Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Light tan to page edges. No dustcover. Year 1962. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> However this division is a charac- teristic of any applied art. It touches the roots of artistic creation. The two principles are as old as the ‘ornamental’ craftsmanship of mankind in general. The decorative principle is like a method of filling in; the structural is like a dividing or framing method. The former is always possessed of a more dynamic character and flamboyance decides the issue. In the latter serenity reigns supreme and eveything seems to be subdued and static and utterly stable. Thus the late Gothic in the north and the Italian Renaissance in the south ‘the art of beautiful and serene exis- tence’ (W?lfflin) are diametrically opposed. Baroque and Rococo show the synthesis of the static and dynamic. The apportionment of the whole surface the grille for instance remains static and architectonic. But the surrounding parts especially the cresting develop into a ornamental design of exceptionally flamboyant motifs (strapwork and rocaille). The varied artistic temperament of different nations is revealed in their treatment of the framework. The German idea of form triumphs in the late Baroque and Rococo as it did in the late Gothic period with a maximum of dynamic winged decoration as opposed to the static and structural forms of Italian and French origin. The rigidity of the latticed inner part is surrounded by an almost formless profusion of framework. The frame was formerly something solid and straight which bonded the curving wealth of the inner design together rigidly and rectangu- larly but now the relationship between frame and filling seems to be reversed: the filling has become serene and tectonic and the framework vivaciously flamboyant. High above the arched cornice it is loosed and frees itself. Then it shoots up into the wide-open space like flames from the glowing fire of the sun. Then the final step is taken. (MP)