Engineering:Acroterion

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Examples of acroteria

An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria[1] is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style.[2] An acroterion placed at the outer angles of the pediment is an acroterion angularium (angulārium means ‘at the corners’).

The acroterion may take a wide variety of forms, such as a statue, tripod, disc, urn, palmette or some other sculpted feature. Acroteria are also found in Gothic architecture.[3] They are sometimes incorporated into furniture designs.[4]

Etymology

The word comes from the Greek akrōtḗrion (ἀκρωτήριον 'summit, extremity'), from the comparative form of the adjective akros (ἄκρος, 'extreme, endmost'). It was Latinized by the Romans as acroterium.[5] Acroteria is the plural of both the original Greek[6] and the Latin form.[7]

According to Webb, during the Hellenistic period the winged victory or Nike figure was considered to be "the most appropriate motif for figured akroteria.”[1]

  • Ancient Greek acroterion as Nike, by Paionios, 421 BC, marble, Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Olympia, Greece

  • Ancient Greek acroterion of a Nereid on horseback, c.380 BC, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

  • Ancient Greek akroterion, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  • Akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Ancient Greek acroteria from a temple of Artemis, 330-300 BC, marble, Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus, Epidaurus, Greece,

  • Etruscan with a mascaron of Silenus, 4th century BC, ceramic, Neues Museum, Berlin

  • Romanesque acroterion of the Église Saints-Pierre-et-Paul de Rosheim , Rosheim, France, unknown sculptor or architect, c.1150

  • Renaissance acroteria of the Villa La Rotonda, outside Vicenza, Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio, 1566-1590s[8]

  • Neoclassical acroteria with mascarons on the Grave of Lupin-Roux family, Loyasse Cemetery, Lyon, sculpted by Pierre-Marie Prost, c.1830

  • Neoclassical acroteria of a window of the Großer Blumenberg, Leipzig, Germany, designed by Albert Geutebrück mid-19th century

  • Neoclassical pediment with acroteria of the Grave of Alexandrina Grejdanescu and Barbu Grejdanescu, Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1871

  • Greek Revival sphinx acroterion of the Academy of Athens, designed by Theophil Hansen, 1885

  • Japanese acroterion, illustrations by Abel Guérineau, 1887

  • Beaux Arts acroterion of the Collège Franklin (Boulevard Louis-XIV no. 5), Lille, France, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1900

  • Beaux Arts acroterion above a window of Strada Grigore Cobălcescu no. 14, Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1900

  • Beaux Arts acroterion above a window of Strada Bocșa no. 2, Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1900

  • Art Nouveau acroterion of a stove in the Mița the Cyclist House (Strada Biserica Amzei no. 9), Bucharest, possibly designed by Nicolae C. Mihăescu,[9] 1908

  • Art Deco acroterion of the Dinicu Golescu Entrance of the Northern Railway Station, Bucharest, designed by Victor Gh. Ștephănescu, 1935[10]

  • Postmodern acroterion of the Harold Washington Library, Chicago , by Hammond, Beeby & Babka, 1991[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Webb, Pamela A. (1996). Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture: Figural motifs in western Anatolia and the Aegean islands. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 26. 
  2. ↑ "Acroterian". https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acroterion. 
  3. ↑ Harris, Cyril M. (1983). Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture. Courier Corporation. p. 5. ISBN 9780486244440. https://books.google.com/books?id=6n4JLmyooTwC&pg=PA5. 
  4. ↑ "acroterion - architecture". http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/4232/acroterion. 
  5. ↑ acroter (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005, http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=acroter  (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ McCarver, ed. "Glossary of architectural terms". Porter-Gaud School. http://www.portergaud.edu/academic/faculty/mcarver/ancienthistory/greekarchitectureglossary.html. 
  7. ↑ Smith, Philip (1875). "Acroterium". in Thayer, Bill. Acroterium. University of Chicago. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Acroterium.html. Retrieved 2021-01-26. 
  8. ↑ Hopkins, Owen (2022) (in en). Reading Architecture - A Visual Lexicon. Laurence King. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-52942-034-0. 
  9. ↑ Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017) (in en). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 85. ISBN 978-973-0-23884-6. 
  10. ↑ Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017) (in en). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 171. ISBN 978-973-0-23884-6. 
  11. ↑ Gura, Judith (2017) (in en). Postmodern Design Complete. Thames & Hudson. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-500-51914-1. 

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