No. 252. Development of the Acanthus Leaf.
I. French, Louis XIV. J. English, Grinling Gibbons. K. French, Louis XV. L. English, Adam. M. French, Louis XVI. N. Louis XVI (Salombier). O. English, Late 18th Century.
shield and cartouche shapes were much in vogue, on account probably of their mass value and the contrast afforded with the subordinate detail, which developed into the foliated strap frame of the Louis XIV style.
The details of this latter period were expressed in bold relief, the decorated areas being well filled, in contrast to the earlier Italian style in which the background frequently predominated over the ornament. The sectioning or modelling of the leaves, which by this time were typically French, was elaborate but well considered as to harmonious play of line. Shell forms were employed and were effective, both as mass shapes and for the radial elaboration of their surfaces.
In conjunction with artificial details, natural foliage was employed in the form of wreaths and festoons, composed of leaves and appropriate flowers; the conventional stem was little used, the foliated strap being more often evident.
The immediate successor of the style of the Grand Monarch was the phase known as Régence, in which the strap frame was moulded in section, and the whole detail became much lighter, resulting in more open or plain spaces.
In the period of Louis XV restraint was thrown overboard, panels and enclosed areas were framed with mouldings irresponsible in curvature, and without regard to structural conditions. The growth line disappeared, the leafage and other details being arbitrarily disposed on the framing mouldings, which were generally in flattened and elongated curves opposed to each other in flexured lines. In comparison with the preceding Louis XIV style the ornament is thin and liney in character, the leaf, still of the acanthus type, is greatly modified both in form and detail, the ends of the lobes being curled and twisted spirally.
In minor floral details natural types were employed, also such artificial features as canopies or hammercloths; rock and shell forms, and stalactite details suggestive of icicles are comprised in the later phase to which the term Rococo is applied.
As a natural revulsion from the license of this period in the succeeding Louis XVI style there was a distinct reversion. The curved framings were abandoned and panels and other areas were enclosed by mouldings with regard both to structural and materialistic conditions. Great refinement is evident, not only in the mouldings but in the details throughout.
In contrast to those of the Louis XIV period, panels were occupied rather than filled, the dominant details being placed at the upper and lower extremities and connected by vertical features either centrally or at the sides, steadily arranged as to alignment both horizontal and vertical. Familiar details thus employed are such amorous emblems as quivers, torches, trophies of musical instruments and bouquets and festoons of natural flowers.
The artificial leaf reverted somewhat to the earlier Italian type, and was mostly displayed in profile with the lobes and serrations carefully composed. The detail though comparatively low in relief, was boldly modelled, and the direction and emphasis of the lobes and veinings of the leaves considered with regard to the composing lines.
In England the work of the school of Grinling Gibbons was productive of a phase of ornamental expression distinctive for its artistry and technical skill. Conventional details were combined with natural forms of all kinds, the conspicuous arrangement being interlacing scrolls, and festoons and pendant swags.
In the artificial leaf, with its boldly grooved surface and accentuated lobes, the evidence of the tool is manifest throughout.
The tradition established by the Grinling Gibbons school had a lasting effect upon the native carving, which endured throughout the Georgian period, though largely influenced in detail by French taste—Rococo in particular.
The designs of the brothers Adam, which were in vogue in the reign of George III, though peculiarly individual and distinctive, were based upon the study of Græco-Roman details. In the Adam style the ornament is delicate in relief, and mostly displayed in profile. Panels and enclosed spaces are occupied, the decorative elements being carefully disposed with regard to balance and stability, with large areas of plain surface.
The characteristic and prevailing details are the fan and delicate festoons of leaves or husks, at times of beads.
The anthemion is much used on friezes and borders, and compound animal forms, such as the Sphinx, were borrowed from the antique, the same source doubtless inspiring the employment of vases, altars, and tripods.
Medallions occur occupied by figures after the manner of the Greek vases. In some instances these were in pottery, the work of Wedgwood.
The general structural form was architectural, the mouldings slight in projection and refined in their profiles being decorated by orthodox enrichments.
The foliage is mostly artificial in character, the leaf lobes in those of the acanthus type being orderly in arrangement with regard to profile and radial display, with comparatively little modelling.
A similar revival of the Antique succeeded the Revolution in France, in the Empire style, which, more literal in reproduction than the Adam work, is characterised with, at times, undesirable severity and precision of detail, particularly in the treatment of the human figure.
The system of the acanthus leaf is based entirely on radiation, the tines and veinings being arranged in consistently diverging directions from a common base or start-point. Whether the whole leaf be displayed or merely the half leaf used, the shape should be bounded by general lines controlling the lobes and their serrations—the mass shape forming a satisfactory silhouette.
