The teaching of ornamentFred Hamilton Daniels

















THE TEACHING
OF ORNAMENT
By FRED H. DANIELS, Director of Art
Education, Public Schools, Buffalo, New York
j j • -
THE J. C. WITTER COMPANY
123 Fifth Avenue, New York City

F .»


: ■." r'ORK
•J. V.v. LIBRARY
148353
Copyrighted, 1900
BY
J. C. Witter Go.


CONTENTS.
I.
Art Education ...
ii
II.
Primary Grades .....
<5
III.
General Plan of Work in Higher Grades
20
IV.
Elements of Beauty in Nature and Ornament
25
V.
The Teaching and Drawing of Ornament
37
VI.
Egyptian Ornament . . .
42
VII.
Greek " ...
70
VIII.
Roman ". . . .
101
IX.
Byzantine
120
X.
Saracenic" . . . .
'37
XI.
Gothic
160
XII.
Original Design ... . .
188
XIII.
Color . . . .
203





PREFACE.
are herein described; but as the teacher will naturally
study most carefully that style which she is to teach, it has
seemed best to repeat in several chapters some general prin-
ciples and suggestions.
The following books are recommended to those who have
time for additional reading:
Historic Architecture and Ornament:
"Grammar of Ornament," Owen Jones.
"A History of Art," Goodyear.
"History of Architecture," Hamlin.
"Architecture," in Encyclopedia Britannica.
"History of Art," Lubke.
"A History of Art in all Countries," Ferguson.
"The Fine Arts," G. Baldwin Brown.
"Prang's Teachers' Manual, Part IV."
Design:
"Principles and Practice of Design," Jackson.
"Studies in Plant Form and Design," Midgley and Lilley.
"Nature in Ornament," Day.
"The Anatomy of Pattern," Day.
"With Brush and Pen," Hall.
Color:
"Elementary Color," Bradley.
Fred H. Daniels.
Buffalo, April ist, 1900.
10


CHAPTER 1.
ART EDUCATION
"The useful, in so far as opposed to the agreeable and the beautiful,
is enjoyed merely in common with the lower animals; and if we love and
prize what is useful to us in this sense, we do nothing more than what
the ox and the ass would do For among all animals, man
alone is gifted with a perception of order, beauty, and grace
Therefore it is also that the perception of the beautiful, in art as well as
manners and morals, distinguishes the social, developed and civilized
man from the savage and the barbarian Beauty and
grace are undoubtedly united by nature itself with the useful; but they
are not, therefore, desirable because they are useful; but because from
the nature of man, he enjoys a pure pleasure in their contemplation."
— Wieland.
OST essential is it that we understand at the
outset that art is not confined to the paint-
ing of pictures and the carving of statues.
From earliest times its scope has been
universal. A study of the household fur-
nishings of the caves of prehistoric races,
or of the modern residences and their con-
tents, will result in the conclusion that
nothing made by man is satisfactory until
it is so fashioned as to conform with the
maker's notion of beauty—until it ex-
presses an art idea. We are conscious of a
certain joy in the mere contemplation of anything in which
we recognize an understanding of beauty. To a greater
or lesser degree an ideal has been realized. "Art consists
in the doing of each right thing well."
Art, then, has its organ in the every-day demands of man-
kind. It cannot be disassociated from life, hence its im-
portance in any complete scheme of education. The business
of the school is to prepare for complete living; in other
words, to present to the pupils the highest aspect of each
study that they "may do each right thing well."

11


A course in drawing which is planned with this end in
view necessarily includes the best that has ever been pre-
sented under the three headings, Pictorial, Decorative and
Constructive. It does not in any particular lessen the em-
phasis which the manufacturer and workman demand for
mechanical skill; it does add the thoughtful, the creative, the
art element which makes the artist-artisan rather than the
drudge, which transforms the imitator into the creator. Un-
doubtedly the home environment of the average American
child tends to develop the mechanical rather than the artistic
nature, hence the especial need—for complete living—of
such art work in our schools as will encourage thoughtful,
original productions. Any curriculum which provides only
for the obtaining of a meagre livelihood neglects to furnish
occupation for a large part of each day's routine. It is nec-
essary to provide means for the enrichment of life through a
judicious employment of the leisure hours. To this end cul-
ture studies were introduced into the schools. Literature
and music are not taught primarily to make writers and mu-
sicians, but to educate toward a love for the best in these
two departments. The course in drawing should aim to
cultivate, refine and elevate aesthetic ideals. A study of
theories and facts will never accomplish this end. We must
do more than teach drawing. We must make our course
so broad that the beautiful creations of God and man will be
an eternal source of enjoyment.
In a well-known high school, where drawing is optional,
the question was asked, "Why do you study drawing?"
One girl wrote this: "The chief reason I study drawing is
because I enjoy it so much. Instead of seeming like a lesson
it is almost the same as a recreation. It helps me in a great
many ways, too. The more I study it the more beauty \ see
in things I had never thought especially beautiful before,
and the more I can enjoy and appreciate nature. I can not
help thinking it makes us beautiful inwardly, and, as the
poet says, 'Inward beauty makes outward grace,' for there
is no hurry, or worry, but just a kind of peaceful pleasure."
Drawing is rightly taught in that high school.
Nature drawing cultivates an appreciation of the beauties
of nature. Emerson has said, "We are immersed in beau -
12


ty but our eyes have no clear vision." And again: "Let us
approach and admire beauty, whose revelation to man we
now celebrate,—beauty, welcome as the sun wherever it
pleases to shine, which pleases everybody with it and with
themselves." The world of nature is our environment; i£
we would enjoy it we
"Must be musical,
Tremulous, impressional,
Alive to gentle influence
Of landscape and of sky."
Art is enjoyed according to the understanding and the im
pressionability of the spectator. The story is beautiful to us is
proportion to the degree that it arouses our thought activities.
The greatest actors are recorded as saying that they but sug-
gest and the imagination of the audience supplies the de-
tails. A musical composition often appeals to us because oi
the thought or sentiment which it excites. To the general
public in this country the pictures of native hills and of home
life are more interesting than those representing foreign
scenes. Art is used to express ideas. If we do not compre-
hend in any degree the thought which the artist would pre-
sent, then the theme or object is not artistic to us. If it be a
real work of art, it is our misfortune not to be able to enjoy it.
What is true of the drama, of literature, music and paint-
ing is equally true of architecture and ornament. In the
architecture of our towns and cities we find scarcely any-
thing which is not interesting because of its relation to the
great historic styles. We know the stories of the origin and
early uses of the arches in this church; yonder columns re-
minds us of the culture of the Greeks, of their Athens; here
is an acanthus scroll which surely is borrowed from Roman
ornament, and the very character of Roman art starts an-
other train of thought regarding ancient Rome and her peo-
ple. Thus through the study of historic ornament and
design our modern architecture is revealed to us anew.
What was formerly but a mass of stone becomes alive with
meaning. Every column and window and dome and bit of
ornament challenge our attention because in them we recog-
nize old friends. They have a suggestive message of the
good and true historically—they are beautiful to us.
19


an attempt to reproduce the second, etc. (Fig. 6) By
working in this way the spirit of the flower has woefully
degenerated in the last units. "Keep this in mind, that it
is the definite individual character of an object which makes
beauty."
Talk with the class about the manner in which plants
grow. We do not see flowers growing in the fields each
isolated from all others, but rather in groups springing from
a common root. Flowers seem to like the companionship of
congenial friends, as do the children in the school-yard.
"And 'tis my faith, that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes."
Look out of the window at the play-ground: Here is a
group of boys discussing some scheme for the future, there
another smaller gathering, and away in the distance are to
to be seen one or two who appear to be coming to join the
merry parties. We can not always see the root of the flower
but all the lines of the plant point to it. All flowers are n®t
of the same height, some lift their heads higher than others.
Some boys and girls are taller than their neighbors; it would
not be very interesting to watch a passing throng on the
street if all were exactly of the same build. Again, as with
people, some stand up straight and stiff, while others seem
to say, "I'll hold my head up as high as any, but I can do so
a little more gracefully." These plants curve gently in the
stem. While the child is considering these few interesting
phases of nature he is in reality learning the laws of beauty
as expressed in good design; the principles of growing plants,
of radiation, of strength, of rhythm, of curvature. These are
the elements of beauty which are conspicuous by their ab-
sence in the designs of the older boys and girls. In the pla-
cing and veining of the leaves and the arrangement of sepals
and petals, he sees beautiful illustrations of repetition and
alternation. (See Chapter IV.)
The arrangements in Figs. 4 and 5 seem to confoi m with
the first step toward the making of a designer. This method
will not, perhaps, produce as pleasing "result sheets " as can
be obtained in other ways, but growth is the work of the
lower grades, results will follow later.
16


For surface designs, let the pupils arrange flowers in
groups in a frame and copy the same upon another sheet.
(Figs. 7, 8 and 9.) Here is opportunity for original thought
in grouping and the work is a continued study of nature.
The stem of each flower ought to be entirely removed before
placing the flowers in the oblong. A surface pattern made
with the stems of flowers floating out in all directions is very
unsatisfactory because it is untrue to natural growths, it sug-
gests movement—sometimes such drawings are very like an
aquarium of pollywogs—and we are perhaps disappointed
that these long-tailed things do not move, whereas a design
should give the impression of being still, of repose. Figs. 7,
8 and 9 are pictures of flowers similar to the views we should
obtain, omitting details below the flowers, in a walk through
the fields or woods.
And now, what school of ornament shall we study to illus-
trate this kind of design? The Japanese prints give us the
best examples of non-conventional decorative arrangements.
They are artistic and—they are cheap. (Fig. 10.)
By all means use the brush and color or colored crayons
in the lower grades. The painted form is far more interest-
ing, more like the original and therefore easier to criticize,
and the brush and crayon furnish the best mediums to train
the child in direct free expression. There are many who
think that the colored crayons are preferable to water-colors
in the first year or two of school life. The pencil is the most
uninteresting medium to children. If crayons are used,
chalk can be given out to draw flowers having white petals.
After the flowers in the border or surface pattern are drawn,
a background may be added even by children in the first
grade. Show the class how to put on a background by
making parallel strokes with the crayon (Figs. 7-9), or byput-
ting on a wash with the water-colors. (If water-colors are
used the background should be put on first.) Primary chil-
dren can understand, through class criticisms, that if the
background is stronger in color than the flowers, it becomes
of more importance than the latter, and they know that the
flowers ought to be the more prominent. Each child may
decide what color he will use. At the close of the lesson pin
up some of the drawings and have a class criticism with a
17



Fig. 3.
18


Fig. 4





CHAPTER III.
GENERAL PLAN OF WORK IN HIGHER GRADES
"To much learning stifles the soul. We toil only to stuff the memory
but leave the conscience and understanding empty."—Montaigne.

