A rosette is a round, stylized flower design.

Origin

The rosette derives from the natural shape of the botanical rosette, formed by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have withered.

History

The rosette design is used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, and in funeral steles' decoration in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. The rosette was another important symbol of Ishtar which had originally belonged to Inanna along with the Star of Ishtar. It was adopted later in Romaneseque and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

architecture, and also common in the art of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art.

Ancient origins

One of the earliest appearances of the rosette in ancient art is in early fourth millennium BC

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Another early

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

occurrence of the rosette design derives from Minoan

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

; Among other places, the design appears on the Phaistos Disc, recovered from the eponymous archaeological site in southern Crete. File:ThaleaStela.JPG,

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

funerary stele with three rosettes at the top, BC, marble,

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg, Greco-Buddhist rosettes at the bottom of a statue of the Buddha from Gandhara, 1st-2nd century AD, schistose rock, Tokyo National Museum

Modern use

The formalised flower motif is often carved in stone or wood to create decorative ornaments for architecture and furniture, and in metalworking, jewelry design and the applied arts to form a decorative border or at the intersection of two materials. Rosette decorations have been used for formal military awards. They also appear in modern, civilian clothes,Blame the Rosettes
by Eric Wilson, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 3 August 2006 and are often worn prominently in political or sporting events. Rosettes sometimes decorate musical instruments, such as around the perimeter of sound holes of

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Gallery

File:Sitting bull Louvre AO7021.jpg, Sumerian bull with rosettes, 3000 BC, black marble,

Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg, ''Priest-King'', a Harappan artwork, 2400–1900 BC, low fired steatite, National Museum of Pakistan,

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

File:MM IIB Kamares style stemmed bowl from Phaistos - Herakleion AM 10578 - 04.jpg, Minoan rosettes on a Kamares krater, 1850-1700 BC, ceramic, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece File:"Die Fresken von Akrotiri zählen zu den spektakulärsten Zeugen der Bronzezeit." 28.jpg, Minoan rosettes on a fresco from Akrotiri, 17th century BC, fresco, Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Thera, Santorini, Greece Ceiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III MET DT256117.jpg, Ancient Egyptian rosettes on a ceiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III, 1390–1353 BC, dried mud, mud plaster and paint Gesso, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City File:Painted wooden chest from the tomb of Tutankhamun, 1333-1323 BCE; Egyptian Museum, Cairo (3).jpg, Ancient Egyptian rosettes on the wooden chest of Tutankhamun, 1336-1327 BC, wood inlayed with ivory,

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

File:Fresco, rosettes, running spirals, Tiryns, 13th c BC, AM of Nafplio, 202135.jpg, Mycenaean volutes, part of a mural from a palace in Tiryns, Greece, 13th century BC, fresco, Archaeological Museum of Nafplion,

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

, Greece File:Carved ivory from Nimrud (Kalhu), human face, 9th to 7th century BCE. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.jpg, Assyrian rosettes on an ivory piece from Nimrud, 9th to 7th century BC, ivory, Iraq Museum, Baghdad File:Glazed brick fragments with rosette decoration, 539-330 BC, burned and glazed clay, from Babylon, from Babylon, VA Bab 04216, VA Bab 04787, VA Bab 04788, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.jpg, Babylonian glazed brick fragments with rosette decoration, 539-330 BC, burned and glazed clay, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin File:Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 50 (cropped section).jpg, Persian Achaemenid rosette

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

s on a wall, 490 BC, limestone, in situ, Persepolis,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

File:Greece-0113 - North Porch (2215074445).jpg,

rosettes around a door of the Erechtheion, Athens, Greece, unknown architect, 421-405 BC File:Plastic lekythos birth of Aphrodite (Boston MFA 00.629).jpg,

rosettes on a lekythos with Aphrodite rising from the sea, 4th century BC, ceramic, Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, US File:Taranto BW 2016-10-17 11-11-38 2.jpg, Ancient Greek rosettes on a pendant, 4th century BC, gold, National Archaeological Museum of Taranto, Taranto, Italy File:Θεσσαλονίκη - Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο 1418.jpg, Ancient Greek rosettes on a larnax of Philip II, 330-320 BC, gold and enamel, Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai, Vergina, Greece Efeso, tempio di adriano 14.JPG, Roman

