| has gloss | eng: Moresque is an obsolete alternative to "Moorish" in English, and in the arts has some specific meanings. By itself the word is used of forms found in ornament and decoration in the applied arts in Europe. Often it is a synonym for arabesque or interlace patterns in the Mannerist and Northern Mannerist styles of the 16th century, derived from Islamic ornament. It has or had a more specific meaning of "a rude or anticke painting, or carving, wherin the feet and tayles of beasts, &c, are intermingled with, or made to resemble, a kind of wild leaves, &c." (OED, citing Randle Cotgrave's A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues of 1611). The word is also used for such a figure, starting off as a human or animal, but terminating as part of a decorative scheme of foliage or geometric strapwork. |