The length of the lobes should be relative to the breadth of the leaf, the maximum length agreeing with the maximum width, and the others in proportion.
The edges or outlines of serrations and lobes should also be controlled by radial lines from the base.
In turn-overs and curling or twisting lobes the silhouette shape and composing line must be considered.
The apex of leaf terminates with a central lobe balanced by side lobes repeated throughout. In treatment these may be displayed clear of each other, or they may overlap, but care must be taken to avoid confusion in effect.
APPRECIATION of design by the individual is largely a matter of temperament, though it may be due to some extent to acquired knowledge. Generally, few are conscious of any guiding principle, and selection in their case is mostly the result of fashion or custom. To others certain colours and forms have an appeal, though they may be quite unconscious of, or unable to explain the attraction other than it suits their taste.
In the last few years it has been recognised that colour may be employed beneficially in curative treatment, but the normal healthy individual is often indifferent to environment other than that of material gratification.
When any artistic work creates pleasurable emotion, it is purely a matter of cause and effect. To design successfully involves some understanding of the causes or factors which constitute the appeal.
The attraction of colour and form is undoubtedly universal, and may be generally understood, though there are delicate degrees of proportion and association in both that may only be appreciated by the cultivated eye. Early essays in drawing generally exhibit an undesirable redundancy in curves, and in many instances the student is slow to realise that those that approximate to the elliptic form are proportionately of more interest than those obviously composed of segments of circles. Undoubtedly this subtlety of line is one of the predominant factors in appreciation of form.
A factor in pattern that is largely responsible for the charm is the presence of small detail in juxtaposition with larger forms. This is entailed in instances by technical conditions, such, for instance, as in some tapestries where inhabited pattern is essential to the process of production.
Some materials are employed partly for their decorative effect, such as naturally figured woods and certain varieties of stone; and design mainly consists of judicious selection, use and treatment. Oak and walnut being woods extremely suitable for structural work and furniture have always been in request when obtainable.
Polishing is to some extent a preservative, but work in oak or walnut, especially when carved, should be kept comparatively dull, otherwise confusion between the relief and the natural figuring would result. In mahogany or satinwood, where the chief interest exists in the figuring and colour, carving is undesirable and the best effects are obtained by high polish. It may be urged that in the Chippendale period the work was invariably carved, but the detail was always in very low relief, and the finishing dark in colour, in which the figuring was subdued. Mahogany in its more general employment owes its chief beauty to the development of figuring and colour.
Certain marbles are used for their decorative effect, and the natural colour and figuring developed by polish. Statuary marble that is sometimes employed, is more suitable for carved details, and appears at its best when unpolished, though in this state it is extremely subject to discolouration owing to its absorbent nature.
Granite, so popular in our cemeteries, is often polished, when the natural figuring is unpleasantly aggressive. An extremely hard stone and laborious to work, it is not suitable for carving, and is best left roughly tooled or frosted, when the natural chrystaline formation appears to the best advantage.
The softer woods used in interior structural work are generally painted, partly as a preservative and largely because they do not possess any figuring of particular interest.
Graining in imitation of more precious woods is often condemned as inartistic, but it may be urged in extenuation that it is the most economic treatment, as it helps to minimise the effect of wear and incidental damage.
The use of pattern wall-papers and floor coverings can be justified on the same grounds, as in those with plain surfaces any disfigurement is readily seen. Wallpaper, however, is quite a legitimate form of decoration and not necessarily imitative, though to some extent it is reminiscent of the early custom of employing tapestries as wall coverings. A more durable and artistic treatment of interiors is that of the wainscotting of the Georgian period, but the initial cost is proportionately great, though probably when maintenance is taken into consideration it would be cheaper in the long run. Apart from the question of cost, the modern tendency is favourable to change of effect and environment, due partly to the facility afforded by the comparative cheapness of wall-paper, but even more to the prevalent short tenancies.
Many excellent designs are produced in wall-papers, though there is a tendency at times to reproduce textural effects which can only be justified on æsthetic grounds. Those of the frankly imitative kind cannot be condoned. It is still possible to have the hall and stairs papered and varnished to resemble slabs of precious marble, or patterns in mosaic, which were undreamt of in Byzantine times; and the orthodox design for the bathroom is still that of tiles with the joints neatly printed. Similar imitation is also apparent in linoleum, when the pattern simulates the appearance of either wood parquet or mosaic, or even worse—that of a Turkey or Axminster carpet.
There is an element of priggishness in such cheap art in which, as though ashamed of poverty of material, there is an assumption of something better; and it is lamentable that there is not merely a market for these shams and imitations but curiously enough they also find appreciation.
There are phases of work where simulation may to some extent be justified, for instance, silver is sometimes gilt. For this there is the excuse that silver, although a beautiful metal, is subject to oxidation and requires constant attention to keep bright. Gilding acts as a preservative, and is therefore justified in certain forms of silver work, which it is not convenient to clean in the ordinary way.
