian ornament
itself,

of which

it is

of three kinds

is

that which

but at the same time conventionally rendered

symbolic, and, as

is

constructive, or forming part of the

the outward and graceful covering of the skeleton within

and that which

is

that which

simply decorative.

is

In

monument

representative,

all cases it

was

observed, formed on some few types, which were but slightly changed during

we have

the whole period of Egyptian civilisation.

Of the

means of support and the

kind, viz. constructive ornament, are the decorations of the

first

crowning members of the

The column only a few

walls.

Luxor and Karnac, was an enlarged papyrus plant

one forty or sixty

feet high, or

the base representing the root

Plate VI.),

1,

columns represent a grove of papyri, but each column

tied together

by bands.

was in

a grove; and at No. 17 of Plate IV.

itself

at

the shaft, the stalk

and the capital, the full-blown flower, surrounded by a bouquet of smaller plants (No.

Not only did a

feet, as

series of

we have a

representation

of a grove of papyri in

various stages of growth, which would only have to be assembled as they stand, and be tied round with
a string, and we should have the Egyptian shaft and

on Plate

in Nos. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12,

which the original idea

We may

imagine

is

IV., pointed representations of

and further, we have

columns forming parts of temples, in

unmistakably portrayed.
of the Egyptians in early times to decorate the

the custom

it

highly-ornamental capital

its

their primitive temples with their native flowers

took a more permanent character, became solidified in their monuments of stone.

sacred, their
will

show how

religious

form the type

one leading idea resulted in uniformity.

we have

of fifteen of the capitals

From

and what a lesson do they teach us!

selected for illustration; yet

the Greeks to our

own time

differing

These forms, once

The

how

lotus

and papyrus

ingeniously varied,

all

architecture

only in the more

was that opened the way to

circle,

they surrounded

it

so

much development

in

with four, eight, and sixteen other

with the Corinthian capital,

it

called

or less perfection of the modelling of the leaves, or the graceful

or otherwise proportions of the bell: a modification in plan has but rarely been attempted.
it

of

the world has been content

with the acanthus leaf arranged round a bell for the capitals of columns of
classic,

posts

change; but a single glance, however, at Plates VI. and VI*.

laws forbade a

little this possession of

wooden

round them; and this custom, when their art

tied

could not

fail

to

the

And

this

Egyptian capital; beginning with the

circles.

If the

same change were attempted

produce an entirely new order of forms whilst

still

retaining the idea of applying the acanthus leaf to the surface of a bell-shaped vase.

The
shape

of the papyrus stalk,

portions;

when

shaft of the Egyptian column,

circular,

by three raised

lines,

when the column was formed by a union

was made to retain the idea of the triangular

which divided

feathers,

whilst in the centre was the winged globe,

The second kind of Egyptian ornament

on the walls of the temples and tombs

is

or cornice of

which appear to have been an emblem of sovereignty

emblem of

results

divinity.

from the conventional representation of actual things

and here again,

portrayed, not as a

bound together, these had

The crowning member

in the representations of offerings to the gods

of daily use, in the paintings of actual scenes

or of the various articles

flower or other object

circumference into three equal

of four or eight shafts

each a sharp arris on their outer face with the same intention.

an Egyptian building was decorated with

its

reality,

but as an

of their domestic

ideal representation.

It

is

life,

at the

every

same

time the record of a fact and an architectural decoration, to which even their hieroglyphical writing,
explanatory of the

scene,

by

its

symmetrical arrangement added

effect.

In No. 4, on Plate IV.,

-we

have an example in the representation of three papyrus-plants and three lotus-flowers, with two buds,
in the

hand of a king

as

an offering

to the gods.

The arrangement

is

symmetrical and graceful, and

23

EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT.
we here

conventionally rendering the lotus and papyrus, instinctively

see that the Egyptians, in thus

obeyed the law which we find everywhere in the leaves of plants,

on the

veins

all

from the parent stem

leaves, in graceful curves

and not only do they follow

and

the radiation of the leaves,

viz.

in the drawing of the individual flower, but also in the grouping of several flowers together

this

law

as

may

be seen, not only in No. 4, but also in their representation of plants growing in the desert, Nos. 16

and 18 of the same

plate,

and

In Nos. 9 and 10 of Plate V. they learned the same lesson

in No. 13.

from the feather, another type of ornament (11 and

at Nos. 4

and

where the type

5,

The third kind

is

apparent to

many forms

one of the

its

own laws and

to

instinct is again at

common

in the country

simply decorative, or which appears

is

Plates VIII., IX., X., XI., are devoted to this class of ornament,

us.

The

distribution.

work

so to

reasons for its application, although they are

They are

paintings on tombs, dresses, utensils, and sarcophagi.

and perfect

same

of palm-trees so

of Egyptian ornament, viz. that which

our eyes, but which had doubtless

so

12, Plate V.): the

all

and are from

symmetry

distinguished by graceful

by the few simple types we have

variety that can be produced

not

referred

very remarkable.

is

On

Plate IX. are patterns of ceilings, and appear to be reproductions of woven patterns.
things, the first attempts

the conventional rendering of actual

side with

works of ornament take

The

this direction.

covering of their rude dwelling, or the ground

first

of straws and bark of different

afterwards replaced by artificial dyes, which gave the

trical

The

same means.

which evidently represent tents

of tombs,

ceilings

Nos. 9, 10, 12, show how readily the meander or Greek fret was produced by the

covered by mats.

universality of this

shape or other amongst the

their having

and 7 are from the

whilst Nos. 6

be

colours, to

ornament, but of geome

idea, not only of

first

natural

on which

Nos. 1-4, Plate IX., are from Egyptian paintings, representing mats whereon the

arrangement.

king stands

produce

to

early necessity of plaiting together straw or bark of trees,

for the formation of articles of clothing, the

they reposed, induced the employment at

of every people

Side by

had a similar

The formation

first

ornament in every

style of architecture,

attempts of ornament of every savage

and

tribe, is

to

be found in some

an additional proof of

origin.

of similar lines, as by weaving, would give

of patterns by the equal division

of symmetry, arrangement, disposition, and the distribution

rising people the first notions

to a

of masses.

The Egyptians, in their decoration of large surfaces, never appear to have gone beyond a geometrical
Flowing

arrangement.

lines

though the germ of even

are very rare, comparatively, and never the motive of the composition,

mode

this

the volute form, exists in their rope ornament

of decoration,

Here the

(Nos. 10, 13-16, 18-24, on Plate X., and 1, 2, 4, 7, Plate XI.)

much beauty

Egyptian

style, that

the most perfect.

and

rigid

many subsequent

in

though the

oldest, it

The language

in which

but the ideas and the teachings

other styles,

we

shall see that

that

in all

is,

is

venture, therefore, to

requisite

reveals itself to us

it

it

We

styles.

have

its

perfume

the

i. e.

endeavour to rival the grace of construction, the harmony of

subordination of one part to the other found in the model.

wanting in a work of ornament, we

may

be sure that

which animated the original work has been

The

architecture of the Egyptians

we have much
24

to learn

As we proceed with

they approach perfection only so far as they followed, in

Nature, every ornament should

is

lost in

it

reason
its

When we

Like these favourites of

It

application.

should

find

any of these characteristics

belongs to a borrowed style, where the spirit

the copy.

They

its

common with

varied forms, and due proportion and

thoroughly polychromatic,

from them on this head.

of

of art,

foreign, peculiar, formal,

conveys to us are of the soundest.

the Egyptians, the true principles to be observed in every flower that grows.

is

claim for the

to constitute a true style

may seem

are

cord gives the very form which

subjected to a geometrical arrangement; but the unrolling of this

the source of so

several coils of rope

they painted

dealt in flat tints,

everything

therefore

and used neither shade nor

EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT.
shadow, yet found no difficulty in poetically conveying to the mind the identity of the object they

They used

desired to represent.

colour as they did form, conventionally.

of the lotus (No. 3, Plate IV.) with the natural flower (No. 1);

of the natural flower reproduced in the representations

Compare the representation

how charmingly

are the characteristics

See how the outer leaves are distinguished

by a darker green, and the inner protected leaves by a lighter green; whilst the purple and yellow
tones of the inner flower are represented by red

leaves

completely recalls the yellow glow of the original.

We

an additional pleasure in the perception of the mental

effort

The
to

colours

define and
as

universally,

used by the
give

local

colour,

such

indifferently coloured green or blue;

period;
also,

at which time, also, were

which

is

the

with green used generally, though not

the

green

leaves

the

of

it

instinctively,

there

successfully.
is

Eoman

period,

appears to be a universal rule that, in

primary colours, blue, red, and

and

These

lotus.

were,

however,

blue in the more ancient times, and green during the Ptolemaic

found on the tombs or mummy-cases of the Greek or

harmoniously

variety,

as

it.

and yellow, with black and white

added both purple and brown, but with diminished

than that of the ancient times; and

art,

which has produced

the various colours;

to

of yellow, which most

field

have here Art added to Nature, and derive

Egyptians were principally red, blue,

distinctiveness

in

floating

Whilst

yellow,
in

are

periods

the

when

prevailing
art

is

all

is

The red

lower in tone

archaic periods of

and these used most

colours,

practised

effect.

traditionally,

and

a tendency to employ the secondary colours and hues, and shades of

though rarely with equal

success.

We

shall

have

many

opportunities

not

every

of pointing this out

in subsequent chapters.

25

Chapter

Plates 12, 13, 14.

III.

ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

t

oou

PLATE
Sculptured Pavement, Kouyunjik.

1.

12-14.

The whole

of the ornaments

4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, are

and only

in outline.

ciples indicated

on

from Mr. Layard's great work, The Monuments of Nineveh. Nos. 2, 3 T

Nos. 1, 5, and the three Sacred Trees, Nos. 12, 13, 14, are in relief,

this Plate are taken

coloured as published in his work.

We

have treated them here as painted ornaments, supplying the colours in accordance with the prinof which the colours are known.

by those above,

PLATE
Flandin & Coste.

Enamelled Bricks, from Khorsabad.

1-4.

Ornament on King's Dress, from Khorsabad.

6, 7.

Ornaments on a Bronze Shield, Ditto.

8, 9.

Ornaments on a King's Dress, Ditto.

10, 11.

F. & C.
&
F. &

F.

0.
0.

Ornaments from a Bronze Vessel, Nimroud.

Ornament on a King's

from Khorsabad.

Dress,

Flandin & Coste.

The ornaments Nos. 5, 8,
way which we

colouring in a

9, 12, are

very

XIII.
13.

Enamelled Brick, from Khorsabad.

14.

Ornament on a Battering Ram, Khorsabad.

15.

Ornament from a Bronze

common on

F.

Nimroud.

Layard.

Layard.

22.

Enamelled Brick, from Nimroud.

Ditto,

from Bashikhah.

Layard.

24.

Ditto,

from Khorsabad.

Flandin & Coste.

the royal robes, and represent embroidery.

& C.
& C.

Flandin & Coste.

23.

consider best adapted for developing the various patterns.

this Plate are coloured as they

Vessel,

F.

16-21. Enamelled Bricks, from Khorsabad.

Layaed.
12.

Painted Ornaments from Nimroud.

Sacred Trees from Nimroud.

Sculptured Pavement, Kouyunjik.

5.

5.

XII.
6-11.

Painted Ornaments from Nimroud.

2-4.

We

have restored the

The remainder of the ornaments on

have been published by Mr. Layard and Messrs. Flandin and Coste.

PLATE XIV.
1.

Feathered Ornament in the Curvetto of the Cornice,

Palace No.

2.
4.

8, Persepolis.

Flandin

Base of Column from Ruin No.

Ornament on the Side

Persepolis. F.

&

of the Staircase of Palace

Base

7.

Base of Column, Portico No.

8.

Base of Column at Istakhr.

Column, Palace No.

From

&

No.

C.
2,

16.
17.
18.

Base of Column of Colonnade No.

2, Persepolis.

2, Persepolis.
1, Persepolis.

Sassanian Capitals, Bi Sutoun.

From

Sassanian Capitals, at Ispahan.

Flandin

Coste.

C.

6.

9-12.

13-15.

Coste.

13, Persepolis. F.

5.

of

&

F. & C.
& C.
F. & C.
F. & C.
F. &C.
F.

20.
21.

From

a Sassanian Moulding, Bi Sutoun.

F.

Ornament from Tak I Bostan.

Sassanian Ornaments from Ispahan
19.
Archivolt from Tak I Bostan.
Upper part of Pilaster, Tak I Bostan.

22.

Sassanian Capital, Ispahan.

23.

Pilaster,

24.

Capital of Pilaster,

25.

Sassanian Capital, Ispahan.

Tak

F.

F.

I Bostan.

Tak

I Bostan.

27

&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.
&C.

&

ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

Rich
the

as has

been the harvest gathered by Mons. Botta and Mr. Layard from the ruins of Assyrian Palaces,

monuments which they have made known

of Assyrian Art.

to us do not appear to carry us

back to any remote period

Like the monuments of Egypt, those hitherto discovered belong to a period of decline,

and of a decline much further removed from a culminating point of perfection.

The Assyrian must have

either been a

borrowed

the

style, or

remains of a more perfect form of art

We

are

believe that

the

have yet to be discovered.

strongly inclined to

Assyrian

not an original

is

but

style,

was borrowed from the Egyptian, modified

by the

difference of the religion

and habits of the Assyrian people.

On comparing

the

bas-reliefs

of

Nineveh with those of Egypt we cannot but be struck with the

many points

of resemblance in the two

only

is

the same

mode

styles; not

of representa-

tion adopted, but the objects repre-

sented are oftentimes so similar, that

Egyptian.

it is difficult to believe

style could

that the same

have been arrived at by two

people independently of each other.

The mode
tree,
ers,

of representing a river, a

a besieged

group of prison-

city, a

a battle, a king in his chariot, are

almost identical,

the differences which

exist are only those

which would result

from the representation of the habits of

two

different people

us to be the same.

the art appears to

Assyrian sculpture

seems to be a development

of

the

Egyptian, but, instead of being carried

forward, descending

in

perfection, bearing the

the Egyptian as the

Assyrian.

Greek.
declined from the time of the Pharaohs to that
at first flowing

28

of

the

and graceful, became coarse and abrupt

the scale of

same

Roman

relation to

does to the

Egyptian sculpture gradually

Greeks and Romans

the forms, which were

the swelling of the limbs, which was at

first

ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

than expressed, became at

indicated

rather

exaggerated

last

In Assyrian sculpture

imperfect attempt at the natural.

the conventional was abandoned for an

attempt was carried

this

still

an attempt was made to express the muscles of the limbs and the rotundity of the

symptom of

this is a

do the

as

bas-reliefs

in all art

statues

differ

the Ptolemies from those of

of

and

conventional,

flesh

Many modern

decline, Nature should be idealised not copied.

way from the Venus de Milo,

the same

farther,

still

while the general arrangement of the subject and the pose of the single figure were

in

the

Pharaohs.
Assyrian Ornament, we think, presents also the same aspect of a borrowed style and one in a state
of decline.

It is true that, as

Palaces which

we

yet,

but imperfectly acquainted with

are

having been, from the nature of the construction of Assyrian

doubt, however, that

Egyptian

was

there

or with

subjects

edifices, destroyed.

much ornament employed

as

both styles there

in

covered with

it;

the portions of the

would contain the most ornament, the upper portions of the walls and the

a total absence of plain

is

and

writing,

in

ceilings,

There can be

little

the Assyrian monuments as in the

on the

surfaces

which are either

walls,

where these

in situations

would have been inapplicable, pure ornament must have been employed
to sustain

the general

What we

effect.

dresses on the figures of the bas-reliefs,

bricks,

possess

is

gathered from the

some few fragments

painted

of

some objects of bronze, and the representations of the sacred

As yet we have had no remains of

trees in the bas-reliefs.

ornament, the columns and other

structive

means

of

their con-

support, which

would have been so decorated, being everywhere destroyed

the con-

which we have given in Plate XIV., from Persepolis,

structive ornaments

much

being evidently of a

later

date,

and subject to other influences,

would be very unsafe guides in any attempt

Egyptian.

to restore the constructive

ornament of the Assyrian Palaces.

Assyrian Ornament, though

Egyptian,

represented in the same way.

is

ments in

relief,

There

but

is

it to

surface-modelling, which was the peculiar invention

who

retained

great excess,

it

till

in

true limits, but the

its

moderate

to

farther, while with the

still

relief,

same way from the Early Gothic, which

the Arabs reduced

is

distinguished

much

itself

is

than the later Gothic, where the surface at

effect

Eomans

Moors a modelled surface became

In the other direction, the Eomanesque

extremely rare.
in the

within

at last all breadth of effect was destroyed.

The Byzantines returned again

the relief

In both styles the orna-

as well as those painted, are in the nature of diagrams.

little

of the Greeks,
carried

not based on the same types as the

last

Assyrian.

broader

became

so

laboured that

repose was

all

destroyed.

With the exception

of the pine-apple on the sacred trees, Plate XII., and in the painted ornaments,

and a

species of lotus, Nos.

which

still

of

radiation

here, but

and

much

so closely as

Plate

4 and

5, the

ornaments do not appear to be formed on any natural type,

farther strengthens the idea that

tangential

less

truly, rather, as

generally supposed

painted ornaments, but

how

we

curvature, which

by the Egyptians, nor

XIII., are

the Assyrian

inferior

it

so
to

find

is

in

not an original style.

Egyptian

were, traditionally than

instinctively.

exquisitely conventionalised

be

the

they are

to

as

types from which the

The

natural laws

ornament, are equally observed

Nature

by the Greeks.

is

not followed

Nos. 2 and 3,

Greeks derived some of their

the Greek in purity of form and in the distribution

of the masses!
I

29

ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

The

colours

in

painted ornaments

and black, on

ence.

and gold, on

Nos. 3, 5,

of Persepolis,
6, 7,

Roman ornament,

The ornaments,

12 and

Sutoun, contain the germs of

and green, orange,

buff, white,

represented on Plate XIV., appear to be

Bostan,

of the repetition of curved

17,

from Sassanian

16,
all

20, 21, 23,

24,

are

lines

all

of

Roman

Eoman

influ-

constructed on the same

of the modelled

capitals,

surface, such as

Byzantine in their general outline, at Bi

the ornamentation of the Arabs and Moors.

of lozenge-shaped diapers.

ciple contained in

modifications

and which they resemble in a most remarkable manner.

large spaces with patterns formed

It is the earliest

The Egyptians and the Assyrians appear

by geometrical arrangement of

lines

but this

is

to

the

forming a general pattern enclosing a secondary form.

No. 16 would be generated

domes of the mosques of Cairo and the

all

those

exquisite

example

have covered
first

By

instance

the prin-

forms of diaper which covered the

walls of the Alhambra.

Sasiiiian Capital from Bi Sutoun.

30

ornaments

presenting only a similar modification

find in Byzantine ornament,

we meet with

their sculptured

8, are from bases of fluted columns, which evidently betray a

The ornaments from Tak

principle as

we

the Assyrians appear to have been blue, red, white, and black, on their

their enamelled bricks.

The ornaments
details.

use by

blue, red,

Flandin & Coste

IV.Plates

Chapter

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

GREEK ORNAMENT.
I

ii

acci

PLATE XV.
A collection

of the various forms of the

Greek Fret from Vases and Pavements.

PLATE XVI.-XXI.
Ornaments from Greek and Etruscan Vases

in the British

PLATE
and

1
3,

4.

5-18.

12-17.
18.

From a Sarcophagus in Sicily. Hittobpp

From the Propylsea, Athens. Hittorff.
From the Coffers of the Ceiling of the Propylsea

22 and

the Louvre.

XXII.

String-course over the Panathenaic Frieze.

and
Painted Ornaments.

19-21, 24-26.

Museum and

Penrose.

Published by Mr.

Penrose

in gold only,

we have

supplied the blue

red.

Hittorff.

27.

Ornaments

29.

Painted Ornament from the Cymatium of the raking Cornice of the Parthenon.

in Terra Cotta.

L. Vulliamy, the blue and red

supplied.

30-33.

We

Various Frets, the traces of which exist on

all

the Temples at Athens.

The

colours supplied.

have seen that Egyptian Ornament was derived direct from natural inspiration, that

founded on a few types, and that

civilization, except in

We

the most perfect.

possessing

none

the more or

of

it

less'

remained unchanged during

perfection of the execution, the

have further expressed

the characteristics

of

suggested by the Art of Egypt, already in

our

original
its

Art, on the contrary, though borrowed partly

belief

that the

inspiration,

decline,

but

the

whole

course

of

it

was

Egyptian

more ancient monuments being

Assyrian was a borrowed style,
rather

appearing to have been

which decline was carried

still

farther.

Greek

from the Egyptian and partly from the Assyrian, was the

development of an old idea in a new direction

and, unrestrained by religious laws, as would appear

31

GREEK ORNAMENT.
to

have been both the Assyrian and the Egyptian, Greek Art rose rapidly to a high state of perfection,

from which

it

was

itself able to give forth

the elements of future greatness to other styles.

It carried

Termination of the Marble Tiles of the Parthenon L. Vulltimv.

Upper Part

the perfection of

of

a Stele. L. Vulliamy.

The Upper Part

pure form to a point which has never, since been

of a Stele. L.

reached;

Vulliamy.

and from

abundant remains we have of Greek ornament, we must believe the presence of refined
32

the very
taste

was

GREEK ORNAMENT.
almost universal, and that the land was overflowing with

whose hands and minds were so trained

artists,

as to enable them to execute these beautiful ornaments with unerring truth.

Greek ornament was wanting, however, in one of the great charms which should always accompany

ornament,

viz.

Symbolism.

hardly be

said

to

was

It

be constructive

the

for

purely decorative, never

meaningless,

members of a Greek monument rather present

various

surfaces exquisitely designed to receive ornament, which they did, at

The ornament was no

both carved and painted.

ornament,

to

On

not so on the Egyptian capital

is

it

remove any portion of

it

would destroy

The

its

Parthenon was placed so

which so astonish us

far

we

there

feel

the whole capital

be found there

is

is

the

Greek monumental

perfection of the

beyond the legitimate bounds of ornament.

from the eye that

became a diagram

it

when seen near the eye could only have been valuable

the beauties

they evidenced

so far as

the artist-worship which cared not that the eye saw the perfection of the work
to

it

it.

application the Greeks frequently went

frieze of the

the Egyptian:

the Corinthian capital the ornament

However much we admire the extreme and almost divine

sculpture, in

painted, and in later times

first,

of the construction, as with

part

could be removed, and the structure remained unchanged.

applied, not constructed

and can

representative,

conscious that

if

it

was

but we are bound to consider this an abuse of means, and that the Greeks were

the Egyptians, whose system of incavo

to

in this respect inferior

relievo

monumental sculpture

for

appears to us the more perfect.

The examples
and the

of representative

ornament are very few, with the exception of the wave ornament

some conventional renderings

used to distinguish water from land in their pictures, and

fret

of trees, as at No. 12, Plate XXI.,

we have

than can

little

deserve this appellation

abundant

ornament the Greek and Etruscan vases supply us with

doubt that we are acquainted with Greek ornament in

little

the types are few, but the conventional rendering

well-known honeysuckle ornament

the

an

rather

appreciation

we

according

hand

the

on which the flower

an

after

upwards

downwards

or

the slight resemblance to the honeysuckle

recognition

than that

of the honeysuckle

imitate, they

characteristic

either

are

faint

will

various forms

examining

of the leaves

may have been

indeed

have

ever

be found a representation
is

the resemblance

principles.

always obeyed, and

as

on attempting
feature

Byzantine period,

In

on

more

What

The

is

evident

three great laws which

from the parent stem, proportionate distribution

humble works

realised

as the

and how

of the lines

the most

fully

but

imitation,

at

and, indeed,

In

the

in
is

it

natural flower should

XCIX.

worked on the same

radiation

curvature
in

Egyptian

the

is,

that the Greeks

ornament were close observers of nature, and although they did not copy, or attempt to

in their

nature

the

In Plate

served as the model.

grows

believe that the

formation of the leaf would the character be given, and

likely that

any attempt

recognise

to

rather tempted to

turned

is

Like

generated by the brush of the painter,

flower have been

as

are

from them, we have

differ

phases.

its

the painted

as

much further removed from the types.

is

difficult

is

the principle

of

the paintings on the vases,

of a Greek

it

all

but of decorative

and

materials;

ornaments of the Temples which have as yet been discovered in no way

is,

of

to

Greek

that

in the

highest,

which excites our

reproduce Greek

ornament,

we

everywhere in

find

and the tangential

areas,

the unerring perfection with which

is

it

of the

astonishment, and

they are,

which

is

only

very

during

the

ornament, so rarely done with success.

by the

continued

Romans, but

abandoned

the various parts of a scroll grow out of each other in a continuous

line,

ornament from the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.

the
side

Byzantine, the Arabian

from

continuous

line.

Moresque,

We

and

have

Early English

here

an

instance

styles,

how

the

flowers

slight

flow

off

on

change in any

33

GREEK ORNAMENT.
received principle

generally

Roman ornament
Roman chapter is
which

scarcely

constantly

is

ever

is

to

sufficient

may

From the Chomgic Monument

as

of

rid

this

law was

fixed

of Lysicrates, Athens.

as

important in

was the substitution of the arch by the Romans

new

style of

idea which in any

the

first

ornament

At the head of the

Roman

other

all

stem

ornament,
fitting

into

L. Vuliiai

its

for

results

to

the

development

in

ornament

of

the straight architrave, or the introduction

sudden discovery of a general law in science, or the lucky patented

work of industry suddenly

lets loose

thousands of minds to examine and improve upon

crude thought.

Plate

XXII.

devoted to the remains of coloured ornaments on the Greek monuments.

is

be seen that there

vases.

as the

law.

ideas.

These changes have the same influence in the development

of the pointed arch in Gothic architecture.

of a

of

springing from

a volute

of

and

forms

order

The change which took place during the Byzantine period

another stem, encircling a flower.

getting

new

be taken as a type of

beyond the arrangement

got

entirely

struggling against this apparently fixed

example, which

fine

an

generate

It

is

It will

no difference whatever in the character of the drawing to those found on the

is

now almost

universally

of the Greeks were

recognised, that the white marble temples

entirely covered with painted ornament.

Whatever doubts may

exist as to the

more or

The

of the sculpture, there can be none as to the ornaments of the mouldings.

less

colouring

traces of colour exist

everywhere so strongly, that in taking casts of the mouldings the traces of the pattern are strongly

marked on the
authorities

give

plaster

cast.

them

What

differently:

where another sees brown.

the particular colours were, however,

is

not so certain.

or

imagines gold

these

ornaments on

where one will see green, another finds blue,

We may

be quite certain, however, of one point,

all

Different

the mouldings were so high from the ground, and so small in proportion to the distance from which
they were seen, that they must have been coloured in a manner to render them distinct and to bring

out the pattern.

31,

33,

32,

It is

with this consideration that we have ventured to supply the colour to

which have hitherto been

published

only as

gold

or

18,

29,

brown ornaments on the white

marble.

Plate

XV.

In this Plate are given a collection of the different varieties of the Greek

the simple generating form No. 3, to the

more complicated meander No.

15.

It will

fret,

from

be seen, that

the variety of arrangement of form that can be produced by the interlacing of lines at right angles in this

form

is

very limited.

34

We

have,

first,

the simple

fret,

No.

1,

running in one direction with a single

line

GREEK ORNAMENT.
double

the

No. 11, with the second

fret,

line interlacing with

the first;

the others are formed by

all

placing these frets one under the other, running in different directions, as at No. 17

and 19; or enclosing squares,

as at No. 20.

not forming a continuous meander.

The raking

as at Nos. 18

that

is,

other kinds are imperfect frets,

All the
fret,

No.

fret,

which in
of

the intersection

its

parent of

2, is the

From

forms of interlacing ornament in styles which succeeded the Greek.

Arabian

back to back,

this

was

the other

all

first

derived the

turn gave birth to that infinite variety of interlaced ornaments formed by

equidistant diagonal

which the Moors

lines,

carried

to

such perfection

the

in

Alhambra.

rao^
Arabian.

Greek.

Arabian.

Moresque.

The knotted work

curved

the Celts

of

differs

from

terminations to the diagonal intersecting

once obtained,

it

formation

the

the Moresque interlaced patterns

The leading

lines.

Chinese

of

both

of

may

the Greeks
these

have had some

also

and the Arabian and Moresque

frets

the

same

perfect

less

regularity,

and

Chinese.

are

also

sBSS

of

these.

They are

perpendicular with horizontal

of

meander

the

any

than

is

more

lines,

but they have

often elongated in the horizontal

(ElfElfElfElfD
They

adding

Greek.

are

formed, like the Greek, by the intersection

not

in

idea

interlaced ornaments.

The

only

gave birth to an immense variety of new forms.

The knotted-rope ornament

influence in

Celtic

direction.

Chinese.

Chinese.

most frequently used fragmentally,that

is,

there

is

a repetition

of

one

after

fret

the other, or one below the other, without forming a continuous meander.

The Mexican ornaments and

frets,

of which

in the British

in

Mr.

tions

we here give some

Museum, have

Catherwood's illustra-

of

the

architecture

the Greek fret

From Yucatan.

From Yucatan.

are, in general, fragmentary, like the Chinese:

found at Yucatan a fret with a diagonal

The ornaments on

Plate

of conventional leafage to be found on the Greek vases.

and

one

especially is thoroughly Greek.

But they

____^_^__^^^_______^___^_

of

Yucatan we have several varieties of

from Mexican pottery

illustrations

a remarkable affinity with the Greek fret

line,

XVI. have been

They are

all

which

there

is

also to

be

is peculiar.

selected to

show the various forms

very far removed from any natural

35

GREEK ORNAMENT.
and are rather constructed on the general principles which reign

type,

represent any particular one.

The ornament No.

the leaves have the peculiar turn

represent

it.

and vine

will

be readily distinguished.

l\

Vo^

lips of vases in

or two colours, they

.
\

is

upwards of that

Several of the ornaments on Plate

from borders, necks, and

all

depend

flower, hut

XVII.

it

much

are

Museum and

for their effect

that

is,

can hardly be called an attempt to

nearer to Nature

the laurel, the ivy,

XXI., present further

the Louvre.

varieties

Being produced by one

on pure form: they have

mostly this peculiarity, that the groups of leaves or flowers

//// a curved stem, with a volute at either end, and

than attempts to

the nearest approach to the honeysuckle,

Plates XVIII., XIX., XX., and

the British

in all plants,

all

all

spring from

(O^^^s. ^0

the lines grow out

P arent s* em i Q tangential curves. The individual leaves all radiate from the centre
of the group of leaves, each leaf diminishing in exquisite proportion as it approaches the
^

Jv

springing of the group.

When we
differences
at

the

consider that each leaf was done with a single stroke of the brush, and

that from the

which appear we may be sure no mechanical aids were employed, we must be astonished

high state of the Arts which must have existed for

to execute with unerring truth

the same happy result.

36

what

it is

almost beyond the

artists to
skill of

be found in such numbers able

modern times even

to

copy with

GREEK ORNAMENT.

ORNAMENTS FROM MEXICAN POTTERY

tttt*
ej

1 1 i

IN

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

j\j\j\jjif

xi

i_a

i^tnL*
i^i
137
nm

37

Chapter

Y. Plates

23, 24, 25.

POMPEIAN ORNAMENT.
PLATE
Collection of Borders from different

XXIII.
Houses

in

Pompeii. Zahn's Pompeii.

PLATE XXIV.
Variou

Pilasters

and Friezes from different Houses in Pompeii.

Zahn's Pompeii.

PLATE XXV.
Collection of Mosaics from Pompeii and the

The ornament
we have thought

of Pompeii has been so ably

it

Museum

and

at Naples.

From the Author's Sketches.

so fully illustrated in Zahn's magnificent work, that

only necessary for this series to borrow from

him

the materials for two plates, to

illustrate

the two distinct styles of ornament which prevail in the decorations of the edifices of Pompeii.

The

(Plate XXIII.) are evidently of Greek origin, composed of conventional ornaments in

first

either painted dark on a light ground, or light on a dark ground, but without shade or

at relief;

XXIV.)

the second (Plate

are

more Eoman

in character,

flat tints,

any attempt

based upon the acanthus

scroll,

and interwoven with ornament in direct imitation of Nature.

We

refer

the reader to

use at Pompeii.
limit of caprice,

An

Zahn's work'* for a

full

appreciation of the system of ornamentation in

examination of this work will show that this system was carried to the very

and that almost any theory of colouring and decoration could be supported by authority

from Pompeii.

The general arrangement

* Las

jilus

Beaux Ornament

tt

lei

of

the decoration on the walls of the interior of a Pompeian

Tableaux

les

plus Itemnnjuublts de Pompeii,

</'

Hcrciilannm,

el

de Slabia, iCc, par

house

Guillaume Znl-n.

Berlin, 1888.

39

POMPEIAN ORNAMENT.
of a

consists

half

the

united

dado,

width

by a

frieze

The upper space

jected to a

of

much

is

about one-sixth of the height of the wall, upon which stand

the

the wall

dado, dividing

of varying width,

three

about one-fourth of

frequently white, and

less severe

into

it

is

always sub-

treatment than the parts below,

generally representing the open air, and

upon the ground are

painted those fantastic architectural buildings which excited

In the best examples there

the ire of Vitruvius.

dation

of colour from the

black in the dado, but this

law.

work

We

select

several

is

is

a gra-

downwards, ending with

ceiling

very

far

from being a fixed

from the coloured illustrations in Zahn's

varieties,

the result of system:

which

will

show how

little

this

was

the

or

more

panels.

height of

broad

The

the wall

pilasters

pilasters

from

the

are
top.

POMPEIAN ORNAMENT.
which has never been accomplished in any restoration of the
of Pompeii

artists

invented as

they drew

The reason

style.

obvious

is

the

every touch of their brush had an intention which no

copyist can seize.

Mr. Digby Wyatt's restoration of a Pompeian house in the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, admirable

and

as

faithful

it

in

is

other respects, necessarily failed in

all

brought greater knowledge, experience, and

the

decorations which
consisted

success

sufficiently

in

was

the

so

much

fact, that

zeal

desired

to

than

no one could

bear upon the realisation

at

on the

borders

compared

radiation

perfect

panels,

Greek

with

his

perfect

and

with

executed

are

show

which

models,

evidently a

stencils.

marked

Greek character,

They have

inferiority

we

no

thinness

longer

of

find

from the parent stem, nor perfect distribution of masses and proportional

of lines

Their charm

areas.

accuracy in

of that

individual.

generally

character

have

the same time too well executed and not

The ornaments which are given on Plate XXIII., and which have
are

possibly

The want of

Abbate.

Signor

did

paintings were

his

this

is

still

further

heightened when

after

the

Eoman

type, are

an agreeable contrast of colour, which

lies in

surrounded with other colours in situ.

The ornaments from

give

to

artists

rotundity, but

pilasters

friezes

on Plate XXIV.,

sufficiently so to detach

not

showed a judgment

altogether lost sight

and

in not exceeding

that

subsequent times.

of in

of the treatment of ornament

have here the acanthus-leaf

groundwork, on which are engrafted representations of leaves and

precisely

similar

to

the remains

became the foundation of

In Plate
a

XXV. we

feature in every

relief

as

the

shown

in

that of their
sides

of the

of Byzantine, Arabian,

the

Eoman

baths,

flowers

scroll

interlaced

in the round,

forming the
with animals,

and which, in the time of Raphael,

Italian ornament.

of

the Eomans,

of the examples,

Greek teachers.
page,

in

have gathered together

home

several

found

In this the Pompeian

them from the ground.

limit

We

shaded

are

The

the types

all

the

forms

wherever their

we have evidence
borders, formed

from which we

ot

mosaic pavement, which was such

dominion extended.
that their taste was

In the attempt

no longer

at

so refined

by a repetition of hexagons at the top and

may

directly

trace

all

that

immense

and Moresque mosaics.

41

variety

Fragment

in

White Marble from the Mattei Palace, Rome. L. Vulliamy.*

Chapter VI.

Plates 26, 27.

ROMAN ORNAMENT.
PLATE XXVI.
1, 2.

3.

Fragments from the Forum of Trajan, Rome.

Pilasters

4.

from the Villa Medici, Rome.

Pilaster

5, 6.

Nos. 1-5 are from Casts in the Crystal Palace

No.

from the Villa Medici, Rome.

Fragments from the Villa Medici, Rome.

from a Cast

at

South Kensington Museum.

PLATE XXVII.
1-3.

Fragments of the Frieze of the

Roman Temple

at

5.

Brescia.
4.

Fragment of the Soffits of the Architraves of the Roman

Temple at Brescia.

6.

Fragment of the Soffits of the Architraves of the Roman

Temple at Brescia.

From

Nos. 1-4 from the Museo Bresciano ;\ No. 5 from

* Examples of Ornamental Sculpture

f Museo

in Architecture,

Bresciano, illustrato.

the Frieze of the Arch of the Goldsmiths,

Taylor and Cbesy's Rome.

by Lewis Vulliamy, Architect.

London,

Brescia, 1838.

43

Rome.

ROMAN ORNAMENT.
The

Romans

real greatness of the

and other works of public

is

rather to be seen in their palaces, baths, theatres, aqueducts,

than in their temple architecture, which being the expression of a

utility,

borrowed from the Greeks, and in which probably they had

religion

exhibits

little faith,

corre-

sponding want of earnestness and art-worship.

Greek temple

In the

worthy of the gods.

column

everywhere apparent that the struggle was to arrive at a perfection

is

Roman temple

In the

to the apex of the

by quantity than

it

aim was

the

pediment every part

threw a coloured

it

The Romans
moulded
carved

on

surfaces,

on them

so

the

it.

proportions of the structure and the contours of the

general

and

grow naturally from

the

surface,

under the modillions, and those round

the

bell

ornaments do not

these
leaves

placed one before the other

are

capitals,

the

no way disturbed

in

which were entirely destroyed by the elaborate surface-modelling of the ornaments

The acanthus

it.

to value

ceased

The ornament was

result.

bloom over the whole structure, and

exquisitely designed surfaces which received

of the

The Greek temples when painted

were as ornamented as those of the Romans, but with a very different

arranged that

the base

overloaded with ornament, tending rather to dazzle

is

by the quality of the work.

to excite admiration

From

self-glorification.

by the necking at the top of the

shaft,

most

They

unartistically.

but rest upon

are

Unlike

it.

in

but are applied

the

of

Corinthian

not even bound

this

together

the Egyptian capital,

where the stems of the flowers round the bell are continued through the necking, and at the same
time represent a beauty and express a truth.

The

fatal

facilities

which the

Roman

system of decoration gives for manufacturing ornament,

by applying acanthus leaves to any form and in any direction,

of this

ornament into most modern works.

manufacture, that
provinces,

and the

it

has

interior

encouraged

It

architects

requires

in

so

the chief cause of the invasion

is

little

an indolent

thought, and

neglect

one

of

completely a

so

is

of

their

especial

decorations of buildings have fallen into hands most unfitted to supply

their place.

In the use of the acanthus

leaf the

Romans showed but

They received

little art.

it

from the

Greeks beautifully conventionalised; they went much nearer to the general outline, but exaggerated
the surface-decoration.

The Greeks

of the leaf, and bestowed all

at

consists universally of a scroll

In

however,

Greek ornament the

delicate

at

is

the head

growing out of another

constructed

scrolls

on

Greek

is

its

typical

of all

scroll, encircling

principles,

but

is

of the foliation

surface.

Roman ornament, which

a flower or group of leaves.

wanting

in

Greek refinement.

grow out of each other in the same way, but they are much more

the point of junction.

The acanthus

The purely Roman method of using the acanthus

44

chapter

of the

principle

expressing the

their care in the delicate undulations of

The ornament engraved

This example,

confined themselves to

leaf

is

also

seen,

as

it

were, in

side

leaf is seen in the Corinthian capitals,

elevation.

and

in

the

ROMAN ORNAMENT.
XXVI. and XXVII.

examples on Plates

The

leaves are flattened out,

and they lay one over the

other,

as in the cut.

Fragment

The various

capitals

juxtaposition, to show

of the acanthus.

how

of the Frieze of the

Temple of the Sun, Colonna Palace, Rome. L. Vhlliamy.

which we have engraved from Taylor and Cresy's work have been placed in
little

The only

variety the

difference

able to produce in following out this application

Eomans were

which

immense
capital,

variety of Egyptian

capitals

form of the mass

exists is in the proportion of the general

the decline in this proportion from that of Jupiter Stator

may be

seen readily.

How

different

from the

which arose from the modification of the general plan of the

even the introduction of the Ionic volute in the Composite order

fails

to

add a beauty, but

rather increases the deformity.

The

from the Villa Medici, Nos. 3 and

pilasters

Roman ornament

perfect specimens of

as

could be

4, Plate

XXVI., and the fragment, No.

found.

As specimens

5, are as

of modelling and drawing

they have strong claims to be admired, but as ornamental accessories to the architectural features of a
building they most certainly, from their excessive relief and elaborate surface treatment, are deficient in the
first principle, viz.

The amount
leaf over leaf is
till

adaptation to the purpose they have to

of design that can

very limited

this principle of

and

it

fill.

be obtained by working out this principle of leaf within leaf and

was not

one leaf growing out of

another in a continuous line was abandoned

for the adoption of a

continuous stem throw-

ing off ornaments on either

side,

that pure

conventional ornament received any develop-

ment.

The

earliest

examples of the charjge

are found in St. Sophia at Constantinople

and we introduce here an example from

St.

Denis, where, although the swelling at the

stem and the turned-back leaf at the junction

of stem

and stem have

the continuous stem

is

not yet fully developed, as

This principle became very

centuries,

and

is

From tlie Abbey

entirely disappeared,

common

in

it

of St. Denis, Paris.

appears in the narrow border top

the illuminated

MSS.

of the eleventh, twelfth,

and bottom.

and thirteenth

the foundation of Early English foliage.

The fragments on Plate XXVII., from the Museo

Bresciano,

are

more elegant than those from the

45

ROMAN ORNAMENT.
Villa Medici

;,

more sharply accentuated and more conventionally

the leaves are

the Arch of the Goldsmiths

We

have not thought

is,

it

Komans, of which remains

necessary to give

exist

in

and, further, they are so similar to

follow, that

in

we have thought

it

which figures terminating in

the

Eoman

The

frieze

from

scrolls

this

baths.

series

We

any of the painted decorations of the

had no

reliable materials

at

command

Pompeii, and show rather what to avoid than what to

those at

sufficient to

in

introduce the two subjects from the

may be

said to

The Acanthus,

full size,

Forum

of Trajan,

be the foundation of that prominent feature

in their painted decorations.

4(i

treated.

on the contrary, defective from the .opposite cause.

from a Photograph.

ROMAN ORNAMENT.

Temple

of Jupiter Stator,

Rome.

Temple

Arch of Constantino, Rome.

of Vesta, Tivoli.

Arch

Temple

of

of Trajan,

Arch

Ancona.

Mars Victor, Rome.

Interior of Pantheon,

Pantheon, Rome.

of Titus,

Rome.

Pautheon, Rome.

Portico.

Rome.

Corinthian and Composite Capitals reduced from

Arc'ii of

Bepttabu Scverus, Rome.

Taylor and Cresy's Rome*

* The Architectural Antiquities of Ron: e, by G. L. Taylor and Cresy, Architects.

London, 1821.

47

Chapter VII.Plates 28, 29, 29*, 30.

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.
PLATE
Stone Sculptured Ornament, Sta. Sofia, Constantinople. 6th century. Salzenberg, Alt Christliche
Baudenkmale, Constantinopel.

1, 2, 3.

4, 5.

From the Bronze Gates, Sta.

6, 7.

Portions of

Ivory

Salzenbebg,

Sofia.

