View source for Palmette

{{Short description|A decorative motif based on the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree}}
{{redirects|Anthemion|Anthemion, father of Anytus in classical Athens|Anytus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:Handbook of ornament; a grammar of art, industrial and architectural designing in all its branches, for practical as well as theoretical use (1900) (14597671860).jpg|thumb|Page in which appear various illustrations of palmettes, from ''A handbook of Ornament'' by Franz Meyer (1898)]]
[[File:Terracotta architectural plaque with lotus and palmette designs MET DP258363 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] architectural plaque with palmettes, from late 4th century BC, painted terracotta, in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City]]
The '''palmette''' is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a [[palm tree]]. It has a far-reaching history, originating in [[ancient Egypt]] with a subsequent development through the art of most of [[Eurasia]], often in forms that bear relatively little resemblance to the original. In [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] uses it is also known as the '''anthemion''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ανθέμιον, a flower). It is found in most artistic media, but especially as an [[Ornament (art)|architectural ornament]], whether carved or painted, and painted on ceramics. It is very often a component of the design of a [[frieze]] or border. The complex evolution of the palmette was first traced by [[Alois Riegl]] in his ''[[Stilfragen]]'' of 1893. The '''half-palmette''', bisected vertically, is also a very common motif, found in many mutated and vestigial forms, and especially important in the development of [[scroll (art)|plant-based scroll]] ornament.
==Description==
The essence of the palmette is a symmetrical group of spreading "fronds" that spread out from a single base, normally widening as they go out, before ending at a rounded or fairly blunt pointed tip. There may be a central frond that is larger than the rest. The number of fronds is variable, but typically between five and about fifteen.
In the repeated border design commonly referred to as anthemion the palm fronds more closely resemble petals of the [[Honeysuckle|honeysuckle flower]], as if designed to attract fertilizing insects. Some compare the shape to an open [[hamsa]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caspi-silver.co.il/nconfigout.asp?psn=637&scat=182 |title=Silver jewelry, judaica and Christian gifts – Sterling Silver Jerusalem Hamsa |publisher=Caspi Silver |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229073701/http://www.caspi-silver.co.il/nconfigout.asp?psn=637&scat=182 |archive-date=29 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> hand – explaining the commonality and derivation of the 'palm' of the hand.
In some forms of the motif the volutes or scrolls resemble a pair of eyes, like those on the harmika<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pollackphoto.com/nepal/kathmandu/F0227-10.htm|publisher=Seth Pollack Photography|title=Eyes of the Swayambhunath stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal}}</ref> of the Tibetan or Nepalese [[stupa]] and the eyes and sun-disk<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r118a.htm |title=Funerary Stela |publisher=150.si.edu |access-date=23 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410185456/http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r118a.htm |archive-date=10 April 2009 }}</ref> at the crown of Egyptian stelae.
In some variants the features of a more fully developed face<ref name=autogenerated1 /> become discernible in the palmette itself, while in certain architectural uses, usually at the head of [[pilaster]]s or [[Herma|herms]], the fan of palm-fronds [[:Image:Orna139-Hermen.png|transforms into a male or female face]] and the volutes sometimes appear as breasts. Common to all these forms is the pair of volutes at the base of the fan – constituting the defining characteristics of the palmette.
==Evolution==
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It is thought that the palmette originated in ancient Egypt 2,500 years BC,<ref>E.H. Gombrich, The Sense of Order, A study in the psychology of decorative art, PHAIDON second edition, London 1984 page 181</ref> and has influenced Greek art. Egyptian palmettes (Greek anthemia) were originally based on features of various flowers, including the [[papyrus]] and the [[List of plants known as lotus|lotus]] or [[lily]] representing lower and upper Egypt and their fertile union, before it became associated with the palm tree. From earliest times there was a strong association with the sun and it is probably an early form of the [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]].
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Lotus palmette with tabs.gif|thumb|right|Egyptian lotus palmette: sun and open flower]] -->
Among the oldest forms of the palmette in ancient Egypt was a  'rosette' or daisy-like lotus flower<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/galleries/Arts/egyptian_ornament.htm |title=Page Redirecting |publisher=Etc.usf.edu |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> emerging from a 'V' of foliage or petals resembling the [[akhet (hieroglyph and season)|akhet]] hieroglyph depicting the setting or rising sun at the point where it touches the two mountains of the horizon – 'dying', being 'reborn' and giving life to the earth. A second form, apparently evolved from this, is a more fully developed palmette<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectId=3660 |title=Ancient Egyptian Art {{!}} Amulet in the shape of a palmette {{!}} F1907.436 |website=www.asia.si.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050304045454/http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectId=3660 |archive-date=2005-03-04}}</ref> similar to the forms found in Ancient Greece.
