anta

Dictionary: an·ta   (ăn'tə)

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anta

plan of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi, Greece (Academy Artworks)

A pilaster forming the end of a projecting lateral wall, as in some Greek temples, and constituting one boundary of the portico.

[From Latin antae, pilasters.]

1. Square or rectangular pier formed by the thickening of the end of a wall, e.g. in Greek temples, where the side-walls or pteromata terminate. When porticoes were formed by carrying the side-walls out beyond the front wall of the naos and placing columns in a line between the antae, the columns, portico, and temple are described as in antis. Greek antae can have capitals and bases differing from those of the Order proper, unlike Roman pilasters, which are usually identical to the columns save for having rectangular plans. Furthermore, antae have either very slight or no entasis, and therefore have parallel sides.

2. Another term for an antepagmentum.

This article is about the architectural element. For the village, see Anta, Peru. For the company, see Anta Sports.

This article is largely based on an article in the out-of-copyright 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was produced in 1911. It should be brought up to date to reflect subsequent history or scholarship (including the references, if any). When you have completed the review, replace this notice with a simple note on this article's talk page. Thanks!

An anta (pl. antæ) (Latin, possibly from ante, 'before' or 'in front of') is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek Temple - the slightly projecting piers which terminate the walls of the naos.^[1]

In contrast to pillars, they are directly connected with the walls of a temple. They owe their origin to the vertical posts of timber employed in the early, more primitive palaces or temples of Greece, as at Tiryns and in the Temple of Hera at Olympia. They were used as load-bearing structures to carry the roof timbers, as no reliance could be placed on walls built with unburnt brick or in rubble masonry with clay mortar. Later, they became more decorative as the materials used for wall construction became sufficient to support the structure.

When there are columns between antae, as in a porch facade, rather than a solid wall, the columns are said to be in antis. (See temple.)

Further reading

• Vitruvius, Book 4, Chapter 4 (translated)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

1. ^ Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0-06-430158-3. 

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