It has already been suggested that Design is not merely a question of idea and draughtsmanship, but is also dependent upon materialistic conditions, which, in practical work, must be understood and properly considered.
Whether the intended design be for some form of flat pattern, such as weaving, etc., or for any particular craft expression, it is essential that the limitations of the process and material involved be clearly kept in view, and that suitable elements for expression be chosen.
Convention, to a large extent, exists in the adaptation of forms, natural or otherwise, to the exigencies of production, a proper understanding of which will not only tend to economy in cost, but also to more effective results, if full advantage be taken of the craft or mechanical conditions, which should always be foreseen in design.
Methods of expression vary, according to position and material, and may be Flat—either silhouette, or with appearance of relief, or in actual relief.
Contrast exists always, thus in the Flat with or without outline the contrast is in Light and Dark, whether colour is involved or not.
In Relief the contrast is in Light and Shade. Contrast exists also in both treatments in lines straight and curved—in the variety of the latter, in lines with mass forms, and in dominant forms with smaller detail.
In the treatment of Flat Ornament the most important considerations are play of line and silhouette, and forms should be displayed in interesting profile; perspective and foreshortening being eliminated whenever they would result in distorted or inharmonious shapes.
In Relief treatment the designer is concerned with the effect of Light and Shade in harmonious arrangement of mass and line.
Perspective and foreshortening are permissible to some extent, but are largely dependent upon the work, greater license being allowable in high than in low relief.
In Flat ornament, leaves are invariably in profile, but in Relief expression they may be folded, that is, wrapped round the stem. Greater freedom is possible in the turn-overs.
Relief ornament should recognise ground by details being occasionally displayed in lower relief.
Whether expressed in Flat or Relief, the composing lines should always be emphatic, and their direction traceable through the details, floral or otherwise.
In addition to the foregoing, a further consideration is that of interest of surface, which may consist of contrast in textures of rough surface with smooth, of patterning on form, veining and striation of leaves and flowers, and of the employment of trellis or imbricated pattern. The latter in conjunction with other details, occur in the decorative work of the later French Renaissance.
The technical means of obtaining the interest of surfaces is, of course, incidental to the process involved. If the decoration be the result of painting, the design is free and untrammelled by any other than purely æsthetic conditions. Such, for instance, as the desirable recognition of surface, and the pattern sense suggested by recurrence, if a decorative rather than a pictorial effect is desired.
When the decorations consist of ornament, wholly or partly, they are occasionally rendered in a conventional manner, based upon the appearance of Relief, as in the Pompeian wall decorations and the painted work of the Italian Renaissance. There is ample precedent for this treatment in traditional painted decoration, but deliberate attempts at realistic effects are not only undesirable but to be deplored.
The interest in Painted Decoration, apart from colour, design or subject, would be that of the individual manifestation of the designer and painter.
Stencilled decoration is a compromise between painting and mechanical printing, and is restricted by the unit. The repetition of this is practically mechanical, though considerable license is possible in the treatment of colour, which has to be personally applied and is therefore amenable to controlled variation.
The design in stencilled work is not limited to one unit, and is not subject to hard and fast rules, the plates being of a size convenient to handle. Alternate units, or a series can be employed, the interest, apart from colour and subject consisting mainly of contrast in detail, and in the individualism expressed.
In textiles, where such mechanical processes as printing and weaving are involved, the design is restricted to the unit, the repetition of which is infallible both as to form and colour.
Apart from colour, the surface interest consists of suggested or actual contrasts of texture, the result of veining and striating leaves and flowers or of patterning forms or backgrounds with smaller details.
Needlework, being a personal performance, has no such mechanical restriction; the design can, and should be, complete within the area, and the expression perfectly free. Beside Design and Colour, the surface interest is that of contrast in the different textures resulting from the various stitches, and the employment of darning, knots, laid-work, etc.
In Appliqué work, interest is imparted by the mass effects enriched by embroidery, the large shapes entailing detail of the inhabited variety to keep them from puckering. In all needlework the effect is due to some extent to light and shade, particularly in Appliqué, where a corded edge is employed.
No. 258. Needlework Appliqué. Interest due to contrast of material, effect of relief imparted by corded edges, and to embroidery on applied details.
(Photo: V & A Museum).
In Lace, the interest consists solely of textural contrast, not only in the treatment of the various details, but in the patterning of intervals due to the necessary fillings. Design may be complete, or a repeated unit, according to the purpose and variety of lace.
Design for Inlays in Wood-work may be free in expression, or a unit, at discretion. The latter variety frequently takes the form of lines spaced with regard to good proportion, forming borders, chequers and geometric shapes of various kinds. Floral or other forms simple in character and profile may be used, the design being expressed in silhouette.
