Although the Middle Ages extends over nearly a thousand years, it is Romanesque (late tenth century) and Gothic (from the twelfth century) that we believe in the first place.
Geometric designs carved or painted religious buildings in feudal houses are often derived from the Greco-Roman Antiquity with Greek elements, ribbons pleated herringbone, checkerboard and interlaced, and although the palmette dominates ornamental plant still in the early tenth century, it will bloom a rich repertoire of ivy leaves, oak, lilies, roses represented faithfully in the thirteenth century and the thistle, artichoke and kale are prized by sculptors and illuminators because they allow troubled contours and tapered flamboyant style and finally the bestiary. The bestiary novel use for fantastic imagination prevails over the imitation of nature alongside two-headed lion griffins, winged mermaids, unicorns or dragons. Many drawings offered in stencil are transpositions of medieval pavements survivals. Whether they are technical or inlaid tiles crazed blue bicolor, they offer the possibility of multiple compositions.