THEPRINCIPLES OF ORNAMENT

Figs.A and B.â€”Byzantine Capitals from Sta. Sophia at Constantinople, showing the bossing out of the ornament.

Fig. C.â€”Entablature of the Erechtheum.

Fig. D.â€”Entablature of the Caryatid portico of the Erechtheum.

and weighty enough for the figures. All the frieze but the capping was consequently left out, the top fascia of the architrave was enriched with circular discs, and between the cappings of the architrave and frieze a deep dentil band was introduced. Mainly by these means the due effect was gained (Figs.CandD).

Ornament has sometimes to be repeated in a composition on a smaller scale, and this should not be done by merely reducing the scale so as to have a diminutive reproduction, but by keeping the general form of the ornament with fewer details. Several examples may be found in M. Mayeuxâ€™s book.[1]Instances of the same motive being repeated in the same height and in a narrower width are sometimes found. An example may be seen beneath the double and single windows of an hotel in the Rue Dalbard, Toulouse[2](Fig.E).

Fig. E.â€”Reduction of similar ornament in different spaces.

Much might be said on the subject of materials, but I will only make a few remarks. In making a design, due consideration should be given to the material employed, so that the natural ornamentation of one material may not be put on another; pottery is turned on the wheel, and is adapted for painting, while hollow metal vessels are embossed, but it iscommon enough to see pottery embossed, which can, it is true, be accomplished by casting or by inlaying, yet this sort of ornamentation always looks inappropriate. Stone is usually of large and wood of small scantling, yet in the front of a stone building with arched openings the wooden door-head is often made a continuation of the stone impost, though the mouldings of the wood-work should be finer and the ornament different.

Although the young student should confine his attention to the best styles, the advanced one should have some acquaintance with all traditional ornament, even the styles of Louis XIV. and XV., a grafting of Chinese and Japanese ornament on the current classic, for they are the only modern styles, except the early Renaissance, that have complete unity. The same style runs through the whole building, down to the door furniture and the damask of the chairs; the handling, too, is often admirable, and the examples are full of hints to the advanced student, who is unlikely to be infected with the rococo style.

I have dwelt much on carving for several reasons; it is the most lasting of ornamental work, and as a rule the most important; it is susceptible of the greatest perfection when executed in marble, and all architectural ornament must eventually fall into the hands of the sculptor, since he has devoted his life to its study. I may add that the French architects look upon it as the weak point in English architecture.

To the young student I may say that he can never become an artist until he has mastered the fundamental principles of his art; and that nothing can deserve the name of ornament that is not bothappropriate and beautiful, and has been evolved from nature by the mind of man. I would suggest to the young artist that the flora of the world is not confined to the lotus, the honeysuckle, and the acanthus; that if accident caused the original choice of these plants, it was the infinite pains bestowed on their treatment that caused their persistence. There are, too, thousands of beauties still to be culled from plants and flowers that now remain outside the domain of art. Let the student remember that knowledge, skill, truth, and sincerity are the main roads to real success, and that real success is, to have produced some beauty that has captivated or will captivate mankind.

G. Aitchison.

ORNAMENT is the proper enrichment of an object or surface with such forms, or forms and colours, as will give the thing decorated a new beauty, while strictly preserving its shape and character. It is the function of ornament toemphasizethe forms of the object it decorates, not tohidethem. Decoration is not necessarily ornament; for instance, the lovely sprays of plants with birds and cognate subjects, painted on Japanese pottery, may be called beautiful decoration, but cannot in our sense of the word be called ornament; for however realistic ornament may be, it must show that it has passed through the mind of man, and been acted on by it. This kind of decoration might be a literal transcript from nature, and neither emphasizes the boundaries of the decorated surface nor harmonizes with them. It possesses an exquisite beauty of its own, for the drawing and colour and the style of execution are good. With the exception of frets and diapers,true ornament is rare in Japanese art.Fig. 1is a Japanese decoration on an oblong surface. Such a design is pretty, but we can hardly call it ornament. Something must be done with it before we can give it that name.

Fig. 1.â€”Japanese decoration.

Fig. 2.â€”Japanese decoration altered.

To make an ornamental design, the units of the decoration must be arranged and brought into order; repetition and symmetry may not be required, buteven distribution,order, andbalanceare indispensable. The whole too must not appear to be accidental but designed for the object, while No. 1 might have been made from a shadow cast on a window. The sketch atFig. 2is an attempt to illustrate our notion of ornament by using the elements inFig. 1evenly distributed, having at the same time a due regard to the boundary-lines of the panel.

