An acroterion, acroterium, is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at the outer angles of the pediment is an acroterion angularium.
Ancient Greek acroterion as Nike, by Paionios, 421 BC, marble, Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Olympia, Greece
Ancient Greek acroterion of a Nereid on horseback, c.380 BC, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Ancient Greek akroterion, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Akroterion of the grave monument of Timotheos and Nikon, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice, or entablature if supported by columns. In ancient architecture, a wide and low triangular pediment typically formed the top element of the portico of a Greek temple, a style continued in Roman temples. But large pediments were rare on other types of building before Renaissance architecture. For symmetric designs, it provides a center point and is often used to add grandness to entrances.
Types of pediment; "curved" and "broken" examples at the lower right.
Neoclassical pediment of the Madeleine Church, Paris, with sculpture (1826–1834) by Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire.
Open pediments on windows at the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, begun 1534
Open pediment in a fresco from Boscoreale, 43-30 BC