Meander (art)

A meander or meandros^[1] (Greek: Μαίανδρος) is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. Among some Italians, these patterns are known as "Greek Lines". Such a design may also be called the Greek fret or Greek key design, although these terms are modern designations; this decorative motif appears thousands of years before that culture, thousands of miles away from Greece, and among cultures that are continents away from it. Usually the term is used for motifs with straight lines and right angles and the many versions with rounded shapes are called running scrolls or, following the etymological origin of the term, may be identified as water wave motifs.

Meander (or Greek key) on a stove in the Dimitrie Sturdza House (Strada Arthur Verona no. 13), Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect, 1883

Meander motif in the streets of Rhodes, Greece, in pavement made from beach stones

Meaning of the name

On one hand, the name "meander" recalls the twisting and turning path of the Maeander River in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) that is typical of river pathways. On another hand, as Karl Kerenyi pointed out, "the meander is the figure of a labyrinth in linear form".^[2]

Decorative uses

Meanders are common decorative elements in Greek and Roman art. In ancient Greece they appear in many architectural friezes, and in bands on the pottery of ancient Greece from the Geometric period onward. The design is common to the present-day in classicizing architecture, and is adopted frequently as a decorative motif for borders for many modern printed materials.

Labyrinthine meanders in China

The meander is a fundamental design motif in regions far from a Hellenic orbit: labyrinthine meanders ("thunder" pattern ^[3]) appear in bands and as infill on Shang bronzes (c. 1600 BC – c. 1045 BC), and many traditional buildings in and around China still bear geometric designs almost identical to meanders. Although space-filling curves have a long history in China in motifs more than 2,000 years earlier, extending back to Zhukaigou Culture (c. 2000 BC – c. 1400 BC) and Xiajiadian Culture (c. 2200 BC – c. 1600 BC and c. 1000 BC – c. 600 BC), frequently there is speculation that meanders of Greek origin may have come to China during the time of the Han dynasty (c. 202 BC) by way of trade with the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. A meander motif also appears in prehistoric Mayan design motifs in the western hemisphere, centuries before any European contacts.

Gallery

Geometric bowl decorated with a meander, 730–720 BC, ceramic, Kinský Palace, Prague, Czech Republic
Ancient Greek metope with three women that have meanders on their clothes, c.640 BC, terracotta, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
A typical Attic red-figure cup with meander pattern at borders, by the Eretria Painter, c. 440–435 BC, red-figure pottery, Louvre
Ancient Greek meanders on the base of a column from the ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey, unknown architect or sculptor, c.300-150 BC^[4]
Roman meander on a fresco in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy, unknown painter, 1st century BC^[5]
Roman meander mosaic of a tepidarium, Herculaneum, Italy, unknown architect, unknown date
Roman meander on the Temple of Hadrianus, Ephesus, Turkey, unknown architect or sculptor, 117-118 AD
Roman meander on a mosaic, 1st century BC, Archaeological Museum of Milan, Italy
Roman meander on a mosaic from the Chedworth Roman Villa, England, unknown architect, c. 120 AD
Colorful late Roman-early Byzantine meander in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, unknown architect or craftsman, 425-450
Byzantine mosaic meander in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, unknown architect or craftsman, c.500, with later alterations from c.560^[6]
Mayan meander from Chichen Itza, Mexico, unknown architect, 750–1050
Byzantine meander on the south-west door, unknown architect or sculptor, 829-842, bronze, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey^[7]
Romanesque meander on a page from the Petershausener Sakramentar, 960-980, tempera colors, gold paint, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Heidelberg University Library, Heidelberg, Germany
Romanesque meander of a tapestry with Saint Michael fighting with the dragon, 1146-1155, linen yarn, wool, linen, Halberstadt Cathedral Treasure, Halberstadt, Germany^[8]
Byzantine brick meander on the facade of the Church of the Thetokos tou Libos of Constantine Lips, currently the Fenari Isa Mosque, Istanbul, unknown architect, 907, refounded in 1287^[9]
Neoclassical meander border of the railing from the stairway of the Grand Theater of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, by Victor Louis, 1777-1780
Neoclassical meander border on the ceiling of the Grave of Foy, Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by Pierre Jean David, 1831
Neoclassical meander in the lunette of the Ensemble immobilier de la cité d'Antin (Rue de Provence no. 59), Paris, unknown architect, c. 1850
Neoclassical meander border on a ceiling of the Palais Garnier, Paris, by Charles Garnier, 1860–1875^[10]
Neoclassical meander border of a ceiling of the Salon du glacier in the Palais Garnier, by Charles Garnier, 1860–1875
Neoclassical meander border of a floor of the Moon Salon in the Palais Garnier, by Charles Garnier, 1860–1875
Greek Revival vase with a meander, produced by Baccarat, 1867, crystal and gold, Petit Palais, Paris
Greek Revival meanders on the Austrian Parliament Building, Vienna, by Theophil von Hansen, 1873-1883^[11]
Neoclassical meander on a floor in the Central Girls' School (Strada Icoanei no. 3-5), Bucharest, Romania, by Ion Mincu, 1890^[12]
Neoclassical meander on a stove tile from a house in Bucharest, on display during an exhibition in the Bucharest City Hall, unknown designer, c. 1900
Neoclassical meander on a wall of Stock Exchange Building (Trg hrvatskih velikana no. 3) of Zagreb, Croatia, by Viktor Kovačić, 1927
Art Deco dress decorated with meanders, unknown producer, c.1925, georgette, and crochet embroidery, Musée Galliera, Paris
Neoclassical and Art Deco meander on a Doric column capital of the Vasile I. Prodanof family tomb, Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, unknown architect, c. 1930

