Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/analysisofornameOOworn_0 
 
p. 52. 
 
 Ancient Panel. Florence 
 
ANALYSIS OF ORNAMENT. 
 
 THE 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLES: 
 
 A.N 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
 
 OP 
 
 Ci^je Jiisl0r]j af #ratamnxtal %xt; 
 
 BEING AN OUTLINE OF A COURSE OF SIXTEEN LECTURES ON THAT 
 SUBJECT, ORIGINALLY PREPARED FOR THE GOVERNMENT 
 SCHOOLS OF DESIGN IN THE YEARS 1848, 1849, 1850. 
 
 BY 
 
 RALPH N. WORNUM. 
 
 LONDON: 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY. 
 
 MDCCCLVI. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Sketch is prepared chiefly as an intro- 
 ductory guide to aid in the adoption of some ready 
 system in the study of Ornament. Though ilkistrated 
 ornamental works exist in great profusion, they are 
 generally on special monuments, and localities, or ex- 
 tending only over very limited periods of time: and 
 being, further, mostly of a purely illustrative charac- 
 ter, without analytical description of the parts, they fail 
 to impress on the mind of the Student those elements 
 which are the essential characteristics of the works, 
 and distinguish their style. These characteristics, 
 therefore, which are the very essence of the Art, are to 
 be apprehended only by dint of great labour in the 
 comparison of many costly publications, which, until 
 lately, have been generally inaccessible even to the 
 metropolitan student. But with access to such works, 
 some systematic general guide is absolutely indispen- 
 sable to enable the Student to acquire a sound appre- 
 hension of his subject, with moderate labour, and 
 within a moderate time. 
 
 The knowledge of ornamental styles is, doubtless, 
 most readily imparted in a course of lectures, in which, 
 by numerous illustrations on a large scale, including 
 occasionally the objects themselves, the peculiar fea- 
 tures of each style can be at once pointed out, and 
 fixed on the mind, through the facilities of immediate 
 comparison. But this compendious abstract of the 
 
iv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 course of Lectures on Ornamental Art, — delivered by 
 me originally at Somerset House ; and subsequently 
 at Marlborougli House, under the direction of the 
 Board of Trade Department of Science and Art, — in 
 the absence of a more complete report, may serve 
 in some measure as a substitute for the personal 
 instructions of a lecture, by pointing out its sources, 
 and enabling the Student to derive directly from the 
 standard authorities in the Library of the Department 
 such information for himself. The Student will find 
 the most important works illustrating the subject 
 enumerated in the text, to which he must refer for its 
 complete illustration ; but he will find the most essen- 
 tial and characteristic elements of the styles, perhaps 
 adequately illustrated by the few engraved cuts con- 
 tained in the work, which have been chiefly executed 
 from casts in the collections of the Department, by 
 the female students of the Wood-engraving Class at 
 Marlborough House. 
 
 The accompanying Sketch, however, is not pub- 
 lished as a report of the Lectures referred to: it is 
 simply a concise abstract of their substance, and is 
 intended only as an introductory aid for the Student, 
 to enable him to make profitable use of the works 
 in the Library, in furtherance of an earnest study of 
 Ornamental Art.* 
 
 R. N. W. 
 
 July, 1855. 
 
 * See the Accou7U of the Library/, d-c, with a Catalogue of the prin- 
 cipal Works, classified for the use of the Visitors. By Ralph N. Wornum, 
 Librarian. London, 1855. The diagrams prepared by me for these lectures 
 now form part of the property of this Library. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 The history of art shows two great classes of ornamental styles — 
 the symbolic and the (Esthetic ; that is, those which appeal to our 
 understandings and those which appeal to our feelings. We may 
 term those styles symbolic in which the ordinary elements have 
 been chosen for the sake of their significations, as symbols of 
 something not necessarily implied, and irrespective of their effect 
 as works of art, or arrangements of forms and colours. Those 
 that are composed of elements devised solely from principles of 
 symmetry of form and harmony of colour, and exclusively for 
 their effect on our perception of the beautiful, without any further 
 extraneous or ulterior aim, may be termed aesthetic. 
 
 Style in ornament is analogous to hand in writing, and this is 
 its literal signification. As every individual has some peculiarity 
 in his mode of writing, so every age or nation has been distin- 
 guished in its ornamental expression by a certain individuality of 
 taste, either original or borrowed. It is the comprehension of 
 these individual tastes, characterising various times and people, 
 which must constitute the most thorough education of the orna- 
 mental designer. These expressions are interesting also to the 
 general student, as they exhibit an essential quality of the social 
 
6 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 character of these different people, both in relation to the arts and 
 to general culture and religion. 
 
 In a review of these ornamental styles, we shall find that the 
 elements of form are constant in all cases ; they are but variously 
 treated. This, in fact, must be so, if a style be founded upon any 
 principles at all ; and those styles which have carried with them 
 the feelings of ages could not be otherwise than based upon some 
 fixed natural laws. 
 
 The elements of styles are of two kinds — pure and absolute, 
 and conventional and arbitrary ; or natural and fanciful. 
 
 The investigation of the principles of ornamental art is an 
 inquiry into the nature and character of these elements : how the 
 effects of certain variations of form and colour happen to be so 
 universally appreciated that the varieties of their arrangements 
 have occupied all people from the remotest times. 
 
 Universal efforts show a universal want, and beauty of effect 
 and decoration are no more a luxury in a civilised state of society 
 than warmth or clothing are a luxury to any state : the mind, as 
 the body, makes everything necessary that it is capable of perma- 
 nently enjoying. Ornament is one of the mind's necessities, which 
 it gratifies by means of the eye ; and, in its strictest aesthetic sense, 
 it has a perfect analogy with music, which similarly gratifies the 
 mind, but by the means of a different organ — the ear. 
 
 So ornament has been discovered to be again an essential element 
 in commercial prosperity. This was not so at first, because, in a less 
 cultivated state, we are quite satisfied with the gratification of 
 our merely physical wants. But in an advanced state, the more 
 extensive wants of the mind demand still more pressingly to be 
 satisfied. Hence, ornament is now as material an interest in a 
 commercial community as even cotton itself, or, indeed, any raw 
 material of manufacture whatever. 
 
 Such being the case, it is highly important that we should 
 endeavour to comprehend its principles, in order to its most 
 effectual application. We should, therefore, in the first place, 
 study ornament, for its own sake, theoretically and scientifically, 
 and not in that limited, narrow sense which would restrict it, in 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 7 
 
 one place as applied to cotton, in another as to iron, and in a 
 third as to clay, and so on. 
 
 There is most certainly but one road to efficiency for the 
 designer — for the weaver, for the printer, or for the modeller. 
 Their common object is a familiar mastery of ornamental art, in 
 order that they may apply it to the utmost advantage to their 
 respective pursuits. In early stages of manufactures, it is mecha- 
 nical fitness that is the object of competition. As society advances, 
 it is necessary to combine elegance with fitness ; and those who 
 cannot see this must be content to send their wares to the ruder 
 markets of the world, and resign the great marts of commerce to 
 men of superior taste and sounder judgment, who deserve a higher 
 reward. This is no new idea. Let us take a lesson from the 
 experience of past ages. The vari-coloured glass of Egypt, the 
 figured cups of Sidon, the shawls of Miletus, the terra-cottas of 
 Samos, the bronzes of Corinth, did not command the markets of 
 the ancient world either for their materials or for their mechanical 
 qualities ; not because they were well blown, cleverly chased, 
 finely woven, ingeniously turned, or perfectly cast, — these qualities 
 they had only in common with the similar wares of other nations, 
 — but in the gratification of one of the most refined necessities of 
 the mind in an advanced social state, they were pre-eminent — 
 they were objects of an elegant, cultivated taste. It is by this 
 aesthetic character alone, that manufacturers will ever establish 
 that substantial renown which will ensure a lasting market in the 
 civilised world. 
 
 When, however, manufactures have attained a high mechanical 
 perfection, or have completely met the necessities of the body, the 
 energy that brought them to that perfection must either stagnate 
 or be continued in a higher province — that of taste ; for there is a 
 stage of cultivation when the mind must revolt at a mere crude 
 utility. So it is a natural propensity to decorate or embellish 
 whatever is useful or agreeable to us. But just as there are 
 mechanical laws which regulate all our efforts in pure uses, so 
 there are laws of the mind which must regulate those ^sthetical 
 efforts expressed in the attempt at decoration or ornamental design. 
 
8 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 The production and application of ornament are distinct pro- 
 cesses, though they cannot be separated in applied design. A 
 proper distinction between a picture or a model and an ornament 
 is quite essential in the mind of the designer ; for the mere power of 
 imitation of natural objects, and even their exact imitation, is 
 perfectly compatible with the total ignorance of ornamental art. 
 The great art of the designer is in the selection and arrangement 
 of his materials, not in their execution. There is a distinct study 
 of ornament wholly independent of the merely preliminary exer- 
 cises of drawing, colouring, or modelling. A designer might even 
 produce a perfect arrangement of forms and colours, and yet show 
 the grossest stupidity in its application. 
 
 There are two provinces of ornament — the flat and the relieved. 
 In the flat, we have a contrast of light and dark ; in the relieved, 
 a contrast of light and shade ; in both, a variety of effect for the 
 pure gratification of the sense of vision. Much is common to both ; 
 but in the first case, a play of line is the main feature, in the 
 second, a play of masses, and colour may be an auxiliary to 
 either ; but it acts with far greater power in the flat, as it is 
 entirely dependent upon light. 
 
 Ornament, therefore, is a system of contrasts : the object of 
 study is the order of contrasts. The individual orders may vary 
 to infinity, though the classes are limited, as right-line or curved- 
 line series, series of simple curves or clustered curves, series of 
 mere lines, or natural objects, as flowers, arranged in the orders of 
 these different series. For example, the common scroll is a series 
 of spirals to the right and left alternately; the Roman scroll is 
 the Acanthus plant or brank-ursine, treated in this order of curved 
 series. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Decoration or ornamentation, then, we may assume to be divided 
 into two great classes — the flat and the round, or what may be 
 otherwise described as uainting and modelling. 
 
OKNAMENT. 
 
 9 
 
 That of painting, or the flat, is the far more extensive class. 
 It comprises, in the first place, all pictorial decoration, — general 
 costume, drapery, all printed or woven fabrics, mosaic, inlaying, 
 boule-work, enamelling, and, accordingly, many classes of fur- 
 niture. The relieved, or modelling, is limited to building pur- 
 poses, hardware, certain kinds of furniture, implements, and to 
 jewellery. But everything that is relieved is comprised also in 
 the flat, in one sense, inasmuch as it can be imitated in the flat ; 
 but this is not a legitimate use of the flat, as it is really a mere 
 counterfeit of the round. 
 
 We may call these two classes, then, the flat and the round. 
 They have two qualities in common — shape and contrast. The 
 shape in both is given by the outline ; the contrast, in the one by 
 light and shade; in the other, by colour, or light and dark. 
 There is no other means of contrast in the flat but that of colour, 
 or light and dark ; for when an ornament in the flat is merely an 
 imitation of the round, it belongs strictly 
 to the round ; the contrast in the romid 
 is effected by light and shade. All 
 tracery, — indeed, all figures, in the flat, 
 are mere light and dark: whether the 
 contrast be that of colours or of black 
 and white, whether of a shadow with its 
 ground or of one form with another, 
 the very elemental principle of vision is 
 contrast, and it must, of course, be the 
 basis of all ornamental art. 
 
 Then, if this view be correct, we 
 have but two great principles to study 
 — shape and contrast; or, in all cases, 
 aesthetically, an agreeable variety of 
 those effects which delight the mind by 
 means of the eye. This is more impor- 
 tant than would appear at first; for it 
 shows, that whatever other principle we 
 may associate with the ornamental prin- 
 
10 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 ciple, must be kept secondary to effect, if we are desirous of 
 making a good design. Introduce what symbols we will, or 
 apply our designs how we will, they must be made subject to the 
 ruling principles of ornament itself, or, however good the symbol- 
 ism, our design is a mere crudity in art. 
 
 This also illustrates the diflPerence between a picture and an 
 ornament. The ornamental principle of symmetry may be intro- 
 duced into a picture, but it is far from being essential to it ; and 
 when this principle is introduced, which it often is, the picture 
 really becomes an ornamental design. This is the character of 
 nearly all pictures in the earlier epochs of art, and they were 
 generally parts of ornamental schemes. 
 
 Any picture, whatever the subject, which is composed merely 
 on principles of symmetry and contrast becomes an ornament, and 
 any ornamental design in which these two principles have been 
 made subservient to imitation or natural arrangement has departed 
 from the province of ornament into that of the picture or the 
 model, whichever it may be. And in nearly all designs of this 
 kind, applied to useful purposes, you frustrate the very principle 
 of nature, upon which you found your theory, when you re- 
 present a natural form in a natural manner, and yet apply it 
 to uses with which it has, in nature, no affinity whatever. 
 Therefore, however you may conform with Nature in little 
 matters, you certainly commit an outrage upon her in great 
 matters. 
 
 This is a class of ornament which has much increased of 
 late years in England, and, by way of distinction, we may call 
 it the naturalist school. The theory appears to be, that as 
 nature is beautiful, ornamental details derived immediately 
 from beautiful natural objects must ensure a beautiful design. 
 This, however, can only be true where the original uses of the 
 details chosen have not been obviously violated; and one 
 peculiar feature of this school is, that it often substitutes the 
 ornament itself for the thing to be ornamented, as illustrated in 
 the accompanying examples; in which the natural objects are 
 so mismanaged as to be principals: flame proceeding from a 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 11 
 
 flower, a basket on an animal's head to hold a liquid, a bell 
 made of leaves ! 
 
 A Cup. 
 
 Ornament is essentially the accessory to, and not the sub- 
 stitute of, the useful ; it is a decoration or adornment ; it can have 
 no independent existence practically. We cannot look upon any 
 
12 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 mere ornament without instantly associating it with something 
 that it is fit, or is destined, to adorn, as a necklace, or a bracelet. 
 Even a statuette is not an ornament, unless you associate it with 
 some shelf or other object or support that it may be fit to adorn. 
 If we look upon it as a mere statue or portrait, it is purely a 
 work of fine art, not an ornament ; because it is then principal, 
 instead of being accessory, an absolute condition of all ornament. 
 Hence, every implement or article of practical utility, as, for 
 instance, a candlestick, that is composed or built up of natural 
 imitations exclusively or as prmcipals, however poetical the idea 
 may be supposed to be, is practically bad as a design. 
 
 There is a very great difference between ornamenting a utensil 
 with natural objects, and substituting these natural objects for the 
 utensil itself. In the latter case, however true the details, the 
 design is utterly false ; in the former, you are in both respects 
 true, and may be also highly suggestive and instructive. Of 
 course there are many natural objects which at once suggest 
 certain uses ; and we can never be wrong if we elaborate these 
 into such implements or vessels as their own very forms or 
 natures may have spontaneously presented to the mind. 
 
 Every article of use has a certain size and character defined 
 for it by the very use it is destined for, and this may never be 
 disregarded by the designer; it is, in fact, the indispensable 
 skeleton of his design, and has nothing to do with ornament. 
 But it is upon this skeleton that the designer must bring all his 
 ornamental knowledge to bear ; and he is a poor designer if he 
 can do nothing more than imitate a few sticks and leaves, or 
 other natural objects wherewith to decorate it : he must give it 
 character as well as beauty, and make it suggestive of something 
 more than a display of sprigs and flowers gathered from the fields, 
 or this would be mannerism indeed. 
 
 Natural floral ornament is one kind of ornament, and a very 
 beautiful kind ; but even an infinite variety of floral detail, espe- 
 cially in the round, will have aesthetically but very little variety 
 of effect upon the mind. For this purpose we must bring Art 
 to the aid of Nature, or work upon the principles illustrated 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 13 
 
 by natural objects, rather than imitate their individual appear- 
 ances. 
 
 We should add an illustrative elaboration of the abstract 
 principles of beauty, to the mere representation of those natural 
 objects in which they may be most effectively displayed ; and this 
 is the professed object of all tracery or mere geometrical design. 
 The beautiful Italian style, known as the Trecento, is a fine 
 example of this combination of natural and artificial forms, in its 
 mixture of conventional flowers and foliage with its tracery and 
 various geometrical designs. 
 
 It seems to be a law of nature, that every individual thing 
 shall be composed of two similar parts in its outward appearance ; 
 and as the internal arrangement is often different, as in the 
 animal creation, this similarity of externals would appear an 
 evidence of the design of beauty. We find this similarity of parts 
 more or less decided according to the individuality of the object, 
 — from the simplest crystal form to that of man. 
 
 And we find this remarkable similarity relaxed only where 
 its relaxation does not interfere with the beauty of the object, — as 
 in a tree, for instance : the two halves of a tree are not exactly 
 symmetrical in their branches, yet they are generally so. There 
 is quite as much symmetry in every tree as the eye can appre- 
 ciate. 
 
 It is so also with flowers : the calyx and petals of all flowers 
 are symmetrical ; and this symmetry is the more decided, in- 
 versely as the number of flowers on one stem: plurality of 
 members seems to do away with the special symmetry of the 
 individual member ; and where there are several flowers from one 
 root or on one stem, the deviation from individual symmetry is 
 always in favour of the symmetry of the collective group or 
 groups. Where nature groups, it is the group that is the orna- 
 ment, not the individual; and this is a law which must be 
 observed likewise in art; as in all clusters, colonnades, or fes- 
 toons, the individuals of such designs may be arranged at random, 
 provided the cluster, colonnade, or festoon, be itself of symmetrical 
 proportions. 
 
14 
 
 OKNA?.IENT. 
 
 In endeavouring, therefore, to be symmetrical in our designs, 
 so far from being artificial or formal, we are strictly following 
 one of the grand principles of Nature. 
 
 This distinction between the symmetry of the parts and the 
 symmetry of the group or cluster, is very important. Tak^ man 
 himself : he is a compound form, — a group of trunk, limbs, and 
 extremities. Whatever part of the group is balanced by a similar 
 member on the other side, is without that symmetry which we 
 are speaking of. The arm is not symmetrical, because it is 
 balanced by a similar member on the other side; but take the 
 head, which has not this plurality to disturb its symmetry, and 
 we find a perfect contrast of the two parts. I believe this to be 
 true of all natural groups ; and I believe this law of symmetry to 
 be so important, that there is no form or combination of forms, 
 whatever, that, when symmetrically contrasted or repeated, cannot 
 be made subservient to beauty. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The whole grammar of ornament consists in contrast, repetition, 
 and series. A perfect contrast of form may be defined as the 
 two sides of a solid or section of the solid, generated by the 
 revolution of an outline aromid a given axis ; as, for instance, a 
 sphere is the solid generated by the revolution of a semicircle 
 around its diameter. 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 15 
 
 Repetition and series are nearly identical. Series comprises 
 repetition, and defines its order. Mouldings are simple repe- 
 titions, right-lined or curved, as the case may be. Perhaps the 
 best illustration of the value of series is the kaleidoscope. All 
 the beautiful figures represented by that instrument are repe- 
 titions in circular series; and often the rudest materials will 
 generate extremely beautiful effects. 
 
 And the elliptical, or any other regular series, symmetrically 
 arranged, will be found nearly equally valuable with the circular. 
 
 In no popular style of ornament have natural details ever yet 
 prevailed. The details of all great styles are largely derived 
 from nature, but for the most part conventionally treated ; and 
 theory and experience seem to show that this is the true system. 
 
 A plant is said to be conventionally treated, when the natural 
 order of its growth or development is disregarded. Where the 
 exact imitation of the details, and its own order of development, 
 are both observed, the treatment is natural; and an object so 
 treated, independent of any application, is only a picture or model, 
 not an ornament : to be an ornament, it must be applied as an 
 accessory decoration to something else. 
 
 In Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ornament, it is extremely 
 rare to find any natural treatment of the details: that is, any 
 mere imitation. The only examples I can recall are the birds, 
 reptiles, and animals occasionally introduced in arabesques and 
 scroll-work. The case is the same with Byzantine and Saracenic 
 art, and with the great styles of Italy, especially the Trecento 
 and the Cinquecento, in which all the most perfect schemes are 
 purely conventional, or upon a strict geometrical basis, whatever 
 the treatment of the detail may be. 
 
 Lorenzo Ghiberti has introduced exact natural imitations in 
 his celebrated gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni at Florence; 
 but they are strictly accessory to a general plan, and symmetri- 
 cally arranged, being neither negligently nor naturally disposed. 
 They are bound in bunches or groups of various shapes and 
 sizes, disposed in harmony with the main compartments of the 
 gates, of which they are ornaments. And this is, perhaps, the 
 
16 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 utmost extent to which decorations of this class can be judiciously 
 applied. But in Ghiberti's case, as elsewhere, the group is the 
 ornament, and not the parts of which it is composed. 
 
 It is requisite that we should have a clear understanding of 
 the difference between a natural and a conventional or ornamental 
 treatment of an object. A natural treatment impHes natural 
 imitation and arrangement ; but an ornamental treatment does 
 not necessarily exclude imitation in the parts ; as, for instance, a 
 scroll may be composed of strictly natural parts ; but as no plant 
 would grow in an exact spiral direction, the scroll form constitutes 
 the ornamental or conventional arrangement. 
 
 M REES 
 
 We may have, however, conventionalities of details as well as 
 conventionalities of arrangement. A leaf or a flower, for in- 
 stance, may be represented as it appears, with all the local 
 accidents of light and shade and colour : this would be a strictly 
 natural representation. And it may be represented as a mere 
 diagram, — that is, as we know it to be, — without reference to its 
 appearance ; or it may be treated as a mere shadow of itself,— as 
 a silhouette : the two latter would be conventional treatments ; 
 and it is such representations that we find almost exclusively in 
 Egyptian and Greek art; as the Lotus of the Egyptian tombs 
 and temples, or the various foliage of the terra-cotta vases of 
 Greece. 
 
 There can be no question that the motive of ornament is not 
 the presentation of natural images to the mind, but the rendermg 
 the object ornamented as agreeable as possible to it, and therefore 
 
ORNAMENT. 17 
 
 the details of decoration should have no independent character of 
 their own, but be kept purely subservient to beauty of effect. 
 This can hardly be done, or rather cannot be thoroughly done, 
 but by the adoption of conventional ornament — whether flowers, 
 foliage, or other natural forms ; because as a conventional or 
 mere geometrical form can really have no individual associations, 
 and yet at the same time may present an extremely beautiful 
 effect, the whole of that effect is simply auxiliary to the general 
 effect of the object decorated: the ornamentation is purely 
 accessory. The designer must ever remember that the effect 
 of the whole should never be interfered with by any partial 
 attraction of the details. 
 
 Every design is com- 
 posed of plan and details — 
 as in a vase, the shape of 
 the vase is the plan ; what- 
 ever decorations it may have 
 are the details of the design, 
 or their enrichments, as me- 
 dallion pictures or pieces of 
 sculpture : so with a candle- 
 stick, casket, and others. 
 
 In all cases where elabo- 
 rate works of Fine Art are 
 introduced as enrichments of 
 an ornamental scheme — as 
 sculpture in the pediment of 
 a Greek temple, or a picture 
 in the panel of a wall — it is 
 only in the general form and arrangement that they share in the 
 ornamental effect ; they are no longer ornaments when examined 
 in detail, but independent works of Fine Art. 
 
 The ordinary details or accessory decorations may be of 
 various kinds : they may cover the entire surface of the plan, 
 or only portions of it ; the covering of only portions of a plan 
 involves, of course, far higher ornamental principles than the 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 OIINAMENT. 
 
 uniform covering the entire surface. Decorations which are 
 spread uniformly over a surface are commonly called diapers — 
 an expression supposed to be derived from Ypres, the name of 
 the Flemish town where cloths so decorated were first or largely 
 manufactured. They are composed of a repetition or series of 
 the same ornament, in a vertical, horizontal, or a diagonal order. 
 This is the most popular class of design for cotton-prints, and 
 the unit of repetition is generally small in these cases ; but it 
 may be either extremely simple, as a spot or star, in one colour, 
 or as complicated and as rich as the diapers of the Alhambra, 
 from which the mass of paper diapers are derived. 
 
 Diapers are suited for flat or round work of every class in 
 manufactures or in mural decoration. Units of repetition, or 
 repeats of irregular shapes, ar- 
 ranged diagonally, have the 
 finest effects. A diaper, how- 
 ever, may be an alternation of 
 two or more simple figures, just 
 as it may be a constant repeti- 
 tion of one compound figure; 
 for as it is in this case the 
 group that is repeated, the 
 group of figures becomes the 
 pattern or unit of repetition. 
 