Beauvais Cathedral
apparently Anglo-Saxon work of the 11th century.
Willemin, Monuments Francois incdilx.
Diptychs,

Portion of Bronze Door, Basilica of the Nativity, Bethlehem. 3rd or 4th century. Gailhabaud, L' Architecture et

9-13.

Us Arts qui en dependent.

Stone Sculptures, from St. Mark's, Venice.

century. J. B. W.from Casts at Sydenham.

14, 15, 16.

Portion

of

Capital,

Michael's

St.

Schwabisch Hall.
12th Century.
Ornament ik des Mittelalters.
17.

18.

19, 20.

From

from

Swabia.
21.

Church of
Heideloff.
the

St.

John,

Gniund,

From

Wood and Ivory Carving, in the CollecHerr Leven, Cologne. Heideloff.

principal

Bronze Door,
J.B.W.

Ravello,

From

near

of

11th and 12th cen-

the

turies.

Amalfi.

Duomo, Trani. 12th

et Luynes, Recherches sur Us
Kormands en Sidle.

the Bronze Door of the

Babbas

century.

Monuments
26.

Door

W.

J. B.
24. 25.

Bronze

the

Duomo,

des

Stone Sculpture, from the small Cloister,

Monastery, near Burgos, Spain. 12th century.

27.

From

28.

From

W.

W.
Denis (Porch), near Paris.

St.

B.

J.

Huelgas
J. B.

Circa 1204 a.d.

the Porch of Lucca Cathedral.

J. B.

12th century.

W.

32.

From the Cloisters of Sant' Ambrogia, Milan.J. B. W.

From the Chapel of Heilsbronn, Bavaria. Heideloff.
From St. Denis.J. B. W.
From Bayeux Cathedral. 12th century. Pugin, An-

33.

From

34.

Bayeux Cathedral.

36.

From Lincoln

29.

31.

tiquities

J.

Romanesque
tion of

23.

30.

u. a.

the

Monreale, near Palermo.

Church,

Heideloff,

Composition of Bosses, from St. Sebald, Nuremberg,

and the Church of Nosson, Saxony. Heideloff.
Friezes

From

11th

a Doorway, preserved at Murrhard Monastery.

Heideloff,

22.

u.a.

8.

XXVIII.

36.

St.

W.

Pugin,

u. a.

Cathedral Porch.

Close of 12th century.

W.

B.

From

of Normandy.

Denis. J. B.

the Kilpeck Porch, Herefordshire.

J. B.

12th century.

W.

PLATE XXIX.
1-0.

Mosaics from Sta. Sofia, Constantinople. 6th century.

Salzenbebg, Alt Christliche Baudenkmale von

12-15.

From
J.

B.

Illuminated Greek MSS., British Museum.

W.

Constantinopel.
7.

8, 9.

10-11.

Marble Pavement, Agios Pantokrator, Constantinople.

First half of 12th century.
Salzenbebo, h. a.
Marble Pavement, Sta.

Sofia.

Mosaics, Sta. Sofia. Salzenbebg.

10, 17.

Borders, from Illuminated Greek

MSS.

Champol-

lion Figeac, Palccographie UniverselU.

18.

The

Centre, from St. Mark's, Venice.

Digby Wyatt,

Mosaics of the Middle Ages.

49

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.

PLATE XXIX*.
a Greek MS., British Museum. J. B.JW.
The border beneath from Monreale. Digby Wyatt's

19.

From

20.

From

Mosaics.

the Homilies of Gregory Nazianzen.

Champollion Figeac,

tury.

From Greek MSS.,

From the Acts of

21, 22.
23.

Enamel of the 13th century (French).

Monuments Francois incdits.

27.

From an Enamelled

12th cen-

B.

W.

28.

Rome. Digby Wyatt, u. a.

Digby Wyatt, u. a.
Mark's, Venice.

24.

St.

25.

Portion of a Greek Diptych.

later

29.

(The Jleurs-de-lys are believed

workmanship.)

Willemin,

century.

to be of

30.

Tomb

WiLLEMIN,

Du Sommerard.

of Jean, son of St. Louis,

M. a.

Limoges Enamel, probably

Florence.

10th century.

W.

J. B.

the Enamelled

A.D. 1247.

Library,

From

the Apostles, Greek MS., Vatican

Willemin,

Casket (the centre from the

Statue of Jean, son of St. Louis).

Les Arts du, Moyen Aye.

u. a.

Museum.J.

British

26.

of the close of the 12th

u. a.

Portion of Mastic Pavement, 12th century.

Preserved

Willemin.

at St. Denis, near Paris.

PLATE XXX.
near

dral,

J. B.

Grecanicum) from

(opus

Mosaics

1, 2.

Palermo.

Close

Monreale Cathe12th century.

of

W.

Mosaics from the Church of Ara Cceli, Rome.

3.

W.

Monreale Cathedral.J. B.

4, 5.

Marble Pavement,

6.

St. Mark's, Venice.

From San Lorenzo

7-10.

tany,J. B.

Rome.

Fuori,

W.

B.

J.

Ara

13.

Marble Pavement,

14.

San Lorenzo Fuori, Rome, Architectural Art

and Spain, by Waring and MacQuoid.

B.

Venice. J. B.

From

18.

From Ara

19.

Marble Pavement,

20.

Marble Pavement, San Vitale, Ravenna.

the Cathedral, Monreale.

Rome.J.

Arabische und

S.

TheDuomo,CivitaCastellana.

in Italy

B.

J.

B.

alt Italidnische

Marble Pavement,

semer,

S.

M.

in

28.
29.

Ara

Bau

Cceli,

W.

31.

Architectural Art in Italy and

Spain, Waring and MacRome.
>
Quoid.
San Lorenzo, Rome, j
San Lorenzo Fuori, Rome. J. B. W.

32.

San Giovanni Laterano,

Cceli,

Ayes.

33-35.

Monreale Cathedral. J. B.

36-38.

Marble Pavement,

mer,

Hessemer,

Digby Wyatt's

Rome.

Hessemer,

Hesse-

u. a.

Mark's, Venice.

of the Middle Ayes,

Mosaics

St.

40.
41.

Digby Wyatt.
From the Baptistery, St. Mark's, Venice. J. B. W.
From St. Mark's, Venice. Architectural Art in Italy

42.

From

and Spain.

Hes-

u. a.

W.

M. Maggiore, Rome.

S.

39.

Verzierunyen.

Cosmedin, Rome.

B.

^^

Mosaics of the Middle Ayes.

u. a.

21.

Ara

San Lorenzo, Rome.

W.

M. Maggiore, Rome.

RomeJ.

27.

30.

W.

W.

17.

Cceli,

26.

W.

St. Mark's,

Digby Wyatt, Mosaics of the Middle

Palermo.

15, 16.

Rome.J.

25.

Architectural Art in
and Spain. Waring and MacQuoid.
("From Digby Wyatt's
SanGiovanm Laterano, Rome.

Baptistery of St. Mark, Venice.

Italy

W.

12.

Coeli,

24.

W.

Close of 12th cen-

San Lorenzo Fuori, Rome.

B.

B.

Specimens of the Mosaics

Mosaic, St. Mark's, Venice.
of the Middle Ayes, Digby Wyatt.

W.

1 1.

J.

J.

22, 23.

the Duomo, Monreale.

J.

1>.

W.

=--=

BYZANTINE OENAMENT.
styles of
vagueness with which writers on Art have treated the Byzantine and Komanesque
decoration.
Architecture, even to within the last few years, has extended itself also to their concomitant

The

refer; nor
This vagueness has arisen chiefly from the want of examples to which the writer could

was

it

until

the puhlication

of Herr

Salzenberg's great

work on

Sta. Sofia

at

Constantinople, that

San
what constituted pure Byzantine ornament.
but a very
Vitale at Kavenna, though thoroughly Byzantine as to its architecture, still afforded us
San Marco at Venice represented but a phase of the
incomplete notion of Byzantine ornamentation

we could obtain any complete and

definite idea of

Byzantine school;

and the Cathedral of Monreale, and other examples of the same

served only to show the influence, but hardly to illustrate

50

style

in

the true nature, of pure Byzantine

Sicily,

Art:

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.
understand that, we required what the ravages of time and the whitewash

fully to

medan had deprived

us

of,

namely, a Byzantine building on a grand

Such

period of the Byzantine epoch.

an invaluable

scale,

of the

Mahom-

executed during the best

source of information has been opened to us

through the enlightenment of the present Sultan, and been made public to the world by the liberality

Government; and we recommend

of the Prussian

all

those

who

desire to have a graphic idea of

what

Byzantine decorative art truly was, to study Herr Salzenberg's beautiful work on the churches and
buildings of ancient Byzantium.

In no branch of

probably,

the observation, ex nihilo nihil

is

Thus, in the Byzantine

decorative art.
its

art,

peculiar characteristics, and

we

style,

we

more applicable than

fit,

in

perceive that various schools have combined to form

shall proceed to point out briefly

what were the principal formative

causes.

Even

before the transfer of the

commencement
Certain

as

it

is

that

Eome had

the centre of

reacted

on

affected

that lavish

of

style

The

Eome.

it

is

the traditional style

giving

its

impress to the

her

of decoration
necessity

peculiar

and even

Eoman Empire from Eome

to

Byzantium, at the

style

of art to the

numerous foreign peoples

certain that the hybrid art of her provinces

less

civilisation

of the

see all the arts in a state either of decline or transformation.

given

no

Byzantium, of employing Oriental

in

we

of the fourth century,

ranged beneath her sway,

buildings

seat

at

the close

of the

third

had powerfully

century had materially

which characterised the magnificent baths and other public

which Constantine found himself under, when newly settled in

artists

and workmen, wrought a

and there can be

newly-formed

little

school,

still

first

vital

and marked change

doubt but that each surrounding nation aided in

according to the state of

capacity for Art, until at last the motley mass became fused into

long and (for Art) prosperous reign of the

more

its

civilisation

and

its

one systematic whole during the

Justinian.

wmnkikj

In this result we cannot

fail

to

be struck with the important influence exercised by the great

temples and theatres built in Asia Minor during the rule of the Caesars; in these we already see the

tendency to
springing-ball

elliptical

and

curved outlines, acute-pointed leaves, and thin continuous foliage without the

flower,

which characterise Byzantine ornament.

On

the frieze of the theatre at

51

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.
Patara (a), and at the Temple of Venus at Aphrodisias (Caria), are to be seen examples of flowing
foliage

such as we allude

Ancyra

at

to.

the doorway of the temple erected by the native rulers of Galatia

honour of Augustus,

(6), in

a small temple at Patara

identical

On

is

more

still

by Texier

(c), inscribed

and the

characteristic type,

of

pilaster capital

to the first century of the Christian era,

with one drawn by Salzenberg at Smyrna (d), which he believes to be of the

is

first

almost
part of

Justinian's reign, or about the year 525 A.D.

In the absence of authentic dates we cannot decide

Byzantine

style,

and in the

but

it is

remarkable

workmen and

certain that Persian

monuments

how

satisfactorily
artists

once with their thoroughly

Byzantium

at

Tak-i-Ghero, and

in

several

given in Flandin and

work on Persia

great

Coste's

Persia influenced the

much employed

were

Tak-i-Bostan, Bi-Sutoun, and

at

ancient capitals at Ispahan

far

we

struck at

are

Byzantine character;

but we are inclined to believe that they are pos-

most contemporaneous, with the best

terior, or at

period of Byzantine

art,

However that may

be,

that

we

find the forms of a

still

reproduced so late as the year 363

earlier period

and in Jovian's column

A.D.:

of the sixth century.

is,

at

Ancyra

(e),

erected

during or shortly after his retreat with Julian's

army from

their

we

Persian expedition,

recognise

an application of one of the most general orna-

At Persepolis

mental forms of ancient Persepolis.

are

also

be seen the pointed and

to

channelled

leaves so characteristic of Byzantine work, as seen

in the

and
Caesars,

we remark

at

the

accompanying example from

at a later period,

Doric temple

Sta. Sofia (/);

during the rule of the

i. e.

Kangovar (g) contours

of

of

moulding precisely similar

to those affected in the Byzantine style.

Interesting and
it is

no

less so to

instructive as

mark

it is

the derivation of these forms in the Byzantine style,

to trace

them and

the transmission of

Plate XXVIII.,

of others to

we

perceive

Thus in No.

epochs.

later

the

in

No.

3,

Andrew's cross within

leaf,

as

Texier and in Salzenberg, reappear at Sta. Sofia;

XXVIII.,

Plate

so

circle,

On

is

common

the same

the
as

foliated

Komanesque and

of No. 4 of the

Germany.

sixth

with slight variation, at No. 11

The

are almost identical

tween
is

to

all

of the

toothings of the leaves

with those of No.

is

ornament.

but slight altera-

The curved and

century (Sta. Sofia)

at

Gothic

frieze is a design repeated with

tion at No. 17 from

Mark's).

St.

1,

given

peculiar

foliated

branch

reproduced,

seen

century (St.

eleventh
of No. 19

(Germany)

(Sta. Sofia);

and be-

the examples on the last row but one (Plate XXVIII.)

be remarked a generic resemblance in subjects from Germany, Italy, and Spain, founded on

a Byzantine type.

The

last

row of subjects in

this

plate illustrates

and 36), showing the interlaced ornament

native type;

52

whilst at

No. 35

(St.

so

affected

more

especially the

by the Northern

Romanesque

style (Nos.

nation, founded

27

mainly on a

Denis) we have one instance out of numbers of the reproduction

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.

Eoman models; the type

found on the Roman column

of the present subject, a

of

Thus we

the Byzantine style of

time, reacted in
in

course

its

and

its

co-relative

Arabian schools.

and yet

being

in Justinian's

it

systemised form upon the Western world, undergoing certain changes

was received, frequently gave

it

style,

took part as formative causes in

all

accompanying decoration, which, complete as we find

and these modifying causes, arising from the

the countries where

cases

art,

and other countries,

Syria, Persia,

new and

its

one in the Komanesque

between Dijon and Chalons-sur-Saone.

at Cussy,

Eome,

see that

common

distinct

manners in

a specific character, and produced in some

it

of ornament

styles

of religion, art, and

state

the

in

how

Placing on one side the question of

Celtic,

Anglo-Saxon, Lombardic, and

Byzantine workmen

far

or artists were

employed in Europe, there can be no possible doubt that the character of the Byzantine school of
ornament

very strongly impressed on

is

the earlier works

all

and even Western Europe,

of central

which are generically termed Eomanesque.

Pure Byzantine ornament

broad-toothed and acute-pointed leaves, which in

distinguished by

is

sculpture are bevelled at the edge, are deeply channelled throughout, and are

the running foliage

springings of the teeth with deep holes;

Nos.
is

XXIX.

14, and 20, Plate XXIX*., Plate

1,

almost

gold

universally

thin

introduction of animal or other

cipally to holy subjects, in a

figures

are preferred

conventional style, exhibiting

stiff,

several

in mosaic or painted work,

geometrical

to

very limited in sculpture, and in colour

is

at the

generally thin and continuous, as at

is

The ground, whether

patterns

interlaced

drilled

little

The

designs.

confined prin-

is

variety or feeling;

sculpture

is

of very secondary importance.

Eomanesque ornament, on the other hand, depended mainly on sculpture

and

light

shade,

deep cuttings, massive projections, and a great

The

every kind with foliage and conventional ornament.

for effect:

work

place of mosaic

is

generally supplied

in coloured ornament, animals are as freely introduced as in sculpture, vide

XXIX*.
XXIX*.

the ground

is

rich in

is

intermixture of figure-subjects of

by paint;
;

it

No. 26, Plate

no longer gold alone, but blue, red, or green, as at Nos. 26, 28, 29, Plate

In other respects, allowing for local differences,

and in the case of painted

for

glass,

example, handed

it

it

much

retains

down

to the

of the Byzantine character

middle, and even the close of

the thirteenth century.

One

style of

period,

especially

ornament, that
in

Italy

principally in the twelfth

of geometrical mosaic work, belongs particularly to the

numerous examples of

and thirteenth

centuries,

shaped pieces of glass into a complicated

stopped,
7,

defined,

11, 27, 31, are

9,

artists

seen

now

in

much

Nos.

interlacings,

the other,

1,

5,

33,

lines

arrangement of small diamonddirection of which

the

The examples from

different colours.

from Monreale, near Palermo.

of design coexistent in Sicily

and eminently Moresque

consisting

at- least

It

is

the one, such as

in character, as

of interlaced curves,

now

is

central Italy, such as Nos.

as

at

may

be remarked, that there are two

to

we have noted,

be seen by

consisting of diagonal

reference

to

Plate

XXIX.

Nos. 33, 34, 35, also from Monreale, in which

the influence, of Byzantine artists.

we

Altogether of a different

though of about the same period, are Nos. 22, 24, 39, 40, 41, which serve as examples

of the Veneto-Byzantine style

so

consists in the

This art flourished

simpler than those of the southern provinces and Sicily, where Saracenic

recognise, if not the hand,

character,

are

and

of diagonal

XXX.

Plate

introduced their innate love of intricate designs, some ordinary examples of which are to be

distinct styles

may

by means of

series

are given in

it

Eomanesque

limited in

more markedly Byzantine, however,

common

its

as

range, being almost local, and peculiar in style.

No. 23, with interlaced

at Sta. Sofia, as seen at Nos. 3, 10,

The opus Alexandrinum,

mosaic work, chiefly from the

or

and

11, Plate

marble mosaic work,

different

differs

and the step ornament,

from the opus Grecanicum, or glass

nature of the material;

circles

XXIX.

Some

the principal

(that of complicated

53

BYZANTINE ORNAMENT.
geometric design)

is

in examples of this class

The pavements

same.

the

still

the tradition of which was handed

a good idea of the nature of this ornament

Local

down from

in Italy are rich

the Augustan age of

given in Nos. 19, 21, 36, 37, and 38.

relation either to

little

and thirteenth centuries;

twelfth,

marble only

Roman

or Byzantine models.

Such

is

in

the effect

these

is

produced

by

No. 20, from

black and white

with these exceptions, and those produced by Moresque influence in the South of Italy,

the principles both of the glass and marble inlay ornament are to be found in ancient
in

Rome

Ravenna; such are the pavements of the Baptistery and San Miniato, Florence, of the

Vitale,

eleventh,

is

Romanesque churches

on the system of marble inlay, existed in several parts of Italy during the Roman-

styles,

esque period, which bear

San

of the

every province under

Roman

sway, and especially

is

it

Roman

inlay,

remarkable in the various mosaics found

XXV.

at Pompeii, of which striking examples are given in Plate

Important as we perceive the influence of Byzantine Art to have been in Europe, from the sixth
to the eleventh century,

and

still

later,

there

spreading Arab race, who propagated the

East,

and

finally

The

no people

and

whom

it

affected

more than the great and

Mahomet, conquered the

creed of

finest

countries of the

In the earlier buildings executed by them at

obtained a footing even in Europe.

Cairo, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Cordova,

marked.

is

Sicily, the influence of the

traditions of the Byzantine school affected

more

Byzantine style

is

very strongly

or less all the adjacent countries

in

Greece they remained almost unchanged to a very late period, and they have served, in a great degree,
as the basis to all decorative art in the East

and in Eastern Europe.

J.

B.

WARING.

September, 1856.

* * For
#

more information on

this subject, see "

Handbook

"

to

Byzantine and Romanesque Court

at

Sydenham.

Wyatt and Waring.

BOOKS REFERRED TO FOR ILLUSTRATIONS.

Salzenbebq.

Alt Christliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel.

Flandin et Coste.
Texier.

Description de I'Armdnie, Perse,

Heideloff.
Kreutz.

Voymje en Perse.

La

Gatlhabaud.

Src.

Die Ornamenlik des Mittelalters.

Basilica di

San Marco.

L' Architecture

Du Sohmerard.

54

et les

Arts qui en dependent.

Les Arts du Moijen Age.

Baruas et Luynes (Due de). Recherches sur les Monuments de

Normands en Sidle.
Champollion Figeac. Palceographie Universelle.
WI7J.EMIN. Monuments Francais inedits.
Hessemer. Arabische und alt Ilalidnische Bau-Verzie'rungen.
Digby Wyatt. Geometrical Mosaics of the Middle Ages.
Waring and MaoQuoid. Architectural Arts in Italy and Spain.
Waring. Architectural Studies at Burgos and its Neighbourhood.

V.Plates

Chapter

31, 32, 33, 34, 35.

ARABIAN ORNAMENT,
FROM

CAIRO.

4
PLATE XXXI.
This Plate consists of the ornamented Architraves and

Soffits of

Windows

the

in the interior of the

Mosque

of Tooloon,

and nearly all the windows are of a different pattern. The main arches of the building
but only a fragment of one of the soffits now remains, sufficiently large to make out the design.
are decorated in the same way
This is given in Plate XXXIII., No. 14.
Cairo.

They

are executed in plaster,

;

Nos. 1-14, 27, 29, 34-39, are designs from architraves round the windows.

The

rest of the patterns are

from their

soffits

and jambs.

The Mosque

of Tooloon

building in Cairo, and

is

was founded

a.d. 87C-7,

and these ornaments are certainly of that date. It is the oldest Arabian
known examples of the pointed arch.

specially interesting as one of the earliest

PLATE XXXII.
1-7.

9,16.

From

the Parapet of the Mosque of Sultan Kalaoon.

Ornaments round Arches

in

the Mosque

En

Ornaments round curved Architraves

in the

Soffit of

Mosque

Sultan Kalaoon.

one of the Main Arches in the Mosque of

Tooloon.
15-21.

reeyeh.

11-13.

14.

Nasi-

22.

23-25.

Ornaments on the Mosque of Kalaoon.

Wooden Stringcourse Pulpit.

From the Mosque of Kalaoon.

The Mosque of Kalaoon was founded in the year 1284-5. All these ornaments are executed in plaster, and seem to
have been cut on the stucco while still wet. There is too great a variety on the patterns, and even disparities on the
corresponding parts of the same pattern, to allow of their having been cast or struck from moulds.

PLATE
1-7.

8-10.

From

the Parapet of the

Curved Architraves from

Arch, Mosque

12.

Soffit of

13.

From Door

14.

Wooden

in

Mosque

of Saltan Kalaoon.

ditto.

En

Nasireeyeh.

the Mosque El Barkookeyeh.

Architrave,

Mosque En Nasireeyeh.

XXXIII.
15.

Soffit of

Window, Mosque

10, 17.

Wooden

Architraves.

18.

Frieze round

19.

Wooden

20-23.

of Kalaoon.

Tomb, Mosque En Nasireeyeh.

Architrave.

Ornaments from various Mosques.

PLATE XXXIV.
These designs were traced from a splendid copy of the Koran in the Mosque El Barkookeyeh, founded a.d. 1384.

55

ARABIAN ORNAMENT.

PLATE XXXV.
Consists of different Mosaics taken from

Pavements and walls in Private Houses and Mosques in Cairo.

and white marble, with red tile.
Nos. 14-16 are patterns engraved on the white marble slab, and filled in with red and black cement.
The ornament on the white marble on the centre of No. 21 is slightly in relief.

They

are executed

in black

The

by Mr. James William Wild, who passed a considerable time

Arabian houses, and they may be regarded as very faithful transcripts of Cairean

materials for these five Plates have been kindly furnished

in Cairo studying the interior decoration of the

ornament.

AEABIAN ORNAMENT.
WHEN

the religion of

Mohammed

spread with such astounding rapidity over the East, the growing

wants of a new civilisation naturally led to the formation of a new style of Art; and whilst
that the early edifices of the

Mohammedans were

either

Spandril of an arch from Sta. Sophia.

to their
it

is

own

uses, or buildings constructed

equally certain that the

at a very early period

56

new wants

to

old

Eoman

or

it is

certain

Byzantine buildings adapted

Salzenbebg.

on the ruins and with the materials of ancient monuments,

be supplied, and the new feelings to be expressed, must

have given a peculiar character to their architecture.

ARABIAN ORNAMENT.
old materials,

of

they endeavoured, in the new

The same

to imitate the details borrowed from old buildings.

parts of the structure,

as

partly

the buildings which they constructed

In

Eoman

in the transformation of the

had already taken place

style to the Byzantine

But this very imperfection gave birth to a

were crude and imperfect.

new

followed

result

the imitations

order of ideas

they never

returned to the original model, but gradually threw off the shackles which the original model imposed.

The Mohammedans, very

The ornaments on Plate XXXI.

own.

a style of architecture complete in

Mosque

are from the

876, only 250 years after the establishment of

itself,

This result

style.

its

peculiarly their

art

in this

mosque already

find

true, traces of its origin, but being entirely

is

it

of

of Tooloon in Cairo, which was erected in

is

when compared

very remarkable

It can hardly be said that Christianity

with the results of the Christian religion in another direction.

produced an architecture peculiarly

style

Mohammedanism, and we

retaining,

any direct imitation of the previous

freed from

and perfected a

their history, formed

early in

own, and entirely freed from traces of paganism, until the twelfth

or thirteenth century.

The mosques

same time

at the

amongst the most beautiful buildings

of Cairo are

They are remarkable

in the world.

the grandeur and simplicity of their general forms, and for the refinement and

for

elegance which the decoration of these forms displays.

This elegance of ornamentation

whom

appears to have been derived from the Persians, from

Arabs are supposed to have derived many of their

The

reached them by a double process.

of

art.

arts.

It

is

more

the

than probable that this influence

Byzantium already displays an

The

Asiatic influence.

remains at Bi-Sutoun, published by Flandin and Coste, are either Persian under Byzantine influence,
or, if of earlier

date, there

must be much of Byzantine

We

so similar are they in general character of outline.

ornament on a Sassanian
diapers

which was derived from Persian sources,

have already, in Chapter

No. 16, Plate XIV., which appears to be the type of the Arabian

system of decoration totally at variance with

building, and which

this spandril

it

is

may
itself

much

it

the scroll

one even
with

it,

arch

is

The
as

the

is

is

first

the

attempt at throwing

is

The pattern

decorated in the same

way

exhibiting in this early stage

is

as the

soffits

They

There

is

also another feature connected

of Arabian

surface,

and the

The

differences

of the

all

of form which

those arrangements

which exist

result

from the

less perfection

They represent the

first

stage of

and the surface of the part to be decorated being

first

brought

were either stamped or traced upon the material, whilst

recognis-ed that the principles of the radiation of the lines

Many

soffit

and Moresque arches.

still

with a blunt instrument,- which in making the incisions slightly rounded the edges.

observation of

It will

distributed all over the spandril, so as to produce

of Arabian art the types of

are of plaster,

face, the patterns

in a plastic

We

at once

from a parent stem and the tangential curva-

had been either retained by Graeco-Roman tradition, or was

ture of those bnes

it

growing out one from the other:

of the distribution of the forms, the leading principles are the same.

state,

that as

ornaments from the Mosque of Tooloon, on Plate XXXI., are very remarkable,

collection of

an even

Be

a reminiscence of the acanthus

mouldings on the edge of the arch are ornamented from the

reach their culminating point in the Alhambra.

to

Graeco-Roman features of that

Asiatic influence.

still

off the principle of leafage

which was ever the aim of the Arabs and Moors.

surface decoration.

Sta. Sofia,

the foundation of the surface decoration of the Arabs and Moors.

continuous without break.

tint,

of the

not be impossible are the result of some

be observed that, although the leafage which surrounds the centre

leaf,

an

III., referred to

and on the spandril of the arch which we here introduce from Salzenberg's work on

will be seen a

may,

capital,

art

felt

by them from

natm e.
-

of the patterns, such as 2, 3, 4,

5,

12, 13, 32,

38,

still

retain traces of this

Greek origin

two flowers, or a flower turned upwards and another downwards, from either end of a stalk
there was this difference, that with the Greeks

the flowers or leaves do not form

but

part of the scroll,

57

ARABIAN ORNAMENT.
but grow out of

it,

whilst with the Arabs the scroll was transformed into an intermediate leaf.

shows the continuous

characteristic of

derived from the Eomans, with the division at each turn of the

scroll

Eoman

seem to be one of the

The ornament we engrave here from

ornament, omitted.

Arabian.

Greek.

patterns on

of this

several others.

class,

Many

anxiety to exhibit as

With

Moreeqxie.

this Plate, chiefly

an upright tendency in their

patterns

lines,

may be

of the patterns on

many

plate,

the

is

made

in

of the

this

always perfect

there

are

the ornaments also they exhibited

we

often two

XXXII., which

may be

period

is

also

our

from the same mosque as

so

inferior.

The guiding

excelled.

Mosque

XXXIV.

of Tooloon.

are

The

As compared, however,

seen at a glance.

of the masses, or in

never any gaps or holes

much

greater

skill,

repeat the Arabian ornament, No.

varieties of lozenge diapers

The Moors

all

The Arabs never

arrived

the ornamenting of the surfaces

instinct

same, but

the

is

the

In Moresque ornament the relation of the areas of the ornament to the

very inferior.

the difference,

be double in the lateral direction:

same period, they are very

ornaments, in which the Moors

is

having

those exquisitely-designed

whole of the ornaments on Plates XXXIII. and

at that state of perfection in the distribution

ground

Plate should

this

century, i.e. four hundred years later than those of the

with the Alhambra, which

is

all

therefore

varieties as possible preventing the engraving of the repeat.

progress which the style had

execution

of windows, and

soffits

where the repetition of the same patterns side by side produces another or

the ornament on the last

of the

from the

considered as the germs of

the exception of the centre ornament on Plate

of the thirteenth

scroll, so

Sophia would

Sta.

examples of the change.

earliest

Arabian.

The upright

No. 37

in the decoration

there was less

12,

of the

monotony.

To

surfaces of

exhibit clearly

from Plate XXXIII., compared with two

from the Alhambra.

introduced

and sometimes three

another
planes

feature

into

on which

the

their

surface

patterns

ornament,

viz.

that

there

were drawn, the ornaments on

were
the

upper plane being boldly distributed over the mass, whilst those on the second interwove themselves
58

ARABIAN ORNAMENT.
with the

first,

enriching the

ornament

retains

oftentimes

most

Plate

ingenious, decoration

close

for

XXXII.

more variety in

Generally there was

inspection.

the feathering which forms so prominent a feature on the ornaments on

XXXII., XXXIII., was intermixed with plain

Plates

by which admirable contrivance a piece of

level;

breadth of effect when viewed at a distance, and affords most exquisite, and

treatment

surface

their

its

on a lower

surface

The ornament No.

XXXIII.,

Plate

13,

surfaces,
is

Arabian.

see at Nos.

metal, and

pierced

in

approach to the perfection of distribution of the Moorish forms

we

such as

finely exhibits

it

18, 32>

17,

a very near

is

the

proportionate

Moresque.

Moresque.

diminution of the forms towards the centre of the pattern, and that fixed
the Moors, that however distant an ornament, or however intricate

never

law,

the pattern,

broken by

can always be

it

traced to its branch and root.

main

Generally, the

summed up

thus,

the

between the

that exist

differences

constructive

Arabian and

the Arabs possess more

features of

Moresque

may

styles

be

grandeur, and those of the

Moors more refinement and elegance.

The
idea

exquisite

ornaments

Arabian

of

decorative

destroy the unity of

find

on

the style,

XXXIV., from

Plate

Were

art.

it

and which

not

a copy of
the

for

Koran, will

the

introduction

betray a Persian influence,

a better specimen of Arabian ornament.

As

it

is,

however,

it

of

would

it

give

flowers,

be

perfect

which

rather

impossible to

a very perfect lesson both

is

in form and colour.

The immense mass

led

the

better

XXXV.

in

four

number

a great

idea can

Plate XLIII.
others.

from

Roman

ruins

must have very

early

floors

of

and monuments with mosaic patterns, arranged on a geometrical system; and we have

XXXV.

on Plate

No

derived

Arabs to seek to imitate the universal practice of the Romans, of covering the

their houses

on Plate

fragments of marble

of

the varieties which

this

fashion

produced with the Arabs.

be obtained of what style in ornament consists than by comparing the mosaics

with the

There

is

Roman

mosaics, Plate

scarcely a

Yet how strangely

different

of

languages.

XXV.

the Byzantine, Plate

XXX.

form to be found in any one which does not

different

is

The mind

the

aspect of these plates!

receives

It

is

like

the Moresque,

exist

in

all

the

an idea expressed

from each the same modified conception, by the

sounds so widely differing.

59

ARABIAN ORNAMENT.
The

twisted cord,

the interlacing of

lines,

the

crossing

>v_
of two squares

triangle arranged within a hexagon, are the starting-points in each

the

the main

the equilateral

differences resulting in

scheme of colouring, which the material employed and the uses to which they were applied,

mainly suggested.
are dados;

whilst

The Arabian and the Koman

those of the

features of the buildings.

60

are

pavements, and of lower tones; the Moresque

brighter hues, on Plate

XXX.,

are

decorations on the constructive

Chapter IX.

Plates 36, 37, 38.

TURKISH ORNAMENT.
I

JOc

PLATE XXXVI.
From

1, 2, 3, 16, 18.

4.

From

the

5, 6, 7, 8, 13.

9, 12, 14, 15.

a Fountain at Pera, Constantinople.

10, 11, 17, 19, 21.

From Tombs at Constantinople.

From the Tomb of Sultan Soliman

tinople.

I.,

From

the Yeni D'jami, or

new mosque,

Constantinople.

Mosque of Sultan Achmet, Constantinople.

20, 22.

Constan-

From

a Fountain at Tophana, Constantinople.

PLATE XXXVII.
1, 2, 6, 7, 8.
3.

From

the Yeni D'jami, Constantinople.

4, 6.

Rosace in the Centre of the Dome of the Mosque of

Soliman I., Constantinople.

Ornaments in Spandrils under the Dome

of Soliman I., Constantinople.

of the

Mosque

PLATE XXXVIII.
Portion of the Decoration of the

The

Dome

of the

Tomb

of Soliman

architecture of the Turks, as seen at Constantinople,

based upon the early Byzantine monuments

cation of the Arabian, bearing about the

same

their

is

I.,

Constantinople.

in all

its

structural

features mainly

system of ornamentation, however,

relation to this style as Elizabethan

is

a modifi-

ornament does

to

Italian Eenaissance.

When

the

art

of one people

natural character and instincts,

is

adopted by another having the same religion, but differing in

we should expect

to

find a deficiency in all

the borrowing people ate inferior to their predecessors.

compared with the art of the Arabs

there

is

And

thus

it is

those qualities in which

with the art of the Turks as

the same difference in the amount of elegance and

refinement in the heart of the two people as exists in their national character.

We

are,

however, inclined to believe that the Turks have rarely themselves practised the arts

but that they have rather

commanded

the

execution than

mosques and public buildings present a mixed

ornaments derived from Arabian and Persian
details,

religion

floral

style.

On

been themselves executants.

the

same

building,

ornaments, we find debased

side

by

Eoman and

All

their

side

with

Renaissance

leading to the belief that these buildings have mostly been executed by artists differing in

from themselves.

In more recent times, the Turks have been the

first

of the

Mohammedan
61

TURKISH ORNAMENT.
races

to

abandon the traditional

of building of their

style

fashions of the day in their architecture

of

European

artists,

the

forefathers,

modern buildings and

but designed in the most approved European

The productions of the Turks

Mohammedan

at

the

and

palaces

to

adopt the prevailing

being not only the work

style.

Great Exhibition of 1851 were the least perfect of

all

the

exhibiting nations.

In Mr. M. Digby Wyatt's admirable record of the state of the Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth
be found

Century, will

specimens of

Turkish

embroidery exhibited

in

1851, and

compared with the many valuable specimens of Indian embroidery represented

readily

be seen,

Turks must be very

62

be

same work.

Turkish.

Elizabethan.

will

the

may

Turkish.

Turkish,

It

in

which

from the simple matter of their embroidery, that the art-instinct

inferior

to

that

of

the

Indians.

The Indian embroidery

is

as

ot

perfect

the
in

TURKISH ORNAMENT.
distribution of form,

and in

all

the principles of ornamentation, as the most elaborate and

important

article of decoration.

The only examples we have

these

are

of perfect

Minor, and

executed in Asia

chiefly

ornamentation are to be

most

probably

thoroughly Arabian, differing from Persian carpets in being

found in Turkey carpets

The designs are

by Turks.

not

much more

but

conventional in the treatment

of foliage.

By

XXXVII.

comparing Plate

The general

perceived.

readily

few minor differences that

The

ornament both in the Arabian and Moresque

surface of an

left plain,

painted

the differences of style will be

is

styles is only

obtained by sinking lines on this surface

rounded,

slightly

or where the surface

the additional pattern upon pattern was obtained by painting.

The Turkish ornament, on the

find

XXXII. and XXXIII.

of the distribution of form are the same, but there are a

be desirable to point out.

it will

and the enrichment of the surface

was

with Plates

principles

in

contrary,

the Arabian MSS., Plate

presents

XXXIV.,

carved

in black

and such ornaments

surface,
lines

on the gold

are

flowers,

we

as

here

carved on the surface, the effect being not nearly so broad as that produced by the sunk feathering of

and Moresque.

the Arabian

Another
Arabian,
This

and

peculiarity,

one which at once

is

the great abuse which was

is

very prominent in

made

distinguishes

piece

Turkish ornament

of

from

of the re-entering curve A A.

the Arabian, but more especially in the Persian styles.

See Plate

XLVI.
With the Moors

it is

This peculiarity was

France and
period so

Italy,

no longer a feature, and appears only exceptionally.

adopted in the Elizabethan ornament, which, through the

It will be seen on reference to Plate

and on the

It

is

of

common.

spiral curve of the

inside

Renaissance

was derived from the East, in imitation of the damascened work which was at that

very

main stem

XXXVI.

that this swell always occurs on

the inside of the

with Elizabethan ornament the swell often occurs indifferently on the

outside.

difficult,

nay, almost impossible, thoroughly to explain by words differences in style of

ornament having such a strong family resemblance as the Persian, Arabian, and Turkish
readily detects them,

much

in the

same way

as a

Roman

statue

is

yet the eye

distingui^ed from a Greek.

The

general principles remaining the same in the Persian, the Arabian, and the Turkish styles of ornament,
there will be found a peculiarity in the proportions of the masses,

more

or less grace in the flowing

mode

of the curves, a fondness for particular directions in the leading lines, and a peculiar

of inter-

The

weaving forms, the general form of the conventional leafage ever remaining the same.

degree of fancy, delicacy, or coarseness, with which these are drawn, will at once distinguish

relative

them

as

the works of the refined and spiritual Persian, the not less refined but reflective Arabian, or the unimaginative Turk.

Plate
tinople

XXXVIII.
it is

is

dome

of the

tomb

the most perfect specimen of Turkish ornament with which

approaches the Arabian.

black

a portion of the decoration of the

One great feature of Turkish ornament

is

in ancient

examples where blue

is

I.

at Constan-

are acquainted, and nearly

the predominance of green and

and, in fact, in the modern decoration of Cairo the same thing

more prominent than

we

of Soliman

is

observed.

Green

chiefly used.

63

is

much

Chapter

X.Plates

39, 40, 41, 41*, 42, 42*, 42f, 43.

MORESQUE ORNAMENT,
FROM THE ALHAMBRA.
K8^

PLATE XXXIX.
INTERLACED ORNAMENTS.
1-5, 16, 18, are Borders

on Mosaic Dados.

Bands enclosing Panels on the

Square Stops in the Bands of the Inscriptions.

13, 15.

Plaster Ornaments, used as upright and horizontal

0-12, 14.

Painted Ornament from the Great Arch in the Hall of

17.

walls.

the Boat.

PLATE XL.
SPANDRILS OF ARCHES
1

2.
3.

From
From
From

Arch of the Court

the centre

of the Lions.

the Entrance to the Divan Hall of the

4.

Two

From

the Entrance to the Court of the Fish-pond from

the Hall of the Boat.

Sisters.

the Entrance to the Court of the Lions from the

Court of the Fish-ponds.

5, C.

From

the Arches of the Hall of Justice.

PLATE XLL
LOZENGE DIAPERS.
from the Hall of the Boat.

5.

Ornament

from the Hall of the Ambassadors.

6.

in Panels of the Courts of the Mosque.

7.

in Panels, Hall of the Abencerrages.

8.

over Arches, entrance to the Court of Lions.

1.

Ornament

in Panels

2.

3.

in Spandril of Arch, entrance to Court of Lions.

4.

in

Doorway of the Divan, Hall

of the

Two Sisters.

in Panels of the Hall of the Ambassadors.

PLATE XLI*.
!),

10.

Ornaments

11.

Soffit of

12.

Ornaments
the

in Panels,

Court of the Mosque.

13.

Ornaments

Two

in Sides of

Windows, Upper

in Spandrils of Arches, Hall of the

Aben-

cerrages.

Great Arch, entrance to Court of Fish-pond.

14, 15.

Story, Hall of

Ornaments

16.

Sisters.

PLATE

in Panels, Hall of the Ambassadors.

in Spandrils of Arches, Hall of the

Two Sisters.

XLII.

SQUARE DIAPERS.
]

Frieze over Columns, Court of the Lions

2.

PLATE
3.

Panelling in Windows, Hall of the Ambassador*.

XLII*.

Panelling of the centre Recess of the Hall of the Ambassadors.

4.

Panelling on the Walls,

Tower

of the Captive.

65

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.

PLATE
5.

Panelling on the Walls, House of Sanchez.

6.

XLIIt.

Part of the Ceiling of the Portico of the Court of the Fish-pond.

PLATE

XLIII.

MOSAICS.
Pilaster, Hall of the Ambassadors.
Dado,
ditto.
Dado, Hall of the Two Sisters.
Pilaster, Hall of the Ambassadors.

1.

2.
3.

4.

Dados, Hall of the

5, 6.

Two

11.

Pilaster, Hall of Justice.

8.

Dado, Hall of the

14.
15.

Sisters.

16.

it is

Alhambra

is at

marvellous system

their

of

grammar

in

are best acquainted, but also because

decoration reached

the very summit of perfection of Moorish

can find no work so fitted to illustrate a

contains a

we

the one of their works with which

the one in which

Dados, Hall of the Ambassadors.

From a Column, Hall of Justice.

Dado in the Baths.
Dado in Divan, Court of the Fish-pond.

ornament of the Moors have been taken exclusively from the Alhambra,

illustrations of the

not only because

is

Window, Hall of the Ambassadors.

Hall of the Ambassadors.
Dado, nail of Justice.
in centre

Pilaster,

O EN A MEN T.

MORESQUE
Our

Dado

12, 13.

Sisters.

7.

Two

9.

10.

Grammar

of

Ornament

culminating point.

as that in

The

We

which every ornament

Every principle which we can derive from the study of the ornamental

itself.

of any other people is not only ever present here, but was by

art

its

the Parthenon of Greek art.

art, as is

it

the

Moors more universally and

truly obeyed.

We
the

find in the

Alhambra the speaking

Greeks, the geometrical

art of the Egyptians, the natural grace

combinations of the

Romans,

the

Byzantines, and

and refinement of
the

Arabs.

The

ornament wanted but one charm, which was the peculiar feature of the Egyptian ornament, symbolism.
This the religion of the Moors forbade

but the want was more than supplied by the inscriptions,

which, addressing themselves to the eye by their outward beauty, at once excited the intellect by the
of deciphering their curious and complex involutions, and delighted the imagination

difficulties

read,

when

by the beauty of the sentiments they expressed and the music of their composition.

" There

To
gave a

is

the artist and those provided with a

life

they repeated, Look

good deeds of the king.

powerful but God, that
glory.

66

He

Arabic inscription from the Alhambra.

no conqueror but God."

and

learn.

mind
To

to estimate the value of the

beauty to which they

the people they proclaimed the might, majesty, and

To the king himself they never ceased declaring

alone was conqueror, and that to

Him

that there was

none

alone was for ever due praise and

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
The

of this wonderful structure were fully aware of the

builders

greatness of their work.