HE director of art education should con-
sider four factors in planning a course
in historic ornament and design: the
pupil; the amount of time that can be
devoted each year to the subject; the
relative importance of the various
schools; and the correlation of the or-
nament with the work in original de-
sign. Each of the following plans has
its advantages and objections.
One method of teaching historic ornament involves the
study of elements from any and all schools without regard
to the history of art until the sixth or eighth year of school
life, when there comes a general summary of all the historic
styles.
Another method begins with Egyptian art in the fourth
year and continues in a chronological order, taking Greek in
the fifth year, etc. Child-study has shown us that some sub-
jects can best be taught to children at certain periods of
their school career. Certainly the ideas of time, space, re-
ligion and symbolism, which permeate Egyptian art are not
wisely presented to the child in his fourth year in school.
Nor can any comprehension of the beauty of Greek art be
secured in the fifth. It would be most interesting to know
how many of the children, who have been told that the
Parthenon was a very beautiful building, could honestly
say: "I think it is beautiful." Undoubtedly, the large
majority of learners accept the fact that it is so called, try
to remember the name of the architect, the date and where
it was built—and this is called "art education." Our time
20


■
is wasted in the copying of meaningless forms and names.
Some one will say that a child cannot appreciate the subtle
beauty of such a creation as a Greek temple. Then let us
leave the subject for consideration in a higher grade. The
world's legacy of art provides enough that will appeal to
him.
The fact that many pupils leave school at the end of the
grammar course is a strong argument in favor of one of the
above plans. Very few classes spend more than a month
each year upon the subject of historic ornament; this means
from four to eight hours. If eight hours can be had, prob-
ably the plan of commencing to classify the schools in the
sixth year is preferable.
The relative importance of the different schools and their
correlation with original work ought now to be thought of,
particularly by those directors of drawing who cannot allow
eight hours a year for the study of ornament.
The term "historic ornament " is applied to the art of the
past ages, which has withstood the criticism of man for cen-
turies. It forms, therefore, a reliable source from which to
draw inspiration for original work It should be so taught
as to lead to and correlate with our work in design.
"In the study of nature, without which the architect as
well as every other artist can do nothing,—absolutely noth-
ing—he must study the commentaries on her, i. e., all pre-
vious productions of his art. All these are so many anno-
tations on nature's great and most difficult book; and he
who attempts to read her without their assistance, simply
sets up his wisdom against that of all mankind; and, how-
ever satisfactory his discoveries may be to himself, he may
be assured that they are as old as Adam; and that should he
have at once the greatest genius and the longest life ever
granted, he will have advanced no further than the first
efforts of art, which, pursued on this principle would, un-
like all other human pursuits, be never beyond its begin-
ning. It is impossible for the designer to produce anything
true but by the study of nature, and it is impossible to pro-
duce anything new but by a knowledge of what has been
done by his predecessors. The most original artists of any
kind are the most extensive imitators."
31


As we look back at our training in historic ornament and
design, it seems now like a new topic for our consideration,
inasmuch as the ornament we talked about and copied had
very little or no relation to the designs we were expected to
produce. We were shown pictures of pyramids, temples,
mosques, capitals, acanthus foliage, scrolls, etc., etc., but
what had all this to do with the design for a border which
we were to make? Therefore, the practical application of
historic ornament to design is to many a new subject.
A better method would be based upon the requirements nec-
essary for the production of original work. All ornament and
design, all art, is a result of the careful study of nature—and
of geometry, of which nature is the embodiment. The pupil
can not indulge in abstract idealizations until he has concrete
concepts.
"You beat your pate, and fancy wit will come;
Knock as you please, there's nobody at home."
—Pope.
In his "Grammar of the Lotus," Goodyear says: "For
before the days of decorative art theories, and South Ken-
sington instruction, the evolution of the conventional pat-
tern was a natural and a gradual one. . . . In the case
of the lotus we can point to myriad forms where the flower
was carefully detailed, and to innumerable transitions to the
more highly conventional forms, all descended from a time
(for there was a first time) when the naturalistic pattern was
the only one. If the cave dwellers of the stone age began
with realistic art, we cannot doubt that the Egyptians did
the same, and the history of their sculpture and painting, as
far as we can trace it back, is proof that they did." In
arranging a course in design we should, then, commence
with nature, and lead toward the abstract and ideal. This
would involve three steps: (i) Familiarity with natural
forms. (Primary grades.) (2) Study of naturalistic or
slightly conventionalized units arranged conventionally. (3)
Study of highly conventionalized and idealized designs. (In-
termediate and grammar grades.)
A careful study of Owen Jones's "Grammar of Ornament"
has aided in choosing the following order:


Grades 4 and 5.—Gothic. Reasons: First, slightly con-
ventionalized designs may be found in which the arrange-
ment of the units is simple and decorative. Second, the
class will be more interested in this school at this age than
later. Gothic ornament presents an abundance of easily
comprehended symbols. This period in the child's life is
the age of symbolism, the time of dolls, of finger languages,
of those mysterious "hog-latin" notes which are written
backwards. The child at this age is more openly interested
in religion than when he becomes self-conscious, and the
story of the crusades has a definite charm for him. Third,
Gothic architecture is found everywhere.
Grades 6 and 7.—Egyptian. Reasons: First, it is the most
interesting of all schools of art. It has a wonderful symbol-
ism, but more difficult to interpret than the Gothic. Second,
the pupils at this time in life can understand something of
the immense size and age of the old Egyptian art products,
and of the peculiarities of the religion which led to this
symbolic style.
Grades 8 and 9.—Greek. Reasons: First, if we could send
our pupils from the public schools with a love for any one
style of ornament, would we not choose the Greek? Greek
ornament has never been surpassed; it forms a fitting climax
to our work. Second, pupils are now somewhat familiar
with history and good literature. They have heard of many
of the Greek scholars, and know some of the Greek myths.
Many of the high grammar grades have debating societies,
and the stories of the old orators will be interesting. Their
next work will be in the high school, and an interest in the
ancient Greeks may serve as an incentive to the study of
their language. Third, the boys are beginning to be inter-
ested in athletics, and the Pan-Athenian games will at once
arrest their attention. Fourth, the class knows something
of perspective and will appreciate the laws which governed
the building of the Parthenon. An analysis of the anthemion
is not too difficult to be undertaken. The work in Grade 9
may include a review of the Gothic and Egyptian styles.
Gothic and Greek architecture and ornament can be found
in numerous buildings in any city. Pictures of buildings,
details and designs of all three schools can be brought in by
23


CHAPTER IV.
ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY IN NATURE AND ORNAMENT
"If I could put my woods in song
And tell what's there enjoyed,
All men would to my gardens throng,
And leave the cities void."
—Emerson.

UR individual ideas of beauty may
vary, yet there are certain lines,
forms and principles of composi-
tion which have for centuries been
regarded as elements of beauty.
As all our ideals are the outgrowth
of sensual impressions, so these
ideals of beauty in design were
derived from natural growths.
(Some may add, and from geom-
etry, but every geometric figure
can be found duplicated in nature,—geometry was evolved
from nature.)
The pupils ought to know the meaning of and be able to
illustrate by sketches the following principles and terms:
Fitness to Purpose.—Suited or adapted to the particular
end or design to which it is applied. Every natural form or
element of form seems to be adapted to its most perfect use.
A few common illustrations are found in the evolution of the
frog, the feet of a duck, the bill of the stork, the trunk of an
elephant, the joints in plant growths and the various meth-
ods plants use in distributing their seeds. We should strive
for the same fitness in our designs. For example, a unit
which appears to the best advantage when in a vertical posi-
tion only, will not do to use in a design for a carpet, nor will
a book-cover designed from the water lily be suitable for a
book on Arctic explorations. Again, every element in a de-
sign must be adapted to its surroundings. See Figs. 43, 45,
73-76, 90, etc.
25



Fig. 13.—Radiation
26


Unit.—A form which may be repeated in design to corer
a surface. Figs. 44-46, 148-152, etc.
Repetition is expressed in the repeating of the same form.
(Rhythm is the highest form of repetition.) See Figs. 41,
76, 149, 150, 152, etc.
Alternation.—Two or more forms or parts, different in
size, or shape, or both, repeated in regular order, first one
then the other. Figs. 39, 40, 44, 74, 151, etc.
Contrast.—The effect due to the placing together o:
forms or colors quite different in character. Leaves contrast
in shape size and color with flowers and both with the stalk.
See Figs. 14a; 16. 21 3 and 8; 13 *, etc. In ornament,
see Figs. 44, 90, 118, 151, etc.
Growing Point.—That part of unit or design from which
its elements seem to issue. It is analogous to the root in
plant forms. The use of a growing point generally involves
radiation. Find the growing points in Figs. 12, 15 5, 17,
iS7, 45» 69. 7°, 9°, etc.
Symmetry.—The adaptation of the several parts of a form
to each other. Bilateral symmetry, or bilateral is a term
applied to a form which has two sides alike in shape and
size and which bear the same relation to the central axis.
Radial symmetry is that in which like parts are arranged
symmetrically around a centre.
All natural forms are symmetrical—except through acci-
dent—for evolution has eradicated all weak, unnecessary or
cumbersome parts. Nearly all plant and animal forms are
bilaterally symmetrical or have parts which exhibit this ar-
rangement. Figs. 14, 15, 16, 38, 71, 126, etc. Radial sym-
metry is found in flowers and top views of many plant
growths. Figs. 12; 13 1, 8 and "; 17, 45, 93, etc. We
understand that nature never produces two forms exactly
alike or two halves of one form in which the one is the exact
counterpart of the other; therefore when speaking of a nat-
ural object as showing bilateral or radial symmetry, we do
not mean a mechanical repetition but nature's ever-varied
rhythmic repeat.
Radiation means the diverging of lines or elements from
a common point. See Figs. 12, 13, 14, 42, 67, etc.
Rhythm is an accented repetition. The fingers on the hand
27








These characteristics must be possessed by every perfectly
beautiful curve. It is not essential that the increase in length
should be one-third, it may be one-half or one-fifth or any
other fixed proportion.
If we take two equal arcs from the circle, for instance a b
and c d Fig. 18, the two curves are exactly alike. In the
spiral the line / k is of the same length as m n, but m n is a
more violent curve than Ik; the spiral is continually chan-
ging in the degree of its curvature. Again, any one of the
curves sub-tended from the straight lines, as 12 or 56, is an
exact reproduction in miniature of the next larger or of the
largest, 89; in other words 89 is echoed again and again ac-
cording to a constant law, just as a loud noise may be re-
peated in a constantly diminishing echo.
The spiral is designated as an "infinite" or "immortal"
curve, often in school it is called the "curve of elegance."
It may be studied on shells, in tendrils, curled leaves, the
growth of vines, etc. (Fig. 19.)
See how it is employed in ornament in Figs. 43, 57, 60,
71, 90-92, etc.
The Curve of Force is a vigorous line, showing a law of
continued variation as it leaves a straight path. It expresses
life and force and strength and it is much more interesting
than the monotonous curve of the circle. It may be seen in
the sky-rocket, the elm-tree, the goldenrod, the fountain,
the midrib of flowers, etc. (Fig. 20 ) This curve is more
beautiful because of the gradation in its thickness, noticea-
ble in every natural illustration. We may find this curve in
the ornament shown in Figs. 39, 54, 70, 83, etc.
The Reversed Curve or Curve of Grace is found in the
outline and veining of leaves, in flowers, fruits and animals:
Figs. 14, 15, 19-21, etc. In ornament: Figs. 38, 69, 126, etc.
Ruskin calls such curves as the Circle, Ellipse and Oval
"finite " or "mortal " curves, because if a part of one be
given the whole figure may be completed by continuing the
line until it returns to the starting point: If we have the
arc ab, eg, or ioj in Fig. 18, we can complete the circle,
ellipse, or oval. The circle is considered the most common-
place of the three, because the curve is alike throughout its
entire extent. The ellipse is perhaps less interesting than
31