In the Intarsia detail of the Italian Renaissance, the inlaid forms were elaborated by surface markings and graduated effects were obtained by means of hot sand; but the natural contrast in the varied colour and fibres of the material employed probably form the more legitimate interest in all inlaid work.
In Veneer work and in Marquetry, where the work is quartered and juxtaposed, the interest consists in the patterning of the figured woods, particularly when these are arranged to form reciprocal shapes.
The interest of Buhl or Boule work, an inlay of metal employed in the French Renaissance in the decoration of furniture, often in conjunction with tortoiseshell, is that of contrast of texture.
In the design, profile or silhouette is the primary consideration, being used:
No. 265. Louis XV Cabinet with Ormolu Mounts.
Marquetry, veneer quartered and inlaid with floral detail. (Photo: V & A Museum).
The design can invariably be complete within the area. Coloured grounds are employed as well as tortoiseshell.
Mosaic designs may be complete in themselves or be the result of repetition, according to attitude and purpose, and with regard to variety and colour, only restricted by æsthetic considerations.
Owing to technical limitations, modelling can only be broadly suggested; therefore forms should be generally in silhouette except when on a large scale.
When employed on walls and vaults, gold is frequently used in the backgrounds. This not only serves to define detail, but affords contrast to the general surface, the inevitable joints in the tessaræ adding also to the interest.
Associated with Mosaic decoration in the Byzantine Period was the employment of marble in shafts of columns and for lining walls by banding or slabbing, frequently quartered, so as to display the markings in reciprocal forms. Such marbles were chosen for figuring and colour, the former in its variety being an important factor in the surface interest.
Similar employment of slabs occurs in the treatment of floors, where contrast in colour is the chief consideration. It is sometimes associated with Mosaic of small tesseræ, also in marble, whereas that used on walls and in vaults was frequently of glass.
The foregoing is a broad summary of ornamental expression in the Flat, with the exception of Book Decoration.
In Black and White, which is chiefly employed, the designs may be in tone or line with suggestion of rotundity or relief; or line decoratively employed, according to subject, or purely decorative.
The same applies to renderings in colour. Designs for covers are controlled by the processes involved, whether printed, stamped or tooled.
No. 274. Wood Carving. Grinling Gibbons.
Attention
devoted to detail with elimination of ground.
(Photo: V & A Museum).
In the two latter the ornament should be in profile or silhouette. In tooled bindings, repetition of unit or motif is essential, the design being the direct result of available tools.
In such bindings further interest may be imparted by gilding either the detail or by introducing gold as powdering on shapes or backgrounds, or by the so-called inlaying of other colours.
In Relief ornament, design and character should be the result of technical expression. If considered from an economic point of view, the tendency would naturally be to obtain the maximum effect with the minimum of labour; and this would invariably result, when the decoration is built up or applied to an existing ground as in modelled work, in slight occupation, with comparatively large intervals.
In carving, where the original surface forms the highest relief, and has to be cut back to form the ground, the result would be reversed, the individual worker being more attracted to the treatment of detail than to clearing away uninteresting spaces. Carving, whether in wood or stone, is employed in various decorative positions, and except in the enrichment of friezes or mouldings—when the repeating unit is desirable—the design should be complete in itself.
The treatment should evidence the direct employment of the tool, any attempt to efface or soften will result in loss of character and suggest the plastic effect incidental to modelling.
For convenience, and possibly in the absence of more desirable examples, students are often allowed in their early attempts at carving to reproduce casts of plastic origin. This is undoubtedly pernicious, as the model is probably unsuitable, and the student is thereby biassed. Examples should be selected in which the characteristic treatment is sufficiently evident if a true and thorough appreciation of the craft is to be instilled.
In the design—which may occupy or fill the shape and can be symmetrically arranged on a central axis, or balanced—the effect is due mainly to Light and Shade. Further interest may be imparted by the sectional form or modelling of the details, groovings, striations or other textural suggestions.
The employment of punched grounds in carved work is to be deprecated as mechanical in effect. Sufficient interest is obtainable by the process of cutting back, in the perfect levelling of which the carver need not be too concerned. Suspiciously uniform grounds are suggestive of work fret-sawed and applied.
When carving in wood is in very high relief, it is occasionally, as in the Grinling Gibbons work, built up. This may not be a matter of great objection if properly attached, and the grain of fibre matched, but is, however, better avoided.
Modelled ornament is generally employed in reproduction processes, such as moulding of Terra-cotta, plaster, etc. The design can be free in expression, or a unit of repetition according to requirement.
The detail which is applied to an existing surface is invariably more open, with a resulting display in the background.
