Lunette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In architecture, a lunette (diminutive of French lune, "moon") is a half-moon shaped space, either masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the arch above the door, masonry or glass, is a lunette. If the door is a major access, and the lunette above is massive and deeply set, it may be called a tympanum.
The term is usefully employed to describe the section of interior wall between the curves of a vault and its springing line. A system of intersecting vaults produces lunettes on the wall surfaces above a cornice. The lunettes in the structure of the Sistine Chapel inspired Michelangelo to come up with inventive compositions for the spaces.
In neoclassical architecture of Robert Adam and his French contemporaries, like Ange-Jacques Gabriel, a favorite scheme set a series of windows within shallow blind arches. The lunettes above lent themselves to radiating motifs: a sunburst of bellflower husks, radiating fluting, a low vase of flowers, etc.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc taken from an oval. The spaces are still lunettes.
A lunette is commonly called a half-moon window, when the space is used as a window.
In geology, a lunette is a typical wind-formed crescent dune shape.
In fortification a lunette is a defense outwork consisting of a salient angle with two flanks and an open gorge.
In codicology a lunette is an instrument used to scrape the wet animal skin to make parchment.
In the Place de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium there is a bar called "La Lunette" which serves a wide range of Belgian beer. Each beer comes in its own special glass as a 330ml or 500ml serving according to Belgian tradition, but is also available in a special 1 litre bowl glass called "La Lunette" which is shaped exactly like the architectural features described on this page.
