The term jamb stands for a recess between the wall face inside the room and the side of a fitted window (window jamb) or door (door jamb) or other wall opening.
The jamb on a medieval church doorway (in a Gothic portal accompanied by lintel and trumeau) is normally occupied by a cascading row of carved figures. “These [jamb] statues are often human figures, typically religious figures or secular or ecclesiastical leaders” (“Jamb statue” 2020). Such jamb figures are very often visible in Gothic cathedrals of France and elsewhere in medieval Europe.
From Latin: pacyficus; in the Late Latin Church: pacificale.
A reliquary, most often in the shape of a cross or monstrance, used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It served for the Kiss of Peace in the Catholic Mass, until the thirteenth century before the Holy Communion. Originally, there was a habit of “direct kissing among the celebrants [of the Mass, which had been] replaced by each in turn kissing the pax [due to] a range of concerns over the sexual, social and medical implications of actual kissing” (“Pax (liturgical object)” 2020). During such celebration, a priest or a celebrant said ‘Pax tecum’, while passing the pax down for the kiss and they received the response ‘Et cum spiritu tuo.’
Ivory pax with Crucifixion, Netherlandish, 1500–1510. Photo by Niels from Amsterdam, NL (2009). CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo and caption source: “Pax (liturgical object)” (2020).
Although “[the] great majority were probably very simple wood or brass pieces” (“Pax (liturgical object)” 2020), pax reliquaries were also made of silver and richly decorated, with a flat surface to be kissed. They usually included an image of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ. Although “[the] pax gradually fell out of general use” (Ibid.) yet before the previous century, after the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), the custom was still practiced at important occasion. Since the twentieth century, kissing the pax has been commonly replaced with a handshake at the time of sharing the sign of peace. Nevertheless, the medieval custom is still continued at the time of significant celebrations and holidays.
Featured image: Design for a pax by E.W. Pugin (d. 1875), showing its handle. Public domain. Image enlarged. Photo and caption source: “Pax (liturgical object)” (2020).
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Pax (liturgical object)” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/37D2qOO>. [Accessed 22nd February, 2021].
PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 296. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
“The corbel arch and corbel vault use the technique [of corbelling] to make openings in walls and to form ceilings”. A corbelled (false) roof or vault and a corbelled arch are prototypes of their structural counterparts in the history of architecture.
Corbelling dome and a false arch based on a lintel inside Atreus Tholos Tomb, Mycenae. Photo by Sharon Mollerus (2009). CC BY 2.0. Photo source: “Skarbiec Atreusza” (2020). Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.
The corbelled vault usually occurs in a form of an elevated roof constructed using horizontal and successive layers of stone slabs or bricks that gradually overlap each other, inwards. As a result of such a process, a false vault or dome is created. The top of the corbelled roof is closed with a single capstone which spans the remaining space or void between the overhung stone slabs. “[In the] technique of corbelling, […] rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or parapet” (“Corbel” 2021).
In turn, corbelled arches, like structural (true) arches, are also made of stone but do not use “a wedge-shaped voussoirs converging towards” (“Corbel arch” 2021). They are cut in one beam or stone slab, or several horizontal layers of stone. Accordingly, “a corbel arch is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbelling to span a space or void in a structure. […] Although an improvement in load-bearing efficiency over the post and lintel design, [corbelled] arches are not entirely self-supporting structures, and the [corbelled] arch is sometimes termed a false arch for this reason” (Ibid.)
Featured image: A corbelled (false) arch in the Royal Palace of Ugarit, Bronze Age Syria. Photo by Disdero (2005). CC BY 3.0. Photo and caption source: “Corbel arch” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Corbel” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3uXNJhV>. [Accessed 7th June, 2021].
“Corbel arch” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2SjnC83>. [Accessed 7th June, 2021].
“Skarbiec Atreusza” (2020). Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3wYMOiE>. [Accessed 7th June, 2021].
PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, pp. 241,380. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Darvill T. (2009). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. Available at <https://bit.ly/2TazfOs>. [Accessed 7th June, 2021].
Found uniquely the Doric order entablature in Greek classical architecture (900 BC. – 1st century AD.), guttae are the conical projecting ornaments. They are situated under each triglyph of a frieze, which a set of guttae always goes with. In turn, a row of six guttae, located at the top of the architrave blocks, formed an element called a regula, located just below the narrow projection of the taenia (fillet).