 Geometric diapers are infinite, and by a judicious variation 
 of colours may be made extremely beautiful. The majority of 
 ancient mosaics are diapers 
 of this character, and they 
 are a good illustration of the 
 carrying out of the prin- 
 ciple of fitness in design; 
 for these geometric mosaics 
 are nearly all floors, and they 
 emphatically express flatness 
 — an essential quality for a 
 floor. 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 19 
 
 The diaper, then, is a uniform decoration of a surface : another 
 general decoration analogous to it is a succession of stripes, of 
 any character, or of colonnades. The colonnade consists of 
 repetitions of continuous curves in the same direction ; it is the 
 favoui'ite form of decoration for carpets, papers, lace, curtains, 
 and some other textile manufactui'es ; it is generally a decorated 
 or foliated serpentine, and rarely a scroll — always a measured 
 curved succession in vertical series. 
 
 All such superficial decoration is very simple ; it is, in fact, 
 as the paper-stainers expressively term it, mere JilUng, as it 
 involves no scheming. You have but to design your repeat or 
 unit of repetition ; the rest is mere mechanical expansion. 
 
 To miiformly cover a surface is, however, but the beginning 
 of a designer's labours ; his great business is to produce pleasing 
 variety of surface, not only in the flat but in the round ; not only 
 upon regular but upon irregular surfaces. 
 
 The surface of a wall is of one kind ; the surface of a sphere, 
 a cylinder, or a cone, is of another. If we suppose a cylinder to 
 represent the skeleton of a candlestick, it will not be sufficient to 
 merely uniformly decorate the surface of this cylinder, and call it 
 an ornamental candlestick. We must, in the first place, give the 
 cylinder a shape which shall correspond with its destined use ; 
 we nmst so balance the two ends that it will stand firmly upon 
 one of them, and then, by varying the surface or form, give it 
 a pleasing individuality of character consistent with its destina- 
 tion ; and this is the process wherein the designer shows his skill. 
 The principles applicable to one article may be quite the 
 reverse of those applicable to another, and it is the designer's 
 duty to suffer no mere ornamental predilections to interfere with 
 the mechanical or practical excellence of his design. These 
 are constant conditions far more important than those de- 
 pending upon accidents of machinery. They are conditions of 
 use, and it is these conditions by which a designer must 
 primarily test his designs. 
 
 Taking it for granted that the eye requires variety of sur- 
 face to gratify that faculty of the mind called taste, or to excite 
 
20 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 those emotions which we term cesthetic, how is this variety to 
 be effected? By dividing surfaces into compartments, and by 
 making some portions more prominent than others, and thus 
 produce that contrast which we assumed at starting to be the 
 element of all ornamental effects. 
 
 These compartments are known as panels, borders, cornice, 
 frieze, basement or dado ; capital, shaft, base, pedestal ; neck, 
 body, foot, and so on; all names designating the ornamental 
 divisions of the general schemes of objects : though these things 
 may not be ornamented, the mere division of an object into such 
 parts is done for the sake of variety of effect, in obedience to one 
 of the necessities of the mind. 
 
 These various compartments are separated or made prominent 
 by mouldings : mouldings may be either mere suits of concave 
 and convex members, as in many Gothic examples, or the concave 
 series may be filled in with ornamental details. These may be 
 plain or enriched mouldings ; and, as boundaries of compartments, 
 it is necessary that they should be particularly distinct, and we 
 accordingly find that they are, in nearly all cases, the part of a 
 design which has been most elaborated : call them edges or call 
 them borders, the principle is the same throughout — whether the 
 moulding of a room or piece of cabinet-work, the hem of a vest, 
 the border of a shawl or handkerchief, the edge of a salver, we 
 have everywhere the one principle of contrast in itself, and with 
 its own ground. 
 
 As no border is introduced into a design for its own sake, but 
 only as a contribution to the general eflPect, that is sure to be 
 the best which is designed with a view to a principle rather 
 than for any specialty of detail of its own; thus we find 
 that a mere repeat, which shall contain an elemental prin- 
 ciple, is superior to a prominent succession of elaborate and 
 varied imitations, because special attraction to secondary details 
 is not a merit, but a capital defect in a design. The border 
 or moulding is the ornament, and not the details of which it is 
 composed. 
 
 The truth of tliis principle is proved by the practice of all 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 21 
 
 ages; we have not now to create Ornamental Art, but to learn it; 
 it was established in all essentials long ago. As a proof of this I 
 would instance the most popular decorations of the present day ; 
 we find that they are identical with the favourites of nearly all 
 ages, — from Pericles to Pope Julius II., from Julius II. to the 
 late King of Bavaria, Ludwig I. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 We still use the forms, and, indeed, the very details, adopted 
 by the Greeks upwards of two thousand years ago. Why is 
 this ? Certainly not from their specialty of detail, but rather 
 because it would be, perhaps, impossible to select others of a less 
 decided individuality, which would so well illustrate the great 
 principles of ornament, — series and contrast ; contrast of masses, 
 and contrast or harmony of lines. The details, however, will 
 admit of every variation which will not disturb the order or 
 arrangement on which the ornament depends ; you may change 
 the details to infinity, the ornament will remain the same so long 
 as the arrangement is not disturbed. And this alteration is im- 
 perative if we wish to develope a rich and varied School of 
 Ornamental Art. 
 
 The ornaments I refer to are, — the zigzag, the fret, the 
 echinus, the astragal, the anthemions, the guilloche varieties, 
 and the scrolls. 
 
 In the zigzag we have the simplest variety of lines we can 
 well conceive; in the frets we have a more complicated order 
 of right-line series; in the varieties of the guilloche we have 
 a similar simple series of curved lines or interlacings. 
 
 In the echinus, or what is commonly called the egg and 
 tongue, we have another character, a bold alternation of light and 
 
22 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 shade ; and we have a similar result on a smaller scale in the 
 astragal ; both belong essentially to the solid or round. 
 
 Echinus and Astragal. Erechtheium. 
 
 In the scrolls we have a regular running series or alternation 
 of spirals, or any materials treated in that order of curve : use 
 among the Romans has established an extraordinary prestige 
 for the acanthus, but any other materials would answer the 
 purpose. 
 
 In the anthemions we have a compomid element, a succession 
 or alternation of an harmonic group of curves, in a conventional 
 adaptation of floral forms, as the name anthemion itself implies. 
 In Greek examples we have a smaller and larger cluster alter- 
 nated, sometimes reversed, sometimes enclosed in a curve, and 
 generally connected by a band, by mere contact, or by some 
 simple scroll. 
 
 Anthemion. Apollo Epicurius. 
 
 Every example of an ornament must have an individuality of 
 detail necessarily, but it is a great mistake to adopt this detail 
 as an essential part of the ornament ; for example, no two Greek 
 
OKNAMENT. 23 
 
 anthemions are alike, but there are some few which (joiitain a 
 member a good deal resembling the honeysuckle ; the ornament 
 is simple and beautiful, but modern imitators overlooking its 
 prmciple have comprehended only the detail, assumed it to be 
 an imitation, and have called it the honeysuckle ornament. 
 Instead, therefore, of grasping the source of a thousand ornaments 
 equally beautiful, they have acquired but one, and half the 
 classical buildings of modern times are covered with honeysuckles, 
 bringing the whole art of Greece into disgrace for its monotony 
 and formality, while there is scarcely a weed in England that 
 might not with equal skill have been substituted for the honey- 
 suckle, with perhaps equal effect. 
 
 This is only one of the dilemmas that the designer must fall 
 into, by allowing mere specific details to usurp the place of the 
 principles of ornament: his mind becomes occupied by a few 
 individual forms, and the very idea of principles is incompre- 
 hensible to him ; and he necessarily remains a mere imitator. 
 
 Where the mind views something more than the surface, 
 or where the eyes are auxiliary only to the mind, every natural 
 object may be suggestive of some new essential form or 
 combination of forms. The lotus, the lily, and the tulip, must 
 be something more than flowers to the designer, or his use of 
 them is limited indeed ; each suggests distinct forms as applicable 
 to various useful purposes. 
 
 All established styles of ornament are founded upon the 
 same principles, their differences, which I shall in the following 
 sketch endeavour to point out, are differences only of the 
 materials, the details of the several favourite essential forms, 
 which each more or less partially developed, some for one reason, 
 some for another — the peculiarity of Egyptian and Byzantme 
 ornament is owing to their prevailing symbolism, and certain 
 details becoming standards —the peculiarity of the Saracenic is 
 of exactly the opposite character, it scrupulously rejected every- 
 thing approaching an individuality of detail ; and accordingly the 
 principles of ornament are perhaps more clearly developed in this 
 
24 
 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 style than in any other, because the details are so entirely 
 subordinate. 
 
 We do not therefore admire the echinus and the astragal, 
 because they are derived from the horse-chestnut or the huckle- 
 bone, but because they are admirable details for that prominent 
 contrast of light and shade which is so extremely valuable for 
 edges or mouldings; it is the same with the whole series of 
 popular ornaments, not one of them is beautiful because it 
 represents any natural object, but because it has been chosen 
 to illustrate certain symmetries or contrasts, by the very nature 
 of vision delightful to the mind, just as harmonies and melodies 
 delight it through another of its senses. I believe the analogy 
 between music and ornament to be perfect, one is to the eye what 
 the other is to the ear, and the day is not far distant when this 
 will be practically demonstrated. 
 
 The principles of harmony, time, or rhythm, and melody, are 
 well defined m music, and indisputable; many men of many 
 generations have devoted their entire lives to the development 
 of these prmciples, and they are known. In ornament they are 
 not known, and perhaps not recognised even as unknown 
 quantities, because as yet no man has ever devoted himself to 
 their elimination ; though many ancient and middle-age designers 
 have evidently had a true perception of them. 
 
 The first principle of ornament seems to be repetition, the 
 simplest character of this is a measured succession, in series, of 
 some one detail, as a moulding for instance; this stage of orna- 
 ment corresponds with melody in music, which is a measured 
 succession of diatonic somids, the system in both arising from 
 the same source — rhythm — in music called also time, in orna- 
 ment proportion or symmetry : proportion, or quantity, in both 
 cases. 
 
 The second stage in music is harmony, or a combination of 
 simultaneous sounds or melodies ; it is also identical in ornamental 
 art ; every correct ornamental scheme is a combination of series, 
 or measured successions of forms, and upon identical principles 
 
ORNAMENT. 
 
 25 
 
 in music and ornament, called in the first counterpoint, in the 
 other symmetrical contrast. 
 
 Such a close analogy must convince us that ornament con- 
 sists in something more than a mere artistic elaboration of either 
 natural or conventional details, and that all mechanical ingenuity 
 must be kept strictly subservient to theoretical principles of 
 arrangement. The highest mere imitative skill, employed on 
 the most beautiful natural materials, out of the strict province 
 of so called fine-art, will engender but mere fanciful vagaries, 
 utterly powerless on the eye as ornament, when compared with 
 even the crudest materials of the coarsest execution, if only 
 arranged in any order or combination of harmonic progression. 
 
 A.F.F 
 
 Greek Terra Cotta. 
 
THE 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLES. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE STYLES. 
 
 In a review of this kind, when we speak of the styles, we can 
 comprise only the broad distinctions of ornament itself— the kinds 
 or genera, not the mere specific varieties. There are, of course, 
 many varieties of nearly every great style, but so long as the chief 
 characteristics remain unchanged, the style is the same. From 
 this point of view, therefore, the styles become comparatively few. 
 We shall find that nine will comprise the whole number of the 
 great characteristic developments which have had any influence 
 on European civilisation, namely, three ancient — the Egyptian, 
 the Greek, and the Roman ; three medieval — the Byzantine, the 
 Saracenic, and the Gothic ; and three modern — the Renaissance, 
 the Cinquecento, and the Louis Quatorze. 
 
 Several of these styles have their recognised varieties. Of the 
 Greek there are the Doric and the Alexandrian ; that is, the 
 severe and the florid. Of the Byzantine, there are the Roman- 
 esque, Lombard, and Norman varieties, &c. ; and of the Renais- 
 sance, also, there are several varieties. We speak of the Re- 
 naissance both as an epoch and as a style. As an epoch, it 
 comprises many styles or varieties, — the Trecento, the Cinque- 
 cento, the Renaissance (as a style, with its sub-varieties), the 
 Elizabethan, the Louis XIY., the Louis XY., and the Rococo ; 
 the two last, however, are mere debased varieties of the 
 Louis XIV., and they are decidedly the decay, not the revival, 
 of art. 
 
 These various styles extend over a period of upwards of three 
 thousand five hundred years, of which two thousand may be 
 considered the ancient period, from the earliest historic times to 
 the third century of our era. About one thousand years from the 
 third to the thirteenth century may be considered the Medieval 
 
30 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLES. 
 
 period; and the last five centuries, from the thirteenth to the 
 nineteenth, may be considered the period of the Renaissance ; or 
 the modern period. 
 
 Style is only another name for character. Every style, as 
 such, depends, of course, upon what is peculiar to it, never on 
 what it has in common with other styles. These peculiarities 
 are what we term characteristics — the features by which it is 
 distinguished. 
 
 Sometimes a style is merely a modification of, or peculiar 
 elaboration of, the features of another style. It is, then, only a 
 variety or a derived style ; and such varieties are common, espe- 
 cially in later times, the natural result of the accumulation of 
 materials. These varieties the student will discover without aid, 
 and, indeed, may invent at pleasure, when he is once master of 
 the essential characteristics of the great historic styles. 
 
 As a matter of course, the earliest styles are the most simple, 
 and, perhaps, necessarily also the most original, as each successive 
 style has been gradually developed out of its predecessor, — as, the 
 Roman from the Greek, the Romanesque from the Roman, and so 
 on, with more or less affinity of character. 
 
 It does not follow, however, that an ornamental work is in a 
 certain style because it belongs to the period of that style, for a 
 style is defined not by its time or period, but by the prevailing 
 peculiarities or characteristics of that period ; and it is not at all 
 the case that every work of a period possesses these peculi- 
 arities. It must be borne in mind, therefore, that while a genuine 
 example of a style will always imply a certain time, a specimen of 
 a certain time will only as a general rule illustrate the corre- 
 sponding style. This is because no style is predetermined, but is, 
 in its details, in all cases, incidental, notwithstanding a prevailing 
 sentiment. 
 
 We will now, then, proceed to examine the nine great historic 
 styles, which appear to sufficiently illustrate the history of orna- 
 ment. The Egyptian, Greek, and Roman — the ancient; the 
 Byzantine, Saracenic, and Gothic — the middle age; and the. 
 Renaissance Cinquecento, and Louis Quatorze — the modern. 
 
THE ANCIENT STYLES. 
 
 EIGHT LECTURES.* 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 The works mentioned under this head are not cited as the authorities for the 
 opinions given, as many of them were published some years after the preparation 
 of the lectures, and the views do not always agree : they are referred to as 
 the most comprehensive or useful illustrated works on the subject, and as 
 thus best adapted to aid the student in his labours. 
 
 Egypt. — Description de I'Egypte, ou Recueil des Observations et des Recherches qui 
 ont ete faites en Egypte pendant TExpedition de TArmee Fran^aise. Public par 
 les ordres de sa Majesty I'Empereur Napoleon le Grand. (The great work of the 
 French Expedition, treating of the Antiquities, Arts, Natural History, and 
 Modern State of Egypt.) 23 vols, folio, atlas folio, and elephant. Paris, 1809, 
 et seq. 
 
 Porter, Sir R. Ker. — Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, 
 
 • ANCIENT ART, 1848-49. 
 Syllabus. 
 
 Lkcture I. — On the Decorative Art of the Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Early Establishment of Egyptian Art — about 1800 B.C. Its stationary and purely 
 ornamental character. Extensive remains still preserved on the banks of the 
 Nile, from Meroe to Alexandria, a distance of nearly 1200 miles. 
 
 Ipsambul, the Telamons. Essaboua, the Sphinx — Andro — Crio — and Hieraco- 
 Sphinx. Philoe. Edfou, the Egyptian Temple — the Propyla, Obelisks, Mosaics, 
 &c. Thebes, sumptuous Decoration of the Egyptian Temples — their Columns 
 and Capitals. The Tombs. Denderah. Sakkara, the Arch. The Pyramids. 
 Heliopolis. Egyptian style. 
 
 Lecture II. — Egypt : Ornamental Details. 
 
 Decorations of the Tombs. Painted Ceilings. Colours. Sunk-reliefs. Ornamental 
 Types— the Zigzag, Labyrinth, Wave-scroll, Lotus, Winged-globe, Asp, and 
 Cartouche. The Funerals. Manufactures — Furniture, Pottery, &c., Variegated 
 Glass, Armour, Linen and Cotton Fabrics, Prints, Embroidered Stuffs. Ships, 
 &c. Study of Ornament. 
 
 t 
 
32 
 
 EGYrXIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 &c., during the years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820. 2 vols. 4to. London, 
 1821. 
 
 Gau, F. C. — Antiquites de la Nubie, ou Monumens inedits des Bords du Nil, situes 
 entre la prenaiere et la seconde Cataracte, dessines et mesures en 1819. Ouvrage 
 faisant suite au grand ouvrage de la Commission d'Egypte. Large folio. Paris, 
 1822. 
 
 Ram Raz. — Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus. With 48 plates. 4to. 
 London, 1834. 
 
 RosELLiNi, J. — The Monuments of Egypt and Nubia, arranged according to 
 their subjects, by the Tuscan Expedition to Egypt, under the direction of 
 Rosellini. 
 
 I Monumenti dell' Egitto e della Nubia, disegnati della spedizione scientifico- 
 litteraria Toscana in Egitto : distribuiti in ordine di materie, interpretati 
 ed illustrati dal Dottore Ippolito Rosellini. 
 (This great work is in three parts, folio, with separate text in octavo. Tavole 
 M. R. contains the Historical Monuments of the Kings, Monumenti Storici, in 
 1C9 plates : Tavole M. C. contains the Civil Monuments, Monumenti Civili, 
 in 135 plates : Tavole M. D. C. the Monuments of Religious Worship, 
 Monumenti del Culto, in 86 plates.) 3 vols, atlas folio, plates ; 9 vols. 8vo. 
 text. Pisa, 1832-44, 
 
 Long, G. — The British Museum.— Egyptian Antiquities. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 
 1846. 
 
 Lecture III. — Asia. 
 
 Egyptian and Asiatic Art characterised — Egyptian influence in Asia — Judaea, 
 Assyria, India. Nimroud Marbles. Persepolis — Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes. 
 The Ionian Greeks. General Similarity of Standard Ornamental Types in 
 Ancient Monuments, whether Egyptian, Asiatic, or European. 
 
 Lecture IV. — Greece : Heroic Age of Greek Art. 
 
 Intercourse between Greece and Egypt. Greek Traditions. Legend of Origin of 
 
 Greek Art — Dibutades of Corinth. Development of Painting — Skiagram, 
 
 Polychrom, Monogram, and Monochrom — The Processes. 
 The Heroic Age of Greek Art, from about the 12th to the 8th century B.C., 
 
 inclusive. Pelasgic Remains — Mycenae. Tomb of Agamemnon. The Greek 
 
 Colonies in Asia Minor and Magna Grsecia. 
 Development of Art as evinced in the Homeric Poems — Ornamental Armour, 
 
 Toreutic Work, Embroidery, Woollen Fabrics of Miletus, Corinth, and Carthage. 
 
 Shawl or Pallium of Alcisthenes of Sybaris. The Terra Cotta Vases. 
 
 Lecture V. — Greece : The Doric Period — Ornamental Elements. — 
 The Greek Orders. 
 
 The Doric, or first Historic Age, from the 8th century to the 5th inclusive ; from 
 Cypselus of Corinth, and Rhoecus of Samos, to Pericles or Phidias. 
 
 The Doric Temples — Samos, ^gina, Paestum, Athens. The Doric, the Echinus 
 Order — the Parthenon, 438 b.c, the Temple of Apollo Epicurius. Ornamental 
 Details, painted and cut — the Zigzag, Fret or Labyrinth, Wave-scroll, Echinus, 
 Astragal, Anthemion or Palmette. The Polychromy. 
 
 The Ionic — the Voluted Order, prevalence of the Curve ; the Volute and Guilloche 
 or Speira — Chersiphron of Cnossus in Crete, 550 b.c. Temple of Diana at 
 Ephesus. 
 
 The Corinthian — the Acanthus Order. Callimachus of Corinth, about 400 B.C. 
 Greek and Egyptian Temple compared — the Pediment or Eagle, the Freize or 
 Zophoros — Tmage-bearer, Caryatides, Canephorse. 
 
EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 33 
 
 Wilkinson, Sir J. G. — The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, 
 including their Private Life, Government, Laws, Arts, Manufactures, Religion, 
 Agriculture, and Early History, derived from a Comparison of the Paintings, 
 Sculptures, and Monuments still existing, with the Accounts of Ancient Authors. 
 3d edition, 5 vols. 8vo. London, "1847. 
 
 Du Camp, M. — Egypte, Nubie, Palestine, et Syrie. Dessins photographiques, 
 recueillis pendant les annees 1849-50-51, et accompagnes d'un texte explicatif. 
 125 photographs, small folio. Paris, 1852-3. 
 
 Batissier, L. — Histoire de I'Art Monumental dans I'Antiquite, et au Moyen Age, 
 suivie d'une Traite de la Peinture sur Verre. Imp. 8vo. Paris, 1845. 
 
 Layard, Dr. a. H. — The Monuments of Nineveh, from drawings made on the 
 spot ; illustrated in 100 plates. Folio. London, 1849. 
 
 ■ A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh, including bas-reliefs from 
 
 the Palace of Sennacherib, and Bronzes from the Ruins of Nimroud, from 
 drawings made on the spot during a Second Expedition to Assyria. 71 plates, 
 oblong folio. London, 1853. 
 
 Lecture VI. — Greece : Period of Alexander. Asiatic Influence — 
 
 The Decline. 
 
 Complete Establislmient of Greek Art at the time of Alexander the Great, 336 b c. 
 
 The Three Styles at Athens — the Parthenon, 438 b.c. ; the Erechtheium, 409 
 
 B.C. ; the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, 335 b.c. 
 The Mural Decorations — the Lesche at Delphi, the Poecile at Athens ; Polygnotus, 
 
 Zeuxis, Apelles. 
 
 Statue Painting. Chryselephantine Sculpture — the Olympian Jupiter, 433 b.c. 
 Phidias. 
 
 Elements of Greek Art conventional, and purely sesthetic — the Myths — Sphinx, 
 
 Chimsera, Griffin, Satyr, &c Orientalization of Greek Taste — Alexander, his 
 
 Influence, his Funeral, 321 b.c. The Potteries of Samos, Athens, and Etruria. 
 
 Lecture VII. — Rome : Florid Development of Greek Art under 
 THE Romans. 
 
 The Spoliations of Greece. The Roman Triumphs. Collections. Marcellus, 214 B.c. 
 The Greek Painted Earthenware and the Murrhine of the East. General Con- 
 centration of Ancient Art Treasures in Rome. 
 
 Gradual Development of Roman Taste. Greek and Roman Orders and Details 
 compared. The Composite or Roman an aggregate of the Echinus, Voluted, 
 and Acanthus Orders of the Greeks. The Acanthus and Scroll, chief cha- 
 racteristics of this period. Distinctions between Greek and Roman Acanthus. 
 The Arch. Magnificence of the Romans. The Forum of Trajan. Apollodorus 
 of Damascus. 
 
 Lecture VIII. — Roman Decoration : Final Decline. 
 
 The Three Tastes — Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. Discrimination of Style — 
 Accessory and Principal. Rapid Decline of Roman Art under the Emperors — 
 the Triumphal Arches. General florid and debased character of the Ornamental 
 Details of the Public Buildings of Rome. The Roman House of the time of 
 Augustus, general Scheme of Decoration. The Golden House of Nero. The 
 Colossus of Zenodorus. Extravagancies of the time of Nero condemned by 
 Pliny as insanities. Censures of Vitruvius on the Taste of his time. Pompeii, 
 its destruction, 79 a.d., re-discovery in 1748 a.d. ; its decorations, mosaics, 
 &c. Roman Bronzes, Armour, Devices on their Shields, Family Portraits. 
 Funerals. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 EGYPTIAN OlINAMENT. 
 
 Fergusson, J. — Illustrations of the Rock-cut Temples of India. Fol. London, 
 1835. 
 
 The Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis Restored ; an Essay on Ancient 
 
 Assyrian and Persian Architecture. 8vo. London, 1851. 
 Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient Architecture in Hindostan. Folio. 
 
 London, 1852. 
 
 Ruins at Thebes. 
 
