Fig. 157.
The practice of decorating the surface of mantling is still carried out to some extent in that of a Knight of the Garter, as it hangs over his stall in St. George’s Chapel, the coloured side being sewn with a twisted ornament in lace and spangles. The edges are jagged with cuts in accordance with the theory that that was the origin of the ornamental form. A far-fetched reason for what was after all a purely ornamental development.
The office of mantling being a purely decorative one suggests that its treatment, as form, should be such as to support and supplement the lines of the shield and its contents, and to assist in linking together the whole composition. It will therefore avail itself of the well-known power of curves to emphasize what they enclose and will find endless variety of design in the way its lines may be made to help each other in direction and force.
Bookplate of John Stabius, Professor of Mathematics. Dürer.
Arms of Kress of Kressenstein. School of Dürer.
Arms of Don Pero Lasso di Castilla. German, 16th Century.
