A pinnacle (from Latin pinnaculum, a little feather, pinna, compare panache) is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk (Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul) the main church of Ostend, Belgium is a Neo-Gothic church ||-||-||} Ostend  (  Oostende, French and German Ostende) is a Belgian City and municipality located in the Flemish Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation A buttress is an architectural structure built against (a counterfort) or projecting from a Wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a Roof or structure. Towers are tall human-made Structures that are always taller than they are wide usually by a significant Margin. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building particularly a church Tower. It was mainly used in Gothic architecture. See also Gothic art Gothic architecture is a style of Architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period.

The pinnacle had two purposes:

1. Ornamental - adding to the loftiness and verticity of the structure. They sometimes ended with statues, such as in Milan Cathedral. A statue is a Sculpture in the round representing a person or persons an animal or an event normally full-length as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size Milan Cathedral (Italian Duomo di Milano; Milanese: Domm de Milan) is the Cathedral
2. Structural - the pinnacles were very heavy and often rectified with lead, in order to enable the flying buttresses to contain the stress of the structure vaults and roof. Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly A flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is a specific type of Buttress usually found on a religious building such as a Cathedral. This was done by adding compressive stress (a result of the pinnacle weight) to the thrust vector and thus shifting it downwards rather than sideway. Compressive stress is the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction (decrease of volume

History

Some have stated that there were no pinnacles in the Romanesque style, but conical caps to circular buttresses, with finial terminations, are not uncommon in France at very early periods. Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Viollet-le-Duc gives examples from St Germer and St Remi, and there is one of similar form at the west front of Rochester Cathedral. Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc ( January 27 1814 &ndash September 17, 1879) was a French Architect and theorist famous for his "restorations" Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester Kent.

In the 12th-century Romanesque two examples have been cited, one from Bredon in Worcestershire, and the other from Cleeve in Gloucestershire. Bredon is a large village and Civil parish in Worcestershire in England. Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. History See also History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century In these the buttresses run up, forming a sort of square turret, and crowned with a pyramidal cap, very much like those of the next period, the Early English. English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520

In this and the following styles, and mainly in Gothic architecture, the pinnacle seems generally to have had its appropriate uses. See also Gothic art Gothic architecture is a style of Architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It was a weight to counteract the thrust of the vaults, particularly where there were flying buttresses; it stopped the tendency to slip of the stone copings of the gables, and counterpoised the thrust of spires; it formed a pier to steady the elegant perforated parapets of later periods; and in France especially served to counterbalance the weight of overhanging corbel tables, huge gargoyles, etc. Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton 's Second and Third Laws. A Vault (French voute Italian volta German Gewölbe Polish sklepienie, Spanish A flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is a specific type of Buttress usually found on a religious building such as a Cathedral. A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building particularly a church Tower. In Architecture a corbel (or console) is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight In Architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone Grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building

In the Early English period the small buttresses frequently finished with gablets, and the more important with pinnacles supported with clustered shafts. A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The finial is an architectural device typically carved in stone and employed to decoratively emphasize the Apex of a Gable, or any of various distinctive ornaments Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk (Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul) the main church of Ostend, Belgium is a Neo-Gothic church ||-||-||} Ostend  (  Oostende, French and German Ostende) is a Belgian City and municipality located in the Flemish This page is a glossary of architecture. A Aisle - subsidiary space alongside the body of a building separated from it by columns piers or At this period the pinnacles were often supported on these shafts alone, and were open below; and in larger work in this and the subsequent periods they frequently form niches and contain statues. About the Transition and during the Decorated Gothic period, the different faces above the angle shafts often finish with gablets. English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 Those of the last-named period are much richer, and are generally decorated with crockets and finials, and sometimes with ballflowers. Very fine groups are found at Beverley Minster and at the rise of the spire of St Marys, Oxford. Beverley Minster, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire is a Parish church in the Church of England. Perpendicular pinnacles differ but little from Decorated, except that the crockets and finials are of later character. They are also often set angle-ways, particularly on parapets, and the shafts are panelled.

In France pinnacles, like spires, seem to have been in use earlier than in England. There are small pinnacles at the angles of the tower in the abbey of Saintes. At Roullet there are pinnacles in a similar position, each composed of four small shafts, with caps and bases surmounted with small pyramidal spires. In all these examples the towers have semicircular-headed windows.

See also

• Gothic architecture
• Cathedral architecture

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. See also Gothic art Gothic architecture is a style of Architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. A Cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a Bishop. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

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