Dutch gable

The Dutch gable was a notable feature of the Renaissance architecture, which spread to northern Europe from the Low Countries, arriving in Britain during the latter part of the 16th century.

Scroll gables first appeared in the prosperous towns of the former Southern Netherlands (in Flanders at large) and then quickly spread throughout the former Netherlands, and to all German-speaking parts of the Holy Empire as well as in Northern Europe to the Baltic countries, in particular via the network of merchant cities of the former Hanseatic League.

The success of the Antwerp Mannerist architects is at the origin of the rapid diffusion of these gables from England to the Baltic in the second half of the 16th century.

The volutes are a motif derived from the influence of the Italian Renaissance, which was grafted onto the older architectural traditions of Northern Europe.

Then, during the Mannerist and Baroque periods, large scrolls gradually tended to take up all the space, making the appearance of the tiers disappear.