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 ...

a term or terminal figure (plural: terms or termini) is a human head and bust that continues as a square tapering pillar-like form. Some may appear similar to a herma. In the architecture and the painted architectural decoration of the European

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

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 (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...

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 is the name given to the style of a group of largely anonymous painters active in the Southern Netherlands and principally in Antwerp in roughly the first three decades of the 16th century, a movement marking the tail end of Ear ...

. Engravings disseminated the style through Germany and England.

References

* Cyril M. Harris (1977). ''Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture''. Courier Dover Publications, ; p. 528

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)