Applied ornament is that which is specially designed and fitted for the position it occupies.

Independent ornamentsare such things as shields, labels, medallions, &c., with or without enclosing frames; paterÃ¦, festoons, and other loose ornamental objects, which may be attached to a surface, and may be used alone, or in combination with applied ornament (Fig. 133).

Numerous examples may be given ofinappropriateornament. As a rule, any kind of ornament that is not suited to the surface ornamented, or is falsely constructed, may be called inappropriate. For instance, if upright panels and pilasters were decorated with ornament running in oblique lines, or with a strongly-marked series of horizontal bands; or if a carpet pattern were designed to run in one particular direction; or, from an architectural point of view, if columns supporting nothing were used in decoration; if consoles or brackets were turned upside down; or if curved mouldings were decorated with frets; or panels were overloaded with mouldings; if forms, organic or otherwise, were used together, but out of scale with one another; or things were made to simulate what they are not; or there were a great excess of enrichment; each of these examples might be considered as inappropriate ornament.

Methods of Expression.â€”Ornament is expressed in three different ways: Firstly, by pure outline, as traced with a point; secondly, where breadth is added, by flat tints as in painting with the brush, or by shading, hatching, spotting, or stippling; thirdly, by relief, or sinking, as in modelling and sculpture.These three divisions may be subdivided, but all the subdivisions are but varieties or combinations of the first three genera. Relief modelled or pierced ornament has no other outline than that given by light and shade; but it may also be coloured,i. e.in two shadesâ€”one for the ornament and one for the background, or with the forms and background â€œpicked outâ€ in a variety of colours. Shaded or painted ornament in the flat is an imitation of relief work, and will be noticed again.

Ornament Expressed in Outline.â€”All the early decorative work of mankind, both the prehistoric etchings on bone and on pottery, the line decoration on Assyrian cylinders, bronze dishes and tablets, and the incised work on the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cistas, hand-mirrors, and vases come under this head; as well as sgraffito-work when expressed by outline, cut in plaster showing a different-coloured plaster beneath.

Ornament Expressed by Flat Tints, in monochrome or colour, with no shading and without shadow, is a common method of ornamentation. This class includes painted ornament on the flat, whether polychromatic or in â€œgrisailleâ€; inlaid wood-work, called parquetry when used for floors, and marquetry when used for other purposes; inlaid marble, stone, tile and plaster work, mosaic, tesselated, sectile and Alexandrine pavements; damascened metal-work; some enamels, lac-work, and painted pottery; woven, embroidered, printed, and stencilled stuffs, including oil-cloth; enamelled glass; and some sgraffito-work. It is convenient to class under this head certainwork of slight thickness or relief, such as lace, applied work of paper, stuffs, velvet, &c., fine filigree and wire-work. Inlay under the name of â€œTarsiaâ€ was greatly used by the Italians in the decoration of cathedrals and churches and in fittings and furniture; in cathedral stalls and sacristy fittings, boxwood was commonly inlaid in walnut, but ebony and ivory were largely employed for house furniture and fittings, and many different substances were sometimes employed. Tortoiseshell, gold, silver, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and different coloured woods are largely employed for the same purpose by Orientals and others. A species of inlay composed of white and stained ivory, ebony, and silver, in geometrical patterns, is much used by the cabinet-makers of Indiaâ€”our Tunbridge ware is supposed to be an imitation of it.

Flat Tints enriched by Outlinewere sometimes used in Greek vases, and are often used in inlays and damascened work; very pretty examples may be found in old Chinese lac-work, inlaid with figures and landscapes in black mother-of-pearl, the features, &c. being outlined.

Relief-work.â€”Ordinary modelled and carved work, either in relief or sunk, is too well known to need description; but under this heading are included pierced, open, and turned work, and such compound work as may be pierced, or turned and carved or incised as well.

Coloured Relief-work.â€”All Egyptian, Greek, and MediÃ¦val bas-reliefs, and some if not all of their figure sculpture in the round, were coloured, but when the figures were of white marble, the colour wasgenerally confined to the flesh, eyes, and hair, and to the stripes or patterns on the dresses. In one of the white marble sarcophagi from Sidon, now in the Museum at Constantinople, while figures of half life-size are left wholly white, smaller figures are wholly coloured and gilt, like the terra-cotta ones of Tanagra, and some of the ornament is white on a purple ground. All the Italian Renaissance bas-reliefs in â€œgesso duroâ€ were wholly coloured.

