Archivolt

As Archivolte ( Italian, from Latin arcus volutus " high arch " ) is in the architecture adorned by profiling or figurative or vegetable or geometric decoration round or refers to a pointed arch. Most of the term Archivolte is applied to the design of portals; here are always related to each other Archivolts and Portalgewände.

In the architecture of early Romanesque or rural churches the faces of the Archivolts remained mostly unprocessed. In the High and Late Romanesque they were often profiled with bead and rod shapes. In rare cases, the bottom of one or more sheets received a decorative processing.

With the sculptures portals of the High and Late Romanesque then came in some cultural landscapes to figurative representations. The Gothic -designed the Archivolts usually figurative and often related to the subject of the tympanum.

Early figurative Archivolts at the church of Saint -Martin in Besse ( Dordogne)

Figurative Archivolts at the church of Saint-Gilles Argenton -les- Vallees

Figurative Archivolts at the Cathedral of Chartres