Ornament

PULexArt LM LexArt Drawing Beaux-arts Schilderkonst Practic Academia Painter Mahleren Theory Kunste Painting Schilderboeck notions Artis pictoriae COLOURING Pittura Zeichen Peintre die Haupt-Farben © LexArt Words for Painting (France, Germany, England, The Netherlands, 1600-1750) Edited by Michèle-Caroline Heck Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 © PU LM DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 1 (paginée 1) sur 524 resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 © PU LM DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 2 (paginée 2) sur 524 resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 LM DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 3 (paginée 3) sur 524 LexArt Words for Painting © PU (France, Germany, England, The Netherlands, 1600–1750) resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 4 (paginée 4) sur 524 Collection « Arts » Editor : Thierry Verdier © PU LM The collection « Arts » contains books, studies and essays on the different artistic forms of the modern and contemporary era. All the arts are concerned : painting, sculpture and architecture, performance, installation and in-situ, cinema, digital and audiovisual art, performing arts, dance... The collection « Arts » publishes studies, monographs or essays on artistic creation, design and artwork or artistic practice in their different contexts (historical, epistemological, cultural, aesthetic...), in a perspective of interdisciplinary research. The collection « Arts » also includes a thematic series entitled Théories des Arts dedicated to the study and presentation of artistic theories from the Renaissance to the present day. This series includes collective and interdisciplinary works on art theory, as well as monographic studies. The collection « Arts » also includes another thematic series, Techné, whose editorial line consists of the critical reissue of texts on the art and architecture of the modern and contemporary era. This series is co-edited with Les Éditions de l’Espérou (École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Montpellier). resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 5 (paginée 5) sur 524 Collection « Arts » Série Théorie des Arts LM LexArt Words for Painting PU (France, Germany, England, The Netherlands, 1600–1750) Edited by © Michèle-Caroline Heck 2018 Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 6 (paginée 6) sur 524 Série Théories des Arts Editor : Thierry Verdier. PU LM The entitled thematic series Théories des Arts is dedicated to the study and presentation of artistic theories from the Renaissance to the present day. This series includes collective and interdisciplinary works on art theory, as well as monographic studies. © The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), grant agreement No 323761. Key-words : Artistic Lexicography, Artistic Terminology, Artistic Litterature, Art Theory Painting, Artistic Practice. Cover illustration : Composition M.-P. Boyer, PULM, 2018. ISBN 978-2-36781-285-4 Tous droits réservés, PULM, 2018. resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 353 (paginée 353) sur 524 LM O Observation =⇒ Imitation, Landscape Ordinance =⇒ Composition, Group PU ORIGINAL =⇒ COPIE ORNEMENT © fr.: ornement germ.: Zier, Zierde, Zierrat, Ausschmückung nl.: versiering, stoffage, bijwerk, bebeelding, opproncksel, versiering, pronksieraad, sieraad, overwerck, toevoegsel it.: ornamento lat.: parergon By-work, addition, embellishment, agreableness, pleasure, beautiful, grace, variety, decorum, parergon, improvement, festoon, artifice, caprice, grotesque, glory Nothing is less unequivocal than the term ornament in the artistic literature of the modern age. Defined in Furetière’s dictionary as “that which decorates something, that which renders more beautiful, more agreeable”, its meaning also extended beyond the thought of art, into religious, moral or social fields. Before being considered in the 19th century as an artistic category in its own resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 354 (paginée 354) sur 524 354 ORNEMENT LM right, defined by specific rules and practices particular to what was then called the decorative arts, ornament was essentially considered during the modern period in terms of its relationship with the other arts, for which its main aim was to embellish them. As such, it constituted a key concept that was imprinted implicitly throughout the artistic literature of the period, and in particular in the theory of architecture, where it was the subject of a very specific discussion. In its definition, however, it remained vague and elusive: as much a synonym of