In Greek temples the carved ornament was coloured, including the triglyphs, and parts of the ornament were often gilt, the uncut mouldings too were mostly ornamented in colour. In some enamelled pottery in relief, the figures or ornament were left white on a coloured ground, or the drapery of the figures and the ornament were coloured, as in some of the Della Robbia ware. All Roman embossed plaster was coloured and gilt. Much relief-work in bronze and the precious metals has been coloured by means of enamel, or alloys in the metal; coloured mosaic has been used to clothe columns, and some mosaic and pietra dura is in relief, as well as lac and ivory work inlaid with fine stones, mother-of-pearl, and ivory; all Moresque and some Saracen embossed plaster-work, and probably carved stone-work, was coloured and gilt; some Burmese plaster-work in relief is gilt and inlaid with coloured glass, and certain stuffs have had raised ornament upon them, formed by stuffing with wadding the applied pieces, which sometimes were embroidered.

Shaded or Painted Ornament on the Flat in Imitation of Relief-work.â€”This is probably the largest class, and includes engraving, shaded ornament inchiaroscuro, and shaded and coloured ornament with or without cast shadows; in it are included the Chinese, Persian, MediÃ¦val, and Renaissance translucent enamels, which are laid over sunk (intaglio) work, and paintersâ€™ enamels; Boule work, which consists of brass, tin, or pewter, inlaid in ebony or tortoiseshell with the metal-work engraved; wood inlay in the shape of shaded natural flowers, landscapes, architectural views, and figure subjects; shaded ornament on woven or printed stuffs, and embroidery; and shaded painting on china and glass, and in Arabesques. What we now call Arabesques were paraphrases of Roman painted decoration, of which Pompeii offers us so wide a knowledge. These decorations consisted of fantastic buildings, interspersed with figures, animals, landscapes, and foliage. The discovery of this kind of painting in the baths of Titus[3]at Rome led Raphael to adopt it and to improve on it. The culminating point in Arabesque painting was the decoration of the loggias of the Vatican by Raphael and his pupil, Giovanni Recamatore, commonly known as Giovanni da Udine. The Mohammedans, from whom the name was derived, mostly avoided the figures of men and animals,[4]even in their secular buildings or furniture, it being feared that the portrayal of living creatures might lead them to idolatry; so spaces were filled with intricate geometrical patterns and coarse foliage.

THEelementary formsused in ornament form the next division. It is assumed that the space is given that we are required to ornament; for example, a ceiling, a wall, a frieze, a panel, or a carpet. The boundary-lines are the enclosing lines of our space or field, which may be subdivided. This subdividing is called thesetting-out. We have now to think of the forms and character of the ornament we propose to adopt.

It is now advisable to give illustrations of the various elementary forms used in ornament. As lines, either straight or curved, are the basis of all ornament, we begin with the straight line. It would be difficult to overrate the value of the straight line in ornament. The qualities of stability, firmness, and repose given by upright and horizontal lines are well illustrated by the mouldings round rectilinear panels, by cornices and pilasters, and by reeded and fluted ornaments. All frets are composed of straight lines. The illustrations fromFig. 3toFig. 23are specimens of straight-lined ornaments. Taking the band or two horizontal parallel lines inFig. 3, and marking off equidistant points on the upper and on the lower one, only alternating, and drawing vertical lines from thesepoints, we obtain the basis of a large class of frets. Figs.4,6,7, and8show further developments of the fret. Figs.5and18show the elements of some Saracenic or Moresque frets, of which Figs.11,21, and22are developments. Figs.6,8,12,13and14

Figs.3 to 7.â€”Straight-lined ornaments.

are Greek frets; 7 and 20 are Chinese.Fig. 9is a Gothic nail-head ornament; 10 is of German origin; 19 is a Japanese key pattern; andFig. 23is derived from the plaiting of rushes, ribbons, straws, or from herring-bone brick-work, and is common to prehistoric and Byzantine work.

