Broken or Complete: What the Pediment Above Your Door Says About Your Home

That triangular element crowning your front door or topping the windows of stately buildings isn’t merely decorative. The pediment, one of classical architecture’s most enduring motifs, carries centuries of meaning, and whether it’s complete or broken says something specific about the building and its aspirations.

Origins in the Greek Temple

The pediment originated as the triangular space created by a gabled roof above a temple’s columned porch. Greek architects recognized this prominent area as ideal for sculptural programs, filling pediments with figures depicting mythological narratives, battle scenes, or divine assemblies. The Parthenon’s pediments, though now fragmentary, once displayed the birth of Athena and her contest with Poseidon for patronage of Athens.

The triangle’s shape created compositional challenges. Sculptors had to arrange figures to fill a space that narrowed dramatically toward the corners while maintaining visual balance and narrative clarity. The greatest Greek sculptors mastered this constraint, creating compositions that modern observers still study for their sophisticated spatial solutions.

The Complete Pediment

A complete pediment consists of the triangular tympanum (the recessed face) surrounded by the raking cornices (the sloped sides) and the horizontal cornice at the base. The angle of the triangle relates to the roof pitch, typically between 12 and 18 degrees in classical Greek examples, though Renaissance and later interpretations often used steeper angles.

When you see a complete pediment over a doorway or window, you’re looking at a direct quotation of Greek temple architecture. The message is clear: this opening matters, this entrance deserves emphasis, this building connects to classical traditions of civilization and permanence. The complete pediment suggests order, stability, and respect for established forms.

The Broken Pediment

The broken pediment, with its apex removed or its raking cornices interrupted, represents a Baroque-era innovation that challenged classical orthodoxy. By breaking the triangle, architects created tension, dynamism, and visual interest impossible with complete forms.

Broken pediments appear in several variations. The open-bed pediment breaks the bottom horizontal cornice while maintaining the raking sides and apex. The open-top pediment maintains the base but separates the raking cornices at the top, often with the disconnected sections curving outward. The scroll pediment replaces the raking cornices with S-curves that terminate in scrolls.

These variations sent messages of their own. Breaking a pediment demonstrated the architect’s mastery of classical vocabulary and confidence to depart from strict precedent. The broken forms suggested movement, energy, and creative freedom within tradition. For Baroque churches seeking to inspire awe, broken pediments helped create the dynamic facades that characterized the style.

What Your Pediment Says

In residential architecture, the choice between complete and broken pediments communicates subtly but meaningfully:

Complete triangular pediment: Suggests classical restraint, respect for tradition, formal aspirations. Common on Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival homes where architectural propriety matters.

Broken scroll pediment: Indicates Baroque or Georgian influences with a taste for decoration and dynamism. Often found on furniture-influenced doorways where the entrance was treated as a cabinetmaker might treat a highboy.

Segmental pediment: Uses an arc rather than a triangle, suggesting Roman rather than Greek influence. Common in Renaissance Revival and Beaux-Arts designs.

Broken segmental pediment: Combines the curved form with Baroque interruption. Frequently appears on Colonial Revival homes seeking to evoke 18th-century elegance.

Spotting Pediments in the Wild

Once you start looking, pediments appear everywhere in traditional architecture. Front doors often feature small pediments supported by pilasters or console brackets. Windows on formal facades may receive pedimented surrounds, sometimes alternating triangular and segmental forms for variety.

Buildings of ambition crown their principal entrances with full-scale pediments supported by columns, the portico arrangement derived directly from Greek temples. The Supreme Court, countless state capitols, and banks and museums across America employ this arrangement to communicate authority and permanence.

The next time you approach a building, look up at what tops the door. That small gesture of a pediment, whether complete or broken, triangular or curved, connects your ordinary entry to extraordinary architectural traditions stretching back to ancient Greece.