The arabesques of the Vatican have been noticed before; there were,
however, arabesques on the ceiling of the Sala del Cambio at Perugia,
painted by Perugino, Raphael’s master, also in the Borgia apartment at
the Vatican, and in the Villa Madama; arabesques of the latter are said
to have been copied from the plaster work in Hadrian’s villa near
Tivoli.
Raphael, being one of the greatest modern painters, added to the beauty
of this sort of decoration by the exquisite drawing and composition of
the figures. Some of the medallions at the Loggias contain subjects said
to be taken from antique gems, and Scripture subjects are also
introduced; the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise is balanced by
one of Omphale and Hercules, the queen having the club.
When a cipher or a sign conveys to our minds an idea, or an association
of ideas, we call it a “_symbol_,” particularly if the idea is connected
with religion. The commonest form met with in symbolic art is the
circle, as the symbol of eternity, from its having neither beginning nor
ending; it often appears as a serpent with its tail in its mouth, for
this, like many other Pagan symbols, was adopted by the early
Christians. The circle in the shape of a wheel has perhaps had the
widest signification in art. The wheel of fire, or sun-wheel, was an
emblem of the Teutonic sun-worshippers. The _tchakra_, or sacred wheel,
is the emblem of the religion of Brahma; it is the shield of Brahma and
Vishnu, as a wheel of fire; it is to the Siamese a type of universal
dominion, a sign of disaster, and the symbol of eternity. (See Fig.
168.) The wheel form at Fig. 169 is the _kikumon_ or badge of the Empire
of Japan; it is derived, however, from the chrysanthemum.
[Illustration:
FIG. 168.--The “tchakra,” or sacred wheel of Brahma and Vishnu,
also called the “wheel of fire.”
]
[Illustration: FIG. 169.--Kiku-Mon, badge of the empire of Japan.]
Christian art, from the beginning of the first century of our era to the
fourth, consisted almost entirely of symbols. The first Christians were
fearful lest their new converts should relapse into Paganism, and so
avoided images; and being persecuted they used only a few symbols such
as the fish, the dove, the lamb, and the monogram of Christ. This last
consisted of two Greek letters X and P (Chi and Rho), the Chi forming
the cross as shown at A in Fig. 170; another form of this is shown at B,
in which a cross has the Rho formed on the upright stem, and has the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha and Omega) written
beneath the arms. This form sometimes appears on the nimbus over the
head of a lamb; the latter sometimes stands on a round hill, at the
bottom of which issue four streams, the whole symbol signifying “Christ
the first and the last, the Lamb of God,” the streams “the four
evangelists whose gospels are the water of life to the whole world.”
At C, Fig 170, we have the monogram that the Emperor Constantine placed
on the _labarum_, or
[Illustration: FIG. 170.--Sacred Monograms in Christian Art.]
Imperial standard, after his conversion; it was woven in gold on purple
cloth. Christ was sometimes represented as Orpheus, with a lyre in his
hand, amid the birds and beasts; the commonest personification of Him
was, however, as the Good Shepherd caring for His sheep, in which He was
always represented young and beautiful. Every allegorical representation
of the Founder of the Christian religion was rendered pleasing to the
eye of the new converts, and anything pertaining to the dreadful scene
of the Crucifixion was avoided. The Christian Church was symbolized
under the form of a ship, with our Lord as the pilot and the
congregation as the passengers; whence we may have the word _nave_ (of
a church), from _navis_, a ship; _naus_, a ship, was also the Greek name
for the inner part of a temple.
[Illustration: FIG. 171.--Counterchange ornament, Spanish embroidery.]
The dove in Christian art is the emblem of fidelity and of the Holy
Spirit, the pelican of the Atonement, and the phœnix of the
Resurrection. One of the symbols of our Lord is a fish, because its
Greek name Ἰχθύς (Ichthus) contains the initials of “Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the Saviour.” It was also used as the symbol of a Christian
passing through the world without being sullied by it, as the fish is
sweet, in spite of its living in salt water; it is found engraved in the
soft stone of the Roman catacombs (where the early Christians took
refuge), with the monogram and other inscriptions. The _Vesica piscis_,
or fish form, often encloses the Virgin and Child, and is the common
form of the seals of religious houses, abbeys, colleges, &c. The four
evangelists are represented respectively as a lion, a calf, a man, and
an eagle,--St. Mark being the lion, the calf St. Luke, the man St.
Matthew, and the eagle St. John.
[Illustration: FIG: 172.--Moresque Counterchange pattern, inlaid
marble.]
Many plants are used as symbols in Christian art: the vine, as typical
of Christ, during Byzantine times and the Middle Ages. In Scripture we
find frequent allusions to the vine and grapes; the wine-press is
typical of the “Passion,” as we read in Isaiah. The passion-flower, as
its name denotes, was, and is, used as an emblem of the death of Christ.
The lily is the emblem of purity, and has always been used as the
attribute of the Virgin Mary in pictures of the Annunciation. We find
this plant often engraved on the tombs of early Christian virgins. From
the iris, formerly called a lily, is derived the flower de luce, or
_fleur-de-lis_, one of the finest conventional renderings of any flower;
it was much used as a decoration in sculpture, painting, and weaving
during the thirteenth and following centuries. It was the royal insignia
of France; mediæval Florence bore it on her shield and on her coin, the
_fiorino_; and it was used in the crowns of many sovereigns, from King
Solomon down to our own Queen. The trefoil is an emblem of the Trinity,
and is a common form in Gothic decoration.
[Illustration: FIGS. 173 and 174.--Interchange ornament.]
The symbolic and mnemonic classes have now been described, and the
_æsthetic_ alone remains. Æsthetic form we owe to the clearness and
directness of the Greek mind. The Greeks were contented with the simple
solution of the problem before them, which was to beautify what they had
in hand. If they wanted allegorical subjects they confined them to their
figure subjects, and being thus freed from other disturbing elements,
they concentrated their whole attention on perfecting floral form. They
attained perfection in this as they did in their figures, by correcting
the peculiarities of the individual by a study of the best specimens of
a whole class; and thus succeeded in making the most perfect type of
radiating ornament, and of adapting it to sculpture and painting, on
flat and curved surfaces. This ornament has perfect fitness, for you can
neither add to it nor take away from it without spoiling its perfection.
The same may be said, only in a minor degree, of the colour applied to
the carved patterns of the Saracens and Moors: they are both æsthetic
works, solely created for their beauty. A symphony in music is a
composition of harmonious sounds; it has little subject-matter, and is
analogous to æsthetic ornament, only the ear is charmed by the former,
as the eye is by the latter.
APPENDIX
ON THE ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE
It seemed to me that a short chapter on the orders would be useful to
students, not only because so much ornament is used as an enrichment to
architecture itself, but also because a very much larger proportion of
it is used in conjunction with architecture, and without some slight
knowledge of the subject, the ornament and the architecture, instead of
setting off each other’s characteristic beauties, are apt to spoil one
another. The rigid lines of architecture should act as a foil to the
graceful curves of ornament, and the plain faces should not only set off
fretted surfaces, but make the undulations of carved ornament precious.
When I speak of ornament, I include the highest form of it, the human
figure, and I may point to the Doric frieze of the Greeks as a brilliant
example of success. This conjunction of ornament and architecture,
however, demands high qualities in the ornament, and insight in the
artists as to what is wanted for mutual contrast or emphasis; and if
this be successfully accomplished, I think it must be conceded that the
combined work gives a finer result than the uncombined excellence of
each.
Mean ornament, whether of figures or plants, tends to degrade the
architecture with which it is associated, and may spoil it by the main
lines not properly contrasting with the adjacent architectural forms, or
by the ornament being on too large a scale. I have seen in modern work,
the stately dignity of a grand room utterly destroyed by colossal
figures. Michelangelo, in his superb ceiling at the Sistine Chapel, has
by use of gigantic figures dwarfed the vast chapel into a doll’s house.
I may add that there is monumental colouring as well as monumental form:
the finest examples of such colouring may be seen in many of the grand
buildings in Italy and at Constantinople, notably at St. Mark’s and at
Sta. Sophia; but you may also see magnificent halls and churches,
coloured to look like French plum-boxes.
The elaborate system of proportioning parts to one another and to the
whole, which is so important in architecture as to be its main
characteristic, is equally valuable for the division of spaces for
ornament.
Mouldings which form so great a feature in architecture as to have given
rise to the saying that “mouldings are architecture,” give lessons in
elegance of shape, and in the proper contrast of forms, that are useful
to the ornamentalist who has to design the shapes of small objects;
while the Corinthian capital has been the prototype of most of the
floral capitals up to the present day.
