| RAKING CORNICE |
Sloping cornice of the two sides of a
pediment. See PEDIMENT. |
| REED |
A bead or beaded molding, i.e., a small half round.
When used in clusters, it is called READING. |
| REVEAL |
The section of the wall framing a window or a
door, customarily when the wall is thick. |
| RIBBON |
An ornament in imitation of a cloth ribbon. |
| RINCEAU (RINCEAUX, pl.) |
 A symmetrical swirling ornament of leaves, customarily those of the acanthus. |
| ROSETTE |
A floral motive, usually round. Paterae in coffers are most often in the shape of rosettes. |
| ROSTRUM (ROSTRA, pl.) |
The prow of a Greek or Roman warship used as a ram in battle. Stone imitations of them are part of the grammar or classical ornament and are customarily found in columns. Captured rostra were placed at the foot of the speaker's podium in the Roman Forum; for that reason such a podium is called a rostrum. |
| RUSTICATION, RUSTICATED |
 The same for cut stone in a wall that is channeled with grooves. The purpose is to convey an impression of solidity and strength and to give visual relief to the wall surface.
|
| SAUCER DOME |
A low concave ceiling, with the shape of an inverted saucer. |
| SCONCE |
A bracket, secured to a wall, with a candlestick or several candlesticks, or imitations of same, or with arms holding lights.
Also known as APPLIQUE. |
| SCROLL |
 A spiral found in the form of volutes of a capital or in the frame of a cartouche.
|
| SCROLL FRAME |
A frame adorned with scrolls that looks as if it were made of thick boiled leather. |
| SEGMENTAL |
The portion of a circle, less than a semicircle defining the shape of an arch or vault. |
| SHAFT |
The trunk or the longest part of a column betweeÂthe base and the capital. See ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE. |
| SHELL VAULTING |
Vaulting used solely as decoration serving no structural purpose. It is made of plaster bonded by lath and held in place by struts attached to the beams. The Romans were the first to adopt the vault as a decorative device. With its value as an ornament, it evolved from being structural to being chiefly decorative. See VAULTING. |
| SOFFIT |
The underside of an arch, a beam, or any spanning members. See ARCH. |
| SPANDREL |
The triangular space bounded by the curve of an arch, a horizontal line through its top, and a vertiÂcal line rising from the impost or springing of the arch. |
| SPLAY |
A sloped surface, usually in the arch of a door or window where one side is larger than the other. |
| SEGMENTAL |
The portion of a circle, less than a semicircle defining the shape of an arch or vault. |
| SPLIT FILLET |
A fillet found on the horizontal and raking cornices of a pediment, termed split because it diÂvides at an angle where the two cornices meet. See PEDIMENT. |
| STEREOTOMY |
The science and art of stonecutting. Also STEREOTOMIC. |
| STOPPED FLUTING |
 Where the flutes or channels of a column or pilaster, or any grooves, have been filled with rods or rods topped by acanthus. |
| STRAPWORK |
A form of ornamentation consisting of foldÂing and interlacing bands. |
| STRING COURSE OR BELT COURSE |
A horizontal band across a facade. It can be flush or projecting, and given a variety of surfaces. |
| SWAG |
See FESTOON. |
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