It

is

asserted in the inscriptions on the walls, that this building surpassed all other buildings; that at sight
of

its

wonderful domes

all

other domes vanished and disappeared

grew pale

poetry, that the stars

in their light

through envy of

in the playful exaggeration of their

much beauty

so

and, what

more

is

to

our purpose, they declare that he who should study them with attention would reap the benefit of a

commentary on decoration.

We

have endeavoured to obey the injunctions of the poet, and

attempt here to explain some

will

of the general principles which appear to have guided the Moors in the decoration of the

common

principles which are not theirs alone, but

The

to all the best periods of art.

Alhambra

principles which

are everywhere the same, the forms only differ.

The Moors

1.*

we hold

ever regarded what

to be the first principle in architecture

to

decorate

construction, never to construct decoration: in Moorish architecture not only does the decoration arise

from

naturally

construction,

the

but

the constructive idea

out

carried

is

every

in

detail

the

of

ornamentation of the surface.

We
the

eye,

object
other,
it

and

the intellect,

is

itself

find

the

the absence of

feels

when

When

an

do not stand alone

Mohammedan

races,

when the works

and Moors

ornament

They ever regard the

especially,

come

have constantly regarded

this rule

every ornament arises quietly and naturally from

useful as a vehicle for the beautiful

the same principle was observed in

art declines that true principles

All lines

and therefore never can pretend to true beauty, however harmonious

a useless or superfluous

the surface decorated.

2.

from

affections are satisfied,

to afford this repose,

be in

we never

the

mind
any want^

constructed falsely, appearing to derive or give support without doing either the one or the

it fails

may

" repose which the

believe that true beauty iu architecture results from that

to be disregarded

the best periods of art

all

and
:

it

in this they
is

only

in an age of copying, like the

or,

when

present,

of the past are reproduced without the spirit which animated the originals.

grow out of each other

in gradual

undulations

there

no excrescences

are

nothing

could be removed and leave the design equally good or better.

In a general sense,

we use the word here

and yet there

if

construction

in a

more limited

sense

fatal

to,

could be no excrescences

there

but

the general lines might follow truly the construction,

might be excrescences, such as knobs or

and yet would be

construction,

be properly attended

bosses,

which would not violate the rule of

to beauty of form, if they did not

grow out gradually from the

general lines.

There can be no beauty of form, no perfect proportion or arrangement of

lines,

which does not

produce repose.
All transitions

Thus the

of curved lines from

transition

the curves,

as

at

curved,

would cease to be agreeable

B.

Where two

curves are

or

of curved lines from

if the

break at A were too deep

separated by a

break (as in this case), they must, and with the Moors always
do, run parallel to an imaginary line (c)

be tangential to each other

as

for

straight,

^/

must be gradual.
in

proportion to
11

^/

where the curves would

were either to depart from

this,

in the case at D, the eye, instead of following gradually

down the

curve,

would run outwards, and

repose would be lost.^

* This essay on the general principles of the ornamentation of the Alhambra is partially reprinted from the " Guide Book
Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace," by the Author.
t These transitions were managed most perfectly by the Greeks in all their mouldings, which exhibit this refinement in the
highest degree; so do also the exquisite contours of their vases.
to the

67

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
The general forms were

3.

were then

They

first

cared for

in with ornament, which

filled

was again subdivided and enriched

balance admirably

When

form.

chief

their

success

from

the greatest distinctness

is

Their main

observance.

its

obtained

the detail

seen at a distance, the main lines strike the eye

comes into the composition; on a

we

inspection,

closer

lines

the interstices

for closer

inspection.

and the harmony and beauty of

carried out this principle with the greatest refinement,

ornamentation derive

by general

these were subdivided

see

their

all

and

contrast

divisions

never interferes with the general

as

we approach

nearer, the detail

further detail on the surface of the

still

ornaments themselves.
4.

Harmony

inclined,

form appears to consist in the proper balancing and contrast of the straight, the

of

and the curved.

in colour there can be no perfect composition in which either

As

either

of the three primary colours

is

whether structural or decorative, there can be no perfect composition in which

wanting, so in form,

of the three primary

figures

is

and the

wanting;

and harmony

varieties

composition and

in

design depend on the various predominance and subordination of the three.*

In surface decoration, any arrangement of forms, as at

monotonous,

and

affords

consisting only

A,

towards

the angles, as at B, and you have at once an increased pleasure.

circular

tendency,

at C,

as

and you have now complete harmony.

7K-

O.

O O

o.

oto

leading form or tonic

We may

o O
(r-ii
o. o o
e-^^-^e-a
o QQ

bc

a
eye has

now no longer any want

is

Then add

In this case the square

the angular and

lines giving a

the

is

curved are subor-

dinate.

o.

ate_ak

of straight lines,

but introduce lines which tend to carry the eye

but imperfect pleasure;

produce the same result in adopting an angular

composition, as at

add the

correct

the tendency to

of the

inclined

an(j

we have

still

that could be supplied.

5.

lines

lines as at E,

follow

more

once

circles, as

at F,

perfect harmony, i.e. repose, for the

In the surface decorations of the Moors

out of a parent stem

be traced to

at

angular direction

only the

but unite these by

and we

its

all

lines flow

every ornament, however distant, can

branch and root.

They have the happy

art

of so adapting the ornament to the surface decorated, that the

ornament as often appears

to

have suggested the general form

by

as to have been suggested

it.

foliage flowing out of a parent stem,

as

in

ornament just dotted down, without a reason

modern
for

its

practice,
existence.

In

all

cases

we

find the

and we are never offended,

by the random introduction of an

However

irregular

the space they

There can be no better example of this harmony than the Greek temple, where the straight, the angular, and the curved
most perfect relation to each other. Gothic architecture also offers many illustrations of this principle ever)' tendency of
thus, the capping of the buttress is exactly
lines to run in one direction is immediately counteracted by the angular or the curved
what is required to counteract the upward tendency of the straight lines ; so the gable contrasts admirably with the curved windowhead and its perpendicular mullions.
+ It is to the neglect of this obvious rule that we find so many failures in paper-hangings, carpets, and more especially articles
of costume the lines of papers generally run through the ceiling most disagreeably, because the straight is not corrected by the
angular, or the angular by the curved so of carpets the lines of carpets are constantly running in one direction only, carrying the
eye right through the walls of the apartment. Again, to this we owe all those abominable checks and plaids which constantly
a custom detrimental to the public taste, and gradually lowering the tone of the eye for form of this
disfigure the human form
generation.
If children were born and bred to the sound of hurdy-gurdies grinding out of tune, their ears would no doubt
This, then, is what is certainly taking place
suffer deterioration, and they would lose their sensibility to the harmonious in sound.
are in

with regard to form, and

it

requires the

rising generation to put a stop to

68

it.

most strenuous

efforts to

be

made by

all

who would

take an interest in the welfare of the

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
have to

commence by dividing

they always

fill,

into equal areas, and

it

round these trunk-lines they

in their detail, but invariably return to their parent stem.

fill

They appear

we

nature, as

this

in

work by a process analogous

to

see in the vine-leaf; the object being

sap from the parent stem to the extremities,

it

to

would divide the leaf as near as may be into equal

minor divisions

of the

which

lines,

most minute

filling-in of

So, again,

areas.

again subdivided by intermediate

is

the sap-feeders.

also follow another principle

parent stem, as

the

main stem

follow the same law of equal distribution, even to the

all

The Moors

6.

each area

of

distribute the

evident the

is

that

to

we may

that of radiation from

nature with the human, hand, or

see in

in a chestnut leaf.

We may

how

the example

see in

beautifully all these lines radiate from

each leaf diminishes towards the extremities, and

portion to the
perfection

The

leaf.

so also did the

how each

area

is

the

stem; how

parent

in pro-

Orientals carry out this principle with marvellous

We

Greeks in their honeysuckle ornament.

have

already remarked, in Chapter IV., a peculiarity of Greek ornament, which

appears to follow the principle of the plants of the cactus tribe, where one
leaf grows out of another.

This

is

generally the case with Greek ornament

the acanthus-leaf scrolls are a series of leaves growing out one from the other
in a continuous line, whilst the Arabian

and Moresque ornaments always grow

out of a continuous stem.

All junctions of curved lines with curved, or

7.

each other;

this

also

Oriental practice
are on the

consider to be

always

accordance

in

same principle winch

of every

lations

is

we

leaf;

and

ornamentation, which we

to

call

shall

these laws

find

witli

of curved

with

straight, should

be tangential to

found everywhere in nature, and the

Many

it.

of the

Moorish ornaments

observable in the lines of a feather and in the articu-

is

this

is

due that additional charm found in

the graceful.

what we have before described constitutes

We

a law

of equal

It
its

may be

the

called

all

perfect

melody of form,

as

harmony.

distribution,

radiation

from a

stem,

'parent

continuity of line, and tangential curvature, ever present in natural leaves.

We would

8.

call attention to the

nature of the exquisite curves in use by the Arabs and Moors.

As with proportion, we think that those proportions

most

difficult

agreeable,
it

for

the eye to

detect ;*

so

we think

will

that

shall

to be universally the case, that in the best periods of art all

on curves of the higher order, such as the conic sections;

The
are

all

The

will

be

be least apparent

and we

shall find

mouldings and ornaments were founded

whilst,

when

art

declined,

circles

and

much more dominant.

researches of Mr. Penrose have

shown that the mouldings and curved

lines in the

Parthenon

portions of curves of a very high order, and that segments of circles were very rarely used.

exquisite curves of the

Eoman

able to

it

those compositions of curves will be most

where the mechanical process of describing them

compass-work were

In

be the most beautiful which

architecture,

describe as

mostly parts of

Greek vases are well known, and here we never

on the contrary,

to appreciate

circles,

curves

this refinement is lost;

of

the

find portions of circles.

Eomans were probably

as

little

a high order, and we find, therefore, their mouldings

which could be struck with compasses.

* Ail compositions of squares or of circles will be

monotonous, and afford but little pleasure, because the means whereby they
So we think that compositions distributed in equal lines or divisions will be less beautiful than
those which require a higher mental effort to appreciate them.
are produced are very apparent.

69

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
In the early works of the Gothic period, the tracery would appear to have been
of compass-work than in

offspring

the later period,

much

the

less

which has most appropriately been termed the

Geometrical, from the immoderate use of compass- work.

Here

and

period,

a curve (a)

is

so

much

common

to

Greek Art,

it

Gothic

Mohammedan

delighted in by the

This becomes graceful the more

to the

races.

departs from the curve which

the union of two parts of circles would give.

9.

still

further

charm

is

found in the works of the Arabs

and Moors from their conventional treatment of ornament, which,

forbidden as they were by their creed to represent living forms,

They ever worked

they carried to the highest perfection.

nature worked, but

as

they took her principles, but did not, as we do, attempt to copy her works.

direct transcript;

this, again, they do not stand alone: in every period of faith in art,

by the

ideal

always avoided a

all

In

ornamentation was ennobled

never was the sense of propriety violated by a too faithful representation of nature.

Thus, in Egypt, a lotus carved in stone was never such an one as you might have plucked, but a
conventional representation perfectly in keeping with the architectural
part
to

members of which

it

formed a

was a symbol of the power of the king over countries where the lotus grew, and added poetry

it

what would otherwise have been a rude support.

The

Egyptians were not

colossal statues of the

little

men

carved on a large scale, but architectural

representations of Majesty, in which were symbolised the power of the monarch, and his abiding love
of his people.

In Greek

and

ornaments, no longer symbols, as in Egypt, were

art, the

in their sculpture applied to architecture,

relief very

further conventionalised;

they adopted a conventional treatment both of pose and

that of their isolated works.

different to

In the best periods of Gothic art the

imitation of nature

still

never attempted

is

floral

ornaments are treated conventionally, and a direct

but as art declined, they became

idealised,

less

and more

direct in imitation.

The same
at

first

may be

decline

conventionally

but as the art declined, figures and draperies, through which light was to be

own shades and shadows.

transmitted, had their

In the early illuminated

tints,

with

little

traced in stained glass, where both figures and ornaments were treated

MSS.

the ornaments were conventional, and the illuminations were in

shade and no shadow

flat

whilst in those of a later period highly-finished representations

of natural flowers were used as ornament, casting their shadows on the page.

ON THE COLOURING OF MORESQUE ORNAMENT.

When we
form,

so

examine the system of colouring adopted by the Moors, we

archaic

styles

eternal

in

common

of art,

although we find in
is

find,

with

that as

with colour, they followed certain fixed principles, founded on observations of nature's laws,

and which they held

all

shall

all

with

practised

all

the

nations

during periods of

somewhat of a

and immutable

those

local or

who have
faith,

the

in

and

same true principles prevail;

temporary character, we

same grand ideas embodied

In

practised the arts with success.

yet discern in

different forms,

all

much

and expressed,

that

so

to

speak, in a different language.

10.

The

ancients always used colour to

as a further

70

means

assist

in the development of form, always employed

of bringing out the constructive features of a building.

it

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
Thus, in the Egyptian column, the base of which represented the root

the

shaft, the stalk

buds and flowers of the lotus or papyrus, the several colours were so applied that

the capital, the

the appearance of strength in the column was increased, and the contours of the various lines more
fully developed.

In Gothic architecture,

colour was always employed to assist in developing the forms of the

also,

panel-work and tracery; and this

the present colourless condition of the

idea of elevation

was

by upward-running

art, again,

we always

with the ornaments in relief

without

lost

The

developes

it

accompanied by a modification of colour,

marked by a change

of

colour

sanguine complexion of the

lashes, the

by colour
;

and

altogether

and in more

distinctness,

whose works every

disposed as

so

to assist in

producing

For example, flowers are separated by colour from their leaves and

these again from the earth in which they

is

while

judicious application

its

have in this but followed the guiding inspiration of Nature, in

distinctness of expression.

form

the

form.

its

new forms which would have been

constantly

in

it.

artists

transition of form is

and

edifices,

find the constructive lines of the building well defined

an apparent additional height, length, breadth, or bulk, always results from

idea,

which,

of colour,

spiral lines

adding to the apparent height of the column, also helped to define

In Oriental

form an

difficult to

is

it

In the slender shafts of their lofty

buildings.

further increased

still

an extent of which

effected to

is

thus

lips,

So

grow.
the

colour

of the

the rosy bloom

visibly bringing out the form.

the

also in

We

of
all

human

hair,

the

figure every

the

cheek,

eyes,
all

the

assist

know how much

stalks,

change of

eyelids
in

and

producing

the absence or im-

pairment of these colours, as in sickness, contributes to deprive the features of their proper meaning

and expression.

Had

nature applied but one colour to

as monotonous in aspect.

It

defines the outline of each

is

detaching equally the modest

and the glorious sun, parent of

The

11.

colours

and

blue, red,

all

colour,

green

It
it

is

tions, also,-

it

in

it

springs,

shines.
all

the 'primaries,

cases,

The secondary colours, purple, green, and orange, occur only in the
eye,

formed a point of repose from the more

be found, however, on a minute

of

many

particles of blue colour,

brilliant

colouring

of the ornaments are found

examination, that the colour originally

was blue, which being a metallic pigment, has become green from the

by the presence of the

modelling and

from the grass from which

from the firmament in which

true that, at the present day, the grounds

will always

lily

employed by the Moors on their stucco-work were,

yellow {gold).

Mosaic dados, which, being near the

above.

they would have been indistinct in form as well

all objects,

the boundless variety of her tints that perfects the

effects

This

of time.

which occur everywhere in the crevices

to

be

employed
is

proved

in the restora-

which were made by the Catholic kings, the grounds of the ornaments were repainted

both green and purple.

It

may be remarked

among

that,

and the Moors, the primary colours were almost

entirely,

the Egyptians and the Greeks, the Arabs

if

not exclusively, employed during the

early periods of art; whilst during the decadence, the secondary

colours

became of more importance-

Thus, in Egypt, in Pharaonic temples, we find the primary colours predominating; in the Ptolemaic
temples, the secondary

so

also

on the early Greek temples are found the primary colours, whilst at

Pompeii every variety of shade and tone was employed.

In modern Cairo, and in the East generally, we have green constantly appearing side by side with
red,

where blue would have been used in

This

glass,

is

earlier times.

equally true of the works of the Middle

Ages.

In the early manuscripts and in stained

though other colours were not excluded, the primaries were chiefly used; whilst

we have every variety of shade and

12.

With

the

Moors, as a

tint,

in later times

but rarely used with equal success.

general rule,

the

primary

colours were used

on

the

upper portions
71

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
of objects, the secondary
natural law

with the tertiaries on the earth

buds and

This also appears to be in accordance with a

the lower.

where we generally find the primaries on the

as also in flowers,

and the secondaries on the leaves and

flowers,

The ancients always observed

this rule

stalks.

the best periods of art.

in

In Egypt, however, we do see

the secondary green used in the upper portions of the temples, but this arises from the

occasionally

Egypt were symbolical

that ornaments in

fact,

on

tertiary

the primary blue in the sky, the secondary green in the trees and fields, ending

we have

and

a building,

and

would necessarily be coloured green

it

if

a lotus leaf were used on the upper part of

but the law

true

is

main

in the

the

general

aspect of an Egyptian temple of the Pharaonic period gives the primaries above and the secondaries

below

but in the buildings of the Ptolemaic and

inverted, and the

palm and

lotus-leaf capitals give

Roman

periods more especially, this order

was

a superabundance of green in the upper portions

of the temples.

In Pompeii we find sometimes in the interior of the houses a gradual gradation of colour downwards

from the

from light to dark, ending with black

roof,

convince us that they

felt it

We

as a law.

but this

by no means

so universal

as to

have already shown in Chapter V. that there are

many

is

examples of black immediately under the ceiling.

Although the ornaments which are found in the Alhambra, and in the Court of the Lions

13.

especially, are at the present

day covered with several thin coats of the whitewash which has at various

periods been applied to them, we may be said to have authority

our reproduction

by scaling

places

for

not only

off the

a system, that any one

shown

for the first

was coloured.

may

for the

whole of the colouring of

many

the colours be seen in the interstices of the ornaments in

whitewash, but the colouring of the Alhambra was carried out on so perfect

who

will

make

this a study can, with

on being

almost absolute certainty,

time a piece of Moorish ornament in white, define at once the manner in which

So completely were

all

it

the architectural forms designed with reference to their subsequent

colouring, that the surface alone will

indicate the

colours

they were destined to receive.

Thus, in

using the colours blue, red, and gold, they took care to place them in such positions that they should

be best seen in themselves, and add most to the general

red, the strongest colour of the three, in the depths, where

on the surface

by

blue in the shade, and gold

arrangement alone could their true

this

separated by white

bands, or by the

on

all

value

14.

and

be

they placed

might be softened by shadow, never

obtained.

shadow caused by the

surfaces

The

relief of the

for

several

it

is

evident that
are

colours

ornament

either

and

itself

colours should never be allowed to

this

impinge

other.

In colouring the grounds of the various diapers the blue always occupies the largest area

this

is

in

accordance with the theory of optics, and the experiments which have been made

with the prismatic spectrum.

of 3 yellow, 5

red,

The

and 8 blue

rays of light are said to neutralise each other in the proportions

thus,

put together to produce a harmonious

it

requires

effect,

As

in

the "Alhambra," yellow

the blue

is

still

the others.
yellow,

it

surfaces exposed to light

appears to be an absolute principle required in colouring

upon each

On moulded

effect.

further increased, to

a quantity of blue equal to the red and yellow

and prevent the predominance of any one colour over

is

replaced by gold,

which tends

towards

counteract the tendency of the red to

a reddish-

overpower the

other colours.

INTERLACED PATTERNS.

We

have already suggested, in Chapter IV., the probability that the immense variety of Moorish

ornaments, which are formed by the intersection of equidistant

72

lines,

could be traced through the

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
Greek

principles; Nos.

1-12, 16-18, are constructed

(Diagram No.

fret.

In the

2).

XXXIX.

The ornaments on Plate

Arabian to the

on one principle (Diagram No,

V .**

1),

two

general

No. 14 on the other

diagonally crossed by horizontal and

series the lines are equidistant,

first

on

constructed

are

_MBKBKKHSBBKBa.-

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gKBBBBBBKBBBBBjBI Kg
BBBKBBKaBBKKBBISKBI
MMBBBKSBBireBBBB'r'

;::::;:;;;;;;:
>- ,''-- '*>- -- --*

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l2lllRAaBliR5ii irrai
Diagram. No.

Diagram No.

1;

But by the system on which No. 14

perpendicular lines on each square.

and horizontal lines are equidistant, and

number

of patterns that can

mode

of colouring

2.

constructed, the perpendicular

the ground

or

engraved might be made to change

XXXIX.,

may be

the variety

that

Any one

The

only each alternate square.

cross

be produced by these two systems would appear to be infinite

be seen, on reference to Plate

will

the diagonal lines

is

inns

of

further increased

still

the

surface

lines.

its

aspect,

by bringing into prominence

it

by the

which we

patterns

these

and

have

different chains or other

general masses.

LOZENGE DIAPERS.
The general

of Plate

effect

XLI. and XLI*.

Composed

claimed for the ornament of the Moors.

and
fail

effective

than any others in our

The

to approach.

each leading

its

collection,

the flowing off of the

branch and

root, the division

at once justify the superiority

of but three colours, they are

we have

more harmonious
all

the others

constructive idea whereby

we have contended, the

upon another, the gradual

rests

we think,

and possess a peculiar charm which

various principles for which

of the lines,

curvatures
flower to

line

will,

from curve to curve, the tangential

transitions

ornaments from a parent stem, the tracing of each

and subdivision of general

lines,

will

readily be perceived in

every ornament on the page.

SQUARE DIAPERS.
The ornament No.

1,

on Plate XLIL,

is

a good example

of the principle

we contend

for,

that to

produce repose the lines of a composition should contain in equilibrium the straight, the inclined, and
the curved.

We

have lines running horizontally, perpendicularly, and diagonally, again contrasted by

circles in opposite directions.

run in any direction

eye strikes

is

So that the most perfect repose

it

is

inclined

to

dwell.

ornamental panels and centres, being carried over the

The leading
way

obtained, the tendency of the eye to

immediately corrected by lines giving an opposite tendency, and wherever the

upon the patterns

most cheerful and

is

The blue ground

of the

inscriptions

and

red ground by the blue feathers, produces a

brilliant effect.

lines of the

as the interlaced

ornaments Nos. 2-4, Plates XLII. and XLII*., are produced in the same

ornaments on Plate

XXXIX.

In Nos. 2 and 4

it

will be

seen

how
73

the repose
.

MORESQUE ORNAMENT.
of the pattern

is

obtained by the arrangement of the coloured grounds

by form

additional pattern besides that produced

Pattern No. 6, Plate XLIf.,

is

exists in the

and how,

also,

by

this

means an

from the arrangement of the colours.

a portion of a ceiling, of which there are immense varieties in the

Alhambra, produced by divisions of the

which

results

circle

crossed

by intersecting

copy from the illuminated Koran, Plate

squares.

XXXIV., and

It

is also

is

the same principle

very

common on

the

ceilings of Arabian houses.

The ornament No.

system on which

it

5,

is

Plate

XLII"j\,

viz.

that by

of extreme delicacy,

All the

constructed.

important principles in Moorish design,

general happy result,

is

the

one

pieces

being

and

similar,

is

it

remarkable for the ingenious

illustrates

one

of

the

most

which, more perhaps than any other, contributed to the

repetition

of a

few simple elements the most beautiful and

complicated effects were produced.

However

much

disguised,

the

mosaics, in which their imagination

may

appear, they are

They

all

the principle

all

the

had

full play.

of
,

ornamentation
is

of

the

Moors

Diagram No.

2,

cited on the

is

constructed

evidenced by the great use they made of

However complicated the patterns on Plate XLIII.

very simple when the principle of setting them out

from the intersection of equidistant

greatest variety

of

Their fondness for geometrical forms

geometrically.

arise

whole

lines

other

round fixed centres.

side,

and

in fact, geometrical combinations on this system

is

is

No. 8

once understood.
is

constructed on

the principle which produces the

may be

said to be infinite.

XI. Plates

Chapter

44, 45, 46, 47, 47*, 48.

PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

PLATES XLIV., XLV., XLVI.

Ornaments from Persian MSS.

in the British

Museum.

PLATES XL VII., XL VII*.

From

a Persian Manufacturer's Pattern-Book, South Kensington

PLATE
From

The Mohammedan

a Persian

XLVIII.

MS. South Kensington Museum.

architecture of Persia, if

we may judge from

Flandin and Coste's " Voyages en Perse," does not appear

Arabian buildings

of

general outlines are

Although

Cairo.

much

presenting

us

much

less

and Moresque.

the Arabian

Moors, were free to introduce animal

their decoration led to a

much

less

life,

and

this

is

features, the

mixing up of subjects drawn from

real

even

felt in

it

became of more importance

Persian ornament

is

a mixed style

similar to the Arabian, and probably derived from a

portions of the Alhambra.

The

life

in

With the Arabs and Moors, ornaments

common

in their

combining

origin, with

an attempt at the natural, which sometimes has influenced both the Arabian and Turkish
is

all

The Persians, unlike the Arabs and the

pure style of ornament.

and reached a higher point of elaboration.

the conventional, which

main

Their system of ornamentation also appears

with their inscriptions had to supply every want, and therefore

structures,

have ever reached the perfection of the

pure, and there would appear to be a great want of elegance in

less

pure than

to

the representations published in

considerable grandeur in the

the constructive features as compared with those of Cairo.

to

Museum.

styles,

and

great attention paid to the illuminating of manuscripts

75

PERSIAN ORNAMENT.

Mohammedan

in Persia, which, doubtless, were widely disseminated in

the influence of this mixed

The

style.

countries, would readily

decorations of the houses of Cairo and Damascus, the mosques

and fountains of Constantinople more especially, exhibit

mixed

this

style

groups of

constantly found growing from a vase and enclosed in panels of conventional

are

The ornament

modern India

of

spread

influence of the Persian

also feels this ever-present

book-cover from the India House (Plates LIII.

and LIV.)

an example of

is

natural flowers

Arabian ornament.

mixed

this

outside

the

In a

style.

is

treated in the pure Arabian manner, whilst the inside (Plate LIV.) is quite Persian in character.

The ornaments on Plate XLIV., from illuminated MSS.

mixed character we have
have great

The geometrical

referred to.

in the British

with the Arabian, but are less perfect in distribution.

affinity

Museum,

also the

present

patterns are purely conventional ornament, and

are from backgrounds of pictures, representing tapestry on the walls

Nos. 1-10, on the contrary,

great elegance, and

they possess

the masses are well contrasted with the grounds.

The

patterns

on Plate

were intended for glazed

XLV.

tiles,

are

so

abundantly used by the

and Moresque mosaics, they exhibit a

the arrangement of colour.

and

tertiary colours are

It will

representations

chiefly

marked

inferiority,

be observed

that,

much more dominant than

pavements and dados, and

ot

Persians.

Compared

with

probably

Arabian

the

both in the distribution of form and in

throughout our Persian subjects, the secondary

in the Arabian (Plate

XXXIV.),

Moresque,

or in the

where blue, red, and gold, are the prevailing harmonies, and, as may be seen at a glance, with much
increased effect.

The ornaments on Plate XLVI. have

23-25, are very
variety to

little

XXIV.), a great
and

also in

common ornaments

much

similarity will be found

in all the leadiDg lines

be a manufacturer's pattern-book.

to a geometrical

When

but the masses are

much

less

evenly

at

South Kensington

The designs exhibit much

elegance,

as

showing the extreme limit of this conven-

natural flowers are used as decoration, and subjected

arrangement, they can have neither shade nor shadow, as was the case with the later

of the Mediaeval School

papers and

floral

see Plate

carpets of

LXXIII.
modern

which forms the title-page to the book, as well

without

times.

falling

under that reproach

The ornament

at the

so justly

top of Plate

as the borders throughout, present that

have considered as characteristic of the Persian

the Arabian and the Moresque.

76

style,

and which, we think, renders

it

due

XLVIIL,

mixed character

of pure ornament, arranged in conjunction with the ornamental rendering of natural forms, which

to

but

great simplicity and ingenuity displayed in the conventional rendering of natural flowers.

tional rendering, reached, but not exceeded.

to the floral

is

of the construction of the ornaments,

and XLVII*. are arranged from a very curious Persian book

to

16,17,21,

indeed there

prevail.

Both these Plates and Plate XLVIII. are very valuable,

MSS.

MSS.

Compared with the Arabian MSS. (Plate

are.

the surface decoration of the ornaments themselves

XL VII.
is

greater affinity with the Arabian; Nos. 7,

be found in these, numerous as they

Museum, which appears

and there

the heads of chapters in Persian

However, the same general principles

distributed.

Plates

for

so

much

we

inferior

Chapter XII. Plates 49, 50,

51, 52, 53, 53*, 54, 54*, 55.

INDIAN ORNAMENT,
FROM THE EXHIBITIONS OF

1851

AND

1855.

PLATE XLIX.
Ornaments" from Works in Metal, exhibited

PLATES

L.,

in the Indian Collection in 1851.

LI, LII.

Ornaments from Embroidered and Woven Fabrics, and paintings on Vases, exhibited
at

PLATES

in the Indian Collection in 1851

and now

South Kensington Museum.

LIIL, LIU*., LIV., LIV*.

Specimens of Painted Lacquer-work, from the Collection at the India House.

PLATE LV.
Ornaments from

The

Woven and Embroidered Fabrics and

Exhibition of the

Works

Painted Boxes, exhibited in the Indian Collection at Paris in 1855.

of Industry of all Nations in 1851 was barely opened to the public

ere attention was directed to the gorgeous contributions of India.

Amid

the

presence of so

general disorder everywhere apparent in the

much

unity of design, so

much

skill

application

and judgment in

elegance and refinement in the execution as was observable in

of

all

the other

Mohammedan

contributing countries,

Tunis,

all

its

of Art

to

application, with so

observed an entire absence of any

common

much

Egypt, and Turkey,

nations of Europe

excited

a degree

its fruits.

there was

everywhere to be

principle in the application of Art to manufactures,

from one end to the other of the vast structure there could be found but a
novelty, irrespective of fitness, that all design was based

of

the works, not only of India, but

of attention from artists, manufacturers, and the public, which has not been without

Whilst in the works contributed by the various

manufactures, the

fruitless

upon a system of copying

whilst

struggle

after

and misapplying
77

INDIAN ORNAMENT.
the received forms of beauty of every bygone style of Art, without one single attempt to produce an

Art in harmony with our

in metal, the weaver

forms peculiarly

and the

and

common

all

there

the principles,

all

were to

found

be

in

misapplying the

alternately

isolated

the unity, all the truth, for which

and strengthened with their growth.

United by a

the

collections at

four

we had looked elsewhere

The Tunisian

retaining the

still

common

faith, their art

had necessarily

each according to the influence to which each nation

expression, this expression varying in

subject.

carver in stone, the worker

because we were amongst a people practising an art which had grown up with their

this

civilisation,

was

each

the

each other, and

painter, borrowing from

appropriate to

corners of the transepts

in vain,

present wants and means of production

Moors who created the Alhambra

art of the

exhibiting the same art, but modified by the character of the

the Turk

mixed population over which they

rule

the Indian uniting the severe forms of Arabian art with the graces of Persian refinement.
All the laws of the

we have already observed

of form which

distribution

From

Moresque Ornament are equally to be found in the productions of India.

embroidery, or most
or earthen vessel,
care for the

work

elaborate

we

Arabian and

the highest work of

of the loom, to the constructing and decorating of a child's toy

work the same guiding

find everywhere at

same absence of

general form, the

the

in

principles,

excrescences

all

there

is

always the same

ornament

or superfluous

we

nothing that has been added without purpose, nor that could be removed without disadvantage.

same
is

division

and subdivision of their general

be found

equally to

In the Indian

individual expression.

and have, doubtless, been more subjected

alised,

The ornaments on Plate XLIX. are

and

variety exhibited in 1851,

all

is

not one of principle, but of

ornaments are somewhat more flowing and

style

The

which forms the charms of Moresque ornament,

lines,

the difference which creates the style

here;

find

less

convention-

to direct Persian influence.

from Hookhas, of which there was an immense

chiefly taken

remarkable for great elegance of outline, and for such a judicious

treatment of the surface decoration

ornament

every

that

tended to

further

develope the general

form.
It will be seen that there
tional

such as Nos.

are two kinds of ornament,-

1, 4, 5, 6, 8,

showing how unnecessary

in Nos. 14 and 15, the

the artist
object

it

is for

The ingenious way

fully

is

decorated

is

in

folding

expressed

attempted

is

it

any work of decoration to more than indicate the general idea of

by means

natural flowers

On

shown in No.

is

15, in three positions

back of the leaf in No. 20, are very suggestive.

not destroyed, as

from the surface.

14, 15,

these latter are to us very valuable lessons,

which the full-blown flower

it

simple as

as

would

the Persian,

the comparison shows

own

Plate

how much

elegant.

The unity

The intention

of the

surface

of

of the

by the European method of making the flower

be

as near like a natural flower as possible, with its

pluck

one strictly architectural and conven-

which are treated as diagrams; and the other, such as Nos. 13,

in which a more direct imitation of nature

a flower.

the

light

and shade and shadow, tempting you

XLVIL,

will

be seen a similar treatment

of Persian influence there is in

to

of

this floral style of

India.

In the application of the various ornaments

judgment

always shown.

is

The ornament

on the narrow necks of the Hookhas

are occupied

it.

the different portions

of the objects the greatest

invariably in perfect scale with the position

are the small

it

occupies

pendent flowers, the swelling forms of the base

by the larger patterns; at the lower edge, again, appear ornaments having an upward

tendency, and, at the

out of

is

to

same time, forming a continuous

Whenever narrow flowing borders

with lines flowing in an opposite direction

line

are used, as

round the form to prevent the eye running

in No.

24, they are contrasted by others,

the general repose of the decoration

is

never for a

moment

lost sight of.

In the equal distribution of the surface ornament over the grounds, the Indians exhibit an instinct
78

INDIAN ORNAMENT.
The ornament No.

and perfection of drawing perfectly marvellous.

on the green and red grounds was so perfect, that

copy

woven

when viewed

fabrics,

so as to obtain

economy in the production of our Plates has

been able

not always, therefore,

Kensington

Museum

necessarily limited the

should be visited and studied by

deepest

which the colours are fused

that coloured objects

number

due regard

we have

of printings, and

The Indian

to

collection at

South

any way connected with the production

in

all

viz.

All the examples show the nicest adjustment of the massing

ornament to the colour of the ground

the

in

very remarkable.

is

obtain the proper balance of colour.

impossible to find there a discord.

of the
to

to

from an embroidered

In this collection will be found the most brilliant colours perfectly harmonised

of woven fabrics.
it is

The way

what they always appear to seek,

a neutralised bloom,

at a distance should present

L.,

was beyond the power of a European hand to

it

with the same complete balance of form and colour.

it

on Plate

The exact balance obtained by the gold embroidery

saddle-cloth, excited universal admiration in 1851.

in all their

I,

and

richest

shades,

receiving

every colour or tint, from the palest and most delicate

amount

the

just

of ornament that

it

is

adapted

to

bear.

The following general

1

When

the ground

rules,

which are applicable to

all

woven

fabrics,

may be

gold ornaments are used on a coloured ground, where gold

is

Where

darkest.

the gold

is

is

observed

used in large masses, there

used more thinly, there the ground

and more

lighter

is

delicate.
2.

into it
3.

When

a gold ornament alone

is

used on a coloured ground, the colour of the ground

by ornaments or hatchings worked in the ground-colours on the gold

When

ornaments in one colour are on a ground of contrasting colour, the ornament

from the ground by an edging of a lighter colour, to prevent

4.

When, on

all

carried

is

itself.
is

separated

harshness of contrast.

the contrary, ornaments in a colour are on a gold ground, the ornaments are separated

from the gold ground by an edging of a darker colour,

to prevent the gold

overpowering the ornament.

See No. 10, Plate L.

5.

In other

cases,

where varieties of colour are used on a coloured ground, a general outline of gold,

ornament from the ground, giving a general tone

of silver, or of white or yellow silk, separates the

throughout.

In carpets and low-toned combinations of colour, a black general outline

The

object always appears to be, in the

not harshly, defined

woven

In

used for this purpose.

fabrics especially, that each

ornament should be

that coloured objects viewed at a distance should present a

that each step nearer should exhibit fresh beauties

effects

is

and a

close inspection, the

neutralised

softly,

bloom

means whereby these

are produced.

but carry out

this they do

architecture of the

the same principles

Arabs and Moors.

The

of surface decoration which

spandril of a

we

find

in

the

Moorish arch, and an Indian shawl, are

constructed precisely on the same principles.

The ornament on
of painted decoration.

Plate LIIL, from a book-cover at the India House,

The general

tion of the flowers over the

lines of the

cover,

a very brilliant example

proportions of the leading lines of the pattern, the skilful distribu-

surface, and, notwithstanding the intricacy,

stalks, place it far .before

any European

effort of this

Plate LIV., the ornaments are less conventional in

observed the limit of the treatment of flowers on

specimen of two marked styles:

is

flat

class.

the perfect continuity of the

On

their treatment

surface

the inside of the same

but how charmingly

This book-cover

the outside, Plate LIIL, being after the Arabian

offers

in

itself

is

manner, and the

inside after the Persian.

79

Chapter XIII. Plates 56, 57, 58.

HINDOO ORNAMENT.

> "t

PLATE LVI
Ornaments from a Statue

in Basalt at the

PLATE
Burmese, of Glass.

Burmese Shrine.

3.

Burmese Standard.

C. P.

From Burmese

0. P.

Shrine.

Ornaments from the Copies of the Paintings

on the walls of the Caves at A junta Crystal
Palace.

12.
13.

4.

Burmese

14.

5.

Hindoo.

Gilt

Chest. C. P.

United Service Museum.

6-9.

Hindoo Ornaments.

10.

11.

Burmese. C. P.
Hindoo. U. S. M.

We

have not been

E.

I.

lo.

H.

Burmese. British Museum.

Hindoo. E. I. H.
Hindoo. U. S. M.

Hindoo. E. I. II.
Burmese. C. P.

10-19, 21.

Burmese. U.
Burmese. C. P.

20, 22-25.

26.

able,

with the materials at

illustrations for a fair appreciation of the

C. P.

LVIIT.

East India House.

Crystal Palace.

Burmese.

Burmese, from a Monastery near Prome.

11,

Burmese Shrine.

2, 3.

Royal Asiatic Society.

7-10, 12-17.

C. P.

PLATE
1.

of the

LVII.

Crystal Palace.

1.

2.

4-6.

House

command

in

this

S.

M.

country, to procure

sufficient

nature of Hindoo ornament.

In the works hitherto published on the ancient architecture of India, sufficient attention has not

been directed to the ornamental portions of the buildings to enable us to recognise the true character
of

Hindoo ornament.
In early publications on the art of Egypt

rendered, that
existed so

it

all

the works of scuplture and ornament were so falsely

has taken considerable time for the European public to become persuaded that there

much grace and

refinement in the works of the Egyptians.

The Egyptian remains, however, which have been transported

existing in Egypt,

to

this country, the casts of others

and the more trustworthy representations which have of

placed this beyond doubt, and Egyptian art

is

taking

its

late

been published, have

true place in the estimation of the public.

81

HINDOO ORNAMENT.

When

we

the same thing shall have been done for the ancient architecture of India,

better position than

we

are at present to form an opinion

how

far

to take rank as a really

is entitled

it

shall be in a

whether the Hindoos are only heapers of stones, one over the other, adorned with grotesque

fine art, or

and barbaric sculpture.

Had we

possessed only picturesque views of the Parthenon and the Temples of Balbeck and Palmyra,

we should unhesitatingly have

But the contour of a

single

Eomans were

the

that

said

far

greater

moulding from the Parthenon would

the highest point in

and refinement.

civilisation

Although ornament

most properly an accessory to architecture, and never should be allowed to

is

usurp the place of proper structural features, or to overload or disguise them,

monument; and by

very soul of an architectural

mind which has been devoted

of care and
rule

the ornament alone can

it

we judge

All else in any building

to the work.

and compass, but by the ornament of a building we can best discover how

at the

judgment, and

at once reverse the

who had reached

proclaim loudly that we were viewing the works of a people

than the Greeks.

architects

same time an

No one

can

is

in

all

cases the

truly of the

may be

amount

the result of

far the architect

was

artist.

peruse

the Essay on Hindoo Architecture

by

Ram Raz*

without feeling that a

higher state of architectural perfection has been reached than the works published up to the present

In this work not only are precise rules laid down for the general

time would lead us to believe.

arrangement of structures, but

also

minute directions are given

for

the

divisions

and subdivisions of

each ornament.

One

of the precepts quoted

perfection was cared for:

of symmetry!

"Woe

In building an

Ram

by

them who dwell

to

edifice,

how much

to be cited, as showing

Raz deserves

the general

in a house not built according to the proportions

therefore, let all its parts,

from the basement

to

the roof, be

duly considered."

Among

the directions for the various proportions of columns, bases, and capitals,

a rule for finding

is

the proper diminution of the upper diameter of a column in proportion to the lower.

Ram

Raz

of the column at

the base by as

by the Hindoo architects was

rule adopted

says, that the general

many

parts

to divide the diameter

there were diameters in the whole

as

height of the

column, and that one of these parts was invariably deducted to form the upper diameter.
it

is

apparent that the higher the column the

less

it

will diminish;

and that

the apparent diminution of the diameter in columns of the same proportion

is

this

From which

was done because

always greater according

to the height.

The

best

LVL, from

specimens of Hindoo ornament we have been able to procure are represented in Plate

a statue of Surga, or the Sun, in basalt, at the house of the Asiatic Society,

to belong to a period

between the

fifth

and ninth century

In the sacred books quoted

tectural

members with

by

Ram Raz

lotuses and jewels

The ornaments

are very beautifully

The ornament No. 8 represents the lotus, seen as

executed, and evidently betray Greek influence.

were in plan, with the buds in side-elevation

A.D.

and supposed

it is

are

it

held in the hand of the god.

several

directions

to

ornament the various archi-

which s^em to be the chief types of the decoration on the

mouldings.

The

architectural features of

Definite instructions are quoted

the other.
is

that the

evident

by

consist

Ram

Raz

chiefly of

mouldings heaped up one over

for the varying proportions

whole value of the style will consist in the more

these transitions are effected

is

Hindoo buildings

but, as

we

said before,

we have no opportunity

of judging

the case.
* " History of the Architecture of the

82

Hindoos."

By Earn Raz.

of each,

and

it

or less perfection with which

London, 1834.

how

far this

HINDOO ORNAMENT.
(

find

Plate LVTI.

>n

we have gathered together

the examples of decorative ornament that

all

we could

on the copies of the paintings from the Caves of Ajunta, exhibited by the East India Company

at the

Crystal Palace.

a European hand,

it

is

As these
difficult

such as the ornaments, at

any

style.

that

we

It

is

all

copies,

to say

notwithstanding that they are said to be faithful, are yet by

how

far they

events, there

is

so

may be

little

relied upon.

marked

In the subordinate portions,

character, that

very singular, that in these paintings there should be so

little

they might belong to

ornament

a peculiarity

have observed in several ancient paintings in the possession of the Asiatic Society.

a remarkable absence of ornament even on the dresses of the figures.

83

There

is

Chapter

XIV.Plates

59, 60, 61, 62.

CHINESE ORNAMENT.

PLATE
The Ornaments, Nos.

1,

LIX.

8-17, 24-28, 33-35, 40, 42, are Painted on Porcelain.

Nos. 2-7, 18-23, 29-32, 30-39, 41, are from Paintings.