Third is a version consisting of a clump of lotus or papyrus blooms on tall stems, with a drooping bud or flower on either side, arising from a (primal) swamp. The lotus and papyrus clump occur in association with [[Hapy]], the god of the crucial life-giving annual Nile inundation, who binds their stems together around an offering table in the sema-tawi motif – itself echoing the shapes of the 'akhet' of the horizon. This unification scene appeared on the base of the throne of several kings, who were thought of as preserving the union of the two lands of (upper and lower, but also physical and spiritual) Egypt and thereby mastering the forces of renewal.  These 'binding' scenes, and the heliotropic swamp plants appearing in them, evoked the necessity of discerning and revealing the underlying harmony, the origin of all manifest forms, that re-connects the dispersed and separate-seeming fragments of everyday experience. The further implication is that it is from this apparently occult and magical, undivided source that fertility and new life spring.
[[File:Nefertum MET DP361170.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Nefertem]], bearing a lotus as his crown]]
Another variant of this motif is a single lotus bloom between two upright buds, a favourite fragrant offering. The god of fragrance, [[Nefertem]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miho.or.jp/booth/html/imgbig/00000712e.htm |title=Miho Museum |publisher=Miho.or.jp |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> is represented by such a lotus, or is shown bearing a lotus as his [[Crown (headgear)|crown]]. The lotus in Nefertem's head dress typically incorporates twin 'menats'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egiptologia.pl/gal15/menat.jpg |title= Błąd połączenia z bazą danych|website=www.egiptologia.pl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031106225442/http://www.egiptologia.pl/gal15/menat.jpg |archive-date=6 November 2003}}</ref> or necklace counterpoises (commonly said to represent fertility) hanging down from the base of the flower on either side of the stem, recalling the symmetrically drooping pair of stems in the lotus and papyrus clumps mentioned above. When depicted on Egyptian tomb walls and in formalized garden scenes,<ref>http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/smr04/101910/Slide4.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> date palms are invariably shown in a similar stylistic convention with a cluster of dates hanging down on either side below the crown in this same position. The link between these hanging clusters and the volutes of the palmette is visually clear, but remains inexplicit.  Rising and setting sun and opening and closing lotus are linked by the [[Osiris]] legend to day and night, life and death and the nightly ordeal of the setting sun to be swallowed by night-sky goddess [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], to pass through the [[Duat]] ("underworld") and be born anew each morning.<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/newegypt/htm/wk_magic.htm The Art of Ancient Egypt | Publications for Educators | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050402210732/http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/newegypt/htm/wk_magic.htm |date=2 April 2005 }}</ref> The plants depicted with this solar fan of fronds or petals and 'supported' by pairs of pendant blooms, buds or fruit clusters all seem especially to emulate and share in the sun's sacrificial cycle of death and rebirth and to point to the lessons it holds for mankind. It seems likely that the underlying model for all these fertile shapes, echoed by the curling cows-horn wig and sistrum-volutes of maternity-goddess [[Hathor]], was the womb, with the twin egg-clusters of its [[ovary|ovaries]].  When the sun is reborn in the morning it is said to be born from the womb of Nut.  The stylized palmette-forms of the lotus and papyrus showing the solar rosette or daisy-wheel emerging from the volutes of the calyx are similar magical enactments of the 'akhet' – this sacred moment of enhanced creation, the act of transcending or surpassing one's mortal form and 'going forth by day' as an [[Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul|akh]] or higher, winged, shining, all-encompassing and all-seeing form of life.
