Pedestal
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | [[Image:Tommaso.Laureti.Triumph.of.Christianity.jpg|left|thumb|200px|''[[Triumph of Christianity]]'' (detail) by [[Tommaso Laureti]] (1530-1602)]] | ||
| + | [[Image:Communards pose with the statue of Napoléon I from the toppled Vendôme column.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Communards pose with the statue of Napoléon I from the toppled Vendôme column]]]] | ||
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| - | [[Soter Kosmoi]][http://www.antiqillum.org/images/bg/sokoi_sm.gif] from [[Richard Payne Knight]]'s ''[[A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus]]'' (1786), Plate II, figure 3. It is described on page 61 of the book, as follows: | ||
| - | :"For instance; the celebrated bronze in the [[Vatican]] has the male organs of generation placed upon the head of a cock, the emblem of the [[sun]], supported by the neck and shoulders of a man. In this composition they represent the [[generative power]] of the [[Eros]](in Greek), the [[Osiris]], [[Mithras]], or [[Bacchus]], whose centre is the sun, incarnate with man. By the inscription on the [[pedestal]], the attribute this personified, is styled The Saviour of the World [Soter Kosmoi); a title always venerable, under whatever image it be represented." | + | '''Pedestal''' (from French ''piedestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'', foot of a stall) is a term generally applied to the support of a [[statue]] or a [[vase]]. |
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| + | Although in [[Syria]], [[Asia Minor]] and [[Tunisia]] the Romans occasionally raised the columns of their temples or propylaea on square pedestals, in [[Rome]] itself they were employed only to give greater importance to isolated columns, such as those of [[Trajan's Column|Trajan]] and [[Antoninus Pius|Antoninus]], or as a [[podium]] to the columns employed decoratively in the Roman triumphal arches. | ||
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| + | The architects of the [[Renaissance|Italian revival]], however, conceived the idea that no order was complete without a pedestal, and as the orders were by them employed to divide up and decorate a building in several stories, the cornice of the pedestal was carried through and formed the sills of their windows, or, in open arcades, round a court, the [[balustrade]] of the [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]]. They also would seem to have considered that the height of the pedestal should correspond in its proportion with that of the column or [[pilaster]] it supported; thus in the church of Saint John Lateran, where the applied order is of considerable dimensions, the pedestal is {{convert|13|ft|m}} high instead of the ordinary height of 3 to {{convert|5|ft|m}}. | ||
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| + | In the imperial China, a stone tortoise called ''[[bixi (tortoise)|bixi]]'' was traditionally used as the pedestal for important stele, especially those associated with emperors. According to the 1396 version of the regulations issued by the [[Ming Dynasty]] founder, the [[Hongwu Emperor]], the highest nobility (those of the ''gong'' and ''hou'' ranks) and the officials of the top 3 ranks were eligible for ''bixi''-based funerary tablets, while lower-level [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarins]]' steles were to stand on simple rectangular pedestals. | ||
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| + | ==Types of pedestals== | ||
| + | An elevated pedestal or plinth which bears a statue and which is raised from the substructure supporting it (typically roofs or corniches) is sometimes called an '''acropodium'''. The term is from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''akros'' or topmost + ''podos'' or foot. | ||
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| + | ==Use in Popular Culture== | ||
| + | When a person overly idealizes someone (or something), it is often referred to as "putting them on a pedestal". | ||
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Pedestal (from French piedestal, Italian piedistallo, foot of a stall) is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase.
Although in Syria, Asia Minor and Tunisia the Romans occasionally raised the columns of their temples or propylaea on square pedestals, in Rome itself they were employed only to give greater importance to isolated columns, such as those of Trajan and Antoninus, or as a podium to the columns employed decoratively in the Roman triumphal arches.
The architects of the Italian revival, however, conceived the idea that no order was complete without a pedestal, and as the orders were by them employed to divide up and decorate a building in several stories, the cornice of the pedestal was carried through and formed the sills of their windows, or, in open arcades, round a court, the balustrade of the arcade. They also would seem to have considered that the height of the pedestal should correspond in its proportion with that of the column or pilaster it supported; thus in the church of Saint John Lateran, where the applied order is of considerable dimensions, the pedestal is Template:Convert high instead of the ordinary height of 3 to Template:Convert.
In the imperial China, a stone tortoise called bixi was traditionally used as the pedestal for important stele, especially those associated with emperors. According to the 1396 version of the regulations issued by the Ming Dynasty founder, the Hongwu Emperor, the highest nobility (those of the gong and hou ranks) and the officials of the top 3 ranks were eligible for bixi-based funerary tablets, while lower-level mandarins' steles were to stand on simple rectangular pedestals.
Types of pedestals
An elevated pedestal or plinth which bears a statue and which is raised from the substructure supporting it (typically roofs or corniches) is sometimes called an acropodium. The term is from the Greek akros or topmost + podos or foot.
Use in Popular Culture
When a person overly idealizes someone (or something), it is often referred to as "putting them on a pedestal".
