A gutta (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

pl. guttae, "drops") is a small water-repelling, cone-shaped projection used near the top of the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can als ...

of the

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

. At the top of the architrave blocks, a row of six ''guttae'' below the narrow projection of the taenia (fillet) formed an element called a regula. A ''regula'' was aligned under each

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze ar ...

of the Doric frieze. In addition, the underside of the projecting geison above the frieze had rectangular protrusions termed '' mutules'' that each had three rows of six ''guttae''. These mutules were aligned above each triglyph and each metope. It is thought that the guttae were a

skeuomorph A skeuomorph (also spelled skiamorph, ) is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original. Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new feel familiar in an effort t ...

ic representation of the pegs used in the construction of the wooden structures that preceded the familiar Greek architecture in stone. However, they have some functionality, as water drips over the edges, away from the edge of the building.

Outside the Doric

In the strict tradition of classical architecture, a set of guttae always go with a triglyph above (and vice versa), and the pair of features are only found in

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, a ...

s using the Doric order. In Renaissance and later architecture these strict conventions are sometimes abandoned, and guttae and triglyphs, alone or together, may be used somewhat randomly as ornaments. The Doric order of the

Villa Lante al Gianicolo Villa Lante al Gianicolo is a villa in Rome on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo). It is a summer house designed by Giulio Romano in 1520-21 for Baldassare Turini, as one of Romano's first independent commissions after the death of his master Raph ...

in Rome, an early work of

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...

(1520–21), has a narrow "simplified entablature" with guttae but no tryglyphs. The stone fireplace in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

has Ionic columns at the side, but the decorative wreath in the centre of the

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...

has sets of guttae below (only five to a set).See gallery The Baroque

Černín Palace The Czernin Palace ( cs, Černínský palác) is the largest of the baroque palaces of Prague, which has served as the offices of the Czechoslovak and later Czech foreign ministry since the 1930s. It was commissioned by the diplomat Humprecht J ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...

(1660s) has triglyphs and guttae as ornaments at the top of arches, in a facade using an eclectic Ionic order.

Gallery

File:Metope - Temple of Poseidon - Paestum - Italy 2015 (2).JPG, So-called "Temple of Poseidon",

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, w ...

, Italy. File:RomanDoricOrderEngraving.jpg, Theater of Marcellus: cone-shaped guttae pictured below the

in the

. File:Villa Lante al Gianicolo.jpg,

, guttae but no triglphs.

, 1520–21. File:Praha, Hradčany, Černínský palác, fasáda 01.jpg,

(1660s) has triglyphs and guttae as ornaments at the top of arches. File:Detall de la portada de Sant Pius V, València.JPG,

Dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Re ...

, triglyphs, and guttae, Museu de Belles Arts de València. File:CLOSE- UP OF TRIGLYPHS, ALSO PILASTER CAP ON S. W. CORNER OF BUILDING - Christ Episcopal Church, Church and Saint HABS ALA,49-MOBI,33-10.tif, Triglyphs and

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

cap, Christ Episcopal Church, Mobile, Alabama. File:Ambassador Rick Olson with President Barack Obama.jpg, US Ambassador Rick Olson with President Barack Obama, in the

Oval office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

, with guttae on the Ionic fireplace.

Notes

References

* Summerson, John, '' The Classical Language of Architecture'', 1980 edition, Thames and Hudson ''World of Art'' series, {{ISBN, 0500201773 Architectural elements Columns and entablature