Meyer Franz. A Handbook of Ornament

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NATURAL FORMS.

The Shell.

Plate

59.

NATURAL FORMS.

Plate 60.

The

Serpent,

&c.

The

Serpent.

—

Humaji

Orgauism. 93

comp.

plate

76),

and

single

one

round the staflF of

Esculapius.

Coiled

circle

with tail in mouth

the symbol

Eternity

tombs, it is

used in

mythology,

and

indispensable accompani-

ment

the symbols

Envy and

Dissension; and the hair of

Medusa

represented

composed of

Serpents (Plate

65).

ecclesiastical

art: the

Serpent is the symbol of

Wi-ckedness,

Sin,

and Temptation

(the

scene

in Paradise); it appears

under the

feet

of the

Virgin Mary

with

an appl^ in its mouth.

In Heraldry:

it is

represented devouring

child, on the shield of the

Visconti, of

Milano.

Plate

60. The

Serpent.

Cast

from life

Viper

(Vipera

herus

—

Pelias berus)

with

Lizard (Lacerta

viridis

—

Lacerta agilis),

J. EberhavJ

Heilbronn.

Cast from

life of a Viper, by J.

Eberhard of

Heilbronn.

Antique bracelet in

the form of a

Viper, Pompeii.

4. The

Snake

the symbol of

Eternity, (Gerlach,

Allegorien

und

Embleme).

Human Organism.

The

human form has been,

and

destined to

a favoured

object

representation in art. The desire,

depict

for contemporaries

and

transmit to posterity,

the

great Deeds

of individuals and the

epoch-making Achievements and fate of

whole races and nations,

universal among

mankind;

as also the

attempt to reproduce

the

Portraits

celebrated Persons. Even the

supernatural powers, his

Gods, man represents in

the

form of

men. The

"Lord of creation"

can

give

the beings he venerates no

ideal form than

his

own, which he

holds

to be the

most

developed*. The Christian

conception has

arrived

at the same

result by

the reverse

process:

"God created

man in his own image."

Virtues, Vices,

Passions,

Sci-

ences

and Arts,

Ages,

Seasons and

Hours,

Elements, Rivers, Countries,

Hemispheres, and many other things

receive

symbolic expression;

and

are pictorially rendered

human

figures.

And the human body

is often represented,

without any meaning,

and solely (decoratively)

Mortals, however, opine that

the Gods had an

origin man-like;

Feel

and have voices like men, like

men

have

bodily fashion

Oxen and lions,

doubt,

they

bad but

hands

and a

chisel,

Pencils as well,

depict

the

figure

divine, would do

likewise:

God for

the horse were

a horse,

and

God

for the

oxen were

ox-like,

Each

would think

God like

himself and

give

his God

his

owo

image.

Xenophanes of

Colophon.

6U0

The

Human Figure.

—

The Mask.

on account

of its

beauty of

form. All

these delineations,

which fall

Mrithin the

domain of high

art, lie beyond

the

scope of this work.

We have only to

deal with

the human

figure

far

has been

received into

decoration: we

have only

to occupy ourselves

with

"conventionalised" man.

This

includes the applications of

the human

face,

more or less true to

nature

with arbitrary

accessions; masks

and

caricatures;

grottesques,

those strange combinations

of human

with animal

plant elements;

and also the applications of

the upper

half

of the human

body

the

starting-point of

ornament;

half-lengths

as commencements of

ornaments;

those mixtures of

human

and animal

shapes in

which

the upper

half

falls

to the

man, e.

g.:

—

fphinxes, centaurs,

&c.

The Mask.

(Plate

61.)

The

Mask,

strictly

so-called,

an artificial,

hollow

face, intended

to be placed

in front

of, and

to conceal

the

human

countenance

to make

the

wearer unrecognisable,

or to characterize

him in

some

special way.

The

use of the Mask

dates back

to the popular

Harvest

games

of the

earliest

Greek period. From these

games the

mask is

believed

to have

been transferred

the

ancient Theatre,

in which the

actors

all

apjieared

masked. Different

classes of Masks

were recognised:

tragic,

comic,

&c.

Definite

types of Masks were

connected with .de-

finite

characters

and

"persons". The mouth-openings

of these Masks

were unnaturally

large

and sbaped like a bell-mouth,

reinforce

the voice

of the

speaker; in Latin the mask

is termed "persona" (from

personare =

sound through). From

theatrical, the Masks

passed

to artistic

use,

in the

mural paintings

of theatres and secular

edifices

(Pompeian decorations),

Bacchic

vessels and other utensils

(various

beakers in the

silver treasure of Hildesheim). The Renascence

and

the following

styles have at times used Masks in decoration,

altering

and exaggerating

the forms. In particular the Mask is often

used for the decoration

of the keystones

door and window arches.

may also mention the beautiful, freely-treated

Heads

of dying

frarriors

by Schliiter

the

arsenal

Berlin; and the

Masks in

Antique style on the new Opera House

Paris, by Gamier.

Plate

61. The Mask.

Bacchus, Graeco

Italio,

fragment

of a

vessel

or utensil.

—

Heads, goblet (Hildesheim treasure),

Roman,

Berlin

Museum.

Keystone, Graeco

Italic,

terracotta,

Campana

collection.

