Symbolic Employment
The modern mind is naturally out of sympathy with forms that have no direct appeal, but it should be considered that these elements were originally not merely the expression of the art of the period, but were also invested in many instances with symbolic meaning. The Roman citizen saw nothing incongruous in decorating a triumphal arch with the chaplet of the victor and trophies of arms.
The later misuse of symbolic elements can only be defended on æsthetic grounds, and is probably undesirable. Without these there is still left sufficient material for beautiful effects. Dull slavish reproduction is not only without interest, but displays lack of inventiveness. It is possible in good hands to utilise the past tradition so as to appeal to modern appreciation.