beauty, as a term associated with the semantic chain of the accessory, ornament was essentially understood through the prism of a dialectic between the necessary and the superfluous, the principal and the secondary, the structural and the additional, and made it possible in this sense to consider hierarchies between the arts. Between Order, Beauty and Addition © PU This ambivalence of which ornament was composed had already appeared in the etymology of the word: taken from the Latin ornamentum, from the group ordo (ornare deriving from ordinare), ornament initially referred to bringing order to the world and sequencing (ordinatio). In this sense, it found an equivalent in the Greek word kósmos and its derivatives kosmèsis, épikosmèsis, designating not only the order obtained from chaos thanks to the action of the demiurge, forming the foundation for the smooth running of the universe, but also embellishment, adornment, jewellery or make-up, in brief, all the artifice of adornment envisaged through the prism of a cosmetic. In the Middle Ages, the meaning of the word remained stable: the ornamentum retained its classic meaning of equipment useful for the smooth running of something, while ornatus, the Latin equivalent of the Greek, evoked the idea of beauty and divine order. Associated with beauty, on the cusp of the Renaissance, ornament became a central concept in artistic literature, without being the subject for all that of any specific theorisation, which did not come until the 19th century. It should be specified that the discussion on ornament was first of all a matter for architecture, with the latter even being defined by the former in the words of Vignole, who assimilated architecture with “a practice of ornaments” (une pratique des ornements, 1562, pl. 3). All theoretical undertaking thus gave itself the objective of defining and fixing the forms and uses of this “main ornament of architecture” (principal ornement de l’architecture) which were orders (d’Aviler, 1691, préface). When it was identified with orders, orna- resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 355 (paginée 355) sur 524 ORNEMENT 355 © PU LM ment was understood in its primary function of ordinatio and presented itself in this sense as “essential” in the practice of architecture: firmitas, utilitas and venustas, the three principles of Vitruvius’ famous triad, were then considered in the wake of Vitruvius as inextricably linked, in such a way that the ornament (or order, of which the paradigm was the column) contributed as much to the beauty as to the solidity or destination of a construction. Yet, for the moderns, ornament also took on another meaning. It effectively designated, as expressed so clearly by Perrault, “all things that are not essential parts, but which were added only to render the work richer and more beautiful” (toutes les choses qui ne sont point des parties essentielles, mais qui sont adjoutées seulement pour rendre l’ouvrage plus riche et plus beau), such as foliage or other mouldings of a sculpted decor (1684, p. 6). This rupture between ornament and the body of architecture was in reality inaugurated by Alberti. Although he granted an important role to ornament in his treatise, for him ornament represented “a feigned or added nature” (un caractère feint ou ajouté) and was defined as “a sort of auxiliary light to the beauty and as a complement” (une sorte de lumière auxiliaire de la beauté et comme un complement, 1485, livre VI). In opposition to the central concept in Alberti’s treatise, the concinnitas or beauty inherent to elegant proportion, ornament was thus considered as a superficial phenomenon, or even as the means of masking errors of construction. With Alberti, ornament thus passed from the realm of beauty to that of embellishment: less consistent but nevertheless essential. In brief, with Alberti a more negative or marginal conception of ornament was outlined, based on a strict economy of means corresponding to an ideal of frugalitas or sobriety, of which all the partisans of classicism claimed to be a part. Ornament as Embellishment This conception of ornament as an addition destined to embellish was scattered throughout all art literature and was expressed, at the end of the 17th century, in Baldinucci’s Vocabolario: “Embellishment is said of material things that are added to something to make it agreeable [vago] and beautiful [bello]” (Embellissement, se dit à proprement parler des choses matérielles qui sont ajoutées à quelque chose, pour le rendre agréable [vago] et beau [bello], 1681, s.v. ornamento). With the terms Zier, Zierde and Versiering, Verscheidenheid or Sieraad as the equivalents in German