Fig. 12—Radiation


the oval, for while, no two portions of the line e g are alike
in curvature, the whole line eg may be found repeated in
g f, fh and h e; in the oval, which can be bisected by but
line ij, no two parts in the curve 20/ arealike, and the
whole curve is repeated but once, in ipJ, making a bilat-
eral, symmetrical whole. The oval is the geometric figure
most abundant in vegetable and animal growths, and the
best art productions.
At the top of Fig. 25 are reproduced sketches of seaweed
as it appeared floating in the water. If we place reversed
drawings beside the originals we shall have a series of beau-
tiful vase forms.
""Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cups of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings."
The teacher who habitually looks for the beauty in all
things, will find that this attitude of mind will be noticeable
in her pupils. Moreover, unless the pupil does recognize
beauty in material things his drawings will proclaim this
lack of perception, for he can express no more than he sees.
All beauty is in the perception or imagination of the individ-
ual. "True wisdom in all things consists in discovering law,
and obeying it."
It is not necessary that the definitions of the various curves
be taught, but it is of prime importance that the pupils know
how to draw them, for, being beautiful in themselves, they
are continually met with in beautiful objects. The grammar
grade and high-school classes can comprehend such an anal-
ysis of the curves as given above. Much practice should be
given in drawing them free-hand on paper and at the board.
No diameters or construction lines of any kind should be
used in this drill work, but the whole curve should be made
with a free (not reckless) continuous arm (not hand or fin-
ger) movement, using a very light line. Where the line
seems faulty, correct by a stronger stroke and so on until it
is right. "Art consists in the doing of each right thing
well." This drill will lead to an appreciation of good curva-
ture.
86


CHAPTER V.
THE TEACHING AND DRAWING OF ORNAMENT
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry
it with us or we find it not."
LL teachers know that historic ornament,
in common with other subjects, can not
be successfully taught unless we interest
the class. A half-hour's talk should do
this. In selecting material for a talk
upon each school, various authorities
have been consulted, and the more in-
teresting statements of each, if compre-
hensible to young students, are recorded
in following chapters. Wherever two
writers have differed (and this is not an infrequent occur-
rence) the statements which are most suggestive have been
selected. We are not teaching the facts of history as an end,
but as a means to interest the class in ornament.
Every nation has certain peculiarities of customs, language
and art, just as every individual has marked characteristics
of manner, dress and handwriting. The illustrations in this
book were chosen primarily because they are characteristic
of the various schools, and whenever posssible under this
condition, examples are given which the pupils can draw.
Casts, photographs, prints, the penny pictures, and the
geographies or a wall map can be effectively used during
these lessons. A series of charts of uniform size (about
twelve by eighteen inches is convenient for carrying and
large enough to be studied from any part of the room) illus-
trating the symbols, units and designs, may be prepared by
many teachers. These charts will serve to concentrate the
attention of the class more effectively than will individual
illustrations. They may be left hanging upon the walls of
the room throughout the time given to historic ornament,

87


and even for a longer period. It is very important that the
pictures of the world's architectural masterpieces be placed
before the pupils for a considerable length of time if they
are to find permanent lodging places in their respective
memories. Having these pictures constantly before them
unconsciously creates ideals.*
If there is an art museum in the city the teacher is indeed
fortunate, and she should arrange to visit it with her class to
supplement the lessons in school.
Have the pupils search for buildings in the neighborhood,
which possess some elements of the historic style under con-
sideration.
There have been many styles of ornament, the six most
important are explained in later chapters. These are the
Egyptian, Greek and Roman, the three ancient styles, and
the Byzantine, Saracenic and Gothic, dating from A.D. 328
to 1500. The subject-matter relating to each school has been
arranged so as to present an introduction which can be made
interesting to the class, followed by the important data, in-
cluding essential illustrations,—the aim being to present the
whole in a teachable order.
Exact measurements or dates mean little and are soon for-
gotten unless they are associated with familiar objects or
events. (See pages 42. and 43.) Hence the teacher should
make it a rule, when, for example, something is said to be
one hundred and fifty feet wide, to find some well-known ob-
ject, having the same dimensions, to which she may refer.
The pyramids were built six thousand years ago, that is
three times as many years as have elapsed since the birth of
Christ, or forty-eight times as far back in history as our Rev-
olutionary war.
In class talks and criticisms try to develop an understand-
ing of the beauty of line and mass. Supposing that we are
considering some particular design, say Fig. 74, a few ques-
tions like the following will be helpful:
Can any one in the class suggest a better arrangement of
♦Excellent half-tone reproductions can be obtained for one cent each of the J. C.
Witter Co., 123 Fifth Avenue, New York City; from the Perry Picture Co., Maiden,
Mass., or the Prang Educational Co., New York City. Small blue prints can be
purchased from Francis Hendricks, Syracuse, N. Y., at the same price.
38


nal design. It will be noted that nearly all the border and
surface designs herein shown contain units repeated in sim-
ple geometric forms such as the square, circle, triangle or
rhombus.
In this final drawing of one large surface design or border,
in which certain units are repeated, all mechanical aids such
as compasses, rulers and tracing paper may be employed;
the pupil ought to know how to use these tools to produce a
design in which accuracy is one of the elements of beauty.
Each pupil should space off his paper to receive the units;
draw (not trace) one unit carefully in one of the spaces and
then trace and transfer his drawing of the unit to the remain-
ing divisions in the design.
If time permits, it is well to precede this manner of repeat-
ing a unit by making a drawing of the same border or sur-
face pattern, doing the entire work free-hand. In this way
a thorough understanding of the unit involved will be gained.
As a last lesson on any style of ornament a short examina-
tion may be given or each pupil may be requested to write a
composition, illustrated by drawings. Either of these exer-
cises will cause the class to carefully think over the whole
subject, and will make evident to the teacher the weak points
in the teaching,—if there be any.
41


CHAPTER VI.
EGYPTIAN.—4000-1000 B. C.
"Well building hath three conditions: Commodity, Firmness and
Delight."—Sir Henry Wot ten.
BRIEF mention of the story of Moses, the
children of Israel, or Joseph, will turn
the attention to Egypt and the Nile.
What can the pupils tell you about this
interesting river? Do they know that
"all Egypt is the gift of the Nile?"
But for this river the Nile valley would
be as much of a desert as the adjacent
Sahara. Near the middle of June the
river begins to rise and in September has a high-water mark
twenty-five feet above June water, resulting in the overflow
and consequent fertilizing of a strip of land from one to five
miles wide on either side.
Here is a picture of a part of the Nile with two triangular-
shaped mounds in the distance (Fig. 23). How high are
those pyramids? If we were to have a church with a spire
as high as that of church (naming a neighboring
church with a spire a little over 100 feet high) and place
another of the same size upon it, a third on that, and on the
third a fourth, the distance from the ground to the top of the
fourth steeple would be about the same as the altitude of the
largest pyramid—the pyramid of Cheops. (At the right, in
Fig. 23 ) The next time you are near this church look at
the top of the spire and then into the air four times as high
and you can estimate the height of the Great Pyramid.
This pyramid was originally 481 feet high, the loftiest
structure erected in pre-Christian times. At the present
date some of the top is gone and the base is covered with
sand to a depth of several feet. The boys know 100 yards
as a standard of running distances. Each side of this pyra-

42



each pyramid held but one body,
that of the king. We may
now understand why the
west bank of the Nile was
k always selected as the
site for the pyramids.
ULC This side of the
jjjjjSn^ river was associa-
ted with the setting
sun. The sun was
worshipped as a god,
who, during the night, visited the celestial regions. The
dead body was carefully treated to prevent decay.
Wrapped in the finest linen, it was put into a heavy paper or
pasteboard case which fitted the form closely. This was
placed in a wooden coffin and finally in a stone sarcophagus.
The stone casket was hidden in a small room in the middle
of the pyramid and the passageway leading to it was care-
fully sealed up with large blocks of stone. (See Fig. 24.)
It is less than one hundred years ago that an entrance was
found to the Great Pyramid at C. The passageway going
underground leads to a chamber probably constructed as a
blind to tomb robbers. The room at B is called the queen's
chamber, although nothing was found in it to indicate that a
body was ever buried here. At A is the king's chamber,
not as large as the average schoolroom, which contained the
king's mummy. The passages in this pyramid are but
3 feet and 5 inches wide and 3 feet and 11 inches high.
It was customary to mortgage the mummies of their
ancestors, and to pay these debts before any others was a point
of honor. Mummies were exhibited at their feasts to serve as
evidence of the shortness of this life and the quiet of
eternity. Their houses were built to last but a few years;
their tombs, forever. At death the soul was thought to
wander through the Valley of Shades, which was supposed
to be under the earth, or to do penance by living in various
animals. This was one reason why some animals were
regarded as sacred. An Egyptian dare not kill a cat for fear
his grandmother might be occupying a suite inside. The
Ka, or spiritual body, which remained with the mummy in
44



Fig. 25.

Fig. 26.—Temple of Edfou.
45


the tomb, required nourishment, and food and water were
left beside the dead, as were the various useful and orna-
mental articles which had served the deceased. After many-
years of travel the soul was to return to the body, and for
this reason the bodies were so carefully preserved from
decay and from tomb robbers; but Egyptian hieroglyphics
have never stated definitely how the resurrected inmate of a
pyramid was to get out.
Near the Great Pyramid is the Sphinx, even older than the
pyramids. The head is human, the portrait of the ruling
king, and the body is that of a lion. Thus it expresses the
highest type of intellectuality combined with marvelous
strength and agility. As the king was supposed to be a
relative of the gods, the Sphinx was an object of worship,
and a small temple was built for religious purposes directly
in front of the body. (Shown in Fig. 23.) The Sphinx is
carved from a solid rock and is 70 feet high and 150 feet long.
The head has been estimated to be 40,000 times as large as

Fig. 27—Portico of the Temple of Edfou.
46


a human head. The beard, nose and lower part of the head-
dress are gone.
Art must have existed many centuries to produce such
works as the pyramids and Sphinx. Recent authorities es-
timate that a fair degree of civilization existed on the banks
of the Nile 12,000 years ago. Heroditus states that ancient
Egypt contained five million people and two thousand cities
Four hundred and fifty miles above Cairo on the Nile is
Thebes, the ancient city of temples. All the Theban struc-
tures are in such a state of ruin that we may get a better
idea of an Egyptian temple from an examination of the Tem-
ple of Edfou (Fig. 26), situated about one hundred miles south

Fig. 28—Lotus Capital.
of Thebes. A study of Fig. 25 will help us to understand
the plan of the building. In front are the two great masses
of masonry called pylons, no feet in height. In the centre
is the entrance to the temple, a doorway 50 feet high. Pass-
ing through this we find a large open court surrounded by
columns. Opposite the first entrance is another (seen in the
distance in Fig. 26 and nearer in Fig. 27) leading into a hall
with a flat roof supported by columns. Finally, after going
through several smaller similar halls we reach a sanctuary,
where none but the priests and king were allowed. Here
47



Fig. 29—Obelisk, Central Park, New York.

