Our Richard II, it will be remembered, in the famous Wilton picture, is kneeling in a robe of golden tissue woven with the badges of his house—the hart couchant and the phœnix—repeated all over as in a sort of diaper, and there are abundant instances among our brasses, stall plates, and effigies, of the splendid treatment of heraldry in the arms, as well as the dresses of knights and ladies bearing their family totems thick upon them.
Exercise in Heraldic treatment & spacing.
The Lions of England designed by Walter Crane.
Boldness, spirit, distinctness of colour and form, and characterization governed by ornamental colour and effect, seem to be the chief principles in designing heraldic animals.
Heraldic Lion designed by Walter Crane
They not only have to be depicted, but displayed. Therefore every distinctive and important attribute or characteristic is emphasized.
The lion’s mane and tail become foliated, and his legs are fringed and tasselled. His claws are spread wide—cleared for action; his mouth is well open, and his long red, curly tongue rollicks out between his emphatic teeth. A lion out of a cage in the Zoological Gardens would be no manner of use on a coat, or as a crest or a supporter. The endeavour of later times to make the heraldic lion a more reasonable being has only tamed and degraded him. He looks round-headed, muzzy, and spiritless.
