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In
architecture the
frieze is the vertical part of an entablature, whether plain or
decorated with bas-reliefs, that lies upon the architrave ('main beam')
and is capped by the moldings of the cornice. In a looser sense, the
frieze of a room is the section of wall above the picture rail under the
crown moldings or cornice. By extension, a frieze is a long band of
painted or modeled decoration in such a position, above eye-level.
The
octagonal Tower of the Winds (see illustration) in the Roman agora at
Athens bears sculptures of the eight winds on its frieze.
Tower
of the Winds
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The
Tower of the Winds, also called horologion
(timepiece), is an octagonal Pentelic marble tower on the Roman
agora in Athens. It was supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus
around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed
in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum.
The 12 m
tall structure has a diameter of about 8 m and was topped in antiquity
by a weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind direction. Below
the frieze depicting the eight wind deities---Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE),
Apeliotes (E), Euros (SE), Notos (S), Lips (SW), Zepyhros (W), and
Skiron (NW)---there are nine sundials. In its interior, there was a
water clock (clepsydra), driven by water coming down from the
acropolis.
In early
Christian times, the building was used as the bell tower of a Byzantine
Church. It was partly buried in the ground until it was fully excavated
in the 19th century by the Greek Archaeological Society.
The frieze of the tower showing the Greek wind gods Boreas (north
wind, on the left) and Skiron (northwesterly wind, on the right).
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