The Grottesque.

The Half-Figure.
101
in the freest and most arbitrary manner. Squatting, winged female
figures without arms; human bodies with fishtails, with endlessly long,
winding necks, with extremities terminating in foliage, are types of
this style of ornamentation. The origin of the Grottesque must be
sought in the decorative painting of the Romans. Pompeii offers
copious material. Various painters of the Italian Renascence, among
them Rafael, revived and used the antique Grottesque
painting
(Rafael's loggie), after the discovery of the grottesque painting in the
thermae of Titus at Rome, (from these vaults or Grottoes is derived
the name grottesque).
The Grottesques are a striking example of the playful and artistic
feeling of the Ancients; and stand in great contrast to the coarse
attempts at the comic to be found in Medieval art. From decorative
painting the grottesques passed to the plastic art of the Renascence.
The revival of Italian decorative painting in modern art has led to
the retention of these forms also.
Plate 66. The Grottesque.
1. Part of pilaster, Italian Renascence, by Benedetto da Majano.
2. Part of pilaster, tomb of Louis XIL, St. Denis, French Re-
nascence.
3. Part of pilaster, Palazzo magnifico, Siena, Italian Renascence,
by Barile.
4
5. Parts of ornamental columns, Palazzo Guadagni, Florence,
(Schutz).
6. Italian majolica pavement, Siena, Italian Renascence, (L'art
pour tous).
7. Stall in San Severino, Naples, Italian Renascence, by Barto-
lommeo Chiarini and Bernadino Torelli da Brescia, (Schvitz).
8. Stall, San Agostino, Perugia, Italian Renascence.
The Half-Figure. (Plates 6768.)
From Antique times up to the present day, Half-figures have
been popular as startings for ornaments. The upper part of the
human body undergoes little variation from its natural forms.
Below the breast or the stomach, often defined by a girdle, there is
developed a sort of inverted foliage-cup, from which the scroll orna-
ment grows. Half-figures are found not only in the fiat and in bas-
relief, but also in round plastic art, in this latter case as brackets for
lamps, torchholders, doorknockers, &c.
Plate 67. The Half-Figure.
1
2. Panels, Roman Altar.
3. Part of a Roman relief.