ClipArt ETC

The Pendentives ClipArt gallery contains 2 examples of the architectural device used to support a circular dome over a square room.

"Pendentive, from the Court of the Lions, Alhambra." — The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Court of the Lions

"Pendentive, from the Court of the Lions, Alhambra." — The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

A pendentive is a constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to establish the continuous circular or elliptical base needed for the dome. In masonry the pendentives thus receive the weight of the dome, concentrating it at the four corners where it can be received by the piers beneath.

Diagram of Pendentives

A pendentive is a constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or…