Pedestal

For the WWII naval operation, see Operation Pedestal

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Pedestal (from French piedestal, Italian piedestallo, foot of a stall) is a term generally applied to a support, square, octagonal or circular on plan, provided to carry a statue or a vase.

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Although in Syria, Asia Minor and Tunisia the Romans occasionally raised the columns of their temples or propylaea on square pedestals, in Rome itself they were employed only to give greater importance to isolated columns, such as those of Trajan and Antoninus, or as a podium to the columns employed decoratively in the Roman triumphal arches.

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The architects of the Italian revival, however, conceived the idea that no order was complete without a pedestal, and as the orders were by them employed to divide up and decorate a building in several storeys, the cornice of the pedestal was carried through and formed the sills of their windows, or, in open arcades, round a court, the balustrade of the arcade. They also would seem to have considered that the height of the pedestal should correspond in its proportion with that of the column of pilaster it supported; thus in the church of Saint John Lateran, where the applied order is of considerable dimensions, the pedestal is 13 feet high instead of the ordinary height of 3 to 5 feet.

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Statue: A statue is a sculpture depicting a specific entity, usually a person, event, animal or object. Its primary concern is representational. However, as with all artistic topics, this definition of the concept of a statue is far from exhaustive....

Vase: The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including porcelain, ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....

Syria: Syria is an ancient region and modern state, officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic, in the Middle East. It borders Lebanon to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The border with Israel is disputed as Israel controls, and claims to...

Pedestal related Images and Photos (experimental)

Urn and Pedestal C.1771	Fruit in a Pedestal Bowl	Dancing Putti from a Pedestal on the Facade 1487-95	King David Moses (Left) Jeremiah (Right) Detail of the Hexagonal Pedestal of the Well of Moses
An American White Marble Figure of Psyche on Pedestal circa 1882	Asian-American Playwright David Henry Hwang Posed Crouching on a Law Stone Pedestal