Most early Egyptian forms of the motif appear later in Crete, Mesopotamia, Assyria and Ancient Persia, including the daisy-wheel-style lotus and bud border.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/objects/cat118.html |title=FORGOTTEN EMPIRE the world of Ancient Persia &#124; 118 |publisher=Thebritishmuseum.ac.uk |date=23 May 2011 |access-date=23 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514060324/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/objects/cat118.html |archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref> In the form of the palmette that appears most frequently on [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek pottery]],<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Greek/greek4.htm The New Greek Galleries | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011121702/http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Greek/greek4.htm |date=11 October 2008 }}</ref> often interspersed with scenes of heroic deeds, the same motif is bound within a leaf-shaped or lotus-bud shaped outer line.  The outer line can be seen to have evolved from an alternating frieze of stylized lotus and palmette.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=12550 |title=Water Jar (Getty Museum) |publisher=Getty.edu |date=7 May 2009 |access-date=23 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607084708/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=12550 |archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> This anticipates the form it often took – from Renaissance sculpture through to Baroque fountains – of the inside of a half [[Scallop#Symbolism|scallop shell]], in which the palm fronds have become the fan of the shell and the scrolls remain at the convergence of the fan. Here the shape was associated with [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] or [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] and was typically flanked by a pair of dolphins{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} or became a vehicle drawn by sea-horses. Later, this circular or oval outer line became a motif in itself, forming an open C-shape with the two in-growing scrolls at its tips.  Much [[Baroque]] and [[Rococo]] furniture, stucco ornament or wrought-iron work of gates and balconies is made up of ever-varying combinations these C-scrolls, either on their own, back to back, or in support of full palmettes.
<gallery class="center" widths="200" heights="200" center="">
File:Aker or ruti and the akhet.jpg|The hieroglyph [[akhet (hieroglyph and season)|akhet]] of the horizon guarded by the twin lions of [[Aker (deity)|Aker]]
File:Egypt.ColossiMemnon.02.jpg|[[Hapy]], god of the Nile inundation: by making offerings and ensuring that Upper and Lower Egypt remain unified, the Pharaoh helps to guarantee that the annual flood of the Nile will recur
</gallery>
==Classical architecture==
[[File:Ionic frieze from the Erechtheum, dimensions 130 x 50 cm, in the Glyptothek.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ionic order|Ionic]] frieze of the [[Erechtheum]] ([[Athens]]), 421–406 BC, now in the [[Glyptothek]] ([[Munich]], Germany)]]
As an ornamental motif found in [[classical architecture]], the palmette and anthemion<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.google.com/images?q=anthemion&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images|title=Anthemion - Google Search}}</ref> take many and varied forms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Palmette&btnG=Search|title = Palmette - Google Search}}</ref> Typically, the upper part of the motif consists of five or more leaves or petals fanning rhythmically upwards from a single triangular or lozenge-shaped source at the base. In some instances [[:Image:Dates on date palm.jpg|fruits resembling palm fruits]] hang down on either side above the base and below the lowest leaves. The lower part consists of a symmetrical pair of elegant 'S' scrolls or [[volute]]s curling out sideways and downwards from the base of the leaves.  The upper part recalls the thrusting growth of leaves and flowers, while the volutes of the lower part seem to suggest both contributing fertile energies and resulting fruits.  It is often present on the necking of the capital of [[Ionic order]] columns; however in column capitals of the [[Corinthian order]] it takes the shape of a 'fleuron' or flower resting against the [[Abacus (architecture)|abacus]] (top-most slab) of the capital and springing out from a pair of volutes which, in some versions, give rise to the elaborate [[w:volute|volutes]] and [[Acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]] [[Ornament (architecture)|ornament]] of the capital.
===Botanical combinations===
[[File:Bronze handles of a hydria (water jar) MET DP21014 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ancient Greek bronze handle of a hydria (water jar), decorated with a pair of palmettes, early 5th century BC]]