PLATE LX.
The Ornaments, Nos. 1-12,

16, 19-24, are

Painted on Porcelain.

Nos. 17, 18, from Pictures.

Nos. 13, 22, 23, from

Woven Fabrics.
Wooden Boxes.

Nos. 14, 15, Painted on

PLATE
The Ornaments,

LXI.

Nos. 1-3, are Painted on

Wood.

Nos. 4-6, 9, 10, 12-15, 17, 18, are Painted on Porcelain.

Nos.

7, 8, 11,

No.

10,

Woven

Fabrics.

from a Picture.

PLATE

LXII.

Conventional Renderings of Flowers and Fruit, Painted on Porcelain.

Notwithstanding the high antiquity of the

all

their

civilisation of the

Chinese, and the perfection which

manufacturing processes reached ages before our time, they do not appear to have made

advance in the Fine Arts.

Mr. Fergusson,

his admirable "

in

that " China possesses scarcely anything worthy of the

engineering works, with which the land

is

name

Handbook

much

of Architecture," observes

of Architecture," and that

all their

great

covered, " are wholly devoid of either architectural design

or ornament."

85

;;

CHINESE ORNAMENT.
In their ornamentation, with which the world
articles

the numerous manufactured

familiar through

of every kind which have been imported into this country, they do not appear to have gone

beyond that point which

as

so

is

it is, is

fixed,

and

reached by every people in an early stage of civilisation:

is

subject neither to progression nor retrogression.

is

New

form they are even behind the

Zealander

the happy instinct of harmonising colours.

what we should expect

As

but they

with

all

Eastern nations,

more a faculty than an acquirement,

this is

the arriving at an appreciation of pure form

In the conception of pure

common

possess, in

their art, such

it is

just

a more subtle process, and

is

is

the result of either more highly endowed natural instincts, or of the development of primitive ideas

by

successive generations of artists improving

The general forms of many

outline,

on each other's

efforts.

of the Chinese porcelain vases are remarkable for the beauty of their

but not more so than the rude water-bottles of porous clay which the untutored Arabian

banks of the Nile, assisted only by the instincts of his gentle race

potter fashions daily on the

the pure form of the Chinese vases

is

often destroyed

and

by the addition of grotesque or other unmeaning

ornaments, built up upon the surface, not growing from

it

from which we argue, that they can

possess an appreciation of form, but in a minor degree.

In their decoration, both painted and woven, the Chinese exhibit only just so
belong

to

primitive

combinations form

Their

people.

the basis

most

those

are

efforts

in

much

would

art as

which

geometrical

but even in these, whenever they depart from patterns formed by the

they appear to have

intersection of equal lines

successful

imperfect idea of the

a very

of spaces.

distribution

Their instinct of colour enables them, in some measure, to balance form, but when deprived of this
aid they do not appear to be equally successful.

examples.
are

Patterns

more

1,

13,

8,

The

19, being generated

18,

diapers on Plate

by

LXIX.

will furnish us with

which ensure an equal distribution,

figures

perfect than Nos. 2, 4-7, 41, where the arrangement depends

more upon caprice; on the

other hand, Nos. 28, 33, 35, 49, and the other patterns of this class on the Plate, are examples in

which the instinct of the amount of

balancing colour required would determine the

Chinese share with the Indian this happy power in their woven fabrics
of any fabric

is

The

mass.

and the tone of the ground

always in harmony with the quantity of ornament which

it

has to

The

support.

Chinese are certainly colourists, and are able to balance with equal success both the fullest tones of
colour and the most delicate shades.

They
most

are not only successful in the use of the primaries, but also of the secondaries and tertiaries

successful, perhaps, of all in the

management of the

lighter tones of pure colours,

pale blue,

pale pink, pale green, prevailing.

Of purely ornamental

On

but very few.

ornament

such

as

Plate

we

or conventional

LX.

are

some examples

LXII.

Plate

In

all

although the arrangement

cases,
is

as with us, violate consistency.

landscape and ornament,

not

other than geometric

is

instinct

generally unnatural and

restrains

it

them within the true

unartistic, they never,

so far conventional, that

however we

may

feel

infer that they

close observation

We

of radiation from

which

is

or

limit;

and

by shades and shadows,

it to

must be

close observers of nature.

It

be unartistic,

In their

floral

is

is

we

are

patterns,

their fidelity in copying

the taste to idealise upon this

wanting.

have already referred in the Greek chapter to the peculiarities of the Chinese fretwork.

86

of fruit,

the parent stem, and tangential

could not well be otherwise, as the peculiarity of the Chinese

and we hence

In their printed paper-hangings, the whole treatment, both of figures,

moreover, they always observe the natural laws

:

Chinese possess

always supplied by a representation

is

shocked by an overstepping of the legitimate bounds of decoration.

curvature

the

such as Nos. 17, 18, Plate LXI.

ornament:

however, their

patterns,

They have no flowing conventional

in 1-3, 5, 7, 8.

find in all other styles; the place of this

of natural flowers interwoven with lineal

see

forms,

No.

1,

CHINESE ORNAMENT.
Plate

LXL,

is

continuous meander like the Greek

No. 4, Plate LX., a curious instance of a

On

the whole, Chinese ornament

its characteristic

feature

of a lively imagination

is

oddness,

is

we

fret

Nos.

2-9,

art,

frets

with a curved termination.

a very faithful expression of the nature of this peculiar people

cannot

call

it

capricious, for caprice

but the Chinese are totally unimaginative, and

wanting in the highest grace of

specimens of irregular

18,

the

all

is

the playful wandering

their works are accordingly

ideal.

^
87

XV. Plates

Chapter

63, 64, 65.

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
-*+.

*->-

PLATE

LXIII.

LAPIDARY ORNAMENTATION.
1.

2.

The Aberlemno Cross, formed of a single

Chalmers, -Stone Monuments of Angus.

Slab, 7

ft.

high

Ornament on the base of Stone Cross in the

Churchyard of St. Vigean's, Angusshire. Chalmers.

Ornament

Central portion of Stone Cross in the Cemetery in the

Island of Inchbrayoe, Scotland.

Circular

5.

3.

of Base of Cross near the old

In addition to the various

4.

Ornament on the Cross

Angusshire.

Church

in the

Churchyard

of

Meigle,

Chalmers.
Chalmers.

of Eassie, Angusshire.

ornaments observed on the stones here figured, a peculiar ornament occurs only in many
of the Scotch crosses, which has been called the Spectacle Pattern, consisting of two circles, connected by two curved lines,
which latter are crossed by the oblique stroke of a decorated Z. Its origin and meaning have long puzzled antiquaries the

Note.

only other instance which

Walsh's Essay on

ever

met with

Christian Coins.

of the occurrence of this ornament

upon a Gnostic

is

Gam

engraved in

Manx and Cumberland crosses as well as on that at Penmon, Anglesea a pattern occurs analogous to the
one represented in our Greek Plate VIII. Pigs. 22 and 27.
It was probably borrowed from the Roman tessellated

On some
classical

we have

of the

pavements, on which

it is

occasionally found

it

never occurs in

MSS.

or Metal-work.

PLATE LXIV.
INTERLACED STYLE.
1-6,

10-22, 20, 42-44, are Borders of Interlaced Ribbon

Patterns, copied from Anglo-Saxon and Irish MSS.
in the British

Museum, the Bodleian

and the Libraries of

St. Gall

Library, Oxford,

29.

Interlaced Panel, from the Psalter of St. Augustine in

30.

Ornament formed

the British

and Trinity College,

the Ilarleian Library in the British

Museum.

31.

Terminal Ornament of Initial Letter, formed of inter-

32.

in the Paris Library,

Interlaced

No. 693.

Silvestre.

Ornament, from Irish MS. at

23.

Book

Pranco-Saxon
24.

artists.

Interlaced Triquetral Pattern, from the Coronation Gos-

36.

Circular

pels of the

38 and 40.

Pattern of Angulated Lines, from the Gospels of Lindisfarne.

End of 7th century.

of four conjoined Triquetral, from the

Initial Letters

(Magnified.)

from the Gospels

of Lindisfarne,

with interlaced Patterns, Animals, and angulated

Lines.

28.

Anglo-Saxon Kings.

Ornament

Sacramentarium of Rheims.

HUMPHRIES.
Angulated Ornament, with interlacement, from the Bible
of St. Penis.

Interlaced Ornaments, formed of red dots, from

35.

Silvestre.

27.

Rheims Sacra-

Silvestre.

the Gospels of Lindisfarne.

Humphries.

Terminal Ornament, with Foliage and naturally-drawn

Animals introduced, from the Golden Gospels.

Silv; stre.

(Magnified.)

from the Corona-

Terminal Interlaced Ornament, from the Tironian Psalter

in the Paris Library.

25.

Initial Letter,

of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, a production of

from the Franco-Saxon

9th century.

Angularly Interlaced Ornament, from the Golden Gospels.

34 and 37.

Terminal Ornament of
tion

33.

St. Gall.

Keilkr.

Initial Letter,

Quatrefoil Interlaced Ornament, from the

mentarium.

laced and spiral lines, from the copy of the Gospels

9.

Part of Gigantic

Bible of St. Denis.

Humphries.
8.

from the

St. Gregory, in the

Library of Rheims. 9th or 10th century. Silvestre.

Interlaced Ribbon Patterns, from the Golden Gospels

in

Oth or 7th century.

of four Triquetrse conjoined,

Franco-Saxon Sacramentarium of

Dublin.
0, 7.

Museum.

39.

9th century.

End

of 7th century.

(Magnified.)

Terminal Ornament, with Dogs'-heads, from the FrancoSaxon Sacramentarium of Rheims. Silvestre.

41 and 45.

Quadrangular Interlaced Ornaments, from the

Missal of Leofric in the Bodleian Library.

89

CELTIC ORNAMENT.

PLATE LXV.
SPIRAL, DIAGONAL, ZOOMOEPHIC,
Initial Letter,

1.

from the Gospels

7th century.
2.

Ornament

3.

Interlaced

British

of angulated Lines,

British

(Magnified.)

Animals,

from the Book of Kells, in the

of

Lambeth

Gospels of

Terminal Border of Interlaced Animals, from Gospels of

Panels of Interlaced Beasts and Birds, from Irish
Gospels at St. Gall. 8th or 9th century.

10.

Psalter of Ricemarchus, Trinity College, Dublin.

One Quarter

18

century.

9th cen-

(Magnified.)

7.

Interlaced Ornament, from ditto.

8.

Interlaced Animals.

Gospels of

Mac Durnan.

(Magni-

Ditto,

from the Arundel

20

Ditto,

from the Gospels of Canute,

Humphries.

End

Diagonal Patterns.

13.

10,

Gospels of

Mac Durnan.

Ditto,

21.

(Magnified.)

Psalter, No. 166, British

(Magni-

10th

Museum.

Museum.

in British

of 10th century.

from the Benedictional of yEthelgar.

Terminal Ornament of Spiral Pattern, with Birds.

Diagonal Patterns, from Gospels of Lindisfarne.

11.

Page

Silvesthe.

1!).

fied.)

9.

of Frame, or Border, of an Illuminated

of the Benedictional of yEthelgar at Rouen.

(Magnified.)

tury.

End

of 11th century.

(Magnified.)

Diagonal Patterns, from Irish MSS. at St. Gall.

G.

Q, formed of an elongated Angulated Animal, from

Initial

the Library

from the Gospels of Lindisfarne.

(Magnified.)

15 and 17.

(Magnified.)

Mac Duman, in

9th century.

Palace.

Spiral Patterns,

14.

Lindisfarne.

from the Gregorian Gospels.

Museum.

Diagonal Pattern.

5 and 12.

of

(Magnified.)

Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

4.

End

of Lindisfarne.

Museum.

AND LATEE ANGLO-SAXON OENAMENTS.

Part

of large Initial Letter in the Gospels of Lindisfarne.

fied.)

(Real size.)

Humphries.

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
The

genius of the inhabitants of the British Islands has, in

of a class or style singularly at variance with

been indicated by productions

those of the rest of the world.

characteristics at the present time, those of our forefathers,

In the Fine Arts, our immense Druidical temples are

so.

all ages,

Peculiar as

are

our

from the remotest ages, have been equally

still

the wonder of the beholder

and

in

succeeding ages gigantic stone crosses, sometimes thirty feet high, most elaborately carved and ornamented
with

devices of a style

unlike those of other nations, exhibited the old genius for lapidary erections

under a modified form inspired by a new

The

earliest

monuments and

faith.

of ornamental

relics

art

which we possess (and they are

numerous than the generality of persons would conceive) are

introduction of Christianity into

these

islands,* that

we

so intimately connected

are compelled to refer

endeavours to unravel the history and peculiarities of Celtic Art;

scarcely attempted
interest equal,

to

be

performed,

although possessing, from

its

to

far

more

with the early

the latter in

our

a task which has hitherto been

extreme nationality, a degree of

one would have thought, to that connected with the history of ornamental art

in

other

countries.
1.

Historical

Evidence.

Without

attempting to reconcile the various statements which have

been made by historians as to the precise manner of the introduction of religion into Britain, we
have the most ample evidence, not only that

it

had been long established previous

to

the arrival of

* The Pagan Celtic remains at Gavr' Innis, in Brittany, New Grange, in Ireland, and, I believe, one Druiilical monument near
Harlech, in Wales, exhibit a very rude attempt at ornementation, chiefly consisting of incised spiral or circular and angulated lines.

90

CELTIC ORXAMENT.
St.

Augustine ia A.D. 596, but that in several important points of doctrine the old British

differed from the missionary sent by St. Gregory the Great.

out by

existing

still

Scriptures,

and two of these are

St.

preserved

still

one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the other

They

each Gospel scarcely differing from the ordinary writing of the text, the

two being merely written

in

the

line or

first

Gospel preceded by a portrait of the Evangelist (one only

in red ink, each

remains, namely, that of St. Luke), seated under

still

Holy Gospels, written

are copies of the

rounded characters common in that country, and destitute of ornament

Italy, in the large uncial or

letter of

religionists

most completely borne

is

Gregory sent into England various copies of the Holy

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

in the Library of

initial

evidences.

artistic

This statement

round-headed arch, supported upon marble

columns, and ornamented with foliage arranged in a classical manner.

the most ancient Italian

All

manuscripts are entirely destitute of ornamental elaboration.

The

case

these islands

the most

totally different with

is

manuscripts known to have been written in

ancient

and as these are the chief supports of our theory of the independent origin of Celtic

ornament, and

moreover, we are constantly opposed by doubts as to the great age which has been

as,

assigned to these precious documents,

their venerable antiquity.

we must enter

true, indeed, that

It is

into

little

palaeographical

none of them are dated

has inserted his name, which the early annals have enabled us to identify,

the

Dimma Mac

or Gospels of St.

Book

of

Armagh, have been

Nathi

exists, in

to periods

from the

latter

observes,

"these

seventh century up to the

Charters are generally written in

more

compare, for

century, and

Catal. of

MSS.

p.

xxiv.)

the

MS.

Vespasian,

King

free

third

species

by the

afforded

MSS.

of evidence

fact of

many

manner than the

expeditious

known under the name

1,

generally

King

at

or

St.

Chad

great antiquity of our very

them being

still

preserved

were carried by the Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries.

only cite the case of St. Gall, an Irishman, whose

or, again,

Boniface

The
is

in various

great

places

number

abroad, whither

is

they

of monastic establishments
;

and we need

to

the monastic

matter of historical record

name has not only been given

it

is

situated.

many

The
of the

and include a number of fragments of elaborately-ornamented volumes

long venerated as relics of the founder.
is

still

preserved at Wurtzburgh, where

it

In like manner, the Book

preserved at Fulda with religious care

(an Irishman), the Apostle of Franconia, was discovered

still

the

without being

monastic books of this establishment, now transferred to the public library, comprise

of the Gospels of St.

of the

ancient national manuscripts

establishment which he founded, but even to the Canton of Switzerland in which

executed in these islands, and

to

670 (Casley's

A.D.

Reculver, a.d. 679

Mac Eegol

impossible

quite

is

it

of the East Saxons,

of Kent, dated

founded by our countrymen in different parts of Europe

oldest manuscripts in Europe,

Astle

as

are coeval with the Charters.

of the

of

and

and although,

observable between Charters and books

is

Charter of yEthelbald, dated A.D. 769, with the Gospels of

perfectly convinced that the

and

other libraries,

Now

Charters of Sebbi

of Lotharius

Regol

each other."

they authenticate

example, the Cottonian

Psalter of St. Augustine, with

Museum and

Norman Conquest

books written in the same ages, yet a similarity of character

the same

Mac

not later than the ninth century.

of contemporary Anglo-Saxon Charters existing in the British

in

to fix the period

proof of the early date of the volumes, in the unrivalled

collection

written

but in some the scribe

and thus

Bodleian Gospels, written by

the

satisfactorily assigned

Another equally satisfactory evidence

half of the

in proof of

In this manner the autograph Gospels of St. Columba; the Leabhar

of the execution of the volume.

Dhimma,

detail

is

in his tomb,

and that of

St.

Kilian

stained with his blood, and

is

annually exhibited on the altar of the cathedral on the

anniversary of his martyrdom.

Now,
to the

all

these manuscripts, thus

proved to have been written in these islands at a period prior

end of the ninth century, exhibit peculiarities of ornamentation

totally

at variance with those

91

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
of all other

save only in

countries,

places

may have

where the Irish or Anglo-Saxon missionaries

introduced their own, or have modified the already existing

And

styles.

we may

here

ohserve that,

although our arguments are chiefly derived from the earl}7 manuscripts, the results are equally applicable
to

ornamental metal

the contemporary

or

stone- work

of which

the designs

many

are in

cases

so

entirely the counterparts of those of the manuscripts, as to lead to the conclusion that the designers

of the one class of ornaments supplied also the designs for the other.

the case in

some of the great stone crosses, that-

So completely, indeed,

is

this

we might almost fancy we were examining one

of

the pages of an illuminated volume with a magnifying glass.

Peculiarities of Celtic Ornament.

2.

the entire absence of foliage or other

in

first,

The

acanthus being entirely ignored

and elaboration,

of

the

chief peculiarities of the Celtic ornamentation consist,

phyllomorphic or vegetable ornament,

and secondly, in the extreme

various

patterns,

classical

and excessive minuteness

intricacy,

mostly geometrical, consisting

the

ribbon-work,

of interlaced

diagonal or spiral lines, and strange, monstrous animals and birds, with long top-knots, tongues, and
tails,

intertwining in almost endless knots.

The most sumptuous

Lindisfarne and

St.

Chad, and some of the manuscripts at

the most elaborate patterns

of these facing the

compartments, the whole

in

commencement

of each

of the four

work* must have been very great; the

mass of

Book

cf the manuscripts, such for instance as the

St.

Gall,

Gospels of

of Kells, the

have entire pages covered with

forming beautiful

cruciform designs, one

The labour employed

Gospels.

such a

in

care infinite, since the most scrutinizing examination

with a magnifying glass will not detect an error in the truth of the lines, or the regularity of the

and

interlacing;

with

yet,

harmonious

minuteness, the most

this

all

effect

of colouring

lias

been

produced.

Contrary to the older plan of commencing a manuscript with a letter in noways or scarcely differing

from the remainder of the

text, the

pages was ornamented

an

size,

in

commencement

equally elaborate

of each Gospel opposite to these grand tessellated

The

manner.

letter

initial

was

often

of

gigantic

occupying the greater part of the page, which was completed by a few of the following letters

or words,

each letter generally averaging about an inch

we

those of the cruciform designs,

find all

in

In these

height.

initial

pages,

as

in

the various styles of ornament employed in more or less

detail.

The most

universal and singularly diversified ornament employed

manuscripts, consists of one or more

convolutions,

and

numerous examples of

this

in

their

either

of

patterns

of

ornament

these designs, an

as,

for

idea

the

instance, in

ribbons run parallel

to

By

in varied styles.

pavements, but rarely in

extremely

our

common

are introduced occurs in Plate

and LXIV. exhibit

colouring the ribbons with different tints,

effects are

Of the

produced.

curious intricacy

and angulated

LXIV.

some of these
Sometimes two

upper compartment in Fig. 5 of Plate LXIII.

early

in

in metal, stone, or

easily be obtained by following the ribbon in

The simplest modification

in the angles of Fig. 27, Plate

is

may

dilated

is

artificers

Plates LXIII.

geometrical.

each other, but are interlaced

allowable the ribbon

Plate LXIV., Fig. 11.

which

symmetrical and

upon a coloured or black ground, many charming

some

When

often

by

narrow ribbons interlaced and knotted, often excessively intricate

to

alternately, as
fill

up

in

Fig.

12

of this pattern of course

Another simple form

MSS. and metal-work

LXIV., Fig.

36.

Plate

LXIV.

particular spaces in the design, as in

is

the double oval, seen

This occurs in Greek and Syriac MSS., in

MSS.

of

is

that

known

Roman
as

tessellated

the triquetra,

an instance in which four of these

triquetral,

Figures 30 and 35 in the same Plate are modifications

of this pattern.
* In one of these pages in the Gospels of
and twenty of the most fantastic animals.

92

St.

Chad, which we have taken the trouble to copy, there are not fewer than one hundred

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
Another very distinguishing ornament profusely introduced into early work of
monstrous animals, birds, lizards, and

most

manner

fantastic

figure

so as to

the

up a required

fill

thus introduced

also

is

in

on one

as

on one of the bosses of the Duke of Devonshire's Lismore crozier are several such

and

In

groups.

fantastic

human

intertwining together

drawn

of the Monasterboice Cross in the Crystal Palace, where are four figures thus singularly

of the panels
intertwined,

long interlacing ribbons,

into

often symmetrical, but often irregular, being

but of rare occurrence, the

Occasionally,

space.

snakes of various kinds, generally extravagantly elongated, with

and tongues, extended

top-knots,

tails,

kind consists of

all

LXIII.

Plate

groups

are

of animals thus

The most

intertwined.

intricate

examples are the groups of eight dogs (Plate LXV., Fig. 17) and eight birds (Plate LXV., Fig. 15)

from one of the

Gall MSS., and the most elegant

St.

of the interlaced ribbons touch each

'Quid

is

Fig.

16)

and much more

far less geometrical

no other than the

is

from the Psalter of Ricemarchus, Bishop of

Gloriaris,'

it

In the later Irish and Welsh MSS. the edges

and the designs are

The strange design (Plate LXV.,

confused.

that

other,

LXV., Fig. 8)

the marginal ornament (Plate

is

from the Gospels of Mac Durnan, at Lambeth Palace.

initial

It will be seen

David's A.D. 1088.

St.

Psalm

of the

intended for a monstrous animal, with one top-knot extended in front over

its

nose, and a

second forming an extraordinary whorl above the head, the neck with a row of pearls, the body long

and angulated, terminated by two contorted

be

and grim claws, and a knotted

legs

Very

indeed, for the animal to unravel.

difficult,

which

tail,

it

would

often, also, the heads alone of birds or beasts

form the terminal ornament of a pattern, of which various examples occur in Plate LXIV., the gaping

mouth and long tongue forming a not ungraceful

The most
spiral

characteristic,

more

or

spiral

may

ingeniously this pattern

Fig.

be

22,

which

It

of the

design

skilled

in

is,

12, are instances of this

In the MSS., and

in Plate LXIII., Fig. 1,

also

work, found
its

pattern

occur in

several

in

different

that this

circular
;

at

and never

from the irregularity

was not drawn by an

of bronze

we

It is

more

unknown

of

artist

is

Instances in metaluse,

about a foot in

enamelled plates of early Anglo-Saxon

rarely found in stone-work, the only instance

are aware, being on the font of Deerhurst Church.

ornament does not appear in MSS. executed in England

that this

Bearing

after the ninth century,

the oldest ornamented font in this country.

is

composed of diagonal

lines,

never interlacing, but generally

equal intervals apart, forming a series of Chinese-like patterns,* and which, as the letter

reversed, seems

great modification,
elaborate

objects

also in small, circular,

parts of England.

Another equally characteristic pattern

Z, or

the finer

forming a long, curved design, like an ancient Irish trumpet, the mouth of which

lines

we may conclude
arranged

how

This pattern has also been called the trumpet pattern, from the spaces between

occurrence in England, as far as

mind

all

genuine Celtic patterns, but indicates a certain amount either of carelessness or of

the

this

all

spiral lines always take the direction of a C,

represented by the small pointed oval placed transversely at the broad end.

work of

of coils

ornament,

Plate LXIII., Fig. 3, shows

of the real size.

that the central ornament

diameter, occasionally found in Ireland

of

off to the centres

from the circumstance, but

itself,

any two of the

in

is

5,

1,

and

therefore, evident, not only

extraneous influence.

is

produced by two or three

that

is

converted into the diagonal pattern.

and more ancient metal and stone-work, these

that of an S.

patterns,

Celtic

Plate LXV., Figs.

lines.

magnified; and

less

the

all

from a fixed point, their opposite extremities going

starting

lines

formed by other

however, of

finish.

MSS.

as

it

to

be the primary element,

may be

seen

in

Plate

LXV.,

may be termed
Figs.

4,

9,

purely geometrical and regular, but in rude work

design, as in Plate LXIII., Figs.

and

in

10,
it

pattern.
11,

and

It is capable of
13.

In the more

degenerates into an irregular

3.

* Several of the patterns given in the upper pait ef the Chinese Plate

and metal-work, as well as

6,

the

LIX. occur with scarcely any modification

our MSS.

B B

93

in our stone

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
Another very simple ornament occasionally used in our MSS. consists of a
placed at equal

Plate

LXV., Fig.

from the

last

is,

See Plate LXIV., Figs. 28 and 36

a series of steps.

ornament we

more ornamental

indeed, the simplest of

shall notice is,

and

details,

MSS.

Irish

Sometimes,

one

are, indeed,

all,

initial letters, as well as of

the

they were even formed into patterns, as in Plate LXIV., Figs. 34

also,

Origin of Celtic Ornament.

as they appear in their purest

The

various

We

and

Ireland

that

of the

local

the

latter

styles

in those parts

entering

into the

materially assist in determining this

identity

employed

occurs in
all

their

and

question.

at the

and

It

is

satisfactorily

known

end of the seventh century.

predecessors.

least

is

England and Wales, would, we think,

our argument that Venerable Bede

sufficient for

The famous Gospels

But

it is

Museum,

of Lindisfarne, or

disciples of the Irish St.

they

as

Columba,

so that it is not at all surprising

and no such remains

exist in

their Irish

the north of

Germany

One

class

all

of writers, anxious

Irish Churches, has referred

by the

these peculiarities of ornament were derived

them

to a

overthrow the independence of the

to

Roman

origin,

and has even gone

suppose that some of the grand stand crosses of Ireland were executed in Italy.

MS.

by

support to the idea that the ornamentation of Anglo-Saxon MSS., &c, was of

early Christians of these islands.

a single Italian

of St. Cuthbert,

were when they arrived in England, had certainly no

Various have been the conjectures whence

and

Book

an unquestionable proof of such employ-

is

a Teutonic origin.

ancient British

like

equally true that Lindisfarne was an establishment founded

ornamental design of their own

would give the

was in

examination

careful

scholars should have adopted the styles of ornamentation used

The Saxons, pagans

peculiarities of

instance

it

that this volume was executed by Anglo-Saxon artists at Lindisfarne

by the monks of Iona, who were the

that their Anglo-Saxon

first

true, indeed, that the Anglo-Saxons, as well as the Irish,

is

these styles of ornamentation.

it

the

in

Churches were identical in their peculiarities, and the

Irish

monuments.

It

preserved in the Cottonian Library in the British

ment

Irish

Anglo-Saxon MSS., and of the Roman, Romano-British, and early

Christian inscribed and sculptured stones of the western parts of

informs us, that the British

and

name.

question, whether the

of ornament from the early British Christians, or whether

early

where the old Celtic races longest

were originated, and thence dispersed over England.

of the

origin

the tenth or eleventh centuries

fifth to

to give the Celtic as their generic

purposely, indeed, avoid

received their letters

of ornament described above were practised

styles

and most elaborate forms

we have not hesitated

prevailed,

so far as

As, however, not

older than the ninth century, nor a single piece of Italian stone sculpture having

the slightest resemblance to

An

consisting merely of red dots or

of the chief characteristics distinguishing Anglo-Saxon

throughout Great Britain and Ireland from the fourth or

to

and

37.
3.

as

however, by no means characteristic of Celtic ornament occurring elsewhere

These were in great use as marginal ornaments of the great

points.

and

This

2.

angulated lines,

series of

earliest period.

The

and

apart, forming

distances

those

of this

country, can

be produced, we at once deny the assertion.

examination of the magnificent work upon the Catacombs of Rome, lately published by the French

Government, in which

all

the inscriptions

and mural drawings executed by the early Christians are

elaborately represented, will fully prove that the early Christian art

no share in developing that of these

islands.

It is true that the

and ornamentation of Rome had

grand

tessellated pages of the

MSS.

above described bear a certain general resemblance to the tessellated pavement of the Romans, and had
they been found only in Anglo-Saxon
in various parts

of England,

MSS. we might have

and which

in the seventh

conjectured that such pavements existing

and eighth centuries must

uncovered, were the originals from which the illuminator of the

the Irish MSS., and in the

94

MSS. which

MSS. had taken

still

have remained

his idea

are clearly traceable to Irish influence, that

we

but

it

is

in

find these pages

CELTIC ORNAMENT.

Roman

most elaborately ornamented, and we need hardly say that there are no
in Ireland, the
It

may, again, be

from the

most

Romans never having

Roman

visited that island.

common

said that the interlaced ribbon patterns, so

tessellated

inartificial character,

seen, for instance, in Plate

pavements

tessellated

and mosaic work

but in the

MSS., &c, were derived

in the

was of the simplest and

latter the interlacing

bearing no resemblance to such elaborate, interlaced knotwork as

LXIII.

In

in the

fact,

Roman

to be

is

remains the ribbons are simply alternately

laid over each other, whilst in the Celtic designs they are knotted.

Another
perpetually
It

is

class of writers insists

accustomed

certainly true

inscriptions

upon

to

hear called Runic

that in the

crosses,

upon the Scandinavian origin

Isle

of

knots,

Man,

and connected with Scandinavian

however, the Scandinavian nations were Christianised by missionaries from

turies

more recent than the

still

oldest

existing in

and

Denmark and Norway

lately published,* is sufficient to disprove such

given in

representations

hesitation in asserting

it

As,

our

these islands, and as

moreover, they are several cen-

comparison of our plates with

very excellent series of illustrations of the ancient Scandinavian

of the 460

Runic

find

described.

our MSS., there can be no grounds for asserting that the

finest of

ornaments of the MSS. are Scandinavian.

as,

still

superstitions.

and Bewcastle, we

as well as at Lancaster

ornamented with many of the peculiar ornaments above

crosses are quite unlike those

we are

of these ornaments, which

an

assertion.

relics

those

in the

contained in the

Copenhagen Museum,

Only one figure (No. 398) in the whole

that work exhibits the patterns of our MSS., and

That the Scandinavian

to be a reliquary of Irish work.

artists

we have no

adopted Celtic

ornamentation, especially such as was practised about the end of the tenth or eleventh centuries,
evident

from the similarity between their carved wooden churches (illustrated in detail by M. Dahl)

Museum

and Irish metal-work of the same period, such as the Cross of Cong in the
Irish

is

Academy

in Dublin.

Not only the Scandinavian, but

magne and

of the Royal

his successors,

also the earlier

together with

those

of

and more polished

artists of the school of Charle-

Lombardy, adopted many of the peculiar

ornaments in their magnificently illuminated MSS.

Celtic

They, however, interspersed with them classical

ornaments, introducing the acanthus and foliage, giving a gracefulness to their pages which we look
for in vain in the elaborate,

in Plate

LXIV.,

of Frankish art

is

but often absolutely painfully intricate, work of our

copied from the Golden Gospels in the British

of the ninth century, in which

Anglo-Saxon and Irish patterns were, however,

size)

in

Such

is

Museum,

artists.

we perceive such a combination

so closely copied (always,

Our

Fig. 25,

a magnificent production

The

of ornament.

however, of a

much

some of the grand Frankish MSS. that the term Franco-Saxon has been applied

larger

them.

to

the case with the Bible of St. Denis in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, of which forty pages

are preserved in the Library of the British

of the real

Museum.

Plate LXIV.,

fig.

31,

is

MS.

copied from this

size.

It remains to inquire, whether

Byzantium and the East may not have afforded the ideas which

the early Celtic Christian artists developed in the retirement of their monasteries into the elaborate
patterns which
before the
seat
Irish

we have been examining.

The

fact that

this

style

of

ornament was

fully

developed

end of the seventh century, taking in connexion with that of Byzantium having been the

of Art from the

middle of the- fourth century,

will

suggest the possibility that the British or

missionaries (who were constantly travelling to the Holy

obtained the ideas or principles of some of these ornaments.

* In the division of this

Danish work devoted

to the

Bronze age we

Land and Egypt) might have

To prove

find various

there

this assertion will, indeed,

examples of

spiral

be

ornaments on metal-work, but

always arranged in the CQ manner,' and with but very few inartificial combinations. In the second division of the Iron perio
find various examples of fantastical intertwined animals, also represented on metal-work.
Nowhere, however, do the interlao
patterns, or the diagonal Z-like patterns, or the trumpet-like spiral patterns, occur.

95

we

<1

also

ribbon

CELTIC ORNAMENT.
because so

difficult,

Certain, however,
exhibits no

it

little
is

analogy with our Celtic patterns

monuments

in his Iconographie de

Art previous to the seventh or eighth century.

real Byzantine

that the ornamentation of

the latter and the early

M. Didron,

known of

is

of

Sophia, so elaborately illustrated by H. Salzenberg,

much

Mount

Dieu.

St.

resemblance

greater

however, between

exists,

Athos, representations of some of which are given by

our Egyptian Plate X., Figs. 10, 13-16, 18-23, and

In

Plate XI., Figs. 1,4, 6, and 7, will

be perceived patterns formed of spiral lines or ropes, which

have suggested

of our

pattern

the spiral

ornaments

Celtic

majority of these Egyptian examples the spiral line

however,

enough

is

it

it

arranged like an

is

be perceived that in the

will

In Plate X., Fig.

S.

11,

arranged C-wise, and thus to a greater degree agrees with our patterns, although wide

detail

in

but

may

for

The

them.

elaborate

common

interlacements, so

in

Moresque

ornamentation,

agree to a certain extent with the ornaments of Sclavonic, Ethiopic, and Syriac MSS., numerous examples
of which are given by Silvestre, and in our Palaiographia Sacra Pictoria

had their origin in Byzantium or Mount Athos, we might

worked out, however, in a

We

different

manner by the

lie

and

as all these, probably,

ed to infer a similar origin in the idea,

and Anglo-Saxon

Irish

have thus endeavoured to prove that, even supposing the early

artists.

might

artists of these islands

have obtained the germ of their peculiar styles of ornament from some other source than their own
national genius, they had, between the

period of the introduction of Christianity and

the

beginning

of the eighth century, formed several very distinct systems of ornamentation, perfectly unlike in their

developed state to those of any other country

owing

to the breaking

and

this,

when the whole

too, at a period

up of the great Roman empire, was involved

of Europe,

in almost complete darkness as

regards artistic productions.

4.

Later Anglo-Saxon Ornament.

composed of gold bars

by some of the Anglo-Saxon

moreover, decorated

being,

appear that

it

for the decoration of

artists,

being introduced into

titles

These frames were ornamented with foliage and buds

and stems were interwoven together,

ideas, the leaves

with elegant

circles,

was in the south of England that

squares,

this style of

as

fully illustrated in

the Archaiologia,

lozenges,

or

quatrefoils.

ornament was most

Of these the Benedictional belonging

library of Rouen, are close rivals of

Cambridge.

The Gospels

us the Figure 20 in Plate

There can be
foliage

little

of

it

is
;

the most magnificent

to the

It

the

would

fully elaborated,

St.

Duke

two others, however, now

iEthelwold, in
of Devonshire,
in

the public

as is also a copy of the Gospels in the library of Trinity College,

King Canute

in the British

Museum

is

another example, which has afforded

LXV.

doubt that the grand MSS. of the Frankish schools of Charlemagne, in which

was introduced, were the originals whence our

the introduction of foliage

among

later

Anglo-Saxon

artists

adopted the idea

their ornaments.
J. 0.

96

but, true to the

well as with the gold bars

the grandest examples having been executed at Winchester, in the Monastery of

the latter half of the tenth century.

equally

It consisted of a frame-like design,

surrounding the page, the miniatures or

entirely

the open space in the centre.

angles

the middle of the tenth century another and

MSS., and equally unlike that of any other country.

their finest

interlaced

employed

of ornament was

striking style

About

WESTWOOD.

of

CELTIC ORNAMENT.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES.
Ledwick.

Antiquities of Ireland

Spalding Club.

4tO.

Also, Rertim

2 vols. 4to. 1818.

O'Conor. Biblioth. Stoivensis.
Hibernicarum Scriptores veteres. 4 vols. 4to.
Petrie.

Essay on the Round Towers of Ireland.

Betham.

Irish Antiquarian Researches.

O'Neill.

Illustrations of the Crosses of Ireland.

Gage,

J.

Sculptured Stones of Scotland.

loyia, vol. xxiv.

Large 8vo.

Ellis, Sir H.

Account ofCadmoris Paraphrase of Scripture History,

in Archaioloyia, vol. xxiv.

2 vols. 8vo.

Goodwin, James, B.D.

Folio, in Parts.

Evanyelia Auyustini Gregoriana, in Trans.

Cambridye Antiq. Soc. No.

13, 4to. 1847,

Keller, Dr. Ferdinand. Bilder und Schriflziiye in den Irischen

Manuscripten ; in the Mitlheilunyen der Anliq. Qeselhch. in
Zurich.
Bd. 7, 1851.

Bastard, Le Comte de. Ornements

Francais. Imp. fol. Paris.

Westwood,

Worsaae,

J. 0.

Palceoyraphia Sacra Pictoria.

4to.

1843-1845.

In Journal of the Archeeoloyical Institute, vols. vii.

and x. Also numerous articles in the Archaoloyia Cambrensis.

Cumming.
Chalmers.

J. J.

A.

el

with eleven plates.

Miniatures des Manuscrils

Afbildninger fra det Kony.

Museum i KjSbenhavn.

8vo. 1854.

And

Du Sommerard,
Shaw, Silvestre and Champollion, Astlb (on
Wriliny), Humphreys, La Croix, and Lysons (Magna Britanthe general works of Willemin, Strutt,

Langlois,

Illustrations of the Crosses of the Isle of

Stone Monuments of Anyusshire.

Fol. 1856.

Dissertation on Si. JEthehvold's Benedictional, in Archao-

Imp.

Man.

4to.

nia).

fol.

C C

97

XVI. Plates

Chapter

66, 67, 67*, 68, 69, 69*, 70, 71, 72, 73.

MEDIEVAL ORNAMENT.

PLATE LXVI.
Conventional Leaves and Flowers, from MSS.

of different periods.

PLATES LXVIL, LXVll*.

Collection of Borders, from Illuminated MSS., from the 9th

PLATE
Diapers on Walls, from Miniatures

in

to the 14th century.

LXVIII.

Illuminated MSS., from the 12th to the Kith century.

PLATE LXIX.
Stained Glass of different Periods and Styles.
1, 5,

li,

8.

2, 4.
">.

7.

Church

at Attenberg, near Cologne.

9, 11.

Cathedral of Soissons.

Chapter-house, York Cathedral.

10.

St.

Southwell Church, Nottinghamshire.

13.

Cathedral at Troyes.

North Transept, York Cathedral.

14.

Canterbury Cathedral.

Thomas

at Strasburg.

PLATE LXIX*.
Stained Glass of different Periods and Styles.
12, 17.
.

15.

16,96.

St. Cunibert,

Cologne.

Canterbury Cathedral.

Abbey

18-24, 25, 27, 20.

28.

Cathedral of Bourges.

Cathedral of Angers.

of St. Denis.

99

MEDIyEVAL ORNAMENT.

PLATE LXX.
Encaustic Tiles.

13th and 14th centime

PLATE LXXI.
Illuminated MSS., No.
1-12 are of the 12th century

13

is

of the 13th century.

12 and 13 are from the Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages.-

HUMPHREYS.
The remainder

of the

Ornaments on

this Plate

from the

B.-itish

Museum.

PLATE LXXII.
Illuminated MSS., No.
13, 14, of the 13th century.
1,

2 3 7

8,

and

15, are

1,

3-6, 8-11, 14th century.

from the Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages.

The remainder from the

PLATE

British

the Beginning to the

End

2, 7, 12, 15, of

15,

the 15th century.

from a MS. in the possession of the Author.

Museum.

LXXIII.

Illuminated MSS., No.

MSS. from

2.

of the 15th century.

3.

11-15, from the Illuminated Books of the Middle Ayes.

The remainder from the

British

Museum.

MEDIEVAL OKNAMENT.

The

transition

from the round arch, characteristic

of the thirteenth century,

is

of the

readily traced in the buildings in

Romanesque

style to

which the two

the Pointed style

styles are intermingled

universally in the thirteenth

but the passage from Romanesque Ornament to that which prevailed so
All traces of the acanthus leaf have disappeared, and we find a purely concentury is not so clear.

ventional style of ornament universally prevalent in

to

this

style

is

found in the illuminated MSS.

derived in some of their features from the Greek

100

all

the buildings of the time.

The

nearest approach

of the twelfth century, which appear to have been

MSS.

The ornaments

are formed of a continuous

MEDI/EVAL ORNAMENT.

Warmington Church, Northamptonshire. W. Twopeny.

Wells. Collins.

Early English.

Wflrmington Church. Northamptonshire. W. Twopeny.

stem, throwing off leaves on

and arrangement of the

the

lines in

outer

side,

Decorated.

and terminating in a

any given space

is

Wells. Collins.

The general

flower.

disposition

exactly similar to the arrangement of Early English

sculptured ornament.

Early

There

period.

Ornament

English
is

as

much

of the Greeks.

It is

from them.

fulfils

lint it

It

is

the most perfect, both in principle and in execution, of the Gothic

elegance and refinement in modulations of form as there

every one of the conditions which

remained perfect only so long as the

idealised

and more

is

in the ornament

always in perfect harmony with the structural features, and always grows naturally

style

we

desire to find in a perfect style of Art.

remained conventional.

direct in imitation, its peculiar beauties disappeared,

and

As
it

this style

became

ceased to be an orna-

mentation of structural features, but became ornament applied.

DD

less

101

MEDIAEVAL ORNAMENT.
In the capitals of the columns in the Early English architecture the ornament arises directly from
the shaft, which
flower.

This

is

above the necking

mode

analogous to the

on the contrary, where a

much

splits

up

a series

into

of decorating

each

of steins,

Stone Church, Kent

and, therefore, the shaft

it

style,

was no longer possible

terminated by a bell-shape,

Published by the Topographical Society.

The more and more

round which the leaves are twined.

is

terminating in a

In the Decorated

the Egyptian capital.

nearer approach to Nature was attempted,

to treat a natural leaf as part of the shaft

stem

natural these were made, the less artistic

became the arrangement.

The same thing occurs

ill

the

Early English

mouldings of the

in the bosses which cover the intersections of the

the stems

bosses

ribs,

of the

On

ribs.

flowers forming the bosses are

the vaulting

continuations of the

subsequent periods the intersections of the ribs were concealed by

whilst in

the overlaying of the boss, which was here as

much

an application as was the acanthus leaf to the bell

of the Corinthian capital.

In the spandrils of the arches, so long as the conventional style was retained, one vigorous main

stem was distributed over the

spandril,

from which sprang the leaves and flowers

but when the

natural was attempted, the stem ceased to be the guiding form of the ornament, and lost
in

the endeavour to represent in stone the softness of nature.

gradually

disappears,

and the spandrils are often

filled

with

The main stem

three

immense

all

grace

as a leading feature

leaves springing from a

twisted stem in the centre.