It is admitted that in those periods of history when architecture,
sculpture, and painting attained their highest excellence, the painter,
sculptor, and architect have not only sympathized with one another, but
each one has been no mean judge of the sister arts. At the Renaissance,
and immediately before it, artists are to be found who were goldsmiths,
sculptors, painters, and architects, and some few who were poets,
musicians, and engineers as well.
The origin of the orders was probably in the verandah of the Greek
wooden hut. In some of the paintings on the Greek vases may be seen the
processes by which the Doric and Ionic capitals were evolved; but for
our purpose, which is not archæology, only some of the best examples
need be referred to, after the wooden hut had been converted into a
marble temple.
An order consists of a column supporting an architrave, frieze, and
cornice, which is called the entablature. The column generally consists
of a shaft, a capital, and a base, except in the Doric columns of the
Greeks and early Romans, which were baseless. The capital was the
capping-piece which you now see put on the tops of story-posts by
carpenters to shorten the bearing of the bressummer. The architrave was
what we now call a bressummer, and bore the trusses of the roof; the
fascias of the architrave show that in some instances this bressummer
was composed of three balks of timber, each projecting slightly over the
one below. The frieze was the wide band immediately above the architrave
and below the cornice, comprising the triglyphs or ends of the trusses,
and the filling in between them, which is called the metope. The metopes
were left open in early Greek temples, but were eventually filled with
sculpture. The cornice was the projecting boarded caves; while the
slanting
[Illustration: FIG. 175.--The Parthenon. Greek Doric: enlarged section
of annulets at A.]
undersides of the mutules were copied from the slanting timbers of the
roof.
I will speak first of the Greek orders, not only because they were the
earliest, but because the Greeks showed the greatest artistic
sensibility in their choice of forms, in the composition of lines, and
in their arrangements for light and shade. I begin with the DORIC. The
shaft is conical, and fluted with twenty shallow segmental flutes that
finished under the capital, which consists of a thick square cap called
the abacus, with a circular echinus under it, finished at the bottom
with rings called annulets, and a little below them is a deep narrow
sunk chase called the necking, and the shaft has no base.
The Greeks were a seafaring people, mainly inhabiting the sea-shore, the
islands of the Archipelago, and the edges of Asia Minor, and were thus
acquainted with the forms of the sea and of shells. The echinus of the
Doric capital resembles the shell of the sea-urchin, or echinus, when it
has lost its spines, and was probably called after it. The ovolo
moulding that was most used was called the cyma or wave. At the
Parthenon, the finest example of the Doric, the architrave is plain, and
was once adorned with golden shields and inscriptions; it is capped by a
square moulding called the tænia or band; the frieze, with its square
cymatium, is capped with a carved astragal, and is divided
longitudinally by the triglyphs, projecting pieces, ornamented with two
whole and two half vertical channels, from which the word triglyph takes
its name; below the tænia is a narrower square moulding the width of the
triglyph, and beneath it, ornamented with drops called guttæ. I may
point to this as a most artistic device both to relieve the monotony of
the tænia and to weld the architrave with the frieze. The triglyphs
begin at the angles of the frieze, and range centrally over all the rest
of the columns, with an additional triglyph between each, though in the
frieze over the larger central opening of the Propylæum there are two
intermediate triglyphs; the nearly-square metopes between the triglyphs
are filled with figure-sculpture. The cornice consists of the square
mutule band, from which the mutules project, whose slanting underside is
enriched with drops; and above the mutules is their capping, a narrow
fascia under the corona; the corona or main projecting member of the
cornice is throated at the bottom, and its capping consists of a wide
fillet, deeply-throated, with a hawk’s-bill moulding under it. These
together form the most superb piece of architectural work that exists,
and has called forth the rapturous admiration of all the tasteful in the
world, from the time it was built to the time of Ernest Renan, one of
its latest distinguished admirers.
I have lingered over this order because it is a masterpiece for all
time. Those who have seen it in England alone are possibly convinced
that this praise has been ill-bestowed; yet even these would change
their opinion if they saw it when perfectly white on a clear day in
bright sunshine; but in London, even at its best, the clear air and
fierce sun of Athens is wanting, as well as the pentelic marble, and the
chances are that the sculpture in the metopes has been left out. This
Doric of the Greeks is true architecture, fitted to the climate, and
made by men of genius to charm the most gifted race the world has seen.
To the Greek architect no thought and no labour was too great in
designing his building, to form it so that the sun would play melodies
on it from dawn to dusk. Such truly national architecture cannot be
imported into a different climate without losing most of its effect, nor
can it be transferred to a coarse and opaque material without losing
much of its charm; while its sculpture, the finest the world has yet
seen, portrayed national traditions or events connected with its faith.
But even here in London, if you see paraphrases of Greek architecture
just painted white on a clear sunshiny day, you will see a faint reflex
of its pristine glory. The rising moon that the sun makes on the
echinus, contrasted with soft graduated warm shades and sharp blue
shadows, is the finest thing an architect has ever compassed. The
splendid sculpture that adorned its metopes may be seen in the Elgin
room of the British Museum. This one example is a model for those who
seek perfection in exquisite simplicity, for almost all the mouldings
are square ones, and there is no enrichment beyond the highest
figure-sculpture, and one little carved astragal; and I may add, that
the perfection of the whole composition of the Temple is as great as
that of this part.
THE IONIC.
The example, given on account of its simplicity, is from the Temple on
the river Ilissus. The column differs from that of the Doric by being of
slenderer proportions, by having twenty-four deep elliptical flutes with
fillets in its shaft, by having a cushioned capital inserted between the
thin moulded
[Illustration: FIG. 176.--Entablature, capital and base of the Greek
Ionic Temple on the Ilissus.]
abacus, and a shallow echinus carved with the egg and tongue. The
peculiarity of this cushioned cap is, that each side of the front and
back faces are formed into volutes, and come down considerably below the
bottom of the capital, and are carved on the faces with a shell
spiral.[10] The junctions of the plain surfaces of the volutes with the
projecting circular echinus are masked by a half honeysuckle. At the
bottom of the shaft is a circular pedestal or base of slight projection,
consisting of an upper and lower torus joined by a hollow (trochilus),
the upper torus being horizontally fluted and the lower one plain, and
there is no square plinth.
In this case the architrave is deep and without fascias, though the
Ionic order has mostly three fascias; its capping (cymatium) consists of
a fillet with a plain cyma and astragal beneath. The frieze, which has
no triglyphs, is supposed to have been sculptured with figures; its
cymatium consists of an ogee and astragal, to admit which the underside
of the corona is deeply hollowed out; the cymatium of the corona
consists of a narrow fillet and a cyma. The crowning member probably
only existed on the raking sides of the pediment.
As this is not a treatise for architects, but a sketch of the subject
for ornamentalists, one example is enough to show the difference between
the Doric and Ionic, but the capital of the most ornate example, that of
the Erechtheum, is given; its main differences from the former one being
these, that the ornaments on the mouldings are carved instead of only
being painted, that in the entablature there are three fascias to the
architrave, that the column has a neck carved with floral ornaments and
a carved necking, and the sweeps of the capital as well as the spirals
of the volutes are more numerous.
[Illustration: FIG. 177.--Side elevation, plan, and section of the Ionic
capital, from the Temple on the Ilissus.
Side Elevation. Plan.
Section. Section.]
[Illustration: FIG. 178.--Greek Ionic: half of the Capitol from the
north portico of the Erechtheum at Athens. _A_ is a regular guilloche
with coloured glass beads in the eyes.]
I have given too the capital of the internal Ionic columns of Apollo
Epicurius at Bassæ, to show how much it is improved by making the top of
the capital curved instead of straight. The Ionic is more graceful and
as a rule more ornate than the Doric, but is not so majestic. Capitals
from the
[Illustration: FIG. 179.--Capital from the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at
Bassæ. Greek Ionic.]
Erechtheum, from the Temple at Bassæ, from the last Temple of Diana at
Ephesus, and from the Mausoleum are at the British Museum.
THE CORINTHIAN.
Callimachus, according to Vitruvius, invented this capital, and is
supposed to have lived about 396 B.C., forty years before Alexander the
Great was born. Besides the beauty of this order of the choragic
monument of Lysikrates, it is the only undoubted and complete Greek
specimen that we have in Europe. The main importance of the invention,
besides its intrinsic beauty, is its being adopted by the Romans as
their favourite order and used throughout their dominions. I give you
here the story Vitruvius tells of its invention. Besides the prettiness
of the story, it serves as an incitement to the reflection, that if
those whose hand and eye are trained will only observe what they see,
they may get notions for inventions.