The surface interest consists of contrasts in texture, the result of veining, striating and patterning forms. The relief is not, as in carved work, controlled by an original surface, but, being built up, is susceptible to greater variation. Mouldings may be broken by lapping and overlapping details, and though in some traditional work similar treatment occurs in wood-carving, it must be remembered that such details are too suggestive of, and more proper to, plastic renderings.
In economic moulded work undercutting of details should be avoided as this is only possible in piece or elastic moulds. In wood-carving, however, there is no restriction.
Freedom and variety in detail are possible in Metal Repoussé, but as the light and shade is considerably modified by the nature of the surface, the design which is plastic in character incidental to method of working, should have regard for silhouette or profile display, and not be dependent upon surface modelling. The principal factor in effect is Light, both direct and reflected. Surface interest is the result of imparting by chasing various textures in striations or matt.
Excellent effect can be obtained by outlining with the tracing tool, leaving the surface of detail plain and uniform in height, and imparting texture with the matt tools in the intervals for the sake of contrast.
The method of working is simple, entailing manipulation from the face of the metal only, and the detail is left in slight relief by the ground being set back in the texturing. This treatment is only suitable where the ornamented area is enclosed. When the design is freely displayed on a ground without enclosing lines, it should appear in relief, the result of raising from the back; and texturing should be employed only on the details in contrast to the smooth ground. As in all applied work, the economic result is slight occupation.
Cast metal is produced in sand moulds, a model or pattern being employed of which the casting is a reproduction. The
No. 281. Repoussé Work.
A. Pattern defined by tracing tool and interest imparted by different textures of ground.
B. Pattern raised from back, and defined and enriched by tracing and matt tools on face, affording textural contrast with plain ground.
(Photo of A. V & A Museum).
pattern may be originally modelled or carved, and this determines the character of the metal result, though it is a matter of indifference when the necessary finishing is by turning or filing.
Castings in iron are left as they leave the mould, but in bronze, except in Cire Perdu casting, the surface has to be entirely worked down. In common work, however, this is accomplished by means of small files or riffles and by chasing the more elaborate details.
As a matter of opinion it is consistent that the
No. 284. Surface Interest in Metal.
A. Blade of State Battle-axe, damascened with silver, Indian.
B. Blade of Khyber Knife, engraved, Indian.
C. Hilt of Tulwar, damascened with gold, Indian.
D. Vase, Bidri Ware, pewter inlaid with silver, Indian.
E. Scabbard End, gold inlay, Indian.
F. Ornament on Gauntled Sword, damascened with gold, Indian.
character of cast work should be plastic, and if the original pattern is the result of carving, care should be taken to impart the desired feeling, the pattern being merely a means to the end.
Much depends upon the final finish; if this is to be bright, surface modelling should be a secondary consideration to surface interest resulting from contrast of textures. It, however, becomes of proportionate importance as the work is dull or toned, and therefore is subject to the ordinary conditions of Light and Shade.
TRADITIONAL ornament is replete with forms and details that were originally invested with meaning, though in the later employment this was disregarded, being used for the sake of variety and their æsthetic value.
Such details as the festoons, wreaths, tripods and altars as appear in the Renaissance ornament were originally associated with victory, sacrifice and religious observance.
It has previously been suggested that the early employment of natural types was symbolic in the Egyptian treatment of the Lotus and Papyrus, which, providing material for woven fabrics and for manuscripts, were therefore esteemed.
These details associated as they frequently are with the zigzag line, are symbolic of the fertilizing of the land resulting from the periodical inundation of the Nile.
The date-palm on account of its value as food was symbolised by the Assyrians as the tree of life in the fronding Anthemion form, which undoubtedly influenced the later ornament.
The Palm-tree was said to grow faster for being weighted down, hence it was the symbol of Resolution overcoming Calamity. The oriental belief was that it sprang from the residue clay from which Adam was formed.
Symbolism, universally understood as it undoubtedly was in early times, implied a universal interest on the part of the individual and the general community. The absence of this interest in more modern work is to be deplored.
A common example of the employment of such symbols, which however is fast disappearing, is the barber’s pole, the gilt knob of which represents the basin, and the pole the staff held by the patients in the operation of venesection. The painted spiral stripes are to indicate the respective bandages, one for twisting round the arm previous to blood-letting, the other for final bindings.
The modern custom in salutation of shaking hands or raising the hat is a survival—the former of the ancient custom of adversaries in treating of a truce taking hold of the weapon hand to ensure against treachery—the latter of the removal of the helmet when no danger is nigh, to show that one can stand unprotected.
The custom in Courts-martial of placing the sword hilt or point towards the accused, according to judgment, is also a survival. In ancient times, if a stranger on arrival held the point of a spear forward, it denoted a declaration of war; but if carried with the point behind, he came in friendship and peace.