From

few

the

remains which

exist

still

of the decorations of the interior

of buildings,

unable to form a very complete idea of this class of ornament of the thirteenth century.

from illuminated MSS. are not a

architectural,

and there were

the other, that there

is

so

safe

many

we

are

The ornaments

guide, as, after the twelfth century, the style is rarely very

schools of illumination,

and they borrowed

often great mixture in the same illumination.

so

much one from

It is unlikely, that while

the

sculptured ornament was so universally conventional, that the decorated portion of the same building

could have departed from the

102

style.

KJ ^r-icAij^.

MEDIAEVAL ORNAMENT.

On

Plates

LXVII. and LXVII*. we give a

of borders

selection

found

on

MSS.,

illuminated

ranging from the ninth to the fourteenth century; and on Plate LXVIII. diapers from walls, chiefly

There are very few

taken from the back-grounds of illuminations, from the twelfth to the sixteenth.

of either class that could be worthy accompaniments to the pure conventional ornament of the Early

English

style.

In the thirteenth century, beyond

all others,

the Alhambra, Salisbury, Lincoln, Westminster,

architecture was in its zenith.

all

general effects combined with the most elaborate decoration.

although the forms widely

They

exhibit the

same care

undulations of form,

differ,

for the leading

In

the principles on

all

these buildings there

same elegance and refinement

arrived

at

in

the ornamentation,

walls, with stained

glass

and encaustic

when every moulding had

its

colour

by

the

effort,
it,

the

light

must be vain

cannot alone sustain the

tiles,

and when, from

appropriate ornament; an effect which must

its

style reached that it

burnt out; not only architecture, but

immediately began to decline,

indeed.

which was

effect

best adapted to develope its form,

So glorious a point, indeed, had the

have been glorious beyond conception.

which accompanied

the

in all the decoration.

the floor to the roof, not an inch of space but had

exhausted

a family

masses of the composition, the same appreciation of the

The- attempt to reproduce in our time a building of the thirteenth century

Whitewashed

is

which they are based are the same.

same correct observation of natural principles

the

of Cairo,

Collins.

Wells Catliedral.

likeness;

The mosques

possess the same secret of producing the broadest

was

the decorative arts

all

decline which never stops

till

the style dies

out.

In the examples of encaustic

tiles

on Plate

and the best adapted to their purpose, are the

never so
of

the

much
natural

LXX.

will

it

be seen that the broadest in

such as Nos. 17, 27.

earliest,

effect,

Although there was

decline as to attempt an appearance of relief, yet a near approach to a representation

forms

in patterns such as

of

leaves

may

be seen in No.

and a very marked decline

is

observed

No. 23, where tracery and the structural features of buildings were represented.
103

MEDIAEVAL ORNAMENT.

On
in

LXVI.

Plate

MSS.

are arranged a great variety of conventional leaves and flowers from illuminated

Although many of them are in the originals highly illuminated, we have printed them here

two colours only, to show how possible

By adapting

leaves.

it

represent in diagram

to

is

any natural

and by adding

further increased,

still

By

the

to

LXXIL, LXXIIL, we have endeavoured

styles in

any example in the subsequent

On

is

fulfilled

from

every way,

in

springs

this

Plate

main stem, sweeping boldly from the

LXXI.

the letter

There

is

here, also,

not surpassed by

is

Here the true purpose of illumination

The

pure decorative writing.

it is

forms the chief ornament

letter itself

a grand volute

out into

base, swelling

exactly at the point best adapted to contrast with the angular line of the letter

this is beautifully

sustained again by the green volute, which embraces the upper part of the N, and prevents
over,

and

so nicely proportioned that

is

colours also

the stems

number

expressed, without attempting positive

is

MSS.

of

character

most beautifully balanced and contrasted;

are

of the

in

this

style

and we consider

certainly

is

We

of the Byzantines.

style,

believe that,

principle so universally in the

Eastern,

from

relief, is

the

it

of the

The

it.

in

which the rotundity of

a fruitful lesson.

There are an immense

finest

kind of illumination.

and was probably a

its universal

ornamentation

and the way

falling-

it

able to sustain the red volute which flows from

is

it

of

invention.

artist's

to gather together types of the various styles

we have reproduced.

styles

appearance

by conventionalising the form

stock

of ornamental illumination from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century.

evidence of decline from the very earliest point.

of

a combination of different varieties

on the same principle, there need be no limit to an

leaf or flower

In Plates LXXI.,

many

these leaves or flowers to a volute stem, almost as

could be produced as there are separate ornaments on the page.

they might be

the general character

prevalence,

The general

development of the illumination

led to the adoption of the

it

Early English, which

follows

the

exactly

same
same

laws in the general distribution of form.

This style, from constant repetition, gradually lost the peculiar beauty and fitness which
derived from
as

we

see in

first

inspiration,

We

No. 13 of the same plate.

series of scrolls repeating

From

and died out by the scroll-work becoming too

or with tails on one side of the

page, such as 9, 10, 11, 12.

more importance, and from the vignette form, which was

chief

ornament on the page,

Plate

LXXIL,

The border gradually comes

to be of

at first general,

the manner of No. 15 to that of Nos. 7 and 2, where the border

a red line, and the border

No. 8

elaborate,

have no longer the same balance of form, but the four

but the general text becomes enclosed either in borders round the page, as at No.

tint.

and

is

filled

up by intermediate stems and

1,

we gradually

arrive through

bounded on the outer edge by

is

flowers, so as to

produce an even

a specimen of a style very prevalent in the fourteenth century, and which

is

had

each other most monotonously.

period we no longer find the initial letters forming the

this

minute

it

architectural in character.

It

is

is

very

generally to be found on small missals, and surrounding very beautiful

miniatures.

The gradual progress from the

conventional ornament, Nos.

flat

rendering the relief of natural forms in Nos. 15,

There

is

also

to

and

14,

to the

be traced through Nos.

attempt at
9,

10,

11.

be remarked a gradual decline in the idea of continuity of the main stems, and

although each flower or group of leaves in Nos. 15,

is

7, 2, will readily

13

7, 2,

may

still

be traced to their roots, the arrangement

fragmentary.

Up

to

this

period

the

ornaments are

outlined with a black line and then

began to usurp the

office

still

within

coloured, but

of the scribe

the province -of the scribe, and are

on Plate

LXXIIL we

all

first

shall find that the painter

and the farther we proceed the more does the legitimate object

of illumination seem to be departed from.

We

have the

104

first

stage in No. 5, where a geometrical arrangement

is

obtained with conventional

CZku^>

MEDLEVAL ORNAMENT.
ornament enclosing gold panels, on which are painted groups of flowers
6,

7, 8,

9,

we

10, 15,

conventional ornament

find

intermingled

we

All continuity of design being abandoned,

fragmentary way.

natural flowers arranged

with

In

slightly conventionalised.

in

through this to No. 11, when

arrive

a natural flower and a conventional ornament appear on the same stem, to Nos. 12, 13, where the
sway, and represents flowers and insects

painter has full

the art of illumination had arrived at

it

stage

this

could go no farther,

it

ends in the desire to copy an insect so faithfully that

Nos.

1, 2,

it

when

and, of course,

and

is

and

No.

3,

where the

being purely geometrical forms, became imitations of natural branches,

arrived thus far there could be no further progress.

it

MSS. than
For

ornament.

fled

This style also died out in the same

character of the ornament on stained glass appears to follow

the ornament

effect,

It led to the style

became highly coloured on the gold ground.

way, the interlacings, from

like

had

are specimens of a peculiar style of Italian MSS., which was a revival in the fifteenth

interlaced pattern

illuminated

all ideality

should appear to be alighting on the page.

century of the system of ornament so prevalent in the twelfth.

The

When

on the page.

casting their shadow

does the sculptured ornament of the

it

illuminated

of the

instance,

the

stained

MSS.,

it

monuments

closely that of the

of the

same period, and,

appears to us to be always in advance of structural

of the

glass

much more

century possesses

twelfth

the

same breadth of

constructed in the same way, as the sculptured ornament of the thirteenth, whilst the

stained glass of the thirteenth century

is,

The

according to our view, already in a state of decline.

same change has taken place which we have already observed on comparing No. 13 with No.
Plate

LXXI.

The constant
masses.

Now

same forms has gradually led

repetition of the

which the general

is

12,

as it

effect
is

considerably

suffers.

fact, if fact it is.

are of the twelfth century.

of the fourteenth, and

ornaments

an over-elaboration of
out

are

of scale

one of the most beautiful features of the Early English

and

in such perfect relation in point of scale

a very curious

The

to

On

Plates

effect

to the

Nos. 3 and 7 are of the thirteenth.

we think

mere glance

at the general

the general

style, that the

members which

LXIX. and LXIX*.

with

it

from

detail,

ornament

decorates, this

seems

the ornaments from Nos. 12 to 28

all

Nos.

1, 2, 4, 5,

6,

8,9, 10, 11, are

effect of the plates will establish

what

we have here advanced.

In the stained glass of the twelfth century we shall always find

shown

to belong to a true style of art.

We

need only

all

call attention

the principles which

we have

here to the very ingenious

way

in which the straight, the inclined, and the curved, are balanced and contrasted in all the diapers.

common

In Nos. 2 and 4 we have an example of a very

principle,

which

character, viz. a continuous ground pattern forms a tint interlacing with a

In Nos.

1, 5, 6, 8,

which ended in the total

figures

through which

life

we

thoroughly Eastern in

more general

surface pattern.

commencement

of the direct natural style,

of the true principles of stained glass,

when both ornaments and

of the fourteenth century

neglect

is

was to be transmitted,

see the

in

the attempt to render

them

over-true, had

own shades and shadows.

v.

10,">

their

XVII. Plates

Chapter

74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82.

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
PLATE LXXIV.
1, 8, 9.

Bas-reliefs
coli,

from the Church

of Sta.

Maria dei Mira-

from the Church of San Michele

Bas-reliefs

4, 6.

Venice.

in

Murano,

Venice.

from the Scuola

San Marco, Venice.

upwards of Fig.

2.

Bas-relief

3.

Bas-relief forming the continuation

di

2.

Bas-reliefs

5, 7.

from the Scala dei Giganti, Venice.

PLATE LXXV.
From

1,2.

a Collection of Casts taken under the superinof Professor Varny, from the principal

C.

Cinque-cento Monuments of Genoa.

From

;.

the

first

From Genoa.
From Venice.
From the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo,
From the Hotel Bourgtheroulde, Rouen.

4, 5, 8, 9, 11.

tendence

7.

Ghiberti Gate of the Baptistery, Florence.

10.

Venice.

PLATE LXXVI.
1.

2.

by Andrea Sausovino, from the Church of Sta.

Maria del Popolo, Rome.
Bas-relief from the Church of Sta. Maria dei Miracoli,

cento Ornaments of Genoa, taken under the superin-

Bas-relief

Venice.
3.

Bas-relief

4.

Bas-relief

tendence of Professor Varny.

0.

from the Hotel Bourgtheroulde, Rouen.

from a Collection of Casts of the best Cinque-

from Genoa.
from the Martinengo Tomb, Brescia.
Bas-relief from the Base of the " Trois Graces
Germain Pilon in the Louvre.

5, 7, 8, 10.

9.

Bas-reliefs

Bas-relief

" of

PLATE LXXVIL
1-3.

Ornaments enamelled on Copper in the early Limoges Champleve' style, from the Hotel Cluny

4-8.

Ditto, of a later period.

-Museum, Paris.
9.

12.

in the

Enamels on Gold Ground, from the Louvre.

Silver Inlay in Ivory, of the Sixteenth Century, from

the Hotel Cluny.

18.

11.

Hotel Cluny.

15-17.

Similar objects in Boxwood, from the same

18-20.

From

21.

the

Century, in

Sixteenth

30.

Painted Ornaments, Hotel Cluny.

31.

From

32.

33-35.

Armour

of Henri in., in the Louvre.

From

the

Armour

of Francois

II.,

in the Louvre.

40, 41.

Repousse Ornaments in Copper, from the Hotel Cluny.

Limoges Champleve Enamel, from the same Museum.

42-44.

From

37-39.

Museum.

Limoges Enamels,

the

Metal Plate in the same Museum.

From Metal Work, in the Louvre.

Goldsmiths'

Work

of the Sixteenth Century, in

the Louvre.
a Picture in Limoges Painted Enamel, Sixteenth Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

From

the

45, 40.

47.

Ornament

Enamels on Gold Ground, Sixteenth Century, Louvre.

48.

Ebony Cabinet of the Sixteenth CenHotel Cluny.

Ivory Inlay in Ebony, from the above.

Painted Ornament, from the above.

50-53.

Sixteenth-century

From

ditto, in the

Portion of an
tury, in the

Inlaid

in

Louvre.

Ornament mi n Dagger Sheath

Century,

in

the

Limoges Champleve Enamel on Copper, from the

same Museum.
22-24.

Pottery of
Louvre.

29.

36.

From a Casket in the Hotel Cluny.

From a Powder-hom in Iron of the Sixteenth Century,
in the

From

Hotel Cluny.

Ornaments from the background of a Picture,

Hotel Cluny.

10,11.

27, 28.

the Hotel Cluny.

of the Sixteenth

49.

54-50.
57-61.

in Copper,

from the above.

Limoges Champleve Enamel, from the above.

Accessories to Pictures, from the above.
Limoges Champleve Enamel.

From

107

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.

PLATE LXXVIII.
1-36.

Ornaments taken from Specimens of Hispano-Arabic, French, and Italian Earthenware, preserved in the South
Kensington Museum, and principally from the Majolican Wares of Pesaro, Gubbio, Urbino, Castel Durante, and
other Italian towns of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries.

PLATE LXXIX.
1-3.

Ornaments selected from the faience, or Enamelled

Earthenware, of Bernard de Palissy, in the Hotel
Cluny.

4-10.

11-13.

From Specimens of Majolica, in the Hotel Cluny.

From faience of the Fifteenth Century, in the
Hotel Cluny.

14-18, 21.

From

faience of the

Sixteenth

From

19, 20.

From

22, 23.

the

German

Pottery, en yres, with Painted Glaze

of the Sixteenth Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

From Earthenware,

24-33.

French, Spanish, and Italian, in

the Hotel Cluny.

Century, in the

Louvre.

Porcelain of the Seventeenth Century, in the

Louvre.

From

34.

the Louvre.

PLATE LXXX.
1,2.

Ornaments from faience.

24-27.

3-6.

Ornaments from faience of the Sixteenth Century.

28-32.

7-10.
11, 12.
13.

Ornaments from faience of the Seventeenth Century.

33.

From/erace with Metallic Lustre.

34-38.

From

39^42.

a Vase in Venetian Glass of the Sixteenth Cen-

From Gres Flamand. or Earthenware.

From faience of the Sixteenth Century.
From a Carved-wood Panel of the Seventeenth Century.
From Enamelled Earthenware.
From Silk Embroidery on Velvet.

tury.

14-21.
22, 23.

From faience
From faience

of the Sixteenth Century.

N.B.

The whole of the Specimens on this Plate have been

derived from the Hotel Cluny, Paris.

of an Earlier Date.

PLATE LXXXL
1.

From

2.

Wood

a Sideboard carved in wood, dated 1554, in the

Hotel Cluny.

Panels of the Sixteenth Century, in the Hotel

Cluny.
3.

4-6.

From an Oak Chair-back, in the Hotel Cluny.

From Carved-wood Stalls of the Fifteenth Century,
in the Hotel Cluny.

From Furniture, in the Hotel Cluny.

Beam of the end of the Fifteenth Century,

7-10, 25, 26, 35, 36.

11.

End

of a

17.

18.

Carved Ornament from the Louvre.

19.

From

22.

Stone Balustrading, from the Chateau d'Anet.

23.

Stone Carving from the Louvre.

24.

From

From

Furniture of the Sixteenth Cen-

tury, in the Hotel Cluny.

14, 15.

From

16.

From

Boxwood Comb,

in the

Hotel Cluny.

a Chimneypiece, in the Hotel Cluny.

Carving in Marble from the celebrated Basin in the

Fountain of the Chateau Gaillon, now in the
Louvre.

31, 32.

Stone Carving, Seventeenth Century, in the Louvre.

33.

Furniture of the Fifteenth Century, in the Hotel

Cluny.

27-30.

in the Hotel Cluny.

12, 13, 20, 21, 39, 40.

Shutter Panels of the end of the Fifteenth Century,

in the Hotel Cluny.

34,38.
37.

Wood
From
From

Carving, from the Hotel Cluny.

the Fountain of the Chateau Gaillon, Louvre.

the Stock of an Arquebus of the Sixteenth

Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

a Sideboard, in the Hotel Cluny.

PLATE LXXXII.
1-9.

Carved Ornament from Oak Furniture of the Sixteenth

Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

10, 11, 19, 34.

From

the

Bed

of Francois

I.,

in the Hotel

Cluny.

From Oak Furniture

Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

12,13,14,32,33.

108

of

the

Sixteenth

15-17.
18.

From a Sideboard of the Fifteenth Century.

From an Oak Sideboard, dated 1524, in the Hotel
Cluny.

20-29.

From

30, 31.

Panels of Shutters of the end of the Fifteenth Century, in the Hotel Cluny.

Furniture of the Sixteenth Century, in the

Hotel Cluuy.

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.

If two

which the

one the

latest date at

glimmer

in the land over

which

beauty

classical

it

direct,

there

had once shed

The

in the progress of their researches.

under their shadow and

truth

to

its feeblest

made

have almost utterly died out in the lapse of

monuments of the ancient Romans,

that the material

is,

and majestic, that

Fragments of exquisite beauty,

forget them.

to

themselves to trace, the

dazzling rays, and the other the earliest effort

its

scattered thickly over the soil of Italy, were so substantial

live

set

doubt that they would not only meet, but cross one another,

little

is

diligently

though lingering, light of Roman greatness waned to

what most historians declare

to excite a veneration for

ages

Art and Literature

students of Italian

intelligent

marble, were to be had for the trouble of turning up the

soil

it

in

was impossible to
stone, bronze,

that scarcely covered

and

them; and thus

they were, from time to time, pressed into service for tombs, and as accessories in buildings, in the
of which the principles of Art

construction

entirely lost sigbt of.

to

bloom

Hence, the Gothic style was at

slow to take root in Italy, and destined

once,

Almost concurrently with the introduction of the pointed

but for a short season.

brilliantly,

which those fragments owed their beauty had been

to

arch into Northern Italy by an Englishman, in the construction of St. Andrea, at Vercelli, early in

and with the German works of Magister Jacobus,

was

the thirteenth

century,

commenced

favour of the ancients and their arts by that great reviver of antique sculpture, Nicola

in

Pisano.

The

world of

letters.

of

the

close of the

thirteenth

century was further marked

Dante, in his time, was scarcely

Mantuan, and a profound student

great

known

less

in

is

classical

Roman and Grecian

protest

by a complete revolution

in

the

In the fourteenth century,

learning.

often fancied, but in labouring incessantly in the

world of the long-lost texts of the

Assisi,

as a Christian poet than as an emulator

Petrarch and Boccaccio, intimate friends, spent long and laborious

or prose, as

at

authors.

lives,

not in writing Italian poetry

preservation and restoration

to the

Cino da Pistoia and other learned

commentators and jurists brought into fashion the study of the great " Corpus " of ancient law, and
maintained academies in which
lucid account

of

it

was adopted

a text.

as

Heathen Mythology, and who

Boccaccio

instituted

first

it

was who

a chair for

first

gave to Italy a

the study of the Grecian

language at Florence, bringing over Leontius Pilatus, a learned Greek, from Constantinople, to be
the

first professor.

of notables,
Braccioliui,

These

among whom

efforts

at a revival

of classical learning were seconded by a numerous band

the names of John of Ravenna (Petrarch's pupil), Liouardo Aretino, Poggio

.Eneas Sylvius

(ultimately

Pope Pius

II.,

Medici, are most popularly and familiarly known.

men

as these

It

had accumulated. in public and private

1458-1464), and Cosmo, the father of the

was at a moment when the labours of such

libraries

all

that could be recovered of classical

learning, that about the middle of the fifteenth century the art of printing was introduced into Italy.

Under the auspices of the Benedictines of Subiaco, the Germans Sweynheim and Pannartz
press in the celebrated Monastery
edition of Lactantius,

Oratore."

popular,

Thus, while
first

gave

up

their

1465, their

Rome in 1467, the first-fruits of their labour was

Germany and F ranee biblical and ecclesiastical literature, and

"Cicero de

Removing
in

Scholastica, from which issued,

set

the year

employment

of Santa

in

to

to

the

printer

in

FF

Italy,

classical,

for

time,

in

England

almost exclusively
109

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
engaged

Scheffer,

It

Classics.

" Hypnerotomachia," or

the

less

learned editor than

Among

his

earliest

dream

of

Poliphilus,

works

was a

lie

editions

of

the

one ever memorable in the history of Art,

is

by the learned

written

Fra Colonna.

ecclesiastic

profusely illustrated with engravings on wood, the design of which has been frequently ascribed

is

to

who was a no

from about the year 1490 gave to the world in rapid succession

printer,

and Latin

to the ateliers

invented the Italic character, subsequently adopted by

lie

This remarkable man,

the learned Aldus Manutius.

(ireek

by Louis XI.

sent

learn " le nouvel art par lequel on faisait des livres," carried his acquired

to

knowledge from Mayence to Venice, where

zealous

who was

Nicholas Jenson, the Frenchman,

his attention.

of Fust and

no

an

great

less

profound

Through those

than Andrea Mantegna.

artist

study of ancient ornament,

types

of form

The

ages were disseminated over the Continent of Europe.

"De Re

iEdificatoria," at Florence,

1485, set the

in

of the middle

those

Rome, about

publication of Vitruvius at

1486, at Florence in 1496, and at Venice, with illustrations, in

work,

which display a

illustrations,

opposed to

diametrically

1511, as well

upon the

seal

of Alberti's great

as

tendency of the

classical

matters of Art, and afforded the means of speedily transmitting to other countries the details

age in

warmly taken up throughout

of ancient design, so

the Gioliti in the same city, and

and thus the

the Giunti at

art of printing speedily caused a

had that noble

The

Italy.

successors of the first Aldus at Venice,

Florence, rapidly multiplied the standard classics

movement

of revival

to

become cosmopolitan, which,

remained undiscovered, would very probably have been limited, to a great extent,

art

to the soil of Italy.

Long, however, as we have already asserted, before the aspirations of the

mine

labourers in the

first

of antiquity had been thus brought to fruition, indications had been given in the world of Art

antagonism on the part of the Italians to Gothic forms.

of an almost inherent

which surround the ceilings of the Church of

Assisi, ascribed to

acanthus had been drawn with considerable accuracy

trecento,

It

movement can be

elements

said to

century that

some productions of
of

details

classic

have borne really valuable

came

it

In

fruit.

it

comparatively

a later

period, and

unknown

and

study of

century that the

Renaissance

the

of

was scarcely until the middle of the

anywise a literal revival.

confess' a preference for the freshness

free to

from

design

earliest stage

its

when Nature was recurred

were

forms
at

to be in

earlier stage,

this

deficiencies, supplied

of

was scarcely, however, until the beginning of the fifteenth

Art in Italy was unquestionably a revival of principles, and

fifteenth

Cimabue, the father of painting, the

while Nicola Pisano and other masters of the

had derived many important

century,

or thirteenth

antique remains.

In the ornaments

Conscious as we
to

for

may

suggestion, and

unimitated, there

may

the actual

exist

under a more regular system of education

be, that in

occasional

we

are yet

and naivete with which the pioneers worked, over the more

complete but more easily obtained graces of an almost direct reproduction of the antique.

The

first

great step in advance was taken

by the celebrated Jacopo

della

been driven from his birth-place, Sienna, to Lucca, executed about the year
of that city, a
interesting

monument

woik

(of

to

llaria di

who having

Querela,

1413,

the Cathedral

in

Caretto, wife of Giunigi di Caretto, Lord of the City.

In this

which a good cast may be seen in the Crystal Palace) Jacopo exhibited a careful

recourse to nature, both in the surrounding festoons of the upper part of the pedestal and the " puttini,"
or chubby boys supporting

them; the

legs of one of the " puttini.'"

simplicity of his imitation being revealed by the little

His great work, however, was the fountain in the Piazza del Mercato

Siena, which was completed at an expense of two thousand two hundred gold ducats,

sad state of decay offers unmistakable evidence

present
this

capo

and

he

many

a"

opera

was

vicissitudes,

110

lie

was known

made Warden
he

died

bandy

as

of the
in

the

of

Jacopo della Fonte.

Cathedral
year

1424,

in

that

his

rare

ability.

After his

This work brought him

city,

where, after a

aged sixty-four.

and even

life

of

in its

execution

of

much

distinction,

much

labour and

Although one of the unsuccessful

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
candidates for the second bronze door of the Florence Baptistery, as we shall presently

much esteemed during

his

after

Great, however, as were his merits, he was far surpassed in the correct imitation of nature,

death.

and

and exercised a great and salutary influence on sculpture

his life,

he was

see,

in grace, dexterity,

and

in ornamental combination, by Lorenzo

facility

who was one

Ghiberti,

of his immediate contemporaries.

In the year 1401, Florence, under an essentially democratic form of government, had risen to be

one of the most flourishing

as

" Arti," represented by deputies

called

guilds,

In this civic democracy the trades were distinguished

of Europe.

cities

The Consuls

(consoli).

in

resolved

the

above-

mentioned year to raise another gate of bronze to the Baptistery, as a pendant to that of Andrea
Pisano, which had been previously executed in a very noble, but

The Signoria,

a public competition

three years from

this resolve to the best artists of Italy,

and

and with two others, Brunelleschi and Donatello, was pronounced

trial,

These two last-named

style.

Lorenzo Ghiberti, a native of Florence, at that time very young

was opened.

(twenty-two), ventured on the

worthy.

made known

or executive government,

Gothic

still

artists

appear to have voluntarily retired in his favour

The beauty

that date the gate was finished, and put up.

of

and

in

twenty-

design and work-

its

manship induced the Signoria to order another of him, which was ultimately finished about the year
1444.

It

would be impossible to overrate the importance of this work, either as regards

influence on art

or

merit,

intrinsic

its

standing,

as

The ornament

any age for excellence of design and workmanship.

LXXV.,

Fig.

which encloses and

3),

surrounds the

panels,

Lorenzo Ghiberti belonged to no school, neither can

education

from his father-in-law, a goldsmith

homage and study

his

works received from

He

formation of any school of pupils.

and

men

spite of all their beauty,

these

on Art

(which extended from 1400 to

one

be seen rather in the

to

is

he received his

such as Buonarotti and Raffaelle than

life

and masculine vigour

person

of

Luca

della

to the art, which, in

qualities of both

and the

Robbia, who, during his long

freest

by the excellence of the

celebrated

of the

Cathedral of Sta. Maria

of

gates

della

San

trial-piece

in

The former are

life

and the

latter,

by

his

for

the

magnificent

This combination of architectural and sculptur-

esque ability was, indeed, a distinguishing feature of the

idea that the whole sprang to

which he competed with Ghiberti

Giovanni Battista

Fiore at Florence.

ornaments, were so happily blended

In the person

and most graceful analogy with the antique.

of Filippo Brunelleschi the talents of the sculptor and the architect were combined.

execution

life

1480), executed an infinity of works, the ornamental details of which

were carried out in a style of the

sufficiently evinced

from his

died in his native city at a good old age, in the year 1455.

the

in

most careful study.

founded

were often wanting in the compositions of Ghiberti

were happily united

artists

he

in

a portion of which see Plate

worthy of the

is

said

influence

his

of his immediate followers, Donatello, imparted a

One

be

it

(Tor

historical

similar specimen

by any

unrivalled

does,

it

its

with mouldings and

Figures, foliage, and conventional

period.

other

in one perfect form in the

structural

mind

forms,

of the artist

as

to

convey the

by whom

the work

was executed.

development of taste coincident with that noticeable in Tuscany took place at Naples, Rome,

Milan, and Venice.

At Naples, the torch that was

lit

by Massuccio was nanded on by Andrea Ciccione,

Bamboccio, Monaco, and Amillo Fiore.

At Rome, the opulence

attracted to the

of the princes, and the great works undertaken by the successive pontiffs,

Imperial city the highest procurable ability;

and hence

palaces and churches fragments of exquisite decorative sculpture are

Baldassare

Peruzzi, and

Baccio Pintelli (of

whom

still

it

to be

is,

that in the

met

with.

various

Bramante,

arabesques on the interior of the Church of Sant'

Agostino, one of the earliest buildings of the pure revival executed in the

Imperial,

our woodcuts

give some elegant examples), and even the great Raffaelle himself did not disdain to design ornaments

111

RENAISSANCE ORXAM DXT.

-"''
:

for

carvers,

of the

Of

fancy.

the

purest

taste

perfection

\:.h\./"-^'

'

and most exquisite

attained

in

this

depart-

'

ment

of art

wooden

by the last-named

stalls

of the choir of San Pietro dei Casinensi,

at Perugia, will long

The carrying
Bergamo does

the celebrated

artist,

out

remain unquestionable evidence.

of

these

by Stefano da

carvings

to the admirable composi-

full justice

tions of Raffaelle.

At Milan, the important works of the Duomo,

and the Certosa

able school of art

Pavia,

created a truly remark-

among

the most celebrated mas-

at
;

Panel from the Piscina of the High Altar ef

ters of

t*'C

Certosa, Pavia.

which may be noticed, Fusina,

Amadeo, and Sacchi.

The

been traditional in that

doubt that these

sculptor's talent

had long

and there can be no

locality,

artists

Solari, Agrati,

embodied

in

the

forms the lingering traditions of the Maestri

Como

highest-

Coma-

from whose genius

achi,

or Freemasons,

many

of the most celebrated buildings of the middle

of

ages derived their highest graces of adornment.

Of

i^V^a

Aralesques designed by

Lac io Piutelli, for the

Church ol Sant' Ag^stino, Rome.

112

Panels from the Piscina of

the High Altar of the

Arabesques designed by

Certosa, Pavia.

Church of Sant' Agostiuo, Rome.

Baccio Fiuteili, fur the

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
all

the

better

Lombard

known

as

must be reserved

Cinque-centists, however, the highest admiration

Bambaja, and

his pupil Brambilla,

Our woodcuts,

must ever remain marvels of execution.

for Agostino Busti,

whose exquisite works in arabesque at the Certosa

selected from the Piscina of the

High

Altar,

furnish some idea of the general style of the Pavian arabesques.

At Venice, the
Griulio, Sante,

ments.

names which

great

first

call

notice are those of the

for

and Antonio), through whose talents that

They were followed by

but their lesser glories are

Matteo Civitale (born

Eiccio, Bernardo,

city

Lombardi

was adorned with

and Domenico

its

(Pietro, Tullio,

most famous monu-

Mantua, and many other sculptors

di

altogether eclipsed by those of the great Jacopo Sansovino.

143.5, died 1501) fully maintained the reputation of the period.

At Lucca,

Eeturning to

Tuscany, we find, towards the close of the fifteenth century, the greatest perfection of ornamental sculpture, the leading characteristic of which, however,

we now no longer

find to be the sedulous

imitation of nature, but rather a conventional rendering of the antique.

the greatest of the celebrated school of the Fiesolani

bring to our recollection

many

other principal towns of the

exquisite

monuments which abound

Grand Duchy.

and their works have been surpassed in

Benedetto

These

this

style of art

was pre-eminent

in

his art

and

of

Mino da

da Majano, and Bernardo

Fiesole
Kossellini,

in the churches of Florence,

artists excelled alike in

it

Of

these,

and the

wood, in stone, and in marble,

only by those of their predecessors

already named, and by some few others, their contemporaries.

as the elder Sansovino,

The names

and simple

we have

Andrea Contucci, better known

would appear impossible to carry ornamental

modelling to greater perfection than he has exhibited in the wonderful monuments which form the pride
of the

Church of

master's name,

Sta.

may

Ornaments from the

Piscina of tin; High Altar
of tbc Certosa, Favia.

Maria

del Popolo, at

Eome.

be regarded as his only

rival.

His pupil, Jacopo Tatti, who subsequently took his

Of him, however, more

hereafter.

Portions of Pilasters from the Church of Sta. Maria dei Miracoli, Venice.

GG

H3

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
Having thus succinctly traced the
it

must constantly be borne

historical succession of the great sculptors of Italy, all of

mind, were ornamentists

in

we proceed

also,

workman.

and shade produced by

whom

which those by

it

light

at ever-varying angles of impact.

it

difference in effect between a scroll of the volute form, in which the relief gradually diminishes

and

it

is

its

and one in which the

eye,

uniform throughout,

relief is

is

very

to their undeviating preference for the former over the latter, that the Cinque-cento

are indebted for the infallibly pleasing results they attained alike in their simplest

artists

art-

not only in surfaces parallel to the grounds from

infinite variations of plane,

from the starting of the volute to

;

and

was wrought availed themselves of the play of

which the ornament was raised, but brought to a tangent with

The

artist

of the most peculiar and most fascinating qualities of the best Cinque-cento ornament

One

in relief is the skill with

great

some few of those

to point out

which may, as we conceive, be derived from a study of their works by the

lessons

whom,

and most

complicated combinations of spiral forms.

This refined appreciation of delicate shades of relief in sculpture was carried to

fection

by Donatello, whose authority in matters of

taste

was held

its

in the highest possible

greatest

esteem by the

contemporary Florentines, and whose example was followed with respect and devotion by
of artists.

Not only was he the

first

jection and of rounded modelling

was the

first

to

combine that

is

work with mezzo and

alto relievo

his

craft

ever

to

overstep

the

tions

elements derived from the

for

they

only through

sister art

may

hence we

Cinque-centisti with

These inven-

of Painting.

a sedulous study of the antique

tated with the greatest avidity by the

but he

of sculpture,

almost worthy of the name, though

are

relief,

thus maintaining an almost

conventions

special

Donatello enriched the Florentine practice of the

many

classes

Too good a master

pictorial division of his subject into several planes.

of

all

to practise the bassissimo relievo, in which the effect of pro-

obtained within apparently impracticable limits of

style of

per-

arrived

at

were adopted and imi-

ornamentists of the period

and

some of the most peculiar and striking technical

trace

excellence of the best Eenaissance carving and modelling.

Ultimately, and at

acme

its

of perfection, this

system of regular

arrangement of ornament in planes was so ingeniously managed

tion

to light

sented

only

and shade,

that,

points

certain

some dominant geometrical

to

bring to

viewed from a distance, the relievo pre-

salience.

selected

for

while

no inspection could be too

or " chasing," of the best Italian Cinque-

in

the

gates

Ghiberti
Plate

114

convey a tangible idea of the type

to

The " cisellatura,"

1, 8, 9,

may be

Plate

in

of the

seen in the Church of the Miracoli,

LXXIV.), by the Lombardi

of Sta. Maria del Popolo (Fig.

Maria

connecting the

figures

appreciation of the refinements of sur-

Venice (Figs.

of Sta.

and

yet nearer approach revealed the leafage

convention,

cento ornament, such as

Church

approach of a few paces served

close to test the artist's perfect

face texture.

Small Pilasters of Murble Staircase in the

An

figures.

and delicate tendrils necessary

of nature

with reference to

symmetrically disposed

the sense of vision the lines

points of greatest

in rela-

1,

Baptistery,

Florence (Fig.

the carvings of San

LXXIV.);

the

Scuola di

in the Church

Plate LXXVI.), Rome, by Sansovino

Michele

San Marco

di

3,

Plate

Murano

(Fig. 2,

LXXV.), by
(Figs.

Plate

4,

6,

LXXIV.);
dei Miracoli, Venice,
Tullio Lombardo, ad.
1485, about.

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
the Scala dei Giganti (Figs. 5, 7, Plate

The

fibres of

LXXIV.)

and other buildings

a leaf or tendril are never misdirected, nor

beyond

is

all

praise.

Nature's tendency to grace in growth per-

is

Smoothness and detail are never added excepting where they have some

verted or misapprehended.

perform

specific function to

at Venice,

and while labour

touch was a labour of love,

it

is

so prodigally

never thrown away, as

is

is

bestowed as to show that every additional

too often the case in the present day, in

converting those portions of a design which should be secondaries or tertiaries in point of interest into
primaries.

In the hands of

artists less

profoundly impressed than was Donatello with a sense of the just limit

of convention in sculpture, the importation of pictorial elements into bas-relief soon degenerated into

confusion.

Even the great Ghiberti marred the

effect

many

of

most graceful compositions by

of his

the introduction of perspective, and accessories copied too directly from nature.

mental sculptures of the Certosa the fault

spectator with grave admiration at their beauty and

dolls'

houses peopled by

foliage, rather

fairies,

In

many

of the orna-

exaggerated until monuments, which should impress the

is

decked with garlands, hung with

him

only to amuse

serve

dignity,

and

tablets,

fancifully

resembling

overgrown with

than serious works of Art commemorating the dead, or dedicated to sacred uses.

Another reproach which may with justice be addressed

such monuments
nected with

many

the incongruity of the association of ideas con-

is

suggested by the ornaments

purport, and those

their

to

displayed in their friezes, pilasters, panels, spandrils, and other enriched

features.

comic masques, musical instruments,

Tragic and

semi-Priapic terminals, antique altars, tripods, and vessels of libation,

dancing amorini, and hybrid marine monsters and chimeras, har-

monise but

ill

monuments reared

with

This fault of the confusion of things sacred

cated to religious rites.

may

and profane

in consecrated edifices or dedi-

not, however, be

altogether

justly

upon the

laid

shoulders of the artists of the Renaissance, whose works served but

to reflect the

logic

dominant

an age in which the revival of mytho-

spirit of

symbolism was but a protest against the hampering trammels

of ascetic tradition erected into

dogmatism under the

rulers of the

when

East, and endorsed by the Church during those centuries

cendancy over an ignorant and turbulent population was at

The minds

height.

most

of even the

religious

its

men were imbued

with such incongruous associations in the fourteenth century

is

all

its as-

greatest

and

it

not necessary to go further than the " Commedia " of Dante, which
the world of literature has designated as the Divine Epic, to re-

cognise

skeins of Gothic

the tangled

and

classical

inspiration with

which the whole texture of contemporary literature was interwoven.

To the
relief is

since
Small
a
ifi

Pilaster

the

of

in

architect, the

study of Italian Cinque-cento ornament in

of no less utility than

no

style

can possibly be to the sculptor,

it

has ornament ever been

spaced

arranged to contrast more agreeably with the direction

chulSTof jacent architectural lines by which

Sta. Maria dei

racoii, Venice.

better

Mi-

dination.

Parely,

if

ever, is

it is

ments and the mouldings, or the

styles

whole, at variance with one another.

and

rails,

In Plates

or

of the ad-

bounded and kept in subor-

an ornament suitable

position placed in a vertical one, or vice versa;

out,

for

and

rarely, if ever,

by

which regularity

horizontal

SxDatt Pilaster of the Giant's

Staircase,
Ducal Palace,

Venice, by Benedett-> fend

Domenico da Mantua.

are the proportions of the orna-

and symmetry are given to the

LXXIV., LXXV., and LXXVI.,

are collected a series

115

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
of specimens, in the majority of

which gracefulness of

upon

natural, distribution of the ornament

Church of

in their works at the

LXXVL,
di

Maria

Sta.

Fig. 2); Andrea Sansovino at

and a highly

artificial,

though apparently

are the prevailing characteristics.

dei Miracoli, Venice (Plate

Eome

LXXIV., Figs

Mantua, at Venice (Plate

field,

its

line,

LXXVI.,

(Plate

LXXIV.,

Fig. 1); and

The Lombardi,

Figs. 1, 8, 9; Plate

Domenico and Bernardino

5 and 7), attained the highest perfection in these respects.

\t a subsequent period to that in which they flourished the ornaments were generally wrought in more
uniformly high

relief,

and the stems and

were thickened, and not

tendrils

so

uniformly tapered, the

accidental growth and play of nature were less sedulously imitated, the field of the panel was

and

fully covered with enrichments,

more bustling and

its

The

less refined.

whole aspect made

serted itself in competition with the architect's

and

in self-defence,

to

work

sculptor's

as-

the latter

more

keep the sculpture down, soon be-

gan

make

to

mouldings heavy

his

and a more ponderous

Of

crept into fashion.

perceive indications

LXXV,

Figs.

and

1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9,

Plate

and

11

Figs. 4, 5, 7, 8,

from the celebrated Martmengo

Tomb,

at Brescia, also clearly exhibits

tendency to

this

of the

in

Fig. 6 in the last-mentioned

10.

plate,

tendency

much

in

represented

LXXVL,

and in Plate

this

ornament we already

to plethora in

Genoese work

style altogether

filling

up.

In the art of painting, a move-

ment took place concurrent with

we have thus

briefly noticed in sculp-

Giotto, the pupil of Cimabue,

ture.

threw

that

off

dition,

nature.

the shackles of Greek tra-

and gave his whole heart

His ornament,

like

that

to

of

his master, consisted of a combination

Vertical Running Ornament
from the Church of 6ta.

Maria dei Miracoli, Venice.

thus.

of painted

mosaic work,

interlacing

Portion

bends, and free rendering of the acan-

f a

Doorway in one of tlie Palaces of the Dorias near the

Church of tan Matteo, Uen<>a.

In his work at Assisi, Naples, Florence, and Padua, he has invariably shown a graceful appre-

hension of the balance essential to be maintained between mural pictures and mural ornaments, both
in quantity, distribution, and relative colour.

understood and

adopted during the

These right principles of balance were very generally

fourteenth

century

Orcagnas, Pietro di Lorenzo, Spinello Aretino, and

diligent student of antiquity, as

Campo

may

it

mural em-

as Donatello

Hampton

might have been drawn by an ancient Roman.

Andrea

had moved sculpture, and that not

ornament borrowed from the antique.

fortunate as to possess of his at

116

less

be recognised in the architectural backgrounds to his pictures in

was who moved painting

figures alone, but in every variety of

we

others, were admitted masters of

Santo, and in the noble arabesques which divide his pictures at San Gimignano.

Mantegna, however,

are so

many

and Simone Memmi, Taddeo Bartolo, the

That rare student of nature in the succeeding century, Benozzo Gozzoli, was a no

bellishment.

the

in

The magnificent cartoons

Court, even to their minutest decorative details,

Towards the

close of the fifteenth century, the

style,

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
of polychromy took a fresh and marked turn, the peculiarities of which, in connexion with arabesque

and grotesque ornament, we reserve

the

fire

which was the

to France,

Turning from Italy

a subsequent notice.

for

of Renaissance Art, which had been

of the European nations to light

first

kindled in Italy,

we

that the warlike

find

torch at

its

expeditions

of Charles VIII. and Louis XII. infected the nobility of France with an admiration for the splendours
of Art met with by

them

at Florence,

change might have been seen

in

1499 to the

memory

The

Rome, and Milan.

was unfortunately destroyed in 1793) in the monument erected

(for it

of the first-named monarch, around which

the celebrated

Aldus, and

for his

royal master

of Verona,

architect,

good editor of Vitruvius, to

first

and designed

Fra Giocondo,

visit

bronze, of

gilt

and

friend

He

France.

the

elder

1499 to

1506,

fellow-student

remained there from

of

two bridges over the Seine, and probably many minor works which

The magnificent Chateau de

have now perished.

female figures, in

In the same year, the latter sovereign

the Virtues, were grouped completely in the Italian manner.

invited

coming

of the

clear indication

first

begun by Cardinal d'Amboise

Gaillon,

the year

in

1502, has been frequently ascribed to him, but, according to Emeric David and other French

upon

logists,

insufficient

The

grounds.

evidence

internal

is

entirely

and against (Hocondo, who was more of an engineer and student than an ornamental
intermingled with

much

that

very fairly classical,

is

almost as unjust to Griocondo to ascribe

French

produced, by a

her

artist,

artist.