“A marriageable maid, a citizen of Corinth, was taken ill and died.
After her burial, her nurse gathered the things in which the maid most
delighted when she was alive, put them into a basket, and carried them
to the grave and put them on the top, and so that they might last the
longer in the open air, covered them with a tile. By chance this basket
was put on an acanthus root. The acanthus root meanwhile, pressed by the
weight, put forth its leaves and shoots about spring time; these shoots
growing against the sides of the basket, were forced to bend their tops
by the weight of the corners of the tile and to make themselves into
volutes. Then Callimachus, who from the elegance and subtlety of his
sculpture was called Catatechnos by the Athenians, passing by that
grave, noticed the basket and the tender growth of leaves round it, and
charmed by the style and novelty of its form, made his columns among the
Corinthians after that pattern.” (Vit. lib. 4, cap. i. pp. 9, 10.)
[Illustration: FIG. 180.--Entablature, capital and base of the
Lysikrates monument. Greek Corinthian.]
A Corinthian capital was found by Professor Cockerell in the Temple at
Bassæ, supposed by him to have been used there. Another was found at
Athens by Inwood, and there is a graceful capital of one of the engaged
Corinthian columns at the Temple of Apollo Didymæus, at Branchidæ, near
Miletus, of unknown date.
I do not look on work as Greek that was done after the second century
B.C., when Greece became a Roman province.
The Corinthian capital of the monument of Lysikrates is more than one
and a half times as high as the lower diameter of the column, while the
Doric capital of the Parthenon is only about half a diameter to the
necking, and the Ionic capital of the Erechtheum about eight-tenths.
The abacus of the capital is deep and moulded, is hollowed out
horizontally on the four sides in plan, and has the sharp angles of the
abacus cut off. The floral cap consists of a bottom range of sixteen
plain water leaves, about half the height of the eight acanthus leaves
of the upper row; these have a blossom between each pair of leaves.
Above the top, and at the sides of the centre leaf, on each of the four
sides of the capital, spring two acanthus sheaths, out of each sheath
spring three cauliculi; the one most distant from the centre forms a
volute under one side of the angle of the abacus, and is supported by
the turned-over top leaf of the sheath; the lowest cauliculi form two
volutes touching one another at the centre. The third cauliculus comes
from between the two former, and forms much smaller volutes than those
immediately below them, touching
[Illustration: FIG. 181.--Capital of the Lysikrates monument. Greek
Corinthian.]
at the centre, but turning the reverse way to those beneath; from the
middle of these springs a honeysuckle, whose top is as high as the top
of the abacus, and there is a little floral sprig between the angle
volutes and the honeysuckle, to relieve the bareness of the basket or
bell. The foliage of this capital is exquisitely graceful, but the
outline of the capital is not happy. The entablature is Ionic, to leave
the frieze clear for the sculptured history of Bacchus, turning some
pirates into dolphins. The architrave is deep with three equal fascias,
the face of each one inclined inwards, and a cymatium. Above the
cymatium of the frieze is a cornice with a heavy dentilled bed mould.
The Greeks were consummate artists, who bore in mind the adage that
“rules are good for those who can do without them,” and adapted every
part of their buildings to produce the effect of light and shade they
wanted. The profiles of their mouldings were mostly slightly different
in every example we have, and mostly approximate to conic sections, so
as to have the shade less uniform, segments of circles being rarely
used; and there was in Athens an affluence of excellent figure
sculptors.
It has always seemed to me that the slight variations the Greeks made in
their profiles to get perfection, and their passion for simplicity, were
greatly due to their intimate knowledge of the nude human figure. All
their recruits were exercised naked, and they must have noticed that the
perfecting of the human shape by training was brought about by slight
variations.
THE ROMAN ORDERS.
The Romans, great people as they were in subjugating, governing, and
civilizing so great a portion of the world, and possibly on that very
account, were
[Illustration: FIG. 182.--The Tuscan order.]
not artistic in the sense that the Greeks were. The Romans were slaves
to easy rules and methods; most, if not all, the profiles of their
mouldings were struck with compasses, and they were almost destitute of
good figure sculptors. They had, however, a passion for magnificence,
and for ornate stateliness and dignity, and they rarely failed to get
these in their public monuments.
Besides the three orders which were taken from the debased Greek
examples of their own time, the Romans added two, the order of the
_Tuscans_, and an invention of their own called the _Composite_.
THE TUSCAN.
The Tuscan is described by Vitruvius, lib. 4, cap. 7, as an incomplete
Doric, but with a base and a round plinth. The portico of St. Paul’s,
Covent Garden, by Inigo Jones, is the best example we have of it in
London. The example given is from the learned Newton Vitruvius.
THE ROMAN DORIC.
One of the earliest examples, with the exception of that at Cora, which
is rather debased Greek than Roman, is the example on the Theatre of
Marcellus at Rome, finished by Augustus. The column is not fluted, and
has no base, and the capital has been greatly altered from that of the
best Greek examples. The abacus has a cymatium; the echinus has been
reduced in depth, and is an ovolo, and the annulets are merely three
plain fillets; the column too has a neck and a necking. In the
entablature the architrave is
[Illustration: FIG. 183.--Roman Doric. From the Theater of Marcellus.
The crowning members of the cornice are conjectural, for the whole has
been broken away. See Desgodetz.]
[Illustration: FIG. 184.--Roman Ionic. Entablature, capital, and base of
an angle column, at the Temple of Fortuna Virilis.]
shallower than in the Greek examples. In the frieze the triglyphs are
over the centres of the angle columns; the guttæ are the frustums of
cones, while those of the Greeks were cylinders or with hollowed sides;
the cornice has a dentilled bed mould; and the mutules have disappeared,
but their edge runs through and the soffit is slanting, and ornamented
alternately with coffers and small guttæ, six on face and three deep;
and besides, the cymatium of the corona is capped by a large cavetto;
this in the Greek examples was only the crowning member of the slanting
sides of the pediment. There are Roman Doric columns at the Colosseum,
at Diocletian’s Baths at Rome, and elsewhere. The Doric, best known to
us, was elaborated by the Italian architects of the Renaissance.
THE ROMAN IONIC.
The Ionic was not much more to the taste of the Romans than the Doric,
for, with the exception of the examples in tall buildings, where the
orders were piled up one over the other, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis
is the only good example, although there is a very debased one at the
Temple of Concord. The columns of the Temple of Fortuna Virilis somewhat
resemble the Greco-Roman ones of the Temple of Bacchus at Teos; they
have similar paltry capitals, and an Attic base, but their truly Roman
entablature is very notably worse than that at Teos, in fact, it might
be used as an example of what to avoid in profiling. The cornice is
crushingly heavy for the frieze and architrave, the parts are
disproportionate, the corona having almost disappeared to make room for
the
[Illustration: FIG. 185.--Roman Corinthian. Entablature, capital, and
base of the Pantheon.]
extra crowning member, and the floral ornaments on some of the mouldings
are gigantic. Its main importance to us is from the use made of it by
the Renaissance architects, some of whom, however, greatly improved its
appearance, by making it a four-faced capital, by adding a necking and
putting festoons from the eyes, thus giving the capital greater depth
and importance.
THE ROMAN CORINTHIAN.
The magnificence of this capital took the Romans, so that good examples
of the other orders, except of the Composite, are rare. As I said
before, the only undoubted Greek Corinthian order that has come down to
us is that of the Lysikrates monument, though we have many Greco-Roman
examples. The best Roman example I can give you is that of the Pantheon;
the existing portico is believed by M. Chedanne to be a copy of
Agrippa’s, made in the days of Septimius Severus. At any rate, it has
the comparative simplicity that characterized some of the buildings just
before our era. The capital has two rows of eight leaves, the upper row
not rising to quite so great a height above the lower ones as these do
above the necking, and there is space between the upper leaves to show
the stalks of the sheaths of the cauliculi; the inner ones finish under
the rim of the basket, the outer ones form the volutes under the angles
of the abacus, and above these a curled leaf masks the overhanging of
the angles of the abacus. From some foliage on the top of the upper
[Illustration: FIG. 186.--Roman Corinthian. Entablature of Jupiter
Tonans.]
middle leaf, a stalk runs up behind the cauliculi, and blossoms in the
abacus.
It may be observed that the cauliculi of the centre and of the volute
have lost the floral character and become stony. The shafts are
unfluted, being of granite, and have the favourite Roman base, a plain
upper and a lower torus, with two scotias separated by double astragals
and fillets. The entablature consists of an architrave of three fascias,
the bottom edge of whose projections are moulded, the whole architrave
is capped with a cymatium consisting of a wide fillet and an ogee with
an astragal beneath. The frieze is slightly shallower than the
architrave, and has nothing on it but the inscription, and its cymatium
is the counterpart of that of the architrave on a smaller scale. The
cornice is heavy, and its bed mould consists of an uncut dentil band, an
ovolo carved with the egg and tongue, and an astragal carved with the
bead and reel, a modilion band with carved modilions, a shallow corona,
and a deep cyma-recta-cymatium with fillets.