 The earliest style of ornament of which we know anything of 
 material importance is the Egyptian, dating from about 1800 B.C., 
 when it was already completely established ; and this is literally a 
 hieroglyphic style in its sentiments and in its details ; both are 
 derived from a priestly symbolism. As a rule, the elements of 
 Egyptian ornament have a particular meaning ; they are not 
 often, if ever, arbitrarily chosen for the sake of beauty of effect. 
 The style is accordingly, though abounding in materials, very 
 simple and limited in its arrangements, in comparison with later 
 styles, in which mere symbolism was superseded by the pure 
 aesthetic principles of art; that is, effect, not meaning, being the 
 object of the artist. Yet we cannot but admire the ingenuity 
 with which the Egyptian decorator, by a mere symmetrical 
 
EGYPTIAN OKNAMENT. 
 
 85 
 
 arrangement, has converted even the incomprehensible hiero- 
 glyphics into pleasing and tasteful ornaments. A simple sym- 
 metrical arrangement, however, is the limit of his artistic scheming, 
 and generally in the shape of a simple progression, whether in a 
 horizontal line or repeated on the principle of the diaper, that is, 
 row upon row, horizontally or diagonally. The painted ceilings 
 of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes afford many good 
 examples. 
 
 In one class of ornament Egypt is eminent, independent of its 
 skilful application of art to manufactures ; it is eminent in its 
 complete adaptation of its own natural productions in the develop- 
 ment of a style peculiar to itself, in its conventional treatment of 
 local natural types, as, for instance, the lotus, or water-lily of 
 the Nile, the element of so many varieties of ornament. The 
 Egyptian details are not mere crude imitations of nature, but 
 natural ol^jects, selected by symbolism, and fashioned by symmetry 
 into ornamental decorations. So that we have here one great 
 class, and the earliest systematic efforts in design in the world's 
 history. Many of the details of the Egyptians are still popular 
 ornaments, handed down by successive ages to our own time. 
 
 When we consider the hierarchical vassalage of the Egyptian 
 artist, and that he was by birth, and not by choice, in his pro- 
 fession ; as every man, by the law of caste, was forced to pursue 
 the occupation of his father, in spite of his tastes or capabilities, 
 we must admit that he displays peculiar ability. In many respects, 
 the art was as thoroughly understood at Memphis or Thebes three 
 thousand years ago as it is at London or Paris this day. The 
 shapes of the Egyptian ewer and basin, and other vessels for 
 domestic purposes, are identical with those of the most favourite 
 patterns of the present time ; and many Egyptian ornaments are 
 still popular ornaments, and have been so through all times, as the 
 fret or labyrinth, wave-scroll, spiral, zig-zag, water-lily, star, and 
 palm. They had many others derived from the vegetable pro- 
 ductions of Egypt. 
 
 In the first place, Egyptian ornament admits of no pictures of 
 objects ; all are treated conventionally. Even in the wall-paintings 
 
36 
 
 EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 themselves, no object is fairly painted as it actually appears ; the 
 best examples are but intelligible representations — mere elevations 
 or diagrams. 
 
 The arrangements are almost exclusively a mere symmetrical 
 series or progression, and always of a very simple order; but 
 precious stones and metals, and the richest materials generally, 
 seem to have been very abundantly used. The frieze or broad- 
 band is the commonest form of these decorations, and the details 
 are generally some of the more important symbols, as the lotus, 
 or water-lily of the Nile, the type of its inundations, from which 
 Egypt derives its fruitfulness, and the zig-zag, the type of water or 
 the Nile itself. This ancient signification of the zig-zag is still 
 preserved in the present zodiac sign of the Water-carrier, or 
 Aquarius. The fret or labyrinth, another right-line series and 
 important symbol, is of less frequent occurrence. 
 
 There is, however, one particular ornament which is more 
 common than all others in Egyptian decoration. This is what is 
 sometimes called the Scarabosus or beetle, or, rather, the Winged- 
 globe ; it occurs of all sizes and almost in all materials, and is a 
 species of talisman or invocation of good luck (Agathodsemon). 
 The globe is supposed to represent the sun, the wings providence, 
 and the two asps, one on each side of the globe, dominion or 
 monarchy ; the creative, protective, and distributive powers, 
 implying order, the xo6iM,g, or world, of the Greeks. 
 
 We almost invariably find this ornament placed over doors, 
 windows, and in passages, and sometimes of an enormous size, 
 extending thirty feet or more. It is also frequent in costume, and on 
 the mummy-cases. There are several other winged figures found in 
 Egyptian friezes, natural and conventional, as the vulture with the 
 tau and ostrich feather, the hawk, the winged asp, and the human 
 winged figure, corresponding apparently to those described in the 
 works of the Jews. 
 
 The sphinx, a remarkable object in Egyptian art, does not 
 come under the category of the winged creatures. In this it is 
 distinguished from the Greek creation of that name, which is 
 always winged, and always female. The Egyptian sphinx, on the 
 
EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 other hand, is always male. It is supposed to represent the com- 
 bination of physical and intellectual power, or the kings, as 
 incarnations of such attributes. They are also associated with the 
 special forms and attributes of the great Egyptian deities, Osiris and 
 Ammon, Neph or Jupiter, and Phreh or Helios ; that is, we have 
 the Man-sphinx, the Ram-sphinx, and the Hawk-sphinx, or the 
 lion's body with the head of the man, the ram, or the hawk, ac- 
 cording to the deity worshipped. These sphinxes were thus named 
 by the Greeks respectively the Andro-sphinx, the Crio-sphinx, and 
 the Hieraco-sphinx. The principal position of the sphinx was on 
 either side of the dromos, or path, leading to the temple. 
 
 The swelling asp alone (the Cobra de capello) is also a very 
 characteristic ornament. We find entire friezes and borders com- 
 posed of a mere succession of these asps ; and it is very common 
 to find them arranged also in symmetrical opposition, one on each 
 side of the cartouche or shield, enclosing the hieroglyphic name of 
 a king, having the same signification of dominion, with a special 
 reference to the king or dynasty expressed by the hieroglyphic 
 in the cartouche. 
 
 The most essential symbolic characteristics of an Egyptian 
 design, then, are these — the winged globe, the lotus and the 
 papyrus, the zig-zag, the asp, and the cartouche containing hiero- 
 glyphics. The lotus is, perhaps, the most common. These we 
 find mixed up with many arbitrary or geometrical forms, as 
 the fret, spiral or wave-scroll, star, &c., and with any of the 
 natural productions of Egypt, conventionally treated, and in 
 simple symmetrical progression; every detail, probably, having 
 a symbolic meaning beyond its mere ornamental service in the 
 design. 
 
 The fret, perhaps, may be enumerated among the more impor- 
 tant symbols, as the type of the labyrinth of Lake Moeris, with 
 its twelve palaces and three thousand chambers, indicating, in 
 their turn, the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the three thousand 
 years of transmigrations which the wandering soul is condemned 
 to undergo. The wave-scroll, also, may represent water in motion, 
 or the waves. Its name was derived from its form. Our desig- 
 
38 
 
 EGYPTIAN OllNAMENT. 
 
 nation is but ii translation of the Greek Cynia or the Roman 
 Cymatimn. Minor symbols, as among the hieroglyphics, are 
 found in endless variety in costume and in ordinary decoration. 
 For these, the student may refer to the works of Rosellini and of 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 Gaudy diapers and general gaiety of colour are likewise cha- 
 racteristic of Egyptian taste, but the colours are generally limited 
 to red, blue, yellow, and green, though the Egyptians were 
 acquainted with nearly all other colours. I have mentioned a 
 simple progression or repetition as characteristic of the Egyptian 
 style; and it is certainly very rarely that we find anything more, 
 yet, in the cluster of the Lotus, in the form of its leaf, we have a 
 very beautiful compound example, a symmetrical arrangement of 
 the flower in a circular, or rather oval series, constituting the unit 
 of the ordinary horizontal series.* And this ornament is important, 
 as anticipating the anthemion or most popular floral ornament of 
 the Greeks, so common in architecture and in the terra cotta 
 vases. The Egyptians, however, anticipated the Greeks in some- 
 thing more than some ordinary details. Their temples display a 
 great diversity of pillars, from the mere fluted columns of 
 .Beni Hassan to the gorgeous varieties of Thebes, Philoe, and 
 Denderah. 
 
 Temple at Denderah. 
 
 * It is found painted on a palanquin in a picture in the Tombs of the Kings, 
 and is not unlike a series of the hats of the God Nilus, with its seven drooping 
 lilies. 
 
EGYPTIAN OltNAMENT. 
 
 39 
 
 But although the Egyptians, except in the case of the Isis 
 capital, systematically varied their pillars in the same colonnades, 
 two alike with their decorations complete never being placed 
 together, except as a pair of opposites, their varieties may be 
 reduced to three essential forms — the truncated lotus-bud, the 
 lotus-bell, and the Isis-head. Every capital is a variety of one 
 of these essential forms; but the lotus or papyrus-bell of the 
 middle period is much the most common. The abacus is, on all 
 occasions, the width only of the pillar, and invariably narrower 
 than the capital, which is a valuable feature, and very essential 
 to the effect of stability. The Egyptian pillars vary in their 
 altitudes from about four to nearly seven diameters, the longer 
 proportions being the most common. 
 
 The general massiveness of Egyptian architecture, though 
 when it is transported to other climates may ap})ear heavy, is 
 particularly appropriate to the climate and landscape of Egypt 
 itself. 
 
 Ruins at riuUe. 
 
 The various altitudes and horizontal masses of the great divi- 
 sions of an Egyptian temple, Ijreaking with their bold shadows 
 
40 
 
 EGYrTIAN OENAMENT. 
 
 the dazzling undulating mass of light characterising the general 
 landscape, are calculated in the highest degree to give delight and 
 repose to the eye in their general features, while the gay poly- 
 chromic decorations of their surfaces constitute a rich centre of 
 attraction, modifying the excessive brilliancy of the surrounding 
 scene. 
 
 The Egyptian style of decoration was not without its influence 
 upon all people connected with Egypt ; on the Jews, on the Greeks, 
 and more especially on the Persians after the plunder of Thebes 
 by Cambyses, who, Diodorus Siculus informs us, carried away a 
 colony of Egyptian artists back into Persia : and we still see the 
 remains of their influence in the whole basin of the Euphrates and 
 borders of the Persian Gulf, from Nineveh to Persepolis. The 
 so-called Nineveh sculptures recently deposited in the British 
 Museum, are identical in style with those of Persepolis, the work 
 of this Egyptian colony, according to Diodorus, introduced by 
 Cambyses in the latter part of the sixth century before our era; 
 but the works were chiefly carried out imder the direction of 
 his successors Darius and Xerxes. Independent of this tradition, 
 there is considerable evidence of Egyptian influence in the works 
 themselves. The winged figure of Cyrus at Mourgab or Pasar- 
 gadse, has a decided Egyptian character, and the head-dress 
 appears to be that of the Egyptian God Malooli, a son of Isis and 
 Horus. The change in the general character of the sculpture 
 may be explained by the fact, that the Egyptians worked in 
 Persia under the influence of the Persian priesthood instead of 
 their own. The subject bull, which figures largely in the Perse- 
 politan sculptures, is explained as signifying the overthrow of the 
 Assyrian power by the Persian. The Per-sepolitan, like the 
 Assyrian sculptures, are inscribed with the arrow-headed 
 characters. 
 
 The name of Sennacherib, who Avas murdered by his own sons 
 in 711, is the oldest name yet discovered in the inscriptions; and 
 as his achievements in Judgea, in 713, are recorded, the oldest 
 sculptures are since his time, or, at the earliest, in the seventh 
 century of our era. Unless much later works, they must, how- 
 
ASSYRIAN. 
 
EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 41 
 
 ever, belong to the seventh century before our era ; but the ruins 
 are found in three distinct places — Khorsabad, Kouyunjik, and 
 Nimroud, apparently much too remote from each other ever to 
 have constituted a single city. The so-called north-west palace, 
 that of Nimroud, is supposed to have been built by Ninus II. 
 and Sardanapalus (Esarhaddon) III. ; Kouyunjil^, by an earlier 
 Sardanapalus. 
 
 The entire city was destroyed by Nabopolassar, the father of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in 606, and the same king destroyed Jerusalem 
 in 588 ; he rebuilt Babylon, which was, in its turn, destroyed by 
 Cyrus in 538. 
 
 Darius Hystaspes, who succeeded Cambyses in 521, had been 
 with that king in Egypt, as one of his body-guard, and he was 
 apparently the real builder of Persepolis and of the palace of Susa. 
 He is, perhaps, the most distmguished of the Asiatic sovereigns for 
 his architectural undertakings. He carried on extensive works 
 in Egypt, rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem in 1514, and made 
 himself a summer palace at Ecbatana. May he not have extended 
 his love of repairs as far also as Nineveh? The arrow-headed 
 inscriptions are also at Persepolis (it is a mode of writing perse- 
 vered in to much later times), and some of the singular figures at 
 Nineveh are found also on Darius's own tomb at Nakshi Rustam. 
 The difference of dialect on the inscriptions would be explained 
 by their being written by different people, without any necessity 
 for the supposition of a difference of time. The subject of a series 
 of sculptures must set a limit to their antiquity, but cannot other- 
 wise fix their time. However, as the assumed works of Nineveh 
 perished with the city nearly a century before the execution of 
 the works of Persepolis, these last cannot have been copied from 
 those of Nineveh, — in the time of Darius a remote heap, probably, 
 of unknown or foro;otten ruins. 
 
 It is hazardous to venture an opinion upon the period of works 
 which, to all appearance, have their history inscribed on them, 
 because these inscriptions, when interpreted, may prove a very 
 authentic contradiction to the opinion ventured ; but according to 
 our tests of characteristics of style, the sculptures lately brought 
 
42 
 
 EaYPTIAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 from the neighbourhood of Ancient Nineveh (or Calah) are cer- 
 tainly of the same scliool as those of PersepoHs, if not of the same 
 time. 
 
 In Egypt, we fomid grandeur of proportion, simplicity of parts, 
 and splendour or costliness of material, — gold, silver, and ivory, 
 precious stones, and colour — as the great art characteristics. And 
 we find throughout, that the prevailing characteristic of Asiatic art, 
 also, is sumptuousness. It is equally displayed in the works of 
 the Tabernacle, in the Temple of Solomon, in the buildings of 
 Semiramis and of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon, and in the palaces 
 of the Persian kings. 
 
 Jewish ornament, like the Egyptian, appears to have been 
 purely representative. The only elements mentioned m Scrip- 
 ture are the almond, the pomegranate, the palm-tree, the lily or 
 lotus, oxen, lions, and the cherubim. The only example we pos- 
 sess of Jewish ornamental work is the bas-relief of the candlestick 
 of seven branches, still partly preserved among the sculptures of the 
 Arch of Titus at Rome. Extending our view still farther east, 
 we find the most characteristic feature of Hindoo art seems to be 
 the fantastic ; and though possessing the same jewelled richness 
 as the Egyptian, it wants its simplicity and grandeur. Its most 
 striking peculiarities are its fantastic animal devices, and a profu- 
 sion of minute foliage. But I believe most Indian work to be 
 modern compared with Egyptian.* 
 
 It is not till we come to Greece that we find the habitual 
 introduction of forms for their own sake, or for their aesthetic 
 value or effect, purely as ornaments; and this is a very great 
 step in art. 
 
 * On the Rules and Proportions of Hindoo Architecture, see Ram Raz. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 Ionian ANxmuiTiES, published with permission of the Society of Dilettanti, by Iv. 
 Chandler, M.A., N. Revett, architect, and W. Pars, painter. Foho. London, 
 1769. 
 
 Paoli, p. A. — Ruins of Psestum. 
 
 Rovine della Citta di Pesto detta ancora Posidonia. Folio. Rome, 1784, 
 
 Hamilton, Sir W.^ — Collection of Engravings from Ancient Vases, mostly of pure 
 Greek workmanship, discovered in sepulchres in the Kingdom of the Two Sicihes, 
 but chiefly in the neighbourhood of Naples, during the course of the years 1789-90, 
 now in the possession of Sir W. Hamilton ; with remarks on each Vase by the 
 Collector. 3 vols, large 4to. Naples, 1791-95. 
 
 Stuart and Revett. — Antiquities of Athens. 
 
 Les Antiquites d'Athenes. Ouvrage traduit de 1' Anglais par L. F. F., et 
 publie par C. P. Landon. 5 vols, folio. Paris, 1809. 
 
 British Museum. — A Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the 
 British Museum, with engravings, chiefly from drawings by H. Corbould. 10 vols. 
 4to. London, 1812, et seq. 
 
 De QuiNcy, Q. — Le Jupiter Olympian, ou I'Art de la Sculpture antique consideree 
 sous un nouveau point de vue, &c. (The mode of constructing the Chrysele- 
 phantine works considered.) Folio. Paris, 1815. 
 
 Monuments et Ouvrages d'Art Antiques, restitues d'apres les Descriptions 
 
 des Ecrivains Grecs et Latins, et accompagnes de Dissertations Archeologiques. 
 (Attempted restorations in coloured plates of Chryselephantine and other cele- 
 brated works of ancient Art.) 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1829. 
 
 Millingen, J. — Ancient unedited Monuments. Painted Greek Vases, from collec- 
 tions in various countries, principally in Great Britain, illustrated and explained. 
 4to. London, 1822. 
 
 VuLLiAMY, L. — Examples of Ornamental Sculpture in Architecture. Drawn from 
 the Original of Bronze, Marble, and Terra Cotta, in Greece, Asia Minor, and 
 Italy, in the years 1818-19-20-21. 2d edition, 4to. London, n. d. 
 Bouillon and St. Victor. — The Ancient Marbles in the Louvre. 
 
 Musee des Antiques, dessine et grave par P. Bouillon, Peintre, avec des 
 Notices explicatives par J. B. de St. Victor. 3 vols, folio. Paris, 1821-27. 
 Normand, C. — Nouveau Parallele des Ordres d' Ai-chitecture des Grecs, des Roraains, 
 
 et des Auteurs modernes. FoHo. Paris, 1828. 
 MiCALi, G. — Monuments illustrating the History of the ancient People of Italy. 
 
 Monument! per servire alia Storia degli Antichi Popoli Italiani ; raccolti, 
 esposti, e pubblicati da Guiseppe Micali. Small folio. Florence, 1832. 
 Text, 4 vols. 8vo. 1832-44. 
 
44 
 
 GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 Penrose, F. C. — An Investigation of the Principles of Athenian Architecture, or the 
 results of a recent survey, conducted chiefly with reference to the optical refine- 
 ments exhibited in the construction of the ancient buildings at Athens. Illus- 
 trated by numerous engravings. (Published by the Society of Dilettanti.) Folio. 
 London, 1851. 
 
 HiTTORFF, J. J. — On Greek Polychromy, or the Painting of Architecture. 
 
 Restitution du Temple d'Empedocle a Selinonte, ou I'Architecture Poly- 
 chrome chez les Grecs. Text, 4to. ; plates, atlas folio. Paris, 1851. 
 Weitbrecht, C. — Ornamenten Zeichnungs-Schule. (Ornamental Drawing- School 
 for Artists, Manufacturers, and Workmen.) 100 plates, 2d edition. Oblong folio. 
 Stuttgart, 1852. 
 
 Botticher, Karl von. — The Art of the Greeks in its relation to the Beautiful in 
 Architecture, and in the Industrial Arts. 
 
 Die Tektonik der Hellenen. Text, 2 vols. 4to. ; atlas of plates, 2 vols, folio. 
 Potsdam, 1852-53. 
 HoLZ, F. W. — Details of the principal Greek Mouldings. 
 
 Details Greichischer Haupt-Gesimse zusammengestellt fiir die mannigfachsten 
 Anwendungen, in 40 blattern. 4to. Berlin, 1854. 
 
 l/r.SWALLOV/. 
 
 Antefix of the Parthenon. 
 
 The next great historic style we have to review is the Greek. 
 First we must speak of the Doric, or early Greek, which com- 
 
GREEK. 
 
 P. 45 
 
 Ereclitheiiim, Athens. British Mixsenm. 
 
GKEEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 45 
 
 prises the Etruscan — evidently derived from it ; and we find no 
 less a change in the general character than in the details in this 
 first European style, when compared with the art of Egypt or of 
 Asia. Art becomes now for the first time purely aesthetic. 
 
 It is, in fact, to the substitution of the aesthetic principle in the 
 place of the symbolic, rather than to variety of element, that we 
 have a new development of taste in the art of the Greeks. It is 
 this, also, which constitutes its originality : its technical processes 
 were perhaps, in the early stages, identical with the Egyptian. 
 With the great commerce and intimate intercourse which were 
 established between Greece and Egypt in the seventh century, 
 and perhaps earlier, it is impossible but that the Greeks were 
 sufficiently acquainted with all the arts of the Egyptians, and 
 that very much was learnt by them from the Egyptians, 
 although, in the great cities, the traditionary records or later 
 versions of records generally claim the art as indigenous and 
 original. The traditions, however, of less important localities, as 
 occasionally repeated by Pausanias, carry the whole evidence to 
 the other side of the question. The arts of the Greeks appear 
 to have been established much earlier, or more extensively, in 
 the islands, and especially at Samos, than in Greece itself. 
 
 The Doric age — the first historic age of Greek art — comprises 
 altogether a period of about four centuries from the first historic 
 records ; from Rhoecus of Samos and Cypselus of Corinth, mitil 
 Phidias and Pericles and their immediate successors. The 
 previous period, from the traditions of the Trojan war, belongs 
 rather to what may be termed the heroic age. The style of this 
 period extended from the western shores of Asia to the extreme 
 limits of Sicily, as shown in the many interesting Doric ruins 
 still preserved. The most important manufacture of the period 
 of which remains exist, was that of the terra-cotta vases ; and on 
 these we find all the characteristic ornaments of the distinctively 
 Greek style of decoration. We find on these vases exactly the 
 same ornaments, but necessarily modified in their treatment, as 
 those which distinguish the architectural monuments of the time. 
 
 There are two classes of the painted Greek pottery, the black 
 
46 
 
 GEEEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 and the yellow; that is, those which have black figures and 
 ornaments, the ground of the vase being left the colour of the 
 clay ; and those which have the ground painted black, and the 
 figures left the colour of the clay. Of the black or former class 
 there are two varieties, the one painted only with animals, the 
 other with figures, &c. The earliest belong to the date of about 
 600 B.C. ; the second may be generally reckoned as a century 
 later. Of the yellow vases there are three varieties or sub- 
 classes — the severe, the beautiful, and the rich, so called from the 
 various characters of their decorations ; and these belong respect- 
 ively to the general dates 400, 300, and 200, B.C., when the 
 manufacture seems to have ceased. There are two other kinds 
 of vases which, in an ornamental view, may be considered to 
 commence and to termmate the series ; those that are not painted, 
 but are merely decorated with zig-zags and frets in a manner 
 resembling wicker-work ; and those which are painted with the 
 complete encaustic picture in all colours. The last are very rare, 
 and belong to the latest date, about 200 B.C. ; the first are even 
 older than the most ancient black vases, and may be considered 
 as belonging to the seventh century before our era. 
 
 The first ornaments which attract our notice on these vases, 
 of all periods, are those with which we have already become 
 familiar in Egyptian art — the zig-zag, the wave-scroll, and the 
 labyrinth, or Greek fret. But perhaps the most characteristic 
 ornaments of the period are the echmus, or horse-chestnut (egg and 
 tongue), and the anthemion, commonly known in its most simple 
 form as the honeysuckle or palmette, both of which it somewhat 
 resembles, as represented in the Doric antefixes. But the anthe- 
 mion, or flower-ornament, is more than the mere honeysuckle (or 
 palm-branch, whatever it may be), even when so applied : it is 
 this flower-form alternated with the lily or analogous form. This 
 is the case with every example, except a very few, upon the vases. 
 There is, however, no actual imitation whatever in Greek orna- 
 mental art. Occasionally, also, in this period emblematic orna- 
 ments were used which referred to the mysteries, sacrifices, 
 funeral rites, and the games ; but instances are not frequent. At 
 
CiREEK. 
 
 P. 46. 
 
 Example of Guilloche 
 
GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 47 
 
 all events, such ornaments do not belong to prominent character- 
 istics of style. 
 
 The architectural features of the Greek are still more dis- 
 tinctive than the ornamental in comparison with the Egyptian. 
 The flat, ponderous, sloping buildings of the Egyptians, are both 
 beautiful and useful in the landscape and climate of Egypt ; and 
 just as the rainless heat of Egypt developed the massive flat roofs, 
 so the rainy seasons of Greece rendered the sloping roof neces- 
 sary, the gable of which the Greeks eventually developed into 
 their beautiful pediment. The pediment seems to have necessi- 
 tated another member in the entablature, the frieze; a feature 
 aesthetically more than mechanically necessary to diminish the 
 apparent weight of the pediment, to balance the parts, and to 
 strengthen, in eflPect, the entablature. The only Greek example 
 of a temple without a pediment — the Pandroseium at Athens — 
 has no frieze in its entablature. 
 