Moreover,

that

would be

it

him, as to France to deprive her of the credit of having

The whole

monument.

Renaissance

great

first

which were published by M. Deville in

we

to

it

much Burgundian work,

so

is

French origin,

favour of a

in

archaeo-

learn that Guillaume Senault was architect and master-mason.

It

is,

accounts

of the

1850, set the question almost entirely at rest

for

from them

however, just possible that

Giocondo may have been consulted by the Cardinal upon the general plan, and that Senault and
his

companions, for the most part French,

by whom,

we may judge from

if

may have

carried out the

was Bertrand de Meynal, who had been commissioned

fountain, so well

(Plate

LXXXL,

known

who had

studied in

It

Rome.

monument

was, however, in the

In

all

the

inclose

the

bodies of the
corners

four

royal

are four

I.,

statues

XII.,

now

all

at

from good Italian examples.

St. Denis,

near Paris, and one of the

was

disposition

This beautiful work of art

by Jean Juste of Tours.

naked

of Justice,

came

under every arch

is

Cardinal

ville

to France, as the following

less

est

escus, restans des

de Tours au

Royne Anne, &C.

Not

placed an apostle

The

Wisdom

and

the whole

represent the

bas-reliefs

himself

signalised

by

of Louis XII. has been often ascribed to Trebatti (Paul Ponee), but it was finished

Duprat : " II

somme de 400
de la

time

first

valour.

The monument
the

the

Twelve semicircular arches

triumphal entry of Louis into Genoa, and the battle of Aguadel, where he

before he

for

was executed between

Strength, Prudence, and

being surmounted by statues of the King and Queen on their knees.

his personal

who

Colin Castille,

work

pair, represented

large

may

essential particulars, the portions of Renaissance

of Louis

1518 and 1530, under the orders of Francis

beautiful Venetian

been

united to masterly execution of detail in France.

at

Italian

the Louvre, and from which

in

Tantique,"

a,

the sixteenth century, that symmetry of architectural

of

principal

very possibly have

"tailleur

as

not Burgundian in style are very pure, and differ scarcely at

richest

Genoa the

we have engraved some elegant ornaments.

of art-workmen

list

carry from

to

Vasque du Chateau de Gaillon, now

Figs. 27, 30, 34, 38)

especially figures in the

a Spaniard

as the

The

details.

the style, some of the most classical of the arabesques were wrought,

lieu

de.

extract from the royal records proves.

deu a Jehan Juste,

1200 que je

mon

lui avoie

sculteur

ordinaire,

Francis
porteur

I.

de

addresses
ceste

la

pardevant or donnez pour la menage et conduite

St Denis en Franco, de la sculpture de

marbre de feuz Roy Loys

et

Novembre 1531."

worthy of study than the tomb of Louis XII., and executed at the same period, are the

HH

117

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
beautiful carvings in alto

Cathedral of Chartres
forty-one

groups,

completing that

Portions of the

Tomb

relievo,

which ornament the whole exterior of the choir of the

the subjects are taken from the lives of our Saviour and the Virgin, and from

fourteen
part

and basso

of which are

of the

[I.,

Duke

the

new clock-tower

work of Jean Texier, who commenced

erected

by him.

of Brittany, and his wife, Marguerite do Foix, erected

by Michel Colombe,

but

friezes,

by Anne

of Brittany in the Carmelite

free

and

graceful,

118

are, perhaps, the

Church

of truth

at Nantes,

and the heads

the arabesque ornaments, which almost entirely cover the projecting parts

and mouldings of the base,

1514, after
full

a.d. 1507.

and beauty, the figures animated and natural, the drapery

life;

in

These compositions are

most beautiful portions

of the

full of

pilasters,

they are very diminutive

>

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
which are those which cover the

in size; the largest of the groups,

Though

inches in breadth.

branches of trees, birds, fountains, bundles of arms, satyrs,

foliage,

much

military ensigns, and tools belonging to various arts, are arranged with

the

monogram

of Francis

I.

is

draperies.

was finished and placed in the choir of the Carmelite Church

of an

the masterpiece

is

peculiarly

are

details

of great

artist

was begun in the year 1515, under Roulant

appears to have assisted in

Michel

was in 1530 and 1531 that Francis

we may,

therefore,

regard

fairly

Italian

an expression

artists.

tbeir advent, and the foundation of the school at

With

No

Penni, Cellini, Trebatti, and

distinguished artists were speedily followed by Nicolo del' Abbate, Luca,

Girolamo della Robbia.

it

as

and Primaticcio into France, and those

invited Rosso

I.

January, 1507.

The ornamental

Roux, master-mason of the Cathedral.

le

of the vigour with which the Renaissance virus had indoctrinated the native
It

1st of

Colombe.

Cardinal d'Arnboise, in the Cathedral at Eouen,

to

execution, and

its

of her father and mother

Nantes on the

at

and naivete

ability

The monument

elegant.

memory

to be erected to the

The tomb which Anne of Brittany caused

It

The F crowned

taste.

conspicuous in these arabesques, and the dates of the years 1525, 1527,

upon the

and 1529, are traced

being only eight or nine

pilasters,

and variety of devices in these orna-

spirit of the carving,

so minute, the

Masses of

ments, are marvellous.

new

Fontainebleau,

elements were introduced into the French Renaissance, to which we shall subsequently advert.
It

would exceed the limits of our present sketch to enter

nected with the art of wood-carving.

available

stone,

for

may

It

or bronze, was

marble,

rapidly transferred

bear

upon the enrichment

sumptuous

of

ever,

as

he

over them,

goes

original foliated

unable

be

will

Our

furniture.

remarks on

furnish brilliant evidence of the justice of our

the

out that
also

every

ornamental feature

LXXXI. and LXXXIL,

The

by a fulness of projection and

slight

capricci," derived

tendency to

student, how-

attentive

ornament which formed the stock-in-trade of the early Renaissance

next notice a heaping up of various objects and "

no

at

more gracefully brought

Nos.

this head.

con-

details

wood -work, and that

to

Plates,

historical

perceiving a gradual withdrawing from the

avoid

to

into

of the sculptor been

period of the history of Industrial Art has the talent

to

point

to

suffice

fully

heaviness

will

from the antique, accompanied

and then,

He

artists.

he will recognise

finally,

the general adoption of a particular set of forms differing from the Italian, and altogether national,

such as the conventional volute incised with small square or oblong indentations (Plate

and 20), and the medallion heads (Plate LXXXI., Figs.

The dawning
glass

of

the

much

by the prevailing

thinner

character,

in

especially

the blue

windows were executed during

than

almost every large church in France.

St.

Gervais at Paris, and Notre

Many improvements were

masters were employed to
losing the richness,

than

canopies,

of

Auch

century.

be found more or
fine figures

glass of the

effect, is

An immense number
less

perfect

of
in

upon a white quarry

century will be found in

at Chalons-sur-Marne.

introduced
cartoons

into
;

the

art

at the

epoch of the Renaissance.

The

first

enamel was used to give depth to the colours without

Many

of the windows are very little

designed by Jean Cousin for the Sainte Chapelle at Vincennes

also contains

generally

are

inscriptions,

although producing a pleasing

and good examples of the

representing the angel sounding the fourth trumpet

The Cathedral

glass,

of the thirteenth

and much more white was employed.

grisailles, as those

and

and crisply made out, and the figures are

freely

The

foliage,

Ouen, at Rouen, has some

St.

Dame

make

that

17).

epoch, and specimens are to

this

ground in the clerestory windows

although

of drawing.

style

Figs. 17

Art in France can scarcely be traced in the painted

revival of

The ornaments,

century.

flamboyant and angular

influenced

coming

rays of the

fifteenth

and

LXXXI.,

is

some exceedingly

admirable, both in
fine

more

one of those

composition and drawing.

examples of the work of Arneaud Demole

Beauvais also possesses a great deal of the glass of this period, especially a very

fine Jesse

119

window,

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
the work of Enguerand

Prince

le

the heads are grand, and the poses of the figures call to mind

the works of Albert Diirer.

The

which ornamented the windows

grisailles,

bourgeoisie, although small, were executed with an

houses of the

the

in

nobility,

and even of the

admirable delicacy, and in drawing and grouping

leave little to be desired.

Toward the end

of the

century the

sixteenth

art

began to decline, the numerous glass-painters

found themselves without employment, and the celebrated Bernard de Palissy, who had been brought

up

the trade,

to

secured

him

left

to

it

engage in another presenting greater

To him, however, we

the highest reputation.

difficulties,

but which eventually

are indebted for the

representing the story of Cupid and Psyche, from the designs of Raffaelle, which

charming

grisailles

formerly decorated

the Chateau of Ecouen, the residence of his great patron the Constable Montmorency.

Renaissance ornament
hearts

the people but

of

From an

acceptation.

penetrated
slowly,

into

Germany

early period there

much

in Italy,

life

their countrymen.

The

and died in 1464,

latter,

who

in

Among

Hemskerk,

many

now

conditions of Italian design, leaning

period,

early

and

to

them,

men

like

and Albert

Germany

is

impure

her

art

into

animated than

graceful,

took

general

Germany and

more

especially influenced

the Gothic manner of his master Wohlgemuth, and

fashion

The spread
in

Germany.

now

of the engravings of the latter, however,

Even

at

men
its

who, like Peter Vischer,

best

the Renaissance

of

hand, rather than of the

head,

and strap-work, jewelled forms, and complicated monsters,

rather

industrious affection

soon led her into crinkum-crankums

leaving

its

Roger of Bruges, who spent

Diirer,

in Germany, unquestionably conduced to the formation of the taste of

brought Italian plastic

artists

quickened

of his engravings showed a perfect apprehension of the

to the Raffaellesque simplicity of Marc' Antonio.

first

but was absorbed into the

engravings

had been a steady current of

Flanders to study in the great Italian ateliers.

of his

an

spread of books

the

until

at

the place

of

for

the

difficulties

refined

of the

elegance

of the

early

Italian

and French

arabesques.

Arabesque by Theodor de Bry, one of the " Petits Maitres

" of Germany (159S) in imitation of Italian work, but

introducing strap-work, caricature, and jewelled forms.

It

may be

well

now

to turn

from the Fine to the Industrial Arts, and to trace the manifestation

of the revival in the designs of contemporary manufactures.

From

the unchanging and unchangeable

nature of vitreous and ceramic products, no historical evidence of style can be more complete and

120

"

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
which they

satisfactory than that

LXXIX., and LXXX.)

and hence we have devoted three entire Plates (Nos. LXXVIII.,

afford,

The majority of the specimens thereon represented have

to their illustration.

been selected from the "majolica" of Italy, on which interesting ware and

its

ornamentation we proceed

to offer a few remarks.

The

art of glazing pottery appears to

the Moors, by

whom

had long been known and used in the form of coloured

it

The earthenware

of their buildings.

have been introduced into Spain and the Balearic

"majolica"

called

of Majorca, whence the manufacture of glazed pottery

Italy

and

geometrical

LXXX.,
and

and

patterns

and

Figs. 31

trefoil

-shaped

was

It

13).

first

1450 and

fact of the

"foliations"

Bologna,

Castel Durante, Gubbio, Urbino, and Ravenna, and also at

is

admitted to be the

and

are of a dingy grey colour,

the

in

century

fifteenth

and

majolica almost entirely superseded

A mode
in

1399.

was

that

said

is

applied

as

The

modelled by him.
it

at the death

lost

it

was not

is

till

many

Ferrara,

was at

It

now and then

believed

first

The

to

figures well relieved

is

of the last

member

the

remained

well adapted

early time,

it

of

who was born

della Robbia,

beautiful

tin,

terra-cotta

Wreaths of

flowers

and

whom

at

Florence to revive

difficulties

but though the art of combining

fruits in

the

their

it

doubt that

to burn large masses truly

tints

costumes were coloured,

Passeri claims the discovery of this coloured

it

with colour

Some

confusion appears to

may have been known

di

Raniere

and

it is

at that

of Cagli and

for the

purpose

not improbable that

have arisen with respect to the precise

by Della Robbia, and looked upon by himself and

little

natural

by the works of Della Robbia, who had been employed by Sigismond

Pandolfo Malatesta at Rimini.

feel

attending

where the manufacture of earthenware was carried on in the

of carrying on the manufacture of earthenware already existing there

We

bas-reliefs

about 1550, when

Ventura di Maestro Simone dei Piccolomini of Siena established themselves at Pesaro,

secret.

and

till

which the pure glistening

chiefly religious, to

had not attained much celebrity until 1462, when Matteo

process invented

at Florence

and other mineral

statues

Attempts have been made

it.

Robbia are

by the deep blue ground.

their attention was attracted

is

the eyes are blackened to heighten the expression, and the white

earlier date for Pesaro,

fourteenth century;

texture

manufacture of " fine

the

in the inventor's family

whilst the flesh parts were allowed to remain unglazed.

still

The

size.

by Passeri and others to have been

were introduced by the followers of Delia Robbia, by some of

glaze at a

of large

though they are more

seen,

after that time that

by Lucca

the surface of

secret of this varnish

subjects of the bas-reliefs of Della

white of the figures

but Pesaro

called " mezzo,"

many

plates,

the manufacture of the Robbian ware, but with small success, owing to the great
it.

Fermignano,

Pesaro,

places in the Abruzzi;

he used for this purpose a mixture of antimony,

varnish

Faenza (whence

it.

of glazing pottery was also discovered

It

substances,

lustre is

This "half" majolica

frequently of a pearly hue.

among brickwork,

have a dull yellow varnish at the back.

coarse and gritty, but the golden and prismatic

made

LXXIX. and

(Plates
tiles

Castillo, Forli,

Rimini,

form of thick clumsy

in the

often

into Central

of this ware was extensively carried on

attained any celebrity.

it

and was usually made

or "half" majolica,

They

town in which

first

character

Arezzo, Citta de

Deruta,

Perugia,

Spello,

Saracenic

of

way

its

the Island

ware being ornamented with

earliest Italian

The manufacture

1700, in the towns of Nocera,

comes fayence), Florence,

name from

supposed to have found

is

by

the decoration

tiles for

believed to derive its

used by introducing coloured concave

form of encaustic flooring.

later in the

between

by the

this belief is strengthened

is

Isles

it

his family as the really valuable

and

firing of the clay to enable

in the protecting glaze,

about which there appears

consisted rather in the tempering

and thoroughly than

to have been very little novelty or necessity for concealment.

Prismatic lustre and a brilliant and transparent white glaze were the qualities chiefly sought for
in the " fine "

majolica

and

Grubbian ware

the metallic lustre was given by

II

preparations of lead,

121

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
and gold, and

silver, copper,

Gubbian ware surpassed

this the

in

was obtained by a varnish made from

tin, into

designs were painted before this was dry, and, as

wondered

we

at that

a mark.

C.

rare, as

immediately absorbed the colours,

subjects generally chosen were

Museum

Hague

at the

and

saints
till

bears a cipher, the letters of which

from Scripture

events

historical

still

The

use.

in

but the former

subject was

attached to each, was of rather later date

tame manner, with

little

generally

The

a reference to the text in blue letters at the back of the plate.

of ornamenting the ware with the portraits of historical, classical,

flat,

not to be

is

the sixteenth century, when they were displaced by scenes

though designs from Scripture were

Virgil,

briefly described with

in a

it

the

the artists of these plates seldom signed their works.

were preferred, and continued in favour

from Ovid and

The dazzling white glaze

Another, mentioned by Pungileoni, has " G. A. T." interlaced, forming

H. 0. N."

These instances are

The

it

others.

all

half-baked, the pottery was plunged

so frequently find inaccuracies in the drawings.

plate of the early Pesaro ware in the

appear to be "

when

which,

fashion

and living persons, with the names

than the sacred themes.

All these

are painted

subjects

attempt at shading, and are surrounded by a kind of rude Saracenic

ornament, differing completely from the Jlaffaellesque arabesques, which, in the latter years of Guidobaldo's

much

were so

reign,

The

in fashion.

plates full of coloured fruits in relief were probably taken

from

the Eobbian ware.

The
in the

decline of this manufacture caused

manufacture

felt

by

was hastened by the introduction

successor,

his

by the Duke's impaired income and the want of

more wealthy

use of plate in the higher and

the increased

classes;

still,

were laid aside, the majolica was ornamented with well-executed designs

of

Oriental

interest

china and

though historical subjects

of

birds, trophies, flowers,

musical instruments, sea monsters, &c, but these became gradually more and more feeble in colouring

and execution

From
it

all

till,

at last,

their

was taken by engravings from Sadeler and other Flemings.

place

these causes the manufacture

rapidly to decay, in spite of the endeavours

fell

made

to revive

by Cardinal Legate Stoppani.

The "fine" majolica

who held

of Pesaro attained

its

greatest perfection during the reign of Guidobaldo II.,

and greatly patronised

his court in that city,

Pesaro so closely resembled that of Urbino, that

it

From

its potteries.

that time, the majolica of

not possible to distinguish the manufacture of

is

the two places from each other, the texture of the ware being alike, and the same artists being often

employed in both

was granted

Italian ware, that a protection

under penalty of

fine

that

vases

all

foreign

and

early as 1486 the Pesaro ware

As

potteries.

confiscation, the

should

be

it,

of

the

of gold to them.

of

Pesaro of that date, not only forbidding,

state

within

eight days.

This protection was

In 1569, a patent for twenty-five years, with a penalty

I.

was granted by Guidobaldo

the construction of vases wrought in

inventions in
application

by the lord

so superior to all other

importation of any kind of foreign pottery, but ordering

out

sent

confirmed, in 1532, by Francesco Maria

of 500 scudi for infringing

to it

was considered

In addition to

II. to

relief,

this, his

Giacomo Lanfranco

of great

father

size

of Pesaro, for his

and antique forms, and his

and himself were freed from

all

taxes

and imposts.

From

its

variety

and novelty, majolica was generally chosen by the

presents to foreign princes.

in a letter

from Lorenzo the Magnificent

similar kind.

by Guidobaldo

to Philip

service painted

II.,

or subject of

122

to

Duchy

Sixtus IV, certain " vasa

for their

fictilia

"

and

Kobert Malatesta, he returns thanks for a present of a

by Orazio Fontana from designs by Taddeo Zuccaro, was presented

II. of Spain.

set of jars presented to the

Guidobaldo

In 1478, Costanza Sforza sent to

lords of the

double service was also given by him to Charles V.

Treasury of Loreto by Francesco Maria

for the use of [his

own

laboratory;

some other description, and

all

are

II.

were made by the order of

some of them are ornamented with

labelled with the

name

The

portrait,

of a drug or mixture.

The

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
them

colours of these jars are blue, green, and yellow; about 380 of

Loreto.

remain in the Treasury of

Passeri gives an interesting classification of ornamental pottery, with the terms

whom

the sums paid to the artists by

made use of

used in ornamenting the plates, and

to distinguish the various kinds of paintings

by the workmen
also

still

He

they were painted.

gives a curious

extract

from a

manuscript in the handwriting of Piccolpasso, a "majolicaro" of the middle of the sixteenth century,
who wrote upon his art; to understand which it is necessary to remember that the bolognino was
equivalent to the ninth

part,

and the gros to

the third part, of a paul (5g pence)

was a third, and the

ecu

Eoman

of a

the livre

two thirds of a petit

petit ecu, or ecu ducal,

and the

florin

two thirds

crown (now value four shillings and

threepence one farthing).

Trophies.

This style of ornament consisted

modern arms, musical and ma-

of ancient and

instruments,

thematical

and open books

are generally painted in yellow

they

cameo on a blue

These plates were chiefly sold in the

ground.

province (Castel Durante) in which they were

manufactured, one ducal crown a hundred being

sum paid

the

the painters of them.

to

This

was much affected by the Cinque-centisti

style

in marble and stone

witness the

monument

to

Gian Galeazzo Visconti, in the Certosa, Pavia,

and portions

of the

Genoese doorway we

en-

grave.

Arabesques were ornaments consisting of a

sort of cipher, loosely tied,

and interlacing knots

and bouquets.

Work

to Venice and

Genoa, and obtained one ducal

florin the

thus ornamented was sent

hundred.

Cerquate was a name given to the interlacing

of oak-branches, painted in a deep yellow

a blue ground

upon

was called the " Urbino painting," from the oak being one of the bearings of the

it

Pedestal forming part of a Doorway of the Palace, presented by the Genoese

to Andrea Doria.

This kind of decoration received fifteen gros

ducal arms.

bottom of the plate was ornamented, by having some

little

the

hundred; and when, in addition, the

story painted

upon

it,

the artist received

one petit ecu.

Grotesques were the interlacing of winged male and female monsters, with their bodies terminated

by

or

foliations

blue ground

branches.

These fanciful decorations were generally painted in white cameo upon a

the payment for them being two ecus the hundred, unless they were painted on commission

from Venice, when the price was eight ducal

Leaves.

This

the ground.

ornament consisted of a few branches of

Their price was three

Flowers and Fruits.

for

them

five

livres

These

the

hundred.

leaves, small in

size,

and sprinkled over

livres.

very pleasing groups

Another variety

four large leaves, painted in one colour

florin

livres.

upon a

were sent
of the

to

same

different-coloured

Venice, and the artists

style

received

merely consisted in three or

ground.

Their price

was half a

the hundred.

123

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
name

Porcelain was the

of a

of work which consisted of the most delicate

style

with small leaves and buds painted upon a white ground.

livres the

hundred.

It was, in all

blue

flowers,

This kind of work obtained two or more

probability, an imitation of Portuguese importations.

Tratti were wide bands, knotted in different ways, with small branches issuing from them.
price

was

two

also

livres

Soprabianco was a painting

the margin of the plate.
QiLartieri.

In

upon a white-lead ground, with green

in white

or blue borders round

These obtained a demi-ecu the hundred.

pattern

this

Their

the hundred.

the

artist

divided the

diverging from the centre to the circumference

were painted bouquets of different

The

tints.

bottom of the plate into

each space was of a particular

or eight

six

rays,

upon which

colour,

painters received for this kind of ornament two

livres

the hundred.

Gruppi.
the "

These

tratti,"

This pattern was larger than

were broad bands interwoven with small flowers.

and was sometimes embellished by a

the price of a demi-ecu, but without

it

little

picture in the centre of the plate

in that case

only two jules.

fl

Portions of the Pilaster of a Doorway in the Palace at Genoa, presented by the Genoese to Andrea Doria.

Candelabri.

This

ornament was an upright bouquet extending from one

the other, the space on each side being

candelabri was two

florins

the

filled

hundred.

up with

in detail

scattered leaves and flowers.

of

the

The

plate to

price of the

The adjoining woodcut shows how common, how

and how favourite a subject this was with the best

To dwell

side

artists

early,

of the Cinque-cento.

upon the merits and particular works

Maestro Giorgio Andreoli,

of artists, such as

Orazio Fontana, and Francesco Xanto of Rovigo, would be beyond the scope of this notice, and
less necessary

out some
subject.

as

Mr. Robinson,

new and

Catalogue of the

in his

highly interesting speculations upon

Neither will

it

Soulages

Collection,

has

so

is

the

recently thrown

various difficult questions connected with the

be desirable here to do more than point out the interesting modifications

of ceramic design and practice carried out in France through the indomitable perseverance of Bernard

de Palissy, master-potter to Francis

I.

In Plate

LXXIX.

Figs

and

3,

we have engraved

several

specimens of the decorations of his elegant ware, which occupy as to design, in reference to other

monuments

of the French Renaissance,

much

does to the monuments of the Italian revival.

124

the same position that the design of the early majolica

Although that

style

began to make

its

appearance in

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
the works of the French jewellers in the reign of Louis XII., when the extensive patronage of the

powerful Cardinal d'Amboise gave considerable impetus to the

Court the great master of the Renaissance

to his

the jeweller's art reached

appreciate,

its

highest

is

it

in

who

invited

To

rightly

and nature of the

necessary to pass in rapid review the

leading characteristics of the admirable

whose productions

I.,

Cellini that

perfection.

however, the precise condition

precious metal-work,

was under Francis

art, it

school

the fifteenth century, and

enamellers,

of

much more

in

the sixteenth, served to disseminate far and wide some of the

most elegant ornaments which have ever been applied to metalwork.

About the end of the fourteenth century, the

moges

artists of Li-

found not only that the old champleve enamels,

of which,

in Plate

LXXVIL,

we have

given, for the sake of contrast, numerous examples,

Figs.

1,

3, 4, 8, 29, 40, 41, 50, 53, 57, 61,

had entirely gone out of fashion, but that almost every goldsmith either imported the translucid enamels from Italy, or executed them himself with

more or

less

according to his

skill,

In this state of things, instead of attempting competi-

talents.

they invented a new manufacture, the processes of which

tion,

belonged solely to the enameller, and enabled him to dispense

entirely with the

The

burin of the goldsmith.

first

attempts

were exceedingly rude, and very few of them now remain; but
that the

progressed

art.

slowly

evident from

is

the

fact,

that

not until the middle of the fifteenth century that specimens

it is

are to be found in any quantity, or possessing

The

merit.

process

any degree of

was this: The design was traced

with

a sharp point upon an unpolished plate of copper, which

then covered with

after

artist,

a thin

coat

of transparent

enamel.

going over his tracing with a thick black

was

The
line,

in the intervals with the various colours, which were, for

filled

the most part, transparent, the black lines performing the

of the gold strips of the cloisonne

sented the greatest difficulty, and were,

office

The carnations pre-

work.
first

of

all,

covered over

with the black colour, and the high lights and half-tints were

then modelled upon that with opaque white, which occasionally

received a few touches of light transparent red.
tion was to

apply the gilding, and to

preious stones,

almost

affix

The

last

opera-

the imitations

of

the last trace of the Byzantine school,

which had formerly exercised so .much influence in Aquitaine.

The appearance
enamel,
latter

in

resemblance not unlikely to have

construction

of scroll- work of a

small Pilaster, by the Lombardi, in the Church of

Sta. Maria dei Miracoli, Venice.

of the finished works was very similar to that of a large

were never made of any considerable

the

and

Lower portion showing the springing

and coarse translucid

been intentional, more especially as specimens of the

size,

and were therefore

fit

to supply

the place of ivory

of those small triptychs which were so necessary an appendage to the chambers

oratories of the rich in the

middle ages.

Accordingly,

we

find nearly all the early painted enamels

are either in the form of triptychs or diptychs, or have originally formed parts of

kk

them

and a great

125

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
number
in

preserve their original brass frames, and are supposed

the atelier of Monvearni, as the

As to the

workmen

other

of the

they

artists,

name

followed,

by antiquaries

have been produced

to

found upon them.

or initials of that master are generally

unfortunately,

common

but too

the

of most of the

practice

middle ages, and, with the exceptions of Monvearni and P. E. Nicholat,

more

inscriptions have been

correctly read, Penicaud,

names

their

the

as

or,

are buried in oblivion.

At the commencement of the sixteenth century the Renaissance had made great progress; and
other changes, a great taste for paintings in " camaieu,"' or " grisaille," had sprung up.
The

among

of

ateliers

Limoges

may be

once adopted the new fashion, and what

at

The process was very nearly the same

painted enamels was the result.

and consisted

to the carnations of the earlier specimens,

called

the second series of

employed with regard

as that

covering the whole plate of copper

in, firstly,

over with a black enamel, and then modelling the lights and half-tints with opaque white
requiring to be coloured, such as the faces and the foliage, receiving glazes of their

touches

of gold are almost always used to complete the picture; and occasionally,

ordinary brilliancy was wanted, a thin gold

or

silver

leaf,

the black ground, and the glaze afterwards superposed.

two

pictures of Francis

and Henry

I.

owed no small debt

famous Leonardo da Vinci.

copies of the early

German and

ever yet

many

Museum

others

who not only

been employed

to distinguish

Italian masters, or the original

executed,

Duke

of

Guise, the

we must remember,

for the purposes

in

The works

of art.

and contemporaneously with him flourished a large school of

quite

they

equalled, if

not surpass, his

did

applied

upon

be seen in the

to

established a manufactory in

most

of the

more

more celebrated of

Montmorency, Catherine de
difficult

material which has

Leonardo extend from 1532 to 1574,

many

artist-enamellers,

Among them we may

own.

still

whether we regard his

artist,

Constable

of

du Roi," giving him,

him from the other and

portraits

the

Limoges, indeed,

of the Louvre.

And, indeed, the Limousin was no mean

contemporaries, such as those of the

Medicis, and

are

director, Leonard, "peintre, emailleur, valet-de-chambre

its

same time, the appellation of "le Limousin,"

at the

his

to the

of gratitude to the former monarch,

the town, but made

processes

these

tints

when more than

was

"pallion,"

those parts

executed by Leonard Limousin, for the decoration of the

II.,

now been removed

Sainte Chapelle, but which have

All

called

appropriate

of whose

works

mention Pierre Raymond

and the families of the Penicauds, and the Courteys, Jean and Susanna Court, and M. D. Pape.
eldest

of the

family

The

of the Courteys, Pierre, was not only a good artist, but has the reputation

of

having made the largest-sized enamels which have ever been executed (nine of these are preserved in
the

Museum

Hotel de

of the

Cluny the

other

three,

M. Labarte informs

Francis

I.

and Henry

II.

We

are

us,

decorating the facade of the Chateau de Madrid, upon which building large

in

England)

for

sums were lavished by

should observe that this last phase of Limoges enamelling was not

confined, like its predecessor, to sacred subjects; but, on the contrary, the most

distinguished artists

did not disdain to design vases, caskets, basins, ewers, cups, salvers, and a variety of other articles

of every-day

which were afterwards entirely covered with the black enamel, and then decorated

life,

with medallions, &c. in

the

opaque white.

At the commencement

subjects of most of the enamels were furnished from the prints of the

Schoen, Israel van Mecken, &c.

and other

Italians,

works of Virgilius

The production
whole of the
finally

expired.

of

the

new manufacture, the

German

artists,

such as Martin

These were afterwards supplanted by those of Marc' Antonio Raimondi

which, in their turn, gave way about the middle of the sixteenth century to the
Solis,

Theodore de Bry, Etienne de l'Aulne, and others of the petits-maitres.

of the painted enamels was carried on with great activity at Limoges, during the

fifteenth,

The

sixteenth,

last artists

and seventeenth

centuries,

and

far

into

the

eighteenth,

when

it

were the families of the Nouaillers and Laudins, whose best works

are remarkable for the absence of the paillons, and a somewhat undecided style of drawing.

In conclusion,

126

it

remains for us only to invite the student to cultivate the beauties, as sedulously

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
as

in Art

no

extravagancies, of the

eschew the

he should

than in Polity, great responsibility

less

Renaissance
is

Ornament

him have

let

in

would nakedness.

over-finery as he

and conventional elements

upon the

intellect:

he

objects,

really

composition

no story to

and most harmonious

closest

another, or even to issue from

its

set

afforded

a rein upon his fancy.

him be modest and

let

decorous, avoiding

him be content with

tell, let

floriated

forms

relations,

call

by the comparatively direct

observation

arrest

the more sure of attaining his purpose.

and indeed demands, the association of the

of,

is

which please the eye without making any serious

wishes to

may be

he

bound to

especially

Keep them

never lose sight of the unities and specialties of each.

the artist

on the

its

If he has

Renaissance, allows

which, like the

but in

his enrichments,

in

then, where

of material

representation

abundance

is

liberty

In those styles in which the imagination

incurred.

of the designer can be checked only from within, he

Where great

style.

In a style
Arts, let

Sister

as a well-ordered family,

but never permit one to assume the prerogatives of

own, to invade

its

So ordered and maintained,

Sister's province.

those styles are noblest, richest, and best adapted to the complicated requirements of a highly artificial

system,

social

which, as in that of the

in

Painting, Sculpture, and the

Renaissance, Architecture,

highest technical excellence in Industry, must unite before

and indispensable conditions

essential

its

of effect can be efficiently realised.

M.

DIGBY WYATT.

BOOKS REFERRED TO FOR ILLUSTRATIONS.

LITERARY AND PICTORIAL.

Emblemata D. A.

Alciati (A.)

tiila; ac,<]u<e

Alciati,

denuo ab ipso Autore recog-

desiderabantur, imaginibus locupletata.

Accesserunt

(J.

XVI

au

Small 8vo.

Paris, 1823.

Lyons, 1551.
Collezione del migliori Ornamenti

anlichi, sparsi

Hella citta di Venezia,colV agg'uinta di alanii

nrchitelliira e di varie invenzioni di tin

Oblong

R. Accademia.

1.

Paris

Bai.tard.
des

Descriptions

4to.

Monumens,

ses

ct

fnimmenli diGotica
Giovane Alunno di questa

Venezia, 1831.

le

Citoyen

Beckek and

avec

Amanry Duval

Louvre, St. Cloud, Fonlainblean, Chateau d'Ecouen,

Large Folio.

<tc.

2 vols.

Paris, 1803-5.
J.

des Mittelalters

von Hefner. Kuntswerke und Gerdthschaften

und der Renaissance. 2 vols. 4to. Frankfurt,

astery of

San

Wood-Carvings from the Choir of the Mon-

Pietro at Perugia, 1535.

{Cinque-cento.)

Said to

(A.)

Recueil d'Orncments de la Renaissance.

graves a I'eau-forte.

Chatty.

Dessine's et

Pittoresque.

Monumens

et

Fragmens

Meubles, Armes, Armures, et Objets de Curiosity

au XVIP Steele. Destine d'apres Nature par Chapuy, &c.
Avec an Texte archiologique, descriptif, et historique, par M.
a" Architecture,

Morel.

5 vols, small Folio.

Clerget et George.

Paris, 1861.

Dukes of Urbino,

the

With an Alias of Plates.

dinal d'Amboise.

^^

Tombeaux de la Cathedrale de Rouen

gravies.
8vo. Rouen, 1837.

&

(G.

La

F.)

to

illustrating the

1030.

3 vols.

plates.

Folio.
(L.)

4to.

Paris, 1850.

avec douze planclies,

Certosa di Pavia, descritta ed illustraia

con tavole, incise dai fratelli Gaetano

Francesco Durelli.

62

Milan, 1853.

Essai sur I'Hisloire de la Peinturc sur Email.

8vo.

Paris, 1839.
J.)

L' Architecture du

qui en dependent,

le

Vc

au

XVI"

Siecle et les Arts

Sculpture, la Peinture Murale, la Peinturc

sur Verre, la Mosdique, la Ferronnerie, <tc, publics d'apres

Travaux
4to.

inedits des

principaux Architectes Francais

t-l

les

Strangers.

Paris, 1851, et 3eq.

Ghiberti (Lorenzo).

d'Omements de la Renais-

di Firenze.

4(i

par Ch. Ernest Clerget. Gravis sur

par C. E. Clerget el Mme. E. George.

description

in

cnivrc d'apres les origin avx

*vo.

Paris, 1838-40.

Collection portative

sance, recueillis et choisis

Memoirs of

publies d'apres les Regislres Manuscrits des Tre'soriers du Car-

Gailhabaud

Paris, n. d.

4to.

Le Moyen -Age

(J.

6 vols. Folio.

(A.)
Unedited Documents on the History of France.
Camples de De'penses de la Construction du Chdleau de Gaillon,

Dussieux

be from designs by Kaffaelle.

Bernard

Ouvrage enrichi de 525 planchts.

Monumens,

Siecle, jusqu'a son Renouvellement

Arms, Arts, and IAterature of Italy from 1440

8vo. London, 1851.

Durelli

1852.

Bergamo (Stefano Da).

IVe

Deville

measure's, dessine's, ei grave's,

Historiques, par

Dennistoun

Histoire de I'Art par ses

B. L. G. S.)

depuis sa Decadence au

unna aliquot ab Autore Emblemata suisquoque eiconibus insignita.

Antonelli (G.)

C.

DAgincourt

Ijc Ire

Porte del Battisterio di San Giovanni

engraved in outline by Lasinio, with

French and Italian. Folio, half morocco.
plates,

Firenze, 1821.

Hopeer.

Collection of

Ornaments

in the

Grotesque Style, by Bovfir.

127

RENAISSANCE ORNAMENT.
Imbard. Tombeaux de Louis XII, et de Francois I., dessine's et graves
au trait, par E. F, Imbard, d'apres des Marbres du Muse'e des
Small Folio. Paris, 1823.
Petit* Augustins.
Rechcrches sur I'Usage

Fubinai, (A.)

I'Origine des Tapisseries a

et

l',rsunnages, dites Historie'es, depuis I'Antiquite jusqii'au

De Lauorde
classes

(Le Comte Alexandre).

chronologiquemcnt,

hi.-ioriqtics et

XVI

8vo. ph. Paris, 1640,

Siecle inclusivement.

Les

Monumens

2 vols.

de

la

France,

Rapport des Faits

Folio.
Paris, 1816-30.

Emaux exposes dans les Gaieties du Musee

Premiere partie, Histoire et Descriptions.
8vo.

De Laborde.

Notice des

du Louvre.
Paris, 1852.

Labarte

(J.)

Description des Objets d'Art qui composent la Collecprece'de'c

d'une Introduction

Le Moyen Age

Lacuoix et Sere.
des Sciences,

Europe.

Commerce

des Arts, des Litte'ratures, et des

Artistiqut de

M. Ferdinand

A.Rivavd.

5 vols. 4to.
Atlas des

(Ai.ex.)

Sere.

Monumens

de la France, depuis

Francois

Folio.

et

M. Paul

et

et

de I'Industrie,

les

Direction

Dessins fac-similes par

M.

des Arts liberunx, mecaniques,

les

Gaulois jusqu'au reane de

Paris, 1828.

Monnmens Francois ; on,

chronologique des Statues en Marbre et
des

Histoire des Pciiitures snr Majoliques faites a Pesari

par Giambattista Passeri

licux circonvoisins, de'erite

Traduite de I'ltalien

Henri Delange.

Queriere (E. de

Essai sur

la).
el

Piguons.

La

4to.

Fleur de

les Girouettes,

Epis, Cretes, dc, des

Paris, 1846.

la Science dc Pourlraictiire et

Facou Arabicque

Brodcrie.

Appendice par

Numerous plates of Ancient Vanes

and Terminations of Roofs.

.Renaissance.

et suivie d'un

Paris, 1853.

8vo.

et

Ylalique.

Cum

Patrons de

Privilegio Regis.

Paris.

Ornemens des Anciens Mailres des XV., XVI.,

Siecles.
30 plates, comprising copies of some
of the most ancient and rare Prints of Ornaments, Alphabets,

Reynard

(0.)
et

XVIII.

Silverwork.

Paris, 1844.

Folio.

Histoire
Les Arts Somptuaires de V au XVIIe Siecle.
du Costume et de I'Ameublement en Europe, et des Arts que en
dependent.
Small 4to. Paris, 1853.
(F.)

Beaux Arts en

Lacroix.

Paris, 1848-51.

et industriels

I.

Renaissance, Histoire

et la

Direction Littiraire dc

Musee

B.)

{de Pe'saro).

Sere

Description des Ma?urs et Usages, du

Lenoir

Historique.

Paris, 1817.

8vo.

(J.

dans

XVII.

Debruge-D umenil,

tion

et

Anciens Combles

et considered sous le

de I'Etitde des Arts.

Passeri

Sommerai'.d (A. Du).

Hotel de Cluny.)

Les Arts an Moyen Age. (Collection of the

Text, 5 vols. 8vo.; Plates, 6 vols. Folio.

Paris, 1838-40.

Verdier et Cattois. Architecture Civile et Domestique, au Moyen

Age et a la Renaissance. 4to. Paris, 1852.
Examples of Architectural Art in Italy and
Folio.
London,
Spain, chiefly of the 13th and Kith Centuries.
1850.

Waring and MacQuoid.

Description historique
en Bronze, Bas-reliefs

Tombeaux, des Homines et des Feinmes celebres, qwur servir a

I'Histoire de France et a cclle de I'Art.
Orne'e de gravures
et augmentee d'une Dissertation sur les Costumes de chaque siecle.
et

vols. 8vo.

Marry at

Paris, 1800-6.

Collections towards a Historg of Pottery

and Porcelain
and Eighteenth Centuries,
with a Description of the Manufacture ; a Glossary, and a List of
Monograms. Illustrated with Coloured Plates and Woodcuts.
London, 1850.
8vo.
(J.)

in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth,

MoBUl

The Life of Bernard Palissy of

and Discoveries in Art and Science, with an
Outline of his Philosophical Doctrines, and a Translation of Illustrative Selections from his Works.
2 vols. 8vo.
London, 1852.
(H.)

Palissy the Potter.

Salutes, his Labours

128

Wili.emin (N. X.)

toire

Monuments

des Arts, depuis

le

Fruiifuis inedits,

VIe

pour servir a I'Hiscommencement du

Siecle jusqu'au

XVII'.

Choix de Costumes civiles et militaires, d'Armes,

Armures, Instruments de Musique, Meubles dc touts espece, et de
Decorations interieures et exterieures des Maisons, dessines, graves,
el

colories d'apres les originaux.

accompagnes cCun

Classes chronologiquemcnt, et

te cte historique et descriptif,

6 vols, small Folio.

Wyatt, M. Digby, and

J.

par Andre Pottier.

Paris, 1800-3!).

B. Waring.

Hand-book to the Renaissance

London, 1854.

Court in the Crystal Palace, Sydenham.

Wyatt, M. Digbv.
1851.

Metal Work and

its

Artistic Design.

London,

CAJ

6<yv

Chapter

XVIII. Plates

83, 84, 85.

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT,
fr r

PLATE LXXXIII.
The centre portion

1.

of the

neypiece, formerly in the

now

in the

Robing

Ornament in a Stone ChimRoyal Palace, Westminster,

Room

8.

Wood

of the Judges' Court of

9.

Wood

Queen's Bench.

Stone Carving from an old House, Bristol.

3.

Frieze,

4.

Ornaments

James

I.

10, 15.

6, 7.

Wood

0.

Wood

a Church Pew, Wiltshire.

Carving

James

from

Burton

Agnes

James

Palace,

I.

Tomb

Carving in Stone from the

13.

Wood

at Westminster

I.

Carving, from Montacute, in Somersetshire.

Elizabeth.

Yorkshire.

I.

Carving over a Doorway to a House near Nor-

wich.

James

11, 12.

Elizabeth.
in

I.

Carving, from a Chimneypiece, Old

Abbey.

from Goodrich Court, Herefordshire. Time of

Henry VHL or Elizabeth. Flemish Workmanship.
in

James

Bromley, near Bow.

2.

Pew, Pavenhani Church,

Carving, from a

Bedfordshire.

14.

Stone Carving, from Crewe Hall.

16.

Wood

Elizabeth.

James

I.

Carving, from the Hall of Trinity College,

Cambridge.

PLATE LXXXIV.
1.

Stone Ornament, Burton Agnes, Yorkshire.

2.

Painted Ornament, Staircase, Holland House, Kensington.

James

3.

Wood

4.

Ditto, ditto.

5.

Wood

James

13, 14.

I.

Charles
15, 24, 26.

I.

17.

James

Late

Stone Ornament from one of the

19. 21.

Elizabeth,

Ornaments from Burton Agnes, Yorkshire.

12,10.

Wood

last of late date

pub.

Crewe

Hall,

Cheshire.

I.

Ornament on a Bethesdan Marble Chimneypiece,

Wood

Ornaments, in Peter Paul Pindar's House,

Diaper, Old Palace, Enfield.

Diaper, Aston Hall.

James

James

I.

I.

I.

From

a Cabinet.

23.

a Tomb, Westminster Abbey.

25.

From
From

27.

Wood

28.

Plaster Enrichment to a Panel Ceiling at

I.

Pavenham

James

Ornament, from Burton Agnes, Yorkshire.

