# Mythology of ornaments or design **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250 "2016-01-26T09:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/1 "2016-01-26T09:36:22Z")
For a game, I need a patron saint, demigod, or deity that would make a good subject for a shrine dedicated to interior decoration. The internet has suggested St. Benedict Biscop/Luke/Michael and Minerva. I’m not content with these choices. It’s a fantasy game so I could just make something up. But are there any religious supernatural figures more closely aligned to the subject of decoration or ornamentation that would make a good shrine? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/2 "2016-01-26T10:33:02Z")
Allah. Strictly aniconic religious groups get creative about ornamentation because the human form is off the menu; Islam is the best-known example of this in the Western world, although aniconic and iconoclastic Christians have certainly existed throughout history, and not all Muslims have been aniconic in the slightest, with a number of Islamic cultures having no problems with depicting Muhammad. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/3 "2016-01-26T12:46:04Z")
St Ann is patron saint of cabinet makers and homemakers St. Bernward, also called Bernward of Hildesheim, is the patron saint of Architects, Goldsmiths, Painters & Sculptors. St. Benedict Biscop is the patron saint of the Arts: Painters & Musicians * * * I’d recommend Bernward, FYI. He personally made some[cool shit](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hxfbG6G1-RI/T8pxgQY38kI/AAAAAAAAOOc/rIv1fgtoUlU/s1600/Bernwardstu%CC%88r.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/4 "2016-01-26T15:33:51Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > St Ann is patron saint of cabinet makers and homemakers > > St. Bernward, also called Bernward of Hildesheim, is the patron saint of Architects, Goldsmiths, Painters & Sculptors. > > St. Benedict Biscop is the patron saint of the Arts: Painters & Musicians > > * * * > > I’d recommend Bernward, FYI. He personally made some[cool shit](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hxfbG6G1-RI/T8pxgQY38kI/AAAAAAAAOOc/rIv1fgtoUlU/s1600/Bernwardstu%CC%88r.jpg). I didn’t know these guys, nor hagiography in general, but it’s interesting that there is/must be a sacred categorization going on: St. Cecilia, as is fairly well known as far as these things go, is the Saint “of” music. Tricky protocol when you meet her and St. Bernward in Heaven at the same time. On top of trying not to mispronounce his name. Which makes me think there must be a, or many, strictly Christian philosophies of category. [Categories (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/categories/) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/5 "2016-01-26T15:42:50Z")
Cx to above: …Tricky protocol when you meet her and St. [del] Bernward[/del] Benedict Biscop in Heaven at the same time… ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/6 "2016-01-26T16:32:10Z")
St. Sebastian was known to sport arrows. I think that’s a definite design statement. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/7 "2016-01-26T19:05:32Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > St Ann is patron saint of cabinet makers and homemakers And her son-in-law of carpenters and cabinetmakers as well. What’s the problem with Luke? Other patrons of painters include Fra Angelico (the prerrenacentist painter) and St Lazarus of Constantinople aka St Lazarus the Iconographer. In Luke’s case, he didn’t draw per se but he “painted very vivid descriptions”. And if you want to look outside Christianity, sometimes I think Hermes got attributed everything except fertility… you could base something off him (from “patron of symbols” to “patron of rows of symbols” there isn’t that much of a jump). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/8 "2016-01-26T19:36:47Z")
You know, to the Romans the Household Gods were the _lares_. I could easily see them being in charge of household ornamentation, if you want to get away from Catholic saints. > **[Lares](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lares)** > > Lares (/ˈlɛəriːz, ˈleɪriːz/ LAIR-eez, LAY-reez, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Latin: \[ˈlareːs\]; archaic lasēs, singular lar) were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. > Lares we... > [@](#): > > Lares were believed to observe, protect and influence all that happened within the boundaries of their location or function. The statues of domestic Lares were placed at the table during family meals; their presence, cult and blessing seem to have been required at all important family events. Roman writers sometimes identify or conflate them with ancestor-deities, domestic Penates and the hearth. Because of these associations, Lares are sometimes categorised as household gods but some had much broader domains. Roadways, seaways, agriculture, livestock, towns, cities, the state and its military were all under the protection of their particular Lar or Lares. Things get exotic elsewhere. The characteristic demon-face over doorways in India is _Kirtimukkha_, and the face is often identified with the demon Rahu. They have myths which explain how they came to be disembodied heads (I retell these in my book _Medusa_, but you can look them up on the internet) > **[Kirtimukha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtimukha)** > > Kirtimukha (Sanskrit: कीर्तिमुख ,kīrtimukha, also kīrttimukha, a bahuvrihi compound translating to "glorious face") is the name of a swallowing fierce monster face with huge fangs, and gaping mouth, very common in the iconography of Hindu temple architecture in Nepal, India and Southeast Asia, and often also found in Buddhist architecture. > Unlike other Hindu legendary creatures, for example the makara sea-monster, the kirtimukha is essentially an ornamental motif in art, which has its origin in... > **[Rahu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahu)** > > Rāhu (Sanskrit: राहु, ) is one of the nine major celestial bodies (navagraha) in Hindu texts and the king of meteors. It represents the ascension of the Moon in its precessional orbit around the Earth, also referred as the north lunar node, and along with Ketu, is a "shadow planet" that causes eclipses. Despite having no physical existence, Rahu has been allocated the status of the planet by ancient seers owing to its strong influence in astrology. > Rahu is usually paired with Ketu, another sh... The dismbodied head of Medusa is similarly used as a decorative element on antefixes on the roof, but also on doorknobs and the tops of vases. In the garden, medusa heads frequently showed up on swinging _Oscilla_. There’s a parallel here with the Indian Kirtimukkha I observe also that the two-headed god _Janus_ was placed over doorways, looking both inward and outward. There’s another potential parallel there. So you could have Medusa or Janus as well as Lares being contained in/responsible for particular kinds of ornamentation in Roman and some Greek homes, or you could have Rahu or Kirtimukkha in Indian ones. There are other similar figures elsewhere in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/9 "2016-01-27T19:41:38Z")
Dionysus, god of revelry and excess. Ornamentation is, after all, always excessive. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/10 "2016-01-27T20:51:35Z")
I’m actually really annoyed that the muses are never associated with visual arts or design. It’s all various kinds of music, poetry, epic and history. Seriously, Greeks, you don’t think architects, painters, sculptors (and, for that matter, interior decorators) are divinely inspired, too? 'Cause I’ve met a few, and to me it’s obvious that they are. The whole muse-ology thing needs a do-over. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/11 "2016-01-27T21:45:08Z")
What saints are patrons of can be of any degree of specificity whatsoever, and a lot of it is just by general consensus, not by official proclamation. One could fairly say, for instance, that Patrick is the patron saint of snake exterminators, and Scholastica is the patron saint of snow days. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythology-of-ornaments-or-design/744250/12 "2016-01-28T12:13:35Z")
Thanks all, much appreciated.