Frets are more appropriate to flat surfaces than toconcave or convex ones; they may, however, be used on slightly concave surfaces, such as the inside bevels of plates or dishes; then their vertical lines will compose well, by radiating from the centre of the plate. The square within square, and double and single frets, shown at Figs.8and15, were often

Figs.8 to 11.â€”Straight-lined ornaments.

used in conjunction by the Greeks, and earlier by the Egyptians, on the ceilings of their tombs (Fig. 16), both singly, and alternating with spirals and circular ornaments. (SeeFig. 43.)

The zigzag is another straight-lined form largely used as ornament; it was used by the Egyptians and Early Greeks as the symbol of water (Figs.28,165).

Lozenges and diamonds are other elements ofstraight-lined ornament, and form the basis of many repeating patterns in woven stuffs, paper-hangings, and tiles. Triangles, squares, hexagons, octagons,

Figs.12 to 14.â€”Greek frets.

Fig. 15â€”Fret and panel border, Greek.

and other polygons are also used largely as constructive bases in pattern-designing.

After the straight line, the curved is the other element in ornament. It is pre-eminently the type of grace, and the â€œline of beauty.â€ Whether seen in the outline of the cloud, the wave, or the rounded limb of the human figure, the eye takes a delight in

Fig. 16.â€”Egyptian ceiling fret.

tracing out the flowing curve. We have closed curves in such figures as the circle, ellipse, oval, figure of eight, and in the vesica piscis, or fish-shape, the latter being composed of two arcs of a circle of the same radius, touching each other at their opposite extremities. The parabola, hyperbola, &c., are open curves; such figures as the meander (Fig. 29), thespiral (Fig. 24), the scroll (Fig. 25), and the swag or festoon (Fig. 27), are also open curves. When the festoon is formed of links and hangs like a chain from two points, it is called a catenary, and is practically identical with the lines of festoons and the loopings of drapery.

181920

Figs. 17 to 20.â€”Straight-lined ornaments

In the illustrations, we have atFig. 30circles touching each other; this is the framework of some diapers and repeating forms. Next we come to circles intersecting each other.Fig. 31is a patterncommon alike to Saracenic, Egyptian, and Japanese diapers.Fig. 32is a border ornament of the same pattern with a centre.

Figs.21 to 23.â€”Straight-lined ornaments.

An effective disc border, like that made by savage tribes from cut shells, is shown atFig. 33, and a development of the latter is that of Fig. 34, taken

Figs.24. 25.â€”Spiral and Scroll.

from Assyrian tesserÃ¦, small oblong pieces of stone or metal, on which the pattern was incised, and often alternating with theguilloche(Figs.37,38,39, and40). The guilloche was an important pattern in Assyrian work, in Greek moulding decoration, and in their flat painted ornament.

Fig. 26.A, B, C, D, E.â€”Scale-work (imbricated).

Fig. 27.â€”Festoon (catenary).

Fig. 28.â€”Zigzag.Fig. 29.â€”Meander.

Figs.35and36are further examples of ornament obtained from the circle and its segments; the former being the Gothic ball-flower. Imbricated or scale ornament was much used for roofs, to ornament small columns and circular mouldings. Examples are given atFig. 26, A, B, and C.

Figs.30 to 36.â€”Ornaments mostly derived from the circle.

We now pass from the circle to the spiral,[5]from which a great part of ornamental forms are derived.

Fig. 41is an Egyptian wave scroll, and 42 is the familiar Greek wave.Fig. 43is from an Egyptianceiling; all these contain the spiral as their chief characteristic.Fig. 44shows two intersecting meanders,

Figs.37 to 40.â€”Ornaments mostly derived from the circle.

47 is a scroll intersected by a meander, 46 is an eccentric meander, 45 is the scroll or antispiral of the cyma recta, and 48 is the double spiral of thecavetto decoration.Fig. 70is the ornament on the Greek cyma reversa or ogee, called by the Frenchrais de cÅ“ur; 71 is a Roman variety.

Figs.41 to 48.â€”Ornaments chiefly based on spiral curves.

Fig. 50shows the anatomy or centre lines of the purely Ã¦sthetic Greek pattern developed atFig. 49. Figs.51and52are additional examples.Fig. 53is one of the scrolls, and inFig. 54is shown the irregular meanders and spiral curves forming the stand for the tripod on the roof of the choragic monument of Lysikrates.

Figs.49 to 52.â€”Greek borders from vases.

Fig. 53.â€”Scroll ornament on the slope of the roof of the choragic monument of Lysikrates.

Fig. 54.â€”Portion of the tripod stand on top of the roof of the monument of Lysikrates.

