Tympanum (architecture)

The late Romanesque tympanum of Vézelay Abbey, Burgundy, France, dating from the 1130s

A tympanum (plural, tympana; from Greek and Latin words meaning "drum") is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, door or window, which is bounded by a lintel and an arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Many architectural styles include this element.

Overview

In ancient Greek, Roman and Christian architecture, tympana of religious buildings usually contain religious imagery. A tympanum over a doorway is very often the most important, or only, location for monumental sculpture on the outside of a building. In classical architecture, and in classicising styles from the Renaissance onwards, major examples are usually triangular; in Romanesque architecture, tympana have a semi-circular shape, or that of a thinner slice from the top of a circle, and in Gothic architecture they have a more vertical shape, coming to a point at the top. These shapes naturally influence the typical compositions of any sculpture within the tympanum.

Bands of molding surrounding the tympanum are referred to as the archivolt.

In medieval French architecture the tympanum is often supported by a decorated pillar called a trumeau.

Gallery

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  Ex Nihilo (Out of Nothing) by Frederick Hart, tympanum over center doors, Washington National Cathedral.
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  Tympanum of Kumari-ghar at Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu.
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  Archivolts surrounding a tympanum of the west façade Strasbourg Cathedral, France.
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  The three tympana on the main façade of Notre-Dame de Paris, France.
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  Tympanum of Banteay Srei, Cambodia, depicting Sunda and Upasunda fight over the Apsara Tilottama.
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  Sculpted tympanum in Stralsund, Germany
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  Adoration of the Magi on a tympanum on Saint-Thiébaut Church, Thann, France.
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  Religious scene in a tympanum, Church San Lorenzo, Vicenza, Italy.
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  Scenes of the lives of Saint Peter and Mary, St Peter's, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
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  High-relief bronze tympanum of Writing, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, DC, USA.
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  Tympanum (showing the tree of life) and archivolt at Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck
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  Tympanum showing Christ in Majesty with four attendant angels, Rowlestone, Herefordshire, UK.
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  Romanesque Tympanum in the cathedral of Trier from about 1180
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  Tympanum of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Philippines.

See also

• Church architecture
• Gable
• Pediment
• Portal

External links

• Sculpted tympanums Chartres Cathedral, West Front, Central Portal
• Tympanum of the last Judgment - western portal of the abbey-church of Saint Foy