According to Boardman, although lotus friezes or palmette friezes were known in [[Mesopotamia]] centuries before, the unnatural combination of various botanical elements which have no relationship in the wild, such as the palmette, the [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] and sometimes [[rosette (design)|rosette]] flowers, is a purely Greek innovation, which was then adopted on a very broad geographical scale throughout the Hellenistic world.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=24049089|title=Reflections on the Origins of Indian Stone Architecture|first=JOHN|last=BOARDMAN|date=19 April 1998|journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute|volume=12|pages=13–22}}</ref>
===Hellenistic "Flame palmettes"===
[[File:Rampurva bull capital detail.jpg|thumb|"Flame palmettes" around a lotus, on the [[Rampurva|Rampurva bull capital]], India, 3rd century BC]]
{{main|Flame palmette}}
From the 5th century, palmettes tended to have sharply splaying leaves. From the 4th century however, the end of the leaves tend to turn in, forming what is called the "flame palmette" design. This is the design that was adopted in [[Hellenistic]] architecture and became very popular on a wide geographical scale. This is the design that was adopted by [[India]] in the 3rd century BC for some of its sculptural friezes, such as on the [[abacus (architecture)|abaci]] of the [[Pillars of Ashoka]], or the central design of the [[Pataliputra capital]], probably through the [[Seleucid Empire]] or Hellenistic cities such as [[Ai-Khanoum]].<ref>"Reflections on The origins of Indian Stone Architecture", John Boardman, p.&nbsp;16 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049089]</ref>
===Usage===
In classical architecture the motif had specific uses, including:
# the fronts of [[ante-fixae]],
# [[acroteria]],
# the upper portion of the stele or vertical tombstones,
# the [[:Image:SixIonicOrders.jpg|necking of the Ionic columns]] of the [[Erechtheum]] and its continuation as a decorative frieze on the walls of the same, and
# the [[cymatium]] of a [[cornice]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Anthemion|volume=2|page=93}}</ref>
==Variants and related motifs==
[[File:Timeline of palmettes in different styles, each one beaing notated with a letter. a-Greek b, c-Roman d-Byzantine e-Renaissance f-Baroque and g-Empire.jpg|thumb|Timeline of palmettes in different styles, each one being notated with a letter: a-[[Ancient Greek art|Greek]]; b, c-[[Ancient Roman art|Roman]]; d-[[Byzantine art|Byzantine]]; e-[[Renaissance]]; f-[[Baroque]]; and g-[[Empire style|Empire]]]]
The palmette is related to a range of motifs in differing cultures and periods. In [[ancient Egypt]] palmette motifs existed both as a form of flower and as a stylized tree, often referred to as a [[Tree of life]]. Other examples from ancient Egypt are the alternating lotus flower and bud border<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.betnahrain.org/Gallery/Ancient_Assyrian_Art/24_stone_door.htm |title=Stone door sill |publisher=Betnahrain.org |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927001147/http://www.betnahrain.org/Gallery/Ancient_Assyrian_Art/24_stone_door.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> designs, the winged disk of [[Horus]] with its pair of [[Uraeus]] serpents, the [[Eye of Horus]] and curve-topped commemorative [[stela|stele]]. In later Assyrian versions of the Tree of Life, the feathered falcon wings of the Egyptian winged disk<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/04/wam/ho_62.269.3.htm |title=Egyptianizing figures on either side of a tree with a winged disk|publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=2011-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105133314/http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/ho/04/wam/ho_62.269.3.htm|archive-date=2004-11-05}}</ref> have become associated with the [[frond]]s of the palm tree.  Similar lotus flower and bud borders, closely associated with palmettes and rosettes, also appeared in Mesopotamia. There appears to be an equivalence between the horns of horned creatures, the wings of winged beings<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iraqipages.com/iraq_mesopotamia/1/Ivory%20plaque%20depicting%20a%20winged%20sphinx%20%209th-8th%20century%20BC,%20Nimrud.%20Iraq.jpg |title=Ivory Plaque depicting a winged sphinx 9th century BC |website=iraqipages.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051220204614/http://iraqipages.com/iraq_mesopotamia/1/Ivory%20plaque%20depicting%20a%20winged%20sphinx%20%209th-8th%20century%20BC,%20Nimrud.%20Iraq.jpg |archive-date=2005-12-20}}</ref> including [[angels]], [[griffins]] and [[sphinx]]es and both the fan and the volutes of the palmette; there is also an underlying 'V' shape in each of these forms that parallels the association of the palm itself with victory, energy and optimism.