48



49


were kept the statues of the gods and the city treasures. As
but little rain falls in Egypt, a comparatively small part of
the temple had a roof, which was always flat. This roof
was supported on columns as shown in Fig. 27. Four of the
capitals on the front row of columns were designed from the
papyrus plant which grew in the Nile; the other two are
from the palm. A common capital was shaped to resemble
the lotus lily (Fig. 28); another form had its origin in the
lotus bud, and sometimes the sculptured heads of goddesses
were used.
Thebes contained many temples, all practically alike in
plan and construction to the temple of Edfou. The largest
of these, Karnak and Luxor, were built by Seti I., and his son
Rameses; the latter is generally credited as being the Pha-
raoh of the Exodus. The temple of Karnak was 1,215 feet
long and 376 feet in width. Some of its columns are 33 feet
in circumference and 66 feet high. This and many other
Theban temples were approached by magnificent avenues of
sphinxes
The Egyptian obelisks are cut from a single rock. One
has been brought to this country and placed in its original
upright position in New York City (Fig. 29). Similar obe-
lisks of various sizes, often placed in front of temples, are to
be seen throughout the Nile valley.
Egyptian sculpture is not noted for its beauty, but is inter-
esting because of its age and peculiarities and often its mon-
umental proportions. Egyptian image cutters were of low
caste, the trade descending by law from father to son, hence
Egyptian statues are all alike (with but one or two excep-
tions), conventional, stiff and symmetrical. We shall notice
these characteristics in the few statues herein illustrated.
The Singing Memnons(Fig. 30), situated near Thebes, are
66 feet high. Memnon is supposed to have been a sun god,
and these statues were said to produce at sunrise a noise not
unlike the sound of the word mem-non, resembling the sharp
twang of a harp-string.
What is believed to be the oldest known statue in the
world is the "Wooden Man of Boulak," found in an ancient
underground tomb. As its name indicates, it is made of
wood and is about three and one-half feet high. The eye.
50



Fig. 32—The Scribe, Louvre, Paris.

Fig. 35-
53


A pond was drawn as a rectangle, water was represented
by zigzag lines, and the trees surrounding it were drawn flat
upon the ground at right angles with the sides. In the child's
drawing, in Fig. 35, the wagon is shown in top view, the
horse and wheels as if laid on the ground. It is easier to ex-
press ideas this way as all perspective is avoided.
Children enjoy drawing outlines and filling in with flat
washes of color. This is precisely what the Egyptians, the
world's children, did with all their wall decorations; every
drawing was colored.
Fig. 36 contains other symbols. A is a picture of the sun;
b and c of the Nile River; b suggests waves and c may have
had a similar origin or it may represent the zigzag course of
the Nile; d is the royal feather; e the royal snake, or asp.
The feather and asp were worn by kings and queens to de-
note their rank, as the crown is used in European countries
at the present time. In Fig. 37 we have a relief of a man
worshipping a statue typifying truth. We know the man is
a king for he has an asp on his headgear; the statue holds
the looped cross, the emblem of divine life, while on its head
is the ostrich feather, associated with gods and kings as the
emblem of justice. Under the king's right elbow on a stand-
ard is a bunch of Egyptian water lilies, evidently an offering
to the goddess.
F (Fig. 36) is a drawing of the Egyptian beetle, and g
shows the manner in which these old artists drew it. This
picture represented immortality. The wings indicate pro-
tection; between two feet is the ball of sand which holds the
eggs, and the other circle is the sun, the creative power.
Small stone beetles were worn suspended from neck chains,
much as some people wear crosses to-day.
H is the Egyptian fret, showing the wanderings of the
soul after death. How well this symbol tells its story can be
understood by starting with the first long line and thinking
that the soul travels in this direction for awhile, then changes
to this—the next line, then goes this way, etc., until finally
it ends its journey at the centre, in other words it returns to
the mummy. Or, if as some think, the Egyptian believed
in the transmigration of the soul, we can imagine these lines
as representing various animals.
54



55


sides of the adjacent circles. The sun, in several sizes, side
view of the lotus, and separate petals or buds are put to-
gether in Fig. 45. In Fig. 44 the circle is a heavy band, the
solidity of the rosette seems to demand a strong enclosing
form The circle plays a less important part in Fig. 45; it
is less interesting than the large rosette, and it is made a
secondary matter by employing a narrow line. If the reader
will look at this design from a distance, or with half-closed
eyes, it will be seen that the Egyptian designer succeeded in
making the rosette combinations the dominant effect. Al-
most unnoticed is the small unit between the large circles.
This unit may have been taken from the upper right rosette
in Fig. 42, eight lobes being left out that it may better fit
the space in which it is placed.
Fig. 46 can be easily analyzed, being made from the cir-
cle, lotus petals and a four-lobed rosette.
Any one familiar with the Egyptian temples, pyramids,
the sphinx, obelisks, conventional statuary and drawing of the
human figure, the peculiar symbols used in picture-writing
and the lo.us forms in decoration, may be sure of recognizing
Egyptian architecture and ornament. As we have seen, the
ornament was essentially symbolic. Its aim was to glorify

Fig. 36.
58



Fig- 37—Portion of Wall, Temple of Abydos.
59




61



Fig. 43-
very interesting to a class of any age and will lead to a sym-
pathetic understanding of Egyptian picture writing.
After a talk with the class about this style of ornament,
let each pupil make a sheet of labelled sketches of these in-
teresting symbols, as shown in Fig. 47. The lotus is the
predominant element of Egyptian ornament; have it drawn
many times, singly and as illustrated in borders, on paper
and at the board; then reproduce some of these forms from
memory. The class ought to know how to draw the lotus,
and how to spell it. Fig. 48 gives the steps in drawing the
most difficult border.
While these lessons on the drawing of the ornament are
being given, the pupils may be collecting illustrations of
Egyptian art, which may later be mounted as in Fig. 49.
Analyze in class the surface patterns to ascertain what ele-
ments are combined to make the units. Let each pupil
select one surface design and carefully draw it. The meth-
ods of drawing one unit and of spacing off the entire surface
are shown in Fig. 50. When one unit is completed it may
be traced and transferred to the remaining squares, and then
the whole inked, or colored if the teacher has an illustration
of the original coloring. Label this sheet, Egyptian Lotus
Ornament.
For additional general suggestions see Chapter V.
Summary:
1. Talk on the ancient Egyptians and their art, including
pyramids, age, size, purpose; religion, peculiarities of; tem-
ples; sphinx; obelisks; picture writing, comparison with
63



64



65






Fig. 46—Lotus Surface Pattern.
67



Fig. 49—Collected Illustrations of Egyptian Ornament.

Fig. 47—Pupils' Sketches of Egyptian Ornament.
(58


child's; symbols and their meaning; the lotus, how drawn
and employed in design.
2. Sheet of sketches with symbols labelled.
3. Mounting illustrations brought in.
4. Analysis and careful drawing of one Egyptian surface
pattern.
Egyptian Architecture: Pyramids, 4000 B. C. Sphinx
and Sphinx temple. Temples (dating from about 1200 B.
C): Karnak, Luxor, Medinet Abou, Abydos, Ipsamboul,
Philae, Denderah, Edfou. Tombs: Beni Hassan. Colossal
statues and obelisks.

Fig. 48.


CHAPTER VII.
GREEK.—650-100 B. C.
"And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose;
The Ionic then, with decent matron grace.
Her airy pillar heaved; luxuriant last,
The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wreath."
— Thompson.
HE records state that as early as 1500
B. C. various settlements had been made
in what is now known as the peninsular of
Greece. We shall consider but one of
these settlements, that at Athens. The
first Athenians settled on a large rocky
elevation, which can be seen in the dis-
tance (Fig. 51), probably selecting this site
as a protection from neighboring tribes.
Later, this rock, the Acropolis, became
the King's residence and legend and history assert that the
common people dwelt in caves hewn out of the hillsides
near by. In times of peril all were assembled on the Acrop-
olis. As Athens increased in size, the Acropolis became the
site of the city treasury and temples of the gods, and about
450 B.C. the most beautiful buildings in all the history of the
world were located upon it. This period in Greek history is
often called "The golden age of Pericles," in honor of the
leading contemporary statesman.
The Greek schools were conducted in the open air. Gym-
nastic games, singing patriotic verses and reciting stories of
Greek heroes (the same stories that our high-school students
read in their Greek lessons) formed the daily program. This
schooling and its schoolhouse evolved an extraordinary regard
for things beautiful. To such an extent was physical beauty
worshiped that prizes were given in competition to the hand-
somest men and women; in some parts of Greece, all the
weak or deformed children were killed, only the strong and

70



Fig. 51—Temple of Jupiter.
healthy were thought worthy to live. The games of the
schoolboys culminated in the great Greek athletic contests.
The boys and girls in the higher grades, being interested
in field sports may remember that the best athletes in this
country were sent to Greece in the spring of 1896 to take
part in the revival of the contests held there over two thou-
sand years ago. We know of the excitement occasioned here
by intercollegiate football and rowing matches and other
trials of skill and strength, but it is only a drop compared
with the interest aroused by the ancient games in Greece.
Messengers were despatched all over the known world to
procure the best athletes of all nations. One writer states
that if we were to combine the enthusiasm of a camp-meet-
ing, cattle show, political rally,college gamesand a circus, we
should not have the excitement of the Pan-Athenian games.
They were held once in four years. The victor in modern
games receives a badge or a medal and a newspaper notice.
The winner in the ancient games was almost an object of
adoration. Walls of cities were torn down that he might
not enter the city gates in common with others. He was
bribed to change his birthplace that some city or town might
be thus honored. Enormous sums were paid him as a model
to pose for artists. The Greek runner would race six hun-
71



72


dred feet and catch a hare. He could jump fifty-five feet.
(This probably means a hop, step and a jump, the modern
record in this sport being fifty feet and one-half inch.) The
contestants were trained from childhood, and must have been
magnificent specimens of physical development. The games
called for grace, quickness and skill rather than brute
strength, and were an expression of the Greek taste. Later
under the rude and warlike Romans the games degenerated
into brutal and blood-thirsty exhibitions.
The contests lasted several days and were held as a part
of the celebration due the goddess Athena. As a finale, a
procession composed of the rulers, priests, attendants and
citizens and headed by the victorious athletes marched to the
top of the Acropolis, where the concluding exercises were
held in or on the porch of the largest temple, the Parthenon
(Fig. 52). Inside this building was a gold and ivory statue
of the goddess forty feet in height. Athena, or Minerva,
was at first considered a representation of the clear, bright
upper regions of the sky; then an embodiment of high intel-
lectual powers; later, as a goddess of war, and she was
usually represented with a helmet and spear; and lastly she
was regarded as a symbol of high intelligence in all the arts
and sciences. The myth says she sprang from the brain of
the all-wise Zeus, and that he had the day before swallowed
Metis (intelligence), his wife.
The interiors of Greek temples were considered as places
for the gods themselves and their statues and not for wor-
shipers, thus differing essentially from the modern church.
While it is true that the best Greek architecture was always
embodied in the temples consecrated to the gods, Grecian
art rejoiced in the freedom from religious laws which in
Egypt bound the artist to a mechanical repetition. Greece
was plentifully supplied with quarries of white marble and
other stones, and the temples were built with beautiful ex-
teriors, that they might add to the joy of the national out-of-
door life.
The Parthenon was 220 feet long and 100 feet wide. As
can be seen in the plan (Fig. 53) it contained but two rooms;
the smaller was used as the city treasury; the larger con-
tained the statue of Athena, which was placed upon a pedes-
78


Fig- 53—Plan of Parthenon.
tal, indicated by the rectangle opposite the entrance. The
whole structure was built of white marble, and was completed
in 438 B. C. Ictinuswas the architect and Phidias the sculp-
tor. (Plutarch says Pericles made Phidias general superin-
tendent of all the artistic work done in the state.)
The three styles of architecture employed in ancient
Greece are distinguished by the capitals and columns used.
The Parthenon was built in the earliest style, the Doric.
Vitruvius, an ancient Roman historian states that the Doric
column (Fig. 54) was suggested by the figure of a man, be.
ing about six diameters high; the average man is about six
times the length of his foot. The flutes in the column he
explains as suggested by the drapery in the flowing Greek
dress. (The claims of Vitruvius regarding the origin of the
three Greek styles of architecture are not substantiated by
facts, but will, perhaps', serve better than the statements of
other authors to interest the pupils in differentiating each
capital from the others.)
The early Doric capitals, constructed long before the Par-
thenon, have the top-heavy, flattened-out appearance illus-
trated in Fig. 55, where the outside edges of the curved part
seem to be in danger of breaking off; a few hundred years
after the time of Pericles this same part of the capital was
made too straight and stiff (Fig. 56). Again, the early Doric
columns were but four to five (lower) diameters high, and
the very late productions were too slender for the capital,
being six and seven diameters in height.
In the construction of the Parthenon, we find a wonderful
understanding of beauty. Some time ago the Turks used
this building as a powder-house, and an explosion wrecked
about half of it, but enough remains in place to convey an
idea of its original glory, and to enable us to study some of
its features in detail.
74



