Analysis of ornament : the characteristics of styles : an introduction to the study of the history of ornamental art (1873)
Wornum, Ralph Nicholson, 1812-1877 · London : Chapman and Hall · leaf 108
AMENT. 78 We shall find that the most beautiful Byzantine designs are those in which the symbolism is unobtrusive, or even wholly disguised : not absent, for that is very rarely, if ever, the case. A design which contained no trace of symbolism could hardly be a genuine Byzantine example. Generally… … tracery is sometimes composed of serpents ; and ser- pents are not an uncommon ornament for a capital. The serpent figures largely in Byzantine art, as the instrument of the Fall, and one type of the Bedemption. The cross planted on the serpent is found sculptured on Mount Athos ; and the cross,…
Decoration and ornament · Architecture
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