Editing Acroterion

{{Short description|Architectural ornament of a classical building}}
{{Redirect|Akroterion|the journal|Akroterion (journal)}}
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[[Image:Orna105-Stirnziege.png|thumb|right|Examples of acroteria]]

An '''acroterion''', '''acroterium''', (pl. '''akroteria''')<ref name=":0" /> is an [[ornament (art)|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 architecture|classical]] style.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acroterian|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acroterion |website=Merriam Webster}}</ref> An acroterion placed at the outer angles of the pediment is an ''acroterion angularium'' (''{{lang|la|[[wikt:angularis|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]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6n4JLmyooTwC&pg=PA5 |title=Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture |last=Harris |first=Cyril M. |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=1983 |isbn=9780486244440 |page=5}}</ref> They are sometimes incorporated into furniture designs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/4232/acroterion |title=acroterion - architecture}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''{{Transliteration|grc|akrōtḗrion}}'' ({{lang|grc|ἀκρωτήριον}} 'summit, extremity'), from the comparative form of the adjective [[wikt:ἄκρος|ἄκρος]], ("extreme", "endmost") + [[wikt:-τερος|-τερος]] (comparative suffix) + [[wikt:-ιον|-ιον]] (substantivizing neuter form of adjectival suffix [[wikt:-ιος|-ιος]]). It was [[Latinization (literature)|Latinized]] by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] as ''{{lang|la|acroterium}}''.<ref>{{OED|acroter}}</ref> ''Acroteria'' is the plural of both the original Greek<ref>{{cite web |title=Glossary of architectural terms |series=Greek Architecture  |website=McArver Ancient History |publisher=Porter-Gaud School |editor=McCarver |url=http://www.portergaud.edu/academic/faculty/mcarver/ancienthistory/greekarchitectureglossary.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2021-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908112246/http://www.portergaud.edu/academic/faculty/mcarver/ancienthistory/greekarchitectureglossary.html |archive-date=8 September 2006}}</ref> and the Latin form.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Acroterium |dictionary=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |year=1875 |editor-last=Thayer |editor-first=Bill |first=Philip |last=Smith |publisher=University of Chicago |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Acroterium.html |access-date=2021-01-26}}</ref>

According to Webb, during the [[Hellenistic period]] the winged victory or [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] figure was considered to be "the most appropriate motif for figured akroteria.”<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Pamela A. |year=1996 |title=Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture: Figural motifs in western Anatolia and the Aegean islands |page=26 |publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press |place=Madison, Wisconsin}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="170px">

File:Winged Nike at Samothrace Archeaological museum.jpg|[[Ancient Greek architecture|Ancient Greek]] marble acroterion in the form of [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], [[Archaeological Museum of Samothrace]], [[Samothrace]], Greece

File:Ancient Greece Marble Statue (28207918510).jpg|Ancient Greek acroterion of a [[Nereids|Nereid]] on horseback, {{circa}}380 BC, marble, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]], Athens

Image:Marble akroterion MET DT259543.jpg|Ancient Greek akroterion, 350–325 BC, marble, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York
File:Marble akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon MET GR97.jpg|Akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Artemis Temple, akroteria, 330-300 BC, AM of Epidaurus, 202546.jpg|Ancient Greek acroteria from a temple of Artemis, 330-300 BC, marble, [[Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus]], [[Epidaurus]], Greece,

File:Agios Athanasios, Ancient Macedonian Tomb - II (36979099971).jpg|Ancient Greek acroteria of the Tomb III, [[Agios Athanasios, Thessaloniki|Agios Athanasios]], Greece, 325-300 BC

File:Βronze inscribed plaque with an honorary decree of the Eleians for the Olympic victor Demokrates from the island of Tenedos, written in the Eleian dialect, from the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, 300-250 BC (28382489002).jpg|Simplified Ancient Greek acroteria of the pediment on an honorary decree, {{circa}}300-250 BC, bronze, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]], Athens<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=David Michael|title=Pocket Museum - Ancient Greece|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51958-5|page=235|url=|language=en}}</ref>

