Anta (architecture)

The Athenian Treasury in Delphi with two antae framing a set of two columns.

An anta (pl. antæ) (Latin, possibly from ante, 'before' or 'in front of') is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek temple - the slightly projecting piers which terminate the walls of the naos.

Anta

An anta at the Erectheion, a prostyle temple, Athens (built between 421 and 406 BCE). A decorative capital can be seen at the top.

In contrast to pillars, they are directly connected with the walls of a temple. They owe their origin to the vertical posts of timber employed in the early, more primitive palaces or temples of Greece, as at Tiryns and in the Temple of Hera at Olympia. They were used as load-bearing structures to carry the roof timbers, as no reliance could be placed on walls built with unburnt brick or in rubble masonry with clay mortar. Later, they became more decorative as the materials used for wall construction became sufficient to support the structure.

When there are columns between antae, as in a porch facade, rather than a solid wall, the columns are said to be in antis. (See temple.)

Anta capitals

A characteristically rectangular Ionic anta capital, with extensive bands of floral patterns in prolongation of adjoining friezes.

Side of an anta capital, from the Erechtheion Athens.

The top of antae is often highly decorated, usually with bands of floral designs. These form brick-shaped capitals, called "anta capitals".

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  Doric anta capital at the Temple of Hephaistos, Athens, 450 BCE.
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  Ornamentation of the front part of an anta capital at the Erechtheion, 525 BCE.
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  Unadorned Ionic anta capital at the Temple of Athena Nike, Athens, 420BCE.
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  Corinthian anta capital at the Niha Bekaa Roman Temple, 1st century AD.

"Sofa" anta capitals

An anta capital can sometimes be qualified as a "sofa" capital or a "sofa anta capital" when the sides of the capital broaden upward, in a shape reminiscent of a couch or sofa. These capital can also be described as pilaster capitals, which, strictly speaking, are normally decorative rather than structural components.

During the Greek period, anta capitals has designs different from those of colum capital, but during Roman and later times this difference disappeared and both column and anta capitals has the same types of designs.

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  Anta capital, Didyma.
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  Anta capital from Miletus (front view).
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  Anta capital at the Temple of Apollo in Didyma, front and profile. 4th century BCE.
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  The Pataliputra capital, a Hellenistic anta capital from India (3rd century BCE).

Distyle in antis

Main article: Distyle in antis

Early Greek temples such as the 6th century Siphnian Treasury had antae on both side of the porch, framing a set of columns (a disposition named "distyle in antis", meaning "two columns in between antae"). This was an early type of temple construction (the "distyle temple") meant to reinforce weak wall construction by head posts, the antae. Sometimes, the walls were in brick, and thus needed this kind of reinforcement, as in the Heraeum of Olympia (c. 600 BCE).

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  Early Greek temples such as the Siphnian Treasury had antae on both side of the porch, framing a set of columns.
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  Front view of the Siphnian Treasury with framing antae.
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  The Athenian Treasury in Delphi is also a distyle in antis design.

References

• Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0-06-430158-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Antae". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 88.