Glossary · T
Triumphal arch
A free-standing monumental gateway celebrating a victory or an emperor, pierced by one or three arches, framed by columns and crowned by an attic bearing the inscription, as the Arch of Titus and the Arch of Constantine. By extension, the great arch that frames the apse of a church.
See also: Attic
Rules that use the word
From the atrium to the apse. Order the church as a single path: a colonnaded atrium, a narthex, the long nave drawn toward the altar, and the apse framed by a triumphal arch at the end of the axis.
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 Composite Order, The Classical World, Byzantium and the Early Church, Renaissance and Baroque.
A feature of Ancient Roman, Early Christian architecture.
Nearby in the glossary
Triclinium · Triforium · Triglyph · Trilithon · Trompe-l’oeil · Truss · Tuscan · Tympanum