Blank Window.
throughout the Orient, and may be more particularly studied in the Moorish monuments in Spain, where they are employed indifferently in carvings, in mosaic and inlaid work, in application to chased bronze, and in compartments of decoration and embroidery. The infinite variety the artists are able to introduce while working on strict rules, which admit of no exception, is the result of instinct perfected by centuries of practice. That in their work was something to be learned, as well as to be felt, is evident from the Moorish poet’s exhortation to us to attentively contemplate the adornments of their palaces, and thereby reap the benefit of a commentary on decoration. It is, then, for the benefit of students who would know something more of Arabian ornamentation than can be derived from the sensation produced by broad effects, and for lovers of the fine arts who would understand the inwardness of Moorish refinement and reduce its mysteries to their primary bases, that the accompanying diagrams have been reproduced.
At foot of each diagram is added a short explanatory note; but it is expedient for the student to give consideration to the plan which is, in every case, set out in dotted lines. By this means, he will discover, if he approaches his subject with a free mind, that his task will offer less difficulty than would appear at the outset. To minutely describe the construction of each diagram, and, at the same time comply with the stringent rules of geometry, would occupy much too great a space; nor would the result, perhaps, be proportioned to the labour.
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1 GREEK, RECTILINEAR. 1´ GREEK, CURVILINEAR. 2 CHINESE, RECTILINEAR. 2´ GREEK, CURVILINEAR. 3 and 4, GREEK, ALTERNATING PATTERN. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, GREEK, INTERCALARY PATTERNS. |
11 CHINESE. 12 ASSYRIAN. 13 POMPEIAN. 14 GREEK. 15 GREEK. 16 GREEK. 17 CHINESE, ALTERNATING PATTERN. |
18 GREEK, ALTERNATING PATTERN. 19 CHINESE. 20 CHINESE. 21 ARABIAN. 22 CHINESE. 23 GREEK. 24 RENAISSANCE. |
25 ARABIAN. 26 CHINESE. 27 CHINESE. 28 PERSIAN. 29 POMPEIAN. 30 CHINESE. 31 CHINESE. 32 GREEK. |
PLATE LIV.