 The distinctive ornament of the three Greek architectural 
 orders, as they are termed, is the capital. The Doric capital 
 consists of a romid flat cushion, called the echinus, and a large 
 square abacus, the lower diameter of the echinus being that of the 
 pillar, its upper that of the abacus. The cushion is called the 
 echinus from its being invariably decorated (painted) with that 
 ornament. As this ornament is so constant, the Doric order 
 may be descriptively termed the echinus order ; and the echinus 
 is accordingly the principal ornament of the period. 
 
 Like the Egyptian, the Greek is distinguished for its broad, 
 flat surfaces. Even its curves are flat, of a parabolic character ; a 
 development, perhaps, due to the practice of polychromic decora- 
 tion. Everything was coloured; and high relief, as producing 
 shadows, is antagonistic to the display of colour. 
 
 In a general classification we may combine the Doric and 
 Alexandrian as one style, the Greek, unless we wish to distin- 
 guish between early and late Greek; and as they really are 
 distinct, it is proper to separate their characteristics here ; but of 
 course the second comprises the first. 
 
 Of the early period, then, to recapitulate, the characteristic 
 
48 
 
 GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 features are — the echinus, the wave-scroll (sometimes called the 
 Vitruvian scroll), the fret or labyrinth, the zig-zag, the anthe- 
 mion, and occasionally the astragal; and the terra-cotta vases 
 have given such a prestige to black and tawny yellow, that their 
 combination has become a characteristic colouring — not, however, 
 to the exclusion of red, blue, yellow, green, or white. Purple 
 and saffron may likewise be said to be characteristic of this 
 period, as the favourite colours for male and female costume. 
 
 On the whole, foliage performs a very secondary part in the 
 ornamentation of this ao;e. We have conventional floriaa;e more 
 prominent; and we have comparatively a great variety of geo- 
 metrical forms and combinations in the diapers and their borders, 
 found roughly indicated in the dresses on the vases. 
 
 The second Greek period, which may be called the Alexan- 
 drian, although Alexander does not strictly mark it — for it may 
 be said to begin with the Erechtheium at Athens, 409 B.C. — 
 enriched all these forms, and made some more familiar, as the as- 
 tragal or huckle-bone series; and it added to them the spiral; the 
 guilloche, or speira (plat); the acanthus; and, in a very simple 
 development, the ordinary scroll, consisting of a succession of 
 spirals reversed alternately. It further established the practice 
 of carving the ornaments, instead of merely painting them, as was 
 the prevailing custom in the Doric period. The Ionic capital has 
 now supplanted the Doric; and the horns, or volutes, are added to 
 the echinus, the characteristic ornament of the Doric capital. 
 
GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 49 
 
 The first of these two styles was magnificently displayed by 
 the Parthenon at Athens, 438 B.C. The second was best exhi- 
 bited in the Ionic temples of Asia Minor; but it is also very 
 completely represented in the Erechtheium ; and in a third order, 
 the acanthus, called historically the Corinthian order, in the 
 choragic monument of Lysicrates at Athens, 335 B.C. Both are 
 well illustrated by the Elgin Room in the British Museum, where 
 are specimens from these and other Greek monuments. 
 
 The Ionic, or voluted echinus capital, is attributed to Chersi- 
 phron of Cnossus, in Crete ; and though occurring comparatively 
 late in Greece, as even the Doric order itself, it was established 
 in Asia Minor as early as the middle of the sixth century before 
 our era, as the great Ionic pillars of the Temple of Diana at 
 Ephesus — one of the seven wonders of the world — were executed 
 at the expense of Croesus, king of Lydia, who died 546 B.C. 
 
 The acanthus capital is called " Corintliian," from its reputed 
 discovery by Callimachus of Corinth, who lived about 400 B.C. 
 
 After the establishment of the Ionic order, in which the 
 volute is so prominent, we find the curved line, as the element of 
 the guilloches, more common, in some degree supplanting the 
 fret, or right-lined plat, the curved-line ornament being palpably 
 more in harmony with the volute. This is another example of 
 that propriety of taste in Greek art which is also illustrated in 
 the common juxtaposition of the astragal with the echinus. The 
 ordinary scroll and acanthus are kept subdued in Greek work in 
 comparison with the echinus, anthemion, and others ; and in the 
 sense in which we use the term, they are much more characteristic 
 of Roman than of Greek art. 
 
 It is the same with the three great classic orders — all three 
 Greek by origin ; but the acanthus order was very little used by 
 the Greeks, while with the Romans it was the favourite. As 
 regards style, therefore, it is more characteristic of the Roman 
 than the Greek. The only Greek scroll worthy of the name is 
 the very simple one of the roof of the choragic monument of 
 Lysicrates. 
 
 The most simple form of the scroll is of very rare occurrence, 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 GREEK ORNAMENT. 
 
 even on the painted terra cotta vases ; but it is not uncommon 
 on the ordinary red ware of the Romans, and in these examples 
 it has preserved its Greek character. There is always a great 
 simplicity both m the details and in the arrangement of the 
 materials of Greek ornament: it is generally the various elements 
 arranged in simple horizontal series, one row above the other. 
 
CHAPTER yilL 
 
 ROMAN ORNAMENT, 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 PiRANEsi, G. AND F. — Greek and Roman Antiquities, Paintings, &c. 29 vols. fol. 
 Paris, 1835-7. 
 
 Wood and Dawkins. — The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor in the Desert. 
 Folio. London, 1753. 
 
 ■ The Ruins of Balbec, otherwise Heliopolis, in Coelosyria. Folio. Lon- 
 
 don, 1757. 
 
 MoREAU, C. — Fragmens et Ornemens d'Architecture, dessines a Rome d'apres I'an- 
 
 tique. Folio. Paris, 1800. 
 Tatham, C. H. — Etchings, representing the best Examples of Ancient Ornamental 
 Architecture, drawn from the originals in Rome, and other parts of Italy, during 
 the years 1794, 1795, and 1796. 3d edition, small folio. London, 1810. 
 Rome. — The most remarkable Buildings of Ancient Rome. 
 
 Raccolta delle piu insigni Fabbriche di Roma Antica e sue adjacenze. Misu- 
 rate Nuovamente e dichiarate dall' Architetto Giuseppe Valadier, illustrate 
 con osservazioni antiquarie da Filippo Aurelio Visconti, ed incise da Vin- 
 cenzo Feoli. Folio. Roma, 1810-22. 
 WiLKiNS, W. — The Civil Architecture of Vitruvius, comprising those Books of the 
 Author which relate to the Public and Private Edifices of the Ancients. Illus- 
 trated by numerous engravings. With an Introduction, containing an Historical 
 View of the Rise and Progress of Architecture among the Greeks. Folio. 
 London, 1812. 
 
 Mazois, F. — Les Ruines de Pompei, dessinees et mesurees par F. Mazois, pendant 
 les ann^es 1809, 1810, 1811. 
 
 Ouvrage continue par M. Gau, precede d'une notice sur F. Mazois par M. Le 
 Chevalier Artaud, et de I'explication de la grande Mosaique decouverte a 
 Pompei en 1831, par M. Quatremere de Quincy. Le texte de la quatrieme 
 partie a ete redige par M. Barre. 4 vols, folio. Paris, 1812-38. 
 Taylor and Cresy. — The Architectural Antiquities of Rome. 2 vols, folio. 
 London, 1821. 
 
 Gell and Gandy. — Pompeiana : the Topography, Edifices, and Ornaments of 
 
 Pompeii. 4 vols, imperial 8vo. London, 1824-32. 
 Canina, L. — Ancient Architecture, explained by its Monuments : Greek, Roman, &c. 
 L'Architettura antica descritta e demostrata coi Monumenti. Text, 9 vols. 
 8vo. Plates, 4 vols, folio. Roma, 1834-46. 
 Albertolli, Ferd. — Friezes from the Forum of Trajan, with others in Rome, and 
 various other cities. 
 
 Fregi trovati negli scavi del Foro Trajano, con altri esistenti in Roma ed in 
 diverse altre citta ; disegnati e misurati sul luogo da Ferdinando Albertolli. 
 Folio. Milan, 1838. 
 
52 
 
 ROMAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 Zahn, W. — The most beautiful Ornaments and most remarkable Paintings of 
 Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabise, &c. from original drawings made on the spot. 
 Die schonsten Ornamente und merkwiirdigsten Gemalde aus Pompeii, Her- 
 kulanum, und Stabiae, nebst einigen Grundrissen und Ansichten, nach den 
 an Ort und Stelle gemachten Originalzeichnungen, von Wilhelm Zahn. 
 Folio. Berlin, 1829-54, e^sey. 
 
 Ornaments of all Classical Art-Epochs, represented from the originals in 
 
 their proper colours. 
 
 Ornamente aller Klassischen Kunst Epochen nach den originalen in ihren 
 eigenthiimlichen farben dargestellt. Oblong folio. Berlin, 1849. 
 WiESELER, F. — Theatres, &c. of the Greeks and Romans. 
 
 Theatergebaude und Denkmaler des Biihnenwesens bei den Griechen und 
 Romern. 4to. Gottingen, 1851. 
 
 We come now to the third and last ancient style, the Roman. 
 In this, however, we have simplj an enlargement or enrichment 
 of the florid Greek. It did not add a single important element to 
 the Greek, but elaborated the established elements with every 
 possible variety of effect, and with all the exuberance and rich- 
 ness of which they are capable, developing some into compara- 
 tively colossal proportions. It was, therefore, original only in its 
 treatment of the Greek materials. Roman art is accordingly still 
 Greek art ; and it is more than probable that nearly all the great 
 artists employed by the Romans were Greeks, not only in the 
 provinces, as at Petra, Palmyra, Baalbec, or at Athens (Temple 
 of Jupiter), Pola, and Spalatro, but at Rome itself, where the 
 most magnificent Forum, that of Trajan, was the work of a 
 Greek. 
 
 However, though not original, Roman ornament has its pecu- 
 liar characteristics, as well as every other style. The chief of 
 these is its uniform magnificence. The most simple Greek orna- 
 ment becomes under Roman treatment, if not a magnificent, at 
 least an elaborate decoration. In fact, the most florid Greek 
 example, as the choragic monument of Lysicrates for instance, 
 becomes a very simple design in comparison with only an ordi- 
 nary Roman specimen. 
 
 The architectural orders, though preserved in nearly their 
 pure Greek form also, have not escaped this enrichment ; and the 
 composite, the only distinct Roman order, comprises, as its name 
 
ROMAN. 
 
 P. 52. 
 
 Jupikr Stator, Rome. 
 
KOMAN. 
 
 P. 52, Ancient Pilaster, Ruine. 
 
ROMAN. 
 
ROMAN OENAMENT. 53 
 
 literally implies, all the three Greek orders at once, the echinus, 
 the voluted, and the acanthus, orders. 
 
 It is perhaps incorrect to say that there is no new element in 
 Roman ornament. I believe the shell, which in after times 
 became so very prominent, is first found in the modillion of the 
 arch of Titus at Rome. The Roman acanthus likewise has a 
 character of its own. The Greeks used the Acanthus spinosus, 
 or narrow prickly acanthus; the Romans the Acanthus molHs, 
 or soft acanthus, — the brank-ursine of our islands. But the 
 Roman acanthus, for capitals, is commonly composed of conven- 
 tional clusters of olive-leaves; a modification arising out of the 
 necessity for strong efPect in the massive lofty temples of the 
 Romans : but this peculiar con- 
 ventional leaf does not occm* 
 otherwise than on the capitals. 
 
 There is, further, this dis- 
 tinction between the two styles, 
 that the most rarely used ele- 
 ments among the Greeks are 
 the most characteristic of the 
 Roman decorations ; namely, 
 the scroll and the acanthus ; — 
 
 indeed, every form which will Rosette of Scroll. Fomm of Trajan. 
 
 admit of it is habitually enriched with an acanthus clothing or 
 foliations. The acanthus, in every form except in the capitals, 
 is so peculiarly Roman, that its appearance in an ornamental 
 work is good presumptive evidence of its belonging to the Roman 
 period, — or at earliest about a century subsequent to Alexander. 
 The difference of the two leaves used, however, will effectually 
 prevent misconception on this point. The same may be said of the 
 scroll, in anything like an elaborate development : it is peculiarly 
 Roman, and it is seldom without the acanthus fohations. Roman 
 buildings are uniformly more massive than Greek, as well as 
 bolder in their details : their curves are much fuller, — the Romans 
 using the circular, where the Greeks generally used the elliptical. 
 Some Roman examples of the echinus, from this fulness of curve, 
 
54 
 
 ROMAN ORNAMENT. 
 
 are especially bold and magnificent in effect. They are occa- 
 sionally also remarkable for their deep under-cutting. 
 
 The free introduction of monsters and animals is likewise a 
 characteristic of Greek and Roman ornament, — as the sphinx, 
 the triton, the griffin, and others: they occur, however, much 
 more abundantly in the Roman. The most splendid Roman 
 ornamental specimens are those which have been dug up among 
 the ruins of the Forum of Trajan, of the early part of the second 
 century of our era. They are the work of a Greek, — Apollo- 
 dorus of Damascus, — who carried out many great works for 
 the Emperor Trajan. 
 
 Chimei-a. 
 
ROMAN. 
 
ROMAN. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DECLINE OF ANCIENT ART. 
 
 We have hitherto looked at only the bright side of this period: 
 we must not overlook those features which more especially consti- 
 tute it a period of decline. In the first place, quantity generally 
 supplanted quality ; and in the second, this quantity was applied 
 in most cases without taste or propriety. This is illustrated by 
 most of the great works of the period ; and by none better than 
 the triumphal arches, which are exclusively ornamental works. 
 
 A few remarks will suffice to show how the Roman, with its 
 abundance of materials, was still a period of decline. It was the 
 use that was made of these materials. Style and system may be 
 looked upon as synonymous terms in ornamental art. Besides 
 the ornaments themselves, we must have some system of applying 
 them. And if the prominent and characteristic members of 
 certain established styles are promiscuously thrown together, the 
 principal features of one style applied as secondary to subordinate 
 features of another, the value of all is diminished, and the general 
 effect has but its vagueness to characterise it. 
 
 The same ornamental types may be used m the development 
 of new styles, — distinction of style depending not so much on the 
 types themselves, as on the mode of using them. 
 
 But in the development of any particular historic style of 
 ornament, we are strictly limited to the elements belonging to 
 that style ; and in combining styles, the various members belong- 
 ing to the same style should preserve their relative degree of 
 importance. 
 
 The general decorations of the Roman period, and especially 
 
56 
 
 THE DECLINE OF ANCIENT ART. 
 
 those of Pompeii, exhibit an utter disregard of these observances ; 
 and thus all distinctions of style, and consequent peculiarities of 
 character, are lost. 
 
 The tastes of the three ancient styles, — Egyptian, Greek, and 
 Roman, — are very distinct. The Egyptian is symbolic, rich, and 
 severe, at the same time ; the Greek is severe and beautiful ; and 
 the Roman, rich and beautiful, — at least in its good examples. 
 
 Greek taste steadily progressed until about the time of Alex- 
 ander: from this period, richness and abundance of ornament 
 gradually supplanted the chaster principles of design. The con- 
 quest of Asia introduced a taste for ornamental display, which, 
 ending in pure ostentation, resulted in the utter annihilation of 
 taste, and of art itself, under the luxurious example of the Roman 
 Emperors. The Greeks themselves, however, were always lovers 
 of splendour. Their painted and chryselephantine (gold and 
 ivory) sculpture could hardly be surpassed in magnificence : their 
 personal costume, as Sybaris evinces, was of the richest character; 
 and the splendour of their temples was only characteristic of their 
 mural decoration generally. 
 
 This splendour was carried out by the Romans on a still 
 greater scale, until a boundless luxury established an indiscrimi- 
 nate extravagance of ornamental detail. Marcus Ludius, in the 
 time of Augustus, became very celebrated for his landscape deco- 
 rations, which were illustrated with figures actively employed 
 in occupations suited to the scenes ; which kind of painting- 
 became universal after his time, and in the first century of 
 our era was established that extraordinary style which we have 
 still preserved at Pompeii, but which the Roman writers them- 
 selves were as far from approving as the best critics of modern 
 times. Yitruvius, at a still earlier time, deplores the folly and 
 absurdity of the stucco-work of his day. " What the ancients," 
 he complains, "accomplished by art, we attempt to effect by 
 gaudy colouring. Expense is now substituted for skill. Who, 
 in former times, used vermilion, except for physic? We now 
 cover our walls with it." Pliny also complains of ostentation 
 having completely supplanted good taste in the decorations of his 
 
THE DECLINE OP ANCIENT AET. 
 
 57 
 
 time : "A man now cares nothing for art, provided he has his 
 walls well covered with purple, or dragon's blood from India." 
 Yitruvius enumerates the various kinds of wall-painting in use 
 among the ancients. They first imitated coloured marbles ; these 
 they afterwards divided into panels, and enriched with ornamental 
 frames and cornices ; then architectural decorations were added ; 
 and finally were introduced tragic, comic, and satyric scenes, and 
 landscapes. All eventually degenerated into the existing Pom- 
 peiian extravagancies. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the general extravagance of this age, 
 there were doubtless in Rome many examples of beautiful deco- 
 ration of a very high character. Even Pompeii, an unimportant 
 provincial town, exhibits occasional traces of a magnificent system 
 of decoration. The painted figures which we find in the centres 
 of walls or panels, strongly relieved by their dark or coloured 
 grounds, are sometimes extremely beautiful in their conception, 
 though of inferior execution ; and some examples of scrolls and 
 arabesques, (the most characteristic form of these decorations,) 
 likewise upon dark grounds, are, m a few instances, of a gorgeous 
 character of colour, and chaste in their curves. And the mosaic 
 and tesselated pavements discovered in Pompeii, however in- 
 appropriate in their application to floors, are examples of an 
 exuberance of ornament to which few, if any, modern palaces can 
 offer a parallel: as, for instance, the great mosaic, measuring 
 about twenty feet by ten, representing the battle between Darius 
 and Alexander at Issus, discovered in the so-called House Del 
 Fauno, in 1831. It is one of the most important relics of ancient 
 art, and shows that though the laws of perspective are generally 
 grossly disregarded in the architectural decorations, it was not 
 from the ignorance of their existence ; for in this work, however 
 careless the mechanical execution may be, perspective is appre- 
 ciated, and the foreshortening of the figure and the horse is even 
 skilfully expressed. It is a work, in composition, general attitude 
 of the figures and horses, and for treatment of costume, in every 
 way worthy of a great master; and the picture or composition 
 itself evidently belongs to a period long anterior to the execution 
 
58 
 
 THE DECLINE OF ANCIENT ART. 
 
 of the mosaic, in which we most probably have an example of the 
 higher school of painting of the Greeks, and possibly a coarse 
 copy of the great battle-piece of the victory of Alexander over 
 Darius, mentioned by Pliny, by which Philoxenus of Eretria had 
 rendered his name celebrated. 
 
 Ruins at Baalbec. 
 
MEDIEVAL STYLES. 
 
 FOUR LECTURES.* 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 CoTMAN AND TuRNER. — Architectural Antiquities of Normandy, by J. S. Cotman ; 
 accompanied by historical and descriptive notices by Dawson Turner. 2 vols, 
 folio. London, 1822. 
 MuNTER, F. — Early Christian Symbolism. Sinnbilder und Kunstvorstellungen der 
 
 alten Christen. 4to. Altona, 1825. 
 BuNSEN, C. C. J. — The Basilicas of Christian Rome, in illustration of the Idea 
 and History of Church Architecture. 
 
 Die Basiliken des Christlichen Roms nach ihrem zusammenhange mit Idee 
 und Geschichte der Kirchenbaukunst. 4to. Munich, 1848. 
 (To serve as Text to the Illustrated Work of Gutensohn and Knapp. Folio. 
 Munich, 1822-27.) 
 
 Heideloff, C. — Collection of Architectural Ornaments of the Middle Ages in the 
 Byzantine and Gothic Styles. 4 vols. 4to. Nuremberg. 
 
 * MEDIEVAL ART, 1849. 
 Syllabus. 
 
 Lecture I. — On Early Christian and Byzantine Art. 
 
 The so-called Dark Ages, from the Fourth to the Thirteenth Century. General 
 Decay of Ancient Art. The Destructions. Constantinople or Byzantium. 
 Establishment of Christianity, Symbolism. Prohibition of Images — Early 
 Symbols — the Monogram — the Fish {Ix^^?) — Vesica Piscis. The Lily. The 
 Catacombs. Images of Christ. The Nimbus or Glory. Trefoil — Quatrefoil, 
 &c. Ancient Basilicas. Tribune. Apsis. Mosaics. Modes of Benediction — 
 Distinction between Greek and Latin form. Monasteries of Mount Athos. 
 The Image Controversy between the Pope and the Emperor of the East. The 
 Iconoclasts. Sanction of Images by the Council of Nice, a.d. 787. 
 
 Ornamental Types — Cross — Dome — Circle. St. Sophia of Constantinople, a.d. 562. 
 San Vitale of Ravenna, St. Mark's of Venice. Symbolism pervading all Designs 
 — Examples— The Byzantine Leaf — Runic Tracery — Embroidery. Illumination 
 of MSS. Religious Cycles. 
 
 Lecture II. — On RoMANEsauE and Saracenic Art. 
 
 The Romanesque. Widespread Influence of Byzantine Ornament. Damascus. 
 Oriental Manufactures. Saracenic Costume. Luxury of the Caliphs of Bagdad. 
 Tributes. 
 
60 
 
 BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 Knight, H. Gally. — The Normans in Sicily, being a Sequel to " An Architec- 
 tural Tour in Normandy." 8vo. London, 1838. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy, from the Time of Constantine to 
 
 the fifteenth Century; with an Introduction and Text. 2 vols, folio. London, 
 1842-44. 
 
 Saracenic and Norman Remains, to illustrate " The Normans in Sicily." 
 
 Folio. London, n. d. 
 Messina. — Roof of the Cathedral of Messina. 
 
 Charpente de la Cathedrale de Messine, dessinee par M. Morey, gravee et 
 lithographiee par H. Roux, aine. Chromo -lithographic plates. Folio. 
 Paris, 1841. 
 
 QuAST, A. F. Von. — Old Christian Buildings of Ravenna. 
 
 Die Alt-christlichen Bauwerke von Ravenna, vom fiinften bis zum neunten 
 Jahrhundert, Historisch geordnet und durch Abbildungen erlaiitert von 
 Al. F. von Quast. Small folio. Berlin, 1842. 
 DiDRON, M. — Iconographie Chretienne. Histoire de Dieu. 4to. Paris, 1843. 
 
 Handbook of Christian Iconography. 
 
 Manuel d' Iconographie Chretienne, Grecque et Latine, avec une Introduction 
 et des Notes. Traduit du MS. Byzantin, '*Le Guide de la Peinture," 
 par le Dr. Paul Durand. Royal 8vo. Paris, 1845. 
 OsTEN, F. — Les Monuments de la Lombardie depuis le VIP Siecle jusqu'au XIV^. 
 
 Folio. Darmstadt and Paris, 1847, et seq. 
 Wyatt, M. D. — Specimens of the Geometrical Mosaic of the Middle Ages ; with a 
 brief historical Notice of the Art, founded on Papers read before the Royal 
 Institute of British Architects, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Archaeological 
 Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Small folio. London, 1848. 
 Chalmers of Auldbar. — The ancient sculptured Monuments of the County of 
 Angus, including those at Meigle in Perthshire, and one at Fordoun in the 
 Mearns. With an additional plate and explanatory text. (Privately printed and 
 presented to the Bannatyne Club.) Large folio. Edinburgh, 1848. 
 Perret, L. — The Catacombs of Rome. Catacombes de Rome; Architecture, 
 Peinture Murales, Inscriptions, Figures, et Symbols des Pierres sepulcrales, 
 
 Egypt — Direct Byzantine Influence — The Mosques of Cairo — of Amrou, a.d. 641 — 
 of Touloun, A.D. 876— and El Azar (the Brilliant), a.d. 981. The Pointed Arch. 
 Saracenic Ornaments nearly identical with Byzantine. Polychromic Decorations. 
 
 Sicily — Palermo — La Ziza, the Zig-zag, 1050 — Byzantine Mosaics and Glass 
 Tesselations. 
 
 Spain — Palace of Abdu-r-rhaman III., near Cordova. The Alhambra (the Red 
 Castle), its decorations — tracery — diapers — inscriptions. General Character of 
 Saracenic Ornament. Tapestries. 
 
 Lecture III. — On the Siculo-Norman and the Early Pointed Style. 
 
 Palermo — the Cappella Palatina, the Martorana, Greek, Saracenic, and Latin 
 Elements. Revival of Symbolism — Cefalu, 1132. Monreale. Messina, By- 
 zantine Mosaics and Glass Tesselations. The Pointed Arch introduced into 
 Sicily by the Saracens in the ninth century — into England by the Normans in 
 the twelfth. 
 
