Meyer Franz. A Handbook of Ornament
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NATURAL FORMS
The Fruit Festoon.
Plate 39,
62
NATURAL
FORMS.
Plate 40.
The
Leaf,
and
Flower
Festoon.
The
Fcstoou.
—
Animal Orgaiilsma.
63
Plate
40.
The
Leaf
Festoox, &c.
1
Festoon
between skulls, Roman.
2
Festoon,
tomb of Beatrice
and La\'inia Ponzetti,
Sta.
Maria della
Pace,
Rome,
Renascence,
by
Baldassare Peruzzi.
3.
Festoon,
Louis XVI.
style.
4. Festoon,
Modern,
Paris,
(Ragucnet).
h.
Animal
Organisms
(The Fauna
of
Ornament),
Sy
the side of
the Flora,
stand the Fauna of ornament. The
use
of
Animals, in
natural
or idealised
forms,
is
considerable,
but,
compared
with that of
Plant-forms, it
is
less extensive. The
reason
of this is obvious:
that
greater difficulties stood in the
way
of
the
adaptation
of animal
forms than
in the
use
of
plant motives.
The
absence
of
Animals in the
Mahometan styles
is
due
to
religious
maxims
which forbade or
limited
the
use of
representations" of living
Beings.
Following
the same direction as
was
taken in the Flora,
we shall
find
that the principal
representations
from
the
Fauna
are not,
as
might
be supposed,
those
of
domestic
animals such as the horse,
the
dog
and the
like, but that the selection was
guided first
by
the sym-
bolic
character,
and next by the ornamental
possibilities of each.
If
we
disregard the more accidental
naturalistic use of animals,
Buch
as
enliven scroll
ornaments
in
the shape of
butterflies, birds,
reiitiles,
and other
animals, and confine
our
attention
to those inde-
pendent forms
of animal
ornament
which have
become typical; they
will be
found
to
diminish to
a
comparatively small number, the most
important
of which will here be treated in
detail. Of the mammalia
we
have
first
to
mention the Lion, Tiger and
Panther, the Ox,
the
Horse,
and the
Goat;
the
Delphin
also finds a
place. The Eagle
is
the
only bird which has been generally used.
Then come the
fantastic
forms
of fabulous
animals:
the
Griffin
,
the
double headed
Eagle, &c.
The
Lion.
(Plates
41
—
44.)
The Lion
(Felis leo)
holds the first rank in
oiaamental
fauna,
[lis strength, bis courage, and his nobility, have
assured him from
the
earliest
times the Title of "King of Beasts". His
majestic stature,
his
compact, proportionate build, his striking muscles,
offer
grateful
pro-
blems
to art. Lying, walking*, sitting,
fighting, conquering or con-
quered, he
is an often-used
motive.
Lion scenes and
lion
hunts are common
subjects on the
palaces
of
the
Assyrian kings.
Characteristic,
natural
movements,
and
a
64
Tlie Lion.
distinctive
rendering of
the
muscles,
give these idealised
representations
a
peculiar
charm
and
a
certain
grandeur.
The
Lion
was
used
in the
Egyptian religion. The fact that the
annual overflov?
pf
the Nile,
so
fertilising and
of
such
immense im-
portance for the
land,
occurred at
the time when the sun
entered
the
sign of
the
Lion,
brought
the
animal into relation with water; and led
to
representations on
pails and
other vessels for water,
&c.
Egyptian
art usually idealises
the Lion
till he
is
unrecognisable;
it
represents
him at rest; and the
simple,
severe treatment of the mane
(not
unlike
a stiff ruff) gives
him
somewhat
of the
appearance of the Lioness,
which
does not
posses
one.
Among the
Greeks
and Romans
the
Lion
was considered
as
the
guardian
of
springs, of gates,
and temples- hence his
appearance at
fountains,
on
flights of steps,
over gates, and
on
monuments.
The
sleeping Lion is the
symbol of the
fallen
hero.
(The lion of
the
Piraeus,
the
tomb of Leonidas,
and the tombs of Halicamassus
,
may
be
quoted as
evidence.)
In
Christian art: the
symbolism
of
the Lion
is
various: as
the
emblem of the Redeemer (the
Lion of the Tribe of
Judah), as
the
emblem of the evil principle and
of the enemies
of
the
church as
well
as
of
the Devil
Jbimself (the
enemy
who goeth about
as a
roaring
lion, seeking whom
he
may
devour), as the
attribute
of the
evange-
list St. Mark,
and
of other
saints.
Hence his frequent appearance
on
the
vessels,
and
other articles of
religious
use, &c.
In consequence of the
crusades in
the 12th century, he
was
in-
troduced
into
Heraldry,
in
which he
became the most
popular
animal
figure.
As a
heraldic
creature
he was severely
idealised,
(see
Division III, under Heraldry).
In the Renascence period, the Lion
is
represented in all
of
the
foregoing uses.
In the Rococo period, there was
little skiU, and
little
understan-
ding, for the
figure
of
the Lion.
Modern art follows
the
example
of the Antique
and
the Renas-
cence; and thus
it
comes
that in
the
present day the
Lion enjoys the
lion's share in decoration.
It
is
remarkable that
in all ages,
when
representing
the Lion,
Ar-
tists have given to his countenance
something of a
human
type, by
using
the
oval eye
of» man,
instead of
the rovmd
Cat-like
eye,
(Compare,
Plate
47,
fig. 1).*
Plates
41
—43
show the Lion in
naturalistic
treatment,
and also
the conventional treatments of the various
epochs;
Plate
44
is devo-
ted
to
heraldic treatments.
*
An exhaustive article, entitled
"Der
L6we in
der Kunst,"
bj
Const.
