{{short description|Architectural element in the Doric order}} {{other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{more footnotes needed|date=May 2021}} [[File:The Parthenon sculptures, British Museum (14063376069) (2) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Metope from the Parthenon marbles depicting part of the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths; 442–438 BC; marble; height: 1.06 m; British Museum (London)]]
A '''metope''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|t|ə|p|i}}; {{langx|grc|μετόπη}}) is a rectangular architectural element of the Doric order, filling the space between triglyphs in a frieze<ref name="pauly" /><ref name=":0"> {{Cite book |title=Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary – Metope |publisher=The Easton Press with the permission of Merriam-Webster Incorporated |year=1990 |orig-date=1983 |editor-last=Mish |editor-first=Frederick C. |edition=Collector's |location=Norwalk, Connecticut |page=748 |language=en-us}} </ref><ref name="dogara" />{{r|gardner|p=43}}{{r|robertson|p=43}}, a decorative band above an architrave.<ref name="dogara" /> In earlier wooden buildings the spaces between triglyphs were first open, and later the free spaces in between triglyphs were closed with metopes<ref name="dogara" />{{r|pauly|p=43}}{{r|robertson|p=43}}; however, metopes are not load-bearing part of a building{{r|gardner|p=43}}{{r|robertson|p=43}}. Earlier metopes are plain, but later metopes were painted or ornamented with reliefs<ref name="dogara" />{{r|gardner|p=130}}.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="pauly" /> The painting on most metopes has been lost, but sufficient traces remain to allow a close idea of their original appearance.
In terms of structure, metopes were made out of clay or stone.<ref name="pauly" /> A stone metope may be carved from a single block with a triglyph (or triglyphs), or they may be cut separately and slide into slots in the triglyph blocks as at the Temple of Aphaea. Sometimes the metopes and friezes were cut from different stone, so as to provide color contrast. Although they tend to be close to square in shape{{r|robertson|p=43}},<ref name="pauly" /> some metopes are noticeably larger in height or in width{{r|robertson|p=71}}. They may also vary in width within a single structure to allow for corner contraction, an adjustment of the column spacing and arrangement of the Doric frieze in a temple to make the design appear more harmonious.
Some of the earliest surviving examples are stone metopes from a peripteral temple at Mycenae, ca. late 7th century BC, and painted clay metopes from Thermus, ca. early 6th century BC.<ref name="pauly" /> The high-point of relief sculpture on metopes is exemplified by the 92 metopes of the Parthenon, metopes of the temple of Zeus at Olympia,<ref name="pauly" /> together with the metopes of Temple C at Selinus.
== Gallery == <gallery widths="170" heights="170"> MRSAS PA 14 09 2018 31.jpg|Triglyphs and metopes from the Temple C (Selinus) at Selinus, {{circa|560 BC}}, in the Antonino Salinas Regional Archeological Museum (Palermo, Italy) File:Metope-1.jpg|A metope (L) and triglyph (R) cut from one block from Stratos File:Metope-2.jpg|Triglyph blocks with slots for the insertion of metopes in the Marmaria at Delphi File:Brauron-10.jpg|Metopes made from marble slotted into the frieze of the Stoa at Brauron File:Paestum Museum (6120213537).jpg|Section of metope frieze from a temple near Paestum, {{circa|510 BC}} File:Metope-3.jpg|Metopes with sculptural decoration in the Doric frieze of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi File:Aphaia-temple-3.jpg|Frieze of the Temple of Aphaea with triglyphs slotted for metopes File:Angle del temple d'Hefest de l'àgora d'Atenes.JPG|The entablature of the ''Hephaisteion'' (temple of Hephaistos) in Athens, showing Doric frieze with sculpted metopes File:Extérieur du château de Maisons-Laffitte 01.JPG|Metope on a façade of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte from France, an example of French Baroque architecture, by François Mansart File:Extérieur du château de Maisons-Laffitte 02.JPG|Another metope of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte File:Paris Hôtel de Beauvais2189.JPG|Doric frieze of the Hôtel de Beauvais from Paris File:Metopes - Indianapolis Public Library.jpg|Early 20th-century Americanized metopes, using bison in place of cow skulls (bucranium) </gallery>
==See also== * Classical order
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="dogara"> {{cite encyclopedia | editor1-first = William | editor1-last = Smith | editor2-first = William | editor2-last = Wayte | editor3-first = G. D. | editor3-last = Marindin | encyclopedia = A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities | location = Albemarie St. | publisher = John Murray | title = Metopa (p 176) | volume = 2 | year = 1890 }} </ref> <ref name="gardner"> {{cite book | first = Percy | last = Gardner | location = New York | publisher = The Macmillan Company | title = The Principles of Greek Art | year = 1936 }} </ref> <ref name="pauly"> {{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Brill's New Pauly Online | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e802840 | author1-first = Christoph | author1-last = Höcker | author2-first = Cay | author2-last = Lienau | author3-first = Ernst | author3-last = Meyer | publisher = Brill | title = Metope | year = 2006 }} </ref> <ref name="robertson"> {{cite book | first = D. S. | last = Robertson | location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | title = A Handbook of Greek and Roman Art | year = 1929 }} </ref> }}
== External links == * {{commons category-inline|Metopes}}
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Category:Ancient Greek architecture Category:Ancient Greek sculpture Category:Ancient Roman architectural elements Category:Ancient Roman sculpture Category:Columns and entablature Category:Architectural sculpture