[[File:AntefixSharp.jpg|thumb|left|Several [[antefix]]ae with "flame palmette" designs, [[Ai Khanoum]] ([[Afghanistan]]), 2nd century BC]]
An image of [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], winged goddess of victory, from an [[Attica|Attic]] vase of the 6th century BC (see gallery), shows how the sacrificial offering alluded to by the voluted altar and flame, the wings of the goddess and the victory being celebrated, all resonate with the same multiple underlying associations carried within the component forms of the palmette motif. Similar forms are found in the hovering winged disc and sacred trees<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.betnahrain.org/Gallery/Ancient_Assyrian_Art/30_king_tree.htm |title=King on either side of a sacred Tree |publisher=Betnahrain.org |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927001157/http://www.betnahrain.org/Gallery/Ancient_Assyrian_Art/30_king_tree.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of Mesopotamia, the [[caduceus]] wand of [[Hermes]], the ubiquitous scrolled scallop shells in the canopy of the [[Niche (architecture)|Renaissance sculptural niche]], originating in Greek and Roman sarcophagi, echoed above theatrical [[proscenium]] arches<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/book/ |title=Overview |publisher=Cinema Treasures |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> and on the doors, windows, wrought iron gates and balconies<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wroughtironproductions.com/Railings/balcony3.JPG |title=wroughtironproductions.com |publisher=wroughtironproductions.com |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927001144/http://www.wroughtironproductions.com/Railings/balcony3.JPG |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of palaces and grand houses; the shell-like [[fanlight]] over the door in [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/ur/urarch2.html |title=	The Classical Style in Norfolk Small Towns, 1720-1800 |publisher=[[University of Leicester]] |date=2001-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050327145652/http://www.le.ac.uk/ur/urarch2.html |archive-date=27 March 2005}}</ref> and similar urban architecture, the [[Gul (design)|gul]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkotek.com/attributes/salor/slimg.html |title=Oriental Rugs, Salor Images |publisher=TurkoTek |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> and<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imagomag.com/imago/theme.php?theme=cachemire |title=Banque d'images |publisher=Imagomag |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518073849/http://www.imagomag.com/imago/theme.php?theme=cachemire |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Buta (ornament)|boteh]] motifs of [[Persian rug|Central Asian carpets]] and textiles, the [[trident]] of Neptune/Poseidon, both the trident and [[lingam]] of [[Shiva]], the [[:de:Bild:Bai sema 4.jpg|'bai sema']] lotus-petal-shaped [[boundary marker]]s of the Thai inner-temple, Vishnu's mount, Garuda,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsofasia.biz/tibet/Garuda1.htm |title=Later Tibetan Gallery – Garuda |publisher=Artsofasia.biz |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> the vajra [[thunderbolt]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.keithdowman.net/art/nyingmaicons/ni94.htm |title=Vajra |publisher=Keithdowman.net |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> diamond mace or [[Bodhi|enlightenment]] [[Aum Mani Padme Hum|jewel-in-the]]-[[w:Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] of Tibet and South-East Asia, the symmetrically scrolled cloud and bat<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=chinese+bat&btnG=Search|title = Chinese bat - Google Search}}</ref> motifs and the similarly scrolled ruyi<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shakris.com/images/W/WC103C.gif |title=Archived copy |access-date=20 December 2005 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192619/http://www.shakris.com/images/W/WC103C.gif |url-status=dead }}</ref> or ju-i scepter and lingzhi<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.threeemperors.org.uk/index.php?pid=24 |title=CHINA: THE THREE EMPERORS, 1662–1795: Scholar Collectors |publisher=Threeemperors.org.uk |access-date=23 November 2011}}</ref> or fungus of longevity of the Chinese tradition.  Both as a form of the lotus rising from the swamps to touch the sun and as a (palm) tree reaching from earth to heaven, the palmette carries the characteristics of the [[axis mundi]] or world tree. The [[fleur-de-lis]], which became a potent and enigmatic emblem of the [[divine right of kings]], said to have been bestowed on early French kings by an angel, evolved in Egypt and Mesopotamia as a variant of the palmette.
[[File:Weltliche Schatzkammer Wienc.jpg|thumb|The coronation mantle of the Holy Roman Emperors (Vienna; [[Schatzkammer (Vienna)|Imperial treasury]]).]]
Similarly, from the early 13th century to 1806 the divine right of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]s was conferred by investiture in the [[Imperial Regalia]], which included the coronation mantle displaying the twin lions (recalling the twin lions of Aker above) guarding the palm in the form of a tree of life, with its two pendant clusters of fruit.
Even everyday garden gates throughout Western suburbia are topped with almost identical pairs of scrolls seemingly derived from the motifs associated with the akhet and the palmette, including the related [[winged sun]] and sun disk flanked with a pair of eyes.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Churchyard gates, tombs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londoncemeteries.co.uk/?c=71&p=15#pic |title=Highgate Cemetery West : London Cemeteries|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929142119/http://www.londoncemeteries.co.uk/?c=71&p=15#pic |date=2006-02-08|archive-date=2007-09-29 |website=londoncemeteries.co.uk}}</ref> and gravestones bear the motif over and again in different forms.
The anthemion is also the mint mark of the Mint of Greece, and it shows in all [[Greek euro coins]] destined for circulation, as well as in all [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Greece)|Greek collectors' coins]].