I have added the fine and gigantic capital of Mars Ultor and the
entablature of Jupiter Tonans, which is overladen with ornament, as a
contrast to the almost stern simplicity of that of the Pantheon.
I shall only draw your attention to two points in this ornamentation,
the omission of the tongues between the eggs, leaving only the upright
line, and the attempt to turn the egg and tongue into a foliated form.
The egg itself is covered with ornament, and is set in the centre of
acanthus leaves. We must praise the boldness of the author, who has
given us a new ornament, but deplore his want of tasteful invention
which has forced him to give a bad one.
The varieties of leaves used in capitals have been mentioned in the body
of the book.
THE ROMAN COMPOSITE.
This order has been called the Composite, from the mixture of Ionic and
Corinthian motives in its capital. The example given is from the Arch of
Titus, erected to celebrate the taking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The main
thing to be remarked is the capital; for the entablature is Corinthian,
less ornate than that of Jupiter Tonans or Jupiter Stator, and very
inferior to the latter in its proportions. It may be imagined that all
the foliage above the upper row of leaves in a Corinthian capital has
been removed, that a carved Ionic echinus has been put in at the level
of the bottom of the Corinthian cauliculi, that on the centre of the
echinus there is a calix, from which a flower runs up above the top of
the abacus, and from each side of the calix spring curved bands running
into the hollow of the abacus and ending in heavy volutes coming down to
the tops of the upper row of leaves, the lower parts of the bands and
the spaces between the spirals being filled with foliage. The parts of
the bell thus left bare by the omission of the sheaths of the cauliculi
have two little scrolls of foliage to cover them. The worst fault of the
capital is, that the upper part has no artistic connection with the
lower, and taken merely as an isolated capital, its volutes are too
ponderous for the rest. We must, however, give the Romans credit for the
merits of the invention. They
[Illustration: FIG. 187.--Roman Corinthian. Half of the capital of Mars
Ultor.]
saw that in tall columns, and in this case the columns are on pedestals,
the volutes of Corinthian columns
[Illustration: FIG. 188.--Roman composite capital from the Arch of
Titus.]
were too insignificant. This capital when once invented took the Romans,
and was applied everywhere.
[Illustration: FIG. 189.--Roman Composite. Entablature, capital, and
base, Arch of Titus.]
It was the practical solution for a practical people of a want that was
felt. Artistically speaking, it was no solution, and we can imagine that
if such a solution had been offered to the Athenians in their palmy
days, the author would have been howled at, and hunted out of the city.
I may mention that the orders that have passed through the hands of the
Italian masters and been altered by them are not Classical, but
Renaissance.
Those who wish to study this subject will find the Greek examples in
Stuart and Rivett’s _Antiquities of Athens_; in Mr. Penrose’s
_Principles of Athenian Architecture_; in the books published by the
Dilettanti Society; in Cockerell’s _Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at
Ægina_; in Inwood’s _Erectheion_; and in Wilkins’ _Antiquities of Magna
Græcia_. J. Pennethorne’s _Elements and Mathematical Principles of the
Greek Architects_ gives many examples of profiles: “The Roman,” in _Les
Édifices Antiques de Rome_, by Desgodetz; Cresy and Taylor’s
_Architectural Antiquities of Rome_; Normand’s _Parallel of the Orders_;
and Mr. Phené Spiers’ _Orders of Architecture_.
A CHAPTER ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOME FIGURES AND CURVES IN
PRACTICAL PLANE GEOMETRY USEFUL IN ORNAMENT.
Definitions and names of figures from 1 to 13.
An Equilateral triangle is a triangle which has _three equal_ sides.
(Fig. 1.)
An Isosceles triangle is that which has only two sides equal. (Fig. 2.)
A Scalene triangle is that which has _three unequal_ sides. (Fig. 3.)
A Right-angled triangle is that which has a right angle. (Fig. 4.)
An Acute-angled triangle is that which has _three_ acute angles. (Fig.
5.)
A Parallelogram is a four-sided figure which has its opposite sides
parallel. (Fig. 6.)
A Rhombus is a _four-sided_ figure which has all its sides equal, but
its angles are not right angles. (Fig. 7.)
A Lozenge is a square set angle-wise. (Fig. 8.)
NOTE.--A square, an oblong, a rhombus, and a rhomboid are all
species of parallelograms.
[Illustration: FIG. 1]
[Illustration: FIG. 2]
[Illustration: FIG. 3]
[Illustration: FIG. 4]
[Illustration: FIG. 5]
[Illustration: FIG. 6]
[Illustration: FIG. 7]
[Illustration: FIG. 8]
A Diamond is composed of two _equilateral_ triangles set back to back.
(Fig. 9.)
All other four-sided figures are called Trapeziums. If one opposite pair
of sides be parallel, and the other pair not, the figure is called a
Trapezoid. (Fig. 10.)
Polygons.--A Polygon is a plane rectilineal figure contained by more
than four straight lines.
A Regular Polygon is that which has its sides _equal_, and its angles
also are _equal_.
An Irregular Polygon may have _unequal_ sides and _unequal_ angles, or
_unequal_ sides and _equal_ angles, or _equal_ sides and _unequal_
angles. In this chapter regular polygons are only treated of.
Polygons are named according to the number of sides or angles they may
have. A polygon having
5 sides is a Pentagon.
6 “ a Hexagon.
7 “ a Heptagon.
8 “ an Octagon.
9 “ a Nonagon.
10 “ a Decagon.
11 “ a Undecagon.
12 “ a Dodecagon.
13 “ a Tridecagon.
14 “ a Tetradecagon.
15 “ a Pentadecagon.
16 “ a Hexadecagon.
17 “ a Heptadecagon.
18 “ an Octadecagon.
19 “ a Nonodecagon.
20 “ a Bisdecagon.
Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are self-explanatory.
Fig. 14. From a given point D without to draw Tangents to a given circle
A B C.
Join E the centre of the circle D.
Bisect D E in F. With F as centre and F E radius describe the circle D B
E cutting the given circle in A and B. Draw the required tangents from D
to touch the given circle at A and B. N.B.--A tangent to a circle or arc
is always at right angles to a radius drawn to the point of contact.
[Illustration: FIG. 9]
[Illustration: FIG. 10]
[Illustration: FIG. 11]
[Illustration: FIGS. 12 and 13]
[Illustration: FIG. 14]
Fig. 15. To draw an Exterior Tangent to two given circles A B and C D K.
Join the centres E and F cutting the circumference of the larger circle
at K. Bisect E F in G. From K in the line K F cut off a part K P equal
to the radius of the smaller circle E B.
With centre G and radius K F describe a semicircle; with F as centre and
radius F P describe a circle. The semicircle cuts this circle at H. Join
F H, and produce it to C. At E draw E A parallel to F C. Join A C, which
is the exterior tangent required.
Fig. 16. To draw an Interior Tangent to two given circles B E and F D.
Join the centres E and F. Bisect E F in G, and describe a semicircle on
E F. From K on the larger circle mark off K J and E F equal to the
radius of the smaller circle, and with F as centre and F J as radius
describe an arc passing through semicircle at H. Join F H cutting the
larger circle at C, and draw E A parallel to F H. The points of contact
are A and C, through which the _interior_ tangent is drawn.
Fig. 17. Within a given circle to describe _any_ Regular Polygon--say a
Pentagon.
Draw the diameter A F and divide it into the same number of parts as the
required polygon is to have sides--in this case it will be five parts.
To divide the diameter into the number of equal parts, draw a line A X
any angle to A F. Set off any convenient measurement five times on this
line. Join point 5 to F, and draw the lines 4, 4´, 3, 3´, &c., parallel
to 5 F to meet the diameter. With A and F as centre and A F as radius
describe arcs intersecting at L. From
[Illustration: FIG. 15]
[Illustration: FIG. 16]
[Illustration: FIG. 17]
L draw a line through the _Second_ division on A F at point 2´ cutting
the circumference at B. Join A B. This is the length of the side of the
required polygon. Set off the length of the side A B around the
circumference at C, D, and E. Join the points A, B, C, D, E to complete
the required _pentagon_.
N.B.--A Regular Hexagon may be inscribed in a circle by setting off the
length of its radius _six_ times round the circumference, and joining
the points.
