Spandrel

There are four or five accepted and cognate meanings of the term spandrel in architectural and art history, mostly relating to the space between a curved figure and a rectangular boundary – such as the space between the curve of an arch and a rectilinear bounding moulding, or the wallspace bounded by adjacent arches in an arcade and the stringcourse or moulding above them, or the space between the central medallion of a carpet and its rectangular corners, or the space between the circular face of a clock and the corners of the square revealed by its hood.

[4] The term is typically employed when there is a sculpted panel or other decorative element in this space, or when the space between the windows is filled with opaque or translucent glass, in this case called "spandrel glass".

[5] In architectural ornamentation, the horizontal decorative elements that are hung over interior and exterior openings between the posts are called spandrels.

The spandrel of doors is sometimes ornamented in the Decorated period, but seldom forms part of the composition of the doorway itself, being generally over the label.

[7] Spandrels can also occur in the construction of domes and are typical in grand architecture from the medieval period onwards.