Atympanum (pl.: tympana; from Greek and Latin words meaning "drum") is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, door or window, which is bounded by a lintel and an arch.[1] It often contains pedimental sculpture or other imagery or ornaments.[2] Many architectural styles include this element.[3]
Alternatively, the tympanum may hold an inscription, or in modern times, a clock face.
Inancient Greek, Roman and Church architecture, tympana of religious buildings often contain pedimental sculptureormosaics with religious imagery.[4] A tympanum over a doorway is very often the most important, or only, location for monumental sculpture on the outside of a building. In classical architecture and in classicizing styles from the Renaissance onwards, prominent examples are usually triangular; in Romanesque architecture, tympana more often have a semi-circular shape or that of a thinner slice from the top of a circle, and in Gothic architecture they have a more vertical shape, coming to a point at the top. These shapes naturally influence the typical compositions of any sculpture within the tympanum.
The upper portion of a gable when enclosed with a horizontal belt course, is also termed a tympanum.[5]
Bands of molding surrounding the tympanum are called the archivolt.[6]
In medieval French architecture, the tympanum is often supported by a decorated pillar called a trumeau.
![Baroque tympanum in the Queen's Bedroom in the Louvre Palace, Paris, by Michel Anguier and Pietro Sasso, with a painting of Judith and Holophernes, by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, 1655[7]](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ceilings_of_the_appartements_d%27%C3%A9t%C3%A9_de_la_reine_Anne_d%27Autriche_%28449%29_%28tympanum_cropped%29.jpg)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tympanon". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 498.