Fig. 18. On a given line to construct _any_ Regular Polygon,--say a
Pentagon.
Produce the given line A B to R, and with B as centre and A B as radius
describe a semicircle A C R. Divide the semicircle into as many parts as
the polygon is to have sides--in this case five. Draw a line from point
B to the _second_ division point Q C. Bisect A B and B C to find P,
which will be the centre of a circle passing through the points A B C.
Mark off the points D and E, making the distances C D, D E, and E A each
equal to A B. Join C D, D E, and E A to complete the required polygon.
Fig. 19. Special method of drawing an Octagon in a given circle.
Draw two diameters B F and H D at right angles to each other. Bisect
angles H K B and B K D in the lines K A and K C. Produce the lines K A,
K C, to meet the circumference at G and E. The _eight_ points thus found
on the circumference are joined to make the required octagon.
Fig. 20. To inscribe an Octagon in a given square.
With each corner of the square as centres, and half the diagonal of the
square as radius, describe arcs
[Illustration: FIG. 18]
[Illustration: FIG. 19]
[Illustration: FIG. 20]
cutting the sides of the square at F, G, H, K, &c. Join these points to
complete the required octagon.
Fig. 21. To describe a circle to touch two given straight lines A B and
A C, one point of contact being given.
Bisect the angle B A C in A D. At C draw a perpendicular to A C, meeting
A D at D. With D as centre and D C as radius describe the required
circle.
Fig. 22. To inscribe a _circle_ in a given triangle A B C.
Bisect any two of the angles as at B and C. The lines of bisection
intersect at D. Produce B D to E. With centre D and distance D E
inscribe the required circle.
Fig. 23. A square being given, to inscribe _four equal circles_ each
touching _two_ others and _two_ sides of the square.
Draw the diagonals and two lines parallel to the sides through the
centre of the given square. Join the extremities of the latter lines to
obtain the points 1, 2, 3, and 4. With these points as centres, and 1 E
drawn perpendicular to C A as radius, inscribe the four required
circles.
Fig. 24. A square being given, to inscribe _four equal circles_ each
touching _two_ other and _one_ side of the square.
Draw the diagonals and two lines through the centre parallel to the
sides of the given square A B C D. Bisect any one of the angles made by
a diagonal and one of the sides of the square, as at D. Produce the line
of bisection until it meets the vertical centre line at point 1. With
the central point O as centre
[Illustration: FIG. 21]
[Illustration: FIG. 22]
[Illustration: FIG. 23]
[Illustration: FIG. 24]
and O 1 as radius, describe a circle to obtain the points 1, 2, 3, 4.
These are the centres of the required circles.
N.B.--If the central portion made by the meeting of the four
circles were removed, the remaining parts of the circles would form
a figure known as the _quatrefoil_, a form common in architecture.
Fig. 25. To inscribe _six equal circles_ in a given equilateral triangle
A B C.
Bisect the angles of the given equilateral triangle as at E, and draw
the bisection lines through to meet the centre of each side. Bisect the
angle A B J to obtain the point D on C K. Through D draw G F parallel to
A B, also F H and H G parallel to the sides of the triangle. With D as
centre and D K as radius inscribe one of the required circles, and with
the same radius and F, 2, H, 1, and G as centres inscribe the remaining
circles.
Fig. 26. (1) Within a given circle to inscribe a _hexagon_. (2) Without
the same circle to describe a _hexagon_. (3) Within the inner hexagon to
inscribe _three equal circles_ each touching each other and two sides of
the hexagon.
(1) Mark off the length of the radius of the given circle B D F six
times on the circumference as at D E F, &c. Draw the three diameters A
D, B E, and G F, and produce them a little beyond these points. Join the
points G, D, E, F, &c., by straight lines to produce the hexagon within
the given circle. (2) Bisect the angle K O H, the line of bisection will
cut the circle at point R. Through R draw H K parallel to B C. With O as
centre and O H as radius describe a circle cutting the produced
diameters at K, L, M, &c.
[Illustration: FIG. 25]
[Illustration: FIG. 26]
Join the latter points to produce the required hexagon without the given
circle. (3) Join the points G, E, A. This will obtain the points 1, 2, 3
on the diameters. Draw 1, 4 perpendicular to G B. With 1, 4 as radius
and 1 as centre describe one of the required circles. 3 and 2 are the
centres of the other two required circles.
Fig. 27. Within a given circle to inscribe any number of _equal
circles_, each touching the circumference and two other circles.
Divide the circle in the same number of parts as the number of circles
required--in this case five. Draw the five radii. Bisect the angles B D
A and A D C. Draw E F perpendicular to D A. D E F is a triangle any two
angles of which bisect as at D and E. From point 1 thus obtained on D A
and radius 1 A inscribe a circle. From D as centre and D 1 as radius
describe a circle cutting the five radii in points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. With
the latter points as centres and 1 A as radius describe the remaining
required circles.
Fig. 28. This problem is worked in the same manner as Fig. 27, _seven_
circles being inscribed instead of _five_ in a given circle.
Fig. 29. To inscribe a _trefoil_, or _three equal_ semicircles having
adjacent diameters in a given circle.
Divide the given circle into six equal parts by marking off the length
of the radius six times on the circumference. From the centre D to these
six points draw radii. Bisect any of the six sectors as at E. Draw E C
obtaining F on one of the radials. On either side of F draw lines from
it to meet the alternate radials perpendicular to B D and D C, and
[Illustration: FIG. 27]
[Illustration: FIG. 28]
[Illustration: FIG. 29]
join their extremities, thus making the equilateral triangle 1, 2, 3. On
the sides of this triangle describe the three semicircles required by
using points 1, 2, and 3 as centres, and 2 F as radius. The completed
figure is the trefoil, and the inscribed three semicircles have their
diameters adjacent.
Fig. 30. To describe an equilateral triangle within and without a given
circle.
[Illustration: FIG. 30]
Draw six radii dividing the given circle into six equal parts. Join
their alternate extremities as at L M N. This makes the required
_equilateral_ triangle within the circle. Draw tangents to the circle at
L M and N, or lines at right angles to L O, M O, and N O. Produce the
latter radii to meet the tangents at A B C. A B C is the _equilateral_
triangle without the circle.
N.B.--It will be seen that the triangle B A C is made up of four
similar triangles each equal to L M N. Also, if six of the smaller
triangles, as A L M, were placed around points A B and C a hexagon
would be formed. This figure is very useful in designing
geometrical and other repeating _all over_ patterns in ornament.
CONIC SECTIONS.
The figures known as the Conic Sections are the Ellipse, the Parabola,
and the Hyperbola.
The Cone may have other sections in addition to these, such as the
section through any point below the apex, on the axis, and taken
parallel to the base; this would be a _circle_, and a section through
the apex perpendicular to the base would be an _isosceles triangle_.
The Ellipse is the curve of the section made by a plane passing
_obliquely_ through a cone from side to side.
The Parabola is the curve of the section made by a plane passing through
a cone _parallel_ to _one_ of its sides.
The Hyperbola is the curve of a section made by a plane passing through
a cone _parallel_ to its _axis_, or _inclined_ at a greater angle to its
base than its side, but _not_ through its apex.
Fig. 31. The elevation of a cone is shown at A B C. A section through
point X at right angles to the axis of the cone is a _Circle_. A section
passing through and across the cone from point X, but not at right
angles to the axis, is an _Ellipse_, as at X 1. A section through X
parallel to the opposite side A C is a Parabola, as at X 2. A section
through X parallel to the axis, as at X 3, or a section through X at any
other angle greater than the angle made by the side and base, as at X 4,
is a Hyperbola.
Figs. 32, 33, and 34 show the actual shape of the sections X 1, X 2, and
X 3 respectively.
Fig. 32. In this figure the _major_ or _transverse_ axis of the Ellipse
is equal to X 1. To find the _minor_ or _conjugate_ axis bisect X 1
(Fig. 31) in H, draw through it F G parallel to A B, drop a
perpendicular from F to _f_, and describe the semicircle _f h g_. From H
drop a perpendicular to A B, and produce it to _h_ to meet the
semicircle, _k h_ is then half the length of the minor axis of the
Ellipse, as C D. Divide A E into any number of equal parts, and A G into
the same number. Draw from C lines through the divisions as 1, 2, 3 &c.,
and from D lines to 1´ 2´ 3´ &c. The curve of the required Ellipse will
pass through the intersections of these lines, as at 1´´ 3´´ 5´´ &c.
