ornamento

Ornamento, or ornament, is a decorative element added to an object, building, or work of art to enhance its appearance. It may be purely visual, or carry symbolic meaning, and it can be decorative rather than essential to function.

The word derives from Latin ornamentum, via Old French ornement, and in many languages the term denotes decoration or embellishment across arts and design.

In architecture and the decorative arts, ornament appears as moldings, cornices, friezes, capitals, filigree, inlays, and painted or carved motifs. In ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, and furniture, patterns and motifs serve to identify culture, indicate status, or demonstrate craftsmanship. Ornament also interacts with the space it inhabits, creating rhythm, scale, and texture.

In music, ornamentation refers to embellishments such as trills, mordents, turns, and grace notes that modify the surface of a melodic line without changing the essential pitches.

Cultural and historical contexts shape ornament: some periods favor elaborate richness, others restraint. In the 20th century, debates about ornament versus function emerged in modern design, famously framed in Adolf Loos’s Ornament and Crime, which argued against gratuitous decoration.

Ornament remains a broad concept across disciplines, from heraldry and architecture to graphic design and horticulture, where it denotes the decorative detailing that complements a form.