I am wondering what style of art this is? Where can I find something
similar? What period is this from? or influenced from

http://www.mosaiclegs.com/content/images/misc/pegasus.jpg

Dear Jump-With-Joey, 

The example you brought seems like Art Nouveau ("New Art"), which
dominated Western art in the late 19th century and the early 20th
century.

About Art Nouveau
=================
The Artcycolpedia writes, that "Art Nouveau is an elegant decorative
art style characterized by intricately detailed patterns of curving
lines." (Artcyclopedia,
<http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/art-nouveau.html>).

The site "Art Nouveau World Wide Server" is a little more descriptive:
"Art Nouveau is the French/Belgian name of an art movement in reaction
to the academical (sic) schools at the end of the XIXth century
(1894-1914). This movement was represented in Europe and also in the
United States. It had often several names in each country, some were
given after major artists', magazine or firm names (e.g. in France
"Style Guimard", , in Germany "Jugendstil", in Italy: "Stile Liberty"
see etymologies), some other names more generally referred to
something new ("Art Nouveau" in France, Modernism in Spain, "Nieuwe
Kunst" in the Netherlands or "Sezessionstil" in Austria). In each
country, "Art Nouveau" had its own identity and sometimes artists at
that time were opposed to each other. In fact, beyond these
"oppositions" between countries or even artists, we can find
retrospectively numerous common points in each movement. By "Art
Nouveau", I mean all the avant-garde movements during the period
1894-1914 in reaction to the academical (sic) and historical point of
view. “(Source: http://kubos.org/AN/en/).


Examples of Art Nouveau/Jugendstil
==================================
Henry Van De Velde , Book cover,
http://www.mkg-hamburg.de/english/Inhalt/samml/images/jugendstil/1buchein.jpg

The book "Art Nouveau Motifs and Vignettes"
http://www.mccannas.com/recommend/dover/artmotif.htm

The "Tile Collector" http://www.tile-collector.co.uk/art-noo.htm on
how to identify Art Nouveau.

Art Nouveau jewellery at The Jewel Collection
<http://www.thejewelcollection.com/art.html>

Suite 101 on Art Nouveau
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_health/26290

There are many other Art Nouveau images out there, not all of them
similar to the image you have. Some, like Klimt's paintings, maintain
the lines and themes, but are much "heavier" in details and colour.
Others are more similar to Art Deco style, and actually "cleaner" in
line.

However, I must concede, that my analysis might not be perfect: 
- The pattern could, theoretically, despite being very similar to Art
Nouveau patterns, originate from another artistic movement, that was
associated or inspired Art Nouveau, such as Art and Crafts Victorian
artists in the UK or (less likely) Neo-Gothic art (lines and themes do
not match, but it is a possibility).
- The fact that it is, probably, Art Nouveau style, does not indicate
that this is an antique art or design work. Art Nouveau is quiet
popular (for example, visit a "New Age" shop and see how many "new"
objects are similar to Art Nouveau design), and many produce modern
artefacts that are inspired by Art Nouveau.

I hope that answered your question. In order to answer it, I searched
the Web (including http://images.google.com) for "art nouveau", "neo
gothic", "jugendstil". If you need any further clarifications, please
let me know before you rate/tip this answer.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by jumpwithjoey-ga on 02 Oct 2003 13:10 PDT

hello PoliticalGuru, 
  Thanks for trying to help me with this. All the styles you reffered
to do not really look similar in my opinion. In the picture it shows a
pegasus with a tail that is twisted. At first I thought it might have
Greek influence cause of the pegasus. The Photo also has acanthus type
scrolls which are also greek. But alot of the other scrolls look like
renaissance type. Do you or anyone else have any other suggestions.
Could this be Italian influence?

---

Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 05 Oct 2003 05:50 PDT

Thank you for the clarification request. I would like to refer to the
comments. The fact that it is possibly a late 19th century design (as
the first commentator maintains), was also mentioned in my analysis. I
find a statement such as “a end of 19th design to decorate a palace”
hardly a name for an artistic style. Regarding the observation on the
animal figure, and the assumption that this is Italian art, it is
possible. However, this kind of design was not particular to any
specific country in this period: the same ceramic design could be
viewed in manors from Berlin to Edinburgh, and back to Rome, and even
in North American estates as well as other areas that were influenced
by Western European art. In order to know whether or not this is an
Italian work, we’ll have to know more about the work itself.

However, I do find, Denco-ga’s comment, on the possibility that it is
a Neo-Classical design helpful. Since these artistic styles are not
remote from each other – stylistic, geographically and historically –
this could be a Neo Classical design. Nevertheless, I still find the
lines and the themes more typical to Art Nouveau and still stand
behind my original analysis.

Thanks for your efforts.

I don't think it is "art nouveau".
The central figure "medaillon" is very straight, very rigid,
the pegasus refer to greek mythology  (or any other since it appeared
in many civilasations)
For those 2 reasons, it is very academic, and in total contradiction
with art nouveau


I'm am a little bit puzzled by the pegasus, since it is only half a
pegasus. The other half is a fish tail twisted as noticed above.
It mixes 2 famous mythic animals the winged horse and the sea horse
which are both greek representation that were reproduced in classical
art (renaissance and so on, but as far as i know it is the first time
i see them mixed). that error makes me think it was designed to look
antique, but the designer is quite modern and compiled antique pattern
design in order to look classical

I would say that it is a end of 19th design to decorate a palace
(would you put that in your house....)
i can't figure out what it is (a ceiling painting, a tapestry...)
 

to look at a sea horse (the mythic one, not the real one)
check the links below that shows picture
http://www.culture.fr/public/mistral/joconde_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_4=REPR&VALUE_4=CHEVAL%20MARIN

http://www.musee-marine.fr/affiche/droite.php3?IdManifestation=38

i agree that this is not art nouveau, but i would also add that it
looks too classicaland symmetrical for it to be art noveau. art
nouveau (almost) has this sinewy characteristic to its lines, which is
not present in this illustration. the figure borrows too much from
renaissance art, and art nouveau is basically a rection against that
movement, or at least against most styles prevailing at that time. but
it has been observed that art nouveau (unconsciously or not) borrows a
bit from gothic art. violet-le-duc started out doing gothic
impersonations before graduating to art nouveau, probably because, as
a reaction to the then-prevailing romanticism for the renaissance and
classsical themes, gothic art and architecture almost resembles none
of the previous classical styles.

The animal shown is a pegasus with a tail or a hippocampus
with wings. The design is somewhat reminiscent of either a
neo-romantic or neo-classical style.

denco-ga

I would look to Baroque and Roccoco influences which are confined to
the 18th century. Artists especially of the Roccoco gravitated toward
such fanciful and decorative motifs which draw from the classical but
are over elaborate and inaccurate. This looks as though it were meant
to be the design for plaster work around a ceiling panel.