ACROTERIA

, or Acroters, in Architecture, small pedestals, usually without bases, placed on pediments, and serving to support statues.

Those at the extremities ought to be half the height of the tympanum; and that in the middle, according to Vitruvius, one eighth part more.

Acroteria also are sometimes used to signify figures, whether of stone or metal, placed as ornaments or crownings, on the tops of temples, or other buildings.

It is also sometimes used to denote those sharp pinacles or spiry battlements, that stand in ranges about flat buildings, with rails and balustres.