Editing Pediment (section)

==Variant forms==
[[File:Palazzo Farnese Roma (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|Open pediments on windows at the [[Palazzo Farnese]], Rome, by [[Antonio da Sangallo the Younger]], begun 1534]]
A variant is the "segmental" or "arch" pediment, where the normal angular slopes of the cornice are replaced by one in the form of a segment of a circle, in the manner of a depressed arch.<ref>Summerson, 130</ref> Both traditional and segmental pediments have "broken" and "open" forms. In the '''broken pediment''' the raking cornice is left open at the apex.<ref>Summerson, 130</ref> The '''open pediment''' is open along the base, with a gap in the cornice for part or all of the space under the pediment.<ref>Broken and open pediments are often confused by sources unfamiliar with the correct terminology, although some pediments can reasonably be described as both.  See [[John Fleming (art historian)|John Fleming]], [[Hugh Honour]] and [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], ''The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture'', 240, 3rd edn, 1980, Penguin, ISBN 0140510133.  They recommend using "open-topped" or "broken-apex" and "open-bed" or "broken-bed", but these cannot be said to have caught on.</ref>  

All these forms were used in [[Hellenistic]] architecture, especially in [[Alexandria]] and the [[Middle East]].  The so-called "Treasury" or [[Al-Khazneh]], a 1st-century [[rock-cut architecture|rock-cut]] tomb in [[Petra]], Jordan, is a famously extreme example, with not merely the pediment, but the whole [[entablature]], very "broken" and retreating into the cliff face.<ref>Furman</ref>  Broken pediments where the gap is extremely wide in this way are often called "half-pediments".

They were adopted in [[Mannerist#Mannerist architecture|Mannerist architecture]], and applied to [[furniture]] designed by [[Thomas Chippendale]].  Another variant is the '''swan's neck pediment''', a broken pediment with two S-shaped profiles resembling a swan's neck, typically [[volute]]s; this is mostly found in furniture rather than buildings. It was popular in American doorways from the 1760s onwards. Very often there is a vase-like ornament in the middle, between the volutes.  Non-triangular variations of pediments are often found over doors, windows, niches, and porches.

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File:Roman fresco from Boscoreale, 43-30 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|Open pediment in a [[fresco]] from [[Boscoreale]], 43-30 BC
File:St Giles, Cripplegate, London EC2 - Wall monument - geograph.org.uk - 1209154 (cropped).jpg|Broken pediment on the monument to [[John Speed]], London, {{circa|1630}}
File:Desplats-2.jpg|[[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] highly decorated segmental pediment, Hôtel Desplats or de Palaminy, [[Toulouse]], France
File:Mt. Harmon, door (21416293709).jpg|Door with swan's neck pediment, [[Maryland]], {{circa|1788}}
File:Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Tallinn.jpg|[[Russian Revival architecture|Russian Revival]] open pediment with [[mosaic]] of the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]], Tallinn, Estonia

</gallery>