DECORATION, in architecture, any thing that adorns and enriches a building, church, triumphal arch, or the like, either without side or within.
The orders of architecture contribute greatly to the decoration: but then the several parts of those orders must have their just proportions, characters, and ornaments; otherwise the finest order will bring confusion rather than richness. See ARCHITECTURE.
Decorations in churches, are paintings, vases, festoons, &c. occasionally applied to the walls; and with so much conduct and discretion, as not to take off any thing from the form of the architecture: as is much practised in Italy, at the solemn feasts.