# Stilted arch
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stilted_arch
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stilted_arch.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilted_arch
> Source revision: 1284980121
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Architectural element}}
[[File:St Mark's Basilica 4 (14351923847).jpg|thumb|Semicircular stilted arch at [St Mark's Basilica](/source/St_Mark's_Basilica) in [Venice](/source/Venice)]]
A '''stilted arch''', also called a '''surmounted arch''',[{{cite Merriam-Webster|surmounted arch}}] is an [arch](/source/arch) where the bottom of the [intrados](/source/intrados) consists of vertical sections, or {{em|stilts}}, and the arch [springs](/source/springer_(architecture)) from the vertical significantly higher than the [impost](/source/impost_(architecture)) level.{{sfn|Bliss|Garside|Haslam|2008}} Both [semicircular](/source/semicircular_arch) and [pointed](/source/pointed_arch) arches can be stilted.{{sfn|Pevsner|Honour|Fleming|1992}} As a result, the stilted arch has its center above the impost.
In [Byzantine architecture](/source/Byzantine_architecture), the arch was frequently used in order to give more importance to the twin arches of the windows, and less to the shaft which divided them.[ In [Islamic architecture](/source/Islamic_architecture), it was used since the mid-8th century ([Hisham's Palace](/source/Hisham's_Palace)).{{sfn|Hourihane|2012|p=132|loc=Stilted}}
The [rise](/source/rise_(arch)) (height) of a round arch is limited to {{frac|1|2}} of its [span](/source/span_(engineering)),{{sfn | Bond | 1905 | p=265}} so it looks more "grounded" than a [parabolic arch](/source/parabolic_arch){{sfn | Sandaker | Eggen | Cruvellier | 2019 | p=445}} or pointed arch.{{sfn | Bond | 1905 | p=265}} Whenever a higher semicircular arch was required (for example, for a narrow arch to match the height of a nearby broad one), stilting could be used.{{sfn | Bond | 1905 | p=262}} In [Romanesque](/source/Romanesque_architecture) and [Gothic](/source/Gothic_architecture) work the semicircular stilted arch was often employed in the [semi-circular](/source/semi-circular_arch) [apse](/source/apse)s, where in consequence of the closer spacing of the columns the arches were much narrower than those of the [choir](/source/Choir_(architecture)); in order, however, that the apex of all the arches should be of the same height, the apse arches were stilted.][{{EB1911|wstitle=Stilted}}] In [Norman architecture](/source/Norman_architecture) the stilted arch was used when there was a need for a [groin vault](/source/groin_vault) over a non-square space.{{sfn|Bloxam|1882|pp=26-28}} These "shifts and dodges" were dropped once the pointed arch with its malleable proportions was adopted.{{sfn | Bond | 1905 | p=265}} There is still a decorative value in a stilted arch, as its slender opening strengthens the framing effect for the view through the arch.{{sfn|Fortlage|Phillips|2017|p=57}}
The [horseshoe arch](/source/horseshoe_arch) can be though of as variant of the stilted arch, with the masonry below the springing line going beyond the vertical line inwards.{{sfn|Echols|2000|p=221}}
== Nasrid arch ==
[[File:Arched viewpoint in the Alhambra Palace.jpg|thumb|Nasrid arch frames a view in the [Alhambra palace](/source/Alhambra_palace)]]
Nasrid arch is the stilted derivative of a [multifoil arch](/source/multifoil_arch). It was developed during the rule of the [Nasrid dynasty](/source/Nasrid_dynasty) and became its architectural symbol, with many examples throughout the [Alhambra](/source/Alhambra). It was a non-structural arch:{{sfn|Montéquin|1991|p=77}} during Nasrid period the [Islamic architecture](/source/Islamic_architecture) in [Granada](/source/Granada) in general concentrated more on the decorative aspects.{{sfn|Montéquin|1991|p=70}}
File:Stilted arch.png|Stilted arch made of bricks
File:Arco peraltado1.jpg|Stilted arch in [San Isidoro de León](/source/San_Isidoro_de_Le%C3%B3n)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book|last=Bloxam|first=M.H.|title=The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture: With an Explanation of Technical Terms, and a Centenary of Ancient Terms|publisher=G. Bell and sons|volume=1|year=1882|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-A1BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26|access-date=2024-12-26}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Bliss |editor1-first=Ian |editor2-last=Garside |editor2-first=Roger |editor3-last=Haslam |editor3-first=Ray |title=Ruskin's Venetian Notebooks Notes |date=2008 |publisher=[Lancaster University](/source/Lancaster_University) |url=https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/ruskin/eSoV/notes/mstiltedarch.html |access-date=25 December 2024 |chapter=Stilted Arch}}
* {{cite book | last=Bond | first=Francis | title=Gothic Architecture in England: An Analysis of the Origin & Development of English Church Architecture from the Norman Conquest to the Dissolution of the Monasteries | publisher=B. T. Batsford | series=Collections spéciales | year=1905 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLxUmfJBgl4C&pg=PA265 | access-date=2023-12-15}}
* {{cite book|last=Echols|first=G.|title=Early Texas Architecture|publisher=Texas Christian University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-87565-223-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAX73DCRu-sC&pg=PA221|access-date=2024-12-26|chapter=Glossary}}
* {{cite book|last1=Fortlage|first1=C.A.|last2=Phillips|first2=E.T.|title=Landscape Construction: Volume 1: Walls, Fences and Railings|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2017|isbn=978-1-351-56107-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wW9QDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|access-date=2024-12-26|chapter=Stilted arch}}
* {{cite book|last=Hourihane|first=C.|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|year=2012|isbn=978-0-19-539536-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtlMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131|access-date=2024-12-24|chapter=Arch|pages=129–134}}
* {{cite journal|last=Montéquin|first=François-Auguste De|title=Arches in the Architecture of Muslim Spain : Typology and Evolution|journal=Islamic Studies|publisher=Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad|volume=30|issue=1/2|year=1991|issn=0578-8072|jstor=20840025|pages=67–82|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20840025|access-date=2024-12-24}}
* {{cite book |author1-link=Nikolaus Pevsner| author1-first = Nikolaus | author1-last = Pevsner | author2-first = Hugh | author2-last = Honour | author3-first = Nikolaus | author3-last = Fleming |title=Lexikon der Weltarchitektur |edition=3 |publisher=[Prestel](/source/Prestel_Verlag) |location=Munich |date=1992 |isbn=3-7913-2095-5|language=de}}
* {{cite book | last1=Sandaker | first1=B.N. | last2=Eggen | first2=A.P. | last3=Cruvellier | first3=M.R. | title=The Structural Basis of Architecture | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-317-22918-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmgPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA445 | access-date=2023-12-15}}
Category:Arches and vaults
{{Architecturalelement-stub}}
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stilted arch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilted_arch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilted_arch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.