Fig 56.
Fig- 54-
Fig. 55-
One writer has used as a text, "Nature is the source of all
that is possible in art," and he has presented us with some
very interesting conclusions regarding the natural, the arm
or leg, and the artificial column. In brief, he states:
1. The natural column has roundness; so has the artifi-
cial.
2. The natural columns vary in length from four to six
diameters in animals noted for power and majesty. The
Doric column is five and a half or six diameters high.
3. The diameter of the natural column diminishes as it
approaches the wrist or ankle; true in the artificial column.
4. This diminution is not in straight lines but involves
curves which vary in different animals:—decidedly curved in
the human figure, little in the elephant. The artificial col-
umn seems to be a happy medium, not an imitation of any
one natural form.
5. The natural capital is the hand or paw, generally on
one side for convenience of locomotion. The artificial col-
umn stands still so the capital is the same all around.
6. Every hand or paw has certain common characteristics
in outline when applied against a flat surface; first, concave,
then slightly convex terminating by an abrupt convex curve
to the surface against which it is placed.
He says further, that "all six of these ideas are embodied
in that wonderful specimen of generalized imitation, the
original Doric column; that form on which no subsequent
efforts have been able to effect any improvement in fitness
of expression to its particular purpose; that form which
when first seen, so throws into the shade everything else
that we have seen applied to the same purpose, that it seems
too perfect for human invention."
75



Fig 57-
The columns tapered from the bottom to the top, curving
outward three-fourths of an inch in the thirty-four feet of
their height. They are not vertical but slanted toward the
cella, the principal room in the building, at so slight an an-
gle that if they were continued upward they would meet at
a point over a mile above the base.
The long line of the base of the Parthenon is two and one-
half inches higher in the middle than at the ends. The roof
was the same number of inches lower in the centre of the
sides. Various reasons are given for this deviation from a
straight line in the columns and other parts of the temple.
It may have been with a view to increasing the apparent
size through correcting perspective effects. (An explana-
tion of this statement would involve problems too complica-
ted for public-school pupils to comprehend.) The slight
swelling in the middle of the platform and column would
suggest elastic resistance. Perhaps it was merely an ex
pression of the Greek distaste for straight lines. Whatever
the reasons for these subtle proportions and curves may be,
it is certain that the Parthenon in its original form was a
creation not to be criticized by modern architects.
In our study of Egyptian architecture we found only flat
roofs. The Greek temples had sloping roofs which added a
new feature, the pediment, to the world's architecture. The
pediment is the triangular portion extending along either
76



Fig. 59—The Erechtheum.
end of the temple just under the roof (Fig. 52). On the
western pediment of the Parthenon was a carved representa-
tion of the strife between Athena and Posidon (Neptune) for
the land of Attica (Southern Greece). The eastern pediment
contained an illustration of another Greek myth, the birth of
Athena, the scene representing the goddess just after she has
come forth from the brain of Zues.
The second style of Greek column is the Ionic (Fig. 57).
Vitruvius claims that this column was suggested by the fig-
ure of a woman. It is from eight and a half to nine and a
half diameters in height, which Vitruvius says represents
the slenderer figure of a woman. The scrolls at the sides
of the capital may have represented hair, and the decorations
between them, a necklace. The Ionic column has twenty-
four flutes, typifying, as in the Doric, the Greek dress, allow-
ing for four more folds in the woman's dress. Vitruvius
thought the base represented sandals.
The Ionic capital, very different from the Doric, is an
equally beautiful composition. The spirals are seen first,
spirals so beautifully chiseled that they cannot be drawn by
any mechanical means. Note how the curves between and
connecting the spirals offer contrast and break the otherwise
monotonous repetition of horizontal lines. The rhythm in
the height of the horizontal bands, beginning with the an-
77


lights the eye through its contrast in line and mass, and
both combined form a harmonious whole, a perfect unit.
This style of column was used on a small three-room tem-
ple called the Erechtheum (named from Erechtheus, an
early Athenian king), also situated on the Acropolis. In
the distance at the left in Fig. 59 may be seen one of the
Ionic columns. The construction of this temple seems to
violate the usual Greek method of building—nearly all tem-
ples being constructed somewhat as was the Parthenon—
but it is really three temples in one. On the right side may be
seen the Carytid porch, often called the Porch of the Maidens.
The remaining style, the Corinthian (Fig. 60) Vitruvius
explains as developed by an architect who saw a basket of
flowers on the grave of a Corinthian maiden, while around
the gravestone grew the acanthus. The acanthus is a plant
common in Southern Europe, having deep-cut shining
leaves. An idea of its growth may be obtained from the
lower half of the Corinthian capital. It was seldom used by
the Greeks in decoration, but later under the Romans it was
very freely employed. By giving the imagination free play
one can imagine that in Fig. 60 the decoration represents
plants growing around a stone. Vitruvius further states
that the Corinthian order may be understood "to represent
the delicacy of a, young girl, whose age renders her figure
more pleasing and more susceptible of ornaments which
may enhance her natural beauty." The column was about
ten diameters in height. This capital cannot be classed
with the other two in point of beauty. Its upper and lower
halves are not distinctly one growth. The two halves are
almost unrelated as can be proved by putting a piece of pa-
per over either—each is complete in itself (although not
well proportioned as individual capitals) and does not re-
quire the other. In line with the thought, "the beauty of
simplicity far exceeds the mock beauty of gaudy, showy
ornamentation," the Greeks seldom employed this capital.
The only perfect illustration of a Greek Corinthian capital
that has been found is in the choragic monument of Lysicra-
tes. In the foreground of Fig. 51 maybe seen an illustra-
tion of the Roman Corinthian columns, which were an out-
growth of the Greek order.
79



80


Sculpture.
The gymnastic training had a great influence upon sculp-
ture, and such names as Phidias, Praxiteles and Lysippus
are well known to-day. Not one whole Greek statue or re-
lief has ever been found. Casts of these old broken statues
are sold in all civilized countries, and are used as models in
modern art schools. Artists and anatomists are unable to
find any flaw in them. The Greek physical ideal was not
expressed in such an extraordinary development of muscles
that the subject appears weighed down by its own strength.
Their athletic training aimed to secure agility, symmetry,
buoyancy and grace of form, a body which might have corn-

Fig. 62—Metope, from the Parthenon.
81


plete command of itself, and this is the impression we get
from the Greek statue, be it of the male or female figure.
The top of the outside of the cella wall contained a carved
representation of the Pan-Athenian procession. This pano-
rama was about three and one-half feet high and over five
hundred feet long. About half of it was found in the ruins
and sold to Lord Elgin, an Englishman, for thirty thousand
pounds. These fragments, now in the British Museum and
known as the Elgin marbles, form the most valuable collec-
tion of marbles in the world. Fig. 61 gives a view of that
part of the frieze which was composed of Athenian youths
riding on spirited horses.
On the outside of the Parthenon, just below the roof, on
the sides and the pediment in front, was a repetition of
squares (metopes), in which were reliefs of various myths
connected with Greek history. Fig. 62 pictures one of these,
a contest between a Lapith and a Centaur, emblematic of
mankind and a mischievous monster, or of the conflict be-
tween the Greeks and the Persians.
Among the Elgin marbles in the British Museum may be
found the three figures illustrated in Fig. 63. They were
taken from the eastern pediment of the Parthenon and are
generally called The Three Fates. Many artists consider this
the finest group of Greek figures that has ever been found.
The Winged Victory (Fig. 64), was modeled on a base re-
sembling the prow of a ship. We note how well the sculptor
has carried out the idea of forward motion in the pose of the
figure and the arrangement of the drapery, which seems to
be blown backward. In this statue and The Three Fates,
and in fact all Greek statues, despite the fact that heads and
arms or other parts of the figure are missing, the bodies seem
to be full of vitality and we almost expect to see them move.
The Greeks rarely portrayed physical suffering in their
statues, as they discouraged any art expression other than
the pleasurable and the beautiful. Whatever the attitude of
the statue the face exhibits the same calm peaceful expres-
sion indicative of a well-balanced contented mind. The
Venus de Milo (so called from the island of Melos, where it
was found at the beginning of the nineteenth century) and
the Hermes (Mercury) give us typical Greek heads. (Figs.
65 and 66.)






Fig. 65—Venus De Milo, Louvre.
85



Fig. 66—Hermes. By Praxiteles.




be





Pericles rises from the grave We gaze around
and say, here stood the Parthenon, the wonderment of art to
all succeeding ages; here rose the Propylaea, the splendid
entrance to the venerated Acropolis, which modern skill has
endeavored to imitate, but has not hoped to equal
The Athenian himself was so filled with the consciousness of
her loveliness, that her name never rose to his lips unless ac-
companied by some term of endearment. There is no one
acquainted with the Greek poets, or even with the historians,
who can help being struck with the exuberance of their af-
fection toward Athens. Every epithet which can convey the
idea of loveliness or splendor is lavished upon ' the violet-
crowned city.'"
Teaching Greek Ornament.
i. An interesting introduction to a talk on Greek art may
be found in the reference to the Olympic games. When the
teacher is familiar with the preceding subject-matter a few
headings like the following may be helpful:
Greek Art: i. Athletic Games. 2. Early Athenians.