There are opportunities where the decorative element could be such as to, embody or vindicate local character or purpose, but with the decadence of symbolism much of our modern ornament fails to interest, because it has no meaning that is understood or can be appreciated.
Mythology had its origin in the superstitions of primitive man, to whom the gods were forces of Nature improperly understood, and to whom Light and Darkness would appeal as beneficent or malignant forces according to how they affected his personal comfort.
The uncontrollable nature and effects of these in the absence of more modern conditions would naturally tend toward belief in Fatalism and Destiny, which eventuated in mythological expression.
Early myths had their origin in processes of Nature, or aspects of natural phenomena which, to the primitive mind, appeared supernatural. Inducing a belief in powers invisible, infinite and divine, and in future existence. With this belief these aspects were eventually invested with personality.
An example is the Greek tradition of Kronos, a native myth accounting for the separation of Heaven and Earth. Uranus (Heaven) husband to Gæa (Earth) kept his progeny Oceanus (sea) Hyperion (Sun) and Kronos (Light and Dark, or Time) in the hollows of the earth, in darkness. Kronos revolted, and forcing Uranus away, kept him for ever at a distance.
A New Zealand parallel is the Maori Tree or Forest god Tani, who effected a similar severance by lying down on the earth and pushing the Heavens away with his feet. The native belief being that man was a tree upside down, his hair forming the roots and his legs the branches.
Some myths appear in many forms, associated with rising and setting. The Greek rendering is that Kronos (Time) married Rhea and devoured all his children at birth except Zeus (Air), Poseidon (Water), and Hades (the Grave), which three Time cannot consume.
An earlier tradition is that Kronos devoured all his progeny except Zeus, for whom a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes was substituted and promptly swallowed, the child Zeus being secreted.
On arriving at adult age, Zeus compelled Kronos to disgorge, first the stone, then the other children in succession. The literal meaning being that of night covering up or swallowing the world, the disgorging being the sunrise.
An interesting variant is the tradition of the Melanesian hero Qat and his brothers, who lived in perpetual day. Qat heard of Night, and setting forth in search, was successful in his quest. On his return he told his brothers to sit quite still, and when they felt something in their eyes to take no notice but keep quiet; thereon they fell asleep. When Night had lasted long enough, Qat took a slab of red obsidian and cut the darkness and Dawn came out. A tradition reminiscent of the “dustman” or the “sand-man” of the nursery, though the slab of red obsidian is a touch both poetic and symbolic in its suggestion.
In the early myths, Night or Darkness is invariably a malignant influence or a devouring monster threatening the earth or the sun, e.g., the Scandinavian Wolf Fenrir or Fenris, the Python slain by Apollo, and in Oannes the Chaldean sea-god devoured or destroyed by darkness.
Oannes, who is represented in composite fish and man form, according to tradition lived with mankind during the day to instruct them in the Arts and Sciences; being immolated at night and re-incarnated at dawn.
In the Scandinavian tradition of Baldur, the god of Peace, which bears some resemblance in respect to immolation and re-incarnation, the god was killed by the blind Hoder at the instigation of Loki. By order of Odin, everything that sprung from earth, air, fire and water was forbidden to injure Baldur, but the mistletoe, not being included, was made into an arrow and shot at random. It effected his death, but by general request of the gods, he was restored to life.
Baldur is really a season myth, symbolizing the death of the sun at the end of the year, with the resuscitation in the Spring. So also is the tradition of Persephone abducted by Pluto, and allowed to revisit her mother, Demeter, at the dawn of Summer. Another parallel is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Of myths associated with the Dawn there is the tradition of Apollo and Daphne, where the story of the nymph being chased by the god and transformed into the tree symbolised the early dawn dispersed by the Sun, or the effect of the growing power of the Sun on vegetation.
Similar in idea is the tradition of Wabun, son of Mudjekee-Wee, the North American Indian Apollo, who chased Darkness with his arrows over hill and valley, waking the villagers, calling the Thunder and bringing the morning. He married Wabung Annung, whom he transplanted to the Heavens, where she became the Morning Star.
Associated also with the sun is the myth of Clytie, a water nymph, who for unrequited love of Apollo, was changed into a sun-flower, which traditionally still turns towards the sun, following him through his daily course.
It has already been suggested that in primitive times intentional and conscious life was ascribed to a host of natural objects and phenomena, indications of which survive in the common speech of the present day. Thus we speak of inanimate things as if they had consciousness and intelligence. We say the Weather is good or bad, the Wind furious, the Sea treacherous, the Seasons inconstant or the Earth thirsty. It is also customary to speak of the “head” or “foot” of a mountain, and “arm” of the sea and the “mouth” of a river or a cave.