Fig. 33. In this figure, the Parabola, the line C D is equal to X 2
(Fig. 31), while A B is _twice_ the length of D 2 (Fig. 31). Divide G B
into any number of equal parts, and join the points of the divisions to
C. Divide D B into the same number of equal parts, and draw lines from
the points of division parallel to D C to meet the similar numbered
lines drawn from B G; through these meeting points the curve of the
Parabola will be drawn.
Fig. 34. The only difference between the working of this figure--the
Hyperbola--and the Parabola is that the lines which in the Parabola were
drawn parallel to G B, are here drawn to a point E on C D produced, C D
being equal to X 3 (Fig. 31). This point E is found by drawing the line
from 7 on D B to E on C D produced, where C E equals twice X O (Fig.
31).
Fig. 35. To describe an Archimedean spiral of any number of
revolutions--say _three_, the longest radius A B being given.
[Illustration: FIG. 31]
[Illustration: FIG. 32]
[Illustration: FIG. 33]
[Illustration: FIG. 34]
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--Archimedean Spiral.]
Divide the radius A B into _three_ equal parts for the three
revolutions. With B as centre and B A as radius describe a circle, and
divide it into any number of equal parts--say eight, by drawing four
diameters. Each of the three divisions on A B is divided into eight
equal parts. With centre B and the point of each succeeding division as
radius, describe arcs, meeting in following order the _next nearest_
diameter as shown at arcs 1 1´´, 2 2´´, 3 3´´, &c. Through point 8 with
radius B 8, the second division, describe a circle, and through point 16
with centre B describe a circle. In these two divisions arcs are drawn
as described above for the division A 8, &c., to the next nearest
diameter. The _spiral_ is then drawn through the points thus formed on
the diameters, which mark its path as at 1´, 2´, 3´, &c., until it ends
in its centre at B.
Fig. 36. To draw Goldman’s Volute, the _cathetus_ C F being given.
Divide C F into 15 equal parts. With C as centre describe a circle A E B
to form the eye of the volute, making the diameter 3⅓ of these parts.
Bisect A C and C B in 1 and 4. On 1 4 draw a square, 1, 2, 3, 4. Produce
the sides 1 2, 2 3, and 3 4 to G, H, and I respectively.
Divide 1 C into three equal parts. Draw lines parallel to 1 G through
the points of division to P and L, which cut the line C 2 in the points
6 and 10. Through these points (6 and 10) draw lines to M and Q parallel
to E H, cutting C 3 in 7 and 11. In the same way draw lines parallel to
3 I from 7 and 11 to N and R. The points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., will then
form the centres of the series of quadrants which are to form the _outer
spiral_ that begins with the radius 1 F. To describe the _inner spiral_.
A´ F´ in Fig. 36 (_a_) is equal to A F (Fig. 36). F´ S´ is made equal to
the breadth of the fillet at the top F S. V´ F´ is drawn at right angles
to F´ A´ and equal to C 1. By joining V´ A´ and drawing T´ S´ parallel
to V´ F´, then T´ S´ is obtained which will be the length of _half_ the
side of the square for drawing the inner spiral. The method for
obtaining the _inner spiral_ is the same as for the _outer_.
Fig. 37. There is no geometric means of drawing a perfect catenary
curve; at best we can only obtain it by an approximation in geometry.
The curve is formed by suspending a chain from two points and pricking
points along the curve of the chain. These
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Goldman’s volute.]
points will mark the path of the catenary. In the accompanying figure
three catenary curves are drawn from a chain suspended from points A and
B.
Fig. 38.--To draw a cycloid curve when the _generating_ circle is
given. In order to find the length of the line A B on which the circle
rolls, and which must be the length of the circumference of the given
circle, we must first find _approximately_ that length by
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Catenary curves.]
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Cycloid curve.]
the following method. Draw the vertical diameter of the circle D C. Draw
D M at right angles to D C, and make it _three_ times the length of the
radius of the circle; make an angle of 30° at E, and draw a line
parallel to D M of any convenient length. The line E L making the angle
of 30° cuts C B in L. Join M L. M L is the approximate length of half
the circumference. Make A C and C B each equal to M L. Then A B is the
length _approximately_ of the circumference, drawn at right angles to C
D on which the circle rolls. Divide now half the circle into eight equal
parts, and draw a line from E S parallel to A B, and equal to M L.
Divide E S into eight equal parts. From the points 1, 2, 3, &c., draw
lines parallel to A C. With centres 1´, 2´, 3´, &c., and with radius E
C, describe arcs cutting them at 1´´, 2´´, 3´´, &c. The curve A D, which
must be drawn by free-hand, will then pass through these points.
Complete the cycloid by drawing D B in a similar manner. The length A B
can also be found approximately by dividing C D into seven equal parts,
and taking A B = 22 of those parts.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN ORNAMENT
_Many of the terms which appear in this Glossary have been explained in
the previous chapters. The reader should refer back to the text when any
of the terms are inadequately described here._
_Æsthetics_, the science of the beautiful.
_Æsthetic_, when applied to ornament, not only means “beautiful,”
hut that beauty was the sole aim of its production, and
distinguishes it from symbolic and mnemonic ornament. See page 143.
_Allegory_, the representation of one thing under the image of
another. It was mostly confined to human figures, but to aid its
comprehension attributes were added. Among the Pagans strength was
shown as Hercules with his club; health as a woman with a serpent;
rivers were represented as gods with crowns of sedge or rushes;
towns as gods or goddesses with mural crowns. Among the Christians,
a man holding a lamb, or a shepherd with his flock, was an
allegorical representation of Christ the Good Shepherd; the seven
cardinal virtues and the seven deadly sins were represented by
allegorical figures, and each had its proper attributes.
_Alternation_, two different forms in succession, or alternating
with each other. Figs. 67, 75, and 76.
_Anthemion_, a radiating ornament with a palmate outline; the
honeysuckle ornament of the Greeks.
_Attributes_, the things assigned to any one. Amongst the Pagans
the eagle and thunderbolt to Jupiter, the trident to Neptune, the
peacock to Juno, &c. Amongst the Christians the nimbus was the
attribute of divinity, saintship, or martyrdom, the lily of
chastity, &c.
_Balance_, equilibrium or counterpoise. In compositions that are
not symmetrical the _weight_ of the masses must be alike on either
side of a central axis; in those of symmetrical outline with
different fillings there must be equality of weight in the
fillings. Renaissance ornament affords many admirable examples of
balance. See page 46, and Figs. 126 and 131.
_Banding_, decorating by means of horizontal stripes, mostly filled
with ornament. Figs. 116 and 117.
_Catenary_, the curve formed by a chain hanging from two points.
Fig. 27.
_Cauliculus_, the shoot or stem of a plant forming the volutes
under the angles of the abacus, and those in the centre of each
face of a Corinthian capital; in modern works this name is mostly
confined to the central spirals, the outer ones being called
volutes. Figs. 180, 181, 185, 187, and 188.
_Checkering_, covering a surface with a square pattern like a
chess-board, in which the colour or the ornament alternates. The
outline is formed by equidistant vertical and horizontal lines
crossing one another. Figs. 98 and 99.
_Colour_, apart from the literal meaning of the word, is a vague
technical term to express character and contrast in ornament.
_Complexity_, interweaving or intricacy; the opposite of
simplicity. Ornament in which the leading forms are not apparent,
is mainly to be found in Celtic, Saracenic, Moresque, and Gothic
ornament. It is also characteristic of the decadent periods of all
historic styles.
_Contrast_, the opposition of dissimilar figures or positions, by
which one contributes to the effect of the other; _e. g._ the
straight line with the circle, vertical and horizontal lines
alternating; in colour black with white, &c.; ornamental forms
where flat and sharp curves contrast with one another; a plain
space alternating with an ornamented one, or an enriched moulding
round a plain panel, or _vice versâ_, &c. See page 43.
_Conventional._ This is a word of great elasticity. In early
decoration natural objects were highly conventionalized through the
want of skill in the artists, who could not copy, but only portray
their impressions, thus the Egyptians and early Greeks represented
water by the zig-zag. These early conventionalized forms were
sometimes perpetuated through religious conservatism, after the
artists had become skilful. All ornament is more or less
conventional, but the term is usually applied to designate that
ornament in which the most beautiful and characteristic floral
forms have been abstracted and adapted to the material employed and
the effect wanted. The styles most characterized by conventional
ornament are the Greek and the early Gothic; they are equally
effective as ornament in their respective countries, but the Greek
has all the grace and vigour of the highest plant form, while
Gothic has mostly only the vigour. Figs. 49-54. The Romans and the
Renaissance architects also successfully conventionalized. Figs. 91
and 129. Convention now too often means leaving out all grace and
vigour. Saracenic-Persian ornament is perhaps the least
conventionalized of fairly good ornament. Figs. 49, 53, 54, 118,
and 119. _Conventional_ is also used in opposition to _realistic_
ornament.