Fig. 72.
92








1515151

MliOCHE
Fig. 77-
96






F'g- 79—Collected Illustrations of Greek Ornament.
3. Temples 4. Athena and Parthenon. 5. Doric Style.
6. Pediment, new feature in architecture. 7. Ionic. 8.
Corinthian. 9. Sculpture, Elgin marbles. 10. Ornament,
anthemion, how used. 11. Frets, egg and dart, and guil-
loche. 12. Influence on later architecture and ornament.
This list includes the most important facts found in the
first part of this chapter, and may safely be used as a basis
for work. Additional general suggestions for teaching may
be found in Chapter V.
2. Have each pupil make a sheet of sketches of Greek
capitals, anthemions, etc. (Fig. 78.) Have the anthemion
forms (Figs. 69 to 76) copied many times, using single brush
strokes to make the lobes. Then encourage the making of
original variations of these forms.
98


3. Ask pupils to cite examples of Greek architectural and
ornamental forms employed in city buildings. Each pupil
may make a sheet of collected illustrations of Greek art
ideas, or the class may combine their clippings and mount
upon a large paper. (Fig. 79.)
4. Careful drawing of one Greek anthemion border. (Figs.
73-76.) Allow individual pupils to choose which border they
will draw.
The method of drawing these borders is illustrated in Fig.
80. In each seek the large general forms and draw these
first, then add details. After one of the units is completed
it may be traced and thus repeated in the remaining spaces,
or, if the teacher prefers, all may be drawn free-hand with-
out using the tracing paper. Label the sheet, '' Greek An-
themion Border."
Greek Architecture.
Temples at Corinth (650 B. C); Paestum (610 B. C);
Castor and Pollux (480 B. C.) at Agrigentum; Nike Apteros
(466 B. C.) at Athens; Athena (450 B. C.) on island of
^Egina; Zeus (450 B. C.) at Olimpia; Theseus (45c B. C.)
at Athens; Parthenon (438 B.C.); Propylaea (43.? B. C),
and Erechtheum (408 B. C ) at Athens; Apollo Epicurius
(430 B. C.) at Phigalaea; Zeus (400 B. C.) at Nemea; Di-
onysus (330 B. C.) at Teos; Monument of Lysicrates (330 B.
C.) at Athens; Olimpian Zeus (170 B. C.); theatres in vari-
ous places.
100


CHAPTER VIII.
ROMAN—100 B. C -300 A. D.
RY to imagine a large enclosed park,
about one quarter of a mile square,
containing pleasure gardens, ath-
letic grounds with a race-course
and gymnasium, and on one side a
building 730 ft. by 380 ft. which
was nearly all roofed over. Think
of this building as containing loun-
ging and reading-rooms, libraries,
art galleries decorated with such
statues as the Laocoon, the Far-
nese Bull, and the Gladiators, and equipped with beau-
tiful marble baths capable of entertaining thirty-five
hundred bathers at one time. Picture the grounds and
buildings as replete with every possible decoration and
animate with human interest—groups of nobles clad in
robes of rich coloring, attended by scores of slaves. Let
the reader image such a scene as here described, and
he will have a true idea of one characteristic feature of
ancient Rome, the luxurious baths, the use of which was a
part of the daily program of the Roman noble. Who were
the people that lived in such sumptuousness? For several
hundred years before and after the birth of Christ the whole
known world was ruled by them. Rome, "the eternal city,"
was the capital of a nation of tremendous strength. Her
armies were everywhere victorious; her accumulated wealth
was immense; her political methods and statecraft have ever
been the admiration of the world.
Among other spoils of war brought to Rome were many
Greek works of art. This created a demand for architecture
and ornament. The Roman life was not conducive to the
training of artists, hence it was necessary to import Greek
artists to carry out the wishes of the Roman populace; al-
most every work of art produced in Rome was planned by

101



Fig. 82—Corinthian Capital.
(the Etruscans) who lived in Italy before Rome became a
centre of any importance. In looking over pictures of Ro-
man architecture, we at once notice that this round arch is
really a dominant characteristic. (Figs. 81, 84, 86, 87.) Used
in doors, windows, bridges, etc., it suggested the half-cylin-
drical vault, which in turn resulted in the hemispherical
dome. (Fig. 85.) We may notice that neither the vault nor
the dome have been found in Egyptian or in Greek archi-
tecture.
The round arch was nearly always combined with a
Roman elaboration of the Greek Doric, Ionic or Corinthian
columns. (Figs. 84, 86.) The Corinthian, seldom used
by the Greeks, was most freely adopted as being nearer
the Roman ideal of profuse ornamentation. By comparing
Fig. 82 with the Greek Corinthian in Fig. £0, the added scroll
and acanthus decoration will be seen. This capital is one of
the most elegant examples of the Roman Corinthian, and
was found in the temple of Castor and Pollux. (Castor was
103



Fig. 83—Roman Composite Capital.
the god of equestrian exercise; Pollux was the god of box-
ing.) One variety of the Corinthian, called the Composite
(Fig. 83), was made by combining the Ionic volutes (spirals)
with the acanthus foliage from the Corinthian. In the Ro-
man Corinthian capital the top scrolls grow out of and are
strongly united with the acanthus foliage below, while in the
Composite capital the Ionic and Corinthian features are not
bound together, the two parts are unrelated, and the jointure
is not successfully hidden. The result as a whole is not
pleasing and was not much used. Many other kinds of capi-
tals were occasionally employed, such as combinations of
foliage, animals, armor, masks, monsters, and the human
figure. None of these have ever been considered worthy of
104



105



108



Fig. 87—Aqueduct Near Rome.
among others, the artist Raphael. "An interior like that of
the Pantheon—with its simple divisions, its surfaces so spar-
ingly broken, its immense dome brooding equally over all—
conveys a sublime idea of unity, which is perfectly express-
ive of the character of the Romans."
We can mention but one or two other Roman creations.
Chariot races and sea fights were held in immense circuses
(read the "Chariot Race "from Ben-Hur). Caesar's circus
is said to have held one hundred and fifty thousand people.
Triumphal arches (Fig. 86) were built on the great roads as
memorials of successful conquests (just as the people in
New York city erected the Dewey Arch to celebrate the return
home of Admiral Dewey). This was an outgrowth of the
custom of decorating the city gates.
One of the Roman roads, the Appian Way, three hundred
miles long, is yet in good condition, although it has been
used two thousand years. Aqueducts brought water from dis-
tant springs to the city; one of these was sixty-two miles long.
Portrait statues of wax, marble and bronze adorned the
streets and houses. We remember that the Greek statuary
represented the ideal, but the thousands of statues in Rome
109



112



Roman Acanthus Ornament.
113









Fig' 93—Roman Rosettes.
It lacks the symbolism of the Egyptians and the refinement
of the Greeks, yet it presents a variety of new combinations,
many of them very rich and beautiful.
The elements which were practically first employed by
Roman architects, the arch and dome and several stories in
one building, have had a great influence on all later produc-
tions, even to the present time. The Roman capitals, arches,
gates, bridges, acqueducts, sewers, roads, baths and palaces
have been admired and copied by all civilized countries.
The same statement holds true with regard to their orna-
ment. In the decoration of modern buildings and of com-
mercial articles we may find the acanthus and scroll forms
used as they were two thousand years ago.
115





Teaching Roman Ornament.
With some classes, reading the " Chariot Race " from Ben-
Hur, or some parts of Quo Vadis will introduce Roman orna-
ment in a very interesting manner.
Roman architecture was essentially practical. Roman
ornament was rich. When these two sentences are fully un-
derstood through a knowledge of Roman art the pupil will
have an intelligent idea of Roman citizenship, for the char-
acter of the nation is found perfectly portrayed in its art,
and will be able to recognize Roman work wherever seen.
Emphasize the characteristic features, the round arch and
dome and several-storied buildings, and the scroll and acan-
thus ornamentation.
In most classes it will be sufficient to know that we are
considering the Rome of the first two or three centuries after
the birth of Christ. An outline like the following may be
helpful in preparing and presenting the lessons:
1. A talk on Rome and the Roman life; the beginning of
Roman art through the importation of Greek artists; the
practical character of Roman architecture; capitals; new
features, such as dome, arch, several stories; Colosseum;
Pantheon; use and character of acanthus ornament.
2. Sketches of acanthus forms and any of the capitals
and buildings which the pupils can draw.
3. Mounting collected illustrations of Roman buildings
and ornamental details, including modern adaptations of
Roman elements of design.
4. Careful drawings of one or more examples of Roman
acanthus ornament.
A soft pencil, pen and ink, or a piece of charcoal or crayon
is a better medium than the brush for drawing Roman orna-
ment, but some practice work with the brush may be done
as shown in Fig 94.
The methods of drawing two acanthus borders are illus-
trated in Fig. 95. The general plan to be followed in.draw-
ing any of the ornament is: first, block in the shape of the
oblong or square which includes the whole design; secondly,
draw the large masses, all the long flowing curves, then the
important offshoots and add the details last. The illustra-
118



Fig. 96—St. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna.
closed the body. Added to this in' the oldest vaults were
painted or carved fruits, flowers, birds and genii, all bor-
rowed from the Roman world above. As in ancient times,
love of decoration and religion were the dominant factors in
this new era of art. The Christians soon began to regard
the ornamentation of the Romans as a worship of nature.
They cared not for the beauties of this world. Their hope
was in the hereafter. With Christianity came new ideas
which must find an expression in art, and as with the early
peoples, as the Egyptians, the first expression was in sym-
bols, which might declare the religious beliefs. In this way
it came about that the Roman ornamentation soon gave way
to a series of signs and pictures relating to sacred history.
The Roman birds developed into doves, signifying pure
Christian souls. The palm suggested eternal peace; the
peacock, immortality; the anchor, hope; a shepherd and
sheep, Christ and his flock; a ship, the church; the cock,
1, 121





O Solomon!" No building from the time of Constantine to
the 12 th century approaches Santa Sophia in grandeur and
beauty. The ground plan is a cross. The large central
dome—significant of the vault of heaven—was adopted from
the Roman baths. The Roman domes had a circular base.
Here, for the first time, we find a dome resting upon walls
forming a square. Excellent lighting was afforded by a
series of windows piercing the lower part of the dome.
"Sprouting out" from this central feature are semi-domes,
the whole forming a marvelously harmonious design. The
interior effect is perhaps unsurpassed by any church in the
world. The large dome is 180 feet high and 106 feet in
diameter. "It hangs with little apparent support like a vast
bubble over the centre. Such is its lightness that it ap-
pears to be suspended by a chain from heaven."
During the early centuries it was customary to make the
churches repositories for collections of objects associated
with Christianity. It is interesting to note that writers of
the nth and 12th centuries affirm that Santa Sophia con-
tained the cross on which Christ was crucified. It was kept
in a wooden chest. Three successive days each year it was
placed on exhibition. The emperor headed a procession
formed according to rank and all passed and kissed the cross.
Among other treasures stored in this church are mentioned
the doors of Noah's ark, the chain which bound the Apostle
Paul, the stone on which Christ sat and conversed with the
woman of Samaria, the table of Abraham, the column by
which Peter wept, and the lance which pierced His side, the
sponge that was offered to Him and the reed that was placed
in His hand.
It will be noticed that there is but little ornamentation on
the outside of Santa Sophia. (The minarets were added later
by the Mohammedans and are not Byzantine.) The interior
was covered with the most beautiful marbles and stucco work
and with Bible pictures in mosaics, suggesting one vast and
glorious Bible or prayer-book.
Another noted Byzantine Church is St. Mark's at Venice.
The round arches show the influnce of Roman architecture,
and the dome arrangement is quite similar to that of Sta.
Sophia. (See Figs. 89 and 99.)
125



126



Fig. ioo.
Fig. ioo is a drawing of a Byzantine capital which is like
the Roman Corinthian (Fig. 82) in the arrangement of the
foliage on the lower part and the use of the spirals at the
top, but being quiet and much less enriched it shows a
different spirit of design. In Figs. 101-104, we see other
more characteristic Byzantine capitals which are unlike the
Roman, in which the curve was concave and the acanthus
applied. The typical Byzantine capital was generally curved
outward and the ornament incised.
An Oriental taste for detail treatment was created by trade
with the East, and Byzantine ornament often reminds us of
an Eastern rug. The acanthus and other leaves were broad
toothed, acute pointed, flat and in low relief. Compare Figs.
103 and 105 with the Roman acanthus (Figs. 90-93). The
general effect (at a distance) of lace-work seemed to be more
desired than beautiful detail. A study of these illustrations
will reveal many half-hidden symbols, the meaning of which
the class can and must understand if the true character of
127






Fig. 105.
130



132


The influence of Byzantine architecture on the later styles
is not so noticeable as that of the Greek or Roman. The
early Christian architects gave us but one new feature in con-
struction, the arrangement of domes as found in Santa
Sophia. This idea is occasionally found adopted in modern
churches or other large buildings. Byzantine ornament was
a stepping-stone toward the Gothic and is not uncommon in
the decoration of our churches and public buildings.
Teaching Byzantine Ornament.
The lessons on Byzantine ornament should include:
i. Talk on the beginning of Christian art, its causes,
place, time and symbols; purpose of mosaics; influence of

Fig. 109—Marble Screen. Ravenna.