22.

Elizabeth.

Ornaments, from the Pewing,

Church. Bedfordshire. James I.

Wood

James

Tombs at Westminster.

Elizabeth.

11.

The

from

Diapers,

Bishopsgate.

7.

an Old Chair.

Wood
Wood

18. 20.

I.

From

10.

Agnes.

II.

Little Charlton House, Kent.

Aston Hall, Warwickshire.

6.

8, 9.

Stone

James

Carving, Holland House.

Carving,

From Burton

James I.

French Workmanship.

Tomb, Aston Church.

Janu-.s

James

I.

I.

Carving, from the Staircase, Aslou Hall,

Warwickshire. Late James I.
Hall, Highgate.

Charles

II.

129

Cromwell

ELIZABETHAN OKNAMENT.

PLATE LXXXV.
Diapers from Burton Agnes, Yorkshire.

1, 15, 18.

Wood

2.

Late James

Elizabeth.

4.

Wood Diaper, from an old House at Enfield. James I.

5.

Plaster Diaper, from an old

Church.

green

From

11.

Applique' Needlework.

a Damask Cover
James I.

House

collection of

the subject in light yellow, blue, or green

Tomb

Westminster.

at

to a Chair at

James

Mr. Mackinlay.

Knowle,

or Charles

I.

The ground

silk

outline,

in Kent.

In thP

I.

in dark red

yellow

Patterns from Dresses, Old Portraits.

12. 14, 10, 17.

beth or James

silk

Eliza-

I.

Applique' Needlework.

13.

silk cord.

cord.

Elizabeth.

the outline, yellow

in

the ornament in yellow

near Tottenham

Needlework Tapestry. Elizabeth, (j size.) From

the collection of Mr. Mackinlay. The ground, light

7.

10.
I.

From Drapery in a Tomb at Westminster.

3.

Drapery

Elizabeth.

Cambridge.
Ditto, ditto.

C, 8.

from

Pattern

9.

Diaper, from the Hall of Trinity College,

James

I.

or Charles

By

I.

an

Italian Artist.

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT.
Prior

be well to trace

the

briefly

triumph over the

of

Henry

monument

of the Countess of

shortly afterwards,

of Henry, by

went

whom

names preserved

Richmond

still

exists in

In the same

style,

to us at this

to design a
is

almost a

and of about the same date,

is

Torrigiano designed this also, and, very

behind him several Italians attached

to

the

service

Amongst the

time are Girolamo da Trevigi, employed as an architect and engineer,

to these

Nunziata), painters, and the well-known Florentine sculptor,

(del'

may be

added, though at a later period, John of Padua,

more extensively employed than any of the

designed old Somerset House in 1549.

development of the new

to its final

introduction of the Eevival

first

Westminster Abbey, and which

at Westminster;

to Spain, leaving, however,

Benedetto da Rovezzano

or

England

a taste for the same style could not be otherwise than propagated.

Bartolomeo Penni, and Antony Toto

to have been

The

in

style, it will

when Torrigiano was employed by Henry VIII.

VII., which

pure example of the Italian school at that period.

the

commonly termed the Elizabethan

Gothic style in the sixteenth century.

late

memory

in

is

and progress of the revival of the Antique

rise

into England dates from the year 1518,

monument

what

to describing the characteristics of

But

style in this country

it
;

others, and,

who appears

amongst other important works,

was not a purely Italian influence which aided in the

and already we find the names of Gerard Hornebande,

Horebout, of Ghent, Lucas Cornells, John Brown, and Andrew Wright, Serjeant -painters to the

In the year 1524 the celebrated Holbein came to England, and to him and John of Padua

king.

mainly due the naturalization of the new

German

style in this country, modified

is

by the individual genius and

education of the one, and the local models and reminiscences of the other, by

whom many

features of the earlier Venetian school of the Eevival were reproduced, with great modifications, however,

in this country.

Holbein died in 1554, but John of Padua survived him

the noble mansion of Longleat about the year 1570.

A.D. 1553,

(before

we

find in

On

many

the rule for the procession (Archceol. vol.

being English.

Somewhat

later,

and designed

the occasion of the funeral of

xii.

Edward VI.

1796) the names of Antony Toto

mentioned), Nicholas Lyzarde, painters, and Nicholas Modena, carver;

of master-masons, &c.

years,

all

the other names

during the reign of Elizabeth, we find only

two Italian names, Federigo Zucchero (whose house at Florence, said to have been designed by himself,

would rather serve to show that the English

style of architecture

had influenced him, than vice versa),

and Pietro Ubaldini, painter of illuminated books.

It

is

from Holland that, at this period, when the Elizabethan

130

style

may be

justly said to

have

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT.
been formed, we must look

Marc Garrard of Bruges, H.

of Gouda,

Ketel

number

the greater

for

Hollander,

who executed

of Cleves,

who was

Vroom

C.

monument

Sussex

the

of artists

of Haarlem, painters;

Boreham church,

in

Besides these

the architects,

Shute (the

we approach now a goodly array

Robert

latter,

monument

new

the

first scientific

work on Architecture

more extended by

still

and

I.,

to

them

in

1619
style,

reign

I.'s

an example which could hardly

Pallavicini, in

Stone and
sepulchral

century

sixteenth

of the

style

his house

had

i. e.

Most of the above-named

architects

much

monuments,

it

in

Bernard

of Architecture."*

vogue during the reign of James

been, moreover,

(now destroyed)

at

the

name

I.

of Inigo

JoDes brings us

was displaced speedily

even

introduced

before

Shelford, Cambridgeshire

Little

The Palladian

by

this

Sir

Horatio

and although Nicholas

to have continued the old style, especially

the more pure, but

for

very

on the occasion of the rebuilding of Whitehall

producing a complete revolution in Art.

of

fail

son, architects and sculptors, appear

his

in English, A.D. 1563), Hilliard the

Henry Wotton's " Elements

Sir

nearly to the complete downfall of the Elizabethan

;

of Dr. Caius about the year

due the facade of Northumberland House, Strand.

is

Before the close of James

Palace

Caius

during the early part of the seventeenth century, at which time the knowledge of

also

Jansen and Gerard Chrismas, both natives of Holland, were

and Charles

and Theodore Haveus

and Bernard Adams, the Smithsons, Bradshaw, Harrison, Holte, Thorpe, and

author of the

was

style

Stevens, a

of English names, the most remarkable being

goldsmith and jeweller, and Isaac Oliver, the portrait-painter.

were employed

Suffolk:

Richard

architect of the four gates, Humilitatis, Vertutis, Honoris, et Sapiential, at

College, Cambridge, and, moreover, designed and executed the

1573.

Lucas de Heere of Ghent, Cornelius

less

in

picturesque fashion of

the best Italian schools.

Thus, taking the date of Torrigiano's work at Westminster, 1519, and that of the commencement

we may include most

of Whitehall by Inigo Jones in 1619,

of the works of art during that century

as within the so-called Elizabethan period.

In the foregoing
names.

In the

first

list

of artists

for

fluctuating

Henry

period, or during the reign of

and amongst them we are

&c.

we perceive

justified in placing

mixture of Italian, Dutch, and English

VIII., the Italian

names are

dominant,

clearly

Holbein himself, since his ornamental works in metal,

example, the goblet designed by him for Jane Seymour, and a dagger and sword, probably

executed for the king

arabesques painted by

exhibit
him

purity and gracefulness

the large

in

though more grotesque and heavy, are

still

picture of

Henry VIII. and

close imitations

of the Royal Chapel at St. James's Palace, designed by

him

The

worthy of Cellini himself.

of style

his family at

of cinque-cento
in 1540,

models

Hampton

quite in the style of

is

Court,

and the ceiling

many

rich

examples at Venice and Mantua.

During the reign of Elizabeth we meet with a great preponderance of Dutch names,

for

this

country was bound both by political and religious sympathy with Holland; and although the greater

number

are described as painters only, yet

in those days, painters being frequently

carved, and even for architecture;

scope for ornamental design,

as,

and
for

we must remember how

employed
in the

to

design

accessories

closely all the Arts were connected

models for ornament, both painted and

of their

own

pictures

was found frequent

example, may be seen in the portrait of Queen Mary, painted

by Lucas de Heere, having panelled compartments of geometrical interlaced forms,

jewelled foliage.

During the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign we

that a very important influence

Protestant States of the

*

The works

of

Low

filled

are, then, justified in

up with

concluding

must have been exercised on English Art through the medium of the

Countries, and of

Lomazzo and De Lorme

Germany

also.f

It

was during this period,

also,

that

are said to liave been translated into English during the reign of Elizabeth, but I have

never met with eopies of them.

f The remarkable monument of Sir Francis Vere (lime, James
of Nassau, in the cathedral of Breda (sixteenth centurv).

I.)

at Westminster, is almost identical in design with that of Englebert

131

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT.
Heidelberg Castle was principally built (1556-1559)

and

would [not appear unlikely % that

it

may

it

have had an effect on English Art when we remember that the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James

I.,

held court here as Queen of Bohemia, at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

At the

James

of Elizabeth's reign, and during that of

latter part

and appear, with the exception of Jansen and Chrismas, to have the
it

at this period

is

we expect

that

we meet with the names

that

to find a

I.,

English

field

more decidedly native

are numerous,

artists

to themselves

And, in

school.

consequently

now

fact, it is

of English designers connected with such buildings (and with their con-

comitant decoration) as Audley End, Holland House, Wollaton, Knowle, and Burleigh.

Thus we may expect

and

VIII.'s reign;

to

meet with the purest Italian ornament in the works of the

LXXXIIL,

but in the examples given in Plate

by the decorative
style continued

of

by English

Even

in

many

works in

of the style of ornament practised

In the reign of James

There

latter part of his reign.

ornament of

this period,

and

may be

at the close of the fifteenth century

decorative

During Elizabeth's reign we perceive

3.

little,

is

many

parts all

may be remarked

it

scroll,

and

more noticeable

still

beautifully

Komano, present

band, nail-head, and festoon-work: the same

is

in

it

the

frontispieces

As regards another main

complicated and fanciful interlaced bands,

excellent designs of the class of engravers

known

we must seek

as the

feature

work on

in Elizabethan ornament,

origin

its

great

of Serlio's

the

in

numerous

and

" petits-maitres " of Germany and the Nether-

and more particularly those of Aldegrever, Virgilius

lands,

The

Giulio

of

of foreign

open scroll-work

of the stained-glass windows of the Laurentian Library, Florence, by Giovanni da

Architecture, published in Paris in 1515.

the

same

LXXXIV.,

simply a modification

is

seen the germs of the

such as stained glass and illuminated books.

Italy,

the character of Elizabethan

Udine (1487-1561);

viz.

find the

then, that can be justly termed

executed ornamental borders, &c. of Giulio Clovio (1498-1578), pupil

in

we

I.

but generally in a larger manner, as at Nos. 5 and 11, Plate

artists,

in the character of the

models.

and

Germany and the Netherlands.

from Aston Hall, built at the

original

Nos.

of Italian models, and a complete adoption

artists

Henry

be found to be the case, not only on the subjects we have already mentioned,

this will

but a slight imitation

artists of

of

Solis

Nuremberg, Daniel

Hopfer

of

Augsburg, and Theodore de Bry, who sent forth to the world a great number of engraved ornamental

Nor should we

designs during the sixteenth century.

very

the

fanciful

which Vertue

Dieterlin,

House.

and

thoroughly

Elizabethan

and

ornamental,

These were the principal sources from which the so-called Elizabethan

may

here remark, that whilst

indeed in some cases must, vary in

on which

it

is

applied,

its

it

to

its

the period

such

just limits,

of which

we

it

subjects,
treat

W.

character, according to

as

so,

carried

illuminated

style

style

the different

ornament

this

subjects

assthetical

fact,

and materials
did in most

sculptured and architectural works,

into

books, engravings, Damascene

on the other hand, the

of

evident that decoration ought, and

is

and whilst the Italian masters, recognising

instances carefully abstain from carrying the pictorial

other purely ornamental

of

were used by Chrismas in his designs for the facade of Northumberland

asserts

was mainly founded; and we

confining

forget to mention, at the close of this century,

compositions, architectural

artists

metal-work,

and

employed in England during

the pictorial style of ornament into every branch of Art, and

reproduced even on their buildings the unfettered fancies of the decorative

artists

as

they received

them through the medium of the engraver.

As regards the
of a

grotesque

characteristics of Elizabethan ornament, they

may be

described as consisting chiefly

and complicated variety of pierced scroll-work, with curled edges

interlaced

bands,

sometimes on a geometrical pattern, but generally flowing and capricious, as seen, for example, on
No. 12, Plate

LXXXIIL, and

and broken outlines

Nos. 26 and 27, Plate

festoons, fruit,

beings; grotesque monsters and

132

LXXXIV.;

strap

and nail-head bands; curved

and drapery, interspersed with roughly-executed

animals,

with

figures

of

human

here and there large and flowing designs of natural

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT.
branch and leaf ornament, as shown in No.

Plate LXXXIII., a noble example of which

7,

on the great gallery ceiling at Burton Agnes, in Yorkshire

also

panelled compartments often

are freely used

filled

with foliage or coats-of-arms

and the carving, whether

Unlike the

though roughly executed.

in

stone or wood,

is

rustications of ball

architectural mass

marked by great boldness and

but

the

groundwork or

windows): consisting of a

rough application of the orders of architecture one over another, external walls with
balustrade,

and internal walls bounded with

the gable ends, with their

effect,

examples of the Revival on the Continent, especially

earliest

essentially Italian in its nature (except in the case of

is

and diamond work,

grotesque arch- stones and brackets

France and Spain, these ornaments are not applied to Gothic forms

in

exists

still

and

frieze

cornice, with

convex and concave outlines, so

common

flat

the

in

style,

and

cornice

covered ceilings

or

even

were founded on

models of the early Renaissance school at Venice.

The coloured patterns

on

tapestries,

show

work

of diaper

on

wood, on the dresses of the monumental statues, and

most cases more justness and purity of design than the carved work

in

colours, moreover, being rich

and strongly marked.

the

great quantity of this kind of work, especially

the arras, with which walls and furniture were constantly decorated, no doubt
of Flanders, and in some cases from Italy, since the

first

came from the looms

native factory of the kind was established

at Mortlake in the year 1619.

Nos. 9, 10, 11, and 13, Plate

LXXXV.,

are

the most Italian in their character

given; No. 13 being stated, indeed, to be the design of an Italian

of a good Italian

marked by much

1515, the ground

of which

still

is

Nos.

artists.

originality; whilst Nos.

examples of coloured ornament are

date

examples

Nos. 12, 14, and

1, 4, 5, 15,

and

18,

are

I.,

though in the Italian

and 8 are in the ordinary Elizabethan

also

lb',

taken from portraits of the time of Elizabeth and James

character, being

probably the work of Dutch or Italian

are

artist.

of the

taste,

Fine

style.

preserved in the pall belonging to the Ironmongers' Company,

gold, with

respect to the painted antependiums of several

a rich and flowing purple

at

altars

pattern; similar in every

Santo Spirito, Florence (fifteenth century),

and probably of Italian manufacture.

At
and

St.

at

Mary's Church, Oxford,

is

Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire,

and gold thread pattern.

preserved a rich pulpit hanging of gold ground with a blue pattern

is

a fine piece

But, perhaps, the

most beautiful specimen of

this

kind of work

the possession of the Saddlers' Company, a gold pattern on a crimson velvet pall,*
part of the sixteenth century.
Plate

LXXXV., two

of colour

is

freely

derived from
as

Although in those we have referred

in

the

to,

made

in

is

in the early

and in the examples given

in

colours only are principally relied on for effect, yet in other subjects every variety

used

gilding, however, being generally

Spain, where

the discovery of gold in

the

predominant over colour a taste probably

New World

a means of decoration in the reigns of Charles V. and Philip

seen

of tapestry of a yellow silk ground, with a crimson

II.

led to an extravagant use of

An example

of this style

it

may be

magnificent chimneypiece, with elaborate gilt carving combined with black marble,

now

preserved in the Governor's room at the Charterhouse.

By

the middle of the seventeenth century the more marked characteristics of the style had com-

pletely died out,

ness

and we

lose

sight,

not without some regret, of that richness, variety, and picturesque-

which, although deficient in good guiding principles, and liable to

could not

fail to

fall

into straggling confusion,

imgress the beholder with a certain impression of nobility and grandeur.

J. B.

WARING.

October 1856.
*

For these, see Shaw's very beautiful work on the " Arts of the Middle Ages."

MM

133

ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENT.

BOOKS REFERRED
H. Shaw.

C. J.

TO.

Dresset and Decorations of the Middle Ages.

S. C.

The Decorative Arts of the Middle Ages.

Joseph Gwxlt.

Details of Elizabethan Architecture.

Horace Waltole.

Kioharbson.

Studies of Ornamental Design.

Architectural

and James

Archaologia, vol.

Encyclopedia of Architecture.
xii.

Anecdotes of Painting in England.

(17D6).

The Builder (several Articles by C.

I.

Dallawav.

The Mansions of England

134

The Baronial Balls of England.

Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth

Studies from Old English Mansions.

Josbph Nash.

Hall.

in the

Olden Time.

J.

Richardson),

1H4I1.

Anecdotes of the Arts in England.

Clayton.

The Ancient Timber Edifices of England.

Britton.

Architectural Antiquities of Oreat Britain.

Chapter

XIX. Plates

86, 86*, 87, 88, 89, 90.

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.

PLATES LXXXVI, LXXXVI*.

A series

of Arabesques, painted in Fresco

by Giovanni da (Jdine, Perino del Vaga, Giulio Romano, Polidoro da Carravaggio,

San Gimignauo, Pellegrino da Modena, Bartolomeo da Bagnacavallo, and possibly
other artists, from designs by Raffaelle, selected from the decorations of the Loggie, or central open Arcade of the
Vatican, Rome.
Francesco Penni, Vincenzio

da

PLATE LXXXVII.
A series of Arabesques, painted in Fresco

on a white ground, in the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua.

PLATE LXXXVIII.
A

series of

Arabesques, painted in Fresco on partially-coloured grounds, for the most part in the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua.

PLATE LXXXIX.
A

series of Arabesques, painted in Fresco

on fully-coloured grounds, in the Palazzo del Te, at Mantua, from Designs

by Giulio Romano.

PLATE
A

series of

XC.

Specimens of Typographic Embellishments of the Sixteenth Century in Italy and France; selected from works
published by the Aldines, the Giuntas, the Stephans, and other celebrated Printers.

Shortly

after

the

of the antique whicli

commencement

of the sixteenth century, that

we have recognised

in Italy as fragmentary

movement towards

the restoration

and imperfect during the

fifteenth,

became systematised, and consequently invigorated, mainly through the means of popularisation afforded
by the arts of printing and engraving.
illustrated

in

the

Through them

translations of Vitruvius and Alberti, copiously

and ably commented upon, were speedily in the possession of every designer of eminence

country, and

without

its

limits

also

while, before the close of the

century, the treatises of

135

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
Vignola, and

Palladio,

Serlio,

monuments

of antiquity

Eusconi,

permanent

presented

had been studied.

But inasmuch

records

of

the

which

with

zeal

as the requirements of the

the

Social

Italian

system of the sixteenth century differed from those of the

Imperial ages of Rome, so of a necessity the nature of the

monuments

created to supply those wants materially differed.

In the Renaissance

styles

of the fifteenth century the artist's

attention had been mainly directed to the imitation of ancient

ornament

in the sixteenth, however,

restoration of ancient

lected in

proportions, both of the five orders and

symmetry generally, that engaged the

of architectural

attention

was principally the

it

designer's

pure ornament having been to a great extent negits details,

and considered only

Those

ative adjunct to architecture.

fifteenth century

had been

arts

which during the

so frequently united in the persons of

whom

the maestri, under

mass as a decor-

in its

great

into execution, in the sixteenth

monuments had been

carried

became individualised.

The

genius of such intellectual giants as Raffaelle and Michael Angelo could alone maintain the triple attributes of painters, architects,

and

after

times,

men

due

in

sculptors,

relative subordination

such as Bernini

and

As the

da

Pietro

attempted similar combinations, the result was

general confusion and failure.

when, in

Cortona

little else

rules of Art

than

became

more complex, academies arose in which the division-of-labour

The consequences, with

system was introduced.

and notable exceptions, were obvious

%jA3>

certain

architects

thought of

else but plans, sections, and elevations, in which the

little

setting out of columns, arches, pilasters, entablatures,

all in all

buildings,

((

rare

general
cision,

painters worked
their

more

in their studios, and less in the

works were to adorn

decorative effect,

&c, was

forgetting

and looking only

altogether

to anatomical pre-

powerful chiar'oscuro, masterly composition, and breadth

of tone and handling.

Sculptors of a high class deserted orna-

mental carving and gave their attention, almost exclusively, to

isolated statues

effects of

and groups, or monuments in which general

beauty were made subservient to the development of

the plastic features alone.

Ornament was

to accident or caprice in its design,

in its execution.

a great degree

to second-rate artists

Favourable specimens of such ornaments

The painted arabesques

be seen in our woodcuts.

style,

and

left in

may

of the Italian

and the stucchi with which they were occasionally accom-

panied, form so remarkable an exception to the above, that

will

be well to reserve

them

for special notice.

architecture which Raffaelle has

Soffite Panel,

is

excellent

consists,

from one of the Genoese Palaces.

it

and we
136

is

left

to us in the Pandolfini

Palace at Florence, and the Caffarelli, late Stoppani, at Rome,

in his connexion with the subject of arabesque that his celebrity as

shall

it

Although the

not therefore further allude to

him

here.

Neither shall

we

an ornamentist
dwell

upon the

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
works of Baldassare Peruzzi, interesting though they be,
approached

so

to the antique as to

closely

since, so

away from

germ

department of

and

is

to

be

whose

we must look

tradition, that

of self-willed originality that infected all his contemporaries in every

art,

and engendered a license which,

vain to deny, ultimately,

is

it

from

feebler hands than his, resulted in a departure

in

too,

It is to the great Florentine,

regarded rather as a Kenaissance artist than in any other light.

for that

Bramante,

no striking individuality.

offer

fervid genius, impatient of restraint, broke

ornament was concerned, they

far as

and refinement in

taste

every branch of art.

Michael Angelo was

in

descendants of the

Buonarrotti,
Grhirlandaio

1474

Counts of Canossa

founded for

study in the school

to

had

the celebrated " Cupid," which was

executed

Rome, and

to

him,

the

is

"Bacchus."

his

also

formance

at

twenty-nine

San Pietro

but

it

greatest,
it

other

invited

works

next

by

in

St.

per-

great

for this

"
building the " Moses

and the " Slaves " in the Louvre, were originally destined,

in Vincoli,

Sistine

his

little

he returned to Rome, summoned by

was completed on a smaller scale than was at

of the

many

Florence, was

at

years of age

Julius II. for the purpose of erecting his mausoleum

at

some

of age, he

"Pieta" sculptured by order of Cardinal d'Amboise, and now

and

after

cause of his being

the

Rome, amongst

At

The gigantic statue of " David,"

Peter's.

Dominic

St.

Angelo

1494, Michael

he was twenty-three years

time he returned to Florence, and, before

first

Chapel was the next work undertaken

The painting

intended.

him, and

by

one

of

exercised

on contemporary

remainder of his long

art,

as well

on that of after-times.

as

life

was chiefly devoted to the construction of

which work he was employed at the time of his death, in 1564, and

In

his

whether we regard the sublimity of the performance, or the influence which

In 154]

completed his vast fresco of the " Last Judgment," painted for Pope Paul III.

refused

all

lie

The

St. Peter's,

for

remuneration.

everything executed during the long

daring innovations in ornament are no

scrolls,

His large broken pediments

his

on

which he

life

of Michael Angelo the desire for

novelty seems to have divided his attention from the study of excellence alone.

design.

\(

sculpture, he

his talent for

culture by Lorenzo de Medici.

its

Bologna, where he worked at the tomb of

to

the

of

he was a pupil of Domenico

the banishment of the Medici family from Florence in

retired

family

Florentine

noble

the

of

and having early distinguished himself by

was invited

On

born

direct

less

striking than

and mouldings,

in

his

other

^t^MK^jl^

departments of

sweeping

imitation (saving an alloy of exaggeration)

His

and

consoles

of Nature in

Vertical

Ornament from
Genoa.

some

of his enrichments, and the amount of plain face he uniformly preserved in his architectural compositions,

brought new elements into the

power than he himself possessed.

through Michael Angelo

Maderno, and,

last

The

which were greedily snapped up by

style of the

and Giacomo

della

Porta,

Roman

school of design

men

of

many

Bandinelli and

Benvenuto

the contagion

other part of Italy.

inventive

was altogether changed

Domenico Fontana, Bartolomeo Ammanati, Carlo

of his defects, the greatest being exaggeration of manner.

in

Cellini

were

among

a great degree,

This immunity

or,

his

ardent

At Florence, Baccio

admirers and imitators.

at least, resisted its

Happily Venice

influence longer than

almost any

was due, in a great degree, to the counteracting influence of

a genius less hardy than that of Michael Angelo, but far more refined, and scarcely

We

less

not least, Vignola himself, so far as ornament was concerned, adopted, with a few

of his beauties,

escaped

field,

allude, of course, to the greatest of the

two Sansovinos

NN

less

G-iacopo.
137

universal.

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
This noble artist was born at Florence, of an ancient family, in the year

at

an

age displayed a remarkable predisposition for Art, he was placed by his mother with Andrea

early

whom we

Contucci of Monte Sansovino (of

have briefly spoken in Chapter XVII.), then working at

Florence, who, says Vasari,

"soon perceived that the young man promised

Their attachment

assumed such a character

speedily

and ever

called now,

sidered a

Having distinguished himself by

will be.

young man of great genius and

San Gallo, architect

to

Pope Julius

among whom was Alonzo Berruguete,

be the

and a

best,

Cardinal

de

cast

Eome, and Bramante,

obliged to leave

famous

for his

marble

Commentaries on Vitruvius

He was

(Julius).

native

Signorelli,

in a fair

figure.

lie

and was

successfully

Rome by

Giuliano da

and made

Sansovino's was adjudged to

coming into the possession of the

San Gallo

falling

was

ill

the same house with

and who was

in the Torre Borgia,

Milano, Pinturicchio, Cesare

serious illness caused

him

this

time, and

among

"Bacchus," now in the Gallery degli

He

Cesariano,

presented to and employed by the

Pope

to return to his

competed with Bandinelli and others

was in continual employment at

for Giovanni Bartolini the beautifid

di

finally

way of advancement, when a

Here he recovered, and

city.

finally

Pope Julius

Bramantino

he

and being con-

of Bramante,

therefore, found a dwelling for Jacopo in

ceiling for

so is

he caused him to prepare many models in wax for his use.

so pleased with Jacopo's ability that

became acquainted with Luca

notice

France in the year 1534.

into

named

direction), in competition with other artists,

which

in bronze,

it

who was then painting a

Pietro Perugino,

was taken to

the celebrated Spanish architect.

was taken of

was taken by him

Lorraine,

as he was then

his abilities at Florence,

attracted the

wax of the " Laocoon " (under Brauiante's

a large copy in

and

excellent character, he

At Eome he

II.

become very eminent."

to

being regarded almost as father and son,

that,

" di Sansovino;"

Jacopo was no longer called "de'Tatti," but

also

Having

1477.

a large

for

other works

he executed

Uffizii at Florence.

In the year 1514, great preparations being made at Florence for the entry of Leo X., Jacopo was

employed
so

much

whom
for

in

making various designs

pleased,

he was received very kindly.

to

His Holiness immediately gave him an order

who was

compete with him

to

for the control of its construction,

have outwitted Sansovino, and effectually prevented his success

was determined to

make a design

to

Lorenzo at Florence, which would seem to have given so much satisfaction,

the facade of San

that Michael Angelo,

triumphal arches and statues, with which the Pontiff was

for

Jacopo Salviati took his friend Sansovino to kiss the feet of the Pope, by

that

keep

all

himself."

for

for,

would appear

says Vasari, " Michael

Not disheartened, however, he continued

Angelo

Rome, and

in

was employed both in sculpture and architecture, and gained the great honour of being the successful
competitor for the

Church of

and Balthazar Peruzzi.

so

severely hurt

that

pontificate of Clement,
in

St.

he

left

John

of the

Florentines,

against

Raffaelle,

Antonio da

superintending the commencement of the works he

Whilst
the

city.

and was

Various causes led to the suspension of the works until the

when Jacopo returned and recommenced

every work of importance at Rome,

Sangallo,

fell,

until,

From

it.

on the 6th of May,

that period he was engaged

1527, that city was

taken and

sacked by the French.

Jacopo sought refuge in Venice, intending to

ment.

The Doge, Andrea

Gritti,

of the cupolas of St. Mark's.

visit

France, where the King had offered

him employ-

however, persuaded him to remain, and to undertake the restoration

This work he performed so

satisfactorily, that

Maestro to the Republic, assigned a house, and provided with a stipend.

he was appointed Proto-

The

duties of this office he

performed with such sagacity and diligence, that by various improvements and alterations of the city he

Among

materially added to the income of the State.

finest

examples of Italian Art anywhere

are

to

his finest

works here

and, indeed, among

the

be noted, the Libreria Vecchia, the Zecca or Mint, the

Palaces Cornaro and Moro, the Loggia round the Campanile of St. Mark, the Church of San Georgio
-

dei Greci, the Statues of the Giant's Staircase, the

138

monument

of Francesco Veniero,

and the bronze

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
His character as depicted by Vasari

gates of the Sacristy.

agreeable, sagacious, amiable, courageous, and

whom may

and had a large school of pupils, amongst

He

active.

Bohn,

(edit.

vol.

v.

p.

426)

is

eminently

appears to have been generally honoured,

be mentioned Tribolo and Solosmeo Danese, Cat-

taneo Girolamo of Ferrara, Jacopo Colonna of Venice, Luco Lancia of Naples, Bartolomeo Ammanati,

He

Jacopo de Medici of Brescia, and Alessandro Vittoria of Trent.

aged ninety-three

" and

end in the pure course of nature, yet

to France,

all

Venice lamented his

indebted for

is

its

celebrity in ornamental bronze-work.

progress, interrupted by the intro-

who formed what

(circa A.D. 1530) of those Italian artists

I.

drawing was founded upon the Michael-Angelesque

style of

system of proportion, somewhat attenuated in limb, and moulded into a somewhat more

masters exerted a singular influence upon the native

department of

The

but in ornament generally.

art,

not as they would obviously

fall if left

and that not only

artists,

and

artificial

to the Fontainebleau

The manner of arranging and defining drapery peculiar

serpentine line of grace.

is

The leading and most popular member of that

familiarly known as the "School of Fontainebleau."

was Primaticcio, a master whose

an

to

mainly to the happy influence

It is

loss."

we resume the thread of national

duction into the service of Francis

fraternity

had come

(as Vasari tells us) notwithstanding that the years of his life

exerted by Sansovino that the School of Venice

Turning from Italy

died on the 2d of November, 1570,

the corresponding

in

peculiar crinkled folds of the garments, disposed

to themselves, but as they would best

fill

up voids

in composition,

induced a general levity in the treatment of similar elements, and led to that peculiarly fluttering style

which may be recognised in the works of

mode

Among

of the day.

all

those artists

and reproduced the prevalent

reflected

the most remarkable of these, and, moreover, a

of intellect, stands conspicuous the renowned Jean Goujon,

century.

who

His principal works are

(for, happily,

who was born

in

man

France early in the sixteenth

they have for the most part survived to our days) the

"Fontaine des Innocents," at Paris (1550): the gallery of the "Salle des
Caryatides," supported by four colossal female figures, which are considered

celebrated

of singular originality

Cent Suisses," now "des

among

The

his best works.

Diana of Poitiers, called " Diane Chasseresse," a small and very beautiful bas-relief of the

same, subject, his

wooden doors

to the

Church of

Louvre, and his " Christ at the Tomb," in the

Maclou at Kouen,

St.

Museum

of the Louvre.

Court of the

his carvings of the

Goujon partook warmly of the

enthusiasm the recovery of the writings of Vitruvius excited universally, and contributed an essay in

them

respect to

in Martin's translation.

He was

unfortunately shot during the massacre of St. Bar-

An

tholomew, whilst working on a scaffold at the Louvre, in 1572.

of the Italian spirit
fate.

artist

who had imbibed even more

of the School of Fontainebleau than did Jean Goujon, narrowly escaped sharing his

Barthelemy Prieur was only saved from immolation by the protection of the Constable Mont-

morency, whose monumental

effigy

he was ultimately destined to place upon

its

Contemporary

pedestal.

He

with Goujon and Prieur was Jean Cousin, the most ardent disciple of the Michael-Angelesque form.
is

principally

known

stated (Chapter

XVIL), by

of the period was

Soulesmes are

as the scnlptor of the noble statue of

his designs for stained glass.

Germain Pilon, who was born

among

his earliest works.

at

Admiral Chabot, and,

as

we have already

Prominent, however, among the

Loue, near Mans.

About the year 1550

The

artistic

statues at the Convent of

his father sent,

him

to Paris, and in

1557 his monument to Guillaume Langei du Bellay was placed in the Cathedral of Mans.

same time he executed the monument of Henry

II.

and Catherine de Medici,

Denis, near Paris, from a design by Philibert de Lorme.

One

band

in the

of his best works was the

About the

Church of

monument

St.

to

the Chancellor de Birague.

The beautiful and well-known group of the " Three Graces," cut out of one
was intended

now

in the

to support

Louvre.

the base of this

an urn containing the hearts of Henry

II.

In order to give an idea of the ornamental

monument.

See Plate

LXXVL,

Fig. 9.

The

marble,

and Catherine de Medici;

style

statues

solid block of

and

of Pilon,

it

is

we have engraved

bas-reliefs on the

139

monument

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
of Francis
gives

are

I.

by Pilon and Pierre Bontemps.

After 1590 no works of his are known, and Kuglor

as the date of his death.

it

The length

of limb and artificial grace peculiar to the school of Fontainebleau was pushed

farthest point of

extravagance by Francavilla, or Pierre Francheville, of Cambray (born

to the

who

1548),

introduced into France the even greater wiriness of the style of John of Bologna, whose pupil he had

been during
first

many

The general

years.

and which served

half of the seventeenth century,

as Louis

characteristics of the style of

XIV. work, cannot be better studied than

as

ornament prevalent during the

an induction into what

in the

generally

is

known

apartments of Marie de Medici, executed

for her in the Palace of the Luxembourg, Paris, about 1620.

This manner was succeeded by that of

woodcut gives an idea of

Le Pautre, an

artist

of great cleverness

and

Our

fertility.

his style.

Panel for a Ceiling, from a Design by Le Pautre.

Leaving

the subject of sculptured

for awhile

advert to that of painted

for the

preservation of old

Italian

it

may

be well to

the more especially as for a short time, during which a great degree of zeal

Eoman

vestiges of polychromatic decoration was exercised, a very high

remarkable degree of perfection and beauty was attained.

very wide difference existed between the painted and

during the period of the Early Renaissance

imitated with great success, as
Pintelli for the

and French Ornament,

may

It is ever

to

carved arabesques of the ancients.

were almost entirely

neglected, whilst the

and

mind that a

be borne in

The

latter

former were

be seen from the interesting pilaster panels, designed by Baccio

Church of Sant' Agostino

at

Rome, and which form the

subject of our woodcuts

on

the next page.

The study

of ancient

decorations in marble

excavation

brought
140

Roman and Greek

sculptures was naturally followed by that

and stone, which throughout Italy abounded

to

light,

such,

for

instance,

as

perfect

so profusely,

remains

or

of the antique

and which every day's

shattered

fragments

of

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
ornamented
or

single

altars,

vases,

busts

figures,

architectural

friezes,

Leads, in medallions or on

or

backgrounds

foliage,

flowers,

fruit,

&c, groups

pilasters,

and

animals, intermixed with tablets of various forms, bear-

An

ing allegorical inscriptions.

gems of beauty

infinite variety of such

offered themselves to the notice of the

who

artists of that period

visited

Rome

purpose of making drawings of such remains

and

modern

transferring the subject so sketched to the

besques,

express

for the

was scarcely possible that the early

it

in

ara-

artists

should avoid also transferring to their paintings some-

what of the formal character inseparable from the sculptured and material character of the objects from which

had been made.

their original drawings

Such circumstances may go

we cannot

ence

far to explain the differ-

to recognise

fail

between the imitation

and the object imitated, in many of the

first

to reproduce the painted decorations of the

Among

Imperial times.

such

diligent

attempts

Romans

of

students, none

was more conspicuous than was Pietro Perugino, during

Rome

his residence in

How

century.

fully

at the latter part of the fifteenth

and

what good purpose he ac-

to

cumulated studies of ancient ornament was shown by

the immediate commission he received from his fellow-

townsmen

to decorate the vaults of their

Exchange, or

" Sala di Cambio," with frescoes, in which the ancient

style

and

antique

certain

subjects

This beautiful work

reproduced.

proved to be, was executed

Perugia from

Rome

should be

vividly

of art, for such

soon after his return to

and manifests how deeply he must

have drunk at the classic fountain of antique Art.

without

doubt, the

it

It

is,

complete reproduction of the

first

" grotesques " of the ancients, and

is

singularly inter-

esting, not only as

establishing the claim of Pietro to

be regarded as the

first

great and accurate reviver of

this graceful style of decoration,

" trial-piece " on which so

whose

exercised,

efforts

many

but as having been the

" 'prentice hands " were

subsequently carried

it

to

the

highest perfection.

The
there

is

principal
little

scholars

of Perugino,

whose labours

doubt materially aided in the elaboration

of these graceful fancies, were Raffaelle, then aged six-

teen or seventeen

Bacchiacca
Arabesque designed by
Baccio Pintelli for the Church
of Sant' Agostino, Rome.

trace

Francesco Ubertini, better known as

and Pinturicchio.

And

it

is

the influence of the success of this

curious to
their

attempt upon the after career of each of the three.

o o

first

It

Arabesque designed by
Baccio Piutelli for thu Church
of Saut' A^ostino, Rome.

141

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
led immediately to the

employment

of Raffaelle and

and subsequently,

of the celebrated Library at Sienna,

the former as induced his composition

&c. &c.

and on that

of the inimitable

decoration

on the part of

arabesques of the Loggie of the Vatican,

style, that his

whole

life

&c,

Rome.

at

was devoted

Maria

del

Bacchiacca became so completely en" grotesque "

&c,

to painting animals, flowers,

and he ultimately became famous throughout

conjunction, in the decoration

in

of the latter artist to the execution of the ceilings of the choir of Sta.

Popolo, and those of the Apartamenti Borgia,

amoured of the

Pinturiccliio,

to the cultivation of such studies

a perfect master

Italy as

in

of that

variety

of design.

In freedom and cleverness of drawing, in harmony of colour, in brilliancy of touch, in nice balance
of the " pieni " and " vuoti,"

men

and

in close imitation of the paintings of the ancient

one of the most successful that has

is

refined study, it can

ever been executed, although, in

Romans,

delicacy

this speci-

of finish

scarcely be expected to equal the subsequent productions of Giovanni da

and

Udine

and Morto da Feltro.

During the stay of Raffaelle in Rome, under the pontificate of Leo X., he was commissioned by
that pontiff to decorate an arcade, which had been constructed during the reign of his predecessor,
Julius
It

II.,

by Bramante, whose daughter Raffaelle married.

was determined, that while the theme of the necessary decorations should be sacred, their

and manner of execution should

at

Rome up

rival the finest

remains of ancient painting which had been discovered

The general designs appear

to that period.

have been made by Raffaelle himself, and

to

the details to have been carried out by a chosen band of assistants,

wonderful zeal into the realisation of the great work.

all

artists,

were created.

principal ornamental motives comprised in

These arabesques cannot

greatest masters of the age,

and importance, whilst the

now

in existence

them

We

and are applied

to the decoration of

ornament buildings of a

an

The comparison might be

period of Art, and those

important to Imperial magnificence

fairer

if

we could but

all

parts

their

order to favour the apparent extent of the locality they decorate

kept upon a

in addition to

generally manifest a predominating general proportion between their several parts.

striking differences

in

scale

between the principal subjects as we find

component parts of which are sometimes

Raffaelle, the

unreasonably small.

The greater

is

often

recall the

faded

" of Nero.

Golden House
" The ancient arabesques have, in almost every instance,

such

showing the

edifice of the highest magnificence

less distinguished

class relatively far less

glories of the Palace of the Caesars, or the "

scale, in

selection,

LXXXVI.

in Plate

were the productions of a

than the Vatican was to Papal.

which have ever since their execution been

have given a careful

be compared with the ancient, as the former were executed by the

fairly

latter

who unquestionably entered with

was by their hands, controlled by the exquisite

It

taste of the great Urbinese, that those celebrated "loggie,"

a theme of admiration for

style

as unreasonably large

placed beside

and above the

They never
in

the

reduced

which they
present-

arabesques of

as they sometimes are

lessj

thereby emphaticising

the dissonances, and being the more offensive by a deficiency in symmetry, as well as in the very
choice of the motives for decoration.

Thus, close to the richest arabesques, presenting, on a very

small scale, elegant and minute combinations of flowers, fruit, animals,

temples, landscapes,

all

&c, we

find calices of flowers

human

figures,

and views of

putting forth twisted stalks, leaves, and blossoms

which, with reference to the adjoining and first-described arabesques, are of colossal proportion

thereby not

only

injuring

whole architectural design.

the

accompanying decorations, but

also

destroying the

grandeur of the

Lastly, on examining the choice of subjects with respect to the association

of ideas indicated thereby, and the decorations

in

the symbols

and

allegories

employed

to

convey

them, we find that the works of the ancients, who reverted to no other source than their mythology,
appear to great advantage, in point of unity of idea, when compared with the prevailing intermixture
142

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
Loggie of that imaginary world with the symbols of Christianity."

in the

M.

conclusions to which that profound student of ancient polychromy,

impossible not to concur in their propriety

must

its
is

wrought out in

"Proceeding from the Vatican

to the

Villa

that divisions create a less confusing general

halls,

Hittorff, has arrived,

while condemning, however, such faults

not lose sight of the exquisite graces of detail

his scholars.

Such are among the general

symmetry

a better regulated proportion, and greater

more

In

effect.

roofs,

upon

the principal subjects represent scenes from the mythology of the ancients,

look

upon

this

Loggie, and

work

beautiful

executed entirely

as

spirit of the

calming influence

If

ancients.

to

fail

Romano and Giovanni da Udine, we

the most part, worked out

to have been

The

more

villa itself

when

artists.''

this delicious

who had burnt

how the

favourite

which he and his

it

was received by

suburban retreat
Giulio

are, for

Romano appears

either Raffaelle or Giovanni da Udine.

designs having been given by

for

Raffaelle.

fourteen of his castles in the

Campagna

of

Rome.

Detail of a Portion of a Stucco Ceiling in the Palazzo Mattei di Giove,

to decay

but the grandeur of the three arches

was worthy of Raffaelle

Duke
Villa

and that

of Urbino, written

the letter, are

The

find a

Pope Clement

VII.,

The work was

when Cardinal

still

incomplete

was partially destroyed by Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, to revenge himself upon Clement VI L,

it

Maria,

taste,

habit to which

was built by Romano and his fellow-labourer

first

we

us.