Guttae, see also Image: Droppar, fig 2, Nordisk familjebok.png. Photo in Nordiskfamiljebok (1907), vol.6, p. 876. Public domain. Photo and caption source: “Gutty” (2021). In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.
“In It is thought that the guttae were a skeuomorphic representation of the pegs used in the construction of the wooden structures that preceded the familiar Greek architecture in stone. However, they have some functionality, as water drips over the edges, away from the edge of the building” (“Gutta” 2021).
The term frontispiece or fronton describes a commonly triangular gable surmounting the facade of an ancient temple in classical architecture (Greece, Rome, Renaissance, Classicism), or in one that uses classical forms. As such it can also be referred to as a pediment. Yet a frontispiece can also take the shape of the middle avant-corps (projection) of a building’s facade. Its inner field, both smooth or carved, is called a tympanum. In antiquity, the tympanum was usually filled with sculptural decorations.
Segmental pediment of the Library of Celsus (Ephesus, Turkey). Photo by rob Stoeltje from loenen, netherlands – DSC00815 (2011). CC BY 2.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Pediment” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
The triangular (pointed) frontispiece (or pediment) was developed in Greek architecture as the upper part of the ancient temple facade and constituted an important element of its portico. It was limited by the side edges of the gable roof and entablature; additionally, it was framed by a profiled cornice. The triangular frontispiece was commonly used in the architecture of ancient Rome; the Romans used a combination of a building’s façade with a frontispiece together with a flat roof in larger buildings. Later, a frontispiece appeared in Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism, as the top of the facades of secular and mainly sacred architecture.
Door with a broken and open pediment, with a cartouche in it. Passage Landrieu (n°7) – Paris VII. Photo by Mbzt (2013). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Pediment” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
In baroque architecture, next to the triangular frontispiece, there are also a curved (semi-oval) segmental type and a frontispiece broken in the upper part. Whereas the segmental variant takes the form of an arc of a circle, the broken type is usually interrupted by a sculptural composition or a cartouche in its center, with the side parts of its profiled cornice remaining. “Another variant of the broken type is the swan’s neck pediment[…] with two ‘S’-shaped profiles, resembling a swan’s neck” (“Pediment” 2021). A following feature of the Baroque style is the bending of the pediment, mainly in the part of the entablature by making its individual parts protrude in steps in front of the elevation. In turn, the so-called open frontispiece (pediment) is broken along the base and mainly adopted in Mannerist architecture.
Small frontispieces (pediments) based on columns, pilasters or corbels, crowning entrances and window openings, recesses and niches, are characteristic of modern architecture. Pediments with entablature based on columns are also found in altars and tombstones. Although “a frontispiece is the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main, or front, door to a building” (“Frontispiece (architecture)” 2021), defining the facade of the building with the term frontispiece or pediment is incorrect.
The Madeleine Church in Paris. The sculpture from the pediment (1830-1837) by Pierre-Jean David depict St Geneviève. The original uploader was Shahee at English Wikipedia. – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons (2006). CC BY-SA 2.5. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Pediment” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
Featured image: Illustrations with the sculptures of the two pediments of the Parthenon. James Stuart & Nicholas Revett. The Antiquities of Athens measured and delineated by James Stuart F.R.S. and F.S.A. and Nicholas Revett, Painters and Αrchitects, London, John Nichols, 1794. Public domain. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Pediment” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Frontispiece (architecture)” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3awE8Yt>. [Accessed 18th February, 2021].
“Pediment” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3bgG2eT>. [Accessed 17th February, 2021].
Davidson Cragoe C. (2012). Jak czytać architekturę. Najważniejsze informacje o stylach i detalach [How to Read Architecture], Romkowska E. trans., pp. 105, 161. Warszawa: Arkady.
Koch W. (2009) Style w architekturze. Arcydzieła budownictwa europejskiego od antyku po czasy współczesne. [Baustilkunde], pp. 440, 496. Baraniewski W., Kunkel R., Omilanowska M., Sito J., Zięba A., Żak K. trans. Warszawa: Świat Książki.
PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 125. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