TJhde, will
be
found in
the
"Gewerbehalle,"
1872.
pp.
81
et
seqq.
NATURAL
FORMS.
65
The Lion.
Meyer,
HaDdbook
of Ornament.
Plate
41.
5
C6 NATURAL
FORMS.
Plate
42.
The LioQ.
NATURAL
FORMS.
67
The
Lion.
Plate
43.
68
NATURAL
FORMS.
riate
44. The Liou.
The Lion.
69
Plate
41.
The
Lion.
1.
Walking
Lion,
from Nature,
(Miinchener Bilderbogen).
2.
Egyptian
Lion,
relief
with
sunken outlines,
temple,
Dachel, (Ra-
guenet).
3.
Egyptian
Lion,
Capitol,
Rome,
(Raguenet).
4. Assyrian
Lion, glazed
clay
slabs,
royal palace,
Khorsabad,
6th cen-
tury B.
C.
6.
Heads
of
slaughtered
lions,
Assyrian
bas-relief, British
Museum.
Plate 42.
The
Lion.
1.
Lion supporting
a shield
(called "il Marzocco"),
by
Donatello, Na-
tional
Museum,
Florence,
Italian,
15th century.
2.
Lion,' front of
the
Louvre,
Paris, Modern,
by Barye,
(Baldus,
Ra-
guenet).
3.
Lion,
Tuileries,
Paris,
Modern,
(Baldus,
Raguenpt).
4 and 5. Lion,
in front
of
the
palace of the Cortes,
Madrid,
Mo-
dern, (Raguenet).
6. Lion supporting a
shield,
Modern,
(Raguenet).
Plate
43.
The Lion.
1.
Sleeping Lion,
monument to
Pope
Clement XIIL, St.
Peter's,
Rome,
by Canova.
2.
Wounded Lion,
Kriegerdenkmal,
Hannover, by
Professor
Volz, of
Carlsruhe.
3.
Head
of
the
Companion of
the above.
4.
Walking Lion,
Modern,
French.
Plate 44. The
Lion.
1.
Lioa, in pavement, town
hall,
Liineburg.
2.
Lion, shield of
Johann of
Heringen,
register
of the university
of
Erfurt,
1487,
(Heraldische
Meisterwerke).
3.
Lion,
coat
of
arms.
Inlaid marble
work,
Sta. Croce,
Florence.
Italian Renascence,
(Teirich,
Eingelegte
Marmorornamente)
4.
Lion,
coat
of arms, Intarsia
panel, Sta.
Maria Novella,
Florence,
Italian
Renascence,
(Meurer,
Flachornamente).
6.
Lion, tomb in Wertheim,
German,
IGth
century, by
Johann
of
Trarbach.
6.
Lion
supporting a
shield,
mural
decoration,
Modern,
(Heral-
dische Meisterwerke).
7
—
8.
Heraldic
Lions,
Albrccht
Diirer.
70
The
Griffin, &c.
—
The
Lion Head.
TuE
Griffin,
and the
Chimaera.
(Plates 45
and
46.)
In
addition to
the
imitations
of
natural
animals
there have
been,
from
the
earlist
times,
various
fabulous
Monsters, which were composed
of
parts of
several
different
animals.
Centaurs,
Sphinxes,
the
Assyrian
human Lions, Lion and
Eagle
men,
combine
the
human
and the
animal
body. The combination,
of
different
animal-forms
vnth
one
another,
leads
to
Monsters, the
chief
representatives of
which
are
the
Griffin,
and the Chimaera. The
Griffin
is
the
union
of a Lion's
body with
the
head and wings
of an Eagle.
The fore
extremities
may
belong
either to
the Lion or
the Eagle.
As
the
Lion
with
water, so
the
Griffin is
associated in
Antiquity
with
fire; hence
his
frequent
appearance
with
Candelabra
on friezes,
&c.
In
Heraldry the
Griffin is
the
symbol
of
wisdom,
and watchfulness.
There
are other
combinations; e.
g.
the
Chimaera, the Hippo-
grifl",
the
Ichthyogriff, &c.,
which may be
seen in
Pompejan
decoration.
Plate
45. The
Griffin.
1.
Greek
Griffin,
Fragment,
Museum,
Naples.
2.
Eoman
Griffin,
Fragment.
3.
Griffin, Renascence.
Pl.\te
46. TuE
Griffin, &c.
1.
Head of
an Assyrian
eagle-headed
Personage,
|
g^j^jgjj
Museum.
2.
Head of
an Assyrian
lion-headed
Personage,
J
o.
Koman
Chimaera,
Vatican.
4.
Sitting
Griffin, support
of a seat,
Castle
of
Gaillon,
French Renas-
cence,
(F. A.
M., Cours
d'ornement).
5.
Winged
Lion, tomb
of Loys
de
Bresz6,
Rouen
cathedral, 1535
—
1544.
6.
Winged Lioness,
as supporter.
Louvre,
Paris,
Modei-n,
(Baldus).
7.
Sitting winged Lioness,
Casa S.
Isidora,
Santiago,
Chili,
Modern,
French,
(Raguenet).
The Lion
Head.
(Plates
47,-
48.)
The
Lion head has been
still more
extensively
applied than
the
entire
figure of the
Lion. It is
found in
countless
examples:
—
as
a
Gargoyle
on the
temples of
the
Antique, as a
Spout on
vessels, with
a
ring
«in the
jaw as a
Handle
and Knocker on
the doors
of the
por-
tals
of the
Middle
Ages
and
the
Renascence;
and as a
purely
deco-
rative
element
like
Bosses
and Rosettes.
The
Antique
created
a