The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Massachusetts, showing four gables in this view.

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the lines of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used (which is often related to climate and availability of materials) and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 982 KB) House of the Seven Gables - Salem, Massachusetts. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 982 KB) House of the Seven Gables - Salem, Massachusetts. ... The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Massachusetts. ... Seal of Salem, MA Salem is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ... A roof tiled in imitation of thatch at Croyde, north Devon, England Rooftops in Vietnam Snow on the roof A roof is the top covering of a building that sheds rain or snow, keeping the building interior dry. ...

In Classic Greek and Roman architecture, the analogous feature is called the tympanum. Strictly speaking, the tympanum is the infill area, often triangular, of the pediment, which also consists of the raking cornice or ends of the sloped roofs (which may appear to bear, but do not actually bear on the tympanum - the fact that many tympanum bear intricate and expensive carvings declaring the building's purpose is evidence of its non-structural role), and the cornice proper, which bears on the architrave, which in turn is supported at points by columns of a colonnade. The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece Architecture (from Latin, architectura and ultimately from Greek, αρχιτεκτων, a master builder, from αρχι- chief, leader and τεκτων, builder, carpenter) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ... Tympanum may mean: The eardrum; or A sculpted panel that stands within the recessed area formed by a larger arch above the doors to a church or similar building, especially in Romanesque and Gothic architecture; or A single drum in the orchestral percussion section usually called timpani. ... A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of a triangular section or gable found above the horizontal superstructure (entablature) which lies immediately upon the columns. ... The raking (sloped) cornice forms the topmost part of the Classic Greek and Roman pediment, a form found at the front of such buildings as the Temple of Athena in the Acropolis, the Pantheon, and Schinkels Schauspielhaus. ... An example of a cornice along the top of a building in Wheeling, West Virginia. ... For other meanings of the term, see column (disambiguation). ... Enormous colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg. ...

Gable ends of more recent buildings are often treated in the same way as the Classic pediment form. But unlike Classical structures, which operate through trabeation, the gable ends of many buildings are actually bearing-wall structures. Thus, the detailing tends to be ambiguous, misleading, and to some architects "deceitful." See: John Ruskin and The Seven Lamps of Architecture. Upper: Steel-plate engraving of Ruskin as a young man, made circa 1845, scanned from print made circa 1895. ...