 The Saxon or early Norman Romanesque — the Round Norman or Zig-zag style — 
 the Pointed Norman, or Transition (Plantagenet). Variety of Norman Orna- 
 ments — the Zig-zag, the Billet, the Tooth, &c. 
 
 Stained Glass — Methods of Glass Painting — Mosaic — Mosaic-stain — and the pure 
 and mixed Enamel — Mosaic-enamel. 
 
BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 61 
 
 Verres graves sur fond d'or, Lampes, Vases, Anneaux, Instruments, &c. des 
 Cimetieres des premiers Chretiens. 5 vols, folio. Paris, 1852, et seq. 
 
 (Published by the French Government, under the direction of a Commission 
 of the Institute of France.) 
 Caumont, De. — Archseological ABC Book. 
 
 Abecedaire, ou Rudiment d'Archeologie. Ouvrage approuve par I'Institut 
 des Provinces de France. (Ornamental styles, civil and military archi- 
 tecture, &c.) 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1851-53. 
 Inkersley, T. — An Inquiry into the Chronological Succession of the Styles of 
 Romanesque and Pointed Architecture in France ; with Notices of some of the 
 principal Buildings on which it is founded. 8vo. London, 1850. 
 RusKiN J. — The Stones of Venice. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1851. 
 Examples of the Architecture of Venice, selected and drawn to measure- 
 ment from the edifices. Folio. Loudon, 1851. 
 Verneilh, F. De. — L' Architecture Byzantine en France. (Saint-Front de Peri- 
 
 gueux, et les Eglises a coupoles de I'Aquitaine.) 4to. Paris, 1852. 
 RuNGE, L. — Contributions towards the Knowledge of the Brick Architecture of 
 Italy. 
 
 Beitrage zur Kentniss der Backstein Architectur Italiens. Folio. Berlin, 
 1852-53. 
 
 Blavignac, J. D. — Histoire de I'Architecture sacree du quatrieme au dixieme 
 Siecle, dans les anciens eveches de Geneve, Lausanne, et Sion. 8vo. text ; atlas, 
 ob. folio. Paris, 1853. 
 
 QuAST, F. Von. — The Romanesque Cathedrals of the Middle Rhine, at Mayence, 
 Speier, and Worms, critically and historically examined. 
 
 Die Romanischen Dome des Mittelrheins zu Mainz, Speier, Worms. Kritisch 
 
 Mosaic method described by Theophilus, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Design, 
 hatched and smeared on Pot Metal, in Enamel Brown — the Grozing Iron. 
 Ornaments, chiefly from the Manuscripts — of a Byzantine or Norman character 
 — Tan-coloured Flesh — Simple and Medalhon Windows — Foliage and Quarry 
 Patterns, plain and reticulated. 
 
 Lecture IV. — On Gothic Ornament — Decorated Pointed. 
 
 The verticality of Gothic as contrasted with the horizontal Romanesque. The Five 
 Arches of English Architecture — the Round, the Pointed, the Ogee, the Four- 
 centered, and the Flat. 
 
 .Seven Styles of English Ecclesiastical Architecture, from Edward the Confessor 
 (1066) to Edward VI., about five centuries — the Saxon (early Norman Ro- 
 manesque) — Round Norman (Zig-zag) — Pointed Norman (Transition) — Early 
 English Gothic (introduction of the Mullion and Tracery) — Decorated — Perpen- 
 dicular (Lancastrian) — and Tudor. Average duration of each style about seventy 
 years. Characteristics. Geometrical character of Gothic Art. Snow Crystals. 
 Tracery — Soffit and Chamfer Cusping. The Trefoil Leaf — the Crocket — the 
 Finial — The Gargoyle. The Tudor Flower. Manufactures. 
 
 Stained Glass — Mosaic-stain — fourteenth and fifteenth centuries — Pot Metal, Stained 
 and Coated Glass — Abrasion. Ornaments — Simple and Medallion Windows — 
 Canopied Figures — White Flesh — Yellow Hair. Quarry, Diaper, Flower, 
 Damask, and White or Grisailles patterns, in Enamel Brown. 
 
 Enamel and Mosaic Enamel, or Pure and Mixed Enamel, from the sixteenth century — 
 Ordinary Enamel Colours on White and Coloured Glass (Pot Metal). Canopied 
 Figures, Historic and Heraldic Designs — Floral, Geometric, Renaissance, and 
 Cinquecento Ornament. 
 
62 
 
 BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 untersucht und historisch festgestellt, durch F. von duast. 8vo. plates. 
 Berlin, 1853. 
 
 Kreutz, G. et L. — La Basilica di San Marco, in Venezia, esposta ne' suoi 
 Mosaici, e nelle sue Sculture, con illustrazione. Folio. Venice, 1843. 
 
 The Secondary Mosaics of the Basilica of St. Mark, Venice, 
 
 Mosaici Secondarii non compresi negli speccati geometrici, ma che completano 
 con essi tutto I'lnterno della Basilica di San Marco. 4to. Venice, 1854. 
 Salzenberg, W. — Old Christian Architectural Monuments of Constantinople, from 
 the Fifth to the Twelfth Century. St. Sophia. 
 
 Alt-Christliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel vom V. his XII. jahrhundert. 
 Auf befehl seiner majestat des Konigs auf-genommen und historisch 
 erlautert von W. Salzenberg. Im anhange des Silentiarius Paulas besch- 
 reibung der Heihgen Sophia und des Ambon. Metrisch iibersetzt und 
 mit anmerkungen versehen von Dr. C. W. Kortiim. Herausgegeben 
 von dem Konigl. Ministerium fiir Handel Gewerbe und offentliche 
 arbeiten. Folio. Berlin, 1854. 
 (Published by the Prussian Government, Ministry for Commerce, Trade, and 
 Public Works.) 
 
 We may now turn to the Middle- Age styles^ which, in contra- 
 distinction to the ancient, — the heathen, — may be termed Christian 
 art. 
 
 The peculiar views of the early Christians in matters of art 
 had, before the establishment of Christianity by the State, no 
 material influence upon society, though the Pagan idolatries found 
 many bold and vigorous opponents long before the time of Con- 
 stantino. During the first and second centuries. Christian works 
 of art were limited to symbols, and were then never applied as 
 decorations, but as exhortations to faith and piety. And all 
 Christian decoration rests upon this foundation, — the same spirit 
 of symbolism prevailing througlfOut, until the return to the 
 heathen principle of beauty (to the aesthetic) in the period of 
 the Renaissance. 
 
 The early symbols were the monogram of Christ : the lily ; 
 the cross; the serpent; the fish; the aureole, or Vesica piscis, 
 representing the acrostic symbol, the fish, from the common 
 Greek word for fish, containing the initials of the following 
 
 sentence: 'I^tfoDg X^iffrhg ©soD Ti6g 'S.doT'/i^, — Jesus Christ, of God the 
 Son, the Saviour ; and the circle, or nimbus, the glory of the 
 head, as the Vesica is of the entire body. These are very im- 
 portant elements in Christian decoration, — especially the nimbus, 
 
BYZANTINE OllNAMENT. 
 
 63 
 
 which is the element of the trefoil and quatre-foil, so common in 
 Byzantine and Gothic art, — the first having reference to the 
 Trinity, the second to the four Evangelists, as the testimony of 
 Christ, and to the cross ; at the extremities of which we often find 
 four circles, besides the circle in the centre, which signifies the 
 Lord. 
 
 Thus, figures or combinations of three, four, and five circles, 
 are common in medieval art, 
 and have all sacred significa- 
 tions. Many crosses are com- 
 posed nearly exclusively of 
 the five circles as principals, 
 or are prominently decorated 
 with them. A cross of this 
 character is not uncommon, 
 either with the circle or nim- 
 bus in -the centre, and four 
 other circles or nimbi at the 
 extremities, or composed sim- 
 ply of five circles arranged 
 in the form of the cross, — 
 the centre circle, or nimbus, 
 having reference to the Lord, 
 and the other four to the 
 Evangelists. Occasionally 
 the symbolic images of the*"*. 
 Evangelists, — the angel, the 
 lion, the ox, and the eagle, — 
 are represented within these 
 circles. 
 
 These symbolic images 
 of the Evangelists are fre- oid Leather case, 
 
 quently applied as the principal decoration of a facade, and are 
 constantly met with under the arches of doorways, on either side 
 of the vesica, which is found circumscribing the image of Christ, 
 with his right hand raised in the attitude of benediction. 
 
64 
 
 BYZANTINE OKNAMENT. 
 
 The hand, in the attitude of benediction, is another charac- 
 teristic element in early Christian and medieval works of art. 
 There is a distinction between the Greek and the Latin form, — 
 the Greek symbolising Jesus Christ, expressing his Greek mono- 
 gram, IC. XC, (JesouC XristoC) by placing the thumb on the 
 third finger, and slightly curving the second and fourth: the 
 Latin displaying the thumb and the first and second fingers 
 only extended, and thus symbolising the Trinity. The Roman 
 prelate blesses in the name of the Trinity ; the Greek, in the 
 name of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Without some knowledge of these essential points, the Byzan- 
 tine decorations are quite rmintelligible ; for their early designers 
 would appear to have avoided rather than sought beauty in all 
 these peculiar forms : the principle is exactly the same as that by 
 which Egyptian art was regulated. The Lily, too (the fleur-de- 
 lis), the emblem of the Virgin and of purity, 
 is as common in Christian decoration- as the 
 lotus is in that of Egypt. It is the symbol 
 which was eventually elaborated into the most 
 characteristic foliage of Byzantine and Ro- 
 manesque art, still well illustrated in work 
 of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, — and 
 especially in the old iron-work of that time. 
 Conspicuous in their foliage, also, is a peculiarly formal and 
 sharp version, if I may so call it, of the Greek acanthus-leaf, 
 somewhat resembling the ordinary thistle, or holly-leaf. 
 
 Why the beautiful and accomplished styles of the ancients, 
 then, were discarded for such comparatively crude elements of 
 ornament, needs no other explanation than the simple statement 
 that they were Pagan. 
 
 Paganism, however, consisted solely in forms, not in colours ; 
 and therefore, in respect of colour, there never was any restric- 
 tion in Byzantine art. The forms of the ancients, too, as Pagan- 
 ism itself gradually disappeared, were slowly admitted among the 
 elements of Christian decoration; and the scroll, under certain 
 symbolic modifications, — the foliations terminating in lilies or 
 
BYZANTINE ORNA:^^ENT. 
 
 65 
 
 leaves of three, four, and five blades, the number of the blades 
 bemg significant, — became eventually a very prominent feature 
 in Byzantine decoration ; and 
 under the same modifications 
 the anthemion, and every 
 other ancient ornament, was 
 gradually adopted, after a 
 systematic exclusion of about 
 four or five centuries. But 
 the most characteristic of all 
 the ordinary Byzantine or- 
 namental details, is that con- 
 ventional foliage and scroll- 
 work just described. 
 
 The very exclusive pre- 
 judices of the early Byzan- 
 tines once overcome, a most 
 comprehensive style of deco- 
 ration was rapidly developed, 
 notwithstanding they never 
 attained that purity of de- 
 tail which characterises the 
 works of the Greeks. Still, so great was their ingenuity, that 
 they made, from their crudest symbols even, very beautiful and 
 attractive designs. 
 
 An important feature always to be observed in the works of 
 the Byzantines is, that all their imitations of natural forms were 
 invariably conventional: so far they have preserved the ancient 
 custom throughout. It is the same even with animals and with 
 the human figure : every saint had his prescribed colours, pro- 
 portions, and symbols. 
 
 This Byzantine system of decoration was fully matured, and 
 is still shown in perfection in the rich mosaics of St. Sophia at 
 Constantinople, completed by the Emperor Justinian 562 a.d.* 
 
 * Some beautiful specimens have been lately published in the work of Salzenberg, 
 on Constantinople, undertaken under the auspices of the Prussian Government. 
 
 Architrave, St. Denis. 
 
66 
 
 BYZANTINE OllNAMENT. 
 
 The beauty and effect of Byzantine designs is, however, as 
 often owing to their materials as to the fashion of the ornaments 
 themselves ; and this is the case with nearly all early middle-age 
 art ; as it was with the Egyptians, and must perhaps always be 
 in every style which depends for its individuality of character 
 chiefly upon its symbolism : for symbols are not chosen for their 
 beauty, but for their meaning. 
 
 We shall find that the most beautiful Byzantine designs are 
 :hose in which the symbolism is unobtrusive, or even wholly 
 disguised : not absent, for that is very rarely, if ever, the case. 
 A design which contained no trace of symbolism could hardly be 
 a genuine Byzantine example. Generally speaking, but espe- 
 cially in ecclesiastical decoration, — whether metal-work, stone- 
 work, wood-carving, glass-staining, or mosaic, the symbols, in 
 some form or other, are paramount, being mixed only with 
 geometrical forms. Many Byzantine capitals may appear to 
 
 contradict this ; but on examination it |" ^ 
 
 will be found that the apparently floral 
 
 forms are combinations only of the con- ^l-^^^^^^^B3j) 
 ventional types derived from the sym- ^VfW^J^^^^^^ 
 bols ; as vesicas, circles, lilies, and many 
 others. The very tracery is sometimes 
 composed of serpents; and serpents are 
 not an uncommon ornament for a ca- 
 pital. 
 
 The serpent figures largely in Byzantine art, as the instru- 
 ment of the Fall, and one type of the Redemption. The cross 
 planted on the serpent is found sculptured on Mount Athos ; and 
 the cross, surrounded by the so-called Runic knot, is only a 
 Scandinavian version of the original Byzantine image, — the 
 crushed snake curhng round the stem of the avenging cross. 
 The cross, with two scrolls at the foot of it, typifying the snake, 
 is another of its modifications, and a very common Byzantine 
 ornament. The ordinary northern crosses, so conspicuous for 
 their interlaced ornaments and grotesque monsters, appear to be 
 purely modifications of this idea. Some good examples may be 
 seen in Chalmers' Sculptui-ed Monuments of Angus. 
 
BYZANTINE. 
 
BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 67 
 
 The leading forms of Byzantine architectui-e are likewise due 
 to the same influence — the cross, the circle, and the dome, 
 pervade everywhere. The dome has its own reference to the 
 vault of heaven, whose living glories were generally represented 
 on the spherical roof of the apse at the end of the Greek Basilicas. 
 This representation is known in the Greek Church as the holy 
 liturgy, or the glorification of Christ, and it often illustrates the 
 dome itself in the centre of the cross. This is the reason that the 
 cross and the dome are so characteristic of early Christian or 
 Byzantine architecture, and indeed of Romanesque architecture 
 generally. 
 
 Some of the principal Byzantine or Romanesque churches 
 are developments of the symbol of the five circles or glories; 
 they are placed in the form of a cross, and are surmounted by 
 domes corresponding in size and situation to the circles repre- 
 sented in the pavement below. St. Mark's at Venice is a 
 conspicuous example of this symbolic architecture. 
 
 This species of architecture, with the dome and round arch, 
 is termed Romanesque, as derived immediately from that which 
 prevailed throughout the Roman Empire at that time when from 
 heathen it became Christian : some of its classical types are the 
 Pantheon, the Colosseum, and the palace of Diocletian at Spa- 
 latro. Though not Roman absolutely, it is derived from the 
 Roman ; it is debased Roman — Romanesque : it is a general term 
 which distinguishes the round-arch species from the Saracenic 
 and Gothic, which are pointed-arch species. The preservation of 
 the dome and arch, however, was probably due rather to the 
 symbolic value of those figures among the Byzantine Greeks than 
 to the mere historic example of the Romans. 
 
 The chief varieties of the Romanesque are — ^the Byzantine, the 
 Lombard, and the Norman.^ Both the Lombard and the Norman 
 may, in a technical pomt of view, be considered mere modifica- 
 tions or varieties of the Byzantine ; certainly few examples of the 
 Romanesque out of Italy were not derived, directly or indirectly, 
 
 * See these styles beautifully illustrated in Osten's " Buildings of Lombardy." 
 
68 
 
 BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 from Constantinople, or Byzantium, as it was previously called. 
 The style extended to this country as far north as York and 
 Hexham ; it is still the standard type in Russia, and it is the 
 exclusive model of the whole system of architecture of the 
 Mohammedans, from Benares to Cadiz, from Cairo to Damascus. 
 Indeed the Byzantine was so widely spread, and so thoroughly 
 identified with all middle-age art, that its influence did not 
 entirely cease until the establishment of the Renaissance in the 
 fifteenth century : both the Saracenic and the Gothic proceeded 
 from the Byzantine. 
 
 The Greek missionaries carried its influence into the extreme 
 north ; and while the artists of Syria were accommodating their 
 style to Mohammedan exclusiveness in the south, in the colder 
 regions of Europe the mysteries of Momit Athos were freely 
 mixed up with the fables of Scandinavian mythology. 
 
 The Scandinavian soldiers, also, of the imperial body-guard, 
 made the talismans of Christian mythology almost as familiar 
 in their native homes as the gods of their forefathers. The 
 same mixture became as common eventually on the portals of 
 Lombardy. 
 
 There is this difference between the Byzantine and the 
 Lombard and Norman varieties, that the symbolism is mere 
 matter of habit in the two latter, and generally, perhaps, though 
 rudely preserved in many forms, is disregarded in their spirit; 
 that is, in mere ornamental details, such as the zig-zag, dog's-tooth, 
 nail-head, star, chain, and a host of others: but the symbolic 
 figures and other religious decorations mean exactly what they 
 express. 
 
 As the peculiarly Norman style, such as it is best known hi 
 this country, was originally developed in Sicily, it contains, of 
 course, many Saracenic features, of which the pointed afch and 
 the zig-zag are ^the most prominent ; for the Norman, though 
 originally a simple Romanesque style, eventually adopted in the 
 twelfth'' century the pointed arch of the Mohammedans.* This 
 
 * Gaily Knight, " Saracenic and Norman Remains in Sicily." 
 
BYZANTINE. 
 
 P. 68. 
 
 Capital. Germany. 
 
BYZANTINE-ROMANESQUE. 
 
BYZANTINE ORNAMENT. 
 
 69 
 
 style is well developed in the Cathedral of Cefalu in Sicily, 
 built by King Roger in 1132. 
 
 The terms Byzantine and Romanesque have been used above 
 as almost synonymous. They are so as regards their architec- 
 tural features; the Byzantine being only a variety of the Ro- 
 manesque. In the later centuries they may be considered the 
 same in all respects, but in the earlier centuries there is an 
 ornamental distinction ; the more strictly Romanesque, or Latin, 
 being a simple debasement of Roman art ; the Byzantine, or 
 Greek, being this art combined with the symbolic elements intro- 
 duced by the new Christian religion, comprising a peculiar sym- 
 bolic version also of the old Roman acanthus foliage. The 
 wider signification of the Romanesque, however, is the earlier 
 Christian round arch developments, in contradistinction to the 
 Gothic, or later pointed arch varieties of the North. If any 
 style can be distinguished with the exclusive title of Christian 
 Architecture, it is the Byzantine, of which St. Sophia, at Con- 
 stantinople, is a magnificent type. 
 
 Byzantine Frieze, from a Cliurch at Bonn. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 SARACENIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 Murphy, J. C. — The Arabian Antiquities of Spain ; representing in 100 engravings 
 the principal Remains of the Architecture, Sculpture, Paintings, and Mosaics of 
 the Spanish Arabs, from Drawings made on the spot. Large folio. London, 
 1816. 
 
 CosTE, P. — Architecture Arabe, ou Monumens du Kaire, mesures et dessines de 
 
 1817 a 1826. Folio. Paris, 1837-39. 
 Knight, H. Gally. — The Normans in Sicily ; being a sequel to " An Architectural 
 
 Tour in Normandy." 8vo. London, 1838. 
 Saracenic and Norman Remains, to illustrate " The Normans in Sicily." 
 
 Folio. London, n. d. 
 De Prangey, G. — Essai sur I'Architecture des Arabes et des Mores en Espagne, 
 
 en Sicile, et en Barbarie. Royal 8vo, Paris, 1841. 
 Jones and Goury. — Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra. 
 
 From Drawings taken on the spot in 1834 by the late M. Jules Goury, and in 
 
 1834 and 1837 by Owen Jones. With a complete Translation of the Arabic 
 
 Inscriptions, and an Historical Notice of the Kings of Granada from the Conquest 
 
 of that city by the Arabs to the Expulsion of the Moors, by M. Pasqual de 
 
 Gayangos. Folio. London, 1842, 
 Hessemer. — Saracenic and Old Italian Building Decorations. 
 
 Arabische und Alt-Italienische Bau-verzierungen. 120 chromo.lithographs. 
 2d edition, folio. Berlin, 1853. 
 BissoN, M. — Choix d'Ornements Arabes de 1' Alhambra, offrant dans leur ensemble 
 
 une synthase de I'ornementation Mauresque en Espagne au XIIP Siecle. Re- 
 
 produits en photographe. 4to. Paris, 1853. 
 
SARACENIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 71 
 
 r 
 
 We will now consider the second medieval style — the Saracenic. 
 Its principles are soon stated : the Arabs had not art or artists of 
 their own; they came from their deserts, with no more taste or 
 knowledge of such matters than a mere love of fuiery could give 
 them ; they could not but be struck by the gorgeous display of 
 such cities as Damascus, which fell into their hands in 634 A.D. ; 
 new ambitions arose with their new power, and the Byzantine 
 artists were pressed into the service of the Arabian caliphs and 
 generals, and ordered to raise rich mosques and palaces. Da- 
 mascus, Cairo, and Cordova, show the admirable ingenuity with 
 which they accommodated themselves to their new circumstances. 
 The conditions of the new Mohammedan law were strmgent ; in 
 endless designs in mosaic, marquetry, or in stucco, there was to 
 be no image of a living thing, vegetable or animal. Such con- 
 ditions led to a very individual style of decoration : vegetable 
 forms were now excluded for the first time. However, by the 
 seventh century, when the works of the Saracens commenced, 
 the Byzantine Greeks were already sufficiently skilful to make 
 light of such exclusions, and the exertion of ingenuity which they 
 impelled gave rise to a more beautiful simply ornamental style 
 than perhaps any that had preceded it, for there was no division 
 
72 
 
 SARACENIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 of the artistic mind now between meaning and effect; and 
 although the religious cycles and other symbolic figures which 
 had hitherto engrossed so much of the artist's attention were 
 excluded^ the mere conventional ornamental symbolism, the 
 ordinary forms borrowed from the classic periods, and geo- 
 metrical symmetry, left an abundant field behind, which* was 
 further enriched by the peculiarly Saracenic custom of elabo- 
 rating inscriptions into their designs. Mere curves and angles 
 or interlacings were now to bear the chief burden of a design, 
 but distinguished by variety of colour ; the curves, however, very 
 naturally fell into the standard forms and floral shapes, and the 
 lines and angles were soon developed into a very characteristic 
 species of tracery or interlaced strap-work, very agreeably 
 diversified by the ornamental introduction of the inscriptions. 
 And although flowers were not palpably admitted, the great 
 mass of the minor details of Saracenic designs are composed of 
 flower forms disguised ; the very inscriptions are sometimes thus 
 grouped as flowers : this is especially the case in the later works 
 of the Alhambra ; still no actual flower ever occurs, as the 
 exclusion of all natural images is the fundamental of the style 
 in its purity. 
 
 The omission of the crescent in Saracenic or Mohammedan 
 work generally is worth notice. It now crowns the great mosques 
 of Constantinople, but it is not to be found in any early work,, 
 and it appears to be itself simply the trophy of the conquest of the 
 Greek capital of Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium, of which it 
 was the symbol, the town on one occasion having, according to an 
 old tradition, been preserved from a night ambuscade by the 
 timely appearance of the new moon : it occurs on old Byzantine 
 coins. Constantinople was not captured by the Turks until 1453. 
 
 One of the greatest works produced under these circumstances 
 was the magnificent mosque of Touloun at Cairo, a monument of 
 the ninth century (876 a.d.), and the recorded work of a Greek. 
 The ornaments are in stucco, and altogether offer the most cl^- 
 racteristic example of the combination of Byzantine and Saracenic 
 elements. With the Saracenic tracery and inscriptions, and other 
 
SARACENIC. 
 
 P. 73. 
 
 Alhambra Diaper. 
 
SARACENIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 73 
 
 peculiar forms, we have combined several of the most popular 
 ancient ornaments in their Byzantine garb, but somewhat more 
 than ordinarily modified, as the fret, anthemion, the guilloche, the 
 horns of plenty, and the fleur-de-lis. 
 
