1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Anthemion

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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Anthemion

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ANTHEMION (from the Gr. ἀνθέμιον, a flower), the conventional design of flower or leaf forms which was largely employed by the Greeks to decorate (1) the fronts of ante-fixae, (2) the upper portion of the stele or vertical tombstones, (3) the necking of the Ionic columns of the Erechtheum and its continuation as a decorative frieze on the walls of the same, and (4) the cymatium of a cornice. Though generally known as the honeysuckle ornament, from its resemblance to that flower, its origin will be found in the flower of the acanthus plant.