Glossary · P
Pedestal
The base on which a column may stand, with its own plinth, die and cornice (cap). Vignola makes it one third of the column’s height.
Rules that use the word
The column must stand free. Let columns stand free, round and upright, carrying a straight entablature directly; do not engage them in walls, replace them with pilasters, or set them on pedestals.
The three parts of an order. An order consists of a column (base, shaft and capital) carrying an entablature (architrave, frieze and cornice), optionally raised on a pedestal (plinth, die and cap). Each part is proportioned to the lower diameter of the column.
Vignola’s general rule: 4 : 12 : 3. Divide the whole height into nineteen parts: four for the pedestal, twelve for the column, three for the entablature. Without a pedestal, divide it into fifteen, giving twelve to the column and three to the entablature.
The triumphal arch. Pierce a massive rectangular pier with one arch, or with a tall central arch between two lower ones; frame the openings with columns on pedestals carrying an entablature, and crown the whole with a high attic for the dedicatory inscription.
Where it appears in the book
In the chapters The Anatomy of an Order, The Tuscan Order, Columns in Company, The Classical World.
Nearby in the glossary
Passive house · Passive solar design · Patte d’oie · Pattern language · Pediment · Pendentive · Pergola · Peripteral