THE laws of composition in ornament are deduced from nature, but we must look to works of art for their proper application.

The laws that may be deduced are numberless, but the principal ones may be given as follows:â€”

Geometrical Arrangement,Proportion,Stability, Repetition,Contrast,Symmetry,Radiation,Tangential Junction,Repose,Variety,Subordination,Balance,Unity,Series, Growth,Superposition,Fitness. Some of these are preliminary laws;e.g.we cannot have ornament without somegeometrical arrangement, even spots in a line must be set out at regular distances, or with a recurring element of irregularity; and as every plant and part of it are set out on a geometrical basis, we cannot have good floral ornament without such an arrangement. The same may be said of the setting out of the more complex schemes of ornament, and besides this framework, a whole class of ornament depends on geometrical arrangement. There must beharmonic proportionbetween the parts of the ornament, as well as between the enrichment and the ground, to make ornament pleasing; this last element of proportion is generally calledeven distribution, and is found in all good work; at the same time it admits of a variety of treatment: in some Indian, Chinese, and Saracenic ornament it is painfully monotonous, while in good Roman and Renaissance work, though the law is observed, there is such variety and contrast, that it never becomes tiresome. Ornament to be satisfactory must haveStability, and not look as if it would fall down. After these preliminaries,Repetitionmay be looked on as the first law; as anything repeated forms elementary ornament.Contrastcomes next, as the mere alternation of upright and horizontal lines form a contrasted ornament | â€”â€” | â€”â€” | â€”â€” |Symmetryperhaps comes next, and is the repetition of any form on its axis; even the rudest blot so doubled makes ornament.Radiationalone is the basis of much ornament, and directly we get as far as the scroll, we must havetangential junction, for broken-backed curves are hardly ornament. Next comesRepose: any decoration that seems to crawl is not pleasing but distressing. As we advance we wantVarietyandSubordination. An unsymmetrical ornament generally requiresBalance;Unityis necessary in any complex system.Seriesadds a new element by the repetition at stated intervals of a succession of different objects, or of similar ones of increasing or decreasing size.Growthgives us one of the most vigorous and delightful elements in nature, andSuperpositionmay be looked on as the last addition to ornament yet made by man; whileFitnessmay be said to include all before-mentioned and more.

The descriptions just given will serve for thedefinition of some of the laws, but others require further explanation.

Proportion, by which â€œharmonic proportionâ€ is meant, applies also to the architectural features of a design, and is indispensable in designing borders, composed of lines or mouldings, and in panels. The width of such border, or series of mouldings, should be a proportionate part of the narrowest width of the space or panel. There are certain distances between lines that are more pleasing than others, and as a rule, one space should preponderate. In mouldings the same thing is true, but in addition to the spaces, there are the projections and contours to be studied. The study of Greek profiles (Figs.CandD,p. 15) is most valuable, though Greek mouldings are unsuitable for external work in this climate. The methods of proportioning cornices given in Vitruvius are useful (the application of proportion to surfaces will be found at Chap. IV.).

Stability.â€”Instability is mostly found in creeping or twining plants, put vertically, and not attached to a central stem, or to the framework of the panel; also to bulky forms put on slight ones, that from their size seem unable to support the weight. We know from experience that trunks of trees support the enormous mass of branches and foliage above them by their solidity, and bear the strain of winds by their strength and the spread and tenacity of their roots. In the rare case in which such an arrangement is wanted in ornament, we must resort to some device, such as difference of texture between the supports and the mass above, to indicate superior supporting power.

Repetitionis the first method by which things were turned into ornament, but if it be carried too far it produces monotony; this may be seen in a long succession of similar windows in factories, and the endless rows of iron railings to parks. A little more thought would put in proper places a larger or more ornate window; and in the case of railings would afford a larger and more important post or a group of them: this infusion of Variety would correct the monotonous appearance, and greatly add to the pleasure of the beholders. The ornaments on mouldings, patterns in checkers, net-work, or diapers may be repeated up to a certain point without being tiresome, but symbolic and distinguishing forms must, as a rule, be used sparingly. One human figure is mostly enough in an ornamental panel, because the figure absorbs the attention, though cupids or very young children may be repeated; the former are imaginary creatures, and the latter sportive ones, but even these should be so arranged as to compose with the foliage, which should be an open screen they are seen playing through. The difficulty of preventing even cupids from absorbing all interest, was probably the cause of the ancients so often making them half-floral.

