Pedimental sculpture is a form of architectural sculpture designed for installation in the tympanum, the space enclosed by the architectural element called the pediment. Originally a feature of Ancient Greek architecture, pedimental sculpture started as a means to decorate a pediment in its simplest form: a low triangle, like a gable, above an horizontal base or entablature. However, as classical architecture developed from the basis of Ancient Greek and Roman architecture, the varieties of pedimental sculpture also developed. The sculpture can be either freestanding or relief sculpture, in which case it is attached to the back wall of the pediment. Harris in The Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture defines pediment as "In classical architecture, the triangular gable end of the roof above the horizontal cornice, often filled with sculpture." Pediments can also be used to crown doors or windows.
Neoclassical pediment of La Madeleine Church, Paris, with sculpture (1826–1834) by Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire
Reconstruction, including casts, of the East pediment of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia, c. 460 BCE, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
The "earliest pedimental composition to have survived," from the Early Archaic Period, from the Temple of Artemis, Corfu, about 580–570 BCE, now Archaeological Museum of Corfu.
Apollo struggling with Heracles, Siphnian Treasury at Delphi (about 525 BCE)
Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that are part of the original design are also considered to be architectural sculpture. The concept overlaps with, or is a subset of, monumental sculpture.
Pedimental sculpture in Sacramento, California, by 1928, following a style for ancient Greek temples
Luxor Obelisk
The Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion, Athens, 421–407 BC
Bust sculptures of Raphael, Phidias and Donato Bramante by C. E. Sjöstrand on the facade of Ateneum in Helsinki, Finland