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

with rosettes on the Temple of Hadrianus,

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, unknown architect or sculptor, 117-118 AD File:Arco di settimio severo, rilievi arco 05.JPG, Roman rosettes in the ceiling of the Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome, unknown architect, 203 File:Villa di cerreto guidi, loggia dx, frammento scultoreo 02.jpg, Roman rosettes on a

, unknown date, probably marble, Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi, Cerreto Guidi, Italy File:Keystones with rosettes, circa 705-715, limestone, from Chirbat al-Minya, Israel, Inv. -Nr. I. 7578, I. 7579, I. 7580, Pergamon Museum.jpg,

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

keystones with rosettes, 705-715, limestone, Pergamon Museum,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

File:Vezelay chapiteau cloitre4.jpg, Romanesque rosettes on a pair of capitals from the Vézelay Abbey, Vézelay, France, unknown architect, 1120-1150 File:British Museum Royal Gold Cup.jpg, Tudor rose added under Henry VIII to the foot of the Gothic Royal Gold Cup, late 14th century, British Museum Carpet with Fame and Fortitude MET DP212204.jpg,

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

rosettes on a carpet with fame and fortitude, by the Savonnerie manufactory, 1668–1685, knotted and cut wool pile, woven with about 90 knots per square inch, Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Print (France) (CH 18253253).jpg, Rosettes, 17th or 18th centuries, print, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City File:Print (France) (CH 18253263).jpg, Rosettes, 17th or 18th centuries, print, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Print (France) (CH 18253279).jpg, Rosettes, 17th or 18th centuries, print, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum File:Paris - Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - 003.jpg, Neoclassical rosettes in the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris, by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, 1806-1808 File:Chambre de Louis XVIII-Charles X - Fauteuil (Louvre, GMT 28590).jpg, Neoclassical rosettes on the arms of an armchair, by Jacob Desmalter, 1808, gilded wood, Louvre File:Stool from the former Palais des Tuileries in Paris (stamped with inventory mark).jpg, Neoclassical rosettes on a stool, by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter, 1810, gilded wood, unknown location Pair of Spindle Vases - OA 11090 - Louvre (08).jpg, Neoclassical rosettes on a vase, by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1814, hard-paste porcelain with platinum background and gilt bronze mounts, Louvre File:Père-Lachaise - Crématorium 05.jpg, Neoclassical rosettes on the dome of the Crematorium of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by Jean Camille Formigé, 1886 File:1-3 Strada Benjamin Franklin, Bucharest (14).jpg, Simplified Neoclassical rosettes of a door of the Romanian Atheneum,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, by Albert Galleron, 1888 File:21 Strada Ionel Perlea, Bucharest (15).jpg, Rosettes on the Beaux-Arts fence of Strada Ionel Perlea no. 21, Bucharest, unknown architect, 1900 File:Madrid - Palacio Longoria 23.jpg,

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

rosettes on a gate of the Longoria Palace,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, by José Grases Riera, 1902-1904 File:Rosette on a door handle of a door of the University Building (Bucharest, Romania).jpg, Neoclassical rosette on a handle of the lateral wing that faces Strada Edgar Quinet and Strada Academiei of the University Building,

, Romania, probably designed by Nicolae Ghica-Budești, 1914-1934 File:2-4 Strada Episcopiei, Bucharest (04).jpg, Rosettes on Beaux-Arts balconies of Strada Episcopiei no. 2-4, Bucharest, unknown architect, 1920 File:56 Strada Grigore Cobălcescu, Bucharest (02).jpg, Art Deco rosettes on Strada Grigore Cobălcescu no. 56, Bucharest, unknown architect, 1930

Footnotes