Contrastin form or colour imparts vigour to the composition; the commonest illustration of contrast in form is the circle and the straight line, but more subtle contrasts are found in Natureâ€™s works, very flat curves being contrasted with sharp ones; and in colour, besides the contrasts of the leaves and flowers, there are often spots of contrasting colour on flowers toheighten their brilliancy, though this is mostly effected by the pistils and stamens. The â€œegg and tongue,â€ one of the most effective ornaments invented, has the smooth curved eggs contrasted with the thin lines of the shells, and the curved eggs with the straight edge of the tongue. (Fig. 67.) Renaissance and Roman ornament (seeFig. 129) give the amplest illustrations of contrast; varieties of foliage contrasting with vases, labels, shields, armour, masks, animals, and human figures. (See Figs.121,123,124,126,127,130,132, andFrontispiece.)

Symmetryhas been defined before as the mere doubling of a form on its axis; it is one of the most important means of producing ornament, as well as one of the laws most commonly found in nature. Nothing in nature, however, is absolutely symmetrical, though there is a suggestion of symmetry about the bulk of its works.

Radiationis the spreading out of lines from a point, like a fan, and these lines may be straight or curved, and the axis of the radiating lines may be vertical, horizontal, or oblique. It is found in the human hand, in the wing feathers of birds, in the scallop and similar bivalve shells, in the umbels of flowers, and in much other plant growth. The Greek honeysuckle is the most beautiful instance of its adaptation as ornament. (See Figs.49,50,51,52and115.) If the centre of the radiating lines is kept below the springing line, it adds greatly to the interest and beauty of the ornament. A succession of festoons or of drapery hanging from two points are examples of one species of curved radiation.

Tangential Junction.â€”Euclidâ€™s definition of a tangent is as follows:â€”â€œA straight line is said to touch a circle, when it meets the circle, and being produced does not cut it,â€ and is obtained by drawing a line perpendicular to any radius from the point at which it touches the circumference. In ornament, tangential junction means that where two curves of opposite curvature meet they are to meet at the tangential points of each (Fig. 25), and in the case of a curve being continued by a straight line, the point of junction is the tangential point. A curve, however, should never be continued by a straight line, but by a flatter curve. The beauty imparted by following this rule is seen in the Ionic capitals of the Temple of Apollo at BassÃ¦, where the two volutes are joined by a curve instead of by the usual straight line (seeFig. 179in Appendix).

Repose.â€”The absence of a look of motion in ornament; this appearance of motion may be seen in some flamboyant tracery and Saracenic patterns, in some modern paper-hangings, and in patterns in woven and printed stuffs. The word repose is sometimes used to denote an absence of spottiness. In the best pilaster panels, horizontal lines are introduced partly for contrast, and partly to give repose by checking the appearance of motion in the curved plant forms. (Fig. 127.)

Varietyis a difference of form or arrangement in the ornament from that which immediately precedes or follows it. In nature we see that every leaf varies from every other by subtle differences, though the foliage is roughly alike, and it is for this reason thatNatureâ€™s works never pall upon us. General similarity with slight variety is the most proper for the highest and most dignified ornament. In other cases absolute variety is permissible. Variety is the salt of ornament that takes off the insipidity of repetition.

Subordination.â€”The state of being inferior to another, a regular descending series. In any complex system of ornament, one part should be chosen as the most important, and all the rest should lead up to it; but certain distinct parts, such as masses or flowers, may re-echo in a fainter way the main motive. In drawing, subordination is obtained by the principal mass being larger than the rest, and by its details being larger and more pronounced; in painting, by the above and by the principal part being more vivid in colour; in modelling, by greater size and relief. The Romans and Cinque Cento artists were great masters of this art. In some panels, though the highest relief is not great, there is an infinity of gradation, the lowest relief gradually sinking into the ground. In a Renaissance bas-relief of a full face the greatest projection is about the sixteenth of an inch, and yet the face is perfectly modelled. Modern English carved ornament is too frequently deficient in this quality.

Balance.â€”The making unsymmetrical masses of equal weight. In the creations of nature we see balance employed in trees, shrubs, and plants (Fig. 160); in leaves, made as it were on a symmetrical basis, balance is equally employed. In simple oval leaves, for example, one side is more convex than the other, and the balance is got by the curve in the rib.

