Symbolism may be best and most simply defined as a sign for the thing
signified; a suggestion for the idea. It has had its forms in every
phase of human nature and intelligence. In art and architectural
decoration it has two distinct trends - one religious, the other
intellectual - and in the Orient and in the Occident its expression has
differed widely in purpose. In the Orient it became involved in the
thought of mystery, reserve, aloofness; its purpose mainly religious
its meaning veiled to all but the initiate; its tendency to conceal. In
the Occident it appealed more to the growing intelligence, seeking
freer and larger modes of expression, and its purpose was to reveal. At
first it was an effort at a direct message, generally religious in
intent. Later it became a beautiful and varied scheme of decorative
effect. As time went on the desire to impart deeper meanings led to
such complexity that symbolism rose above the comprehension of the
masses. Its messages became as a sealed book, especially in the Orient.
Undoubtedly from the Orient and the Egyptians the Romans took their
early modes of symbolic expression. They gave to animal forms in a more
material way, the symbolic meaning of the various powers that they
themselves held in high esteem - strength to the lion, speed to the
eagle, craft to the fox.
Some have evidently been used without thought of their meaning, and for
decoration only; others have been carefully chosen to give form to the
thought that underlay the architect's work. But around them all hangs
the mystic charm of the cipher and the secret, the story that is
revealed only to him whose eyes have been opened by a love of the
beautiful and whose mind is enriched with the lore of buried years.
