in Rome, an early Roman imperial triumphal arch with a single archway, built by
Emperor Domitian to commemorate his elder brother
Titus's victory together with their father,
Vespasian, over the
Jewish rebellion in Judaea Roman triumphal arches Roman aqueducts, bridges, amphitheaters and domes employed arch principles and technology. The Romans probably borrowed the techniques of arch construction from their Etruscan neighbours. The
Etruscans used elaborately decorated single bay arches as gates or portals to their cities; examples of Etruscan arches survive at
Perugia and
Volterra. The two key elements of the Roman triumphal arch – a round-topped arch and a square entablature – had long been in use as separate architectural elements in
ancient Greece, but the Greeks preferred the use of entablatures in their
temples, and almost entirely confined their use of the arch to structures under external pressure, such as tombs and sewers. The Roman triumphal arch combined a round arch and a square entablature in a single free-standing structure. What were originally supporting columns became purely decorative elements on the outer face of arch, while the entablature, liberated from its role as a building support, became the frame for the civic and religious messages that the arch builders wished to convey through the use of statuary and symbolic, narrative and decorative elements. The largest arches often had three archways, the central one significantly larger. The minority type of arch with passageways in both directions, often placed at crossroads, is called a
tetrapylon (or
arcus quadrifrons in Latin), as it has four
piers. Roman examples are usually roughly cubical, like the
Arch of Septimius Severus in
Leptis Magna,
Libya, but modern examples, like the
Arc de Triomphe, tend to be oblong, with clear main faces and smaller side faces. Examples with three arches on the long face as well as arches at the ends, so with eight piers, are called
octopylons. The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris is an example. The modern term
triumphal arch derives from the notion that this form of architecture was connected to the award and commemoration of a
triumph to particularly successful Roman generals, by vote of the
Roman Senate. The earliest arches set up to commemorate a triumph were made in the time of the
Roman Republic. These were called
fornices (s.
fornix) and bore imagery that described and commemorated the victory and triumph. Lucius Steritinus is known to have erected two such
fornices in 196 BC to commemorate his victories in
Hispania. Another
fornix was built on the
Capitoline Hill by
Scipio Africanus in 190 BC, and
Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus constructed one in the Roman Forum in 121 BC. None of these structures has survived and little is known about their appearance. However, the designs of Roman imperial triumphal arches – which became increasingly elaborate over time and evolved a regularised set of features – were clearly intended to convey a number of messages to the spectator. The ornamentation of an arch was intended to serve as a constant visual reminder of the triumph and
triumphator. As such, it concentrated on factual imagery rather than allegory. The façade was ornamented with marble columns, and the piers and attics with decorative
cornices. Sculpted panels depicted victories and achievements, the deeds of the
triumphator, the captured weapons of the enemy or the triumphal procession itself. The
spandrels usually depicted flying
Victories, while the attic was often inscribed with a dedicatory inscription naming and praising the
triumphator. The piers and internal passageways were also decorated with reliefs and free-standing sculptures. The vault was ornamented with
coffers. Some triumphal arches were surmounted by a statue or a
currus triumphalis, a group of statues depicting the emperor or general in a
quadriga. It was not until the coming of the
Renaissance, however, that rulers sought to associate themselves systematically with the Roman legacy by building their own triumphal arches. Probably the earliest large recreation was the "Aragonese Arch" at the
Castel Nuovo in
Naples, erected by
Alfonso V of Aragon in 1470, supposedly to commemorate his taking over the kingdom in 1443, although like the later
Porta Capuana this was a new façade for the gateway to the castle. By the end of the 16th century the triumphal arch had become closely linked with court theatre, state pageantry and military fortifications. The motif of the triumphal arch was also adapted and incorporated into the façades of public buildings such as city halls and churches. Temporary triumphal arches made of
lath and plaster were often erected for
royal entries. Unlike the individual arches erected for Roman conquerors, Renaissance rulers often built a row of arches through which processions were staged. They defined a space for the movement of people and denoted significant sites at which particular messages were conveyed at each stage. Newly elected
popes, for instance, processed through the streets of Rome under temporary triumphal arches built specially for the occasion. Arches were also built for dynastic weddings; when Duke
Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy married Infanta
Catalina Micaela of Spain in 1585, he processed under temporary triumphal arches that asserted the antiquity of the
House of Savoy and associated his dynasty, through the art and architecture of the arches, with the imperial Roman past. and sometimes
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woodcut.