Unityis the completeness of any system of ornament not marred by incongruous elements or forms.

Seriesis the repetition of a limited succession of different forms: in the egg and tongue, of two; in the bead and reel, of three; in branches of plants when the leaves regularly diminish in size, of many. Fig.67.) Long series may be seen in Saracenic ornament, where the same text is repeated sometimes with ornament between the texts.

Growth.â€”This is at once the rarest and most delightful of the hints taken from nature by great ornamentalists. In climbing plants, whose stalks are polygonal, and that twist to reach an object, or for the flowers to get the sun, the edges of the stalk are seen to form a spiral. Sometimes this vigour of growth is seen in the turn of a leaf or the clasp of a tendril round a twig. The capitals and the tripod stand of the choragic monument of Lysikrates are good examples. (Figs.53and54.)

Superposition.â€”This is most frequently seen in Saracenic ornament, but it is also found in Renaissance ornament. The simplest form is in the case of meanders of different curvature when one is put over the other, the upper one being more vigorous in form and colour. The next case is where larger ornaments of a more striking colour are put over a smaller and less obtrusive pattern, as in the Persian windows of the Suleimanyeh at Constantinople; but the commonest case is that of inscriptions over floral ornament, examples of which are without number in Saracenic work. This, like nearly all other inventions in ornament, is taken from nature. We see twining or creeping plants overgrowing trees or bushes, and parasitical plants overgrowing others, from which they get their sustenance, and have therefore roots, stems, and flowers, but no leaves. Saracenic diapers frequently have many planes superposed, and as each pattern is differently coloured and gilt, any change of position in the beholder brings out a new pattern. This may be seen in the Alhambra Court at the Crystal Palace. Fig.101.)

Fitness, in its most obvious sense, is arranging the ornament so that it may not interfere with the proper use of the thing ornamented. The enrichment of a sword-hilt must not hurt the hand, nor render the proper wielding of the sword difficult or impossible; and the same canon applies to the handles of flagons, jugs, or drinking vessels, &c.; in a secondary sense it is a due consideration of the qualities of the material to be ornamented, and of the appropriateness of the ornament to the purpose for which the article is intended; and thirdly, it supposes a well-ordered design, whose completeness would be marred by anything being added or removed.

The want of what is called â€œalternationâ€ in design is analogous to a surface that is so elaborately decorated with a uniform repeating pattern that it is wearisome to look at.

The value of plain spaces in design is enormous. Charles Lamb, in one of his delightful letters to Coleridge, says in finishingâ€”â€œI will leave you, in mercy, one small white spotemptybelow, to repose your eyes upon, fatigued as they must be with thewilderness of words they have by this time painfully travelled through.â€ To the designer this analogy will be obvious and useful.

Plain spaces as alternations in design, are the oases in the desert, and may be compared to a refreshing silence after a continuous chatter or deafening noise.

It is easier to do too much than to know exactly where to stop. Excess of ornament defeats its own end, there is no foil to set it off, and it must be guarded against. The Saracens, by the relative weight of their ornament, have to some extent obviated this objection. To know the value of plainness is to enhance the ornament used. To have this vividly brought home to you, the best Greek architecture should be compared with late Roman. In the Greek you see a very small quantity of exquisite ornament surrounded by plainness, which makes it doubly precious; in late Roman, every surface is covered without a spot to rest the eye on, so that the whole becomes dull, confused, and monotonous.

BEFORE speaking of the decoration of mouldings, a few words must be said on the mouldings themselves. The Greeks were the first people who carried the art of moulding or profiling to any perfection, and they are still supreme; they mainly used straight-lined sections for strength, but added a few curved sections to prevent monotony. The air of Greece is pellucid and the sunshine brilliant, so for their curved sections those that approximated to conic sections were preferred as having more subtle shade, segments of circles being rarely used. (See Figs. 61-64.) The greatest efforts were made to have these mouldings as exquisite as possible, so as to get variety of shade and shadow, and mouldings of the same species were rarely or never alike. The Romans, who had much coarser artistic sensibilities than the Greeks, and were slaves to easy rules, used segments of circles for their mouldings instead of the Greek curves. (See Figs. 55-66.) They also had an atmosphere less clear, and their sunshine was not so brilliant. The MediÃ¦vals, who lived in misty climates with little sunshine, were as logical in their methods, but were not possessed of the artistic sensibilities of the Greeks, so, although their mouldings answer the

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