_Counterchange_, a pattern in which the ornament and ground are
mostly similar in shape but different in colour and alternate with
each other. See Figs. 171 and 172.
_Cymatium_, the capping to a vertical member, as the cymatium of
the abacus of the Roman Doric, of the architrave, of the frieze, of
the corona. See Appendix on the orders.
_Diaper_, derived from jasper, originally employed to designate
those coloured patterns on stuffs that suggested the flowerings of
jasper; subsequently a pattern enclosed in repealing geometrical
forms not composed of straight lines; but unhappily employed of
late years to designate any repeating patterns enclosed in
geometric forms, including checkers and net-work. Figs. 101, 107,
109, and 110.
_Emblem_, in Latin, means embossed ornament on vessels, inlaid
work, and mosaic. In modern English it is a device, and was the
animal or thing that was painted on a shield to show the temper or
striking quality or achievement of the warrior. It is also used as
an allegorical representation of some virtue or quality. We say the
cock is an emblem of watchfulness; the lion, of courage; the
scales, of justice; the lily, of purity; but the latter may be used
as a symbol of the Virgin Mary.
_Equilibrium._ See _Balance_. Also Figs. 130 and 160.
_Enlargement of Subject_, _e. g._ the figure of Bacchus is wanted
for a given space which it does not fill; the due filling of the
space may sometimes be attained by the addition of his attributes,
as a leopard, a thyrsus, a vine and grapes; accessories even may be
wanted, as a satyr, mænad, rocks, trees, &c.
_Eurythmy_, harmony or elegance in ornament; a quality obtained by
the use of contrasted but harmonious and dignified forms, expressed
in a measured or proportionate quantity.
_Even distribution_, the plain space and ornament proportionately
arranged; Indian ornament gives the most mechanical instance of
this, while good Roman and Cinque Cento pilaster panels give the
most artistic examples of this arrangement. It is sometimes
improperly used to designate the balancing of masses in a design.
Figs. 101, 102, 143, &c.
_Expression_, the method of representing ornament by various means,
as in outline by the pencil, pen, or point; in painting, by the
brush; and in relief or sunk work by modelling. In another sense
_expression_ is giving the proper treatment and character to
ornament.
_Fanciful_, a term sometimes applied to grotesque creations, for
example, to the hybrid animals, and the figures ending in foliage,
met with in Pompeian and other decorations. Figs. 122, 131, 134,
and 135.
_Fitness_, absolute propriety; beautiful ornament adapted to its
purpose and not interfering with the use of the object ornamented.
See page 48.
_Flexibility_, a quality derived from the appearance of plants of
free growth; the freedom and elasticity found in natural forms when
converted into ornament give a look of flexibility, in opposition
to rigid and angular lines which produce a look of _inflexibility_.
See Fig. 54.
_Fluted_, channelled in hollows, semi-circular, segmental, or
elliptical in section; like those on some of the shafts of Greek
and Roman columns. See also Figs. 75 and 76.
_Geometric_, or “geometrical arrangement,” the setting out of all
good ornament; also the bounding lines for ornament constructed on
a basis of geometry, as in diapers, &c.; the triangle, square,
lozenge, diamond, the circle, the hexagon, octagon, and other
polygons, are the chief geometrical forms for patterns in ornament.
Saracenic decorations are pre-eminently geometric in construction.
See Figs. 101, 102, 106, 107, 110, and 172.
_Grotesque_, from the word grot or grotto. When the fantastic
arabesques of ancient Roman decoration were discovered under the
baths and in grottoes, they were originally called grotesque, and
were imitated in the Vatican. (See Figs. 122 and 128.) The word is
mainly used now to describe the coarse and humorous carvings of
heads, satyrs, &c., originally used to decorate the built grottoes
of the late Renaissance, which gradually overspread all buildings.
The word is also used to denote the quaint class of Gothic
sculptured creations (Fig. 131), such as winged dragons, grinning
monsters, &c., that serve to decorate the ends of dripstone
mouldings; gargoyles, bosses, and finials, &c.
_Growth_ is a concise expression for those forms which denote the
special vigour shown by plants at certain epochs of their growth,
the twist of the stem of creeping plants to get light to the
flowers, the bursting of the bud from a capsule, or the clasp of a
tendril. Examples are to be met with in the volutes of Greek
Corinthian capitals, in the base of the tripod on the choragic
monument of Lysikrates, in Renaissance sculpture, and in early
Gothic.
_Guilloche_, snare-work; an ornament composed of parallel curved
lines flowing and crossing each other; these forms may best be
illustrated by the bending of ropes round circular pins so as to
cross one another. See Figs. 37, 38, 39, and 40.
_Hieroglyphic_, sacred carving, mostly applied to Egyptian picture
and symbolic writing. See Fig. 162.
_Idealistic_, used by some writers as equivalent to conventional,
in opposition to “realistic”.
_Imbrication_, overlapping scale-like ornaments; as seen in
fir-cones, the hop, and curved tiles on roofs, are examples of
imbrication. The bark of the Chili pine is a peculiar instance of
horizontal imbrication which is something like that of a Roman
roof. It is used as decoration on roofs, torus mouldings, and small
columns, and is a common way of filling certain spaces on Italian
majolica. See Fig. 26, A, B, C.
_Inappropriate ornament_, that which is improperly applied, so as
to spoil the appearance, or interfere with the use of an object; is
false, out of scale, or redundant. See page 21.
_Independent ornaments._ Things that are beautiful, quaint, or
curious, that may be attached to a wall or surface, as festoons,
shields, medallions, trophies, &c. See page 21, also Fig. 133.
_Interchange_ is when running vertical or horizontal patterns are
divided by a vertical or horizontal axis, the colour of the ground
on either side of it being different, the ornament on each side of
the axis being of the colour of the opposite ground. See Figs. 173,
174.
_Interlacing_, ornament composed of bands, ribbons, ropes, rushes,
osiers, &c., woven together, or crossing at intervals, as seen in
Celtic, Byzantine, and Saracenic ornament; among examples of
interlaced work may be mentioned braided, trellis, basket, and
woven work. Figs. 22, 23.
_Intersection_, the points at which lines or other forms cut one
another.
_Monotony_, sameness of tone; often shown in excessive repetition;
a very undesirable feature in ornament: patterns within diapers
without contrasting elements; mouldings coming together whose
widths and profiles are nearly equal; panelling without sufficient
variety in size; carved ornament of nearly equal relief--in short,
any lack of variety in the composition, modelling, or colour of
ornament produces monotony.
_Mnemonic_, ornament in which written signs or other elements are
used for the purpose of aiding the memory. See page 130. Figs. 162,
163.
_Naturalistic_, those forms that are used for decoration, that
resemble the spots and eyes on butterflies’ wings, or the markings
on the skins of reptiles and quadrupeds, or on the feathers of
birds; mostly found in the ornament of savage tribes.
_Network_, as opposed to checkers, are squares set lozengewise or
forming diamonds; but the word is commonly applied to any figures
in outline, rectilinear or otherwise, covering a surface. See Fig.
102.
_Order_, regular disposition; a pleasing sequence in the
arrangement of opposed forms. Order is of such vital importance in
a design that ornament can scarcely have any existence without it.
_Powdering_, sprays, flowers, leaves, and other decorative units
sprinkled on a ground; “powdering” is a favourite method of
decoration with the Japanese, and was with the Mediævals. See pp.
63, 80, and 83, and Figs. 85, 103, and 105.
_Proportion_, the harmonic spacing of lines and surfaces; of the
length, width, and projection of solids; the ratio between
succeeding units in flowing ornament, and the relation between the
spaces occupied by the ornament and its ground.
_Radiation_, the divergence from a point of straight or curved
lines. Radiating ornament is improved by the point being below the
straight or curved line from which the radiation starts. Explained
at page 44. See Figs. 49, 50, and 51.
_Realistic_, a style of decoration in which forms are applied
without alteration from natural forms or objects, or without
apparent alteration; it is opposed to the “conventional,” and is
rarely found in the best periods of good historic styles. See Figs.
1 and 146.
_Repetition_, a succession of the same decorative unit. For
explanation see pages 40-43. and Figs. 3, 9, and 32.
_Reeded_, convex forms applied to a flat or curved surface,
producing the reverse effect of “fluting”; some of the columns in
Egyptian architecture are reeded, being sculptured to represent a
bundle of reeds tied together. See Figs. 76A and 76B.
_Repose_, rest; the absence of apparent movement in ornament; this
apparent movement may be seen in some flamboyant tracery and
Saracenic work, and in some bad paper-hangings, &c.; also the
absence of spottiness. See page 45.
