In art, a motif is an element of a pattern

Pattern

A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.These elements repeat in a predictable manner...

, an image

Image

An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...

 or part of one, or a theme

Theme (arts)

In the visual arts, a theme is a broad idea or a message conveyed by a work, such as a performance, a painting, or a motion picture. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a work. Themes are usually implied...

. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

 of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works. Ornamental or decorative art can usually be analysed into a number of different elements, which can be called motifs. These may often, as in textile art

Textile art

Textile art may refer to:*Any one of the textile arts, those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects*Fiber art, the creation of fine art using textile arts techniques and materials...

 be repeated many times in patterns. Important examples in Western art include acanthus

Acanthus (ornament)

The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.-Architecture:In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to...

, egg and dart, and various types of scrolls

Scrollwork

Scrollwork is an element of ornamentation and graphic design using a spiral. The name comes from by the supposed resemblance to the edge-on view of a rolled parchment scroll. "Scrollwork" is today mostly used in popular language for two-dimensional decorative flourishes and arabesques of all...

.

Many designs in mosques in Islamic culture are motifs, including those of the sun, moon, animals such as horses and lions, flowers, and landscapes. Motifs can have emotional effects and be used for propaganda.

Film

Visual motifs are used in film to establish a mood, such as film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

. Blade Runner

Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...

 is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film that uses visual motifs effectively; director Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...

 used a birthing motif in a previous film Alien

Alien (film)

Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...

.

Further reading

• Hoffman, Richard. Docorative Flower and Leaf Designs. Dover Publications (1991), ISBN 0486268691
• Jones, Owen. The Grammar of Ornament. Dover Publications, Revised edition (1987), ISBN 0486254631

External links

• Visual motifs (essay) Theater of Drawing