A page of fanciful balusters from A Handbook of Ornament, Franz S. Meyer, 1898

A baluster (through the French balustre, from Italian balaustro, from balaustra, "pomegranate flower" [from a resemblance to the post], from Lat. balaustium, from Gr. balaustion) is a moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood and sometimes in metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase, an assemblage of them being known as a "balustrade". The earliest examples are those shown in the bas-reliefs representing the Assyrian palaces, where they were employed as window balustrades and apparently had Ionic capitals. They do not seem to have been known to either the Greeks or the Romans (Wittkower 1974), but late fifteenth-century examples are found in the balconies of palaces at Venice and Verona. These quattrocento balustrades are likely to be following yet-unidentified Gothic precedents, and form balustrades of colonnettes as an alternative to miniature arcading. Rudolf Wittkower withheld judgement as to the inventor of the baluster but credited Giuliano da Sangallo with using it consistently as early as the balustrade on the terrace at the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano (ca 1480), and employing balustrades even in his reconstructions of antique structures, and, importantly, with having passed the motif to Bramante (his Tempietto, 1502) and Michelangelo, through whom balustrades gained wide currency in the 16th century. Wittkower distinguished two types, one symmetrical in profile that inverted one bulbous vase-shape over another, separating them with a cushionlike torus or a concave ring, and the other a simple vase shape, first employed, according to Wittkower, by Michelangelo. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1302x1992, 150 KB) Source: A handbook of ornament (1898) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Baluster Architectural glossary ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1302x1992, 150 KB) Source: A handbook of ornament (1898) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Baluster Architectural glossary ... A parapet consists of a dwarf wall along the edge of a roof, or round a lead flat, terrace walk, etc. ... Spiral (double helix) stairway in the Vatican Museum Stairs, staircase, stairway, stairwell, and flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. ... Bas relief is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching away the surface of a flat piece of stone or metal. ... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Architects first real look at the Greek Ionic order: Julien David LeRoy, Les ruines plus beaux des monuments de la Grèce Paris, 1758 (Plate XX) The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and... Area under Roman control  Roman Republic  Roman Empire  Western Empire  Eastern Empire Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Verona is an ancient town, episcopal see, and province in Veneto, Northern Italy. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Königsberg Cathedral Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... Rudolf Wittkower was a German art historian. ... Portrait by Piero di Cosimo, c. ... Look up terrace in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Medici coat of arms The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. ... Poggio a Caiano is a town and commune in the Tuscan Province of Prato, Italy. ... Donato Bramante Donato Bramante (1444 - March 11, 1514), Italian architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his most famous design was St. ... Donato Bramante Donato Bramante (1444 - March 11, 1514), Italian architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his most famous design was St. ... Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer. ... In geometry, a torus (pl. ...

Use in period identity

The baluster is often a means of dating antique furniture or architectural details. For example, the distinctive twist designs of balusters in oak furniture of the Charles I period in England is characteristic of that specific early 17th century period. Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ...

The modern term baluster shaft is applied to the shaft dividing a window in Saxon architecture. In the south transept of the abbey at St Albans, England, are some of these shafts, supposed to have been taken from the old Saxon church. Norman bases and capitals have been added, together with plain cylindrical Norman shafts.. The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ... St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35. ... The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the nave is a forerunner of the Gothic style. ...

ballister is also a word in english, used to describe a railing or banister. It could be said that the word baluster is a predecesor of ballistor although the exact connection is not directly correlated by fact or example.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Rudolf Wittkower, 1974. ""The Renaissance baluster and Palladio" in Palladio and English Palladianism (London:Thames and Hudson)

Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Baluster Spacing Calculator for Railings