Ornament, beauty, and superstition in David Hume and Elizabeth Montagu

Determining a principle for ornament was an important desideratum for philosophers of art in the eighteenth century. They believed a principle would aid in both creating and assessing works. The question of whether to ornament is not only a practical question of dress, architecture, and more, but also a theoretical question about whether ornament aids or detracts from beauty. First, the chapter introduces Elizabeth Montagu to contrast her approach to ornament with that of David Hume. They agree that a principle for ornament cannot be given but disagree on whether ornament typically contributes to or distracts from beauty. The link between ornament and superstition is explored further in cases of architecture, sculpture, and dress, which make clear the deep disagreement between Montagu and Hume on whether ornament’s link to superstition is a religious or aesthetic problem. Because Montagu and Hume believe the same issue of ornament applies in writing as it does in other areas, we turn to their deep disagreement about whether Shakespeare was a genius to explore how ornament and superstition relate to aesthetic evaluation in poetry and drama. Finally, the discussion of ornament and superstition reveals an underappreciated aspect of Hume’s essay on the standard of taste.