Festoon

A festoon (from French feston, Italian festone, from a Late Latin festo, originally a festal garland, Latin festum, feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicting conventional arrangement of flowers, foliage or fruit bound together and suspended by ribbons. The motif is sometimes known as a swag when depicting fabric or linen.[1][2]

For other uses, see Festoon (disambiguation).
Architectural festoon from the Panthéon in Paris
Corbel decorated with a festoon, photographed from different angles, in Bucharest (Romania)

In modern English the verb forms, especially "festooned with", are often used very loosely or figuratively to mean having any type of fancy decoration or covering.

Origins and design

Its origin is probably due to the representation in stone of the garlands of natural flowers, etc., which were hung up over an entrance doorway on fête days, or suspended around an altar.[2]

The design was largely employed both by the Ancient Greeks and Romans and formed the principal decoration of altars, friezes and panels.[2] The ends of the ribbons are sometimes formed into bows or twisted curves; when in addition a group of foliage or flowers is suspended, it is called a drop or margent.

The motif was later used in Neoclassical architecture and decorative arts, especially ceramics and the work of silversmiths. Variations on the exact design are plentiful; for example, the ribbons can be suspended either from a decorated knot, or held in the mouths of lions, or suspended across the tops of bucrania as in the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.

Other uses

In modern usage, the term can refer to a specific style of electric lighting with individual bulbs suspended along a string that incorporates the power wiring, suspended between two or more points.[3] The term can also refer to a style of light bulb with power contacts located at either end.[4]

The term is also used to describe a specific activity within beehives where individual bees hook their feet together and form a dangling chain. This "festooning" activity isn't entirely understood, but it is speculated that this eusocial behavior is used to measure available volume before constructing wax honeycomb. It is possible that these dangling bee parabolas also act to minimize violations of beespace.

  • Detail of the Hellenistic mosaic floor panel, from the 2nd century BC, in the Pergamon Museum (Berlin, Germany)
  • Trompe-l'œil wall painting from a Roman villa, with festoons and bucrania, circa 50-40 BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
  • Frieze with festoons and bucrania, in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum (Selçuk, Turkey)
  • Highly decorated Roman sarcophagus, with two festoons, circa 130-125 BC, in the Louvre
  • Pair of festoons hanged in the mouth of a lion, upside a door from Paris
  • Pair of festoons at the entrance of the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis (Paris)
  • Two etchings of two designs of festoons, from 1694, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Design for a frieze with wreath and festoons, from the 18th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Hard-paste porcelain teapot with reliefs of festoons, 1720–1727, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Cupid seated on a festoon made of flowers, circa 1770-1790, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • 19th century design of a vase decorated with festoons, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City)
  • Frieze with festoon in Bucharest (Romania)
  • Stuccos with festoons in a house from Bucharest
  • Stuccos with festoons in a house from Bucharest
  • Door in Bucharest, decorated with a pair of swags in its upper parts
  • Capital with an angel who holds a festoon with his wings, in Stiftskirche Mariae Himmelfahrt in Schlägl (Austria)

See also

References
  1. Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1986) [1966]. Dictionary of Architecture (3 ed.). Penguin Books Ltd. p. 114. ISBN 0-14-051013-3.
  2. Sturgis, pp. 22-23
  3. Miller, Charles R. Illustrated Guide to the NEC. p. 19. ISBN 978-1435498136.
  4. CDX Automotive (28 March 2013). South African Automotive Light Vehicle Level 2. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 559. ISBN 978-1-4496-9782-2.

Further reading
  • Lewis, Philippa; G. Darley (1986). Dictionary of Ornament. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 0-394-50931-5.
  • Sturgis, Russell (1901). A Dictionary of Architecture and Building, Volume II. New York: Macmillan.
Attribution
  • The dictionary definition of festoon at Wiktionary
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