Note 4 — ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

Freeman remarks here that in the buildings of Ravenna (fifth, sixth and seventh centuries) and in other Romanesque piles, a solid member is thrust in between the abacus and the capital, in order to guard the often delicate capital from the pressure of the arch it supports. The Italian name for this member is pulvino, which is sometimes translated now as pulvin. This pulvino, especially in Byzantine work, often grows into a double capital. The English scholar deems this an unsightly feature in Romanesque architecture, and suggests that the true remedy is found in the noble buildings of Lucca and Pisa, where the abaci are heavier—heavy enough to protect the capital from being crushed. The usual English equivalent for Pulvino is Dosseret, or Impost.