View source for Pendentive

{{Short description|Architectural element}}

[[File:Koepel pendentieven 001.svg|thumb|Schematic representation of a dome on pendentives.]]

{{wikt | pendentive}}

In [[architecture]], a '''pendentive''' is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular [[dome]] over a square room or of an [[elliptical dome]] over a rectangular room.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/pendentive.aspx#1E1-pendenti ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', sixth edition]</ref> The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a [[sphere]], taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to establish the continuous circular or elliptical base needed for a dome.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/449698/pendentive |title= pendentive (architecture) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher= Britannica.com |access-date= 2012-08-15}}</ref> In masonry the pendentives thus receive the weight of the dome, concentrating it at the four corners where it can be received by the [[pier (architecture)|piers]] beneath.

Prior to the pendentive's development, builders used the device of [[corbel]]ling or  [[squinch]]es in the corners of a room. Pendentives commonly occurred in  [[Eastern Orthodox church architecture|Orthodox]], [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]], and [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] churches, with a [[Tholobate|drum]] with windows often inserted between the pendentives and the dome. The first experimentation with pendentives began with [[List of Roman domes|Roman dome construction]] in the 2nd–3rd century AD,<ref>{{harvnb|Rasch|1985|pp=129f.}}</ref> while full development of the form came in the 6th-century  [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman]] [[Hagia Sophia]] at [[Constantinople]].<ref>
{{harvnb|Heinle|Schlaich|1996|pp= 30–32}}
</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pendentif.eglise.Nantua.png|A pendentive, labelled A. Illustration of a church in [[Nantua]].
File:Schema.pendentif.medieval.png|Formation of a pendentive. [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], 1856
File:Pendentives.jpg|Pendentive structure
File:Moskau erloeserkathedrale innen.jpg|Arches (left and right), dome (top) and pendentive (centre) in [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow)|Moscow Cathedral]]
File:Kostel Nejsvětější Trojice (Fulnek) – frs-002.jpg|[[Most Holy Trinity Church, Fulnek|Holy Trinity Church]], [[Fulnek]], [[Czech Republic]]
File:Crkva_Sveti_Kliment_-_Skopje_(2).jpg|[[Church of St. Clement of Ohrid]], [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]]
File:Haga_Sofia_RB3.jpg|One pendentive of the [[Hagia Sophia]] main dome
File:Saint Sava Naos leg P.Cikovac.jpg|Pendentive of the [[Church of Saint Sava]] main dome, [[Belgrade]], [[Serbia]]
File:San_Giovanni_Evangelista_(Parma)_-_Dome.jpg|''[[Vision of St. John on Patmos]]'' (1520–1522, [[Antonio da Correggio|Correggio]], [[San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma]]), part of which is painted on the pendentives
</gallery>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|History of Italian Renaissance domes}}
* {{annotated link|Spandrel}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{Citation
 | last = Heinle
 | first = Erwin
 | last2 = Schlaich
 | first2 = Jörg
 | title = Kuppeln aller Zeiten, aller Kulturen
 | location = Stuttgart
 | year = 1996
 | isbn = 3-421-03062-6
}}
* {{Citation
 | last = Rasch
 | first = Jürgen
 | year = 1985
 | title = Die Kuppel in der römischen Architektur. Entwicklung, Formgebung, Konstruktion
 | periodical = Architectura
 | volume = 15
 | pages = 117–139
}}

{{Commons category|Pendentives}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arches and vaults]]


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