Citations

^ The Greek term maíandros and its Latinized variant meandros are not very common outside of archaeological contexts.
^ Kerenyi, Dionysos: archetypal image of indestructible life (Princeton University Press) 1976:89.
^ See J. E. L., description of a Late Chou hou at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, in "A Chinese Bronze", Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 27 (August 1929:48).
^ "Temple of Apollo at Didyma". brown.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ Bowden, Hugh (2023). Mystery Cults in the Ancient World. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-29727-8.
^ Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.
^ Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.
^ Reimkasten, Ulrich (2018). Perspektiven Der Textilen Künste (in German). Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-86019-139-2.
^ Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.
^ Jones 2014, p. 296.
^ Watkin, David (2022). A History of Western Architecture. Laurence King. p. 490. ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.
^ Celac, Carabela & Marcu-Lapadat 2017, p. 123.

Sources

Celac, Mariana; Carabela, Octavian; Marcu-Lapadat, Marius (2017). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Order of Architects of Romania. ISBN 978-973-0-23884-6.
Jones, Denna, ed. (2014). Architecture The Whole Story. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-29148-1.

External links

Illustrated Architecture Dictionary: "Fret"—a short description, with a list of links to photographs of meander designs in art and architecture

[1] The Greek term maíandros and its Latinized variant meandros are not very common outside of archaeological contexts.

[2] Kerenyi, Dionysos: archetypal image of indestructible life (Princeton University Press) 1976:89.

[3] See J. E. L., description of a Late Chou hou at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, in "A Chinese Bronze", Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 27 (August 1929:48).

[4] "Temple of Apollo at Didyma". brown.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

[5] Bowden, Hugh (2023). Mystery Cults in the Ancient World. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-29727-8.

[6] Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.

[7] Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.

[8] Reimkasten, Ulrich (2018). Perspektiven Der Textilen Künste (in German). Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-86019-139-2.

[9] Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-7148-4810-5.

[FOOTNOTEJones2014296-10] Jones 2014, p. 296.

[11] Watkin, David (2022). A History of Western Architecture. Laurence King. p. 490. ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.

[FOOTNOTECelacCarabelaMarcu-Lapadat2017123-12] Celac, Carabela & Marcu-Lapadat 2017, p. 123.

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