Design and Tradition / A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts

by Amor Fenn

Heraldry in Design

A very early example of this decorative employment is that of the Lion gate at Mycenæ. Heraldic designs also appear in the later Byzantine and Sicilian tapestries and entered largely into Renaissance ornament. The shield is particularly conspicuous, with its development into the strapwork frame and cartouche forms of the Jacobean and French Renaissance.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that the latter day designers, especially those of the Renaissance, borrowed freely from the past, to which there could be little objection if the employment of such details were justified by conditions.