Fig. in.
Constantine's proclamation; Santa Sophia; capitals; the
new acanthus; the life of the people as expressed in their
art; influence on subsequent styles. These are the points to
be emphasized. Chapter V. contains additional general
suggestions.
2. Sketches of symbols (as found in Figs. 106-109, etc.).
Some pupils may add to this a drawing of a Byzantine capi-
tal or Santa Sophia.
Meanwhile have the class look for Byzantine capitals and
ornament in modern buildings.
3. Mounting collected illustrations of Byzantine architec-
ture and ornament, including pictures of modern buildings
and designs showing Byzantine influence.

Fig. no.
135



138





Had not time for the consideration of architecture. Then
came the desire for mosques and tombs, and native architects
were employed. This resulted in more or less imitation of
the native art of Persia, Turkey and Egypt. Especially
prominent do we find the influence of the Byzantine dome
arrangements.
Every mosque has four distinguishing features: A fountain
for ablutions; a niche to indicate the direction of Mecca; a pul-
pit for the reading of the Koran; minarets for calling to pray-
ers. The latter is a variation of the modern church-bell idea,
the Mohammedans preferring the human voice. There can be
no mistaking a Saracenic mosque, tomb or city. The abun-
dance and variety of domes and minarets and the character
of the ornamentation at once determine the style. Taj Mahal
(Fig. 112) is considered one of the most beautiful examples.
Twenty thousand men worked twenty-two years upon it.
Built entirely of white marble and studded with precious
stones, the total cost was twenty million dollars. It stands
on a terrace 18 feet high and 313 feet square. Of quite re-
cent date (A. D. 1650), it was built by an Indian prince at
Agra, in North-central India, as a festal hall with the idea
of using it later as his tomb. This was a common practice
among the Moslems.
We are at once attracted by the large central dome. Then
we notice others, smaller and characteristically Saracenic,
bubbling up from the square and octagonal sub-structures.
Heretofore we have found only the round dome. And now
we see the large doorways and windows with the same curve
in the pointed arch that we found in the domes. This form
of arch is sometimes called a keel arch, from its likeness to
the bottom of a ship. About the windows and doors was
placed considerable ornament. This attracts the spectator
and tends to prevent the eye from comparing the openings
with the size of the building, which process would result dis-
advantageously to the latter.
In other Saracenic buildings we may find the common
pointed arch (Figs. 118 and 123), much like the arch used by
the Gothic builders, the Roman semi-circular,(Fig. 113), and a
new arch, from its shape called a horseshoe arch (Fig. 114).
If we were to travel from Agra westward to the Atlantic
141



142



Fig. n6.
we should find Saracenic domes and minarets predominant
in all cities. The greater part of these were erected between
900 and 1350 A. D. Even in Spain the Moslems at one time
held powerful rule. Beautiful examples of their art may be
found in the great mosque at Cordova, the Alcazars at Seville
and Malaga. The Madison Square Garden tower in New
York City was fashioned after the Giralda at Seville, which
was designed by El Gebir, sometimes called the inventor of
algebra—as every high-school boy knows. And who has not
heard of the Alhambra at Granada! Washington Irving's
"Alhambra" rivals the "Arabian Nights." Columbus
was obliged to postpone his discovery of America until the
Christians under Ferdinand had taken Granada and the Al-
hambra from the Moslems. As will be seen from Fig. 115,
the outside of the Alhambra looks more like a fort than any-
thing else, and it was indeed used for this purpose by the
Moorish kings of Granada. Nothing is to be seen which is
essentially Saracenic. In some ways it reminds us of the
Acropolis at Athens. It was built between 1240 and 1348
A. D. Inside these massive walls we may find the perfection
of Moorish ornament. Every principle of nature which can
be used in design is here employed in perfect harmony. The
143



145



Fig. 119.
Koran forbade the use of natural forms. We can see in
Figs. 116-120 many suggestions of flowers and leaves, but
they are copies of neither. Nature suggested and the Sara
cenic artist created,—but he did not copy. "Arab art is not
nature; it is a dream of nature."
The interior of the Alhambra is covered with decoration
as seen over the two doorways in Fig. 118. Yet it seems that if
anything were added or taken away the whole effect would
be marred. Perhaps we miss the hidden meaning, the sym-
bolism of the Egyptian and Byzantine ornament, but in many
places (as over the doorways) we find Arabic writing express-
ing such thoughts as "There is no conqueror but God;"
"There is no God but God." Occasionally there are other
146



Fig. 122—Marble Capitol, Alhambra.
148


to emphasize the important parts of the whole scheme. At
a distance the general geometric forms appear. This is illus-
trated in Fig. 118, where the detail is subordinated by using
a lower tone of color. The same plan is noticeable in the
Oriental rug of the modern Moslems.
Quite in contrast to these designs are those composed
wholly of straight lines, distant relatives of the Egyptian
fret and the Greek meander (Figs. 36 and 77). Figs. 124
and 125 present a few of the innumerable inter lacings. At
the top of Fig. 125 is another Arabic inscription.
Fig. 126 contains a few brush drawings of Saracenic ele-
ments. Note the exquisite curvature and the vigor and life
in all. Here again we see that these figures are very much
like plant forms, yet no one of them is the picture of any par-
ticular growth.
In the larger cities the Jewish synagogues furnish Sara-
cenic models that lack but little of being complete mosques.
The Jews in Spain abut the time of the Moslem conquest,
1492, first adopted this style of building. Aside from its use
in synagogues, Saracenic architecture has had no great influ-
ence on later work, although occasionally a horseshoe arch
or acorn dome may be seen in modern buildings. These
characteristic elements of Saracenic architecture are very
suggestive of Mohammedanism, probably this is one reason
they are not more universally employed.
Saracenic ornament is adopted in modern times when a
light, graceful, fantastic surface covering is desired. The
interior decoration of theatres, frets, grilles, rugs, tapestries
and wall-papers are often Saracenic in character.
Teaching Saracenic Ornament.
(1.) The talk on Saracenic ornament should involve an
elaboration of the following points: Mahomet and the begin-
ning of the Saracenic style; mosques, Taj Mahal and its
Saracenic features; arches; spread of Saracenic art; Alham-
bra; characteristic ornament; columns, frets, elements, in-
fluence. General additional suggestions may be found in
Chapter V.
With a brush each pupil may then make (2) sketches of
Saracenic elements from Fig. 126, or interesting bits may be
151



Fig. 124.
152









Fig. 127
chosen from Figs. 116-118. These can not be well drawn if
the pupils use any but vigorous and live methods. There
are no "inch at a time" lines here. Find the longest curves,
or those which seem best to build upon, and draw them first
with a continuous free stroke of brush (or pencil). After
copying one of these brush drawings several times, try to
reproduce it from memory. Get the spirit of the drawing.
When the pupil has this quality in his reproductions, he will
perceive that the same attributes which make these Saracenic
units beautiful permeate all nature. He is now ready to re-
ceive suggestions from nature. Designing becomes select-
ing (and drawing).
Some of the class may like to draw one of the frets in Fig.
124. The method of drawing the lowest one is shown in
Fig. 127. As in drawing everything else, the largest fea.
tures should be represented first, then the details can be put
in their proper positions. These frets should be sketched in
free-hand, and when the parts have been rightly placed, the
lines may be corrected, strengthened with a rule and the
bands inked in.
Probably there will be a few pupils who are able to draw
one of the capitals.
(3.) Each pupil, or all those in a room, may make a sheet
of collected pictures of Saracenic ornament and architecture,
including modern buildings and designs showing the influ-
ence of this style. See Figs. 49, 79 and 155.
(4.) Drawing of one large Saracenic surface pattern. Draw
the large enclosing forms first, working toward the details
and background. See Fig. 128.
(5.) If time permits, a very interesting exercise consists
155



Fig. 129—Original Designs by Pupils.
156



Fig. 130—Original Designs by Pupils.
157



Fig. 132—Cologne Cathedral.


architecture and design very different from anything which
had been seen before.
Let us for a moment examine a picture of a Gothic cathe-
dral—that at Cologne is an excellent illustration. (Fig. 132.)
What an immense structure it is; the surrounding build-
ings look like mere sheds! Those mighty towers rise to a
height of five hundred and twenty-five feet, and are echoed
again and again all over the building. This calls our atten-
tion to the strong vertical tendency of all the masses and
leading lines. Everything seems to be stretching heaven-
ward. Gothic lines are "infinitely perpendicular without
the horizontal restraint of the Greek temple, which cut short
aspiration heavenward and bound it firm and solid to the
ground." This grand architectural structure was commenced
in 1248, and finished in 1880. It was one of the results of
the crusades.
All classes helped to build the cathedrals. Nobles and
peasants worked side by side, dragging the stone from the
quarries; and there was quite a rivalry between the neigh-
boring towns to see which should have the most magnificent
church. Working on the buildings was regarded as a form
of religious worship. They were built in the form of a cross.
Cologne Cathedral is over five hundred feet long and about
half as wide. Perhaps the builders thought that the snow
and ice would be less likely to remain on the roofs and
spires, if they were made nearly vertical. Windows were
introduced everywhere that the structural design permitted,
so that the warm sunlight might help to heat the building in
winter. This is true of northern Gothic churches. In the
warm southern portions of Europe, we know that the same
people built with much less-inclined roofs and smaller win-
dows. (Fig. 133.)
We notice two forms of windows—the pointed arch (Fig.
134) is employed in one, and the other, the rose or wheel
window (Fig. 135), is circular in shape. This pointed arch
is seen repeatedly, not alone in the windows, but in doors,
spires, buttresses, and in all detail decorations. Its origin is
not definitely known. Various theories have been promul-
gated by different authors. Some have suggested that the
intersections of semicircular arches led to the construction of
162


this arch; others trace it to the interlacing of the branches
of trees planted in parallel rows. It is probably true that it
was taken from some of the buildings found in the East. (A
very few arches were used in Egyptian underground tombs
3,000 or 4,000 B. C., but so far as is known, they never were
employed in other buildings of that period.) It is certain that
it was never used in Europe previous to the end of the first
crusade, and soon after the return of the crusaders it appeared
all over that continent.
Probably the first Gothic churches had windows composed
of one pointed arch; later, this arch was subdivided so as 10
make a geometric tracery inside. The same may be said of
rose windows,—small circular windows at first, enlarged in
after patterns, and changed to complicated designs. All were
beautifully illuminated with stained glass, which gave a rich
coloring to the inside of the building. This use of stained
glass seems to have been suggested by the mosaic floor and

F'g' 133—Franchetti Palace, Venice.
163



Fig. '35
leaves of trees, such as the oak, maple and beech; or of
shrubs and plants, as the holly, raspberry-bush, laurel,
grapevine and rose. Others were conventionalized repre-
sentations of these natural forms (Figs. 138 and 139).
The crusaders saw much in the East that was beautiful in
statuary. The Greek and Roman statues emphasized the
physical perfection of mankind. The Govhs, however, wished
to make prominent the spiritual, and their first statues were
thin, stiff and ungraceful, in order that the spectator might
dwell upon the intellectual face rather than be impressed
with the beauty of the form. Hundreds of niches were left
by the architect, both on the outside and inside, for the re-
ception of these statues. See Figs. 140-142.
The subjects chosen were religious—saints, martyrs, apos-
tles, Christ, Mother and Child, and scenes from the Old and
New Testaments. In the door of the Cologne Cathedral may
165



