Lintel (architecture)

Lintel (architecture)

A lintel is defined as a horizontal block that spans the space between two supports in classical western architecture. [cite web
url=http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/lintel.htm
title=Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture - Lintel
publisher=University of Pittsburgh
accessdate=2007-06-25] In classical western construction methods, defining lintel by its Merriam-Webster definition, a lintel is a load-bearing and placed over an entranceway. [cite web
url=http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=lintel
title=lintel
publisher=Merriam Webster
accessdate=2007-06-25] Thus in ancient classical architecture, the lintel often rested on pillars made of piled stones such as in the building of the Treasury of Atreus in Mycenae, Greece. In architecture around the world however, a lintel is not considered (as it is in the very narrow view of classical architecture) as purely an element of Post and lintel

Decorative use

The use of the lintel form (rather than as a construction technique) has been employed in the architecture of many cultures over time. In non-classical architecture a lintel was frequently used for purely ornamental purposes, having no structural function. For example, the architectural use of a lintel is purely ornamental in the case of Indian rock-cut architecture. Prehistoric Buddhist temples in India were wooden structures with load-bearing lintels above openings. Subsequently excavated rock cave temples were preferred as more durable, allowing creative ornamental use of classical architectural elements; the carved stone lintels were not load-bearing. Highly skilled artisans were able to simulate the look of a wood, imitating the nuances of a wooden structure and the wood grain in excavating cave temples from monolithic rock. This use of the lintel form was purely decorative and not load-bearing.cite book
last =Keay
first =John
title =India: A History
publisher =Grove Press
date =2000
location =New York
pages = pp 124-127
id = ISBN 0802137970 ]

The Maya civilization was known for its spectacular art and monumental architecture. The Mayan city of Yaxchilan specialized in the carving of ornamental stone lintels. At the archaeological site on the Usumacinta River, there are 58 lintels spanning the doorways of major structures. Among the finest Mayan carving to be excavated anywhere are three temple door lintels that feature narrative scenes of a queen celebrating her husband's anointing by a god. The earliest were commissioned in 723 CE. [cite book
first=Simon Martin
last= Nikolai Grube &
year=2000
title= Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens
edition=
publisher=Thames & Hudson Ltd.
location=London
pages= pp 117, 125
id= ISBN 0-500-05103-8 ]

Decorative examples

ee also

*Marriage stone
*Rock-cut architecture

Notes


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