Terminal Figure - Sphinx with crescent in her hair

Classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

and in art a term or terminal figure (: terms or termini) is a human head and bust that continues down as a square tapering pillar-like form. It is usually distinguished from a

herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...

, which has a head and shoulders only,Lucie-Smith, 213 but the two words may be used rather loosely and interchangeably. The god Terminus was the Etruscan and Roman deity of boundaries, and classical sources say that boundary markers often took the form of a half-figure of the god on a pillar, though ancient survivals in this form are extremely rare. In the architecture and the painted architectural decoration of the European

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and the succeeding Classical styles, term figures are quite common. Often they represent minor deities associated with fields and vineyards and the edges of woodland, Pan and

faun The faun (, ; , ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were ghosts ( genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their chief, the god Faunus. Before t ...

s and Bacchantes especially, and they may be draped with garlands of fruit and flowers. Term figures were a particularly characteristic feature of the 16th-century style in furniture and carved interior decoration that is called

Antwerp Mannerism Antwerp Mannerism refers to the style of a group of largely anonymous painters active in the southern Netherlands, principally in Antwerp, in roughly the first three decades of the 16th century. The movement marks the tail end of Early Netherl ...

. Ornament prints, such as a set of 20 School of Fontainebleau etchings from the 1540s usually given to Jean Mignon, disseminated the style through Germany and England. In these very fanciful

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

creations, many of the forms dip in and out of architectural and anatomical shapes.

References

* Cyril M. Harris (1977). ''Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture''. Courier Dover Publications, ; p. 528 * Lucie-Smith, Edward, ''The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms'', 2003 (2nd edn), Thames & Hudson, World of Art series,

External links

* {{cite EB1911 , wstitle=Terminal Figures , volume=26 , page=642 , short=x
Pair of terminal statuettes
(The Metropolitan Museum)

(Buffalo Architecture Index) Columns and entablature Architectural elements Architectural history Ancient Roman sculpture Sculpture Ornaments (architecture)