and Dutch, this definition summarised well the specificities resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 356 (paginée 356) sur 524 356 ORNEMENT © PU LM of ornament in the modern era and the semantic fields associated with it: that of beauty and that of addition. On the one hand, ornament was thus a synonym of adornment (parure) or foil (faire-valoir), it was associated with grace (grâce), brilliance (éclat), shine (lustre) and agreement (agrément). On the other, the additive value of ornament was expressed by the semantic field of the accessory, designated in German by the terms Beifüngung or Zugehörung, and addition or by-work in English. Dutch had a whole range of terms to express this added quality to ornament: stoffagien, bebeelding, adjecten, additien, vermeeren, toevoegsel, bijwerk or overwerck, which found an equivalent in the Latin word parergon, meaning what was added to a work to decorate it (versieren), as stated by Junius citing Quintilian (1641, p. 349). What made ornament so elusive within the artistic literature of the period was that, no more in the field of architecture than in that of painting, ornament was not limited to designating motifs that could be identified within a defined artistic tradition, as the grotesques, scallops or other cartouches. Designating more broadly whatever “contributed to embellishment” (contribue à l’embellissement, Pernety, 1757), the concept of ornament was omnipresent because it was potentially everything and everywhere. Thus, in the field of architecture, rather like the Russian doll principle, the column was perceived as the ornament of architecture, the capital as the ornament of the column, the astragal as that of the capital and foliage as that of the astragal (d’Aviler, 1691). The same was true of the “ornaments of a painting” (ornements du tableau). These were potentially infinite: the draperies and folds of clothes for De Piles (1715, p. 5), ancient figures with their movement for Hilaire Pader (1649, I, chapitre 2, p. 11), the elements of decor such as architecture, antique vases, animals, trees etc. and more generally “all things exterior to the History that is represented” (toutes les choses exterieures à l’Histoire qu’on represente, Dupuy du Grez, 1699, 4e dissertation). Painting itself was defined as ornament when it was a question of insisting on the nobility of this art: it was presented in the words of Dolce as an “ornament for the world” (ornement au monde) and, because it “enriched all things” (enrichit toutes choses), it was the “most beautiful ornament” (plus bel ornament) for buildings (1735, p. 125–127, 145–147). As it designated one thing that was added to another, ornament made it possible in painting to think about the hierarchies between the principle and the accessory, and between genres, as clearly expressed by Dezallier d’Argenville: landscape, animals and flowers “serve only in most cases to decorate the subjects of the resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 357 (paginée 357) sur 524 ORNEMENT 357 history” (ne servent le plus souvent qu’à orner les sujets d’histoire), they “are only accessory” (n’en sont que l’accessoire, 1745–1752, I, p. IX). Similarly, Van Hoogstraten explained that the ancients referred to the still life as parerga because it “was like excesses or additions to the main parts of their works” (étaient comme des excès ou des ajouts aux parties principales de leurs œuvres, 1678, livre III, p. 76). Copia, varietas and decorum © PU LM In his treatise on painting, Alberti had borrowed the ancient rhetorical principles of abundance (copia) and above all variety (varietas) to make them the main modalities of the ornatus of a painting (1435, livre II). Participating in the topos of the analogy between painting and discourse, these principles were exploited north of the Alps by artists such as Van Mander. The latter granted a significant place to the notions of addition or amplification (adjecten, additien, vermeeren) but even more to variety (verscheydenheyt), which “produces a great and praiseworthy beauty” (produit une grande et louable beauté, 1604, p. 23), “entertains the gaze” (divertit le regard), “gives shine” (donne du lustre) and brightens up the history (Van Hoogstraten, 1678, p. 141). Nevertheless, as specified by Félibien, “this agreeableness must always come from the subject one is dealing with” (cet agreable doit naistre toujours du sujet que l’on traitte, Félibien, 1679, 5e Entretien, p. 110). For, if ornament was linked to pleasure and agreement, and it took on the functions of delectare and movere, it also had to participate in docere: as explained by Pernety, the painter could add