The Rosette in ornament is useful as a pause point, giving repose, but where it is desirable to continue the flow of line, other floral forms can be employed, such as the tulip or the lily, which are displayed to the best advantage in profile or perspective.
In conventional ornament the flower petals should be in contrast to the leaves employed on the scrolling stem.
The Pistil in nature is reflected in the various sprouting forms which emerge from the conventional flowers of the Renaissance, and at times develop into further stem growth. On æsthetic grounds this may be excused in cases where flow of line is of greater importance than consistency. The Pistil takes many forms, being frequently composed of a series of diminutive husks. Flower buds of similar husk form occur, the petals being similar to those of the flowers employed.
Tendrils serve a useful purpose in giving unity to the design, for which there is ample suggestion in such natural growths as the Vine, Pea, etc. Too often in traditional ornament they are employed to merely occupy obviously awkward spaces. In Roman ornament flowers articulated on tendril-like stems were often used apparently to occupy the spandril-like spaces resulting from the branching scrolls.
[Illustration: No. 242. Ornamental Treatment of Tendril from Roman Frieze.]
During the Roman development greater variety was introduced in the treatment of leaves and flowers which in many instances display evidence of natural suggestion. The main stems are sometimes twisted, a characteristic of some strongly growing natural types, but this was only a variant of the earlier treatment of decorating the scrolling stem with channels or hollow flutes.
Birds and animals were also used in antique ornament--grotesque combinations of foliage with human and animal forms, and such symbolic monsters as the Gryphon and the Sphinx, were employed with little regard to the original significance. Other symbolic elements, such as wreaths, garlands, festoons, altars, tripods, and urns were also introduced merely for their decorative value and to afford variety.
The modern mind is naturally out of sympathy with forms that have no direct appeal, but it should be considered that these elements were originally not merely the expression of the art of the period, but were also invested in many instances with symbolic meaning. The Roman citizen saw nothing incongruous in decorating a triumphal arch with the chaplet of the victor and trophies of arms.