architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and the

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

, a rinceau (plural ''rinceaux''; from the French language, French, derived from old French ''rain'' 'branch with foliage') is a decorative form consisting of a continuous wavy stemlike motif from which smaller leafy stems or groups of leaves branch out at more or less regular intervals. The English term

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

is more often used in English, especially when the pattern is regular, repeating along a narrow zone. In English "rinceau" tends to be used where the design spreads across a wider zone, in a similar style to an

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

pattern. The use of rinceaux is frequent in the

friezes In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

buildings, where it is generally found in a frieze, the middle element of an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, just below the cornice. It is also decorated in the jamb ornaments and

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Romanesque structures and in friezes and panels of buildings in the various Renaissance styles, where tiny animals or human heads also appear. The rinceau experienced a return to the simpler

Classic style A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

in the 17th century, and in the subsequent century it was applied more freely, without a strict repetition of identical forms.Cf. A. Speltz, ''The History of Ornament: Design in the Decorative Arts'', Portland (1989), ''s.v.''

Gallery

Stag hunt mosaic, Pella.jpg, The

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

mosaic of Pella's Deer Hunt, surrounded by floral rinceaux, 4th century BC Frammento lapideo decorato.JPG,

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

with rinceaux, exhibited in the

Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa The Campo Santo, also known as Camposanto Monumentale (" monumental cemetery") or Camposanto Vecchio ("old cemetery"), is a historical edifice at the northern edge of the Cathedral Square in Pisa, Italy. "Campo Santo" can be literally translate ...

from

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) Battisterno Neoniano (Interno 4).jpg, Golden

Paleochristian The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teache ...

rinceaux on a midnight blue mosaic background decorating the

Baptistery of Neon The Baptistery of Neon (Italian: ''Battistero Neoniano'') is a Roman religious building in Ravenna, northeastern Italy. The most ancient monument remaining in the city, it was partly erected on the site of a Roman bath. It is also called the Orth ...

from

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

(Italy), 5th century San Clemente apse.jpg, 12th century mosaic on the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the

San Clemente al Laterano The Basilica of Saint Clement ( it, Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano) is a Latin Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) ...

of the Lateran, illustrating the continuity of Ancient and early Christian models in Rome throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Abbazia di passignano, gregorio magno, moralia sive exp..., 1150 ca. 02.jpg, Illuminatied R in a Medieval Italian manuscript, circa 1150 Door details of Notre-Dame de Paris (14708170374).jpg, Highly decorated

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

ironwork Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil, or architectural feature made of iron, especially one used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork: wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000BC, it was th ...

on a door of the

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

, 12th-13th centuries The Adoration of the Magi - Google Art Project (zwGKRfS0QtAwBw).jpg, Page of a

illuminated manuscript with rinceaux and foliage ornaments French - Leaf from Book of Hours - Walters W26976R.jpg, Gothic page from a Book of Hours, circa 1460 AlbiCathédrale Plafond.jpg,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

rinceaux, as here in the

Albi Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Cecilia ( French: ''Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi''), also known as Albi Cathedral, is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Albi. First built in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, the grim ex ...

, are inspired by medieval illuminations but also

grotesques Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

Commode MET DP108735.jpg,

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

and gilded bronzes with delicate rinceaux, typical of André-Charles Boulle's works Pair of frieze ornaments MET DP278509.jpg,

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

gilded bronze frieze ornament Fontaine Saint-Michel (Paris), rinceaux, Noémie Constant 01.jpg,

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

relief with

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

, detail of the

Fontaine Saint-Michel The Fontaine Saint-Michel () is a monumental fountain located in Place Saint-Michel in the 6th arrondissement in Paris. It was constructed in 1858–1860 during the French Second Empire by the architect Gabriel Davioud. It has been listed s ...

from Paris, from 1858-1860

Notes

External links

Decorating with Art, Antiques and Collectibles

Home Economics Archive: Tradition, Research, History (HEARTH)

An e-book collection of over 1,000 books on home economics spanning 1850 to 1950, created by Cornell University'
Mann Library
Includes several hundred e-books on decorative art and design, particularly that created within the home.

The Bard Graduate Center (BGC) for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture

Parsons/Cooper-Hewitt Program in the History of Decorative Arts & Design

Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture
- electronic resources
Metropolitan Museum of Art American decorative arts collection

National Gallery of Art decorative arts collection
{{Ornaments Ornaments (architecture)

Gallery

Notes

See also

External links