entablature

Art History

(noun)

The area of a temple façade that lies horizontally atop the columns.

Related Terms

  • elevation
  • entasis
  • peripteral
  • megaron
  • geometric period
  • lamassu
  • quattrocento
  • pilaster
  • Pericles
  • pediment
  • stylobate
  • naos
  • pronaos
  • anta
  • opisthodomos
  • votives
  • echinus
  • triglyph
  • metope
  • prostyle
  • sterobate
  • base
  • capital
  • tholos
  • cella

(noun)

The lintel area of a temple portico.

Related Terms

  • elevation
  • entasis
  • peripteral
  • megaron
  • geometric period
  • lamassu
  • quattrocento
  • pilaster
  • Pericles
  • pediment
  • stylobate
  • naos
  • pronaos
  • anta
  • opisthodomos
  • votives
  • echinus
  • triglyph
  • metope
  • prostyle
  • sterobate
  • base
  • capital
  • tholos
  • cella

(noun)

The part of a classical temple above the capitals of the columns; includes the architrave, frieze, and cornice but not the roof.

Related Terms

  • elevation
  • entasis
  • peripteral
  • megaron
  • geometric period
  • lamassu
  • quattrocento
  • pilaster
  • Pericles
  • pediment
  • stylobate
  • naos
  • pronaos
  • anta
  • opisthodomos
  • votives
  • echinus
  • triglyph
  • metope
  • prostyle
  • sterobate
  • base
  • capital
  • tholos
  • cella
World History

(noun)

An entablature is the superstructure of moldings and bands that lay horizontally above columns and rest on capitals.

Related Terms

  • styl
  • st
  • stylob
  • pediment
  • capitals
  • stylobate

Examples of entablature in the following topics:

  • Classical Greek Architecture

    • Columns of an early Doric temple, such as the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse, could have a column height to an entablature ratio of 2:1, and a column height to a base diameter ratio of only 4:1.
    • Later, a column height to a diameter ratio of 6:1 became more usual, and there is a column height to an entablature ratio at the Parthenon oapproximately 3:1.
    • Doric entablatures consist of three parts: the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice.
    • Decorations were distributed with some variation, and Ionic entablatures often featured formalized bands of motifs.
    • Caryatids—draped female figures used as supporting members to the entablature—were also a feature of the Ionic Order.
  • Temple Architecture in the Greek Orientalizing Period

    • On the entablature, the frieze of the façade consisted of a series of reliefs depicting a procession of riders on horseback with little variation.
    • The current cracked condition of the frieze is a likely indicator that it was assembled in a piecemeal fashion, as opposed to being carved as a singular entablature.
    • Atop the entablature sat sculptures of two winged female creatures resembling the sphinx or the lamassu of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian cultures.
  • Renaissance Architecture

    • For instance, church façades of this period are generally surmounted by a pediment and organized by a system of pilasters, arches, and entablatures.
    • During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and entablatures as an integrated system.
  • Temple Architecture in the Greek Archaic Period

    • This was perhaps a way to correct optical illusion or to emphasize the weight of the entablature above, held up by the columns.
    • The Doric entablature was also unique to this style of temples.
    • This further denotes the Greeks unease with building in stone and the need to properly support a stone entablature and heavy roof.
  • The Propylaea and the Erechtheion

    • Six towering sculpted women (caryatids) servesupport the entablature of the building.
  • Architecture in the Greek High Classical Period

    • The columns became more slender, and the entablature lighter during this period.
  • Teotihuacan

    • The sloping base, or talud, of each platform supports a vertical tablero, or entablature, which is surrounded by frame and filled with sculptural decoration.
  • Diocletian's Palace

    • Diocletian's palace demonstrates the Roman use of vaults in the substructure and the use of columns, peristyles, and entablatures to create monumental spaces.
  • Renaissance Architecture in Florence

    • The Palazzo Rucellai, a palatial townhouse built 1446–51, typified the newly developing features of Renaissance architecture, including a classical ordering of columns over three levels and the use of pilasters and entablatures in proportional relationship to each other.
  • Renaissance Architecture in Rome

    • The piano nobile entablature was given a frieze with garlands, added by Michelangelo.
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