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="220px">
File:Pithos Kamares-Stil 02.jpg|[[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] palmette on a [[Kamares ware|Kamares]] vessel, 1700-1650 BC, ceramic, [[Archaeological Museum of Heraklion]], [[Heraklion]], Greece
File:Ceiling Pattern, Tomb of Qenamun MET DT10887.jpg|[[Ancient Egyptian architecture|Ancient Egyptian]] palmettes on a ceiling pattern from the [[TT162|Tomb of Qenamun]], illustrated by [[N. de Garis Davies]], {{circa}}1479–1400 BC, originally fresco, tempera on paper illustration, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City
File:Detail of a relief with Ashurnasirpal II, favorite of the gods, 9th century BC, alabaster, from Kalhu aka Nimrud (Iraq), purchase 1855, VA 950, Pergamon Museum (03).jpg|[[Assyrian sculpture|Assyrian]] palmette on a relief with [[Ashurnasirpal II]], 9th century BC, [[alabaster]], [[Pergamon Museum]], [[Berlin]]
File:Carved ivory from Nimrud (Kalhu), horse frontlet showing god Bes, 9th to 7th century BCE. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|Assyrian palmette on a [[Nimrud ivory|carved ivory piece from Nimrud]], 9th-7th centuries BC, ivory, [[Iraq Museum]], [[Baghdad]]
File:Carved ivory panel showing 2 mythical winged creatures. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|Assyrian palmettes of different types on a carved ivory piece from Nimrud, 9th-7th centuries BC, ivory, Iraq Museum
Bricks with a palmette motif MET hb48 98 20a c.jpg|Black-and-white photo with [[Persian art#Achaemenids|Achaemenid]] glazed ceramic bricks with a palmette, {{Circa|6th}}–4th century BC, glazed ceramic, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Painted terracotta from temple of Apollo, 550 BC, AM Corinth, Korm426.jpg|[[Ancient Greek architecture|Ancient Greek]] palmettes on a fragment from the [[Temple of Apollo (Corinth)|Temple of Apollo]] in [[Corinth]], Greece, {{circa}}550 BC, painted terracotta, [[Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth]]
File:Bowl MET DP119630.jpg|[[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] palmettes (one seen frontal and the others seen from profile) on an offering tray, {{circa}}550-500 BC, Bucchero, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Exekias, anfora con achille e aiace che giocano a dai, castore e polluce, da vulci, 540-30 ac ca. 04.JPG|[[Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek]] palmettes on the Achilles and Ajax playing dice amphora, by [[Exekias]], 550-525 BC, pottery, [[Vatican Museums]]
Terracotta antefix (roof tile) MET DP207966.jpg|Etruscan antefix of a female figure with palmettes, {{circa}}520-510 BC, terracotta, Metropolitan Museum of Art<ref>{{cite book|last1=Virginia|first1=L. Campbell|title=Ancient Rome - Pocket Museum|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51959-2|page=26|url=|language=en}}</ref>
Hektor arming Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2307.jpg|Ancient Greek band of palmettes on a vessel, {{Circa|510 BC}}, potter, [[Staatliche Antikensammlungen]], [[Munich]], Germany
File:Theseus Helene Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2309 n2.jpg|Ancient Greek bands of palmettes (a horizontal one and a vertical one) on a vessel, {{Circa|510 BC}}, pottery, Staatliche Antikensammlungen
Kleophrades Painter ARV 189 78bis mission to Achilles.jpg|Ancient Greek band of palmettes and [[Scroll (art)|scrolls]] on a vessel, {{Circa|510}}-470 BC, pottery, Staatliche Antikensammlungen
File:Terracotta mug in the form of a woman's head MET SF061021205.jpg|Ancient Greek frieze of big palmettes at the top of a mug in the form of a woman's head, {{circa}}500–490 BC, tarracotta, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Detail Erechtheum Acropolis Athens.jpg|Ancient Greek detail of an [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[frieze]] of the [[Erechtheum]], Athens, 421–405 BC,{{sfn|Rogers|Gumuchdjian|Jones|2014|p=32}} unknown architect
Manner of the Meidias Painter ARV 1328 97 woman and Eros.jpg|Ancient Greek [[pyxis (vessel)|pyxis]] with lid, by the [[Meidias Painter]], 420-400 BC, pottery, [[British Museum]]
File:Grave stele of Stephanos (National Archaeological Museum of Athens, 4-3-2018).jpg|Ancient Greek palmette decorated with a pair of [[sphinx]]es, at the top of the [[stele]] of [[Stephanos]], first quarter of the 4th century BC, marble, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]], Athens
