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| At the top of a capital, a thick rectangular slab of stone that serves as the flat, broad surface on which the architrave rests. |
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| a channel for delivering water, usually an elevated stone or brick structure elevated on top of arches. |
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| A square beam that is the lowest of the three horizontal components of a Classical entablature. |
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| A sculpted female figure supporting an entablature and thus substituting for a columnar form. |
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| A clerestory is the uppermost portion of a wall or building that is pierced by window openings so as to let in light. |
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| Masonry constructed over an opening by a series of courses projecting from each side and projecting from each side and stepped progressively further inward until they meet at the midpoint. |
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| The uppermost, projecting portion of an entablature, also the crowning horizontal molding of a building or a wall. |
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| The order of architecture with a system coordinating columns with an entablature where the fluted shafts of the columns are not supported by bases, the capital consists of a simple cushion-like molding with an abacus on top, and the entablature features a plain architrave supporting a frieze composed of triglyphs alternating with metopes and capped by a cornice. |
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| The upper, horizontal part of a Classical order supported by columns comprising architrave, frieze, and cornice. |
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| This term literally means “tension” or “stretching.” Entasis is the slight swelling of the vertical profile of a Classical column as it tapers toward the top to counteract the illusion of concavity that accompanies straight-sided columns. |
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| The Italian term fresco (literally, “fresh”) denotes a type of mural painting where the painting is in the plaster; water-soluble pigments are applied to fresh or wet plaster and once dried are integral to the wall itself. |
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| A horizontal band, sometimes decorated with sculptural reliefs, running along the upper portion of a wall or just beneath a cornice or it may be that part of a Classical entablature that lies between the architrave and the cornice. |
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| A structure—most frequently a large hall—featuring a flat roof supported by row after row of columns. |
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| One of the Classical orders of architecture, the Ionic is characterized by volutes (scroll-shaped elements) in the capitals, the presence of dentils (tooth-like blocks) in the cornice, and a continuous frieze that might contain relief sculptures unbroken by triglyphs. |
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| Derived from the Arabic word for “bench,” mastaba denotes a type of Egyptian tomb, rectangular in shape with sloping sides and a flat roof, featuring a passageway leading to a subterranean chamber. |
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| In the frieze of the Doric order, the rectangular area between the triglyphs; often left plain but sometimes decorated with sculptural reliefs. |
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| decorative designs made by cementing small pieces (called tesserae) of hard, colored substances (ceramics, marble, glass fused with ceramics, or cut semi-precious stones) onto a surface. |
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| literally, “eye;” a circular opening in a dome or a wall. |
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| A system for the forms and relationship of elements in the column and entablature of Classical architecture according to one of the five modes: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Tuscan. |
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| A triangular space formed by the raking cornices (sloping sides) and horizontal cornice of a gabled temple; also used above a door or window. |
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| A pylon is a monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple complex, usually consisting of a tapering wall capped by a cornice. |
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| A stele is an upright slab or a standing stone monument, usually carved with an inscription and an accompanying image. |
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| In Greek or Roman architecture, a circular building; in Mycenaean architecture, a circular tomb or beehive-shaped tomb. |
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| In a Doric frieze, the projecting block marked by vertical grooves (glyphs) between the rectangular areas known as metopes. |
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| Ornament in the form of a spiral scroll; it usually forms the principal feature of an Ionic capital. |
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| A wedge-shaped stone used in the construction of an arch or a vault. |
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| a stepped pyramid; in ancient Mesopotamian culture, a ziggurat is a monumental platform for a temple. |
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