 The more characteristic detail, that is, the original Saracenic 
 elements, the disguised conventional foliage spoken of, is very 
 beautifully elaborated in some of the accessory works of this 
 mosque. They became standards to after ages, for the details of 
 the diaper-tiles of the Alhambra, executed some five hundred 
 years afterwards, are in many respects nearly identical with these 
 details of the mosque of Touloun at Cairo. 
 
 In all these early Arabian buildings of Cairo we have the 
 pointed arch, which appears first, I believe, in the great mosque 
 of Amrou, a work of the seventh century (641 a.d,) ; but the 
 ogee, the crescent, and the scalloped arches, are more charac- 
 teristic, perhaps, of Saracenic architecture generally, as the 
 pointed arch has been made familiar by a later style; but the 
 simple round Romanesque arch also occurs in the Moorish works 
 of Spain. This style became gradually richer as it advanced 
 westwards from Egypt to Sicily, and especially in Spain, where 
 the Alhambra, a work of the fourteenth century, still remains to 
 bear witness to its unparalleled richness of detail. 
 
 There is not much pure Saracenic work in Sicily ; the palace 
 of La Ziza, at Palermo, is, perhaps, the only example: there* are, 
 however, some magnificent Siculo-Norman remains of the twelfth 
 century at Palermo, Monreale, Cefalu^ and Messina, in which 
 Greek or Saracenic artists were engaged; and the glass mosaics 
 in these places are among the finest specimens of their class 
 existing: they exhibit some exquisite examples of tracery or 
 interlacing. 
 
 The Saracenic was the period of gorgeous diapers, for their 
 habit of decorating the entire surfaces of their apartments was 
 peculiarly favourable to the development of this class of design : 
 the Alhambra displays almost endless specimens, and all are in 
 relief and enriched with gold and colour, chiefly blue and red. 
 Some give the idea of being more endurable imitations of the rich 
 
74 
 
 SARACENIC OENAMENTo 
 
 woollens of Cashmere, which the Arabs always made great store 
 of. The Genoa damasks, Arras tapestries, and modern paper- 
 hangings, are all imitations of these Saracenic wall diapers. The 
 very word " Damask " means Damascus work. Damascus, how- 
 ever, was famous for such fabrics before its conquest by the Arabs. 
 It was called Damesk, and was a place of repute even in the time 
 of Abraham. 
 
 Damascus is still famous for its textile fabrics in a pure Sara- 
 cenic taste, and it produces a great variety of patterns in silk and 
 in cotton, the designs of which are chiefly stripes and inscriptions, 
 good wishes or pious sentences.* 
 
 The Siculo-Norman,from 
 which our round zig-zag, and 
 the pointed Norman, are de- 
 rived, is as much a variety 
 of the Saracenic as of the 
 Byzantine ; it is indeed a 
 free combination of the two 
 styles : for the reserved mix- 
 ture of the two hitherto prac- 
 tised had its Christian cha- 
 racter restored to it by the 
 Normans, through the in- 
 troduction of sacred figures, 
 and a prominence which they 
 gave to all the most palpable 
 Christian symbols, more especially the Cross, which never occurs 
 in genuine Saracenic work.. This renders the Siculo-Norman a 
 very complete style, and it is displayed in great magnificence in 
 the Cathedral of Messina. 
 
 The Alhambra does not exhibit that Byzantine character in its 
 details which we find in Sicily or in the Mosques of Cairo : all the 
 peculiar Arabian features are preserved, but the scroll and anthe- 
 
 * This style has of late years found its way into our railway carriages ; worsted 
 borders, in which the initials of the company are worked as an ornamental pattern, 
 right and left, and upside down, as in the Eastern examples, are now common.^ 
 
SARACENIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 75 
 
 mion, which are often in very rich development on the monu- 
 ments of Cairo, can with difficulty be traced in the Alhambra. 
 We discover the scroll in some of the interlacings, and there is a 
 fan-shape which recalls the anthemion. 
 
 The artists of the Alhambra were probably exclusively Sara- 
 cenic. The beauty of this palace is in its general richness of 
 effect, in its endless combinations of columns, arches, and gorgeous 
 surfaces; its gold and silver flowers, and its intricate tracery, 
 which all combine to give the impression of extraordinary splen- 
 dour as a whole, though no particular part commands any special 
 admiration. 
 
 House at Damascus. 
 
CHAPTER XIL 
 
 GOTHIC ORNAMENT, 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 De Laborde, Le Comte Alexandre. — Les Monumens de la France, classes 
 chronologiquement, et consideres sous le Rapport des Faits historiques et de 
 I'Etude des Arts. 2 vols, folio. Paris, 1816-36. 
 
 Carter, J. — The Ancient Architecture of England, including the Orders during the 
 British, Roman, Saxon, and Norman Eras ; and under the reigns of Henry III. 
 and Edward III. Illustrated by 109 engravings. A new and improved edition, 
 with Notes and copious Indexes, by John Britton. Folio. London, 1837. 
 
 Specimens of the Ancient Sculpture and Painting now remaining in 
 
 England, from the earliest period to the reign of Henry VIII. Exhibited in 
 120 plates, drawn and etched by J. Carter. With Critical and Historical Illus- 
 trations by Francis Douce, Richard Gough, John Fenn, J. S. Hawkins, William 
 Bray, and the Rev. J. Milner. A new and improved edition, arranged in 
 topographical order, and illustrated with copious notes by Dawson Turner, Sir 
 Samuel Rush Meyrick, John Britton, and others. Folio. London, 1838. 
 
 Britton, J. — The Cathedral Antiquities of England. 5 vols. 4to. London, 1836. 
 
 PuGiN, A. W. — Specimens of Gothic Architecture, selected from various Ancient 
 Edifices in England, consisting of plans, elevations, sections, and parts at large, 
 &c. The literary part by J. E. Willson. 3 vols. 3d edition, corrected and 
 revised, 4to. London. 1821-50. 
 
 Popp, J., AND BuLEAU, Th — The Three Ages of Gothic Architecture. 
 
 Les Trois Ages de I'Architecture Gothique, son origine, sa theorie, demontres 
 et representes par des Exemples choisis a Ratisbonne, &c. Folio. Paris, 
 1841. 
 
 BoiSEREE, S. — Histoire et Description de la Cathedrale de Cologne. Pour servir 
 de texte aux Vues, Plans, Coupes, et Details de I'Edifice. Nouvelle edition 
 refaite et augmentee. Plates, folio ; text, 4to. Munich, 1842-43. 
 
 Kallenbach, G. G. von. — A Tabular History of German Medieval Architecture. 
 
 Atlas zur Geschichte der Deutsch-Mittelalterlichen Baukunst, in 86 tafeln. 
 Folio. Munich, 1847. 
 
 Brandon, R. and J. A. — An Analysis of Gothic Architecture, illustrated by a 
 series of upwards of seven hundred examples of Doorways, Windows, &c., and 
 accompanied with Remarks on the several details of an Ecclesiastical Edifice, 
 2 vols. 4to, London, 1847. 
 
 Blackburne, E. L. — Sketches, graphic and descriptive, for a History of the 
 Decorative Painting applied to English Architecture during the Middle Ages, 
 4to. London, 1847. 
 
GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 77 
 
 Colling, J. Ko — Gothic Ornaments, being a series of examples of enriched details 
 and accessories of the Architecture of Great Britain. Drawn from existing 
 authorities. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1850. 
 Lacroix and Sere. — The Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, Manners and 
 Customs, Sciences and Arts, &c., with fac-simile illustrations. 
 
 Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, Histoire et Description des Moeurs et 
 Usages, du Commerce et de I'lndustrie, des Sciences, des Arts, des Litte- 
 ratures et des Beaux Arts en Europe. Direction litteraire de M. Paul 
 Lacroix. Direction artistique de M. Ferdinand Sere. Dessins fac-similes 
 par M. A. Rivaud. 5 vols. 4to. Paris, 1848-51. 
 Gailhabaud, J. — On Architecture from the fifth to the sixteenth century, and the 
 Arts depending on it — Sculpture, Wall- Painting, Glass -Painting, Mosaic, Iron- 
 work, &c. 
 
 L'Ai'chitecture du au XVI^ Siecle, et les Arts qui en dependent, le Sculp- 
 ture, la Peinture murale, la Peinture sur Verre, la Mosaique, la Ferron- 
 nerie, &c., publies d'apris les travaux inedits des principaux Architectes 
 Franc^ais et etrangers. 4to. Paris, 1851, et seq. 
 Becker and Hefner. — Works of Art and Utensils of the Middle Ages and the 
 Renaissance. 
 
 Kunstwerke und Gerathschaften des Mittelalters und der Renaissance. By 
 C. Becker and J. von Hefner. 2 vols. 4to. Frankfurt, 1852. 
 Stroobant, F. — Monuments d' Architecture et de Sculpture en Belgique. Texte 
 
 par Felix Stappaerts. 4to. Bruxelles, 1852. 
 King, T. H. — Jewellery and Metal Work of the Middle Ages. 
 
 Orfcvrerie et Ouvrages en Metal du Moyen Age. (Designed from old 
 examples.) Folio. Bruges, 1852, ^eiy. 
 WiCKES, C. — Illustrations of the Spires and Towers of the Medieval Churches of 
 England. Preceded by some Observations on the Architecture of the Middle 
 Ages, and its Spire growth. Folio. London, 1853-55. 
 
 The third and last great middle-age style was the Gothic. Of 
 this I can remark only as regards its general principles, to fully 
 explain all its subdivisions of style would occupy much space. 
 
 It grew out of the Byzantine, and flourished chiefly on the 
 Rhine, in the north of France, and in England. Salisbuiy 
 Cathedral, a.d. 1221, the first great work of the kmd in this 
 country, is a work of the French, but in style it was a genuine 
 Norman beginning. The Gothic was developed in the thirteenth 
 century, and was perfected in the fourteenth; its most cha- 
 racteristic monument, perhaps, is Cologne Cathedral, which was 
 consecrated m the year 1322 ; in the fifteenth century it rapidly 
 declined, and it became quite extinct, in this comitry at least, 
 in the sixteenth: a catastrophe doubtless involved by the Re- 
 formation. 
 
78 
 
 GOTHIC OKNAMENT. 
 
 England has had seven ecclesiastical styles, extending over a 
 space of about five hundred years only, from the death of Edward 
 the Confessor, 1066, to the death of Queen Mary, 1558, when all 
 ecclesiastical architecture ceased ; and the Tudor was superseded 
 by the Renaissance in the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 The seven styles are, — 
 
 1. The Saxon, or simple round arch, Romanesque. 
 
 2. The round Norman (zig-zag style). 
 
 3. The pointed Norman, or transition (Henry II., or first 
 
 Plantagenet style). 
 
 4. The early English Gothic (Henry HI., or second Plan- 
 
 tagenet style). 
 
 5. The decorated Gothic (the Edwards, the third Plantagenet 
 
 style). 
 
 6. The perpendicular Gothic (Henry VII., or Lancastrian). 
 
 7. The debased Perpendicular, or flat (Henry YIII., or 
 Tudor). 
 
 Thus during the period of the seven Edwards there were 
 seven styles, the duration of each of which was, on an average, 
 about seventy years (1066-1556), or about the period of the 
 personal influence of an individual by his own direct efforts, 
 and that of his school or followers combined. The history of 
 architecture shows a succession of changes in most countries, 
 but in England these changes have been singularly rapid and 
 regular. 
 
 In this period of the development of the ecclesiastical styles it 
 is remarkable how little the notion of a style existed, and how 
 regardless the builders, or masons, of one age were of the senti- 
 ment or aim of those of a previous age. In every case where a 
 great ecclesiastical work has been suspended, and renewed after 
 intervals, those who have carried on the enterprise have done so 
 invariably utterly regardless of the character of the work already 
 executed; the practice of the day exclusively defined the cha- 
 racter of the work, as if the practical education of the handicrafts- 
 man, his accidental skill, were the paramount source of the whole 
 scheme and system of ornamental varieties : each mason working 
 
GOTHIC. 
 
 P. 78. 
 
 Tlic Lynn Cup c. 1400. 
 
GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 79 
 
 out only such forms as had occupied his time in the years of 
 his apprenticeship. 
 
 Three only of the above styles, the fourth, fifth, and sixth, are 
 what can be strictly termed Gothic ; the two first are round arch, 
 and belong to the Byzantine or Romanesque varieties ; the third 
 is the simple transition from the round to the pointed styles ; and 
 the seventh is the transition back again from those styles in which 
 the arch is so prominent a feature, to the Renaissance varieties, in 
 which the arch becomes again round, and loses its importance as 
 a principal elementary featui'e of style. 
 
 The general characteristics of the Gothic, as an architectural 
 style, are these : — It is essentially pointed or vertical in its ten- 
 dency, and in its detail is geometrical — in its window-tracery, in 
 its openings, in its clusters of shafts and bases, and in its suits of 
 mouldings — but it is only geometrical in its construction, or in its 
 form, not in its spirit or motive. 
 
 All the symbolic elements of the Byzantine are contmued in 
 the Gothic; but the pointed arch is substituted for the round. 
 There is a close traditional connexion in all the ordinary details, 
 though the virulence of the image-controversy, and other dif- 
 ferences, between the Greek and Latin Churches, doubtless had 
 some influence in the development of a change of style ; for we 
 find that where the Greek Church has prevailed there has been, 
 until very recently, no essential change whatever in ecclesiastical 
 architecture. It is unquestionable, however, that climate has had 
 something to do also with the peculiar development of the Gothic ; 
 it has flourished only in cold regions subject to much rain and 
 snow, and a Gothic church frequently looks very like a fortifica- 
 tion against the weather, with its high-pitched roof, solid but- 
 tresses, and narrow doors and windows. As I have already 
 explained, the pointed arch, one of the characteristics of the 
 Gothic, is not peculiar to it ; it had already existed five hundred 
 years in Egypt, and is the common form of the Siculo-Norman 
 arch. 
 
 The Gothic is chiefly distinguished from the Byzantine and 
 the Latin Romanesque varieties, by the universal absence of the 
 
80 
 
 GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 dome, and the substitution of the pointed for the round arch. 
 The union of the belfry with the church is not becuKar to the 
 Gothic, though in the great Romanesque examples they are dis- 
 tinct, as at Venice and Pisa ; they are also distinct at Florence, 
 and many other Italian towns : nor are the towers in the place of 
 the domes peculiar to the Gothic, they are common in the Norman 
 Romanesque in Sicily, in Germany, and in this country, as at 
 Ely, Peterborough, and elsewhere. The spire is the pointed roof 
 of the tower, and both doubtless originally owed their develop- 
 ment as much to use as to ornament : in thinly-populated and only 
 half-cleared countries, such as England was in the middle ages, a 
 spire was a landmark performing other useful services besides that 
 of simply indicating the locality of the church, or securing the 
 proper elevation of its bells. 
 
 The Transition added the spire to the old tower of the 
 Romanesque and Norman, and it is a common feature of the 
 Gothic ; while the square abacus and the heavy cushion capitals 
 of these styles, with their simple incised ornaments, are converted, 
 in the transition, to the round abacus and the bell-shaped capital, 
 decorated with raised foliage, and eventually elaborated into 
 infinite variety in the Gothic styles. 
 
 Ornamentally the Gothic is the geometrical and pointed ele- 
 ment elaborated to its utmost, its only peculiarities are its com- 
 binations of details ; at first the conventional and the geometrical 
 prevailing, and afterwards these combined with the elaboration of 
 natural objects in its decoration. The Byzantines never did this, 
 their ornaments were purely conventional ; while in the finest 
 Gothic specimens we find not only the traditional conventional 
 ornaments, but in the decorated period also elaborate imitations 
 of the plants and flowers growing in the neighbourhood of the 
 work. This is a great feature, but still the most striking feature 
 of all Gothic work is the wonderful elaboration of its geometric 
 tracery — vesicas, trefoils, quatrefoils, cinquefoils, and an infinity 
 of geometric varieties besides. The tracery is so paramount a 
 characteristic that the three English varieties, the early English, 
 the decorated, and the perpendicular, are distinguished almost 
 
GOTHIC 
 
M.REFS 
 
 Tooth Ornament, Stone Church, Kent. 
 
 P. SI. 
 
 Crockets, Lincohi. 
 
GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 81 
 
 exclasively by tliis feature; it is the same with the French flam- 
 boyant — the flame style, from the waving lines of its tracery. 
 The tracery, indeed, establishes the fact of a style's being Gothic 
 or not, for the Byzantine contains only the symbolic foliations ; so 
 the pointed style called " Transition" is not Gothic, because it has 
 no tracery. 
 
 The first Gothic in this country is the Early English, in which 
 we have the first development of geometrical window-tracery ; 
 mullions instead of piers ; windows of several lights ; flying but- 
 tresses, crocketed pinnacles, complicated mouldings, the columns 
 clustered, and the capitals generally round ; an extensive applica- 
 tion of foliage, with the trefoil leaf, commonly called the Early- 
 English leaf, as the most characteristic ornament. It is some- 
 times as formal as a clover leaf, at other times very irregularly 
 formed, but always with a fulness or roundness of the parts, as 
 contrasted with the somewhat similar, but flat or even hollow 
 Byzantine or Norman foliage, of which it is a variation. 
 
 From the Temple Church. 
 
 The so-called tooth, or dog's-tooth, the most characteristic 
 ornamental detail of the previous pointed style, the Transition, 
 occurs comparatively rarely in the Early English, and in the early 
 specimens only, and considerably varied in detail. This orna- 
 ment was probably in its original form a simple vesica cross, but 
 
82 
 
 GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 being contracted to fill hollows was developed into its ordinary 
 character, so common in early Plantagenet, or Transition work. 
 
 Upon the Early English succeeded the Decorated, chiefly cha- 
 racterised by a more magnificent development of the leading ele- 
 ments of the Early English, more especially the tracery ; but it 
 has its own features — the ogee arch, and the pinnacled canopied 
 recesses of the buttresses, and other parts, producing a prominence 
 of diagonal lines. The so-called ball-flower, and the common ser- 
 pentine vine scroll, are the most characteristic details of this period. 
 There is also more nature, or imitation, in the details than in any 
 other of the Gothic varieties. 
 
 In the tliird variety, the Perpendicular, the new features are 
 the horizontal line, the panellings, and the substitution of per- 
 pendicular for flowing tracery. And the execution of the orna- 
 mental details is very conventional. The most prominent bar of 
 the tracery is the mullion itself, so that the prevalent panelling of 
 the style is also prominent in the window tracery, composed of 
 mullion upon mullion, or mullion and supermullion, being sepa- 
 rated by a horizontal bar, termed a transom. This divides the 
 lights into vertical panes or panels, and the same panelling (of 
 which fan-tracery is also an example), is spread over every surface 
 of the buildings of this period, developing that style which I have 
 termed Lancastrian, commonly known as the Perpendicular : it is 
 the great style of the fifteenth century in this country. 
 
 The natural freedom of the details occasionally displayed in 
 the Decorated, is now lost in a formal conventionality in the Per- 
 pendicular ; which displays an execution of these parts much more 
 analogous to German work, and the original Byzantine elements 
 from which Gothic forms generally were indirectly derived. The 
 crockets also of perpendicular work are, like the foliage, very 
 formal, exhibiting a square cruciform arrangement in the details 
 of the leaves, and a uniform character, more analogous to sea-weed 
 than ordinary leaves, in the foliage generally. 
 
 The Tudor is scarcely a Gothic ; the art in it returns to what 
 it was in the Romanesque, and again becomes horizontal. Its 
 great features are the flat arch, the square dripstone, and the rec- 
 
GOTHIC. 
 
 P. 82. 
 
 Pedestal, Henry VII 's Chapel. 
 
GOTHIC CRNAIVIENT. 83 
 
 tangular spandril, a necessary development of the square dripstone 
 over the arch. The running ornament known as the Tudor 
 
 flower, and conspicuous, because 
 almost alone, in buildings of 
 this character, is a remnant of 
 the old Byzantine. Its name 
 of Tudor-flower is appropriate 
 only in the sense that it is al- 
 most the only mediaeval orna- 
 ment preserved in that style: 
 the original type of this orna- 
 ment is the old Byzantine alter- 
 ation of the lily and the cross, 
 common as the decoration of 
 a crown, and for edges or bor- 
 ders of many other kinds. 
 There are five orders of arches which distinguish these several 
 ecclesiastical styles generally, namely — the round, the pointed, the 
 ogee, the four-centred, and the flat : the pointed itself comprising 
 three varieties — the lancet, the pointed, and the drop arch ; in the 
 first the pitch being greater than the span, in the second equal to 
 it, and in the last less. 
 
 In ornamental art generally, then, as in architecture, it is 
 geometrical tracery which will stamp a design with a Gothic 
 character : decorate it with natural flowers only, it will still be 
 Gothic ; it would be necessarily made much more characteristic 
 by the introduction of some of the historic ornaments of the 
 period, — as the Tudor flower, fleur-de-lis, crocket-leaf, trefoil 
 or Early-English leaf, vine-scroll, or any other of the more 
 familiar ornaments of the style. As, however, the Gothic is a 
 style which has flourished exclusively in cold countries, its orna- 
 ments of a natural class to be characteristic should be from such 
 plants as are native to Gothic latitudes ; tropical plants would be 
 inconsistent. Throughout we should prefer the wild plants of the 
 north to the more exuberant flowers of the south. All exotics, in 
 fact, that are not symbols, should be unconditionally excluded. 
 
 All Saints, Fearing, Essex 
 
84 
 
 GOTHIC ORNAMENT. 
 
 The characteristic Norman ornaments are not admissible in the 
 Gothic, with the exception of the tooth, and that is pecuharly 
 rendered. 
 
 Classical ornaments, likewise, are of course excluded; even 
 the scroll occurs only in the Gothic as a serpentine. Gothic 
 ornaments independent of the tracery are nearly exclusively 
 fruit, flowers, or leaves ; and as a general rule, their execution is 
 extremely rude. 
 
 Such is a rough outline of the course of ornamental art 
 among the most prominent people of medieval history, for a 
 period of more than a thousand years. We have seen that all 
 varieties, however individual in character, are intimately con- 
 nected with those which preceded them; an advantage once 
 gained was not allowed to be lost ; and the remarkable transition 
 from the Byzantine to the Saracenic, so totally different in spirit 
 and in detail, yet both developed by the same artists, shows that 
 it is not from a persevering manual routine that variety and 
 beauty are to be derived, but from the active intelligence of 
 the controlling mind. 
 
 Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire. 
 
THE MODERN OR RENAISSANCE STYLES. 
 
 FOUR LECTURES * 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 JuvARRA, Cav. D. F. — Collection of Shields, from the originals in Rome. 
 
 Raccolta di Targhe fatte da' Professori primari in Roma, disegnate, ed intag- 
 liate dal Cav. D. Filippo Juvarra. (Renaissance Sculpture.) 4to. Rome, 
 1722. 
 
 Baltard. — Paris et ses Monumens, mesures, dessines, et graves, avec des Descrip- 
 tions historiques par le Citoyen Amaury Duval : Louvre, St. Cloud, Fontainebleau , 
 Chateau d'Ecouen, &c. 2 vols, large folio. Paris, 1803-5. 
 
 WiLLEMiN, N. X. — Monuments Fran^ais inedits pour servir a I'Histoire des Arts, 
 depuis le VP Siecle jusqu'au commencement du XVIP. Choix de Costumes 
 civils et militaires, d'Armes, Armures, Instruments de Musique, Meubles de toute 
 espece, et de Decorations interieures et exterieures des Maisons. Dessines, 
 graves, et colories d'apres les originaux. Classes chronologiquement et accom- 
 pagnes d'un texte historique et descriptif, par Andre Pottier. 6 vols, small folio. 
 Paris, 1806-39. 
 
 * ON THE ORNAMENT OF THE RENAISSANCE, 1849-50. 
 Syllabus. 
 
 Lecture I. — Introduction — The Trecento. 
 
 The Renaissance (Rinascimento), or Revival. Definition — Varieties. The Trecento 
 (1300) dates from about the Venetian Conquest of Constantinople, 1204 a.d. 
 Interlacings and delicate Scroll-work of Conventional Foliage. Byzantine, in its 
 original elements ; a mixture of Venetian and Siculo-Norman Ornament. 
 
 The great Artists, the great Decorators — Maestro Lapo, Arnolfo di Lapo, Giunta 
 Pisano, Niccola Pisano, Giotto, Orcagna, Brunelleschi, Alberti. Revival of the 
 Round Arch and the Classical Orders. 
 
 Lecture II. — The Renaissance — The Quattrocento. 
 
 The Quattrocento (1400), Tradition superseded by Selection. Natural Imitations 
 in the Details, and the symmetrical Arabesques from Ancient Sculpture, added 
 to the elements of the previous style, with occasional Cartouches, or scrolled- 
 Shield-work. Luca della Robbia — Enamelled Pottery. Andrea Pisano. Iron and 
 Bronze-work — The Gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni at Florence. Lorenzo 
 Ghiberti, 1403-52. Niello-work. Tommaso Finiguerra. Metal-plate engraving, 
 1452. The Renaissance as an Epoch and as a Style. 
 