5. Part of

Frier.e,

Graeco Italic, Campana

collection.

6. Silenus,

handle

of Etruscan vessel.

—8.

Decoration, Pompeii.

The

Mask.

—

The

Grottesque Mask.

Satyr,

Italian

Renascence,

by Sansovino, over a

Festoon

Sta.

Maria del

Popolo,

Rome.

10.

Dying

warrior, by

Schluter,

Berlin arsenal,

1697.

The

Grottesque

Mask. (Plates

62—64.")

Masks and

Caricatures

pass

into each

other, so

that it is

diffi-

cult to

draw a

strict

line

between

them. The

French

language ex-

presses

tViia

connection,

clearly, by

using

the related

words "masque"

and

"mascaron."

Under

Masks are

usually

classed

the

delineations of

beautiful

countenances,

either true tp

nature or

idealising it.

Caricatures

are

faces

inning,

deformed,

distorted by

accessories,

terminating in

foliage.

The

Antique,

which

had no love

whatever

for

the depicting

the

ugly

and

bizarre,

only used

Caricatures

in its

oldest periods,

the

so-called

Archaic

style.

The

Middle

Ages

frequently

employed

Caricatures.

The

Renascence

and

Barocco styles, as

well

our most

Modem,

art,

often apply

Caricatures to

keystones, to

consoles,

spouts

and

handles, on

shields and

cartouches,

capitals and

panels, on

the

backs of

chairs,

and in

general on

carved

furniture, on

stove-tiles, &c.

We possess a

number

excellent

Caricatures

from the

hand of

the

youthful

Michelangelo,

who treated

this

form

with

predilection,

and

with the

breadth

characteristic of

his

genius.

Plate

62.

The

Grottesque

Mask.

Etruscan,

terracotta,

Campana collection, (P.

A. M.,

Cours

d'omement).

Grottesque,

Italian

Renascence,

Venice.

Grottesque,

tomb

the cardinal

Sforza,

Sta.

Maria

del

Popolo,

Rome,

Italian

Renascence, by

Sansovino.

Single Grottesque,

from

frieze,

Italian

Renascence,

Michel-

angelo,

San

Lorenzo,

Florence.

Part of capital

pilaster,

French

Renascence,

tomb

Louis

XII,

St. Denis.

6—7. Modern

French Grottesques.

Plate

63. The

Grottesque

Mask.

Carved

bench, Italian

Renascence,

Bargello,

Florence.

—

Female,

metal shields,

German

Renascence.

Akroter,

Tribunal

Commerce, Paris.

Grottesque,

Louvre,

Paris,

(Baldus).

NATURAL FORMS.

Plate

61. The

Mask,

&c.

NATURAL FORMS.

•

Meyer,

Handbook

of Ornament

The

Grottesque Mask.

Plate

62.

NATURAL

FORMS

Plate

63.

The

Grottesque

Mask.

NATURAL

FORMS. 99

The

Croltcaque

Mask. i'late G4.

ft72;i04

100

The

Grottesque Mask.

—

The Medusa

Head.

—

The

Grottesque.

Modern

French,

Theatre

de Bellecour,

Lyons,

Architect

Chatron,

(Raguenet).

Modern French,

Ministry of War,

Paris, Architect

Bouchot,

(Raguenet).

Plate

64. The Grottesque

Mask.

Grottesque,

Michelangelo,

Italian

Renascence, (Raguenet).

Grottesque, castle of Ecouen,

French,

1638,

(Raguenet).

German, 16th century, (Lessing).

4. Grottesque, German

Renascence,

Gemanisches Museum, Nuremberg.

5. Grottesque, pedestal of

a column,

tomb in

Pforzheim,

German

Renascence, by

Hans

von Trarbach.

From

the spout of a can,

German

Renascence.

Grottesque, escutcheon of

a lock, German

Renascence.

8. Grottesque,

modem

panel.

Sculptor Hauptmann.

The Medusa

Head.

(Plate

65.)

Unique

among

the

masks

is the head of Medusa. Medusa, in

mythological tradition

one

the three Gorgons, whose Head Perseus

cut-off,

present

it to Athene as an ornament

for her shield.

employed

ancient art

as a decoration for

breastplates

and

shields,

on and

above

doors

and gates, and on the

ground of paterae

and

dishes. The

expression is that of the rigidity

death;

its

look is

meant

petrify;

the

hair is interlaced with serpents; serpents

wind

themselves in

knots beneath

her

chin;

and small wings

are

often added.

The Archaic

art represented

the

Gorgon

ugly,

terrible,

and

disgusting;

the later Greek conception, under

Praxiteles, was of

stern,

grand, beauty, (the

called Rondanine

Medusa in the Glyptothek

at Munich).

In the Modem and Renascence

styles,

the head

oi Medusa is

only

decorative;

and

it is

seldom employed.

Plate

65.

The

Medusa

Head.

The Famese dish (Onyx Patera), Museum,

Naples,

Roman.

Centre of antique

Patera, Roman.

3. Medallion, probably modem,

French.

Tympanum, Tuileries,

Paris,

(Baldus).

The

Grottesque. (Plate

66.)

Grottesques

(from

grotto) are

fantastic,

often

really

ugly

monsters,

produced by

the combination

human,

animal,

and plant

organisms