Aedicule

An ædicule ("little building") is a common framing device in both Classical architecture and Gothic architecture. An ædicular frame treats a window or a niche in a section of wall as if it were a building, sometimes with columns or pilasters flanking the opening, which support an architrave or a pediment or an arched rib vault. In Christian architecture, a three-dimensional tectonic form of baldachin, surmounting an altar might be termed a "ciborium", one of several uses of that term. Painted ædicules frame figures from sacred history in initial letters of Illuminated manuscripts. Ædicular frames, carved and gilded are favourite schemes for English Palladian mirror frames of the late 1720s through the 1740s, by such designers as William Kent.

See also

• Pilaster
• Portico

References

• Conservation glossary