File:Etruscan antefix with head of Silen and anthemien nimbus, 4th century BC, from Cerveteri, Italy, ceramic, Antikensammlung TC 6681.2d, in the Neues Museum, Berlin (01).jpg|Etruscan palmettes on an [[antefix]] with a [[mascaron (architecture)|mascaron]] of [[Silenus]], 4th century BC, ceramic, [[Neues Museum]], Berlin
File:Anthemion of a grave stele (4th cent. B.C.), Archaeological Museum of Piraeus (19 April 2018).jpg|Ancient Greek palmette of a grave stele, mid-4th century, marble, [[Archaeological Museum of Piraeus]], [[Piraeus]], Greece
Marble akroterion MET DT259543.jpg|Ancient Greek [[acroterion]] decorated with a double palmette, {{Circa|350}}–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ionic capital Erechtheum, Acropolis, Athens, Greece.jpg|Ancient Greek [[Capital (architecture)|capital]] of an Ionic column of the Erechtheum, with a band of palmettes under it
Didyma 2013-03-25q.jpg|Ancient Greek relief with palmettes from the ruins of the Temple of Apollo at [[Didyma]], [[Turkey]], unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}300-150 BC<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/greekpast/4903.html|website=brown.edu|title=Temple of Apollo at Didyma|access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref>
File:Lefkadia The Tomb of the Palmettes – V (37306799396).jpg|Ancient Greek palmette of the [[Tomb of the Palmettes]], [[Mieza (Macedonia)|Mieza]], Greece, first half of the 3rd century BC<ref name="MCS">{{cite web|last1=Psarra|first1=I.|title=Ministry of Culture and Sports: Mieza, the so-called Macedonian Tomb of the Palmettes|url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=874|website=odysseus.culture.gr|accessdate=14 April 2019|archive-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603190037/http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=874|url-status=dead}}</ref>
File:Chapiteau ionique en marbre, antéfixe et cymaises en marbre et en terre cuite, découverts à Athènes. Page of L’Architecture Polychrome chez les Grecs, published in 1851.webp|Ancient Greek polychrome palmettes, illustrated by [[Jacques Ignace Hittorff]], 1830 (published in 1851){{sfn|Bergdoll|2000|pp=176}}
File:Inlay, palmette MET LC-26 7 1218 EGDP023333 (cropped).jpg|[[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic]] inlay with two palmettes, 100 BC–100 AD, glass, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Column Capital MET vs11.154.4a.jpg|Ancient Egyptian palmettes on a [[capital (architecture)|capital]], 41–68 AD, sandstone, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Chapiteau Syrie VIII IX albâtre gypseux 06958.jpg|[[Islamic architecture|Islamic]] palmettes on a capital, {{circa}}750-800, carved gypsum alabaster, [[Louvre]]
File:P1200898 Paris IV rue Charles-V n12 rwk.jpg|[[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] [[Mascaron (architecture)|mascaron]] with a palmette above it, on the façade of the [[Hôtel d'Aubray]] ([[Rue Charles-V]] no. 12), Paris, unknown architect, 17th century
File:Grilles fontaine Amphitrite.jpg|[[Rococo]] palmette (right under the crown) of the grilles from [[Place Stanislas]], [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], by [[Jean Lamour]], 1755
file:KarthauseBuxheimAnnakapelle07.JPG|Rococo palmettes (four, between to the [[festoon]]s) on the ceiling of St. Anne's Chapel, [[Buxheim Charterhouse]], [[Buxheim]], Germany, by [[Dominikus Zimmermann]], 18th century
File:Nightstand, pair with OA 11743 - Louvre (01).jpg|[[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] palmettes on a nightstand, from the bedroom of [[Madame Récamier]], by [[Georges II Jacob]] and [[François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter]], before 1799, mahogany, ebony, copper, gilt bronze mounts and white marble, [[Louvre]]
Detail of the Panthéon in Paris (07).jpg|[[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] metal palmette on a table in the [[Panthéon]], Paris, unknown architect, 18th or 19th centuries
File:Jacos-Desmalter, Pliant de la salle du Trône de Saint-Cloud (1804).jpg|Neoclassical palmettes on a stool, by [[François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter]], 1804, carved and gilded wood, and [[Beauvais Manufactory|Beauvais]] tapestry, in a temporary exhibition called ''Art and Court Life in the Imperial Palace'' at the [[Montreal Museum of Fine Arts]], [[Canada]]
