"In architecture and decorative art, ornament is decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object."
The study of decorative elements and motifs used in architecture, which often drew on classical motifs such as columns, pilasters, pediments, and cornices, but were also influenced by the natural world and other cultural traditions.
Classical Orders: The five orders of classical architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite) used as a basis for Renaissance ornamentation.
Proportions: The mathematical ratios used to create harmonious relationships between the parts of a building and its overall form.
Architraves and Capital Forms: The decorative elements that embellish columns and their supports, such as the topmost element or the capital.
Pilasters and Entablatures: Flattened columns or half-columns/compartment above, consisting of an architrave and its decorative frieze.
Cornices: Decorative elements that crown an entablature and project from the façade.
Balustrades: A low wall or screen that is used for safety, to provide visual relief, or to shelter open spaces.
Cartouches: Elaborate tablets or ornaments typically stamped or engraved with inscriptions or designs, often used to highlight the name of an important patron or an important event.
Friezes: Ornamental bands often used to embellish the face of a building or a room.
Pediments: Ornate triangular structures that decorate the facade, often used as a crowning element above entrances or windows.
Sculpted figures: Carved decorative elements that include animals, human figures and other forms, often used to decorate the facades of churches or public buildings.
Acanthus leaves: A stylized representation of the tall, spiky leaves of the acanthus plant.
Bead and reel: A decorative molding that alternates between spherical shapes and thin, cylindrical shapes resembling ropes.
Leondardo: Also known as Leo, a type of floral decoration featuring a series of long, pointed leaves radiating from a central point.
Egg and dart: A decorative molding alternating between oval-shaped "eggs" and arrow-tipped "darts.".
Dentil: A series of small rectangular blocks resembling teeth, arranged in a row along the top of a molding.
Rosettes: A circular or oval design featuring petals or leaves radiating from a central point.
Strapwork: A decorative pattern resembling interlaced ribbons or straps, often seen in ceilings or friezes.
Scrollwork: A decorative design featuring intricate, curving shapes resembling the scrolls of parchment or paper.
Cartouches: A decorative frame or shield-shaped design used to surround a coat of arms or other emblem.
Hercules knot: A decorative motif featuring two intertwined cords or ribbons.
Triglyphs: Rectangular blocks with three vertical grooves, used to decorate the friezes of Doric entablatures.
Medallions: A circular or oval design typically featuring a relief or sculpted scene in the center.
Pendant drops: Decorative elements resembling elongated drops or tassels, often seen hanging from a ceiling or frieze.
Lions' masks: A decorative element resembling the head of a lion or other animal, often used to ornament doorways or fireplaces.
S-curve: An ornamental motif resembling a sinuous curves.
Rosace: A circular design typically featuring a symmetrical pattern of radiating geometric shapes or floral motifs.
Guilloche: A decorative pattern resembling a continuous ribbon or interlacing strapwork.
Vitruvian scroll: A decorative pattern resembling a continuous ribbon or scroll, often used to ornament columns or pilasters.
Strapwork masks: A decorative element resembling a face or mask surrounded by interlacing ribbons or straps.
Coquille: A decorative element resembling a scallop shell, often used to ornament pediments, friezes, or spandrels.
"Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornaments do not include human figures."
"Architectural ornament can be carved from stone, wood or precious metals, formed with plaster or clay, or painted or impressed onto a surface as applied ornament."
"In other applied arts, the main material of the object, or a different one such as paint or vitreous enamel may be used."
"In textiles, wallpaper, and other objects where the decoration may be the main justification for its existence..."
"The vast range of motifs used in ornament draw from geometrical shapes and patterns, plants, and human and animal figures."
"Across Eurasia and the Mediterranean world there has been a rich and linked tradition of plant-based ornament for over three thousand years."
"Traditional ornament from other parts of the world typically relies more on geometrical and animal motifs."
"The circular lines of the ornaments signalled the sequential perception of time in the wide steppes and the breadth and freedom of space."
"In a 1941 essay, the architectural historian Sir John Summerson called it 'surface modulation'."
"The earliest decoration and ornament often survives from prehistoric cultures in simple markings on pottery."
"The potter's wheel... made some kinds of decoration very easy; weaving is another technology which also lends itself very easily to decoration or pattern."
"Ornament has been evident in civilizations since the beginning of recorded history, ranging from Ancient Egyptian architecture to the assertive lack of ornament of 20th century Modernist architecture."
"Ornament implies that the ornamented object has a function that an unornamented equivalent might also fulfill."
"Where the object has no such function, but exists only to be a work of art such as a sculpture or painting, the term is less likely to be used..."
"In recent centuries a distinction between the fine arts and applied or decorative arts has been applied..."
"Ornament mainly seen as a feature of the latter class."
"Across Eurasia and the Mediterranean world there has been a rich and linked tradition of plant-based ornament for over three thousand years."
"Traditional ornament from other parts of the world typically relies more on geometrical and animal motifs."
"Ornament also depicts a certain philosophy of the people for the world around... the circular lines of the ornaments signalled the sequential perception of time."