 Lecture III. — The CiNauECENTO. 
 
 The Cinquecento (1500), the predominant Italian style of the Sixteenth Century, the 
 ultimate goal of the Renaissance. A perfect restoration of Classical Ornament of 
 
86 
 
 THE MODERN Oli RENAISSANCE STYLES. 
 
 SoMMERARD, A. Du. — Les Arts au Moyen Age. (Collection of the Hotel de 
 
 Clugny.) Text, 5 vols. 8vo. ; plates, 6 vols. foUo. Paris, 1838-46. 
 Lacroix and Sere — The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Manners and Cus- 
 toms, Sciences and Arts, &c. ; with fac-simile illustrations. 
 
 Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, Histoire et Description des Moeurs et Usages 
 du Commerce et de 1' Industrie, des Sciences, des Arts, des Litteratures, et 
 des Beaux Arts en Europe. Direction litteraire de M. Paul Lacroix. 
 Direction artistique de M. Ferdinand Sere. Dessins fac-similes par M. 
 A. Rivaud. 5 vols. 4to. Paris, 1848-51. 
 Becker and Hefner — Works of Art and Utensils of the Middle Ages and the 
 Renaissance. 
 
 Kunstwerke and Geriithschaften des Mittelalters und der Renaissance. By 
 C. Becker and J. von Hefner. Many coloured plates, 2 vols. 4to. Frank- 
 fort, 1852. 
 
 Russian Empire. — Ecclesiastical, Imperial, and other Antiquities of the Russian 
 Empire. Published by Supreme Command. (Russian text.) Produced under 
 the direction of an Imperial Commission. By S. Stroganov, M. Zagoskin, 
 J. Snegirev, and A. Th. Veltman. 
 
 Division 1. Ecclesiastical Antiquities. 
 
 ,, 2. Imperial Insignia, Dresses, &c. 
 ,, 3. Arms and Armour. 
 ,, 4. Costume, Pictures, and Portraits. 
 ,, 5. Furniture, Jewellery, &c. 
 ,, 6. Architecture and Decoration. 
 Text, 6 vols. 4to. ; plates, 6 vols, folio. St. Petersburg, 1852. 
 Durelli, G. and F. The Charter House of Pavia. 
 
 La Certosa di Pavia descritta ed illustrata con tavole incise dai fratelli Gaetano 
 e Francesco Durelli. 62 plates. Folio. Milan, 1853. 
 Berain, Jean — Collection of Ornamental Designs. Mural, Chimneypieces, and 
 other Decorations, Cinquecento, Renaissance, and Louis Quatorze. 137 plates, 
 engraved by Daigremont, Scotin, and others. Folio. Paris, c. 1670-1700. 
 
 the Roman period, to the exclusion of all alien forms, with an especial elaboration 
 of the Arabesques and Scrolls, and grotesque combinations of Vegetable and 
 Animal Forms : a purely aesthetic, or sensuous development of Ornament. 
 The Vatican. Bramante. Raphael. Julio Romano. Oil and Fresco. Venice. 
 The Lombardi. Benvenuto CeJlini. Alessandro Vittoria. Majolica -ware. 
 Bernard Palissy. Illustrated Books. Copyright in Designs. General Education 
 of the Decorator. 
 
 Lecture IV. — The Elizabethan — The Louis Quatorze. 
 
 The Elizabethan, the English version of the Renaissance, a partial elaboration of the 
 Tracery or Strap-work, and the Cartouches or scrolled -Shield-work of that style. 
 Examples from old English Mansions. Palladio. Inigo Jones. Sir Christopher 
 Wren. Grinling Gibbons. 
 
 The Louis Quatorze (1643-1715) of Italian origin. The Scroll and Shell chief 
 characteristics. General Debasement of Classical Ornament ; mere play of Light 
 and Shade; Decorations in the Flat superseded by Stucco, and Colour by Gold. 
 Versailles. 
 
 The Louis Quinze (1715-74). Disregard of Symmetry. The Rococo, the Coquillage ; 
 all flat surfaces in ornamental details antagonistic to the Louis Quatorze varieties. 
 General Debasement of Ornament. Total want of Individuality of Design. 
 Munich, a new Revival — Ludwig I. Gaei'tner and Klenze. 
 
THE MODERN OR RENAISSANCE STYLES 
 
 87 
 
 Berain, Chauveau, and Le Moine. — Decorations of the Apollo Gallery, 
 Louvre, &c. 
 
 Ornemens de Peinture et de Sculpture, qui sont dans la Galerie d'Apollon, au 
 Chasteau du Louvre, et dans le grand Appartement du Roy au Palais des 
 Tuilleries. Dessinez et gravez par les Sieurs Berain, Chauveau, et Le 
 Moine. (Fine Examples of the Renaissance and the Louis Quatorze.) 
 Folio, Paris, 1710. 
 
 Lepautre. — Collection de plus belles Compositions de Lepautre. Folio. Paris, 
 1854. 
 
 Versailles. — Souvenir d'une Promenade a Versailles. Vues Interieures. Folio. 
 Paris, 1843. 
 
 Palmer, C. F — The History and Illustrations of a House in the Elizabethan Style 
 
 of Architecture, the property of John Danby Palmer, Esq., and situated in the 
 
 borough town of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The drawings and engravings by 
 
 H. Shaw, F.S.A. Small folio. London, 1838. 
 Richardson, C. J. — Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James L, 
 
 from accurate Drawings and Measurements taken from existing Specimens. 
 
 Folio. London, 1840. 
 Studies from Old English Mansions, their Furniture, Gold and Silver 
 
 Plate, &c. 5 vols, small folio. London, 1841-48. 
 Nash, J. — The Mansions of England in the Olden Time. 4 vols, folio. London, 
 
 1839-49. 
 
 WoRNUM, R, N, — Catalogue of Ornamental Casts in the possession of the Depart- 
 ment of Science and Art. Third Division : Renaissance Styles. With Illustra- 
 tions on Wood, engraved by the Female .Students of the Wood Engraving Class. 
 Published by Authority. 8vo. London, 1854. 
 
 Marble Pauel, Santa Maria de' Miracoli, Venice, by Tullio Lombardi, c. 1500, 
 
 The term Renaissance is used in a double sense; in a general 
 sense implying the revival of art, and specially signifying a 
 peculiar style of ornament, that is, implying both an epoch and a 
 style. The original idea of the Rhiascimento, or re-birth, which is 
 the literal meaning of the term, was purely architectural ; tlie 
 
88 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OE EEVIVAL. 
 
 restoration of classical ornament did not immediately follow the 
 restoration of the classical orders, though this was the eventual 
 result. This is an important consideration, for unless we bear 
 constantly in mind that the original revival was simply that of the 
 classical orders of architecture in the place of the middle-age 
 styles, the apparent inconsistencies we shall meet with in the 
 ornamental details of the Renaissance will be liable to confuse us. 
 The Renaissance styles, therefore, are only those styles of orna- 
 ment which were associated with the gradual revival of the 
 ancient art of Greece and Rome, which was not really accom- 
 plished until the sixteenth century, in that finished style the 
 Cinquecento. 
 
 The course of ancient and modern art has been much the 
 same; both commenced in the symbolic, and ended in the 
 sensuous. The essence of all middle-age art was symbolism, 
 and the transition from the symbolism to the unalloyed principles 
 of beauty is the great feature of the revival; art was wholly 
 separated from religion in the Renaissance, but this transition was 
 only gradually developed. 
 
 It was in Italy that these new styles were almost necessarily 
 developed. Two distinct schools were flourishing there in the 
 twelfth century ; the pure Byzantine at Venice ; and the Siculo- 
 Norman in the south, containing all the Saracenic elements, not 
 excluding even the inscriptions. From these and the introduction 
 of natural forms wholly irrespective of symbolism arose a new 
 style, composed almost exclusively of foliage and tracery. 
 
 This change was due to the gradually growing influence of 
 the Saracenic, not as an absolute style, but as affording new 
 elements of beauty, especially its varied and intricate interlacings, 
 which were so very prominent for a while as to constitute the 
 chief characteristic of a new style, the first step of the transition 
 from middle-age to modern art; Jmown from its mean time, 
 about the year 1300, as the Trecento. 
 
 The new hfe and activity displayed by Italy at this period 
 was in some degree owing to the Crusades, and more especially to 
 the Latin conquest of Constantinople in the year 1204, which 
 displayed many treasures of ancient art to the Venetians, whose 
 
THE RENAISSANCE OR REYIYAL. 
 
 89 
 
 taste was already sufficiently cultivated to appreciate tlieir value ; 
 and four ancient bronze horses, a Christian trophy of this 
 Venetian crusade, still adorn the fa9ade of St. Mark's. 
 
 Venice, already rich in Byzantine works, appears to have 
 taken the lead also in the dawning revival of classical art ; and 
 the Venetians seem likewise to have contributed more than any 
 others to its most finished development, the Cinquecento. The 
 Venetians and tlie Italians generally, controlled by no trammels of 
 tradition, added their own beginnings of natural imitations, to 
 Christian or to Pagan elements indiscriminately ; the prestige of a 
 thousand years was broken ; the classical forms prevailed, and 
 the Quattrocento, the first great style of the Renaissance, was 
 established. From this time, the fifteenth century, we have done 
 with all Christian forms and elements in Italy, in the oi'dinary 
 details of ornamental art. 
 
 The first of these modern innovations is the transition style, the 
 Trecento; which may be considered a negative style, as its 
 peculiarity consists in its exclusion of certain hitherto common 
 ornamental elements. 
 
 The great features of this style are its intricate tracery or 
 interlacings, and delicate scroll-work of conventional foliage, the 
 style being but a slight remove from a combination of the 
 Byzantine and Saracenic, the symbolism of both being equally 
 excluded ; the foliage and floriage, however, are not exclusively 
 conventional, and it comprises a fair rendering of the classical 
 orders, with the restoration of the round arch. Niccola Pisano, 
 Andrea Taffi, Giotto, and their contemporaries, were the great 
 masters of this style ; and the church of San Francesco at 
 Assisi and the Cathedral of Florence are fine examples of it. 
 
 In the Quattrocento, the next style, we have a far more 
 positive revival. Lorenzo Ghiberto may, perhaps, be instanced 
 as its great exponent or representative in ornamental art. Filippo 
 Calendario and Antonio Riccio, called Briosco, contemporary 
 with Ghiberti, are likewise important names of this period ; they 
 were engaged on the new Ducal palace at Venice, which is most 
 comprehensive in the character of its ornamental details. 
 
 The bronze gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, by 
 
90 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OR REVIVAL. 
 
 Ghiberti (1425-52), exhibit one 
 feature of this style in perfec- 
 tion — the prominence of simple 
 natural imitations, which now 
 nearly entirely supersede the 
 conventional representations of 
 previous times. Nature' no 
 longer supplied mere sugges- 
 tions, but afforded directly ex- 
 act models of imitation, whether 
 fruit, flowers, birds, or animals, 
 all disposed simply with a view 
 to the picturesque or orna- 
 mental. The selection of the 
 details might still have some 
 typical signification, but this 
 had no influence in the manner 
 of their execution, which was 
 as purely imitative as their ar- 
 rangement was ornamental. 
 
 In this style, also, we have 
 the first appearance of car- 
 touches or scroUed-shield-work, 
 which became so very promi- 
 nent in the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries. One of the 
 oldest examples I can refer to is 
 the shield containing the Lion 
 of St. Mark, on the Watergate 
 of the Ducal Palace at Venice, 
 perhaps the work of Briosco, 
 in the middle of the fifteenth 
 century ; it suggests the idea of 
 the imitation of a sealed parch- 
 ment, or a MS. illumination. 
 This kind of decoration certainly seems in some way con- 
 nected with heraldry — many of its forms are palpably mere 
 
 Gate of Baptistery, Florence. 
 
THE RENAISSANCE OR REVIVAL. 
 
 91 
 
 armorial shields, which became very common in architectural 
 decoration of a later period, and the fact of such forms being 
 afterwards used as mere elements of ornament does not in any way 
 invalidate such an origin. 
 
 There are none of these forms on the gates of Ghiberti, but it 
 abounds with medallions containing portraits, which perform a 
 similar service in the design as the shields in other examples. 
 
 Another feature of this Quattrocento style — or what is more 
 especially the Italian Renaissance, as distinct from the Cinquecento 
 — is the introduction, for the first time, of the grotesque ara- 
 besque, after the ancient models of Rome and Pompeii ; m fact, 
 the style of decoration is now of a very complicated character, 
 though not confused, for we still have the Treceiito interlacings 
 very largely used as borders, and the scroll, from the petty 
 serpentine character of the previous style, appears with all the 
 fulness of the Roman arabesque, but not yet very prominently 
 introduced. 
 
 Although in the Quattrocento the religious symbolism was 
 excluded generally (not absolutely) from the ornamental details, 
 the religious sentiment was by no means absent from quattro- 
 cento art itself ; on the contrary, the Quattrocento is essentially 
 a religious style, but the religious sentiment was transferred from 
 a secondary to a primary object in the design: we have the 
 actual representation instead of the mere symbol. As, for instance, 
 in the second pair of Ghiberti gates — the history of Moses is the 
 principal subject of illustration of these gates — the ornaments are 
 but the decorations to the several panels ; so it is in all other 
 great schemes, of which the Certosa of Pavia offers many examples. 
 There is little decoration but what is merely auxiliary to some 
 religious design. It was not so in the Cinquecento ; the figures 
 and subjects themselves are a mere part — and often a secondary 
 one — of the ornamental scheme, and the religious element com- 
 paratively disappears. We speak of the Renaissance as an 
 Epoch and as a Style, but the only true or literal revival is the 
 Cinquecento; the other varieties contain too many original and 
 extraneous elements to be considered an historical revival. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE AS A STYLE- 
 
 Bronze. From Door of St. Maclou, Eouen, c. 1542. 
 
 The capricious style, the so-called Renaissance of the sixteenth 
 century, which was in such good repute with the jewellers, 
 was far more conspicuous for its cartouches (its scrolled-shield- 
 work) and tracery than for the more natural or the more classical 
 elements of the style ; the beauties of nature and the standard 
 ornaments of antiquity could not vie, in the general taste, with 
 either the attraction of novelty or the charm of indiscriminate 
 variety, especially with the example of such names as Primaticcio, 
 Holbein, and Benvenuto Cellini, as its advocates ; but in as far 
 as art and manipulation again attained the ascendancy over 
 symbolism it also was a revival, by re-asserting the jesthetic 
 principle. 
 
 This third modern style or variety, to which the name of 
 Renaissance by habit more particularly belongs, is essentially a 
 style of varieties, especially in jewellery and in works in relief: 
 it was very general also out of Italy, and especially in France, 
 where it was introduced about the time of Francis I. ; and it is 
 
RENAISSANCE. 
 
 Carved Door Panels, from the Chateau d'Anet ; now at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. 
 
 C-. 1548. 
 
 P. 93. 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 
 
 93 
 
 still so great a favourite with the French, that French and 
 Renaissance are nearly identical terms. This style is, however, 
 
 made up chiefly of ele- 
 ments foreign to classi- 
 cal taste, and the essence 
 of the Cinquecento is its 
 rejection of these ele- 
 ments ; but before pro- 
 ceeding to the consider- 
 ation of the latter we 
 will consider what is 
 specially signified by 
 the Renaissance as a 
 style. 
 
 It is the style of 
 Benvenuto Cellini. It 
 is also remarkably de- 
 veloped in the remains 
 of the Chateau d'Anet, 
 near Dreux, in France (about 1548), and other buildings of 
 that time, and it is indeed sometimes designated the Henry II. 
 style* 
 
 The mixture of various elements is one of the essentials of 
 this style ; these elements are, the classical ornaments ; conven- 
 tional and natural flowers and foliage — the former often of a pure 
 Saracenic character ; man and animals, natural and grotesque ; 
 cartouches, or pierced and scrolled shields, as above, in great pro- 
 minence ; tracery, independent and developed from the scrolls of 
 the cartouches ; and jewel forms. The whole history of art does 
 not afford a parallel mixture of elements. It was popular in the 
 Low Countries at the same time : the Bourse at Antwerp (1531) 
 is one of its earliest examples. 
 
 Our own Elizabethan is a partial elaboration of the same 
 style, probably introduced into this country from the Low Coun- 
 tries, the only difference being that the Elizabethan, like that of 
 Henry IL of France, exhibits a very striking preponderance of 
 
 Carved Door Panel from the Chateau d'Anet, now at 
 the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. 
 
94 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE. 
 
 strap-and-shield-work ; but this was a gradual result, and what 
 we now term the Elizabethan was not thoroughly developed 
 until the time of James L, when the pierced shields even out- 
 balanced the strap-work. The pure Elizabethan is much nearer 
 allied to the continental styles of the time — classical ornaments, 
 but rude in detail, occasional scroll and arabesque work, and the 
 tracery or strap-work, holding a much more prominent place 
 than the pierced and scrolled shields. For the want of better 
 information these two features are sufficient to date a building — 
 the tracery or strap- work, without the shield-work, will indicate 
 the time of Elizabeth ; the predominance of shield-work that of 
 James I., as at Wollaton and Yarmouth, Elizabethan; Crewe 
 Hall and Canonbury House, Islington, of the time of James. 
 In Crewe Hall, an early work, and attributed to Inigo Jones, the 
 shield-work is not very prominent. 
 
 Such are four varieties of the revival, distinct from its perfect 
 form, the Cinquecento. A design containing all the elements of 
 this period is properly called Renaissance. If a design contain 
 only the tracery and foliage of the period it would be more 
 properly called Trecento ; if it contain, besides these, elaborate 
 natural imitations, festoons, scroll-work, and occasional symme- 
 trical arabesques, it is of the Quattrocento, the Italian Renaissance 
 of the fifteenth century ; and if it display a decided prominence 
 of strap-work and shield-work it is Elizabethan. In all these 
 styles the evidence of their Byzantine and Saracenic origin is 
 constantly preserved — in the tracery, in the scroll-work and 
 foliage, in the rendering of classical ornaments ; and in the earlier 
 varieties, in the shape of the panels containing religious illustra- 
 tions, which even to the close of the Quattrocento are of pure 
 Byzantine shapes, as they abound in the manuscripts. 
 
 The Renaissance is, therefore, something more approximate to 
 a combination of previous styles than a revival of any in par- 
 ticular. It is the first example of selection that we find, and it is 
 a style that was developed solely on aesthetic principles, from a 
 love of the forms and harmonies themselves, as varieties of effect 
 or arrangements of beauty, not because they had any particular 
 
ELIZABETHAN. 
 
 P. 04. From tlio old Guard Chamber, Westminster, c. 1600. 
 
ELIZABETHAN. 
 
 P. 94. 
 
 Carved Stone, Doorway, Crewe Hall, Cheshire. 
 
ELIZABETHAN. North Entrance, Wollaton. 
 
 P. GOTHIC. Place Honse. Cornwall. 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 
 
 95 
 
 signification, or from any superstitious attachment to them as 
 ancestral heirlooms. The decorators of the Renaissance were, 
 in fact, the first artists in ornamental art since the classic periods ; 
 they suffered no limits or restrictions but those of harmony or 
 beauty. 
 
 In the "Ancient Parlour," Holland House. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE. 
 
 PiSTOLESi, E.— The Vatican described and illustrated. 
 
 II Vaticano descritto ed illustrate. 8 vols, folio. Rome, 1829-38. 
 Raphael. — The Arabesques of the Vatican. Oblong folio, 32 plates, n. d. 
 SuYS ET Haudebourt. — Palais Massimi a Rome. Plans, coupes, elevations, profils, 
 voutes, plafonds, &c. des deux Palais Massimi, dessines et publics par F. T. Suys 
 et L. P. Haudebourt. Folio. Paris, n. d. 
 Bettoni, N. — Tombs and Monuments of Italy. 
 
 Le Tombe ed i Monumenti illustri d' Italia. 2 vols. 4to. Milan, 1822-23. 
 Magazzari, G. — The most select Ornaments of Bologna. 
 
 Raccolta de' piu scelti Omati sparsi per la citta di Bologna. Ob. 4to. Bo- 
 logna, 1827. 
 
 Antonelli, G. — A Collection of the best Venetian Ornaments. 
 
 CoUezione de' Migliori Omamenti antichi, sparsi nella citta di Venezia. Ob. 
 4to. Venice, 1831. 
 DiEDO e Zanotto. — Sepulchral Monuments of Venice. 
 
 Novanta Monumenti cospicui di Venezia, illustrati dal Cav. Antonio Diedo e 
 da Francesco Zanotto. Folio. Milan, 1839. 
 CicoGNARA, L. — The most remarkable Buildings and Monuments of Venice. 
 
 Le Fabbriche e i Monumenti cospicui di Venezia ; illustrati da Leopoldo 
 Cicognara, da Antonio Diedo, e da Giannantonio Selva. Con notabili 
 aggiunte e note. 2d edition, 2 vols, large folio. Venice, 1840. 
 Letarouilly, p.' — Edifices of Modern Rome, with Details. 
 
 Edifices de Rome Moderne, ou Recueil des Palais, Maisons, Eglises, Convents, 
 et autres Monuments publics et particuliers les plus remarquables de la 
 Ville de Rome. 3 vols, folio, text 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1840, et seq. 
 Tosi AND Becchio. — Altars, Tabernacles, and Sepulchral Monuments of the Fif- 
 teenth and Sixteenth Centuries, existing at Rome. Folio. Lagny, 1843. 
 Bergamo, Stefano da. — Wood Carvings from the Choir of the Monastery of San 
 Pietro at Perugia, 1535 (Cinquecento) ; said to be from designs by Raphael. 
 
 Gli Ornati del Coro della Chiesa di S. Pietro dei Monaci Cassinese di Perugia, 
 intagliati in Legno da Stefano da Bergamo sopra i disegni di RafFaello 
 Santi da Urbino, ora per la' prima volta tutti raccolti incisi a contorno e 
 pubblicati. Folio. Rome, 1845. 
 Gruner, L. — Specimens of Ornamental Art, selected from the best Models of the 
 Classical Epochs. Illustrated by 80 plates, with descriptive text, by Emil Braun. 
 By Authority. Folio. London, 1850. 
 
 Fresco Decorations and Stuccoes of Churches and Palaces in Italy, 
 
 during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, with Descriptions by Lewis 
 Gruner, K.A. New edition, largely augmented by numerous plates, plain and 
 coloured. Folio. London, 1854. 
 
CINQUECENTO. 
 
CINQUECENTO. 
 
 P. 97. 
 
 From the Facade of Santa Maria de' Miracoli, Brescia, c. 1530, 
 
THE CINQTJECENTO. 
 
 91 
 
 We may now proceed to the consideration of the Cinquecento, 
 which as an art development is the most perfect of all the modern 
 styles. The term Cinquecento does not imply simply sixteenth- 
 century art, but the most prominent style of the sixteenth century ; 
 and it is the real goal of the Renaissance, to which all the efforts 
 of the fifteenth century tended. The varieties we have just been 
 examining are but its wanderings by the way, for want of suffi- 
 ciently conspicuous landmarks. It was only after a great accu- 
 mulation of materials that it was possible to appreciate thoroughly 
 the spirit of the ancient arabesques. 
 
 These came at last out of the excavations of ancient monu- 
 ments at Rome and elsewhere at the close of the fifteenth century 
 — the new revival was developed chiefly by the sculptors of the 
 North, and the painters of Central Italy. The true spirit of 
 ancient art was only now thoroughly comprehended, and all 
 extraneous elements were successively excluded ; but with such 
 capacities as those of Raphael, Julio Romano, the Lombardi, 
 Bramante, or Michelangelo, applied to extricate it from its long 
 entombment, no wonder that it started suddenly into new life, 
 and grew even into a more splendid development than it had ever 
 known, perhaps, in its most gorgeous Roman period. 
 
 However, it would be unjust towards the great quattrocento 
 masters to give aU the credit of this accomplished style of art to 
 even such names as Raphael, Julio Romano, or Bramante. 
 
 The efforts of these masters were at first little or no improve- 
 ment upon the works of their immediate predecessors, the great 
 quattrocentisti, such as Baccio Pintelli, Pietro Perugmo, Francia, 
 Bernardino Luini, and Pinturicchio — the two last scarcely inferior 
 to Julio Romano himself, the prince of decorators ; and the Lom- 
 bardi, Agostino Busti, Andrea Sansovino, and other sculptors of 
 the north of Italy, may claim, perhaps, equal rank in their art. 
 