Paris - Palais du Louvre - PA00085992 - 1494.jpg|Neoclassical wrought iron detail of a door of the [[Louvre Colonnade]], with [[rinceau]]x, two palmettes and a N for [[Napoleon]], unknown architect, {{circa}}1810
File:Border (France), 1815–25 (CH 18319363).jpg|Neoclassical palmettes on a border, 1815-1825, block-printed and flocked on handmade paper, [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum]], New York City
29 Rue de Cléry, Paris (01).jpg|Neoclassical [[Grille (architecture)|grille]] of door of Rue de Cléry no. 29, Paris, unknown architect, {{circa}}1850
File:Bucharest relief (7329527034).jpg|Neoclassical palmettes on the [[Hristu House]] ([[Calea Victoriei]] no. 129), [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]], unknown architect, 1871
File:Martial75-20150929111748.jpg|[[Baroque Revival architecture|Baroque Revival]] palmette, very similar to those from the [[Louis XIV style]], of a wrought railing in the [[Château Burrus]] (Rue Maurice Burrus no. 74) [[Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines]], France, by [[Jules Berninger]] and [[Gustave Krafft]], 1900
File:13 Strada Temișana, Bucharest (04).jpg|[[Beaux Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] palmettes and cartouche on Strada Temișana no. 13, Bucharest, unknown architect, {{circa}}1900
Paris Metro 5 Gare d'Austerlitz Detail.JPG|Beaux-Arts ceramic palmettes in the [[Gare d'Austerlitz (Paris Métro)|Gare d'Austerlitz]] [[metro station]] of the [[Paris Métro]], unknown architect, designed most probably around 1900, but the metro station was inaugurated in 1931
File:1 Strada Constantin Mille, Bucharest (12).jpg|Beaux-Arts palmette in [[Palatul Cercului Militar Național]] ([[Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta]] no. 20), Bucharest, by [[Dimitrie Maimarolu]], 1911-1923
File:195 Bwy F sun jeh.jpg|Neoclassical palmettes of [[195 Broadway]], New York, by [[William W. Bosworth]], 1912-1922
File:Grave of the Vlahuți-Slătineanu Family in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, Romania (12).jpg|[[Romanian Revival architecture|Romanian Revival]] palmette on the dome of the Vlahuți-Slătineanu Grave in the [[Bellu Cemetery]], [[Bucharest]], by [[Grigore Cerkez]], 1913
File:15-17 Strada Jules Michelet, Bucharest (32).jpg|[[Art Deco]] palmettes in [[Strada Jules Michelet]] no. 15-17, Bucharest, by [[Victor Ștefănescu]], {{circa}}1920
File:58 Strada Ion Brezoianu, Bucharest (02).jpg|Art Deco palmettes at [[Strada Ion Brezoianu]] no. 58, Bucharest, by George Damian, {{circa}}1930
File:Art Deco South Beach - Architectural detail, Miami Beach.jpg|Highly-stylized Art Deco palmette on the Congress Hotel ([[Ocean Drive (South Beach)|Ocean Drive]] no. 1036), [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]], [[Florida]], US, by [[Henry Hohauser]], 1936
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Acroterion]]
* [[Nymphaea caerulea|Blue Egyptian Water Lily]]
* [[Tomb of the Palmettes]]
* [[Indo-Corinthian capital]]
* [[Pataliputra capital]]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
* [[Jessica Rawson]], Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon; {{ISBN|0-7141-1431-6}}, British Museum Pubns Ltd, 1984
* [[Alois Riegl]], [[Stilfragen]]. Grundlegungen zu einer Geschichte der Ornamentik. Berlin 1893
* Helene J. Kantor, Plant Ornament in the Ancient Near East, Revised: 11 August 1999, Copyright 1999 Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
* Idris Parry, Speak Silence, {{ISBN|0-85635-790-1}}, Carcanet Press Ltd., 1988
* [[Ernst H. Gombrich|Gombrich]], Symbolic Images: Studies in the Art of the Renaissance, London, Phaidon, 1972
* Ernst H. Gombrich, The Sense of Order, A Study in the Psychology of Decorative Art, Phaidon, 1985
==External links==
{{Commons category|Palmettes}}
* [http://ancientegypt.hypermart.net/treeoflife/ Ancient Egypt, the tree of life]
* [http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/HJK Plant Ornament : Its Origin and Development in the Ancient Near East] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712153531/http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/HJK |date=12 July 2020 }}
* [http://www.rugrag.com/post/Palmette.aspx Palmettes in Fine Weavings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221200248/http://www.rugrag.com/post/Palmette.aspx |date=21 December 2014 }}
{{Ornaments}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Visual motifs]]
[[Category:Ornaments]]
[[Category:Ornaments (architecture)]]