Arched frieze

Arched frieze on the natural stone facade of Alt-Sankt-Martin in Kaarst (around 1150)

Double arched frieze on the facade of the Quirinus Minster in Neuss (around 1230)

Pointed arch frieze at the top of the north side of the rectory at Gertraudtenstrasse 1, Cottbus

The arched frieze (mostly round arched frieze ; rarely pointed arch frieze ) is an ornament in architecture and is considered a typical medieval appearance of the frieze . It consists of semicircular arcs lined up next to one another, the legs of which can rest on small consoles . This frieze strip mostly served as the upper end (of a section) of the outer wall or to liven up and structure the facade and was regularly combined with pilaster strips .

History and dissemination

Forerunners of the arched friezes can be found in Byzantine architecture (e.g. in the rows of blind arches at the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna , northern Italy ), in which ancient Roman architecture lived on.

These suggestions were taken up by the Lombards who had settled in Italy during the migration . Arched friezes are one of the defining features of the Lombard architectural style , which the Spanish, French or English names ( banda lombarda , bande lombarde or lombard band ) illustrate to this day.

From northern Italy, the use of arched friezes has spread to western and central Europe, especially in Romanesque and Gothic architecture - possibly stimulated by pilgrims who had come to appreciate this form of architecture in northern Italy on their trips to Rome. Arch friezes play a very important role in the Romanesque architecture of Catalonia , where they were first used in 1011 after Abbot Oliba's trip to Italy .

They are rather rare in Gothic architecture; later they disappear completely, only to flourish again in the neo-Romanesque and neo-Gothic architecture of historicism in the 19th century.