View source for Ovolo

{{Short description|Convex molding in classical architecture}}
[[Image:Molding-ovulo.svg|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.]]
'''Ovolo''' is an [[Italian language|Italian]] word that means "little egg"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anatomy of a Skirting Board |url=https://skirtingsrus.co.uk/blog/anatomy-of-skirting-board |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=skirtingsrus.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>.The '''ovolo''' or '''echinus''' is a convex [[molding (decorative)|decorative molding]] profile used in [[Ornament (architecture)|architectural ornamentation]]. Its profile is a quarter to a half of a more or less flattened circle.
The 1911 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' says:<blockquote>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.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle= Ovolo | volume= 20 | page = 391 }}</ref></blockquote> The "egg and tongue" referred to, also known as [[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.<ref name=Lewis1986>{{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 = <small> '''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]</small>}}</ref>{{rp|116}}
The description of ovolo as the fundamental convex quarter-round element underlying or being combined with other elements to compose [[molding (decorative)|molding]], details on column capitals, and other [[Ornament (architecture)| architectural ornamentation]] 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".
<ref name=Lewis1986/>{{rp|222}} Ovolo adornment by the egg-and-dart element was used on [[Ionic order|Ionic capital]]s by [[ancient Roman]] and [[ancient Greek]] builders (e.g., at the [[Erechtheion]]),<ref>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.</ref> and continue to adorn capitals of modern buildings built in Classical styles (e.g., the Ionic capitals of the [[Jefferson Memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]),{{cn|date=January 2020}} and to find use in [[Neoclassical architecture]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>{{better source|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Cyma recta et reversa.png|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]] or hollow chamfering moldings, which also usually presents a quarter-round cross-section, albeit concave.<ref name=Lewis1986/>{{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]].<ref name=Lewis1986/>{{rp|97}} The compound molding with the concave cavetto below and the convex ovolo above is termed ''cyma reversa.''<ref name=Lewis1986/>{{rp|97}} In modern residential applications, the ovolo profile is often used as the inside edge of [[stile and rail]] interior and [[cabinetry|cabinet]] doors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Furniture {{!}} Ovolo Architectural Design |url=https://www.ovolodesign.co.uk/furniture/ |access-date=2022-08-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
<!--No evidence found for this, so removing it as unsupported, and likely disinformation: The term ovolo is often used to describe the type of architectural structure often used in huts, igloos, and mud brick houses. {{Citation needed|date=November 2015}}-->
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."<ref name=EB1911/>
==See also==
* [[Cymatium]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ornaments]]