166


be seen over eighty single statues and many groups. '' Over
and above the solemn shadows of column and vault, so full
of religious repose, the light spring of pointed arch, heavy
climbing shaft, the sky-tipped spire, the enduring lessons of
carved stone and brilliant fresco,—to all these spiritual de-
lights he added rays of heaven-tinted light, streaming
through rainbcw-hued windows alive with saintly and an-
gelic forms, and filling the whole interior of the sanctuary
with a soft effulgence that soothed the soul, and by its mag-
netic harmony lifted thought and feeling through all their
earthly gradations up to their God."
Another method of proclaiming the purpose to which the
churches were dedicated may be found in the symbols
used in the ornament. (Fig. 143.) The two triangular
forms and the trefoil are significant of the Trinity; the circle
represents eternity, having neither beginning nor end; the
quarterfoil, the four Evangelists; one circle surrounded by
four others, Christ and the Evangelists; the fleur -de-lis stands
for purity. The last three foils in the top row are elabora-
tions of the first and second. In the lower line are some
of the crosses, used by different religious orders, and a gar-
goyle, by some believed to be an evil spirit turned to stone
by a good spirit. Tradition tells us that these grotesque
images were placed on cathedrals to drive away the devil.
Two other gargoyles are shown in Fig. 144.
The illustrations in Fig. 145 are interesting as presenta-
tions of naturalistic and conventionalized ornament. We
have no difficulty in recognizing a familiar leaf in the draw-
ing at the right. The other conforms with all the laws of
natural growth; it is an idealized interpretation of nature, a
composite photograph, rather than a reproduction of a single
plant. It shows us the best type of Gothic ornament.
Westminister Abbey (Fig. 146), London, Milan Cathedral,
Notre Dame, Paris, and many other churches and palaces
(Fig. 147) of England, France, Germany and Italy are world-
famous examples of Gothic architecture. There need be no
hesitation in distinguishing a Gothic building; see how the
characteristic Gothic elements are used in the churches and
palaces illustrated in this chapter. Supposing we have before
us a building, say Fig. 147, and we wish to know to what
168



169



Fig. 139—Gothic Capital.
school of architecture it belongs. Let us see what elements
of design the architect has employed. First, we notice nu-
merous pointed arches; pointed arches were used occasion-
ally by the Moorish or Saracenic architects; they are a prom-
inent feature in Gothic architecture. These arches are
supported on columns and capitals entirely unlike the Sara-
cenic (Fig. 123), but very similar to the Gothic capital seen
in Fig. 139. At the corner of the building are several
statues. The Saracens never used sculpture (with one ex-
ception, the Court of Lions in the Alhambra) in connection
with their architecture; the Gothic designers habitually left
just such niches as these and in them placed similar statues.
Then we may see the circle containing the quarterfoil be-
tween every two arches in the upper tier, also repeated in
the form of small windows near the top of the building. On
170



173



OKIX-
©•!•+■
00 +



177



178



Fig. 148—Wrought Iron Detail, National Museum, Florence.
179








* i ft • J 4
> f V ft <
> ft J ft <
lit a iti ill
Fig- 151—Gothic.
182



Fig. 152—Gothic.
the roof is a series of spire-like forms Thus we find an
abundance of Gothic elements in this palace and may be sure
that it is a Gothic structure.
In much the same manner one can assign such an example
of ornament, as Fig. 148, to the Gothic school.
We are now ready to intelligently interpret the symbolism
if Figs. 149-152. These surface patterns have been selected
because of their beauty, simplicity and symbolism. In Fig.
149 we see the trefoil, emblematic of the Trinity, to which
has been attached a graceful well-balanced stalk adding to
the beauty of the unit.
In Fig. 151 we have the fleur-de-lis, with the lower part
suggesting the Trinity. The alternate unit may be translated
as the four Evangelists, each from the form of representation
suggesting association with the Trinity. Fig. 152 shows the
sexfoil, which was a development of the trefoil. Fig. 150 is
made from the fleur-de-lis.
The influence of Gothic architecture is very noticable in
all Christian lands. Indeed there are comparatively few
churches in this country which do not display the essential
features of the Gothic buildings of the 12 th-15 th centuries.
In modern decoration the crosses, foils, fleur-de-lis, etc., are
as common as are pointed arches and rose windows in our
churches and other buildings.
188


Fig. 153.
Fig. 154.
Teaching Gothic Ornament.
An outline of the work is suggested, as follows:
1. Talk on Gothic ornament; Gothic cathedral; charac-
teristics—vertical tendency, pointed arches, rose windows,
capitals, statues, by whom built and where; ornament con-
sidered as to its symbolism and beauty; influence on later
art.
2. Sketches of Gothic elements, such as foils, crosses,
circles, triangles, fleur-de-lis, windows and capitals.
These sketches may be made with a pencil, or with ink
and brush, or both. It a is good plan to label them. Let each
pupil draw those which most interest him. The method of
beginning drawings of the pointed arch and rose window are
in Figs. 153 and 154; large forms first, details last.
3. Mounting collected illustrations of Gothic elements,
such as pictures of Gothic capitals, windows, crosses, triangles,
foils and fleur-de-lis forms. (Some of the latter elements
are common in dress goods, draperies, wall-papers, etc.)
(Fig. 155)
4. Analysis and careful drawing of one of the Gothic sur-
face designs.
The use of the ruler, tracing paper and any other mechan-
ical aid is allowable in drawing the surface design. Allow
individual pupils to choose which surface pattern they will
184





draw; decide upon the shape of the space which holds one
unit and space off a large oblong on the drawing paper to
hold the same number of units as are represented on the
chart; then a careful drawing is to be made of one unit,
which may be traced and transferred to complete the design.
(See Fig. 156.) The drawing may be finished by inking in
the units after the style of the chart, or by coloring, if an
illustration of the original coloring can be used to work from.
5. Interest the class to look for pointed arches, rose win-
dows, Gothic capitals, etc., in neighboring buildings. If
there is a church near the school which is built in the Gothic
style, arrange to visit it after school hours with those mem-
bers of your class who desire to go. As a preparation for
such a lesson the teacher should carefully study the church
in regard to its construction and ornamentation. It is sur-
prising to see how much interesting material the pupils will
find. Recently, after studying Gothic ornament, about forty
pupils of the fourth and fifth grades with three teachers vis-
ited one of the best Gothic churches in the city. The spires,
pointed arches, rose windows, steep roofs, trefoil and quar-
terfoil forms were noticed on the exterior and their origin
and meaning discussed. In front were found several fleur-
de-lis designs. Then all entered the church and noted the
familiar single and clustered columns with oak leaf and
acorn, or maple leaf, or conventionalized capitals, the stained
glass windows and the very free use of foils and crosses, each
of which now had a meaning to every child. A half hour
later the class came out of the church and one boy discovered
a weather-vane representing a rooster. For some time no
one could think of any reason for placing such an object on
a church. Finally some one remembered the story of the
denial of Christ by Peter, and then the symbolism of the
rooster was apparent.
Children of foreign parentage can often obtain at home much
additional information regarding the European cathedrals.
186


Gothic Architecture.
France: Notre Dame, Paris, 1163, (additions) 1235, 1257.
Chartres, 1170, 1194, 1210, 1506. Reims, 1212, 1380, 1420.
Rouen, 1202, 1280, 1507. Amiens, 1220, 1288. Bordeaux,
1260.
Great Britain: Canterbury, 1175, 1378, 1500. Lincoln,
1192, 1250, 1 60. Litchfield, 1200, 1275, 1325. Salisbury,
1220, 1263, 1331. Glasgow, 1242, 1277. Westminster, 1245,
1269 King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 1440, 1508. Glou-
cester, 1457.
Germany: Cologne, 1248, 1322 (towers finished 1883).
Strasburg, 1250, 1277, 1429.
The Netherlands: Brussels, 1226, 1280. Utrecht, 1251.
Antwerp. 1352, 1422.
Italy: Campo Santo, Pisa, 1278. Orvieto, 1290, 1310, 1330.
Campanile, Florence, 1335. Milan, 1386,1895.






190



108



Fig. 162
194



Fig. 169
Fig. 160 is a sheet of
units made from a
hydrangea. In these
drawings the curves, prin-
ciples and methods of
jointure suggested above
are used. A few of the
units are comparatively
naturalistic while others
belong to the idealized
type of design, — some
would never be recognized
as belonging to the
hydrangea, although they
conform with the growth
of many other plants. See
also page 30.
It is an excellent plan
to have each pupil select
several times, using two
his best unit and reproduce it
or three tones of ink (Fig. 162).
Four methods of finishing a background for a design are
shown in Fig. 162a.
Show the pupils how nature suggests the principles of de-
sign—" Nature is the source of all that is possible in art"
(Chapter IV.)—and how
bilateral and balanced f^y^^ ^ZZ-^
units may be obtained
from any plant form. Let
every unit have a growing
point, a place from which
all the leading lines spring
to form a framework.
So far as public-school
designing is concerned,
we have been considering
the more difficult part of
the work. The second
step is comparatively easy.
Let each pupil select and

Fig. 170.
195



Fig. 180.
arrange the unit which he considers the most beantiful
after the manner employed in the example of historic orna-
ment which he has copied.
The illustrations Figs. 163-172 are from designs made
by pupils in grades 4-9. The originals were all worked out
in water-colors. Figs. 163-166 show the influence of Gothic
ornament, Figs. 167 and 168 of the Egyptian surface pat-
terns.
Oftentimes, as in Figs. 169-172, a design may be made
more interesting by connecting the units.
Give some definite subject for which to make a design; a
book cover, silk for a sofa pillow, or a curtain, a rug, table
mat, plate, burlap, portiere, border for a curtain or vase dec-
oration, etc.
Each pupil should consider for what purpose his design is
to be used, for some designs as Figs. 163-166 are especially
adapted for a vertical surface; others which look equally
well from any side (Figs. 167 and 168) can be satisfactorily
applied to horizontal surfaces, as ceiling or floor coverings.
A part of one lesson may be devoted to planning a repeat
for surface designs, using the square, circle, triangle, rhom-
bus, hexagon, etc. The pupil should choose that form
which best encloses the selected unit.
Border Designs.
All that has been said above regarding the obtaining of
units applies to border designs. From the borders the pu-
pil has learned how to repeat a unit. Draw the construction
lines for the border as in the ornament (Fig. 80). In one
196








Fig. 173.
i~u>.TnJ%'<xiw.


Fig. 175.
SOI





191.) The making of simple plaid designs in the color har-
monies studied each year is excellent practice. These plaids
should be original designs. Notice in Fig. 190 the variety
in the (1) spacing between the stripes, (2) the width and (3)
strength or depth of tone in the stripes, and (4) that, as in
nature, the large masses are more delicate in tone, the nar-
row lines being strongest.
Any plan for the consideration of color as an element in
design ought to be based on a study of nature and art. A
step in the right direction will have been taken if the pupils
can be led to obtain from nature these three generalizations:
1. Standard (primary or normal) colors are generally used
to cover small surfaces. (For example, insects, flowers, birds,
gems, but not mountains )
2 The primary colors are usually found on the upper parts
of objects; the graded, on the lower.
3. Natural forms are sometimes emphasized by an outline
of a lighter or darker tone. (Often caused by light and shade
effects.)
In coloring an original design made from plant forms the
pupils ought to utilize the knowledge of color harmony which
they have obtained through collecting and studying illustra-
tions and the designing of plaids.
Throughout all this work the teacher should constantly re-
fer to nature and art. An appreciation of color harmony and
of the charm of the quiet colors can gradually be acquired in
this way.
206















JAN 5 - 1931