History Lessons: NYSID's Judith Gura on Classical Design

Some styles are hard to identify – but it’s easy to spot Neoclassical design in furniture, fabrics or accessories  --- the ornament gives it away. Fluted columns or pilasters, carved swags or rosettes and graceful grotesque motifs are among the most familiar features of styles that take inspiration from the ancient world. Starting in the Renaissance (when Raphael famously adorned Vatican interiors with decorations inspired by those in Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea) and continuing through history, designers have been entranced with these beautiful elements.  French Louis XVI rooms, interiors by England’s Robert Adam, and countless others reinterpreted them, though in very different ways. And designers today can still find inspiration in classical design.