accessories to the subject, either “to better explain his intention” (pour expliquer mieux son intention), or “to increase the expression” (pour augmenter l’expression, 1757). For Dupuy du Grez, it was important that these accessories serve “the purpose that the Painter proposed” (à la fin que le Peintre se propose, 1699, 4e dissertation), and for De Lairesse that they were “appropriate for the site” (convenables au site) and that this site was specific to the subjects treated (1787, p. 14–16). It was a question there of another principle borrowed from ancient rhetoric, that of convenience (decorum), a key principle that had to assure the correspondence between the ornament, the subject and the circumstances of the discourse. Although the notion of decorum was central in Alberti’s treatise on architecture—and was used up until Quatremère de Quincy and even beyond as the guarantee of good architecture—, it was already essential in his treatise on painting: the copia had to resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 358 (paginée 358) sur 524 358 ORNEMENT PU LM be subordinate to the compositio at the risk of falling into dissolutus or, in the words of Dolce, into “affectation, which removes the grace from all things” (l’affectation, qui ote la grace a toutes choses, 1735, p. 223–225). When the ornament tipped into excess, or if it was not suitable for the subject, either it was condemned by all the authors who defended the ideal of sobriety, such as Junius or Félibien, or it was subjected to a principle of convenience by those who defended its use. By affirming that the ornaments needed to be deployed with discretion and economy, François-Marie de Marsy clearly posed the terms of the debate: “without that a Painter would deserve the reproach that Apelles made one day of one of his pupils, who tried to produce a painting of Helen, and had covered her in gold and precious jewels. Having been unable to paint her as beautiful, Apelles told him, you have made her rich” (sans cela un Peintre mériteroit le reproche qu’Apelle fit un jour à un de ses disciples, qui ayant fait un tableau d’Helene, l’avoit chargée d’or & de pierreries; n’ayant pû la faire belle, lui dit Apelle, vous l’avez fait riche, 1746, II, p. 31). For although beauty was for some the field of efficacy for ornament, for Félibien, and all those who developed a negative impression of ornament: “beauty does not consist of adornments or ornaments” (la beauté ne consiste point dans les parures, & dans les ornemens, Félibien, 1679, 5e Entretien, p. 110). Caroline Heering [Translated by Kristy Snaith] Sources © Alberti, 1435 [1540], 1485; Aviler, 1691; Baldinucci, 1681; Boffrand, 1745; De Lairesse, 1707 [1787]; Dezallier d’Argenville, 1745–1752; Dolce, 1557 [1735]; Dupuy Du Grez, 1699; Furetière, 1690; Hoogstraten, 1678; Junius, 1637 [1638, 1641]; Marsy, 1746; Pader, 1649; Pernety, 1757; Perrault, 1684; Scamozzi, 1764; Van Mander, 1604; Vignole, 1562. Bibliography Baxandall Michaël, Giotto and the Orators: humanists observers of painting in Italy and the discovery of pictorial compositions 1350–1450, Oxford, 1971. Ceccarini Patrice, Charvet Jean-Loup, Cousinié Frédéric, Léribault Christophe (eds.), Histoires d’ornements, Paris-Rome, 2000. Coquery Emmanuel (ed.), Rinceaux et figures. L’ornement en France au xviie siècle, Paris-Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, 2005. resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 359 (paginée 359) sur 524 ORNEMENT 359 Dekoninck Ralph, Heering Caroline, Lefftz Michel (eds.), Questions d’ornements. xve-xviiie siècles, Turhnout, 2013. Gombrich Ernst Hans, The sense of order: a study in the psychology of decorative art, New York, 1979. © PU LM “Ornement/ornemental”, Perspective, no. 1, 2010/2011. [On line: http: //journals.openedition.org/perspective/1194, consulted January 18, 2018]. resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 © PU LM DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 520 (paginée 520) sur 524 resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 521 (paginée 521) sur 524 « Arts » Série Théorie des Arts Already published LexArt. Les mots de la peinture. (France, Allemagne, Angleterre, Pays-Bas, 1600–1750), Heck M-C., 2018. © PU LM Lexicographie artistique : formes, usages et enjeux dans l’Europe moderne, Heck M.-C., Freyssinet M., Trouvé S. 2018. resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? Téléphonez au 04 99 63 69 28 © PU LM DicoLexArtGBIMP --- Départ imprimerie --- 2018-11-16 --- 14 h 25 --- page 522 (paginée 522) sur 524 resses universitaires de la Méditerranée --- Une question? Un problème? 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