# Ovolo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ovolo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ovolo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovolo > Source revision: 1354816313 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Convex molding in classical architecture}} {{For|the hotel brand|Ovolo Hotels}} frame|The quarter-round cross-sectional profile of the fundamental design element, the ovolo, in an unadorned molding, showing also with its resulting shadow pattern. The '''ovolo''' or '''echinus''' is a convex [decorative molding](/source/molding_(decorative)) profile used in [architectural ornamentation](/source/Ornament_(architecture)). Its profile is a quarter to a half of a more or less flattened circle. The 1911 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' says:
adapted from Ital. ''uovolo'', diminutive of ''uovo'', an egg; other foreign equivalents are Fr. ''ove'', ''échine'', ''quart de rond''; Lat. ''echinus''... [as used] in architecture, [for] a convex moulding known also as the echinus, which in Classic architecture was invariably carved with the egg and tongue. In Roman and Italian work the moulding is called by workmen a quarter round.{{EB1911|wstitle= Ovolo | volume= 20 | page = 391 }}
The "egg and tongue" referred to, also known as [egg-and-dart](/source/egg-and-dart), egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, refers to alternating egg and V-shapes enriching the surface of the concave ovolo in many early cases.{{cite book | author = Lewis, Philippa & Darley, Gillian | date = 1986 | title = Dictionary of Ornament | location = New York | publisher = Pantheon Books | isbn = 0-394-50931-5 | url-access = registration | pages = 222, 73, 97, and 116 | url = https://archive.org/details/dictionaryoforna00phil | access-date = January 9, 2020 | quote = '''cavetto moulding''' or '''hollow chamfering''' (Latin, ''cavare'', to hollow). One of the principal forms of moulding, a concave version of the ovolo moulding, usually a quarter of a circle in section. [p. 73] / '''cyma recta''' (Latin, ''cyma'', wave). Important compound moulding, combining the ovolo and cavetto with the convex moulding below. In section the moulding is a double curve, concave above, convex below. Also known as ogee moulding. '''cyma reversa'''... [presenting concave below, convex above, p. 97] / '''ovolo'''. Convex moulding (usually a quarter of a circle in section), often enriched with egg and dart or similar ornament. [p. 222]}}{{rp|116}} The description of ovolo as the fundamental convex quarter-round element underlying or being combined with other elements to compose [molding](/source/molding_(decorative)), details on column capitals, and other [architectural ornamentation](/source/Ornament_(architecture)) remains in common use, as evidenced by the description by Lewis and Darley (1986) of the ovolo as a "[c]onvex moulding... usually a quarter of a circle in section", which also notes that it is "often enriched with egg and dart or similar ornament". {{rp|222}} Ovolo adornment by the egg-and-dart element was used on [Ionic capital](/source/Ionic_order)s by [ancient Roman](/source/ancient_Roman) and [ancient Greek](/source/ancient_Greek) builders (e.g., at the [Erechtheion](/source/Erechtheion)),Shoe, Lucy T. (1936) ''Profiles of Greek Mouldings'',{{full|date=January 2020}} and Shoe, Lucy T. (1950) "Greek Mouldings of Kos and Rhodes", ''Hesperia'' '''19'''(4, Oct-Dec):338-369. and continue to adorn capitals of modern buildings built in Classical styles (e.g., the Ionic capitals of the [Jefferson Memorial](/source/Jefferson_Memorial) in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.)),{{cn|date=January 2020}} and to find use in [Neoclassical architecture](/source/Neoclassical_architecture).{{cite web|last1=Regan|first1=Raina|title=Building Language: Egg-and-dart|url=http://historicindianapolis.com/building-language-egg-and-dart/|website=Historic Indianapolis|publisher=historicindianapolis.com|access-date=11 September 2016|date=February 21, 2012}}{{better source|date=January 2020}} thumb|right|Ogee moulding profiles The fundamental element of ornamental, architectural molding that is concave (rather than convex like the ovolo) is found in [cavetto](/source/cavetto) or hollow chamfering moldings, which also usually presents a quarter-round cross-section, albeit concave.{{rp|73}} Ovolo and cavetto elements can be combined to form compound moldings; most simply, with the convex ovolo molding below the cavetto, it is known as ''cyma recta'' (for its wave-like cross-section), a type of common edge profile commonly referred to as [ogee](/source/ogee).{{rp|97}} The compound molding with the concave cavetto below and the convex ovolo above is termed ''cyma reversa.''{{rp|97}} In modern residential applications, the ovolo profile is often used as the inside edge of [stile and rail](/source/stile_and_rail) interior and [cabinet](/source/cabinetry) doors.{{cn|date=January 2020}} The ''Britannica'' article goes on to note that the echinus synonym of ovolo should "not be confounded with the echinus of the Greek Doric capital", which is "of a more varied form and of much larger dimensions than the ovolo, which was only a subordinate moulding." ==See also== * [Cymatium](/source/Cymatium) ==References== {{reflist}} Category:Ornaments --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ovolo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovolo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovolo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.