Early modern ornament might profitably be considered as a set of systems, each with its own rules. It signaled wealth and status. It offered pleasure and prompted curiosity. It cut across the apparent divide between the vernacular and the classicizing. It was relational, understood in the context of a given subject but not necessarily subservient to it. The notion of ornament as essentially supplemental and the prejudice against ornamental excess are both children of the late eighteenth century. Both ideas depend on a post-Enlightenment conviction of the work of art as an autonomous, aesthetically self-sufficient object, an idea not fully formed in the early modern era.

中文翻译：

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十六世纪荷兰的装饰品和秩序系统

早期的现代装饰可能被认为是一套系统，每个系统都有自己的规则。它象征着财富和地位。它提供了乐趣并激发了好奇心。它跨越了白话文和古典文之间的明显鸿沟。它是相关的，在给定主题的背景下理解，但不一定从属于它。装饰本质上是补充的概念和对过度装饰的偏见都是 18 世纪后期的产物。这两种想法都依赖于后启蒙运动对艺术作品的信念，即艺术作品是一种自主的、美学上自给自足的对象，这种想法在现代早期还没有完全形成。