nturies.]

[Illustration (f094b): Decorative Relief: Treatment of Mantling.]

[Use of Diapered Backgrounds]

The principle, too, of counterchange in heraldry answers to our
principle of relief by contrast, and though its chief charm lies in its
ornamental range of form and colour combinations, it can be expressed in
black and white, and it remains a universal principle throughout
decorative art. The decorative effect and charm of the relief of large
and bold forms upon rich and delicate diapers is also an important
resource of the designer. The monumental art of the Middle Ages affords
multitudes of examples of this principle in ornamental treatment. The
miniaturist of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries constantly relieved
his groups of figures upon a diapered ground. The architectural sculptor
relieved the broad masses of flowing drapery and the bold projection of
his effigies and recumbent figures by delicately chiselled diapers upon
the surface of the wall behind them. This treatment may frequently be
seen in the recessed tombs of the fourteenth century.

The incisor of memorial brasses, again, more especially in continental
examples, shows a fondness for the same principle. The long vertical
lines of drapery of ladies and ecclesiastics, the broad masses of the
heraldic surcoat, or armour of the knights, the rich and heavy furred
gowns of the burghers, are often relieved upon beautiful diapered or
arabesque grounds, generally embodying some heraldic device, motto, or
emblem of the person or family whose tomb it ornaments. Such decoration
is strictly linear, yet within its own limits, and perhaps because of
them, we find in this province of design extremely admirable work, no
less for delineation of character and decorative treatment than for
ornamental invention controlled by strict economy of line.

[Illustration (f095): Relief Upon a Diapered Ground: Brass of Martin De
Visch, Bruges, 1452.]

[Relief of Form by Linear Shading]

This brings us to the consideration of our second method of relief by
means of line.

Take any simple allied elements to form a repeating pattern, say spiral
shells, place them at certain rhythmic intervals, and we can unite and
at the same time give them relief by filling in the ground by a series
of waved lines to suggest the ribbed sand. Add a few dots to soften and
vary the effect, and we get a