CIPA 2005 XX International Symposium, 26 September - 01 October, 2005, Torino, Italv 
1090 
DECORATION AS A SYSTEM. SURVEY AND CRITICAL INTERPRETATION 
A. Marotta 
DINSE, Politecnico di Torino, 2 Facoltà di Architettura ,Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Torino, ITALY - anna.marotta@polito.it 
KEYWORDS: Archiving, communication, graphic arts, heritage, geometry 
ABSTRACT 
There are a variety of systematic approaches to the concept of adorned or decorated architecture, from the elementary dimension 
(including conceptual examples), according to which the decorative element originates and lives as “semèma”, to the larger and more 
complex dimension, in which the same “semèmi” are organized in complex visual (and other) contexts. In architectural terms, Gino 
Chierici's 1957 classification for painted architecture may be considered valid. Chierici outlined seven categories: 1) “Texture in 
architectonic styles and orders”, in which calligraphic decoration tends to imitate construction material or tends to be inspired by 
precious materials; many “tapestry fronts” or “carpet fronts” of northern-oriental cities may be included in this category, e.g., “tessera 
fronts”, “rustication fronts” and “checkered fronts”; 2) “Decoration as a connection among or a completion of architectural 
decoration”, e.g., the Medici-Riccardi Palace in Florence and all fronts which have, for small surfaces, graffiti, polychrome painted 
“tesseras”, colored marble or stucco; 3) “Painted architectonic styles”, e.g., counterpoints of illusive completions of real architectural 
elements; 4) “Painted and figurative architectonic styles”, where some parts are available for the introduction of niches, panels and 
metopes; 5) “Prevalent and extended figurative narration”, which did not replace architecture in relief, e.g., the prisons in Saluzzo, 
Fontana Palace in Milan, Ricci Palace in Rome, and Scaglia di Verrua Palace in Turin; 6) “With perspective-architectonic inserts 
used as expedients to introduce section planes or external views”, in many 17 and 18 century palaces, e.g., Treville Palace in 
Casale, Birago di Borgaro Palace in Turin, etc.; 7) “Complete substitution of plastic decoration by pictorial decoration”, in many 
noble palaces in Liguria, Piemonte, Lombardia and Veneto, e.g., Villa Franzoni and San Giorgio Palace in Genoa, Cravetta Palace in 
Savigliano, etc., in which painted and figurative architecture animates and thoroughly characterizes building fronts which would 
otherwise be completely void of any type of relief ornament. But the problem is not clearly defined if for wall painting, terms - in 
non-standardized form -belonging to painted architecture, perspective illusionism, scene-painting, quadraturism, aerial perspective, 
trompe-l’oeil, etc. are used. Such reflections and considerations have led me to undertake research aimed at a chronological and 
typological classification of decoration and linking such decoration with historical and cultural origins so as to identify permanent 
features and transformations. 
1. INTRODUCTION 2. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 
A systematic approach to the concept of ornate or decorative 
architecture can be tackled in various ways: from the basic 
dimension - even if conceptually exemplified - according to 
which the decorative motif is bom and lives as a sememe (as a 
minimum significant unit) to the more extended and complex 
dimension in which the same sememes are organised in (but not 
only) complex visual contexts, precisely characterized in the 
cultural sense. 
Returning to more general considerations, to strengthen the 
importance of (colour related) decoration as a transversal 
language for all the arts, the experience of Matisse, who brought 
various objects from Biskara (in Algeria), such as the ceramics 
and fabrics often used in his creations, is ever-alive. More than 
the souvenirs, it was the objects of decorative art that changed 
his impression of the East. Islamic art became an important 
point of reference for him. In 1893, 1894 and above all in 1903, 
several exhibitions at the Museum of Decorative Art in Paris 
were dedicated to Islamic art. The vast Islamic collection of the 
Louvre was constantly exhibited, just as the Muslim countries 
were present in the pavilions dedicated to Turkey, Persia, 
Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt at the World Exhibition held in 
1900. Matisse privileged certain principles taken from Eastern 
ceramics as traits of his own language: pure colours, applied to 
large surfaces, the flat treatment of space and the reduction of 
drawing to the ornamental line of arabesque, a typical theme of 
countries of Islamic culture. For the artist, every excess can 
appear consistent, as long as it remains light and superficial, in 
order to obtain lively effects with simple means. Instead, in a 
closer reference to architecture, the classification proposed by 
Gino Chierici in 1957 for painted architecture is useful (a first 
example of the many, even if amply outdated), for which he 
fixed seven categories: 
1. “weaving between architectural parties and orders” in 
which over-stylized decorations tend to imitate 
construction materials or draw inspiration from 
precious materials (marble, tapestries or fabrics); in this 
category, many tapestried or carpeted facades in the 
north-eastern cities of the Po Valley, but also 
rustication, tessera, panel and chequered coverings, 
could be included. 
2. “decorations for linking or completion of architectural 
decorations”; here, one could include, amongst others, 
the Medici-Riccardi Palace in Florence and all the 
facades more or less treated, for small areas, with 
graffiti or painted polychromatic marquetry, or using 
marble or coloured stuccoes. 
3. “painted architectural parties”, such as counterpoints of 
illusionistic completion of real architectural elements. 
4. “painted and figurative architectural parties”, in the 
case of fields in relief left available for figurative 
variations, such as niches, panels and metope. 
5. “prevalent flat figurative narration”, but not yet 
substituting relief architecture, as in the cases of the 
prison buildings of Saluzzo, and palaces of Fontana in 
Milan, Ricci in Rome and Scaglia di Verruca in Turin. 
6. “with architectural-perspective inserts as expedients for 
introducing overhead trompe l’oeil or external views”, 
as in many seventeenth and eighteenth-century 
buildings, such as the Treville Palace in Casale 
Monferrato, the Birago di Borgaro Palace in Turin, etc. 
7. “with the total substitution of plastic decorations with 
painted ones”, for many more-or-less affluent or 
aristocratic buildings in many regions (especially Liguria, 
Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto), such as, for example,