Unlike the arabesques of the Vatican, which

upon white ground, those of

upon variously coloured grounds

partial than

Giulio de Medici, the

see

have recognised in Ids former work, favourably as

part,

exerted

a second undertaking conceived by Raffaelle in the spirit of the

by Giulio

the popular voice, not only of courtiers, but of

are executed, for the most

is

we adopt the general opinion and

pupils of the incomparable master succeeded in avoiding faults against good

contemporaries cannot

and

notwithstanding

Here, where

pervading unity conceived more in the

we

the principal decorations there

all

of their ornaments,

all

is

immediately on entering

find,

and in the magnificent

gratifying and

by

Raffaelle

the multiplicity

it

of ensemble,

their execution

Madama, we

and

still

in

by

it

was

his

still
is

Castiglione, as

remaining

The

villa

is

now

rapidly going

Rome, by Caklo Maderno.

is

sufficient to

'

show that the design

proved beyond a doubt, by a letter to Francesco

well

as

by some drawings, which, together with

existence.

Madama was

purchased after the confiscation of the Medicis

property,

in

143

1537,

by

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
Margaret, daughter of Charles

Madama

the

takes

villa

and widow

V.,

The building was

name.

its

Duke Alexander de

of

partially

it,

title

of

though never completed,

restored,

The crown

and Margaret resided there on her marriage with Ottavio Farnese.

became possessed of

Medici, and from her

of Naples afterwards

with the rest of the Farnese property, through a marriage with that family.

So large a number of arabesque decorations were executed by the pupils and followers of Eaffaelle,

and

so great

we owe

was the

acquired by them in this

skill

the beautiful arabesques which

neighbourhood of Eome.

still

decorate

the premature

After

that

art,

many

death

it is

now

and country-houses

of the palaces

the bond that had

of Eaffaelle,

in

the

united

the

brotherhood which had gathered around his person was snapped, and those who had so ably
with

him spread themselves

in various directions throughout. Italy, carrying with

however, as the
of

Eome,

artists,

their styles

by

whom

worked

them the experience

and knowledge they had acquired in the conduct of the great undertakings placed under

Thus sown broadcast over the land were the elements

whom

difficult to ascertain to

of painted arabesque decoration.

his

charge.

In proportion,

subsequent works were undertaken, removed from the classic influences

became more

pictorial,

and

less

purely decorative

and in the seventeenth century

the arabesque manner became almost entirely merged in such florid decorations as suited the extravagant

In the days of Bernini, and at a later

ideas of architectural magnificence nourished by the Jesuits.

period in those of Borromini, the Stuccatore triumphed in every species of flourish, while in the scanty

openings

left

between the fluttering wings and draperies of angels and saints suspended in vaults and

cupolas in mid-air, the decorative painter was allowed to place

than the perspective tricks

little else

of the Padre Pozzo and his school.

Before leaving the subject of arabesque altogether,

varied local aspects.

its

As may reasonably be

may be

it

well to trace a few anomalies in

the presence of ancient remains has almost

inferred,

Thus

invariably affected the local style of ornament in those spots where they have most abounded.
at

Eome

the school of arabesque ornament most nearly approached the antique, while in

as Mantua, Pavia, and Genoa, other and distinct types and influences

system of ornamentation, for instance,

may

be

distinctly

may be

favourite

Paganism of Eome.

executed for the

we

fading into

LXXXVII.

same

is

followed, in

wayward fancy prompts an ever-recurring, yet

leading

points

of which

are

generally

Leaves, flowers, and tendrils,

LXXXVII.

rarely

and in such cases Nature

3,

4, 5,

and

which the hand of the

artist

sweeps out as

In other instances, as in Figs.

simple style of convention

of the

fast

most part upon a white ground.

appears as the directly inspiring deity.

reflex

have presented numerous specimens in Plates

frequently wind round a central reed, as at Figs. 7 and 9, Plate

plate, a

Eomano, and a

In the deserted chambers of the Palazzo Ducale are

nothingness the graceful frescoes, of which

and LXXXVIII.

the school of nature and

subdivided into

that of conventional vigour approaching caricature, imported by Giulio

such

cities

The Mantuan

traced.

monotonous,

2,

1,

of scrolls

series

6,

of the

and curves

the

accentuated by calices, and the dominant lines of which are

adorned, and from time to time interrupted, by foliage of parasitic growth.

A marked

difference

specimens (Figs.

1,

2,

of style in the
4,

decoration

of

the

same

building

and 5) we have collected in Plate LXXXVIII.

is

inaugurated

In them the

withdrawn himself farther from nature, retaining at the same time an even more
representation

than in the earlier and purer examples.

the highest and most architectonic character

in conception; but certain

and

flat

it

style of treatment,

is,

is

as regards

Far be

it

mode

has
of

from us to assert that beauty of

obtained in ornament entirely conventional

light,

shade, and colour.

composed have been taken with more

ordinary aspect of nature, so should the

mode be

Thus, in the more refined arabesques of Plate

144

not be

artist

the

that to be agreeable such ornament should be expressed in a simple

both

elements of which an ornament

may

pictorial

in

In

direct

proportion as

or less divergence

the

from the

varied in which that ornament should be portrayed.

LXXXVII.,

in

which the forms of growing

plants

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
have been freely sketched from the garden and
of accidental effect

admissible,

is

LXXXVIII.,

elements of the specimens given in Plate

Already in the bustle of

line,

much

(Plate

So long, as at the

exuberance was controlled by association with

which

to

vanity

reproach him

conventional

and

officious

feeble.

LXXX.), may be

Villa
artists

traced that tendency to caricature

off with

Madama, and

masterly power, but unfortunately

in

Roman

other of his

of purer taste than

himself, there

works, his

with

little

is

but when he subsequently emerged into the " Gran Signore " at Mantua, his

intoxicated

fairly

absolutely

somewhat

strikes us as

Romano threw

that the genius of

with too great fecundity.

more

the fluttering ribbons, and vague jewelled forms of No. 5, and in the

monotonous masques and foolscaps of No.

which disfigured so

an amount of delicate modelling and indication

field,

which in the representation of the

much

him, and with

was beautiful

that

he blended not a

little

was

that

ridiculous.

The specimens of

his

we have

arabesques, which

once his ability and his weakness as an ornamentist.

the

and

antique,

at

the

motives he borrowed from

classic

flowers from her

it

of taste that he

Unable

bosom only

to crush

them

in his rude

are

with
to

who

was one of

its

entirely

spoilt

yet,

chief arbiters most frequently

Mantua.

Thus, in No.

by the ludicrous object from which

antique are alike maltreated.

it

No. 6 in the

in
2,

some received type of form

scroll,

which

is

peculiar influence of local association

illustrations

of the

may be

early printers.

the celebrated " Etymologion

it

main

on the score

is

This

fails.

fallibility

taken

are

Again, in No.
;

and in No.

the

3,

lines

and

free,

ridiculous

nature and the

4,

where

Servile,

where deference to

which

it

is

composed,

(Stephaus' Greek Testament.

adapted from one of the commonest patterns of antiquity, betrays at

once Giulio's feebleness of imagination, and his want of

in the case of arabesques,

him an honourable

a scroll ornament freely dashed out

ceases to be servile, in the accessory elements of

Typographic Ornament from one of the productions of the early Parisian Press.

running

however, a daring in

for

LXXXIX., which

Plate

springs.

its

he gathered

since

same plate "points a" severe "moral."

an ornament should be most free in the disposition of

The

maltreated,

There are

grasp.

stamped upon several of the ornaments we have engraved

upon

taste.

styles of

ornament, which we have already noticed

traced with equal facility in the best typographic and xylographic

Thus, in the ornaments, Figs. 4-7, 9-16, Plate

Magnum,"

XC,

taken from

printed at Venice in the year 1499, the forms of the ornament,

and the almost even distribution of the " pieni " and " vuoti," have been evidently based on the
of those Oriental or Byzantine fragments in which Venice was so pre-eminently rich.

Aldine

initial

letters

at

reproduction, the

careful

its

Like " Van who wanted grace, yet never wanted wit,"

in his time

illustrate

be recognised in the remains of

equally

masques seem sneering at the graceful forms which surround them

his

LXXXVIII.,

to divest himself of his recollections of

be content

assume an aspect of unquiet rarely

principally from the Palazzo del Te, at

is

to

Plate

in

and a rare sweep and certainty in his handling, which must secure

niche in the Temple of Art.

is

egotistic

The motives he derived from Nature

antiquity.

his fancy,

same time too

collected

in the last-named

plate

Many

style

of the

appear as though they might have been engraved

P P

145

by

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
the very same hands that ploughed out the damascene patterns in the metal-work of the period.

The

Tuscan Rihle of 1538 presents us with endless conventional renderings of the ordinary Cinque-cento
sculpture, which
less

Nor

abounded in the churches of Florence.

are the specimens of the Parisian press

worthy of the veneration of the virtuoso.

In the productions of the Stephans (Fig. 29, from the celebrated Greek Testament), of Colinaeus,

his

pupil (Fig.

Jacques de

found

of

3),

Liesveldt

many

Mace Bonhomme

of Antwerp,

of Lyons,

1558, Theodore Rihel of Frankfort, in 1574,

in

1554, Jean Palier and Regnault Chauldiere of Paris,

in

agreeable and interesting illustrations

of

local

differences

ornamental

in

may be

detail

of

semi-antique character.

Returning to

Italy,

and to

purer

its

style,

of the general decline of revived Classical Art,

it

The

would be unfair to altogether pass over.

Glass

commodity which helped

before briefly proceeding to trace the "first causes"

we propose glancing
first

at one or two branches of industry

and most interesting of them

spread the fame of Venice far and wide

to

is

that of Venetian

over the habitable

globe.

The taking of Constantinople by the Turks,

to Italy

in

1453, drove the

skilled

Greek workmen thence

and at that period the glass-manufacturers of Venice learned from the exiled Greeks their

modes of enriching

Ornaments designed

sixteenth

tor

century,

and opaque white

their productions

Marquetry by Fay, in the

gilding,

and enamelling.

In the early part of the

Panels designed by Kay, in the stylo of Louis Seize.

style of Louis Seize.

the Venetians appear to have invented the art of introducing threads of coloured
into the substance of the articles they manufactured, forming

(latticinio) glass

and enduring enrichment,

beautiful

by colouring,

from the lightness of

suitable,

of the objects to which it was applied.

The

secret of this art

its

character, to the delicate forms

was most jealously guarded by the State;

and the severest penalties were enacted against any workmen who should divulge
craft in

any other country.

privileges,

On

the other hand, the masters of the glass-houses at

and even the workmen were not classed with ordinary

struck at Murano, with

146

the avowed

object

of handing

down

to

artisans.

posterity

it,

or exercise their

Murano

received great

In 1602 a gold coin was

the names of those

who

:;

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
on the island

established the first glass-houses

and from

Muro, Leguso, Motta, Bigaglia, Miotti, Briati Gazzabin,

it

Vistosi,

we learn that they were the following

and Ballarin.

For about two centuries

the Venetians contrived to retain their valuable secret, and monopolised the glass trade of Europe
at the

commencement

but

of the eighteenth century, the taste for heavy cut glass began to prevail, and the

trade was dispersed to Bohemia, France, and England.

Many

in France to

times

precious metals were executed at

the

period.

this

very large

of these is supposed to have been melted down, in Italy, about the date of the sack of

amount
and

very splendid works in

pay the ransom of Francis

Duke

but the Cabinet of the Grand

at Paris,

still

I.

and much more was, no doubt, re-fashioned

of Tuscany at Florence, and the

Museum

Rome

in after-

of the Louvre

contain fine collections of jewelled and enamelled cups and other objects, which sufficiently

attest the skill

and

taste of the goldsmiths

One

and jewellers of the sixteenth century.

of the richest

jewels which the fashion of the period introduced, and which continued to be used for a considerable

time, was the " enseigne," a species of medal generally worn in

The custom

head-dress of the ladies.

employment

to

most troubled
and

ductions;
for

periods.

The

restoration of peace in Italy,

Henry

IV., caused

by the conventions of Chateau Cambresis,

an increased demand

for

the goldsmiths' pro-

and subsequently the magnificence of the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin paved the way

the age

of

" Louis

le

Grand " in France,

by the Parisian goldsmith, Claude

and

of giving presents on all important occasions furnished constant

the jewellers of both countries, and in the vicinity of the courts, even during the

France at the accession of

in

the hats of the nobles and in the

others,

Ballin,

fine

works of art were executed

who, together with Labarre, Vincent Petit, Julian Desfontaines,

One

worked in the Louvre.

whom numerous

for

of the objects which greatly employed the ingenuity of the

jeweller at this period was the " aigrette," which was generally

worn by the

nobility.

the style of the French jewellery rapidly declined, perfection of workmanship in

been transferred to bronze and brass, in which

the days of Louis XVI., were above

specimens of the Parisian burin.

by

its

all praise.

The

wiriness

last alloy

this

time

metal-work having

the chasings of the celebrated Gouthier, in

Of designs
and

From

for

such work we engrave two pleasing

frivolity of this class

of ornament were redeemed

faultless execution.

Amousque by Tlwudorfl du Dry, one

The

details of the art,

and

its

of the " PetUs-M.^'ics.'

popularity, were not without their influence

upon general design

147

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
for since the

in

draughtsmen and engravers of the day were much employed by the goldsmiths

delicate

working out their designs and patterns,

followed, as

it

no unnatural consequence, that many of

the forms peculiar to jewellers' work were introduced into decorations designed for altogether different

This was especially the case in Germany, and more particularly in Saxony, where a great

purposes.
deal of a

mixed

and bastard

style of Renaissance

complications of architectural members, was executed

intricate

present of a decoration composed by Theodore de

and ribbon-work, cartouches, and

Italian, with strap

Bry

affords

for the

The engraving we

Electors.

no bad illustration of the way in which

motives expressly adapted for enamelling in the style of Cellini were thrown together, to
ordinary grotesque of the day.
solecisms are to be found

for in the

make up the

by no means in the works of Theodore de Bry alone that such

It is

French etchings of Etienne de Laulne,

and others,

Grilles l'Egare,

the same features are presented.

Engravers and designers of this

class

were also much employed, both in Germany and France, in

providing models for the damascene work, which was long popular in both these countries, as well as
in Italy.
It

and

remarkable, that although

is

sometimes

brought

we

century,

fifteenth

when we

adopted in that country.

such

cities,

find
It

permanent decoration

for

art,
it

in the

instance,

first

under the

title

emporium

for the best

all'
;

or possibly the

it

is

Both

at Paris.

this

the famous Cellini;

indicates rather an

and the shield

in

is

the armour of Francis

Her

now

I.,

to the

very

At the beginning of

azzimina."'

and

by no means improbable

whom

artists

vanity, of the kings of those countries attached to their courts.

specimen of damascening

a more

arms and armour.

employed upon weapons, that

of " lavoro

as

Milan, which city was then to

was taught to the workmen of France and Spain by those travelling

finest existing

of the

introduced by the, great trading

first

artists of

the sixteenth century the art began to be exercised out of Italy

taste,

" Vase de

of the

use in Italy for decorating the plate-armour, which was then

to the East, viz. the great

the Italian writers designate

it

case

to imitate the manufacture until the middle

armour than parcel-gilding by the

So exclusively, indeed, was the

that

the

and Genoa, from the East, and was afterwards taken up

Europe what Damascus had been

last

in

Oriental arms at Damascus,

Europe, as in

to

most probable that the art was

is

Venice, Pisa,

as

it

articles

made

Vincennes," no attempts should have been

the Crusaders bought

that

find

more elaborate

the

the good

Probably the

in the Cabinet de Medailles,

Majesty's possession at Windsor have been attributed to

but on comparing them with any of his known works, the drawing of the figures

Augsburg

artist

than the broad style which Cellini had

acquired

from his study

of the works of Michael Angelo.

From

that time

down

to

the middle of the seventeenth century a great number of -arms were

decorated with damascening, of which the Louvre, the Cabinet de Medailles, and the

numerous

contain
Cursinet,

fine

specimens

may be mentioned

and the

as excelling in

Musee

names of Michael Angelo, Negroli, the

d'Artillerie,

Piccinini,

and

damascene work, as well as in the art of the armourer

generally.

In our own country the process does not appear to have been
engraving, blacking, and russeting, being well received as substitutes

much

exercised;

parcel -gilding,

and the few specimens we

possess

were probably imported, or captured in our foreign wars, as in the case of the splendid suits of armour
brought to England by the Earl of Pembroke after the battle of St. Quentin.

As

it

has been our pleasant task to record

of Italian models in the

deleterious an influence

how French Ornamental Art was

sixteenth century, so

it

now becomes our

agreeable

was exercised in the seventeenth from the same procedure.

doubt that two highly-gifted, but overrated, Italian

made them the "observed

148

less

regenerated by imitation

artists, set

of all observers," effected an

during their

lives

duty to note how

There can be no

upon pinnacles which

immense amount of mischief

to

French Art.

ORNAMENT.

ITALIAN"

These

artists

sculptor,

The former was

were Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini.

and was

bom

in

He

1589.

evinced

unusually

an

precocious

the son of a Florentine

talent

He

whilst yet a youth was fully employed, not only as a sculptor, but as an architect.

Rome, where he designed the fountain

entirely at

celebrated Triton in the Piazza Barberini, and

de Propaganda Fide

campanile to
celebrated

Piazza of St.

numerous other works.

much

so,

be refused anything, and

letters to the

there,

Barcaccia

the Piazza

Spagna, the

di

the large fountains of the Piazza Navona

(afterwards taken down);

Peter's

and the great

the Ludovico Palace,

staircase

Busts by Bernini were eagerly

that

when he was

much

to

less

from

St.

the College

little,

he

to

the

Vatican,

sixty-eight years of age, Louis XIV.,

the

besides

sought after by the sovereigns and

nobles

who was unused

to

be forced to beg, was actually obliged to write supplicatory

said to have received five golden Louis a-day,

is

on the Monte Citorio:

Peter's

Pope, and to Bernini, requesting the sculptor's presence at Paris.

though he did but

and

resided almost

the great hall and facade of the Barberini Palace, facing the Strada Felice

St. Peter's

of Europe; so

of the

in

sculpture;

for

During

his residence

and at

his departure

Ornamental Composition, from a design by Ll Pactrk.

fifty

thousand crowns, with an annual pension of two thousand crowns, and one of

his sons,

who accompanied him.

Louis, which
to

is

now

On

at Versailles.

his return to

Francesco

and,

He

Case Barberini and Chigi.

Borromini was born

Carlo Maderno, he

speedily

hundred

for

equestrian statue in honour of

Besides his works in architecture, sculpture, and bronze, he appears

have had a decided mechanical turn

pictures in the

Rome he made an

five

near

Como,

became both a

moreover, to have painted as

many

as

five

hundred

died in the year 1680.

in

the

brilliant

QQ

year

carver

1599.

and

Apprenticed at an early age to

architect.

On Maderno's death he
149

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
succeeded to the charge of the works at

From

fervid imagination

his

employment

and

in

and

capricious

his

vagaries,

possessed Borromini contrived to caricature.

occupied in subverting

known

all

under Bernini, with

St. Peter's

rare facility as a

whom

he very shortly quarrelled.

draughtsman and designer, he soon obtained ample

tendency

every

extravagance

to

principles of order

The anomalies ho introduced

the disproportionate mouldings, broken, contrasted, and re-entering curves,

and

became the mode

surfaces,

picturesque forms

but

were published
to

to

all

Europe was speed ilv busy

the year 1725

in

1740 had

the world in

into design,

and crooked

interrupted

in devising similar

place of the quaint but

style, in

Du Cerceau, 1576 substituted the more elaborate,

1727 and Mariette, 1726-7. Borromini's works, which

be seen in the engravings of

agreeable ones to be found in Marot,

less

and

France the fever raged speedily, and the popular

In

enormities.

of the day,

and

much

Bibiena's, which were not

purer, and which

were given

a large circulation, and tended to confirm the public taste in facility and

elaboration versus simplicity and beauty.

of the time, both of Louis

many

Despite this debasing influence,

XIV. and XV.,

of the French arti>ts

made many

in the midst of their extravagance,

beautiful

ornamental designs, showing in them a sense of capricious beauty of line rarely surpassed.
of

Le

Pautre's designs (reign of Louis XIV.), this quality

may be

sufficiently

is,

graceful fooling

the Grand

would be

(nit

tlie

in the 900 plates comprised in his great

mass

Monarque and the

of place here.

There

of

clever

ornamental

him we are indebted

designers,

brilliant court of his successor

is

for the best

Menus

of

XV.

body of Ornament.
draughtsmen, and

does

To dwell

engravers,

to

gave good pay and plenty of work,

one, however, Jean Berain,

that he held the special appointment of "Dessinateur des

that to

many

however, the master of the ceremonies in this latter court of revels, and

upon individuals among

whom

In some

recognised, as well as in

the interior decorations given in Blondel's works published during the reign of Louis

De Neufforge

style

and symmetry, not only to his own enrichment,

but to the admiration of the leaders of fashion of the day.

lines

Bernini's

that

near his death, in 1667, he continued sedulously

Until

who cannot be passed

Plaisirs

designs whieh will render the

seeing

over,

du Roi" (Louis XIV.), and

name

of

Buhl famous

so long

Frieze Ornament, Louis Seize, by Fay.

as a taste for beautiful

d'Apollon

furniture exists.

He

work published

in

the year

1710.

Another large collection of

engraved by Daigremont, Scotin, and others.

the manner of designing
greatest
architect

contributed materially to the decoration

of the Louvre, and of the State apartments in the Tuileries, as

part

in

his

With

In

works, the twisted

spite

and

(ialerie

elegantly testified

is

in

a.

admirably sportive designs was

the advent of Louis

XV.

far more "rococo" and " barocque " than

of his predecessor's reign.

Soufflot

150

grew

his

of the

it

to the throne, in 1715,

had been during the

of the fine talents and good example set by the

foliated

scrolls

and

shells of the

former grew into

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.
the "rocaille"

and grotto-work of

" Chinoiaerie."

From

though liney

elegant

style,

the

latter;

degenerating

at

exercised a beneficial influence over industrial design

the cabinet-maker,

and out of

reigned,

Monarchy

celebrated for his

at a period shortly

exquisite

it

came order

"mode"

I.,

in the

<le

native

ability

supervened.

sought

for,

restored,

eclectic character,

France
execution

is,

of

it

by

country

this

very

men

able

preceding the Revolution

Marie

During the Revolution Chaos

The

best artists were

and the talent of Percier, Fontaine, Normand, Fragonard, Prudhon,

Frieze style. Louis Seize, by Fay.

highest perfection the graceful and learned, but

of the country,

stiff

and

cold,

of fashion, and confusion again

however, aided by judicious and liberally conducted

institutions, soon revived the public interest,

nature

into

As the Republic, however, ripened into

With the Restoration the antique went out

l'Empire."

The

its'

of

eccentricities

shape of an utter abjuration of the " colifichets " of the

Panel suitable for Reisner Marquetry, designed by Fay.

in

the

of three

from stern Republican grew magnificent Imperialist.

employed by Napoleon

and Cavelier, developed

all

marquetry; Goutliier, brass-chaser to

favour of the Republican severity of a David.

in

the Empire, the

liberally

The genius

and Demontreuil, carver in wood to the royal family.

Antoinette;

into

corresponding in some degree to that introduced

Robert Adams, principally in his buildings in the Adelphi.

Reisner,

last

approaching inanition, ornament revived under Louis XVI. to an

style of

this

The monuments
and imitated on

and an enthusiasm
middle ages

of the
all

for rivals of a

somewhat

" style
ensued.

educational

archaeological

and of the Renaissance were

cared

for,

hands; and out of the manifold studies so made, styles of

but approaching originality, are rapidly forming themselves throughout the country.

must be

confessed, at the present time, master of the field in the distribution

ornament of almost every

place in this country, that

may, happily, be enabled

it is

class

but so rapid and hopeful

is

the progress

and

now taking

by no means impossible that an historian writing some few years hence

to place the Allies, as they should be,

upon a footing

M.

of equality.

DIGBY WYATT.

151

ITALIAN ORNAMENT.

BOOKS REFERRED TO FOR ILLUSTRATIONS.

LITERARY AND PICTORIAL.

Adams

The Polychromatic Ornomcnt of Italy.

(E.)

Albeeti

De Re

(L. B.)

4to.

Milano, in

Ornamenti diversi inventati, Ac, da.

Albebtolli.

D'Androuet du Cerceau.

d.

folio.

Paris, 1559, in

folio.

D'Avilee.

d'Architecture,

'ours

Paris, 1756, in 4to.

par.

Augusta?, 1740, in

Architettura di.

Borbomini (F.)

Bomae, 1735, in

Opus Architectonicum.

folio.

folio.

3 vols. 8vo.

Recueil

interieures, par.

Decorations

de

ou, Recueil a" Arabesques, Peintures, et

Ornements qui

la dicorent.

Folio, Paris, 1838.

DlEDO E ZanotTO.

Sepulchral

Monuments of

I Monu-

Venice.

da

Historisclie Nachricht von den Nunibcrgischen

Kunstlern, Ac.

Folio,

Romberg,

1730.

Monumens Sepulcraux

(V.)

Vincent Gozzini,

tt

de

la

Toscane,

graves par Jerome Scotto.

dessine's

par

Nouvelle Edition,

Description of the Plates of Fresco Decorations

and Sixteenth Centuries.

With an Essay by
compared with

the Arabesques of the Ancients

and

New

edition, largely

coloured.

4to.

Fresco Decorations

Recueil

d' Arabesques,

contenanl

grand nombre

d'aulres

40 plates,

folio.

Svo. Paris,

plates, imperial folio.

Rusooni (G. Ant.)

mented by numerous

Loges du Vatican d'apres Raphael,

Nonnand, Queverdo, Boucher,

le

114

Ac.

Paris, 1802.

Venez. 1593,

Dell' Architettura, lib. X., da.

Idea

Scamozzi.

Tuttele Opere
Libri cinque

Terme de

Tito.

d' Architettura di.

and coloured.

Folio,

vols,

in

d' Archil cttura di.

and
aug-

London,

1854.

Venet. 1584, in4to.

Venet. 1551, in

folio.

&c,

2 vols, in

of the Baths of Titus, en-

1,

atlas folio,

oblong,

Rome,

n. d.

Tosi and Becchio.

edition,

series of 61 engravings of the paintings, ceil-

graved by Carloni.

New

Venez. 1615.

Architettura da.

ings, arabesque decorations,

of Churches

K.A.

dell'

folio.

J. J. Hiltorff on

augmented by numerous

and Stuccoes

plates, plain

les

Compositions du nieme genre dans

those of Ilaffaelle

London, 1854.

with descriptions by Lewis Gruner,

Altars, Tabernacles,

and Sepulchral Monuments

Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, existing at Home.

of the

Published under the patronage of the celebrated Academy of

Descriptions in Italian,
St. Luke, by MM. Tosi and Becchio.
Folio, Lagny,
English, and French, by Mrs. Spry Bartlett.
1853.

Specimens of Ornamental Art selected from the best

Models of the Classical Epochs. Illustrated by 80 plates, with
descriptive text, by

Emil Braun.

(By Authority.)

Folio,

Lon-

don, 1850.

Magazzari (G.)

The most

incisi

select

Ornaments of Bologna.

da Giovanni Magazzari.

Raccolta

Ornati sparsi per la Citta di Bologna, desegnali

scelti

De Neuffoege.
(1757).

Description des Bains de Tite.

and

Palaces in Italy during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,

piu

Cheminees, Ac, par.

Life of Raphael, by Quatremere de Quincy.

Raphael.

Serijo (Seb.)

Stuccoes of Churches and Palaces in Italy during the Fifteenth

plates, plain

las

other works.

4to.

Florence, 1821.

his School.

Paris, 1626, in

de.

in folio.

augmentee de vingt-neuf planches, avec leur Descriptions.

(L.)

Ponce (N.)

And

folio.

Style antique, d'apres

Mathematicians and Artists of Nuremberg, Ac.

Mathematicis und

G.)

d' Architecture

Diffirentes Manieres tl'rner

Piranesi (Fr.)

et

Folio, Milan, 1830.

Francesco Zanotlo.
(J.

(Euvrts

folio.

1835.

menti cospicui di Venezia, illustrati dal Cav. Antonio Diedo

Doppelmayr

selon let Anciens,

Paris, 1683, in folio.

Borne, 1768, in

Uhambre de Marie de Medicis au Palais 4" Luxembourg

Dedaux.

ed

Percier et Fontaine.

Philibert de Lorme.

Paris, 1815.

in Italy.

de'

Venet. 1570, in

Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni

D.)

In zwei Theilen mit vierzehn Abbildungen.

Santi.

par.

Monuments et Tombeaux mesures et destines en talie,

40 Plans and Views of the most remarkable Monuments

par.

and

(J.

Peerault. Ordonnance des cinq Especes de Colonnes,

folio.

Clochae (P.)

Gruner

Architettura di.

Passavant

Paris, 1812, in folio.

Bibiena.

Gozzini

Palladio.

1 vol. folio, Leipzig, 1839.

d' Architecture.

Livre

London, n.

Florent. 1485, in folio.

JEdificatoria Opus.

Recueil

e'lementaire

Oblong

4to. Bologna, 1837.

d Architecture,

par.

Paris

vols, in folio.

Pain's British Palladio.

*

From

152

London, 1797, in
this interesting

Regola dei cinque Ordini

VoLPATO ed Ottavtano.
Boma, 1782.

*Zahn(W.

Ornamenle

for Plates

d' Architettura,

Loggie del Raffacle

aller Klassischen

da.

nel

In

folio, Berlin,

folio.

Valicano, Ac.

Kunst-Epoclien nach den

originalen in ihren eigenthiimlichen farben dargestellt.

Oblong

849.

Zobi (Ant.) Notizie Storiche sull' Origine e l'rogressi dei Lavori

di Commesso in Pietre Dure cite si esequiscono nell' I. e R.
Second Edition, with additions and
Stabilimento di Firenze.
corrections by the author.

folio.

work the materials

Viqnola.

LXXVIL, LXXVIIL, LXXIX.,

4to. Florence, 1*53.

have been derived.

XX.

Chapter

Plates 91-100.

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FEOM NATURE.

PLATE
Horse-chestnut Leaves.

Full

XCI.

size,

PLATE
Vine

Ivy Palmata.

2, 3, 4,

and

XCII.

Full size, traced from Natural Leaves.

Leave.-".

PLATE
1.

traced from Natural Leaves.

5.

Common

XCIII.

Ivy.

Full

size,

traced from Natural Leaves.

PLATE XCIV.
1.

Scarlet Oak.

2.

White Oak.

3.

All full

4. Maple.
5. White Bryony.
and traced from Natural Leaves.

Fig-tree.
size,

6.

Laurel.

7.

Bay-tree.

PLATE XCV.
1.

Vine.

2.

Holly.

3.

Oak.

4.

Turkey Oak.

5.

Laburnum.

All full

size,

and traced from Natural Leaves.

PLATE XCVI.
1.

Wild Rose.

"

2.

Ivy.

.'?.

Blackberry.

All full

size,

and traced from Natural Leaves.

PLATE XCVII.
Hawthorn, Yew, Ivy, and Strawberry-tree.

RR

All full

size,

and traced from Nature.

153

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FROM NATURE.

PLATE XCVIIL
Plans and Elevations of Flowers.
1. Isis.

2.

White

Lily.

~.

Mouse-ear.

13.

8.

Honeysuckle.

14. Convolvulus.

9.

Mallow.

L>. Primrose.

Glossocomia clematidea.

Daffodil.

4.

Narcissus.

10. Ladies'

.5.

Onion.

11. Speedwell.

17. Clarkia.

<j.

Dog-Rose.

12. Harebell.

18. Levcesteria formosa.

Smock.

10. Periwinkle.

PLATE XCIX.
1.

Honeysuckle.

2.

Convolvulus.

PLATE
J'assion Flowers.

Full

size.

C.
Full

size.

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FEOM NATUEE.

We

have endeavoured to show in the preceding chapters, that in the best periods of art

was rather based upon an observation of the

nature,' than

limit

We

the arrangement

any

in

art, it

was one of the strongest symptoms of decline

and not copying, the forms of nature.

think

natural form

desirable to insist rather strongly on

it

this point, as, in the present uncertain state in

The world has become weary of the

works of ornament.

as

same conventional forms which have been borrowed from

fore can excite in us but little sympathy.
as

in
this

true art consisting in

which we are, there seems a general disposition arising to reproduce, as faithfully as

nature,

ornament

of form

on an attempt to imitate the absolute forms of those works; and that whenever

was exceeded

idealising,

principles which regulate

all

the

ancients

much on what we go
the Greeks went, we
of the fourteenth

how

may hope;

carpets, floral papers,

fifteenth

and

but

we may

if

centuries,

we go

succeed.

If

to

say, a universal cry of

echo that cry, but

we go

of the

" Go back

it

will

to

depend

to nature as the Egyptians

and

there like the Chinese, or even as the Gothic artists

we should gain but

We

little.

and that the more closely nature

have already, in the

floral

is

copied, the farther

we

art

are re-

a work of art.

Although ornament

is

most properly only an accessory to architecture, and should never be allowed

to usurp the place of structural features, or to overload or to disguise

soul of an architectural

154

repetition

carvings of the present day, sufficient evidence to show that no

floral

can be produced by such means

moved from producing

far

we

first

be possible,

which have passed away, and there-

styles

risen,

did;" we should be amongst the

to seek,

and

There has

eternal

may

monument.

them,

it

is

in all cases the

very

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FROM NATURE.

By

the ornament

of a building

we can judge more

The general proportions

has brought to bear upon the work.

mouldings may be more or

ornament

instant, that
is

attempted, we see

is

from the

copied

accurately

less

truly of the creative power which the artist

how

of the

most

the architect

far

approved models

not easy

is

expression of the intention of the whole work,

Unfortunately,

it

much

has been too

but the very

To put ornament

is

still

more

in the

difficult.

the practice in our time to abandon to hands most unfitted

adornment of the structural features of buildings, and more especially

for the task the

It

artist.

ornament at the same time a superadded beauty and an

render that

to

good, the

same time the

at the

is

the best measure of the care and refinement bestowed upon the work.

right place

may be

building

their

interior

decoration?.

The

ornament which the revived use of the acanthus leaf has

of manufacturing

facility

fatal

given, has tended very

much

and deadened the creative instinct in

to this result,

could so readily be done by another, they have

and

high position of the architect, the head

How,
to

then,

be invented or developed

found, and

We

Some

we should be beginning

do not think

that other to do

We

so.

will

at the

probably

wrong end

say,

to

so far

have abdicated their

A new

style

any new

is

ornament

style of

must

of architecture

first

be

commence with ornament.

works of ornament

for

and that architecture

is

co-existent

adopts ornament,

it.

The Corinthian order of

architecture

growing round an earthen pot

is

said

to

have been suggested by an acanthus leaf found

but the acanthus leaf existed as an ornament long before,

was observed in the conventional ornaments.

events, the principle of its growth

application

how

have already shown that the desire

with the earliest attempts of civilisation of every people

does not create

and

chief.

universal desire for progress to be satisfied

this

is

left

What

minds.

artists'

It

or, at all

was the peculiar

of this leaf to the formation of the capital of a column which was the sudden invention

that created the Corinthian order.

The principle of the

architecture

of

as they were,

the thirteenth

century,

existed

which predominate in the

leaves,

long before in the

illuminated

MSS.

most probably, from the East, have given an almost Eastern character

The

ornament.

and even the general form of the

foliation,

of ornamentation

of the thirteenth

architects

and derived

to early English

century were, therefore, very familiar with this system

and we cannot doubt, that one cause of the adoption

during the thirteenth century arose from the great familiarity with

its

so

universally

leading forms

of this style

which already

existed.

The
in

floral style, in

direct imitation of nature,

The

works of ornament.

missal, induced an attempt to rival

The

architectural

them

period were

the Elizabethan

furniture, metal-work,

and other

they would be with the

necessarily

articles of

architectural

We

style

is

mostly a reproduction of the works of the.

much more

familiar with

the

so.

The

paintings, hangings,

luxury, which England received from the Continent, than

monuments

and

it is

architecture,

this familiarity with the

which

led to

ornamentation

the development of those

which distinguish Elizabethan architecture from the purer architecture of the Revival.

we

therefore think

independently of

means

by the same

nature in the pages of a

In any borrowed style, more especially, this would be

of the period, but imperfect knowledge of the

peculiarities

also preceded

in stone in the buildings of the time.

ornament of the Elizabethan period

loom, the painter, and the engraver.

artists in

which succeeded, was

facility of painting flowers in direct imitation of

a,

new

of arriving at a

are justified in the belief, that a

style of architecture;

new

style

new

style of

and, moreover, that

for instance, if

we could only

it

ornament may be produced

would be one of the readiest

arrive at the invention of a

nation to a means of support, one of the most difficult points would be accomplished.

155

new termi-

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FROM NATURE.

The chief

building which form a style are,

of a

features

means of spanning space between the supports; and,

the

the means of support;

first,

secondly,

thirdly, the formation of the roof.

the

It is

decoration of these structural features which gives the characteristics of style, and they all follow so

command

naturally one from the other, that the invention of one will

would appear, at

It

hausted, and that

means of varying these

sight, that the

first

we have nothing

the rest.
structural

features

had been ex-

but to use either the one or the other of the systems which have

left

already run their coune.

we

If

reject the use of the

column and horizontal beam of the Greeks and Egyptians, the round

arch of the Romans, the pointed arch and vault of the Middle Ages, and the domes of the

be asked

it will

What

left ?

is

already been

exhausted, and that

been said in

all

We
it

shall perhaps

be told that

were vain to

look for

systems.

his airy vaults could be surpassed,

we

If

are

now

the

and that

undoubtedly,

advance which

To

(it

man

world has not seen,

most assuredly, the

return to our subject,

How

formed

the influence

From

is

to

any new

is

In the

first
;

new

style of art or

place,

we have

little

by an

we

hope that

the architectural profession

at

is

much

are destined to see

time too

the present

by an

influenced

ill-

but the rising generation in both classes are born under happier auspices,

them we must look

should,

ornament to be formed, or

style of

for

hope in the future.

It is for their use that

together this collection of the works of the past; not that they should
artists

architectural

present chaos there will

the

of past education on the one hand, and too

informed public on the other

it

of the

in every other direction towards the possession of the tree of knowledge.

more than the commencement of a change

and

last

not be in our time), an architecture which shall be worthy of the high

made

has

by hollow tubes of

passing through an age of copying, and architecture with us exhibits a want

may

even attempted to be

much under

have

this

Could the Mediaeval architect have ever

gulfs could be crossed

of vitality, the world has passed through similar periods before.

arise,

But could not

Could the Egyptian have ever imagined that any other mode of spanning

time?

Let us not despair;

iron?

Mohammedans,

the means of covering space have

other forms.

space would ever be found than his huge blocks of stone?

dreamed that

all

attentive examination of the principles

we have gathered

be slavishly copied, but that

which pervade

all

the works of the past,

and which have excited universal admiration, be led to the creation of new forms equally beautiful.

We
all

believe that if a student in the arts, earnest in his search after knowledge, will only lay aside

temptation to indolence, will examine for himself the works of the past, compare them with the

works of nature, bend his mind to a thorough appreciation of the principles which reign in each, he
cannot

to be himself a creator,

fail

We

of the past.

think

it

and

to individualise

new forms,

instead of reproducing the forms

impossible that a student fully impressed with the law of the universal

ness of things in nature, with the wonderful variety of form, yet all arranged around
laws,

the proportionate distribution

of areas,

from a parent stem, whatever type he

the desire to imitate

it,

but

the tangential

may borrow from

curvatures

Nature,

will only seek to follow still the

of

he

if

path which

lines,

will
it

some few

and

the

fit-

fixed

radiation

dismiss from his

mind

so plainly shows him,

we

doubt not that new forms of beauty will more readily arise under his hand, than can ever follow

from a continuation
inspiration.

the prevailing fashion of resting only on the

in

It will require

but a few minds to give the

others will follow, readily improving, refining

of Art shall be again

are far

We

reached, to

upon each

works of the past

impulse:

other's efforts,

subside into decline and

enough removed from either

first

disorder.

the

till

for

present

way once pointed

out,

another culminating point

For the present, however, we

stage.

have been desirous to aid this movement to the extent of our power; and in the ten plates

of leaves and flowers which accompany this chapter,

types which

we thought

156

best calculated to

we have gathered together many

of those natural

awaken a recognition of the natural laws which

prevail in

LEAVES AND FLOWERS FROM NATURE.

But, indeed, these laws will be found to be so universal, that they are as

the distribution of form.

The

well seen in one leaf as in a thousand.

single

example of the chestnut

the whole of the laws which are to be found in Nature

no art can

the perfect proportional distribution of the areas, the radiation from the parent

We

curvatures of the lines, or the even distribution of the surface decoration.

a single

But

leaf.

we

if

further study the law of their growth,

of the vine or the ivy, that the

same law which prevails

As

assemblage of leaves.

also in the

harmony with the group

the eye

is

maintained,

it

C.

The same laws

we never

everywhere apparent in Plates

is

The

has to travel, or the weight

it

Convolvulus,

XCVIIL, XCIX.)

will

why

this,

life-blood,

on the surface of flowers;

not

a line which could be

Because the beauty

the

XCVIIL we

Plate

its

naturally

stem, takes the

may

has to support, the thicker will be

it

arises

sap, as it leaves the

of reaching the confines of the surface, however varied that surface

the distance

it

and

from the law of the growth of each plant.

On

everywhere

is

find a disproportionate leaf interfering

prevail in the distribution of lines

removed, and leave the form more perfect

way

an assemblage of leaves

any combination of leaves each leaf

not a line upon the surfaces but tends more surely to develop the form,

readiest

gather this from

in the formation of the single leaf prevails

This universal law of equilibrium

to destroy the repose of the group.

XCVIIL, XCIX.,

see in

may

as in one leaf the areas are so perfectly distributed that the repose of

equally so in the group

is

we may

stem, the tangential

in the chestnut leaf, Plate XCI., the area of each lobe diminishes

in equal proportion as it approaches the stem, so in

in

Plate XCI., contains

leaf,

rival the perfect grace of its form,

be

the greater

substance.

(See

have shown several varieties of flowers, in plan and elevation, from which

be seen that the basis of

from the centre with equal

all

form

geometry, the impulse which forms the surface, starting

is

necessarily

force,

stops

the result

at equal distances;

is

symmetry and

regularity.

Who,

then,

will

dare say that

flowers of the thirteenth century

that this alone can produce art?

the principles.

our slumbers.

We

feel

nothing

left

for us

but to copy the

five

or seven-lobed

the Honeysuckle of the Greeks or the Acanthus of the Romans,

Is

Nature

The Creator has not made

They

is

persuaded that there

admiration; on the contrary, as

our study.

there

all

all

so tied?
is

See

how

various the forms, and

yet a future open to us

things beautiful, that

we have but

we should thus

set

how unvarying
to arouse

from

a limit to our

His works are offered for our enjoyment, so are they offered

are there to awaken a natural instinct implanted in

us,

desire

to

for

emulate in

the works of our hands the order, the symmetry, the grace, the fitness, which the Creator has sown

broadcast over the earth.

LONDON:
Primed by John Stkangeways, Castle

ss

St.,

Leicester Sq.

157

KELTISCH
TAJ 11. LXin

CELTIC N I

CRLTIQUES
fiats L:an

MIDDLE AGES N 3

MITTELALTER

MQYEN-ACE
PLUCV111

I'AfEL uxvni

&*&*

it-

^ ^ t

1?

*?

-'

C3 Sf

E 3 B 13

hum inirte

TAFEL LXXU

maniiscrifte.

LLU M NATE D
I

M.SS.

manuscripts ehlumme
FL lxx;

CH

ARABIAN ,N 4

ARABE S
PI

XXX! V

ELIZABETHEISCH
TAFEL LXXXIV

ELIZABETHAN N 2

EUSABETHEENS
PLATE LXXXIV

BLATTER NACH DR NATUR

TATZL XCYl.

LEAVES FROM NATURE

N 6. FEMLLES DAPRES NATURE

PL.XCYI