 The principal monuments of the Cinquecento in painting are 
 the Vatican Loggie, the Villa Madama at Rome, and the ducal 
 palaces at Mantua : the churches of Venice, Verona, and Brescia, 
 afford the best examples of sculpture. The Loggie of Raphael 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 are the arcade of the second story of the Court of San Damaso ; 
 they were executed about 1515, by Julio Eomano, Gian 
 Francesco Penni, and Giovanni da Udine ; the last painted the 
 birds and animals, the abundance of which is a very striking 
 feature in the Vatican arabesques. 
 
 These arabesques of Raphael, or, as they were originally called, 
 grotesques, from being chiefly discovered in the ancient grottoes, 
 are said to have been directly suggested by some ancient remains 
 in the Baths of Titus. They appear to have given a great impetus 
 to this style of decoration, for they are the first of their kind on 
 an extensive scale ; and, even in their character, they differ very 
 widely from the quattrocento arabesques, which were derived 
 chiefly from ancient sculpture and from the MSS., and are very 
 much more formal in their arrangements and detail. 
 
 However, though the arabesques themselves are of the cinque- 
 cento character, in the exuberance and beauty of the curves and 
 foliations, the entire decorations of the pilasters are far from being 
 of pure style. 
 
 In establishing a style from examples, made with only a 
 general regard to its most prominent characteristics, there is, of 
 course, much to reject before we have a characteristic illustration 
 of the style; and the Christian symbols, and other arbitrary 
 forms, which we occasionally find in Raphael's arabesques, must 
 be scrupulously excluded, or the Cinquecento becomes merged 
 into the mixed Renaissance, which led to it, and the distinction of 
 style is lost. 
 
 The Vatican pilasters, like the designs of Luini and Pintu- 
 ricchio, are of a transition character. The Yilla Madama at 
 Rome, and the Ducal Palaces at Mantua, display designs of equal 
 variety of effect, with a greater unity of character in the details. 
 They are the work of Giovanni da Udine and Julio Romano, 
 the same artists who executed those of the Yatican Loggie, but in 
 these later works many of the licenses in the Vatican arabesques 
 have been in a great measure avoided. They are of a more 
 unmixed classical character ; the scrolls are particularly fine. 
 
 Some of the Vatican compositions, from their mechanical 
 
THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 99 
 
 absurdities, are ludicrous and offensive, while the more extravagant 
 designs in the later works are at most fanciful ; and, indeed, the 
 grotesque is perhaps the most prominent feature of the cinque- 
 cento arabesque. 
 
 The designer, like the poet, has his license with regard to 
 possibilities or probabilities. A mere natural improbability, where 
 natural imitation is in no degree essential, is the privilege of the 
 fancy; but mechanical disproportions and impossibilities, viola- 
 tions of the most palpable laws of gravity, cannot be otherwise than 
 offensive. Nothing can bring them within the range of good 
 taste, as they are essentially obnoxious to aesthetic sensibility, 
 which is the truest test of propriety in art, the effect being analo- 
 gous to a discord in music. We may be extremely grotesque or 
 fanciful, without being ridiculous. 
 
 There need be no limit to our chimeras, for nature is not their 
 test ; but if we combine monsters in our scrolls, or place animals 
 upon the tendrils of plants, we should at least proportion them in 
 size to the strength of the stem or tendril upon which they are 
 placed. This is not observed in many of the Vatican arabesques, 
 and it is occasionally disregarded, also, in the later works of Mantua; 
 yet these are, in other respects, the standard types of the cinque- 
 cento arabesques, as developed in painting. 
 
 It was this same fault of painful disproportion which Pliny and 
 Yitruvius found with the arabesques of Pompeii, which display 
 anomalies not so much as approached by even the worst specimens 
 of modern times. Natural foliage teaches us that the greater the 
 burden, the thicker the stem ; the gradual diminishing of the stem 
 as its burden decreases, is one of the essential beauties of foliage. 
 And this law is admirably observed in nearly all the best examples 
 of the Cinquecento, especially in the sculpture; but there are 
 otherwise good specimens in which it is not observed. It is neces- 
 sarily a condition peculiar to arabesque scroll-work ; for in a con- 
 tinuous scroll we do not require this variation of thickness, as it is 
 a mere ornamental repetition, every portion in itself being complete ; 
 and as it is indeterminate, no portion of the curve has more to do 
 than another. This is an essential difference: in the arabesque 
 
100 
 
 THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 curves the scroll or spiral is always completed ; it is a determinate 
 figure, and its elegance or lightness will 
 depend upon the relative proportions of 
 the stem. 
 
 This arabesque scroll-work is the 
 most prominent feature of the Cinque- 
 cento ; and with this it combines m its 
 elements every other feature of classical 
 art, with the milimited choice of natural 
 and conventional imitations from the en- 
 tire animal and vegetable kingdoms, both 
 arbitrarily disposed and combined. 
 
 Another of its features is its beau- 
 tiful variations of ancient standard orna- 
 ments, as the anthemion especially, of 
 which there are some admirable Cinque- 
 cento examples. 
 
 The guilloche or plat, the fret, and 
 the acanthus scroll, are likewise favoui'- 
 ites, and occur in many varieties. The 
 Cinquecento appears, indeed, to be the 
 special province of the curve in its infi- 
 nite play of arabesque; but in all its 
 developments it is in the form of some 
 natural object or artificial combination. 
 The cartouches and strapwork wholly 
 disappear from the best examples. In 
 all the extensive works in sculpture of 
 the north of Italy, from about 1480 
 until 1550, such forms are extremely 
 rare; and in defining the Cinquecento 
 as a style, their exclusion becomes an 
 essential condition. Absolute works of 
 art, such as vases, and implements and carved wood, chateau de GaiUon, 
 
 . p n 1 • 1 • J. France, c. 1505. 
 
 mstruments ot all kmds, are promment 
 
 elements of the cinquecento arabesque ; but cartouches and strap- 
 
OINQUECENTO. 
 
 P. 100. 
 
 From a Marble Fountain in the Louvre, Paris. Italian, 1508. 
 
THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 101 
 
 work, as unauthorised by ancient practice, are necessarily excluded 
 from the style as a presumed ancient revival. 
 
 It is, however, in sculpture, perhaps, that we must look for 
 the purest examples of this style, as regards the mere elaboration 
 of form ; and among the cinquecento scul})tors, none paid more 
 attention to ornament than the Lombardi of Venice and Agostino 
 Busti of Milan. Venice abounds with the works of the Lom- 
 bardi, of whom Tullio is prominently distinguished. His monu- 
 mental bas-reliefs have, perhaps, never been surpassed for their 
 exquisite spirit and delicacy of execution ; and even in their 
 details they are unsurpassed by the best examples of antiquity. 
 Sometimes they consist of fine elaborations of the pure classic 
 acanthus scroll ; at others, and more commonly, of the standard 
 arabesques, with the interspersing of grotesque figures and ani- 
 mals, and occasionally of simple curves, with ordinary natural 
 foliations, combining a strict imitation with a masterly freedom of 
 execution. 
 
 Another chief feature of the Cinquecento is the admirable play 
 of colour in its arabesques and scrolls ; and it is worthy of note, 
 that the three secondary colours, orange, green, and purple, 
 perform the chief parts in all the coloured decorations. Its great 
 leading form, the acanthus scroll or foliated spiral, is sometimes 
 a complete iris, with its beautiful variety of tints, as in some of 
 Julio Romano's decorations at Mantua. And where we have but 
 two colours, we have constantly complements. 
 
 Indeed, the Cinquecento may be considered the culminating 
 style in ornamental art, as presenting the most perfect forms and 
 the most pleasing varieties, nature and art vieing with each other 
 in their efforts to attract and gratify the eye. It appeals only to 
 the sense of beauty. All its efforts are directly made to attain 
 the most attractive effects, without any intent to lead the mind to 
 an ulterior end, as is the case with the Byzantine and other sym- 
 bolic styles. The cinquecento forms are supposed to be symbols 
 of beauty alone ; and it is a remarkable concession to the ancients, 
 that the moderns, to attain this result, were compelled to recur to 
 their works ; and it is only now in the contemplation of this consum- 
 
102 
 
 THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 mate style, that the term Renaissance becomes quite intelligible. 
 The Renaissance^ or rebirth of ornament, is accomplished in the 
 Cinquecento ; still the term is not altogether ill appropriated to the 
 earlier styles, because these were really the stepping-stones to the 
 Cinquecento ; and, as already explained, in them, also, the aesthetic 
 was substituted for the symbolic. The principles, therefore, were 
 identical, though, from imperfect apprehension, elements strange 
 to the classical period were generally admitted; it was a revival 
 of principle, though not of element. 
 
 The Cinquecento very generally pervaded manufactures for a 
 time in France as well as Italy, though for a much shorter period 
 than its great beauties and applicability would seem to justify. 
 The arms and armour, and the pottery or majolica ware of the 
 time, afford some of the finest examples of the style. 
 
 It was, however, not long successfully pursued; it appears 
 to be too exact in its details, and too comprehensive in its range 
 of elements, for the ordinary grasp of the decorator, whether from 
 the kingdoms of nature, or the realms of art, poetry, and history ; 
 every form being excluded having neither wit nor beauty to 
 recommend it. It required too much from the designer's powers, 
 for, besides a familiarity with the art of classic antiquity, it exacted 
 a considerable acquaintance with the figure, as well as a mastery 
 over the animal and vegetable forms generally. 
 
 Accordingly, already in the sixteenth century, ornamental 
 art fell back to what it was before that time ; and from the middle 
 of the sixteenth century, as illustrated by the works of Alessandro 
 Vittoria, Nicola dei Conti, Alfonso Alberghetti, and Benvenuto 
 Cellini, we again find the promiscuous mixture of forms of all 
 kinds, with a prominence of the cartouche, as in the ordinary 
 Renaissance, which, from its far less definite character, gave 
 greater liberty to the artist, in accordance with his own vague 
 notions of variety, the attainment of which seems now, and for a 
 long period, to have usurped every other purpose. 
 
 The Cinquecento is essentially an Italian style, though in some 
 few instances good examples are found out of Italy, especially in 
 France ; as the monument to Louis XII. in the church of St. 
 
CINQUECENTO. 
 
 p. 103. From the Monument to Louis XII., St. Denis, near Paris, c. 1520. 
 
THE CINQUECENTO. 
 
 103 
 
 Denis, near Paris, and several examples at Rouen, and at the 
 Chateau de Gaillon, Normandy. These were, however, either 
 carried out by Italians, or directly from some Italian example. 
 
 The ordinary ornament of the Renaissance was at the same 
 time very common in the North and the West, and was evidently 
 much spread by the little works with ornamental marginal wood- 
 cuts, published frequently in the sixteenth century, and expressly 
 for designers for manufactures ; as in the case of the edition of 
 Alciati's Emblems, published at Lyons in 1551, of which there is 
 a copy in the Library of the Department. 
 
 Chimney-piece, Louvre. By Germain Pilon. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE LOUIS QUATORZE, 
 
 For a century after the development of the Cinquecento, there 
 was little individuality in the practice of ornamental art. Archi- 
 tecture itself was completely domineered by a mere classical 
 pedantry, rule and measure usurped the place of expression. 
 Towards the close of the seventeenth century, however, a new 
 style commenced to develope itself (the Louis Quatorze), essentially 
 an ornamental style, and differing very materially in principle from 
 nearly all that preceded it, its chief aim being effect by a brilliant 
 play of light and shade ; colour or mere beauty of form in detail 
 having no part in it whatever. This style, like most others of 
 modern times, arose in Italy ; and we may, perhaps, look upon 
 the Chiesa del Gesu, or Jesus Church, at Rome, as its type or 
 model. The principal decorators of this church were Giacomo 
 della Porta, Pietro de Cortona, and Father Pozzi, author of the 
 well-known Jesuits' perspective. 
 
 Of the vague character of the intermediate style, after the 
 decline of the cinquecento, the various nautilus-shells are good 
 examples, — something of the Renaissance, Elizabethan, and Louis 
 Quatorze combined. 
 
 The great medium of the Louis Quatorze (1643-1715) was 
 gilt stucco-work, which, for a while, seems to have almost wholly 
 superseded decorative painting ; and this absence of colour in the 
 principal decorations of the period seems to have led to its more 
 striking characteristic, — infinite play of light and shade. 
 
 Such being the aim of the style, exact symmetry in the parts 
 was no longer essential, and, accordingly, in the Louis Quatorze 
 
LOUIS QUINZE. 
 
THE LOUIS QUATORZE. 
 
 105 
 
 varieties, we, for the first time, occasionally find S3m[imetry syste- 
 matically avoided. This feature was gradually more and more 
 elaborated, till it became essential in the Louis Quinze, and ulti- 
 mately led to that debased yet popular style, the Rococo, in which 
 symmetry, either in the balance of the whole or in the details of 
 the parts, seems to have been quite out of place. 
 
 Versailles is the great repertory of the Louis Quatorze ; but 
 the whole was evidently intended to present a gorgeous classical 
 scheme of decoration. Foreign elements, however, and foreign 
 treatment, both found their place; and it is to these foreign 
 features that the decorations owe their individuality. They are 
 the constant and peculiar combination of the scroll and shell — the 
 anthemion treated as a shell, and a small scroll, sometimes plain 
 and sometimes clothed in acanthus foliations. All the other ele- 
 ments of the style are classical, such as we find them treated in 
 the cinquecento, with some slightly modified new varieties. The 
 fiddle-shape combination of scrolls is, perhaps, a legacy of the 
 ordinary Renaissance. 
 
 The Louis Quinze (1715-74) does not much differ from the 
 Louis Quatorze in its elements; but yet, from a certain manner 
 of treatment, must be considered as distinct in a discrimination of 
 styles. It differs in this, that the merely characteristic elements 
 of the Louis Quatorze became paramount in the Louis Quinze ; 
 all its details, instead of coming direct from the Cinquecento, or 
 Renaissance, came immediately from the French schemes of the 
 preceding reign ; the diverging, therefore, from the original types 
 became ever wider. 
 
 In comparing good examples of these two styles, we shall 
 find that the broad acanthus foliations or featherings of the scroll 
 in the Louis Quatorze have become very much elongated, ap- 
 proaching the flag or fleur-de-lis leaf, and the palm-branch in the 
 Louis Quinze. 
 
 Perhaps the great feature of the later style, and that to which 
 it owes its bizarre character, as much as any other, is its rejection 
 of symmetry in its details, even in the most central and promi- 
 nent places ; a feature which until now would have been con- 
 
106 
 
 THE LOUIS QUATORZE. 
 
 sidered a capital defect in a design: such is the caprice of fashion. 
 But as a general play of light and shade was the chief aim of the 
 style, it was little injured by a want of symmetry in details, 
 always too indefinite for special attention. 
 
 The play of light and shade in sudden and varied contrasts is 
 so essential an element of the Louis Quatorze styles, that they do 
 not admit flat surfaces in any of their ornamental details ; all are 
 concave or convex, perfectly smooth but never flat — even the 
 anthemion in these styles becomes a hollow shell. They thus 
 contrast very strongly with the Elizabethan, in which flat surfaces 
 in the details abound, as in its infinite strapwork; even in the 
 cartouches, or pierced and scrolled shields, the curved planes are 
 flat. All such members in the Louis Quatorze styles would be 
 enamelled or moulded. This constant varymg of the surface 
 gives every point of view its high lights and brilliant contrasts ; 
 and for this reason stucco superseded decorations in the flat and 
 gold colour in all Louis Quatorze designs. 
 
 Still the Louis Quatorze is not altogether unfit for decorations 
 in the flat, but it is limited to designs on a small scale, and colour 
 is in these cases indispensable ; this is exemplified by the designs 
 of Watteau. 
 
 Watteau, in fact, reduced the Louis Quatorze to colour, and 
 brought it more generally within the province of manufactures. 
 He used the elements of the style for the frames or bomidaries of 
 small panels, — pastoral or rural scenes, which he surromided by 
 fantastical borders, of scrolls, fruit, flowers, and foliage, birds, 
 insects, and animals. 
 
 The spirit of these Louis Quatorze styles, and, perhaps, more 
 particularly the Louis Quinze, pervaded all manufactures, more 
 or less, until the Revolution, not only in France but in many parts 
 of Europe. Meissonier, Claude Ballin, and Le Pautre, were each 
 in their way the most popular designers of their time. Even in 
 Italy, Bernini used the designs of Le Pautre for external and 
 internal decoration : he was the greatest master of the Louis 
 Quatorze in its adaptation to ornamental sculpture, independent 
 of architecture; his bravura of line was remarkable, and all 
 
THE LOUIS QUATORZE. 
 
 107 
 
 tending, by the constant alternation of the round and hollow, or 
 projecting and receding shapes, to the one great aim of the style — 
 a lively play of light and shade. 
 
 The chief distinction between these two styles is the want of 
 symmetry in the Louis Quinze ; it is in many of its examples 
 a mere and almost random dispersion of the scroll and shell, 
 mixed only with that peculiar crimping or shell-work, the 
 coquillage. Still with these elements beautiful effects were pro- 
 duced, when only a slight attention was bestowed upon the 
 arrangement of the masses ; but when this last was neglected, the 
 designs became a mere mass of vagaries, of indescribable forms, 
 and the Rococo was displayed in the perfection of the bizarre in 
 ornament, and in which the thread of the historic styles is at last 
 completely run out 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 In this review of the ornamental devices of thirty-five cen- 
 turies, we have certainly had every variety of expression that the 
 human mind is familiar with. I have dwelt, of course, upon the 
 leading styles only ; any other course would have been impossible 
 with an ordinary degree of clearness. By converting mere 
 varieties into styles, we should so multiply the number of orna- 
 mental expressions that the student would probably be so much 
 confused as to be unable to eliminate even the generic varieties 
 of ornamental art. Thus, I do not pretend, in this review of the 
 styles, to have explained more than the great leading develop- 
 ments of ancient, middle-age, and modern art. 
 
 In the early period, with the Egyptians, we found symbolism, 
 richness of material, with simplicity of arrangement, and an artistic 
 crudity, as the prominent characteristics. In the second, or Greek 
 period, we have exclusively an aesthetic aim, with general beauty 
 of effect, and miiform excellence of detail throughout; every- 
 where displaying the highest artistic skill. In the third, or Roman 
 period, still with an aesthetic aim, we have equal skill, with a 
 taste for a more gorgeous detail and more general magnificence. 
 
 In the Byzantine, — the first style of the second period, — we 
 go back to at first an almost exclusive symbolism, which, how- 
 ever, in the course of a century or two, is elaborated into a style 
 of a very gorgeous general effect, — combining the aesthetic with 
 the symbolic, — partly owing to richness of materials; but as 
 prejudice was gradually overcome, a comprehensive and beau- 
 tiful style was ultimately developed in the sixth century, but 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 109 
 
 nearly always displaying, perhaps, more skill in its general effects 
 than in its details. 
 
 The Saracenic is the same in principle, — a gorgeous general 
 effect, without any remarkable merit of detail : it is made up of 
 an infinite number of minute contrasts of light and shade and 
 colour, — something like a formal flower-garden, wanting the sim- 
 plicity and grandeur of natural scenery ; but it is capable of very 
 beautiful general effects on a small scale. 
 
 In the Gothic, again, — the last of the middle-age styles, — 
 symbolism more than divides the field with art, and induces much 
 of that crudity of detail which must be the inevitable result of a 
 divided attention. The general effects are often grand ; but the 
 details are ill expressed, and inferior. 
 
 In the Renaissance, — the herald of the modern styles, and, 
 like the classical styles, purely aesthetic, — we have, at first, the 
 natural vagaries of an unaccustomed freedom ; which, however, 
 eventually settled into a genuine revival of the most finished 
 style of antiquity, — the cinquecento. Then came the final decline, 
 — mere love of display, gold and glitter: such is the Louis 
 Quatorze, — still, prodigiously clever in the means it took to 
 accomplish its effects. The Louis Quatorze is more general in its 
 aim than any style whatever; thus its details, provided they 
 generated sufficient contrasts of light and shade, were of no indi- 
 vidual consequence. Accordingly we find, after a little time, 
 that all detail is absolutely neglected, and with it all study ; and 
 in the absurd Rococo, — the very natural result of this general 
 neglect, — we have designs made up of details so without meaning 
 and individuality, as to defy description. They are Rococo : we 
 can come no nearer to them ; and with this Rococo, the first term 
 of existence, the last of the nine lives of ornamental art expires. 
 
 This vast store of materials, taken in the mass, without 
 selection or order, is a mere chaos; and so far from creating 
 variety, will, unless classified into schools or styles, engender only 
 a mere uniform repetition of confusion. 
 
 This is the view, then, with which we study the history of 
 art, — to discriminate and individualise the styles of the various 
 
110 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 epochs; and by thus developing distinct characters, multiply to 
 an equal extent our means of viewing nature, and our powers, 
 consequently, of representation. The real result of historical 
 knowledge, therefore, is not the mere copying of what has been 
 done before, but the acquisition of a power which not only super- 
 sedes all copying, but which alone will ensure the production of 
 that variety of ornamental design, which, the simplest theory must 
 make manifest, is the ostensible effort of every designer. 
 
 Had the knowdedge of styles been a little more disseminated 
 in the present day, we should not have found the Louis XY., and 
 the Rococo, as the prevailing English tastes of the Great Ex- 
 hibition of 1851. In fault of historical knowledge, and its 
 consequently enlarged views of art, the designer has been reduced 
 to merely copying his neighbour: hence the still paramount 
 importance in this country of the last great historic style of 
 France, — the Louis XY., — in silver, in wood- carving, in carpets, 
 damasks, — even in lace, also, and in many other branches. 
 
 The great lesson we may learn from a study of the character- 
 istics of styles is, that our designs want individuality: they are 
 too general, too much alike : we require something more than 
 mere sprigs and colonnades, or conventional scrolls. We want 
 both systems of detail and systems of arrangement. A picture is 
 not an ornament ; but every flower, however simple, and, indeed, 
 every leaf, — is capable of being converted into an ornament by 
 the mere aid of repetition on a geometrical basis ; and the same 
 forms may be beautifully varied by altering this basis ; and again, 
 by new judicious combinations of colour, applied to the same 
 geometric scheme. 
 
 We should work on the principles of construction of natural 
 objects, independent of their individualities of development. The 
 value of such a system in ornamental design is incalculable : but 
 it is only by a knowledge of the characteristics of styles, — the 
 standard types of all ages, — that even system will effect that 
 variety and individuality of expression, which alone will secure a 
 permanent gratification or success. 
 
 The great success of the Greeks was not more than com- 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 mensurate with the strict adherence to principles of beauty upon 
 which even their slightest efforts depended The cheap manu- 
 factures of antiquity, as the ordinary Greek terra cottas, were 
 cheap by reason of the nature of their material, not from any 
 neglect of care in their manufacture. 
 
 The ancient prosperity of the Samians is a remarkable instance 
 of the great national benefit to be derived from the judicious 
 application of art to manufactures, and is worthy the emulation 
 of their modern British competitors. The small island of Samos, 
 by its potteries alone, carried on an important trade with all the 
 great cities of the Greek and Roman empires, and thus was 
 enabled to compete in splendour and luxury with the greatest 
 states of the ancient world. Herodotus (iv. 152) speaks of the 
 unparalleled fortune of a Samian merchant. It was the first 
 Greek state that attained celebrity in the arts. Its temple of 
 Juno, the famous Hermum, was perhaps the most celebrated 
 art-repository of antiquity, and was itself a work of extraordinary 
 grandeur. The same Greek historian (iii. 60) speaks of it as the 
 largest temple he ever saw, though it was constructed entirely of 
 marble. The workers in metal and the painters were equal in 
 renown to the sculptors and architects of Samos. All this mag- 
 nificence was but the fruit of its industrial ingenuity, its skilful 
 ship-building, its enterprising commerce, its matchless potteries. 
 The skill of its potters made the very soil they trod upon more 
 precious than gold. This earthenware of Samos carried its com- 
 merce over every sea, to every port, until its merchants became 
 princes, and this small island-state was conspicuous among the 
 richest nations of the world. It was this distinction, this political 
 pre-eminence, which excited the jealousy of its more powerful 
 neighbours : and with its freedom, its commerce and its prosperity 
 declined together. 
 
 The sun still shines on the fruitful valleys of Samos, and it 
 still abounds in the valuable clay of which its ancient potteries 
 were manufactured ; but its population has declined into a mere 
 scattered and rude peasantry; its potters have departed; the 
 genial clay without the skilful hand to fashion it is of little avail. 
 
112 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Such was Samos when it directed its energies to the arts ; 
 such is it now that all cultivation of art has ceased. It was but 
 the judicious application of art to industry that made this small 
 Levantine island once the illustrious rival of great empires. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London -.—Printed by G. Baeclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq. 
 
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
 
 3125 00987 9939