Conscious action is suggested by such statement as the wind “whistles,” “howls” or “moans”; the torrent or river “murmurs”; the fields “smile” or the sky “threatens.”
These afford undoubted evidence of early belief in personality and consciousness—a belief originally simple, but later becoming more complex, monotheistic in the earlier form, developing into polytheism in assigning different deities to the various elements.
In Greek and Roman mythology there are twelve deities, six gods and six goddesses.
| Greek. | Gods. | Roman. |
| Zeus. | The air or the living one (king) | Jupiter. |
| Apōllon. | The Sun God. | Apollo. |
| Ares. | The War God. | Mars. |
| Hermes. | The Messenger. | Mercury. |
| Poseidon. | The Sea God. | Neptune. |
| Hephaistos. | The Smith. | Vulcan. |
| Goddesses. | ||
| Hera. | Queen. | Juno. |
| Demeter. | Tillage. | Ceres. |
| Artemis. | Moon-Hunting. | Diana. |
| Athenē. | Wisdom. | Minerva. |
| Aphrodite. | Love and Beauty. | Venus. |
| Hestĭa. | Home life. | Vesta. |
These are the original twelve, but four others are referred to as follows:
| Dionȳsus. | The God of Wine. | Bacchus. |
| Eros. | The love lad. | Cupid. |
| Plutōn. | God of the Inferno. | Pluto. |
| Kronos. | Time. | Saturn. |
In the Scandinavian mythology Ymir the personification of Chaos or first created being, was produced by the antagonism of heat and cold, nourished by the four milky streams from the cow Audhumla. While he slept a man and woman grew out of his left arm, and sons from his feet, from whom was formed the race of Frost Giants.
Odin and his two brothers slew Ymir and threw the carcase into the Ginnungagap, or abyss of abysses. The blood formed the waters of the Earth; the bones the Mountains, the skull the Heavens; the teeth, Rocks; the brains, Clouds; the hair, plants of every kind; and the eyebrows, a wall of defence against the Giants.
As in the Greek and Roman mythology, the Celestials or Æsir of the Scandinavians were twelve in number, the chief being Odin. Each god dwelt in his mansion in Asgard (God’s Ward), situated on the heavenly hills between the Earth and the Rainbow.
The other gods or Asa were:
All these were sons of Odin—the youngest being Vale. The mansion of Odin was Gladsheim—that of Frigga, his wife Fensalir. Baldur’s was Broadblink or “Vast Splendour.”
The Refectory, or Hall of the Æsir, was Valhalla, in which the spirits of warriors were entertained by the twelve Valkyries (armed and mounted nymphs), who in battle selected those destined for death.
Supreme were the “Mysterious Three” called Har the Mighty, the Like Mighty and the third person, who sat on the throne above the Rainbow.
The Scandinavian Fates or Nornir, representing the Past, Present and Future, sat spinning the web of events of human life beneath the ash tree Yggdrasil, whose roots ran in three directions, one to Asgard, one to the Frost Giants, and the third to the underworld. Beneath each was a fountain of wonderful virtue.
In the tree from which drops honey sit an eagle, a squirrel and four stags; lying at and gnawing the root is the serpent Nithhöggr, while the squirrel Ratatösker runs up and down endeavouring to cause strife between the serpent and the eagle at the top.
The Egyptian Horus, the hawk-headed son of Osiris and Isis, symbolised the sun’s path, or the rising sun; Ra the noon-day and Osiris the setting.
Osiris, the husband of Isis, is represented by the moon, and by an eye at the top of fourteen steps and symbolises any waning luminary, as the setting sun or waning moon. Isis, to whose worship the sacred cow was dedicated, symbolises rising, becoming visible, and is represented with two horns on a stem rising from her head.
The ancient Egyptian indulged in the supposition that the swelling of the Nile at the annual innundation occurred on the anniversary of the death of Osiris, and was due to the tears of the lamenting Isis.
Endymion in the Greek tradition is the setting sun, with whom the moon is in love. He was visited and kissed every night by Selene on the Latmian Hills, where he was condemned to sleep, and eternal youth.
That the Winds as natural forces should become personified is easy to imagine, as in the Roman Æolus, father of Zephyr, the West wind. Aquilo or Boreas, son of Astræus a Titan, and Eos (morning) was the North Wind, and lived in a cave on Mount Hermus in Thrace. The other winds were Notus, (South), Eurus (East), Corus (North-West), Argestës (North-East), Volturnus (South-East), and Aferventus (South-West).
The natural phenomenon of the Echo is embodied in the poetic tradition of a nymph, who, on account of unrequited love for Narcissus, pined away till only her voice remained.