_Scale_, the relative proportion of the different parts of a
decorative composition to each other, to the whole, and to the
thing ornamented. If a design is composed of different organic
forms, they should, as a rule, keep their natural proportion to
each other. Attributes are, however, often made to a much larger
scale in Greek coins and engraved gems. Equality in scale need not
be used when parts are cut off from each other by inclosing
mouldings, as in isolated panels, pilasters, medallions, spandrels,
&c.; the inclosed spaces may be filled with other subjects of
smaller or larger scale, as with landscapes, heads, or
inscriptions; the frieze of a room, from its greater importance,
may have its decoration larger in scale than the panels of the
door or shutters. The scale employed in the decoration of rooms, of
floors, or of pieces of furniture, may increase or destroy their
importance; hence, except in rare instances, the human figure
should not exceed its natural size, and may want to be much
smaller. And this precaution is equally important in the use of
plants; if the flowers or leaves in ornament are made gigantic,
they destroy the scale of the room or floor; though it may be known
that leaves four feet in diameter or six feet long actually exist.
_Scalloping_ or _scolloping_, forming an edge with semi-circles or
segments, the convex side being outwards.
_Scroll_, a roll of paper or parchment. As a unit in ornament, it
is usually applied to two spirals, each attached to the opposite
ends of a curved stem, each spiral coiling the reverse way, but the
word is often applied to ornament composed of a meander with
spirals.
_Series_, usually the sequence of several dissimilar forms at
regular intervals, as the bead and reel in bead-mouldings, the
sequence of the same text in Saracenic work, and also a sequence of
forms similar in shape but in an increasing or decreasing order, as
branches of plants with leaves getting smaller from bottom to top.
_Setting out_, the planning of a scheme of decoration; the first
constructive lines or marking-out of the ornament; the skeleton
lines of a design. See pages 26, 40, and 68.
_Soffit_, an architectural term applied to the under side of any
fixed portion, as the soffit of a beam, an architrave, a cornice,
an arch, or a vault.
_Spacing_, the marking of widths in mouldings, panels, stiles and
rails, borders, &c. Equality of division in decoration is, in most
cases, ineffective, and should be guarded against; harmonious
variety in such widths and distances is desirable for getting a
good effect. See pages 42, 62, 65, and 68-71. Also Figs. C, D, 88
and 89.
_Spiral_, the elevation of a wire continuously twisted round a
cylinder, or cone, also the plan of one twisted round a cone; in
ornament the word spiral, when used as a substantive, mostly means
the latter form. The curved line forming a volute (as in the Ionic
capital) and the outline of the wave ornament; the line of
construction in univalve shells. See Figs. 24, 41, 42, 43, 178, &c.
_Stability_, firmness and strength in the general appearance of a
design; in climbing plants this appearance can only be given by
their attachment to a central upright or to the vertical sides of
the frame; the straight line is the chief factor of stability in
ornament. See page 42. Where many curved lines are used in the
decoration of long panels, straight-lined forms must be introduced
to counteract the effect of instability in the curved ones. See
Figs. 123 and 128. This is especially the case in pilasters which
are architectural features of support; and for the same reason the
heavier forms should be kept at the bottom and the lighter ones at
the top.
_Style_, originally meant handwriting. In historic styles it means
the expression of the taste and skill of the people who produced
the work of art, whether it be architecture, sculpture, or
painting. Bygone styles are useful for study, and may be copied or
paraphrased, but can never be re-created, because the genius,
knowledge, opportunities, and surroundings of any later period are
unlikely to be the same. We classify them under the head of
conventional (sometimes called idealistic), realistic, and
naturalistic. It is also used to express good drawing or modelling,
which conveys the elegance, grace, or vigour of the best natural
forms. Sometimes it is applied to a composition in which those
qualities arc expressed, in contradistinction to the ill-drawn,
flabby, or commonplace.
_Spotting._ This word has nearly the same meaning as “powdering,”
the only difference being that the units of form in such decoration
have a geometrical basis and are mostly equidistant, the ground
occupying much larger space than the ornament. See Fig. 80.
_Stripe_, usually applied in ornament to narrow bands.
_Suitability_, æsthetic and practical fitness; the great thing to
remember is the nature, surface, and shape of the object to be
decorated, and to design the ornament accordingly, for it is
evident that what would be a good ornament for one object or
position might be bad for another.
_Superimposed_ or _superposed_, an ornament which is laid on the
surface of another, such as a large flowing pattern on a ground
covered with a smaller pattern, either geometric or floral; or a
broad, ribbon-like ornament laid on a pattern formed of narrow and
fine lines. This sort of ornamentation is mostly seen in the
decoration of the Saracens, but occasionally in that of the
Renaissance artists. In the wall-patterns of the Alhambra, we often
find two, three, and sometimes four different designs superimposed
on each other, the judicious use of different colours and gold
preventing confusion in the pattern; the complexity is sometimes of
a well-ordered kind. See Figs. 101, 102, and 104.
_Subordination._ A regular gradation from the most important
feature to the least important. See the central panel of ceiling,
Fig. 89.
_Symbol_ originally meant a token or a ticket among the Greeks; by
the Romans it meant the same, and also a signet. In modern English
it means a sign, emblem, or figurative representation. In
ornamental art it is mostly used to express some beautiful thing
that by knowledge or association brings to the mind some power or
dignity connected with religion. Attributes are often used as
symbols of the divinity to which they belong--the bow of Diana, the
thyrsus of Bacchus (Fig. 167), and the trident of Neptune, &c. In
Christian ornament the fish and lamb are mostly symbols of the
Saviour. It is sometimes difficult to determine when anything
should be called a symbol, an emblem, or an allegorical
representation; for instance, whether the Apocalyptic calf is a
symbol, an emblem, or an allegorical representation of St. Luke.
_Symmetry_, equality of form and mass on either side of a central
line; absolute sameness in the two sides of a piece of ornament.
See Figs. 127 and 130.
_Tangential Junction_, the meeting of curves at their tangential
points, so that they flow into one another without making an angle.
The principal constructive lines in foliated ornament and scroll
patterns should illustrate “tangential junction,” _i. e._ the
branches and curves should flow out of the central stem. See p. 45,
and Figs. 25 and 53.
_Uniformity_, being of one shape; the square and circle are uniform
figures; it is one of the main causes of grandeur and dignity, but
if absolute, results in monotony. The Greek temples had apparently
uniform columns placed at uniform distances, and monotony was
avoided by delicate variations in the size and spacing of the
columns.
_Unit_, the smallest or simplest _complete_ expression of ornament
in any scheme of decoration.
_Unity_, perfect accord in all the parts of a design. Unity is
often a characteristic of designs that are very monotonous, so by
itself it will scarcely render a design pleasing.
_Unsymmetrical_, without symmetry, such as the volute. See the word
_Balance_.
_Variety_, the absence of similarity; a word embracing an infinity
of differences, from two things that are not absolutely alike, to
two things that are absolutely unlike. The judicious use of variety
gives interest to ornament, but uniformity with slight variety
gives the most dignity.
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON & BUNGAY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] M. Henri Mayeux, _La Composition Décorative_, 8vo, Paris, s.a.
[2] See M. César Daly’s _Motifs Historique_, fol., Paris, 1881.
[3] The chambers under Titus’ baths in which the paintings were found,
were originally parts of Nero’s golden house.
[4] There are, however, figures of men and animals occasionally found
in their carved wood-work, tiles, damascened work, carpets, and
embroidery.
[5] Many of the frets are woven spirals.
[6] There is, however, a strong objection, from a sanitary point of
view, to the use of absorbent hangings, especially when the surface
is rough, for they not only absorb infection, but hold dust, which
generally contains the germs of disease.
[7] There arc many styles of Persian ornamentation--that of the
Achæmenides, probably that of the Macedonians after the conquest of
Persia by Alexander the Great, that of the Sasanides, that of the
Saracens after they conquered the country, and their ornamentation
was doubtless influenced by the subsequent Mongul conquest. That
ornamentation which is generally called Persian, except modern work,
seems to be Saracenic.
[8] In the sixteenth chapter of the Korân called the “Bee,” it is
said, “and of the fruit of the palm-trees and of grapes, ye obtain an
inebriating liquor and also good nourishment.”
[9]
“Eve’s tempter thus the rabbins have express’d,
A cherub’s face, a reptile all the rest.”--POPE.
[10] From Dr. Richter’s discoveries at Cyprus, it seems probable that
the Ionic volute may have taken its rise from an enlargement of the
Egyptian lotus.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Principles of Ornament, by James Ward