The Romanesque tympanum of Vézelay Abbey, Burgundy, France, 1130s.

A tympanum (plural, tympana) is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance bounded by a lintel and arch.^[1] It often contains sculptures or other ornaments.^[2] Most architectural styles include this element.^[3] The tympanum was invented in ancient Egypt in the first half of the 3rd century BC, and later appears in Greek, Christian and Islamic architecture.^[4] In Greek and Christian architecture, tympanums usually contained religious scenes.^[5]

Bands of molding surrounding the tympanum are referred to as the archivolt.^[6]

Gallery

The 2000-year-old Pantheon in Rome, Italy. The tympanum is the area inside the triangular pediment (plain here but often decorated).	Archivolts surrounding the tympanum in Strasbourg Cathedral	The three tympana on the main facade of Notre-Dame de Paris	Sculpted tympanum in Stralsund, Germany
Religious scene in a tympanum, Saint Joseph church, Clermont-Ferrand, France	Scenes of the lives of Saint Peter and Mary, Saint Peter church, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain	High-relief bronze tympanum of Writing, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, DC

See also

• Gable
• Portal

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

tympanums

• El Portal del Arte Románico Visigothic, Mozarabe and Romanesque art in Spain.
• Sculpted tympanums Chartres Cathedral, West Front, Central Portal
• Tympanum of the last Judgment - western portal of the abbey-church of Saint Foy
• Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle - Tome 9, Tympan

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