To the primitive mind disaster or affliction from quite natural causes would be attributed to the wrath of some deity, even though there was no personal offence. This superstition would find expression in a belief in predestination or fatalism, as is evidenced in the tragedies of Orestes and Œdipus, and to a certain extent in the protracted return of Ulysses from Troy.
The Greeks and Romans believed that birth, events and death were arbitrarily controlled by the Parcæ or Fates, of which there were three—Clotho, who held the distaff—Lachesis, who spun the thread of life and Atropos who bore the shears and cut the thread when life was ended.
Thus Clotho presided over birth and drew the thread of life from the distaff, while Atropos presided over death, Lachesis spinning the thread between life and death.
The Harpies and Furies were also responsible agents in disaster. The former were vultures with female heads and breasts, living in an atmosphere of filth and stench and contaminating everything they came near. Their names Ocypeta (rapid), Celeno (blackness), and Aello (storm) indicate that they were the personification of tumult and whirlwind. Equally arbitrary were the reputed acts of the Furies, of whom there were likewise three, their names being Tisiphone (avenger of blood), Alectro (implacable), and Megæra (disputatious).
Propitiation and sacrifice, to avoid such visitation would be the natural outcome, and the various traditions are probably records of actual occurrences, embroidered by poetic imagery and miraculous conditions.
In later tradition, cause or justification is indicated as in the story of Iphigenia, daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. The latter having offended Artemis by killing her favourite stag, vowed to sacrifice the most beautiful thing that came into his possession during the next twelve months. This was an infant daughter, but the sacrifice was deferred till she reached womanhood, when the combined Greek fleet arrived at Aulis on its way to Troy. Calchas declared this would be wind-bound as long as the vow remained unfulfilled, but Artemis interposed at the last moment by spiriting Iphigenia away from the altar and leaving a hind to suffer in her stead.
A similar story is that of Andromeda, rescued by Perseus from the sea monster sent by Poseidon to devastate the land. The reputed cause was Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda, boasting of her daughter’s beauty, and on appeal to the oracle the sacrifice was declared necessary to save the country and to appease the offended deity.
Similar instances in Bible history are the vows of sacrifice made by Abraham and Jephthah. The latter has a parallel in the Greek tradition of Idomeneus, King of Crete, who vowed to sacrifice the first being he encountered if the gods granted him a safe return after the burning of Troy. The first person met on landing was his son, who was sacrificed, and in consequence Idomeneus was banished as a murderer.
The ancient burial customs are evidence of an early belief in future existence, and that not only human beings but inanimate objects have souls.
It was considered necessary that the departed should be accompanied not only by his weapons and personal belongings, but also by attendants or slaves, who were immolated so that they could continue their ministrations in the future life.
The reverence with which burial places were regarded gave rise to the belief in the spirits of the dead as guardians, and this survives at the present day in the mysterious custom of “Taboo,” a Polynesian term which means “consecrated” or “set apart.”
It really has a double meaning: to consecrate, and to insure penalty, whereby dwellings are abandoned after the death of their owners in the supposition that they are sacred to the spirits of the departed.
The Lares of the Romans were domestic or public, the domestic Lares were the souls of the virtuous ancestors exalted to the rank of protectors. They took the form of images like dogs set behind the Entrance, or in the Lararium or shrine.
There were also public Lares, whose province was the protection of streets and roads.
This belief in the dead as guardian spirits accounts for a form of sacrifice in which the victims were buried under foundations, a custom modified in later times to the sacrifice of animals. It survives at the present day in burying current coins at the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone in public buildings.
Many of the legends of the Middle Ages associated with Architecture are reminiscent of the early customs of sacrifice in the oft-repeated traditions of demoniacal aid. The story generally deals with some difficult problem in design or construction for the solution of which the architect or builder enters into the usual compact with the evil one, the terms being that the latter party to the contract shall take possession of the first living being that enters into or crosses the structure.
Invariably the enemy of mankind is outwitted, a dog or some other animal being the first to enter, the builder’s sense of caution being in every instance greater than his vanity.
Similar in idea was the Hebrew custom of the scapegoat, which also anticipated and symbolised the Atonement.
With the Greeks the cock was not sacrificed, it being sacred to the Sun and Moon, as it announced the hours.
The cock was also sacred to the Goddess of Wisdom and to Æsculapius. Therefore it represented Time, Wisdom and Health, none of which should be sacrificed.
Experience due to the involuntary action of the brain in dreaming, when the ordinary laws of time and space are modified could hardly fail to impress the primitive imagination and suggest the duality of being—physical and spiritual.
In some savage communities at the present day there is a belief that the soul or spirit is absent during sleep and that it would be dangerous to wake the sleeper, as, should he close his mouth, the soul would be unable to return. This belief that the soul should be free to go and come is evidenced in the aperture that has been found in Kist-vaens and other forms of tombs.