File:. Statue sur le toît de l'église Saint Pierre et Paul.jpg|[[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] acroterion of the [[Église Saints-Pierre-et-Paul de Rosheim]], [[Rosheim]], France, unknown sculptor or architect, {{circa}}1150

file:06-Villa-Rotonda-Palladio.jpg|[[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] acroteria of the [[Villa La Rotonda]], outside [[Vicenza]], Italy, designed by [[Andrea Palladio]], 1566-1590s<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hopkins|first1=Owen|title=Reading Architecture - A Visual Lexicon|date=2022|publisher=Laurence King|isbn=978-1-52942-034-0|page=35|url=|language=en}}</ref>

File:Lyon 5e - Cimetière de Loyasse - Allée 7 - Tombe Lupin-Roux - Façade principale.jpg|[[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] acroteria with [[mascaron (architecture)|mascarons]] on the Grave of Lupin-Roux family, [[Loyasse Cemetery]], [[Lyon]], sculpted by [[Pierre-Marie Prost]], {{circa}}1830

file:Blumenberg Fenster.jpg|Neoclassical acroteria of a window of the [[Großer Blumenberg]], [[Leipzig]], Germany, designed by [[Albert Geutebrück]] mid-19th century

File:Grave of Alexandrina Grejdanescu and Barbu Grejdanescu in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, Romania (02).jpg|Neoclassical pediment with acroteria of the Grave of Alexandrina Grejdanescu and Barbu Grejdanescu, [[Bellu Cemetery]], [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]], unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}1871

File:Sphinx-University of Athens.jpg|[[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] sphinx acroterion of the [[Academy of Athens (modern)#Main building|Academy of Athens]], designed by [[Theophil Hansen]], 1885

File:COUVERTURES EN TUILES AU JAPON Amortissements divers.png|[[Japanese architecture|Japanese]] acroterion, illustrations by [[Abel Guérineau]], 1887

File:Soleil collège Franklin.jpg|[[Beaux Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]] acroterion of the Collège Franklin (Boulevard Louis-XIV no. 5), [[Lille]], France, unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}1900

File:14 Strada Grigore Cobălcescu, Bucharest (07).jpg|Beaux Arts acroterion above a window of Strada Grigore Cobălcescu no. 14, Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}1900

File:2 Strada Bocșa, Bucharest (02).jpg|Beaux Arts acroterion above a window of Strada Bocșa no. 2, Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}1900

File:Art Nouveau polychrome tiled stove in the Mița the Cyclist House, Bucharest (04).jpg|[[Art Nouveau]] acroterion of a stove in the [[Mița the Cyclist House]] (Strada Biserica Amzei no. 9), Bucharest, possibly designed by [[Nicolae C. Mihăescu]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat|first1=|title=Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide|date=2017|publisher=Ordinul Arhitecților din România|isbn=978-973-0-23884-6|page=85|url=|language=en}}</ref> 1908

File:Bucharest, Gara de Nord (15483566168).jpg|[[Art Deco]] acroterion of the Dinicu Golescu Entrance of the [[Bucharest North railway station|Northern Railway Station]], Bucharest, designed by [[Victor Gh. Ștephănescu]], 1935<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat|first1=|title=Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide|date=2017|publisher=Ordinul Arhitecților din România|isbn=978-973-0-23884-6|page=171|url=|language=en}}</ref>

Chicago (3392204396).jpg|[[Postmodern architecture|Postmodern]] acroterion of the [[Harold Washington Library]], [[Chicago]], by [[Thomas H. Beeby|Hammond, Beeby & Babka]], 1991<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gura|first1=Judith|title=Postmodern Design Complete|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51914-1|page=77|url=|language=en}}</ref>

HoustonChildrenMuseum.JPG|Postmodern acroteria on the pediment of the [[Children's Museum of Houston]], [[Houston]], US, by Robert Venturi, 1992<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2018/09/19/robert-venturi-best-postmodern-architecture-projects/|website=dezeen.com|title=Seven of Robert Venturi's best postmodern projects|author=Eleanor Gibson|access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref>

File:Maitland Robinson Library, Cambridge.jpg|[[New Classical architecture|New Classical]] acroteria on the pediment of the Maitland Robinson Library, [[Downing College]], [[Cambridge University]], [[Cambridge]], UK, by [[Quinlan Terry]], 1992
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Antefix]]
* [[Finial]]
* [[List of classical architecture terms]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003592/acroterion |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Acroterion |id=article 9003592}}

[[Category:Ornaments (architecture)]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek architecture]]
[[Category:Roofs]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman architectural elements]]