Albrecht Dürer, 1515; purely a paper arch, never meant to be built Images of arches gained great importance as well. Although temporary arches were torn down after they had been used, they were recorded in great detail in engravings that were widely distributed and survived long after the original arches had been destroyed. The medium of engraving gave the viewer the opportunity to examine the allegories and inscriptions presented by the arches in a way that would not have been possible during the event. The French led the way in building new permanent triumphal arches when the imperial ambitions of the
Bourbon kings and
Napoleon Bonaparte led to a spate of arch-building. By far the most famous arch from this period is the
Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built from 1806 to 1836, though it is consciously dissimilar from its Roman predecessors in omitting the customary ornamental columns – a lack that fundamentally changes the balance of the arch and gives it a distinctly "top-heavy" look. Triumphal arches have continued to be built into the modern era, often as statements of power and self-aggrandizement by dictators.
Adolf Hitler planned to build the world's largest triumphal arch in Berlin. The arch would have been vastly larger than any previously built, standing wide, deep and high – big enough for the Arc de Triomphe to fit into it 49 times. It was intended to be carved with the names of Germany's 1.8 million dead in the First World War. However, construction was never begun.
North Korea's dictator
Kim Il Sung built the
world's largest triumphal arch in
Pyongyang in 1982. The form of the triumphal arch has also been put to other purposes, notably the construction of monumental
memorial arches and
city gates such as the
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the
Washington Square Arch in
New York City, or the
India Gate in
New Delhi, or simple welcoming arches such as
Barcelona's
Arc de Triomf, built as an entrance to the fairgrounds for the
1888 World Fair. Although patterned after triumphal arches, these were built for quite different purposes – to memorialise war casualties, to commemorate a civil event (the country's independence, for example), or to provide a monumental entrance to a city, as opposed to celebrating a military success or general. File:Porte Saint-Denis 01.jpg|The
Porte Saint-Denis in Paris, built in 1672 to commemorate the victories of
Louis XIV File:Brandenburger Tor Potsdam November 2013.jpg|The
Brandenburg Gate in
Potsdam, built in 1770–71 to commemorate
Frederick the Great's victory in the
Seven Years' War File:Paris - Jardin des Tuileries - Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - PA00085992 - 003.jpg|The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris, built in 1806–1808 to commemorate
Napoleon's victories File:Narva Triumphal Arch.jpg|The
Narva Triumphal Arch in
Saint Petersburg by
Giacomo Quarenghi, built in 1814 to commemorate
Russia's victory over Napoleon File:London Wellington Arch P1130942.jpg|The
Wellington Arch in London, built in 1826–1830 to commemorate Britain's victories in the
Napoleonic Wars File:Moscow 05-2017 img17 Triumphal Gate.jpg|The
Triumphal Arch in Moscow, built in 1829–1834 to commemorate
Russia's
victory over Napoleon during the
French invasion of Russia in 1812 File:Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch.jpg|The
Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch in New York City, built in 1889–1892 to commemorate the United States' victory over the
Confederate Rebellion File:Triumphal Arch Bucharest 1.jpg|The
Arcul de Triumf in
Bucharest, built in 1922 to celebrate the victory in
WWI and the coronation of
King Ferdinand and his wife
Marie File:L9998918-2.jpg|The
Arch of Triumph in
Pyongyang, the second tallest triumphal arch in the world, built in 1982 to commemorate the
Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945 ==See also==