Frieze (architecture)

A frieze (pronounced freeze) is an architectural detail found on buildings that consists of a continuous horizontal band located just below the roof. It is part of the entablature, which is a design element dating to classical Greek architecture that is sometimes incorporated into the exterior of a building. The entablature is located between a set of columns and the roof, with the frieze forming the middle portion of the entablature.

The external façades of buildings in antiquity traditionally included several key elements that formed part of their superstructure. The number of elements and their general design depended on which of the three major Greek architectural orders of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles were used. The three major components of all forms of classical Greek architecture were the column, the entablature, and the pediment. The column is composed of the shaft, which makes up its largest part, and a capital, which forms the crown on the column. In Corinthian and Ionic architecture, the column further included a base that joined it to a multileveled platform called the crepidoma.

The entablature consisted of three parts: an architrave (or epistyle), a frieze, and a cornice. The architrave is a beam that sits on the top of the column's capital and serves to support the weight of the roof. Above the architrave is the frieze, which varies in style and design between the three orders of classic architecture and serves a primarily decorative function. Above the frieze is the cornice, which is a projecting decorative element that forms the ledge on the roof. Finally, the pediment is placed on top of the cornice and often forms a triangular gable between the arches of the roofline.

Brief History

The frieze was a regular feature of ancient architecture. In Egypt, examples of reliefs with elements of friezes have been discovered on temples and other structures. Friezes were also found throughout the major ancient Mesopotamian cultures. The royal palace of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II in the ancient city of Nimrud, for instance, contained several carved stone panels that formed a frieze. These reliefs dating from the ninth century Before the Common Era (BCE) depicted Ashurnasirpal leading his armies against rival forces, engaging in religious rituals, and hunting.

However, the development of the frieze is most commonly associated with classical Greek architecture. The earliest Greek friezes have been dated to locations in the eastern Greek empire. The sixth-century BCE Temple of Athena at Assos featured sculptural friezes, while the fourth-century Temple of Apollo at Ephesus contained examples of friezes on the guttae of the architrave (which is a water-repelling feature that projects slightly outward found on the bottom edge of the frieze). Both archaeological sites are located in present-day Turkey.

The Doric style of architecture is the oldest order and dates to the early sixth century BCE. It was primarily used on the Greek mainland. The Ionic order saw heightened use beginning in the mid-sixth century BCE among Greek colonies in Asia Minor and outlying islands. The Corinthian order began appearing in the fourth century BCE but was a more common style in the Hellenistic and Roman eras. As Greek architectural styles fell in disuse, so too did the inclusion of friezes in buildings. They saw a revitalized usage in the Italian Renaissance and have been a feature of many subsequent architectural styles, including Beaux Arts Classicism, Classical Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Neoclassicism, Renaissance Revival, and Second Empire.

Overview

Friezes are generally divided into Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles—the three major classical orders of architecture. Friezes are also featured on the less common architectural styles of Composite and Tuscan orders.

The Doric style of friezes uses alternating patterns of metopes and triglyphs. Triglyphs consist of a rectangular panel of three vertical bars that are angled outward to create a pair of inward-facing channels in between these bars. The raised bars are called meros. Oftentimes, below each triglyph are a set of six pegs (the guttae) that are thought to wick rainwater away from the surface of the building. Metopes share the rectangular shapes of triglyphs and serve as complementary features to them. However, while triglyphs are relatively plain, the metopes often feature sculptural, bas-relief, or painted images—frequently depicting imagery from mythology or nature. These patterns may have been carryovers from wooden temples of antiquity, with the metopes replicating their religious imagery, while the triglyphs imitated the exposed wooden beams that supported the roof. Friezes that feature metopes but lack guttae or triglyphs are generally categorized as being of the Tuscan order of architecture.

Ionic friezes are more ornate and lack the alternating pattern of metopes and triglyphs. Instead, they feature a continuous line of sculptured imagery and typically show extended narrative scenes. Ionic friezes were commonly made from marble. They were either carved from a single block of marble or made separately, with the image then inserted into the fixed block via a series of carved slits marked into the stone.

Buildings from the Corinthian order of architecture feature plain friezes or, in some cases, lack visible friezes entirely. Much of the decorative elements in Corinthian architecture are instead centered on the elaborate designs of the columns' capitals, which feature carved flowers, leaves, and scrolls in their designs.

Perhaps the best-known examples of both Doric and Ionic-style friezes were on the Parthenon in Athens. In its undamaged form, the Doric frieze on the exterior of the Parthenon contained ninety-two metopes on its four sides that were carved between 446 and 440 BCE by Greek artisans. Each side showed a different scene from Greek mythology. The north and south sides contained thirty-two metopes each, while the east and west ends had fourteen each. The north side depicted the Sack of Troy; the east side showed the battle between the Olympian gods and the giants who tried to overthrow them (the Gigantomachy); the south side portrayed the war between Thessalian Lapiths and the centaurs who kidnapped one of their women on her wedding day (the Centauromachy); and the west side presented the battle between Athenians and the Amazons (the Amazonomachy). A second Ionic frieze was formerly located above the architrave on the inside of the Parthenon. It was designed by Greek sculptor Phidias between 443 and 438 BCE and stretched approximately 524 feet (160 meters). It showed a procession from a Panathenaic festival. This second frieze (which forms a large part of the so-called Elgin Marbles) is the subject of an ongoing controversy between Greece and England since its removal from the Parthenon in 1812 by Lord Elgin. It was transported to England, where it remains. Friezes can also be found on other buildings from antiquity as well. Friezes of note can also be found in the Royal Albert Hall, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Capitol Rotunda, which depicts significant events in American history.

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