The Development of Ornament
Antiquity as a Model
Antique ornamental forms, or ornamental motifs derived from these forms, were dominant in the periods characterized by Italian and neoclassical stylistic features. Following the discovery of ancient buildings in Rome around 1500 and again as a consequence of the excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum beginning in the mid-18th century, interest in antique ornament increased. As the Mediterranean influence dwindled, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, independent northern European ornamental innovations emerged.
The development of ornamental forms took place not on the exteriors of representative architecture, which in the arrangement of façades remained faithful to the antique orders, but rather in interior decoration and in the applied arts. It is particularly illuminating to trace the way in which the development of ornamental
motifs adhered to certain rules and principles and to develop an understanding for the differences between later appearances of certain styles and their emergence for the first time (for example the grotesque in the Baroque as compared with the grotesque in the Renaissance).
Bernd Evers, Rainald Franz
 print |